Malazan Book of the Fallen
Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Eriksonby Steven Erikson
Ranked 5 of 11 fantasy novel series by recommenders
Recommended as a demanding, complex fantasy series, often seen as the best of the Malazan books. One reader notes some passages are offensive and later books can be pretentious.
Recommended as a demanding, complex fantasy series, often seen as the best of the Malazan books. One reader notes some passages are offensive and later books can be pretentious.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Complex, challenging reading
“If you really want a challenge, try the Malazan series”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” “I have no hope to see something really complex like”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Paperbacks and TikTok” Best of the Malazan series
“Not all of them are as good as the Book of the Fallen, but most of them are pretty close, and some are even better.”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Some passages are offensive
“It's not perfect (parts of it are rapey, and the later books, especially Toll the Hounds, can be really pretentious)”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Rakuten Kobo returns to U.S. retail as sales double” Later books can be pretentious
“It's not perfect (parts of it are rapey, and the later books, especially Toll the Hounds, can be really pretentious)”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Rakuten Kobo returns to U.S. retail as sales double”
Other fantasy novel series people recommend
The four most recommended other fantasy novel series, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discworldby Terry Pratchett | 33 | 4 | 89% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Harry Potterby J.K. Rowling | 28 | 7 | 80% | 9 | 1 yr4 owners | Approved |
| The Wheel of Timeby Robert Jordan | 20 | 10 | 67% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Stormlight Archiveby Brandon Sanderson | 12 | 1 | 92% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Malazan Book of the Fallenby Steven EriksonThis page | 7 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It's not perfect (parts of it are rapey, and the later books, especially Toll the Hounds, can be really pretentious)”
“If you really want a challenge, try the Malazan series”
“Not all of them are as good as the Book of the Fallen, but most of them are pretty close, and some are even better.”
“I have no hope to see something really complex like”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.