Lead us, Warleader 

Delum, who had watched all in silence, his face empty of expression, now spoke in turn. ' "Lead us, Warleader, into glory."'

House of Chains
A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen 4, Steven Erikson

I've been a bit quiet on the posting front recently. Not that I'm trying to ignore everybody, but I tend go through patches of being keen to do things and then getting bored of doing them . Every now and again I need to take a break from myElectrical, do other things and recharge the batteries. My batteries are about half full now, so expect me back in full force in a couple of more months. In the meantime I will still probably do the odd post.

Being an electrical engineering site, I try to keep most posts on topic. At times when nothing interesting is happening on the electrical front, I have made the odd off topic post on things I'm currently finding interesting. This is one of those posts.

Reading is something I do regularly and at the moment I'm working my way through Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Enjoying the series so much I decided to give it a bit of a plug. Within the pages, you won't find your normal collection of elves, dark elves, dwarfs, etc., nor will you find a story that leads you by the hand and makes everything easy for you. What you do find is well developed characters, realistic story lines written into a well defined plot. In the introduction to the first in the series, Erikson states people either hate or love his books. Obviously I'm not in the hate camp.

The books are not limited in size (nor scope) and you won't get through them quickly. The rewards of reading through this is a truly unique experience. Malazan is a dark [military] epic fantasy and explores a world upon which the Malazan Empire is located. The world is vast in scale, abundant with history and the story spans distances in time. Numerous characters, amazing locations, military campaigns, a strange type of sorcery, violence, humor and a willingness to kill the odd main character result in an imaginative and unpredictable journey. Without detailing the plot, I can only suggest that everyone picks up book one "Gardens of the Moon" and starts reading. Really highly recommended.

List of books

1. Gardens of the Moon (1999)
2. Deadhouse Gates (2000)
3. Memories of Ice (2001)
4. House of Chains (2002)
5. Midnight Tides (2004)
6. The Bonehunters (2006)
7. Reaper's Gale (2007)
8. Toll the Hounds (2008)
9. Dust of Dreams (2009)
10. The Crippled God (2011)