‘The God is Not Willing’ – Steven Erikson (Transworld)

It took me a long time but I got there in the end :o) I used to be a big fan of ‘The Malazan Book of the Fallen’ but, for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with the books, burnt out on the series a long time ago. I’ve tried a few times since but have never been able to finish the series. That might just be about to change though… I finished ‘Dancer’s Lament’ not so long ago (another first, the first Ian Cameron Esslemont ‘Malazan’ book I’ve read, review to follow) and to go with that, I finished reading ‘The God is Not Willing’ a couple of days ago. I’ve got a couple of books that I want to read first but I’m starting to think that a re-read of ‘The Malazan Book of the Fallen’ could well be on the cards. In the meantime though, let me tell you a little about ‘The God is Not Willing’. Given my recent track record, I must be the last person to the party but in the event that I’m not and you’re wondering whether to give this book a go… Definitely give this book a go.

Many years have passed since three Teblor warriors brought carnage and chaos to Silver Lake.
Now the tribes of the north no longer venture into the southlands. The town has recovered and yet the legacy remains. Indeed, one of the three, Karsa Orlong, is now revered as a god, albeit an indifferent one. In truth, many new religions have emerged and been embraced across the Malazan world. There are those who worship Coltaine, the Black-Winged Lord, and the cult of Iskar Jarak, Guardian of the Dead, is popular among the Empire's soldiery.

Responding to reports of a growing unease among the tribes beyond the border, a legion of Malazan marines marches towards Silver Lake. They aren't quite sure what they're going to be facing, but, while the Malazan military has evolved and these are not the marines of old, one thing hasn't changed: they'll handle whatever comes at them. Or die trying.

And in those high mountains, a new warleader has risen amongst the Teblor. Scarred by the deeds of Karsa Orlong, he intends to confront his god even if he has to cut a bloody swathe through the Malazan Empire to do so.

But further north, a new threat has emerged and now it seems it is the Teblor who are running out of time. Another long-feared migration is about to begin and this time it won't just be three warriors. No, this time tens of thousands are poised to pour into the lands to the south. And in their way, a single company of Malazan marines…

It seems the past is about to revisit Silver Lake, and that is never a good thing...

Lets start off with some good news for newcomers to the Malazan books and people like me coming back after a long break. You’re undeniably going to get a lot more out of ‘The God is Not Willing’ if you’ve already read some, or all, of the main series but if you haven’t, it’s not the end of the world. Erikson is very generous here with loads of links back to previous books but also a whole load of new ‘hooks’ for new and returning readers to get their teeth into. For me personally, it was really interesting to see how the Malazan empire has grown (in more ways than one) but also how events from the past can still have a big impact. In that respect, it feels like this book is, in part at least, an attempt by Erikson to really face up to some of the more problematic activities of Karsa Orlong and what he got up to in particular in ‘House of Chains’. It’s a move that worked from where I was sat. Even if Karsa is indifferent to a lot at the moment, the consequences of his actions are already building up and he will have no chance but to face them soon. Rant’s journey is more than compelling in that respect and I’m looking forward to seeing where Erikson takes us next. In the meantime, Erikson injects a hopeful note into his narrative that is a pleasure to follow. Yes, the world is a dark place and bad things inevitably happy to people who did nothing but be in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is good though and people who want to make things right for no other reason than that they are able to. Just the kind of thing you want to read after a shit day.

Which brings me onto the Malazan marines, there to do a job but also to do the right thing by the people they are sworn to protect, even at great personal cost to themselves. If you’ve read other Malazan books then you’ll know that this is what the marines do, it’s who they are, and some of what they get up to here is easily on a par with ‘Deadhouse Gates’; it just somehow resonates more as we’re watching battles at a far more personal level than normal. It’s only to be expected as there are hardly any marines to start off with.

And again, if you’ve enjoyed spending time with Malazan marines in the past, you can rest assured that the quality of conversation remains the same, plenty to laugh at but also plenty to make you think too. Having said that though, and this applies to the book as a whole, Erikson is a lot more to the point in these conversations (and with the plot too). There’s no rambling discourse and when things happen, there’s not the huge lead-up that long term readers may have expected. I’ve got to say, I really appreciated that approach. It made the book far more accessible and really helped with the pacing too. ‘The God is not Willing’ isn’t a book where you slog to the end and congratulate yourself for making it; it’s a book where its relative (it is an Erikson book after all) brevity really lets you focus on all the good stuff that it’s doing, which is all of it.

‘The God is Not Willing’ was a superb read and if this is the standard now, I’m very excited to see where this new series goes next. Like I said at the top of this post, it’s got me seriously thinking about that re-read...