Midnight Tides is the fifth book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. It was first published in the UK and Canada in March 2004 and in the US in April 2007.
Publisher's summary
After decades of internecine warfare, the tribes of the Tiste Edur have at last united under the Warlock King of the Hiroth. There is peace - but it has been exacted at a terrible price: a pact made with a hidden power whose motives are at best suspect, at worst deadly.
To the south, the expansionist kingdom of Lether, eager to fulfil its long-prophesied renaissance as an Empire reborn, has enslaved all its less-civilised neighbours with rapacious hunger. All, that is, save one - the Tiste Edur. And it must be only a matter of time before they too fall - either beneath the suffocating weight of gold, or by slaughter at the edge of a sword. Or so Destiny has decreed.
Yet, as the two sides gather for a pivotal treaty neither truly wants, ancient forces are awakening. For the impending struggle between these two peoples is but a pale reflection of a far more profound, primal battle - a confrontation with the still-raw wound of an old betrayal and the craving for vengeance at its seething heart...
Front matter
Dedication
To Christopher Porozny
Acknowledgements
Deepest appreciation to the old crew, Rick, Chris and Mark, for the advanced comments on this novel. And to Courtney, Cam and David Keck for their friendship. Thanks as always to Clare and Bowen, to Simon Taylor and his compatriots at Transworld; to Steve Donaldson, Ross and Perry; Peter and Nicky Crowther, Patrick Walsh and Howard Morhaim. And to the staff of Tony's Bar Italia for this, the second novel fuelled by their coffee.
Maps
Plot Summary
Midnight Tides | |
---|---|
Dramatis Personae | Prologue |
Frozen Blood | |
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 |
Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |
Chapter 5 | |
Prows of the Day | |
Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 |
Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 |
Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 |
All That Lies Unseen | |
Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 |
Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 |
Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 |
Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 |
Midnight Tides | |
Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 |
Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 |
Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 |
Epilogue | Pagination |
- The following summaries contain spoilers
Please access individual chapter summaries via the Chapter infobox
- The following summaries contain spoilers
Prologue
Book One: Frozen Blood
Epigraph |
There is a spear of ice, newly thrust into the heart of the land. The soul within it yearns to kill. He who grasps that spear will know death. Again and again, he shall know death. Hannan Mosag's Vision |
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Book Two: Prows of the Day
Epigraph |
We are seized in the age Fisher kel Tath |
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Here, Udinaas travels into another metaphysical realm and Feather Witch makes some foreboding prophecies. One of which tells the listeners to 'beware the three brothers".
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Book Three: All That Lies Unseen
Epigraph |
The man who never smiles Fisher kel Tath |
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Book Four: Midnight Tides
Epigraph |
Kin mourn my passing, all love is dust Kellun Adara |
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Trivia
- According to Erikson, he wrote part of Midnight Tides on a Psion 7 word processor.[1]
- Erikson enjoys working on his novels in public places. Midnight Tides was written at Bar Italia in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He also wrote House of Chains and The Bonehunters, as well as the final portion of Memories of Ice, at the same location.[2]
- Midnight Tides was the most effortless of the Malazan books for Erikson to write. The book "wrote itself, it just came out."[3]