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Dancer's Lament

Path to Ascendancy, Book 1

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Dancer's Lament

Written by: Ian C. Esslemont
Narrated by: John Banks
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About this listen

Esslemont's all-new prequel trilogy takes readers deeper into the politics and intrigue of the New York Times bestselling Malazan Empire. Dancer's Lament focuses on the genesis of the empire, and features Dancer, the skilled assassin, who, alongside the mage Kellanved, would found the Malazan empire.

©2016 Ian C. Esslemont (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Action & Adventure Dark Fantasy Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Military Paranormal
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I really enjoyed this first installment of the Path to Ascendancy. It sheds light on Dancer's origin and a certain Dal hon Mage :) I really enjoyed the performance and the story!

Amazing Story!

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the impressions of different races and monsters was great, very entertaining. cant wait for the next book!

does a great monster voice for ryllanderas!

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Well written and delivered. performer could have spoken louder at times it was difficult to hear while driving

great story

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I keep trying to view this as a Dungeons and Dragons novel, not because of any direct similarity, but due to the behavior of the protagonists.

Dorin and Wu act like low level player characters on a quest. They treat everyone else like NPCs, even each other, ignoring their advice and feelings, and paying no heed to the consequences of their actions. Dorin at least shows some development, as he is sickened by the seige of Heng and related atrocities. Wu shows no such enlightenment.

Many of the other viewpoint characters are similar. I've only read a couple of Esslemont's books, but I'm starting to realize that he's focusing on events, where Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen was about people.

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