So for those of you curious about reading Malazan, I just finished Book 6 and finally "get" it. I am so hooked on this series. If you're a WoT reader, here's an analogy thread:

So imagine if you had a book like... let's say Path of Daggers. But only Rand's perspective and other folks immediately engaged in his story line. You're in the middle of the story with no exposition and good luck!

Or, hell, let's simplify and back it up to The Dragon Reborn! All Westlanders and all in a pretty described geographic area and culture.

Then for your next book where's Rand? Mat? Thom? Perrin? Moiraine? No clue. You're suddenly with the Aiel the whole time for no explanation.

Next book? Seanchan or something. Some characters from Book 1 are mentioned and included!

Then for the fourth book it's a whole new cast. Let's say the White Tower plot.

And book 5? Back to anyone we know? No, fuck you, it's in the Age of Legends or the Trolloc Wars or something. ???

And then finally in Book 6 of 10 you get the different stories starting to juxtapose in the same book!!! You get your Seachan, Aiel, Age of Legends, Westlands, White Tower, ALL your characters showing up in storylines that start to intersect in a coherent sense of space and time!

Who is the villain? Who is the hero? Idk it keeps changing every book (always a "bigger fish" behind some villain) until around book 6 alignments start to make more sense!

So imagine you thought the story was about a Borderlands war with some Fades and Trollocs. Then in subsequent books you learn there's a Dark One. Then a LOT of Dark Ones who are fighting each other. Then you meet THOSE Dark Ones parents. Then a main character becomes a Dark One

Also sprinkle in the gargoyles from Hunchback of Notre Dame and the little demons with Hades in Hercules into like... every book. Lol

Oh and pretend you had a whole-ass book of Narg's perspective and got super invested in his character development.

And every book has duos with Mat/Talmanes energy.

And if the Pattern had no rule about the false dragons where the real one makes the false ones disappear. Just endless false dragons and you enver know who to get behind.

Huge warning though that it has ASOIAF-level violence. It's very grimdark. I was not prepared for it so I wish I had known when I started.