Declaring this my favorite in the series so far. It's dark and brutal, but balanced with moments of levity where Erikson's humor shines. The commentary on empire, colonialism, greed, debt, and capitalism is not at all subtle, but really impactful in painting the futility of the violence that ensues throughout the story. The narrative is Erikson's tightest, with the different storylines all fitting together in a more cohesive way than other MBotF books, and the worldbuilding he commits to when explaining different cultures, races, and empires adds such rich color to this story instead of falling into the trap of other fantasy books where the "other" races are inherently primitive and bad.

I can see where people might struggle with starting book 5 with an entire new cast of characters in a new setting and in a vague timeframe in relation to the rest of the series. At times it's difficult to get out of the "so why do I care about this" mindset as you learn another detail that feels so disjointed from HoC and the rest of the story, but honestly if you've gotten to Midnight Tides, you've learned enough about Erikson's bullshit (in the best way) to just roll with it. 

I don't love the prevalence of sexual violence in this and other Malazan books, or any books for that matter, there are some plot points that never get answered in this installment which can be frustrating after 900+ pages, and a few of the character stories/arcs didn't capture my attention as well. But overall, I really enjoyed my time with this book and am excited to see how it fits within the broader series.