Review: Deadhouse Gates

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With a title that would make Metal-Heads proud, Deadhouse Gates brings the thunder that Thor can only dream of. Acting as a sequel with a mostly new cast can be a daunting task. Erikson proved with Gardens of the Moon that he can write numerous characters and give them enough purpose to stand out. What he had to prove in this book is if he could reel in his worldbuilding to a more coherent level.

Deadhouse Gates IS the book you want to read. It makes Gardens look like a collection of notes Erikson strung together, whereas Deadhouse reads more like a finished product. Refined. He does this while taking us to new places. He does this while involving us with tons of new characters. Sure, it's the same world. But there is a LOT more in it. Does having the setup from Gardens help? Admittedly, it does. However, I can't shake the feeling that you could almost read Deadhouse first and go back to Gardens after. Major plot details or references will not have as strong as an impact but I don't believe that would matter as the currency of the new cast is enchanting enough on its own.

The returning group consists of Fiddler, Apsalar, Crokus, and Kalam. The latter separates from the group for his own adventure. These characters didn't interest me as much this time around. They aren't the people I would have chosen to follow from Gardens. Kalam grew on me as his personal quest to kill the Empress was more interesting, Crokus was regulated to an afterthought compared to how he was one of the major characters previously. This bothered me at first but it isn't his book to shine. Towards the end, he has more moments but the focus is on Fiddler. I mentioned previously how Fiddler is a fan favorite but I still didn't take to him. To be fair, he's more enjoyable than reading Theon Greyjoy chapters in A Song of Ice and Fire, if that helps.

Two more characters join up with them eventually. Mappo and Icarium. Meh. Then there are Heboric, Baudin, and Felisin. They had a great introduction which excited me. Heboric and Baudin exceeded my expectations with their roles in all of this. Felisin is another matter. After what happens to Lorn in Gardens, Tavore takes over as Adjunct. She is one of Ganoes' sisters. She in turn sends Felisin to the slave camps to prove loyalty to the Empress. Felisin starts great and then turns into a bitch for almost the entirety of the rest of the book. In the end, some things happen, but that's a whole spoiler level I won't even go into.

The fourth part of the story is almost a continuous battle as Fist Coltaine leads an army and refugees to the city of Aren while pursued by a bigger army. The viewpoint comes in the form of Historian Duiker who was once a soldier and proves countless times that he's still a badass. His story gripped me time and time again. The final chapters outside of Aren are masterfully cinematic and equally soul-crushing.

Let's talk about Death a little bit because there is a war going on so you know people are going to be killed off. Erikson gets to me. He does. Some deaths I can see a mile away and still when that bell tolls I am defeated. A secondary character that had grown on me was someone I thought from the get-go was going to be slaughtered. Still, it was tough. One of the more shocking deaths happens much earlier and unexpectedly. It left me grasping whether or not it actually happened. The madman did it. For fans of books where everybody dies because that's just the way it goes in life, try Malazan. Merciless.

Unlike Abercrombie who writes all characters as edgy with their penises hanging out, even the women, trying to snarkily compare who has the bigger one, Erikson doesn't fall on gimmicks. You enjoy these people or you don't because they feel real.

The biggest change between the books is that Erikson no longer floods us with history lessons. Everything is much more focused. The motivations and goals of the cast are clearly defined in the beginning so we as the reader know where this all is going. Shadowthrone has a bigger role here too, but we are no longer bogged down by Oponn. Again, fewer notes, more finesse. I knew where people were headed. There were enough moments in all four plots that even if I didn't like, let's say, something going on with Fiddler and his people, eventually, something would happen that would make me proud I didn't give up on them. Every story was worthwhile in the long run.

Deadhouse Gates is a solid improvement over Gardens of the Moon although I still wouldn't rate it as perfect. This is more along the lines of 8 out of 10.

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