You’ve probably seen the memes about how hard it is to get into Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen. People talk about it like it’s a homework assignment from a professor who hates you. But honestly? The "difficulty" isn't the magic systems or the 300,000 years of history. It’s the sheer weight of the Malazan book of the fallen characters—nearly 700 named ones across ten massive books—and the fact that the guy you think is the protagonist might catch a stray arrow and die three pages later.
It’s brutal. It’s chaotic. It’s also the most rewarding character work in modern fantasy.
Most readers go in expecting a hero’s journey. They want a Frodo or a Rand al'Thor. Instead, Erikson gives you a mosaic. You’re looking at a single tile—say, a cynical sapper named Fiddler—and you think, "Okay, this is my guy." Then the camera pans out, and you realize Fiddler is just one soldier in an army of thousands, all of whom are being manipulated by gods who are themselves being manipulated by even older, grumpier gods.
The Myth of the "Main" Character
If you look at the raw data, Ganoes Paran technically has the most POV time across the series. He’s the first character we meet in the prologue of Gardens of the Moon. Naturally, you assume he’s the Chosen One.
He isn't. Not really.
Paran is the "Master of the Deck," which sounds like a high-fantasy version of a casino manager, but his role is actually to be a reluctant witness. He’s the guy trying to keep the rules of reality from falling apart while everyone else is busy trying to stab each other.
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Then there’s Fiddler. If the series has a soul, it’s him. He’s a bridgeburner, a sapper who specializes in blowing things up with Moranth munitions. He’s also the ultimate "soldier’s soldier." While gods are throwing mountains at each other, Fiddler is worried about his squad’s boots and whether they have enough water. That’s the Malazan secret sauce: the cosmic and the mundane sitting right next to each other.
Why Power Levels Don't Matter
Reddit loves a good power-scaling thread. Who wins: Anomander Rake or Icarium?
In any other series, the answer would define the plot. In Malazan, "power" is usually a curse. Anomander Rake, the Son of Darkness, carries a sword called Dragnipur that literally chains the souls of its victims to a massive wagon they have to pull through a pocket dimension for eternity.
Sounds cool? Rake hates it. He’s spent centuries being depressed about it.
Then you have Icarium, a half-Jaghut who is basically a walking nuclear bomb. When he gets angry, civilizations disappear. But the tragedy is that he never remembers it. He wakes up in the ruins of a city with no memory of what he did, accompanied by his loyal friend Mappo Trell, whose entire job is to keep Icarium from finding out the truth. It’s not a "cool" power; it's a horror story.
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The Paran Siblings: A Study in Heartbreak
The Paran family is basically the "Main Characters" for the first half of the series, but their arcs are wildly different. Ganoes becomes a near-god. Tavore, the sister, becomes the Adjunct to the Empress. Felisin, the youngest, gets sent to a slave mine.
Most people hate Felisin when they first read Deadhouse Gates. She’s bitter, she’s cruel, and she’s a "victim" who refuses to be likable. But that’s the point. Erikson isn't writing a Disney princess; he’s writing a teenage girl who has been systematically broken by the world. By the time her story concludes in House of Chains, most readers realize they weren't watching a villain origin story—they were watching a tragedy where nobody won.
Tavore is even weirder. We almost never get her POV. We see her through the eyes of her soldiers, the Bonehunters. To them, she’s a cold, emotionless statue who is marching them to their deaths in a desert.
The payoff for Tavore is one of the most emotional moments in literature. It turns out she was carrying a heavier burden than anyone, and she did it all without ever asking for sympathy.
The Comedy Duo You Didn't See Coming
If all of this sounds too heavy, don't worry. There’s Tehol Beddict and Bugg.
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Basically, Tehol is a genius who decided to collapse the entire economy of a kingdom because he was bored and lived in a hen-house. Bugg is his manservant who is actually [SPOILER REDACTED]. Their banter is the only thing that keeps the middle books from being a total depression-fest.
What You Actually Need to Know
Look, you’re going to get confused. That’s part of the experience.
When you encounter a new Malazan book of the fallen character, don't try to memorize their genealogy. Just focus on what they want. Usually, they just want to survive the day, have a drink with their friends, or maybe kill a god if they’re having a particularly bad Tuesday.
- Don't Google Names: You will get spoiled instantly. The Malazan Wiki is a minefield.
- Trust the Author: If a character seems unimportant, give it three books. They’ll probably return to save the world (or end it).
- Pay Attention to the Marines: The soldiers are the heartbeat. Hellian, Bottle, Corabb, Smiles—these are the characters that make the final book hit like a freight train.
The "Bonehunters" aren't just an army; they’re a family of misfits who shouldn't have survived the first chapter. Their loyalty to each other is what makes the series work. It’s not about who has the biggest sword; it’s about who stays when everyone else runs.
If you’re starting your journey now, keep a notebook. Or don't. Just let the names wash over you until you start recognizing them. When you finally reach the end of The Crippled God, you won't remember the exact dates of the First Empire's fall, but you’ll definitely remember how it felt when a certain sapper finally played his fiddle for the last time.
The best way to handle the massive cast is to treat it like a real war: you won't know everyone's name, but you'll know who stood beside you when the ground started shaking. Start with Gardens of the Moon, accept that you are lost, and keep walking. The payoff is worth the hike.