History YMMV / MalazanBookOfTheFallen

* OlderThanTheyThink: The series owes a considerable debt to ''Literature/TheBlackCompany.''

* SlowPacedBeginning: A common phrase said by fans to new readers of ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen''. The first book throws the reader [[InMediasRes in the deep end]] [[LostInMediasRes without so much as a "can you swim?"]], with a whole host of characters and events and expects you to run with it. After the first few hundred pages, after the reader has acclimatised themselves, the experience quickly becomes less "Huh-wha?" and more "Ooohh! That's clever." Additionally, the first novel is considered the least well-written of the ten books in the series and is much slower going than the action and plot packed second book, ''Literature/DeadhouseGates''. Some reasons for that are that ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'' was written almost a decade before its follow-up, ''Literature/DeadhouseGates'', and was originally written as a film script before Creator/StevenErikson decided to turn it into a book.

* ArcFatigue: The Tiste Edur and Jade Giant storylines.

** [[{{Sadist}} Bidithal]] is [[EvilOldFolks an elderly member]] of the rebellious army the Whirlwind and its most powerful [[EvilSorcerer High Mage]] who gets away with his atrocities due to his power and high position. He has a disturbing taste for [[PaedoHunt little girls]] that he rapes and performs female circumcision on. In his darkest act, Bidithal captures the adopted daughter of the Whirlwind's leader, Felisin the Younger, and rapes her. He tells her he will "drink all the pleasure from your precious body, leaving naught but bitterness, naught but dead places within."

** [[TerrorHero Coltaine]] is a Fist of the Malazan Empire, a skilled and self-assured commander sent to the rebellious continent of Darujhistan to quell the brutal Whirlwind uprising. Left stranded and severely outgunned behind enemy territory, Coltaine leads a vast array of refugees on the great Chain of Dogs with [[{{Determinator}} only his strategic brilliance]] saving soldier and refugee alike, even as Coltaine sacrifices some to confound the enemy. When safety is in sight, Coltaine [[HeroicSacrifice gives his life]] to bring his Wickans against the treacherous Fist, Korbolo Dom, knowing he faces death and torture for his defiance.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Sums up everyone's behavior around Kallor. First they let the psycho into their army, then they [[BullyingADragon mock and belittle him]]. Brilliant move, people.
** Sorry/Apsalar. Multiple people have pointed out to her that [[spoiler: abandoning Cutter wasn't a great idea. Anyone who's moderately perceptive can spot either of their broken hearts immediately]].
** Basically anyone who mouths off to Karsa Orlong. The guy's a giant barbarian. What did you expect to happen?

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' doesn't always do this, but it ''did'' creep up during ''Literature/MidnightTides''. That novel depicts a war between the Tiste Edur (a nation that keeps humans as slaves and is ruled [[TheCaligula by an insane emperor]] who works for an EldritchAbomination) and Letharas (a [[TheEmpire brutal, expansionist empire]] that [[StrawCharacter takes the flaws of capitalism as far as it can]] without being PlayedForLaughs). You can't even blame one side for being the ones to initiate the war, since they're both pretty eager for it even before the first blow is struck. Sure, individual characters on both sides of the conflict can be quite sympathetic, but the outcome of the war isn't that suspenseful, 'cause you know you're gonna wind up with a regime of violent, oppressive conquerors either way.\\
The continuation of this plot after the war ends only makes it ''worse'' because the victors lack the finesse to control their new subjects, resulting in them slowly being undermined and torn apart by their supposed subjects. Things only improve after a lot of important character deaths when [[spoiler:the Tiste Edur give up and leave while Letharas gets a decent ruler]].

* CrazyAwesome: As we see in ''Literature/TheCrippledGod'', after becoming Master of the Deck, Captain Ganoes isn't afraid to come to talk to a dangerous enemy commander, just to see what person she is, and piss her off just by talking... and he gets away with it!

