Essays
About these essays
Starting from the ten novels of the Malazan Book of the Fallen and the content of this wiki, together with transcripts from the interview and discussion videos listed below, each essay explores a theme, a craft choice, or an idea that recurs across the series.
Treat them as exploratory readings rather than final interpretations — starting points for your own thinking about the series.
All Essays (40)
- Ancient Races and Non-Human Consciousness
- Archaeology and Deep Time
- Art, Civilization, and Propaganda
- Character Agency and Illusion
- Children, Innocence, and Wonder
- Colonialism and Conquest
- Comedy, Timing, and Absurdism
- Compassion and Anti-Nihilism
- Convergence as Narrative Device
- Cultural Relativism and Ethics
- Death, Resurrection, and Afterlife
- Dialogue as Evasion and Subtext
- Economics, Capitalism, and Debt
- Environmental Collapse and Ecology
- Erikson's Autobiographical Lens
- Exposition vs. Info-Dumping
- Gaming Origins to Fiction
- Gender, Feminism, and Equality
- Gods, Mortals, and Belief
- Grief, Love, and Mortality
- Heroism Redefined
- Landscape as Character
- Literary Influences and Intertexts
- Magic, Wonder, and Mystery
- Metanarrative and the Mobius Strip
- Motherhood, Parenthood, and Family
- Music, Orality, and Oral Tradition
- Narrative Structure and Form
- Nostalgia, Memory, and History
- Point of View and Perspective
- Political Power and Empire
- Publishing, Gatekeeping, and Industry
- Rereadability and Layered Design
- Soldiers, War, and PTSD
- Spirituality, Faith, and Religion
- The Embedded Short Story
- The Naive Narrator
- Tragedy and Catharsis
- Villain Construction and Systemic Evil
- Writing Craft and Prose Technique
Source Videos (55)
- youtube.com/watch?v=TJEhonnjGQM
- youtube.com/watch?v=bNVUXiXWizo
- youtube.com/watch?v=NUceeBl048o
- youtube.com/watch?v=zJqMHeop5nY
- youtube.com/watch?v=DRIpz-TKM7Y
- youtube.com/watch?v=8jU9BDTA_dg
- youtube.com/watch?v=HUky5cV1uJQ
- youtube.com/watch?v=JlAsIv9x5FA
- youtube.com/watch?v=Jgpr_MUjby8
- youtube.com/watch?v=FQuPOb5xOW0
- youtube.com/watch?v=CnPIMfcBV2A
- youtube.com/watch?v=mrHjSyKt-zY
- youtube.com/watch?v=G33VyP7DBI4
- youtube.com/watch?v=SgmNh3dp1hE
- youtube.com/watch?v=Ygkv8dufWCo
- youtube.com/watch?v=Azrs8KigMnI
- youtube.com/watch?v=8hytTJNMzs8
- youtube.com/watch?v=dqwCwbS4rwk
- youtube.com/watch?v=MLspF4n9c8k
- youtube.com/watch?v=TyswyYuik7s
- youtube.com/watch?v=WcUpz7n7G-8
- youtube.com/watch?v=F4EZeWULBfo
- youtube.com/watch?v=onMCaldWwt0
- youtube.com/watch?v=bnz61IfNTds
- youtube.com/watch?v=z-ax4DJa11A
- youtube.com/watch?v=OxxhgB4J0WY
- youtube.com/watch?v=mfALS1r8u_k
- youtube.com/watch?v=6ElIJ_QvMlQ
- youtube.com/watch?v=kIo7rqfJA_o
- youtube.com/watch?v=xINrwP1TM-A
- youtube.com/watch?v=an5HOEen7rs
- youtube.com/watch?v=JUHPUI2gQqk
- youtube.com/watch?v=9BC1ap_8k4Q
- youtube.com/watch?v=NDw8aj3iP-w
- youtube.com/watch?v=7EP8pNl0w4k
- youtube.com/watch?v=xb0UZ5e1Sw4
- youtube.com/watch?v=1BsOXJI_6a4
- youtube.com/watch?v=Ph3j1vlEnuA
- youtube.com/watch?v=jZpECm87vr8
- youtube.com/watch?v=OPZv_Tl-tro
- youtube.com/watch?v=pk91l9pwUOk
- youtube.com/watch?v=KgIclf5hpks
- youtube.com/watch?v=nK4pq4JVcRs
- youtube.com/watch?v=o66DEZprWkw
- youtube.com/watch?v=IJkS-H9R1kI
- youtube.com/watch?v=fBfK7ivFiTE
- youtube.com/watch?v=bvDuGkrpysw
- youtube.com/watch?v=rbRYWv_hxpI
- youtube.com/watch?v=2ayfTv0XuZg
- youtube.com/watch?v=V1VBxhk9nLM
- youtube.com/watch?v=jtwA_ja3gwI
- youtube.com/watch?v=1jfbcKJD8K8
- youtube.com/watch?v=6P31PrVsUHg
- youtube.com/watch?v=Xhox7C4emmY
- youtube.com/watch?v=qkt0QZE0n9w