INFORMATION OVERLOAD! 
 First of all, if you haven't read this book already, make sure you buy it in paperback! Avoid Audio and e-book versions. I had it on my kindle and was unable to view the map + found it really tiresome to skip to the glossary every time I encountered a new character/race/country/etc. which kept me in a state of continuous confusion. 
 The Malazan Book of the Fallen is infamous for being a mind fuck. Erikson even writes a note at the start pretty much warning readers about how confusing the book is going to be. Found that a bit odd tbh, it was like he's defending his writing. an author shouldn't have to do that! Anyway it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be in terms of having to keep up but I definitely have to go back and read it now, things will make SO MUCH sense and the reading experience will be way better. That being said, i enjoyed this, it was a breathe of fresh air. What an intricate world and what an imagination! How can one man (or two in this case) hold all this in their heads? Very impressed. 5 stars for the world Erikson created and for all the pedantic details that went into it. 
 Contrary to what others say, it wasn't a fast read for me. Because I wasn't 100% certain what was going on, some storylines did not interest me and i found my reading lagging every time those chapters came up. On the other hand, I breezed through chapters that contained plots I enjoyed (Crokus, Sorry, Krupe- who btw is the best character evaaa). All in all, this book was 50/50 for me; I was intrigued but not blown away, impressed with the world building yet slightly bored, amused by the characters but not invested in them. 
 I have high hopes for the rest of the series. Now that I have my bearing and will be purchasing a paperback, I feel the second book will be rewarding.