Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen

[Albertosaurus Rex]

Has anyone of you tried this series? I have read the first 3 books (of a projected 10; he's nearly finished now) and I'm wondering if I should continue.

I almost stopped reading after the first book, Gardens of the Moon. To summarize the book: 700 pages of pure confusion. I kept going the whole time: who are these people, why are they fighting, how does magic work in this world, etc. To top it all, it ends with one of the most bizarre deus ex machinas that I have ever seen (although that is explained in the second book).

So after finishing the book, I avoided Erikson for a while before finally deciding to give him another chance. The next two books, Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice, do make more sense and explain at least some of what went on in GOTM. But they were very heavygoing and raised questions of their own. (Not to mention huge: some editions of Memories of Ice are 1200 pages long!) There is dome interesting stuff in there, he does have a good imagination, but I'm wondering if it will be worth it... (For some reason, I do have books 4 and 5 on my to-read pile... )