Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson

Erikson's Malazan Empire books are some of my favorites of all time so I was pretty stoked to see he had published the first book of a prequel trilogy.  It's a new library book so I only had two weeks to read it, but it deserves a much more careful read because it's...weighty.  I was going to say ponderous, but I don't want to imply anything negative.  This book is awesome, but I have a hard time describing the whys and the hows.  I guess I got into the apotheosis of some of the characters from the Malazan books.  You get a sense of their origins and get insight into some of the elder races.  Erikson is a master at creating a morally ambiguous world which stands in contrast to the Tolkien drek of good and evil.

I would recommend reading the books in published order rather than chronological order.  I highly recommend this book and I eagerly await the next installment.