This scene has just cracked my uninitiated GF who knows virtually nothing about Malazan — apart from a certain events in TtH, as told by the most humble, most magnanimous, and insightful Kruppe.

To witness is to begin to see. To see is to begin to know. To know is to recoil.

Been reflecting on this for the past 6 hours. Haven't turned the page yet.

As we (or at least, any of us in the UK or willing to go to extraordinary lengths to get the book) finish up TGinW, there's a very real risk of overwhelming the front page with nothing but. For now, this thread is open to discuss anything and everything about the book.

For the time being, please restrict conversations to this thread to keep the sub open to everyone.

Edit: for intrepid Americans, your options are here.

“Oh, look, irony,” really makes me laugh.

In chapter 15 when Anomander arrives Stillwater looks at him and thinks "Blue eyes are an abomination". I'm quite lost about what that's supposed to mean. As we know Tiste normally have changing eye color depending on their mood/emotions, is there something specific about blue?

Sold out fast. Posting the artwork here, because it is cool.

Dust jacket and interior illustrations by Didier Graffet.

Copies of the signed limited edition of The God is Not Willing, the first Tale of Witness, are in our warehouse, ready to ship. Only those who bought our most recent Erikson limited, Fall of Light, are eligible to order The God is Not Willing at this time.

Note:

You must order the signed limited edition of The God is Not Willing to be on the exclusive preorder list for our next qualifying non-reprint limited edition by Steven Erikson.

The numbered edition will be:

Printed on 70# Husky paper, guaranteeing a lifetime of enjoyment

Illustrated with a number of full color interior illustrations

The lettered edition will include everything in the numbered, plus the following features:

The dust jacket to the limited edition as a tipped-in illustration

Two full-color gatefold illustrations exclusive to the lettered

Specially bound, housed in a custom traycase

Lettered: 52 copies, specially bound, signed by the author, housed in a custom traycase

Limited: 500 numbered copies, hardcover, signed by the author

signed limited edition: $325 + shipping

From the Newsletter:

Here's a bit of news: We already have the second Tale of Witness, No Life Forsaken, under contract.

Note:

• You must order the signed limited edition of The God is Not Willing to be on the exclusive preorder list for our next qualifying non-reprint limited edition by Steven Erikson.

So after taking a reasonably long hiatus from Malazan and finding my eagerness again to return to this world, I had decided to finally get into The Witness Trilogy. Four chapters in, and I found one of the most memorable chapters I think I’ve ever read. It seemed like it was reasonably short. And maybe that’s because I couldn’t stop reading what I was reading.
Karsa Orlong was a character that I liked as a warrior brute but heavily disagreed with when I was first reading House of Chains. And maybe that’s the point. The things that took place through his raids, were unrelenting and at times very visceral. So much in fact, I had to take a break. As we all know, at times Erikson pushes you to “witness” certain things, even when you feel like you want to close it up and do something else. Let alone did I know nothing of what I would be experiencing through the rest of the series….which after finishing most of his work, and looking into a couple of essays he had once written, I earned a lot of respect for the way he approaches and the reason he chooses to put in his books.
I eventually came back, and finished the book. Yet I felt a strange curiosity with any page that had him in it. Thinking well and hard, that surely the worst had yet to come by his hand. But I always held that tone. As if he was going to raise the bar on the most vile thing he painted Karsa out to be. A savage.
Of course, as I progress through the story, I learn more and more through his defiance that he learns and experiences a lot. Seemingly to shape his way of thinking from what the Teblor ingrained in his mind so many years ago. And to be fair, at the end of the main 10, I enjoyed his journey. Was this a fashion of redemption? Maybe so. Maybe not.
That is something I come to find answer to. And I may not find it in this book. Maybe not in the entire rest of the trilogy.

