Deadhouse Gates is an epic fantasy novel by Canadian writer Steven Erikson, the second installment in his Malazan Book of the Fallen series. It follows the events of the first novel, Gardens of the Moon, and takes place simultaneously with the events of the third novel, Memories of Ice.
The novel was first published in the United Kingdom as a trade paperback on 1 September 2000, followed by a mass-market paperback edition on 1 October 2001. The first United States edition was published in hardcover by Tor Books on 28 February 2005, with a mass-market paperback edition released on 7 February 2006. Notably, Deadhouse Gates is the only novel in the series where the UK and US editions share the same cover design; other US books feature different cover artists and styles.
The book received mixed to positive reviews. Critics praised its tone, the softer introduction compared to its predecessor, and its intricate plot. However, some criticized the shift in setting to another continent at the start of the story.
The narrative follows multiple storylines that eventually converge, with relentless pacing and consistently high stakes. Themes of survival, sacrifice, and the brutal realities of war are masterfully explored. Coltaine's leadership and the plight of the refugees add significant emotional weight to the story.
Plot introduction Deadhouse Gates opens a few months after the events of Gardens of the Moon. Unlike its predecessor, which followed different groups of characters operating in close proximity, the character storylines in Deadhouse Gates are often separated by hundreds or even thousands of miles.
The Malazan Empire is shaken by a purge of the nobility, with many nobles sent to the mines on Otataral Island, located off the coast of the Seven Cities subcontinent. At the same time, Seven Cities is engulfed by a rebellion known as the Whirlwind, led by the prophetess Sha'ik from the Holy Desert of Raraku.
As cities fall to the rebellion, the Malazan forces stationed in the city of Hissar devise a daring plan to evacuate overland to Aren, the Malazan continental capital. The 7th Army, commanded by the legendary Coltaine of the Crow Clan of the Wickans, is tasked with escorting 50,000 refugees on a perilous 1,500-mile march to safety. This extraordinary journey, known as the Chain of Dogs, becomes a defining legend of Seven Cities.
Meanwhile, the assassin Kalam undertakes a dangerous mission, while a group of travelers from Genabackis arrives in Seven Cities on their own mysterious quests.
Plot summary
Deadhouse Gates takes place a few months after the conclusion of Gardens of the Moon, though it features few recurring characters and almost no shared settings between the two novels. The main events of Memories of Ice, the third book in the series, partially overlap with those of Deadhouse Gates.
Prologue and Raraku
Felisin Paran, the youngest sister of Ganoes Paran (a protagonist of the previous novel), and Tavore Paran, Empress Laseen's newly appointed Adjunct, become entangled in a purge of the nobility orchestrated by Laseen to eliminate rival centers of power.
During her ordeal, Felisin befriends Baudin, a hardened thug, and Heboric, an excommunicated High Priest of Fener, the war god, who has been punished by having his hands removed. The trio is sent to an otataral mine off the coast of the Seven Cities continent. There, Felisin offers her body to Beneth, the slaves' self-appointed leader, in exchange for his protection of the group. She also becomes addicted to the narcotic durhang, further complicating her plight.
Meanwhile, Icarium, a half-Jaghut immortal inventor and warrior whose destructive past has been erased from his memory to protect the world, travels with Mappo Runt, a Trell warrior secretly tasked with monitoring and, if necessary, containing Icarium's rage.
The pair becomes entangled in a conflict involving Soletaken and D’ivers—shapeshifters who can transform into a single beast or multiple beasts, respectively—who are pursuing the Path of Hands. This path leads to Tremorlor, an Azath House located in the Holy Desert of Raraku, which is believed to offer Ascendancy and the possibility of godhood.
As the battle unfolds, Icarium and Mappo find refuge in the temple of Iskaral Pust, a High Priest of Shadow whose eccentric behavior suggests he may be insane.
Meanwhile, the Wickan warleader Coltaine assumes command of the Malazan Empire's 7th Army, tasked with escorting Malazan civilians across the Seven Cities to the imperial continental capital of Aren. The journey, spanning hundreds of leagues on foot, is undertaken to protect the civilians from the impending rebellion inspired by Sha'ik, a prophetess leading the uprising from the Holy Desert of Raraku.
Despite the dire situation, the continent's High Fist, Pormqual, refuses to provide a naval convoy, choosing instead to remain sheltered within Aren. Accompanying the 7th Army on this arduous march is the Imperial Historian, Duiker.
Following the events of Gardens of the Moon, Fiddler, Kalam, Crokus, and Apsalar (formerly Sorry) arrive in Ehrlitan, one of the Seven Cities. Their original mission was to return Apsalar to her home village, but Kalam and Fiddler now plan to assassinate Empress Laseen to curtail her growing power, using the Seven Cities’ rebellion as a cover for Kalam to infiltrate her ranks.
While in Ehrlitan, Fiddler encounters a Tano Spiritwalker, a mage who casts spells through song. The Spiritwalker offers a song of power that could grant ascension to the Bridgeburners, honoring their sacrifices in the empire's dishonorable war to conquer the Seven Cities. Meanwhile, Kalam, a native of the Seven Cities, reconnects with the local resistance to Malazan rule. He agrees to deliver Dryjhna's Holy Book, a catalyst for the rebellion's Apocalypse, to Sha'ik in the Holy Desert of Raraku.
Kalam's actions draw the attention of Lostara Yil, a Red Blade loyalist captain, who uncovers his mission. Yil secretly follows him to Sha'ik, witnesses him delivering the Book of the Apocalypse and receiving an aptorian demon bodyguard as a gift, and then kills Sha'ik after Kalam departs, despite the presence of her loyal guardians, Leoman of the Flails and Toblakai.
