Skip to content

Forge of Darkness

Forge of Darkness

Book One of the Kharkanas Trilogy
Dark FantasyEpic Fantasy
Pages
688
Published
2012
Language
English

Synopsis

Long before the Malazan Empire, before the T'lan Imass swore their Ritual of Tellann, before the Jaghut built their ice fastnesses, there were the Tiste — a single people divided by their origins into three: the Andii of the darkness, the Liosan of the light, and the Edur of the shadow between. Forge of Darkness is a prequel set in Kurald Galain, the realm of darkness, during the civil war that would fracture the Tiste forever. At its center is Draconus, the consort of Mother Dark, who creates the sword Dragnipur — and pays for it across millennia. Young Anomander Rake, his brothers Andarist and Silchas Ruin, and the warlord Hunn Raal surround a power struggle that is also a meditation on art, faith, civilization, and what it means to choose darkness. Denser and more philosophical than the main series, Forge of Darkness is Erikson writing as if free of all genre obligation — and the result is his most ambitious novel.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

DarkComplexAtmosphericPhilosophicalMelancholic
Morally GreyAnti-HeroMultiple POVsCourt IntrigueBetrayalSacrificeComing of Age

Genres

Dark Fantasy 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

DraconusProtagonist

Creator of Dragnipur and Consort of Mother Dark, whose choices during the Tiste civil war echo across ten thousand years of Malazan history.

AnomanderProtagonist

Young Tiste Andii lord — before he became Rake, before the millennia of exile — navigating a war that his own father has helped cause.

AndaristProtagonist

Anomander's younger brother, whose grief over a personal loss becomes the novel's most intimate tragedy.

Hunn RaalAntagonist

Commander of the Legion and architect of the political violence driving the civil war, whose ambition exceeds his wisdom.

Silchas RuinSupporting

The Soletaken white-skinned brother of Anomander, whose cold pragmatism will define his surviving role across the ages.

All characters in Forge of Darkness

Frequently asked questions

  • Do I need to read the main series before Forge of Darkness?

    Technically no, but readers who know the main series will recognize characters and understand consequences the prequel cannot explain. Most readers recommend finishing the main series first.

  • Who is Draconus?

    An Elder God and consort of Mother Dark who creates the sword Dragnipur — the sword carried by Anomander Rake throughout the main series. This novel depicts his original choices and their costs.

  • Is this a prequel to Gardens of the Moon?

    Yes — set tens of thousands of years before the events of the main series, depicting the origins of the Tiste Andii, Tiste Liosan, and Tiste Edur, and the creation of weapons and events whose consequences shape the entire Malazan world.

  • Is it as hard to read as the main series?

    It is slower and more philosophical than most MBotF entries, written more as literary fiction than military fantasy. Many readers find it easier to follow because it has fewer simultaneous plotlines.

  • Will the Kharkanas Trilogy be completed?

    Erikson has confirmed the third volume, Walk in Shadow, is in progress. As of 2024 no publication date has been announced. Book 2, Fall of Light, was published in 2016.

  • Should I read this before the Malazan Book of the Fallen series?

    Reading the ten books of the Malazan Book of the Fallen first is widely recommended, as this prequel relies heavily on established knowledge of characters and events that are considered myth and legend in the later series.

  • How does this book connect to the wider Malazan universe?

    This novel serves as the first entry in the Kharkanas Trilogy, which explores the ancient history of the Tiste people and the origins of figures like Anomander Rake and Draconus long before their appearances in the main sequence.