Crack'd Pot Trail

Erikson (The Crippled God) mixes a pinch of Canterbury Tales, a heaping handful of A Thousand and One Nights, and a dose of the Donner Party tragedy in this compelling, gory novella featuring a gathering of characters from the Malazan Book of the Fallen universe. Avas Didion Flicker, a poet of dubious reliability, relates the wonderings and wanderings of a peculiar group of hardened warriors, poets, and performers. These pilgrims to the Shrine of the Indifferent God find 23 days into their journey that the going (which was never easy) has become much more perilous%E2%80%94especially to those who are of an artistic nature. Erikson weaves a fine tale of woe and wonder along the trail, including several layers of meaning for longtime fans while providing new readers a fine point of entry into the mammoth Malazan series. (Sept.)