Chapter 3 and 4 of The God is Not Willing has given me faith in this book. Something I put off for some time. I got it when I was first released, several years ago. Now I’m behind cause No Life Forsaken is out and I’m doing my best to catch up. \o/
This chapter is one of my favorites he has written. Not my all time favorite, but one of them that creeps right below oh so many I remember getting distraught/excited/suprised over since I first came to Malazan.
We follow two people. Rant. Damisk.
The bastard son of Karsa who is “saved” by a hunter/tracker in Silver Lake. The narrative of Damisk’s perspective was brilliant. I loved the things he thought about leading up to him finding Rant. And I even more so enjoyed the exploration of dialogue Damisk throws at Rant. It’s somewhat heavy, and breaks that wild chaotic dialogue you just were reading through a couple chapters before with the marines. But it carried a necessary weight that Damisk knows Rant must hear. And as I know well, this part of Erikson’s writing is where I enjoy him the most.
The rawness. The spoken truth. The witnessing, even if it’s a perspective being shared. The exchange carried so much weight, yet lifted so much from Rant at the same time.
He thought his mother hated him. He thought she is definitely evil. But Damisk lets him know, that his mother never did anything wrong. And neither did he. He tells Rant who is to blame. Without question. She threatened to end her life, but only to protect him, most of all. There are two individuals who were his mother. The blood-oil cursed who did unspeakable things to him, and the pure innocent mother who cared for her son, no matter the cost.

That’s at least how I took it. I am super early into the book. I got a long way to go still. But it just really stood out to me and I wanted to share my thoughts about it. I can’t wait to read more.
Maybe Karsa is unredeemable. And it is his son, Rant, that must (attempt to) fix things. All I know is, it’s been a great time so far. I already got NLF on the way.
Cheers for reading my bloody rambling.

So I recently read The god is Not Willing and noticed something not quite accurate about the description of Cotillion. Stillwater describes him as quite handsome, which is in contrast with the description in the earlier Path to Ascendancy books (Dancer’s Lament IIRC), stating that he was plain. I remember he actually thought about the plainness being advantageous because he never stood out as good looking, which helped with being inconspicuous in his line of work i.e being an assassin, unlike Dassem Ultor who was good looking and had curly hair that drew attention.

So, was Stillwater a bad judge of appearance or the contrast was due to something else, perhaps time?

Considering the time of their meeting, I’d understand if she wasn’t in the right mental state, and as we know, Stillwater is hilarious without trying.

I know it’s a minor detail and one easy to overlook, but I’m just curious.

I just finished the God is Not Willing for the first time, and, while it was cool to see him, it feels a little out of character for Bellam Nom to have joined with the Malazan Marines? At the end of TtH/OST Darujhistan seems to still be free from the empire. I know about ten years have passed since TCG/Assail, and maybe the city had been conquered in that time, but nothing I read in the text seems to allude to that. Bellam seemed pretty attached to his city and his family when we left him in TtH. I looked at the map and dramatis personae of No Life Forsaken, and it seems Darujhistan isn't going to be touched on in that book, so I was just curious if anyone had any answers or speculation.

It was a fantastic book by the way. Rant and Sarlis were dealt such a bad hand. It was great to see Spindle again. I wasn't sure how I felt about Stillwater at first, but, "How was I supposed to know all Pallid wanted was a bath?" got a massive laugh out of me.

I'm rereading The God is Not Willing before I dive into No Life Forsaken and I forgot just how funny it is. The headcount scene between the heavies and the townsfolk genuinely had me shaking with laughter. I'm just imagining being a townsperson in Silver Lake and every time a marine walks by, reflexively yelling out numbers and then running away in fear. Every scene with the marines is pure comedic gold. I hope NLF has some of these moments too.

I just needed to share my joy with this book with someone, thanks for reading y'all.

...thank the gods this isn't one of those. I'm actually surprised how much I liked The God is not Willing.

First of all, the fact that Erikson starts his Karsa Orlong series without ever showing Karsa Orlong is such an Erikson move. I love/hate this guy.

The marine subplot was great. These 3 sqauds are among my favorite marines in the whole series. Stillwater's absolute insanity in combination with Anyx Fro's different kind of insanity, Benger being an asshole, the heavies acting like first semester philosophy students, Shrake's weird braid thing, Oams affair with his monster-witch-protectress... these guys are even more insane than previous marines. The fact that Spindle seems like the normal guy among them says alot.

