Is it? I mean it's 1 star difference. It's still not a perfect book by any means.
But yes it is very confusing. The reader is dropped in the middle of this epic, action heavy book and Erikson doesn't hold your hand or try to introduce you slowly to the characters. It's very intense and that's the part of the charm.
Second time around I figured out even more things I couldn't have realized with my first reading. I heard all of Malazan books are like this on re-reading. You learn more. I kind of get it, because when you're reading it for the first time, at least in my case, it's an effort to keep up with what is actually happening because there are so many characters and so much action. Second time around, you know the characters so you get to enjoy the plot and details more.
I heard Glen Cook's The Black Company series is similar to Malazan in a sense of being dropped in the middle of the action. I also heard The Black Company was an inspiration to Erikson, but can't say that with certainty.
In any case I had an awesome time with it and I'm enjoying Deadhouse Gates as well.
The series is well worth the read and I would recommend it to anyone who has read fantasy for a little while. It's not necessarily a good choice for newbies. But it is one of the few epic fantasy series that is finished and that's a lot in a world of GRRMs and Rothfusses.
Oh and when I was reading it the first time I was reading according to the ultimate reading order according to the Malazan Empire forum (
https://www.goodreads.com/series/17...gested-by-members-of-the-malazan-empire-forum) that combines Erikson and Esselmont books which totals the series at 34 books (so far). I've read up to around 10 books and half a dozen novellas and I just kind of burned out on the series.
So this time I'll just read Erikson's core series that is 10 books and finish it. I can read Esselmont later, as well as Erikson's prequel trilogies.