Forge of the High Mage

A very enjoyable read of an era a lot of fans hoped to see explored, if you know the series I highly recommend it!

I enjoyed this book as it gives insight into the early days of the empire and background into key players. Its a good story but not a great one. No shivers. No raised hair on my neck. Thats why 4 stars. But the bar is high, Erikson leads and Ian follows but he is getting better. Keep it up.

Ian esslemont might be the most underrated author out there all his magazine books have been outstanding and this was no exception excellent from start to finish a must read

I really enjoyed this book. Well written, fast paced. It’s interesting to read some of backstories of these beloved characters. Okay some not so beloved, but oh so nice to visit with them once again.

Old favourites, familiar themes ! Drawn out but damp ending to beginning! Await climax in next saga of the series?

Another deeply enjoyable story with more development of old characters from the Malazan series and interesting new characters.Always an enjoyable read.

Thoroughly enjoyed it! ICE's Path to Ascendancy books have just got better and better. For the Malazan fan, this just adds layers and layers to the main characters from the main series. Extremely satisfying

Good for lore

I have enjoyed all of your books, and look forward to many more. I turn the last page wanting more.

Great addition to the world of Malazan! Nice pace, good amount of characters and world building. Would have liked more scenes with Dancer / Kellanved together. Enjoyed it - looking forward to the next one already!

I grund och botten är det här ett spännande kapitel i den malazanska sagan. Tyvärr lider FotHM av samma problem som flera andra av Esslemonts verk: Karaktärerna känns platta och det svårt att förstå varför de gör som de gör? Vad är deras mål och drömmar? Vad lever de för? Det får vi aldrig veta, istället känns de som trasdockor som motvilligt följer sin skapares vilja.Med det sagt är språket bättre än i Esslemonts tidigare verk och berättelsen lätt att följa (något som inte varit fallet). Det är ett sant nöje att se hus Esslemont utvecklas och blir bättre för varje bok. Förr plågade jag mig genom hans böcker, nu läser jag dem med nöje och ser fram mot vad som komma skall.

I have red quite a large part of books of Ian C. Esslemont available and some of them were richer with epic and fantastic events, magery and unexpected turns. This one I've covered about 1/2 of it's thickness and I'm starting to get tired of waiting for something interesting.

Have loved how Ian has taken us back through the starting of the Malazan Empire. This story is a great addition and has built more stories into this amazing world.