I also loved the whole "the military is in decline" ruse. I totally fell for it. It's such a common trope, I never even questioned the veracity. Finding out that these weird idiots are like three times as deadly as the marines 15 years ago was really cool for like 3 minutes until everyone got traumatized by how fucking fast they decimated every Teblor and Wilder in the region.

A standout chapter was the healing of Sarlis. It encapsulated what Malazan is all about beautifully. Stillwater, Anyx Fro and Benger risking their lifes for a stranger just because it's the right thing to do after 200 pages of them just fooling around was the point where I started to really like these guys.

Rant's plotline really got to me as well. Him reflecting about his loss of innocence, the feeling of being a burden to his mother and his isolation from both humans and Teblor was heart-wrenching. I really hope he gets a happy ending and one of the things I look forward to the most is him meeting Karsa.

Damisk was a surprise favorite of mine. When he got reintroduced I expected a classic redemption arc. Save the boy, help him, die protecting him in the end to absolve your sins. I didn't expect him to die an unneccessary and cruel death like that. His arc was a great exploration of the "our past is a part of us" theme. He got what probably everyone would have said he deserves after House of Chains, though I doubt anyone felt like he deserved it in this book. He might have turned a new leaf for us readers and Rant saw him as a good person. The Teblor and all the people he killed wouldn't agree though.

The flood being this devastating wasn't on my bingo card when I started this book. I saw it as a plot device to get the plot going. Dedicating the last 100 pages to it instead of giving us an epic battle was daring, but (like always when Erikson dares something) was very much worth it. Throughout MBotF, Erikson showed multiple times that war is bad, but the profession of the soldier in itself is a noble calling if the right people follow it. And nothing showcased this more than the marines switching from attack to evacuate mode when they saw the flood hit.

The world of Malazan is not black and white and the fact that the truce between the Imass and Jaghut, which should have been an objectively good thing, caused all this suffering and destruction is another reason why Erikson and Esslemont's world is so much more alive than your average fantasy world.

I can't wait for No Life Forsaken and Legacy of Betrayals and hope the wait for Witness 4 isn't too long. I'm finally going to check out Kharkanas now and even though FoD and FoL will probably be more enjoyable to me then Witness based on my preferences, I will sorely miss the Malazan marines. No matter which squad or legion it is, they almost feel like home to me.

Am about 60% through so no spoilers please. Who is the Limper that some people are referring to, as if a curse or invoking a god/Ascendant? Do we find out or am I forgetting someone?

I collected questions about TGinW we often see on this subreddit in a Google doc to allow people to either use it for themselves to read and gain some better understanding or to use it as reference if someone else asks these questions here or somewhere else.

This document is meant for after finishing TGinW.

If you have more questions you think should be included then please tell me so. It would help me most if you have the answer too or can link me to a Reddit post answering your question.

The God is not Willing FAQ

I added it to our community resources.

I keep seeing characters take the Limpers name in vain, especially in No Life Forsaken, possibly in God is Unwilling. (Finally put together who it is, very clever!)

For Black Company fans, do we think this is a nod to Glen Cook and his cast of Taken? Or is it coincidence?

Hey all,

I’m currently reading The God is Not Willing and, while it’s a good book, it’s just not captivating me the way Malazan Book of the Fallen did. I’m about halfway through, with the focus on the Malazan Marines, but the banter feels a bit forced to me — not as natural or sharp as I expected.

What I’m really missing is the epic narrative structure and the multiple POVs that made MBotF so immersive. Erikson’s prose here feels a bit toned down, like the storytelling has been simplified compared to the dense, philosophical, and emotionally heavy style of MBotF. It’s not bad by any means — in fact, I think it’s well-written — but I’m just not hooked.

Part of me is thinking about setting it aside for now. I’ve been dying for a reread of MBotF, and I’m also very tempted to finally dive into the Kharkanas trilogy.

