Toll the Hounds

Did You Know?

• Erikson found the novel difficult to write due to personal issues, later revealed to be the death of his father.
• Erikson stated he had planned to write the novel with Kruppe's voice from very early on in the series.
• The unabridged audiobook, narrated by Michael Page, is 44 hours and 9 minutes long.

Plot

Many characters from Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice return. The prologue has four separate scenes. The first takes place in a necropolis where two dead people witness a meeting between Hood, Edgewalker, Shadowthrone, and Anomander Rake, though they do not hear what is discussed. The second is set in Dragnipur, where the Wagon becomes harder to pull as more souls die, and Chaos advances on the Gate of Kural Galain. The third shows two girls in a village noticing a dog's departure and following it. The last scene occurs by a fire on an empty plain, likely in Kruppe's dream world, where Kruppe asks K'rul to witness him dance. Retired Bridgeburners face assassins from the Assassins' Guild, who find them difficult targets. Spite and her companions arrive in Darujhistan and separate. Crokus, using the alias Cutter, feels anxious about reuniting with old friends at the Phoenix Inn, while Barathol seeks anonymity. Mappo Runt, anxious to find Icarium on the Letheri continent, hires the Trygalle Trade Guild and is accompanied by Gruntle, who joins to escape attention from acolytes and priestesses of Trake. Itkovian's sacrifice in Memories of Ice created a new cult of the Redeemer, propelling him to godhood, but another god seeks to corrupt it; only a former Seerdomin stands in that god's path. Anomander Rake asks Endest Silann, the broken High Mage of Moon's Spawn, and Spinnock Durav, the wandering Tiste Andii warrior, to do what must be done. Karsa Orlong and Samar Dev encounter Traveller on the Plain of Lamatath, someone Karsa realizes he cannot cross. Clip leads Nimander Golit and others toward Black Coral for a confrontation with the Son of Darkness; they meet Kallor, who joins them.

Critical reception

The novel received mixed-to-positive reviews upon initial release. Fantasy Book Reviews gave it a 10 out of 10. On the blog Neth Space, Neth wrote in a very positive review that Toll the Hounds may be the best written volume so far in the series. Pat's Fantasy Hotlist gave it a 9 out of 10, stating that after nearly 800 pages of setup, Erikson goes into attack mode and the result is overwhelming. SFF World gave a positive review, noting that until the last 300 pages the review was going to be about whether early negative elements made it one of the weaker books, but then four hours disappeared and the last third was absolutely draining. The Wertzone also gave a positive review, calling it the series' most thematically-developed and tightest novel, examining family, responsibility, and desire. Daniel Lin on Daniel's Corner Unlimited gave a mixed review, calling it his least favourite book in the series but not a bad one, and extremely well written with more depth than previous books.