House of Chains

House of Chains by Steven Erikson, 669 pages

House of Chains or Malazan Book of the Fallen #4 picks up a couple years after 3. The rebellion is over for the cities but the Sha'ik's Whirlwind still protects the majority of the troops. With this invasion force posed to strike the new Adjunct, Tavore Paran, is sent to end the threat.

Easily the first third of this book is used to set up back story for all the people we meet. Which is good since there are a lot of them. Some of them also go by multiple names or surnames which only adds to the difficulty. The middle third is setting all the pieces of the story in motion, while the final third is non stop action as everything violently clashes. There is a lot that goes on in these books and at times I had to reread parts or use the handy index to remind me who people were and why a piece of story line is following them.
I think multiple readings are needed to understand everything. An example of a read alike would be Tolkien. If you can read his works you should read Erikson as well.