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The Bonehunters

The Bonehunters

Epic FantasyFantasy
Pages
1232
Published
2006
Language
English

Synopsis

The Seven Cities rebellion has ended — but not cleanly. The 14th Army under Adjunct Tavore Paran marches through the aftermath, bloodied and unbroken, while surviving forces of the Whirlwind make their last desperate stands. The city of Y'Ghatan burns, and in that inferno, a handful of Malazan soldiers are buried alive beneath rubble and ash, forcing a tunnel through darkness to survive. The Bonehunters is the book where the Malazan series shifts beneath its own weight: gods move openly, the Empress turns on her own Adjunct, and the 14th Army — renamed the Bonehunters — begins to understand that they fight not for empire but for something the world has never had. It is a novel of tremendous setpieces, brutal aftermath, and the slow revelation that the endgame has always been larger than any emperor or empire.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

DarkGrittyComplexAtmosphericEmotional
Morally GreyAnti-HeroMultiple POVsSurvivalSacrificeBetrayalFound Family

Genres

Epic Fantasy Fantasy High Fantasy

About the author

S
Steven Erikson

Steven Erikson was born Steve Rune Lundin in Toronto in 1959 and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He trained as an archaeologist and anthropologist — completing fieldwork on Indigenous sites in the Canadian Shield — before earning a graduate degree through the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He writes under a pen name adopted to avoid confusion with the American novelist Steve Erickson. The world of the Malazan Book of the Fallen has its origins not in a manuscript but in a tabletop roleplaying campaign....

Characters

Adjunct Tavore ParanProtagonist

The coldest commander in the series, leading the Bonehunters toward a purpose she cannot explain to those who follow her.

Kalam MekharProtagonist

The Bridgeburner assassin making his most ambitious and dangerous move against the heart of the empire.

Quick BenSupporting

The Bridgeburner mage, now operating at a level that suggests his depth of power has never been fully revealed.

FiddlerSupporting

Veteran sapper, now watching the old Bridgeburner bonds hold the new army together.

Karsa OrlongSupporting

The Teblor warrior continues his journey, fighting alongside the Bonehunters while remaining utterly apart from them.

All characters in The Bonehunters

Frequently asked questions

  • Is The Bonehunters a good entry point?

    No. It is the sixth novel and depends heavily on all five preceding books — especially Deadhouse Gates and House of Chains.

  • What is Y'Ghatan?

    A city in Seven Cities and the site of the novel's most harrowing set-piece: the siege and burning, followed by a desperate underground survival sequence by trapped Malazan soldiers.

  • What does "Bonehunters" mean?

    The 14th Army renames itself after surviving Y'Ghatan. The name reflects their status as soldiers fighting for the dead as much as the living.

  • Does the Empress appear?

    Not in person, but her actions drive much of the novel's plot — specifically her decision to brand the Bonehunters as renegades.

  • How does this lead into Reaper's Gale?

    The Bonehunters ends with the army at sea, headed toward the Letherii continent. Reaper's Gale picks up their arrival.

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