* SlowPacedBeginning: A common phrase said by fans to new readers of ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen''. The first book throws the reader [[InMediasRes in the deep end]] [[LostInMediasRes without so much as a "can you swim?"]], with a whole host of characters and events and expects you to run with it. After the first few hundred pages, after the reader has acclimatised themselves, the experience quickly becomes less "Huh-wha?" and more "Ooohh! That's clever." Addotionally, the first novel is considered the least well-written of the ten books in the series and is much slower going than the action and plot packed second book, ''Literature/DeadhouseGates''. Some reasons for that are that ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'' was written almost a decade before its follow-up, ''Literature/DeadhouseGates'', and was originally written as a film script before Creator/StevenErikson decided to turn it into a book.

** [[SociopathicSoldier Korbolo Dom]], who also appears in ''Literature/ReturnOfTheCrimsonGuard'', was a [[BloodKnight bloodthristy]] former Fist who betrays the Malazan Empire, slaughtering half his legion who refuse to join the Whirlwind uprising. Slaughtering civilians wherever he goes with 1,300 [[WouldHurtAChild children]] seen crucified, Korbolo Dom sets upon the 'Chain of Dogs' refugee procession to slaughter countless civilians, crucifying his former rival Coltaine in agony and later subjecting countless thousands of captives to crucifixion. Later attempting to have the Whirlwind and Malazan armies wipe one another out, Korbolo Dom rejoins the empire, blaming the Wickan tribes and trying to subject them to horrific pogroms with nothing to stand between him and his [[AmbitionIsEvil horrific ambitions]].

** [[{{Sadist}} Bidithal]] is [[EvilOldFolks an elderly member]] of the rebellious army the Whirlwind and its most powerful High Mage who gets away with his atrocities due to his power and high position. He has a disturbing taste for [[PaedoHunt little girls]] that he rapes and performs female circumcision on. In his darkest act, Bidithal captures the adopted daughter of the Whirlwind's leader, Felisin the Younger, and rapes her. He tells her he will "drink all the pleasure from your precious body, leaving naught but bitterness, naught but dead places within."

** [[{{Sadist}} Bidithal]] is [[EvilOldFolks an elderly member]] of the rebellious army the Whirlwind and its most powerful High Mage who gets away with his atrocities due to his power and high position. He has a disturbing taste for [[PaedoHunt little girls]] that he rapes and performs female circumcision on. In his darkest act, Bidithal captures the adopted daughter of the Whirlwind's leader, Felisin the Younger, and rapes her. He tells her he will "drink all the pleasure from your precious body, leaving naught but bitterness, naught but dead places within." Even the barbarian AntiHero Karsa Orlong finds Bidithal an utter blot on humanity as a whole and relishes a chance to force Bidithal to [[GroinAttack choke on]] [[KarmicDeath his pleasure]].

** Bidithal is [[EvilOldFolks an elderly member]] of the rebellious army the Whirlwind and its most powerful High Mage who gets away with his atrocities due to his power and high position. He has a disturbing taste for [[PaedoHunt little girls]] that he rapes and performs female circumcision on. In his darkest act, Bidithal captures the adopted daughter of the Whirlwind's leader, Felisin the Younger, and rapes her. He tells her he will "drink all the pleasure from your precious body, leaving naught but bitterness, naught but dead places within." Even the barbarian AntiHero Karsa Orlong finds Bidithal an utter blot on humanity as a whole and relishes a chance to force Bidithal to [[GroinAttack choke on]] [[KarmicDeath his pleasure]].

* CompleteMonster (([[Literature/DeadhouseGates Seven]] [[Literature/HouseOfChains Cities]] [[Literature/TheBonehunters arc]]):
* Bidithal is [[EvilOldFolks an elderly member]] of the rebellious army the Whirlwind and its most powerful High Mage who gets away with his atrocities due to his power and high position. He has a disturbing taste for [[PaedoHunt little girls]] that he rapes and performs female circumcision on. In his darkest act, Bidithal captures the adopted daughter of the Whirlwind's leader, Felisin the Younger, and rapes her. He tells her he will "drink all the pleasure from your precious body, leaving naught but bitterness, naught but dead places within." Even the barbarian AntiHero Karsa Orlong finds Bidithal an utter blot on humanity as a whole and relishes a chance to force Bidithal to [[GroinAttack choke on]] [[KarmicDeath his pleasure]].