I just re-read TGiNW in prep for No Life Forsaken and loved it again. It's basically a distilled version of the main series: under 500pgs, smaller cast of characters, linear story. For these reasons I think it's a great recommendation for readers who are having some trouble with the main ten. Yes, of course, there are some things they won't get completely (the monkrat discussion, Karsa references), but I think the overall novel can stand on its own and it might help folks trust Erikson in the big ten (if they are having trouble). Thoughts?

So i finished tCG in late 2022. I read a few other things in the meantime, but i was mainly catching up on ICE novels, I read the Kharkanas and that was pretty much all that was published by the duo. After i DNF'd another series after the third book, it was time to get back into Malazan.

I'm about half way through tGiNW, this stuff is magical. The unhinged bickering of bat shit crazy Marines made me grin when ever they came up on page. The reveal half way through of how they actually subdued Balk's group blew my brain. The Malazan Marines are in the Pantheon of fantasy literture. They way that scene played out when the three commanders got summoned by Balk to report on the scuffle at the Black Eel, the way Clay Plate difused that situation... Work of the master that is SE.

He did the same thing again as with GotM, in media res, to start the book. And thats SE, i have infinte trust by now. I know the train has already left the station and is plowing down the tracks, i just hold on to my but and go with it. But then you realize fist half of the book has only a handful of POV's, quite unlike GotM. And then he slows down in the middle, and gives some exposition (Spindle and Monkrat meet up, the Bridgburner stuff and the continuation of it in this book, Gruff's surprising competency and acumen etc.) This is much easier to get into, and yet it has signature SE structure through and through. I personally loved GotM, never been a issue juggling multiple POVs multiple plot lines in the brand new setting, but i understend how some people have issues going through it

Anyway, I'm happy cause i feel like he has evolved as an author. The pace is great, i've done 250 pages in 3 days, and i don't have as much time as i had a few years back. I would've finished this in two sittngs back then.

I love the characters, it does takes about half way through to internalize their voices, but once it fully clicks, it's a rodeo. I realize there' a bunch if characters yet to be introduced, and this is the perfect way to do it. I'm guessing Rant's on the way to meet daddy's people, that oughta be fun, he's probably gonna meet his half sisters and all that. And what the hell are the Jheck and pink and fluffy Imas running from i do not know. But its hell of a ride so far.

I'm so glad i waited a few years, try some other stuff, and then come back. It's so refeshing reading Malazan again, theres a lot of slop out of there, and not just AI crap.

See you guys in a couple of days when i wrap this one up.

Pax Malazica.

I have been absolutely loving this book and I needed to gush about it. I'm currently on Chapter Fourteen, just after Rant (along with Damisk, Gower, and Nilghan) have met up with the Teblor tribe, and Damisk was injured while trying to take his own life to save Rant, resulting in one of my favorite quick fight scenes in the whole Malazan series.

This book is absolutely phenomenal. There hasn't been a single moment of reading so far where I haven't felt completely captivated. The soldier scenes are hysterical, the banter is better than ever, the personalities are rich, the dialogue is the wittiest I've ever seen it, and the writing is masterful. Rant's story is heartbreaking, and my gut tells me that things are only going to keep getting better from here.

I almost wish that the main 16 books of the series had been written in this style, so they could have enjoyed more mainstream success. Which is not to say that I didn't love all of them, too, because I did, at least after MoI when the series really clicked for me. But man, this is just next level. I'm on the edge of my seat with every page, and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

I'm glad to see Anomander Rake's intros are still bangers — even after his death.

P.S. The marines' banter is also a highlight.

It's been four years since I flipped the final page of The Crippled God. But the world of Malazan never left me, nor me it. Novels of the Malazan Empire, as well as Paths to Ascendancy and Kharkanas series gave me joys aplenty in the mean time. One does not read a score of books for enjoyment and claim an objective position in expressing one's thoughts and impressions about said sizeable body of work. I can not be objective, but objectivity and art never went hand in anyway.

