The Chain of Dogs — a death march across a desert continent protecting 40,000 refugees from an uprising. Coltaine leads them, and his story becomes one of the most devastating arcs in all of fantasy. Book 2 of Malazan is where readers fall in love or fall apart. Usually both.
Clean — pure war epic.
Skip if you dislike:
Moods: Devastating Epic Brutal Emotional
Tropes: Chain of Dogs Desert March Convergence Military Fantasy
Widely considered one of the greatest sequences in fantasy literature.
Malazan switches continents and casts — this is parallel to book 1.
The ending of the Chain of Dogs has made grown adults weep openly.