* CompleteMonster: Bidithal is [[EvilOldFolks an elderly member]] of the rebellious army the Whirlwind and its most powerful High Mage who gets away with his atrocities due to his power and high position. He has a disturbing taste for [[PaedoHunt little girls]] that he rapes and performs female circumcision on. In his darkest act, Bidithal captures the adopted daughter of the Whirlwind's leader, Felisin the Younger, and rapes her. He tells her he will "drink all the pleasure from your precious body, leaving naught but bitterness, naught but dead places within." Even the barbarian AntiHero Karsa Orlong finds Bidithal an utter blot on humanity as a whole and relishes a chance to force Bidithal to [[GroinAttack choke on]] [[KarmicDeath his pleasure]].

* FandomBerserkButton: The ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' was written by Creator/StevenErikson, not Steve Erickson, Stephen Erickson, or even Erik Stevenson. To add insult to injury, a good number of people who cannot be bothered to take a look at the cover are those who claim he cannot write worth a damn.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Karsa Orlong. a Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian {{Expy}} with vastly more power and fewer redeeming qualities. Oh, and he also rapes people repeatedly in his introduction story, while calling them 'children', though they're adults, due to the difference in size between his race and theirs. And yes, the effect of HotSkittyOnWailordAction is fairly graphically focused on. He himself considers his own actions the epitome of heroism and everyone not willing to follow in his footsteps a coward. As you might expect, this makes him ''slightly'' controversial. However, Karsa Orlong is intended to be a deconstruction of the BarbarianHero archetype and is not intended to be sympathetic (at least at first), as per WordOfGod ([[http://www.steven-erikson.com/index.php/the-problem-of-karsa-orlong/ which can be read here]]). As for his tendency to rape people, this goes away as he undergoes CharacterDevelopment and his motivations become more nuanced and thoughtful, inasmuch as they can be with Karsa Orlong, and he switches from rape and murder to wanting to destroy civilization as a whole. Even fans of the character don't find him sympathetic when first introduced and some readers remain staunch haters of Karsa Orlong to the end.

* BaseBreaker: Karsa Orlong. A Canon Sue, while ''also'' being a Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian {{Expy}} with vastly more power and fewer redeeming qualities. Oh, and he also rapes people repeatedly in his introduction story, while calling them 'children', though they're adults, due to the difference in size between his race and theirs. And yes, the effect of HotSkittyOnWailordAction is fairly graphically focused on. He himself considers his own actions the epitome of heroism and everyone not willing to follow in his footsteps a coward. As you might expect, this makes him ''slightly'' controversial. However, Karsa Orlong is intended to be a deconstruction of the BarbarianHero archetype and is not intended to be sympathetic (at least at first), as per WordOfGod ([[http://www.steven-erikson.com/index.php/the-problem-of-karsa-orlong/ which can be read here]]). As for his tendency to rape people, this goes away as he undergoes CharacterDevelopment and his motivations become more nuanced and thoughtful, inasmuch as they can be with Karsa Orlong, and he switches from rape and murder to wanting to destroy civilization as a whole. Even fans of the character don't find him sympathetic when first introduced and some readers remain staunch haters of Karsa Orlong to the end.

** The Crippled God himself, whose long imprisonment would probably have driven anyone mad. All he really wants is to get home. When [[spoiler:he's freed]] he turns out to be quite nice and actually [[spoiler:assists the heroes in saving the world from the [[BiggerBad Otataral Dragon]]]], not to mention potentially being [[NarratorAllAlong the narrator of the whole series]].

* ArchivePanic: The series consists of ten main volumes (each of which is a {{Doorstopper}} in its own right), a separate series of six novels by co-creator Ian Cameron Esslemont, a [[{{Prequel}} prequel]] trilogy two-thirds published as of 2016, another prequel trilogy by Ian Cameron Esslemont (of which one volume has been published as of 2016), and six novellas. All in all, that's 25 books, with more on the way. That, and the fact that there are two authors writing in the verse, is enough to trigger CommitmentAnxiety in the casual reader.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

** If that's not bad enough, Rel crosses it again only a few pages later when he betrays Aren to the Army of the Apocalypse, resulting in 10,000 soldiers being crucified and left to die.