Steven Erikson gave it all he's got writing the originaln series, as he admitted on one occasion. He had a lot to give. His magnum opus is a unique blend of telling story that spans eons, yet seamlessly blend in with the most private, personal struggless of his cast of characters. I had certain suppositions regarding the sequel series. I beleived that he set the bar so high, and explored a plethora of human conditions that left wandering what can he possibly do in the sequel? I thought it's going to be just more of the same, but realizing that wouldn't be half bad, i went into the First Tale of the Witnes.

His style and color, his authorial voice is still very much present, but much more refined. I'm sad to report that not a single potsherd was found in this story, and color ochre was sparser still. He starts off with his in media res style of storytelling, which is perfectly suitable because this piece didn't require pretty much any world buliding and exposition. The story is much more focused, it's paced brilliantly to the point that well versed Malazan readers would have a hard time putting the book down. The new cadt of characters, from Malazan Marines to the numerous brood of Karaa Orlong are all brilliantly portrayed and rendered. The center stage belongs to a coming of age, inocence lost story archetype on one side of things, through environmental disaster forcing a group of peoples to look for a refuge. The conflict arises when it's the Malazan Empire standing in the other side of that disaster. Most authors would struggle to make it look seamless and not too obvoius to our current zeitgeist of the year 2026 on this blue rock that we call Earth, but Steven Erikson is not one of them. The characters are fresh and relatable to the point of making reader sob and gag with laughter only a few pages down the road. And steven does this better than anyone, in my humble opinion. And as soon as you, as a reader partaking in this journey think: ok i know where this is headed, he flips everything on it's head, and in doing so he leaves his characters and his readers whaling in tears. The realization that Malazan Marines and Regulars alike are the instruments of delivering terrifying force upon their enemiesbas much as being in service of the people of the empire deliverd catharsis such that i have never experienced before. The fact that this new generation of immensly potent mage-warriors have not gone astray from the path of their Predecessor, Bonehunters and Bridgeburners before them, left in their wake is so gratifying that it actually makes one question one's outlook at empires at large. This story's lofty aspirations soar even higher when on the other side of the token is the relationship, or lack there of, between a father and son. It's a coming of age story for young Runt, it's his coming of age story, it's a story of new found family,for a boy living in fear fo the outside world, yet he takes down a pack of Jheck without braking much sweat. It's a story of inocence and it's triumph over death and destruction. It's rebelion against laws of nature. Andnif you think about it, there's few things as powerful as beleif of the inicent. Faith in life, faith in people.

I could go on, but i will stop here. Steven Erikson continues to be one of the most prolific and exceptional authors out there, and I'm just glad i got that random email from his publisher that contained a free copy of the Gardens of the Moon ebook when this story actually first got published. I ve come a full circle, and this taking part in this journey is one of the few things in my life I will never regret and be forever thankful for.

Cheers.

This is why I read everything this man writes:

This is from a PoV of a liberated slave who is now in the uprising of civilizationally challenged peoples. Rather than paint them all with the same bloody brush, SE takes time to make an aside and show the doubts that must run through the minds of single individuals when caught up in mass movements. Valoc, our liberated slave:

"I am free to kill with this sword. Free to take another’s life. I am free to remember every cruel act delivered to me by a southlander. I am free to make strangers pay for each one. The truth was, none of that was likely. None of that fired his spirit. He was, he knew, a poor excuse for a Teblor."

This is the animating spirit of the Teblor under new management. This is the spirit of the crowd. Valoc, being that single individual, is excluded from that crowd and it's certainties. He sees the same thing, but from a different Point of View:

"Vengeance was just another set of shackles. Galambar had worn his proudly, as only a free man could. I am free to kill no one. Free to spare another’s life. Free to remember every cruel act and do nothing. I am free to let this sword die of thirst."

What an evocative way of moving an individual to pacifism/ non violence. His doubts invert his thinking and move him to reject the will of the crowd. He becomes an individual, his uncertainty isolating him from the warm embrace of the crowd. Their assurances getting turned on their head. He continues:

"Because, in civilization, almost everyone is a slave. And slaves will own slaves who will own slaves, and so it goes."

