House of Chains: Book Four of The Malazan Book of the Fallen

Karsa Orlong comes down from the mountains of Northern Genabackis with a raiding party of tribal warriors, intent on wreaking havoc among the lowlanders he despises. What begins as a raid becomes the start of an extraordinary destiny, and Erikson gives this proud, unbending warrior room to grow.

Years later, in the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs, the Adjunct Tavore arrives in Seven Cities. She must shape twelve thousand soldiers, mostly raw recruits with a few veterans of Coltaine's march, into a force able to face Sha'ik's Whirlwind in the Holy Desert. There, the rebellion's warlords scheme against one another, and Sha'ik is haunted by her nemesis, her own sister. The fourth Malazan Book of the Fallen novel is dense, morally knotty military fantasy, for readers who want soldiers worth caring about.