The Seven Cities Rebellion has been crushed. Sha'ik is dead. One last rebel force remains, holed up in the city of Y'Ghatan and under the fanatical command of Leoman of the Flails. The prospect of laying siege to this ancient fortress makes the battle-weary Malaz 14th Army uneasy. For it was here that the Empire's greatest champion Dassem Ultor was slain and a tide of Malazan blood spilled. A place of foreboding, its smell is of death.  But elsewhere, agents of a far greater conflict have made their opening moves. The Crippled God has been granted a place in the pantheon, a schism threatens and sides must be chosen. Whatever each god decides, the ground-rules have changed, irrevocably, terrifyingly and the first blood spilled will be in the mortal world.  A world in which a host of characters, familiar and new, including Heboric Ghost Hands, the possessed Apsalar, Cutter, once a thief now a killer, the warrior Karsa Orlong and the two ancient wanderers Icarium and Mappo--each searching for such a fate as they might fashion with their own hands, guided by their own will. If only the gods would leave them alone. But now that knives have been unsheathed, the gods are disinclined to be kind. There shall be war, war in the heavens. And, the prize? Nothing less than existence itself...  Here is the stunning new chapter in Steven Erikson magnificent Malazan Book of the Fallen--hailed as an epic of the imagination and acknowledged as a fantasy classic in the making.

"'The weighty and grim sixth installment of Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen (chronologically following 2006's House of Chains, with references to 2007 tie-in Midnight Tides) is named for a newly minted company in the Malazan 14th Army, forged in a daring and nearly fatal effort to escape a city destroyed by fire by burrowing through its skeletal underbelly. The Bonehunters' return from the dead is a theme that appears throughout this volume, as the prophetess Sha'ik dies and is reborn as a plague maiden, warriors recover from hideous wounds, and seer Ganoes Paran strikes a bargain with the dread god Hood that just might end up saving the world. Erikson brings the bulk of his enormous cast together in one volume for the first time, an effort designed to keep fans engaged as myriad plot lines tangle and sprawl over an increasingly bleak and war-ravaged landscape. (Sept.)' Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

The sixth volume in Steven Erikson's truly epic fantasy sequence, The Malazan Book of the Fallen.

There's nothing like sweeping up tag-ends to change the world. The Seven Cities Rebellion has been crushed. Sha'ik slain by Tavore, the Malazan forces pacifying city after city on the troubled subcontinent, and one last rebel army, under the reluctant, embittered command of Leoman of the Flails, is pursued to the ancient and infamous city of Y'Ghatan by Tavore and the Fourteenth Army. Dogged by self-doubt and ill omens, the 14th must lay siege to the city, and Adjunct Tavore must seek to outwit Leoman of the Flails, the deadliest foe she has ever faced.

Into this fraught scenario come both new and familiar characters. Among the latter, Heboric Ghost Hands, journeying to redress an old wrong. Apsalar, haunted by possession and now the principal agent of Cotillion, Patron of Assassins, marking a trail with blood and dripping daggers. Cutter, the killer who had once been a thief in Darujhistan, fleeing a shattered heart. Karsa Orlong, a warrior hunting his destiny. And two old friends, traveling companions, Mappo and Icarium, wandering once more the ravaged wastelands, Icarium seeking the ancient truths of his own life, Mappo seeking to keep those truths from him, at all costs.

All, searching for such fates as they might fashion with their own hands, guided by their own will. If only the gods would leave them alone. Alas, the gods are disinclined to be kind, now that knives have been unsheathed, and there shall be war, war in the heavens.

"From the Trade Paperback edition.

The sixth volume in Eriksons truly epic fantasy sequence begins as The Seven Cities Rebellion has been crushed. Dogged by self-doubt and ill omens, the 14th Army must lay siege to the city, and Adjunct Tavore must seek to outwit Leoman of the Flails, the deadliest foe she has ever faced.

STEVEN ERIKSON is an archaeologist and anthropologist and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His previous novels in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series--Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, and Midnight Tides--have met with widespread international acclaim and established him as a major voice in the world of fantasy fiction. He lives in Canada.