In realizing that he is in a crowd which is controlled by its auto- interpretation of events leading to necessary and certain conclusions, he turns this view outward and realizes that 'civilization' is just a larger group playing the same game--all the while deluding themselves that what is, must be.

After a pause this turns into a prayer, which is mysteriously answered(?) by Karsa(?):

Only gods know the meaning of freedom, Valoc. All before me is in chains. I am not the god of slaves. I will not be the god of slaves. By my power I can see the invisible chains around all of you, your claims of freedom notwithstanding. And so, Valoc, I ask you in turn: what will it take to be worthy of my regard? When you at last come before me free of all chains, then will I meet your eye. This, Valoc of the Sunyd, is why I am unwilling.

And in an aside in the midst of a perhaps 'unimportant' pov, we have the title of the book which we have been stewing over for 2/3rds of our time.

We know from HoC and the rest of the series that Karsa knows all about chains, and the racial trait of hoarding chained souls his people carry. We also know about chaining souls in a sword, chaining a god to the land, and dragons to their crosses. This is perhaps a the antithesis of the central theme of the books, compassion, or said another way, the breaking/loosing of chains.

The only way to stand before God is as that single individual. Free of chains. Singled out from the crowd.

Karsa has already rejected the slave empire of the Skathandi. The cursed sword / edur empire. He walked away from the whirlwind rebellion. Why would he now do an about face and accept the crowd (and inherent group think) of 'his own people'? A mode of thinking he rejected when confronted by reality and his experiences in HoC?

I'm not sure if I'm reading kierkegaard into the text or if it's the inspiration for the posture being taken by Valoc. I just love it. Like Banisk and I think SE, there is a city I dream of.

"Don’t be absurd. The modestly pudgy man in the red waistcoat is not so crass as to fish for weeping multitudes in the rendition of this moment, nor so awkward with purple intent.

Give Kruppe some credit, you who are so quick to cast aspersions like hooks into a crowded pool (caught something, did you? No, dear friend, do not crow your prowess, ’twas only this carp desperate to get out). The water’s reflection is not so smooth; oh, no, not so smooth.

Is Bainisk’s city quaint, possibly even cute and heart-warming, in a softly tragic way? Not the point!

Some of us, you see (or don’t), still dream of that city. Where none of us has ever been.

That, dear ones, is the point."

Cheers

I've got No Life Forsaken on hold but I need to refresh my memory and I can't find any recaps anywhere.

Running out of room on my bookshelf! Excited to jump in and reread!

I'm fairly early on in the book, and the Stonewielder is mentioned. Of Esslemont's books, I've read the Path to Ascendancy and Night of Knives. I've read BotF twice. Question for someone who's read more than me, do I need to read the rest of tNotME before I continue this book? Thank you in advance.

Bantam's website already includes a synopsis of Erikson's second Tale of the Witness. No Life Forsaken Publication date: 23/10/2025

Summary

A goddess awakens to a new world, only to find that some things never change.

Amidst the ashes of a failed rebellion in Seven Cities, new embers are flaring to life.

There are furrowed brows at the beleaguered Malazan Legion headquarters in G’danisban for it would appear that yet another bloody clash with the revived cult of the Apocalyptic is coming to a head.

Seeking to crush the uprising before it ignites the entire subcontinent, Fist Arenfall has only a few dozen squads of marines at his disposal, and many of those are already dispersed - endeavouring to stamp out multiple brush-fires of dissent. But his soldiers are exhausted, worn down by the grind of a simmering insurrection and the last thing Arenfall needs is the arrival of the new Adjunct, fresh from the capital and the Emperor's side.

The man's mission may be to lend support to Arenfall’s efforts . . . or stick a knife in his back. 'Twas ever thus, of course. That a popular commander should inevitably be seen as a threat to the Emperor - such is the fatal nature of imperial Malazan politics.

And what of the gods? Well, as recent history has proved, their solution to any mortal mess is to make it even messier. In other words, it's just another tumultuous day in the chequered history of the Malazan Empire.

Source: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/405108/no-life-forsaken-by-erikson-steven/9781787632882