Meanwhile, Fiddler, Crokus, and Apsalar travel separately through Raraku. As they journey, Apsalar's memories gradually reveal that the Rope—the patron god of assassins who once possessed her as Sorry—is none other than Dancer, the assassin of the previous Emperor Kellanved. It becomes evident that Kellanved and Dancer evaded Laseen's assassination attempts by ascending to godhood, claiming dominion over the new Warren and House of Shadow.
Whirlwind
With Duiker's help, Baudin and Heboric orchestrate an escape from the otataral mines during a slave mutiny and offer Felisin the chance to join them. She agrees, and the trio sets out for the coast. Along the way, Heboric discovers an enormous jade pillar, which turns out to be just the finger of a colossal figure. When he touches it with the stumps of his severed hands, the contact pulls his god, Fener, into the mortal realm. Fener is forced to flee, and Heboric's hands become tangible, blending his Denul warren's healing magic with the otataral's magic-deadening properties.
Duiker enlists the mage Kulp to retrieve the trio from the otataral island using a Malazan boat. However, the group is drawn into a mad mage's watery warren, where they come across the Silanda. On board, they find headless Tiste Andii oarsmen who still respond to commands and what appear to be Tiste Edur corpses in the captain's cabin.
The company soon encounters Logros T’lan Imass warriors led by Bonecaster Hentos Ilm, who are pursuing an unnamed quarry. The Imass reveal that the humans have entered Kurald Emurlahn, the Elder Warren of the Tiste Edur. To heal a breach in the warren, one of the T’lan Imass sacrifices themselves, taking one of the Tiste heads with them. However, the Imass leave the humans behind, forcing them to find their own way out of the warren.
Pust informs Icarium and Mappo that Sha'ik will be resurrected and reveals that an enormous wall of deadly, whirling sand now surrounds Raraku. Within the storm, shifting winds uncover buried roads, structures, and evidence that the desert was once a coastal region. Icarium and Mappo leave to seek out Sha'ik but instead encounter Fiddler, Crokus, and Apsalar, who have survived storms, rebel pursuers, and the ongoing shapeshifter battle.
The group returns to Pust's temple, where Pust's servant, Servant, is revealed to be Apsalar's father. He has somehow been transported there, though he does not know how, after surviving the Shadow Hound attack at the beginning of Gardens of the Moon.
Fiddler, Crokus, Apsalar, and Servant set out for Tremorlor, an Azath house that may offer a pathway to the Deadhouse, the corresponding Azath house in Malaz City, where Laseen holds power.
Coltaine defeats the rebel army at Hissar, the city where he assumes command of the 7th Army, and begins the march to Aren, a journey that will come to be known as the Chain of Dogs. Kamist Reloe, a High Mage of the Malazan Empire, rebels and leads a second army against Coltaine's refugees. Despite being outnumbered seven to one, Coltaine's Wickans defeat one of Reloe's tribes, convincing Duiker that Coltaine intends to do more than simply flee the rebellion.
When the refugees are trapped at a wide river between two opposing armies, Coltaine refuses to offer special treatment to the Malazan nobles under Nethpara, despite their protests. He instead sends the wagons of the wounded across the river first, secretly laying a road beneath the water. His sappers then detonate the road as the peasant army begins to cross, while Coltaine leads his forces to defeat the enemy ahead of the refugees.
Coltaine's warlocks, led by Sormo E’nath, defeat a Semk tribal god by unleashing the spirits of the land against it.
Kalam heads south toward Aren, accompanied by Apt and pursued by Yil. Along the way, he learns from rebels—whom he pretends to join—that there is a traitor, Jhistal, within Pormqual's camp in Aren. During his journey, Kalam assists a Malazan family fleeing toward Aren, helping them defeat a group of rebels. The family includes Captain Keneb and his sister-in-law Minala, both skilled warriors.
Chain of Dogs
Mappo reveals to Fiddler that he and Icarium have discovered carvings in Pust's temple resembling the Deck of Dragons, but with ancient Holds instead of modern Houses. They suspect that the shapeshifters' Path of Hands may lead to the temple itself, and that Pust hopes he and Icarium will be there to defend it.
Servant sets off for the suspected site of Sha'ik's rebirth, and Icarium, Mappo, Fiddler, Crokus, and Apsalar pursue him. They suspect that Pust, Shadowthrone, and Cotillion may have plans for Apsalar to replace Sha'ik as the rebellion's prophetess in order to lure in and kill Empress Laseen.
Kulp manages to open a rent from Kurald Emurlahn to his own Meanas warren, attracting the attention of an undead Soletaken dragon, which grants Kulp the power to heal the rent. The dragon leads the Silanda into a fire warren, and Kulp, Heboric, Baudin, and Felisin fall or leap to safety in the mundane world near Raraku as the ship, engulfed in flames, moves between warrens. Stormy, Truth, and Gesler, Kulp's escorts, are trapped aboard the burning ship.
Baudin's heroic rescue of Felisin during their flight raises suspicion in Heboric and Kulp, and he eventually admits that he is a Talon assassin sent by Tavore to protect Felisin. The group seeks refuge in a cave network to escape Raraku's whirling sand, where they find a ruined First Empire city of T’lan Imass, destroyed in mere hours by the outbreak of conflict between the Soletaken and D’ivers. They also discover signs in a Deck of Holds indicating that the Beast Hold throne is empty.