The Malazan armies have landed on the coast of Letherii to ferment rebellion against the Tiste Edur who has conquered that Empire. But the battle between elements of the Fourteenth army and the Tiste Edur and Letherii forces is only one layer of the battle. While the mortals wage bloodthirsty war, plots and counter plots are being acted out around them on all levels of reality.

What holds everything together is Erikson's wonderful skill in creating characters. Unlike the epics of old where there is one character who was representative of all that was supposedly admirable about a culture, we have a multitude of characters who encompass the best and the worst of humankind. Of course there are heroes and villains, but then there are also the others who are neither, or the ones we will always be unsure of.

Erikson makes it clear that good and evil have nothing to do with nationality or race. Among the supposed enemy there are just as many good men and women in the armies opposed to the invading forces, who are just as capable of heroic and selfless acts as anybody else. The villains in these stories have never been soldiers after all, rather those who use them to obtain wealth and power for themselves.

It's probably no accident that the god who tempts with the means to obtain power over others is crippled, and those who utilize his gifts more often than not end up with bodies as deformed and pain-ridden as their patron. Their physical deformity is testimony to the corruption of their minds and a manifestation of their diseased souls.

The epic stories of old were told to recount the exploits of heroes and to try and impart to their readers and listeners something of the scale of the events. Battles were fought that changed the course of history, and all of the events were larger then life. Erikson not only retains those elements he improves on the format by introducing the human element with the characters he creates.

It's through these characters that we are drawn into the story, instead of being left on the outside watching a larger than life hero. We want to know what happens to them and that, more than anything else, is what keeps us turning the pages. Everything about these books is well written, from the descriptions of the surroundings to the chaos of battle, but it's our investment in his characters that make all those elements matter.

Reaper's Gale is another wonderful installment in Steven Erikson's remarkable creation The Malazan Book of the Fallen. Reading his work is to be reminded what epic fiction really is. Readers in Canada can buy Reaper's Gate directly from Random House Canada or other online retailers like Amazon Canada.