Book five. I’ve now committed almost 200 hours of listening time to this world—most of it while running, some while commuting. It’s so worth it.

As you might expect, Erikson flips the script again—this time setting the story on yet another continent (Lether), three years before the events of book one. Thankfully, a main character from book four—Trull Sengar—is a leading character in Midnight Tides. The fact that this book tells the story that leads to the precarious position we found Trull in back at the start of book four kept running through my mind.

The political intrigue of Lether did become confusing—names and titles blended together. That said, with perseverance, the broad strokes of the story came to light. I’m also thankful for the chapter summaries on the Malazan Wiki for bringing clarity to confusing plot shifts.

The first couple books of this ten-volume fantasy series felt intimidating, but at the half-way mark, I can hardly wait to see what will happen next.

Erikson, Steven. Midnight Tides. Narrated by Michael Page, audiobook ed., unabridged ed., Transworld, 2019. Malazan Book of the Fallen 5.