The answer to this question may just depend on what you, or rather Steven Erikson, means by "book."
If by "book" he means a single story (even as contained within the arc of a long series), then we may not be as close as we hope. But, if by book, he means "thing between covers with pages in between," then we're a tantalizing breath (comparatively speaking) away.
All of this goes to the aid of your decision as to whether or not you want to start 'Dust of Dreams' (Tor / Tom Doherty Associates ; January 19, 2010 ; $17.99) right now or ... hold off a bit. When you're talking about completing a series that you've been reading for ten years then this question assumes a lot of importance. Add up the hours you've spent in Malazan.
They're about to come to an end.
Or at least the initial series is; we have promises of other works, but not of this depth. So the idea is, you've spent a significant amount of time and money on your Malazan vacation. You want to maximize your reading pleasure, your reading intensity, as you head towards the finish line. You also want to make sure that line doesn't move out, in a manner that fantasy readers are all-too-accustomed to experiencing.
And that's where 'Dust of Dreams' comes in. Erikson has thus far in this admirable series been quite good at ending each novel in a manner befitting a novel as much as an additional installment in a much longer story. Each book in the ten book series has been a whole book, no Eric the half-a-books.
Until now. Erikson is kind and smart enough to warn his readers going in, so it's not like I'm going to be giving away any spoilers. He indicates he has both a sense of humor and an alternative perspective with regards to the size of books, telling us he is, "not known for writing door-stopping tomes." Now, this particular installment is 816 pages of teeny-tiny type. Even in the trade paperback version, I'm thinking this could definitely stop a door.
Maybe not in Malazan, though, where the doors are the sort of stone monoliths that could easily take those wimpy 2001 monolith-wannabes. But what Erikson is getting at is that 'Dust of Dreams' is indeed an Eric the half-a-book. It comes to a screeching halt in the middle of everything, so, if you want to buy it, and you'd be well-advised to, then you might wan t to hold back on reading it until the second half of the book ('The Crippled God') comes out, er, in a while. Now here's where what Erikson means by "book" starts to assume some importance.
We know that publishers are not enamored of big-ass books. Thus the small print in 'Dust of Dreams,' and the innumerable books that have been published as one tome in the UK only to show up here as two, and sometimes even four volumes, books — whatever!
If by "book" in the Reader's Note, Erikson means that 'Dust of Dreams' and 'The Crippled God' comprise one more volume in the series, then the two of them together might justifiably be seen as book nine in the ten book series. And, then, there could be yet another "book" to complete the projected "Ten book series," which itself might consist of what two? Three? Four books? Can a fantasy series attain a "Xeno's paradox" state, where each successive volume gets you halfway closer to the end — but never there?
I really don't think that's the case here. I think that Erikson is an honorable author, and that the demands of the series arc just required that he end the book where he did, and that ... is that. Sometime in the next mumble-mumble we'll get the final book in the series, 'The Crippled God,' and then ... wait for it — Erikson can begin work on a prequel series, because he really did start 'Gardens of the Moon' in media res. Make no mistake about it. The Malazan Book of the Fallen is a grand achievement, truly adult storytelling, not just in gory action content, but also in terms of scope and emotion. All it really needs is two words.
New to the Agony Column
03-22-10: Commentary : Steven Erikson Breathes 'Dust of Dreams' : Penultimate Malazan?
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview with Stephen S. Hall : "..receptivity to new or contradictory knowledge is really important..."
03-19-10: Commentary : Adam Nevill Inherits 'Apartment 16' : Home is Where the Hell Is
03-18-10: Commentary : Stephen Kessler Follows 'The Mental Traveler' : Bad Trips and Good Reading
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview with Alta Ifland and Stephen Kessler : "I had to do it; it was a way of both coming to terms with the experience, of documenting the experience, of commemorating it..."
03-17-10: Commentary : Ted Chiang Charts 'The Lifecycle of Software Objects' : Joshua Blue, Digital Chimps and Lives in Flux
03-15-10: Commentary : Elif Shafak Reveals 'The Forty Rules of Love' : Intimacy and Centuries
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview with Elif Shafak : "I know that culture that exists in my country, that is carried on by women, generations of women."
03-12-10: Commentary : Karl Marlantes Scales the 'Matterhorn' : World-Building in the Past
03-09-10: Commentary : Paul McHugh Meets 'Deadlines' : Murdering the California Coast
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview with Paul McHugh : "..the strengths of good writing go all the way, across all the genres..."
03-08-10: Commentary : Joe Hill Grows 'Horns' : Devil and Detail
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview with Joe Hill : "Eventually, the wicked and the unworthy will get their just desserts on the business end of the Devil's pitchfork."
03-05-10: Commentary : Henry Porter Calls 'The Bell Ringers' : It Takes The Village
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Four Books With Alan Cheuse : Thrillers! : Henry Porter, The Bell Ringers; Keith Thomson, Once a Spy; Jo Nesbo, The Devil's Star; Hennig Mankel, The Man From Beijing
03-04-10: Commentary : Jo NesbØ Earns 'The Devil's Star' : Rewind
03-01-10: Commentary : Adam Haslett Invests With 'Union Atlantic' : Abstract Power Abstracts Absolutely
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2010 Interview With Adam Haslett : "With her, and with each character, how does the rhythm create a kind of musical argument?"
02-26-10: Commentary : Dan Simmons Heads for the 'Black Hills' : Unstuck in Life
02-23-10: Commentary : Adam Haslett Knows 'You Are No Stranger Here' : Stories from Strangers' Shoes
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Jedediah Berry Interviewed at SF in SF, February 13, 2010 : "...being at Small Beer has actually introduced whole worlds to me ..."
02-22-10: Commentary : Graeme Gibson's 'The Bedside Book of Birds' and 'The Bedside Book of Beasts' : A Feast for Your Mind, Your Eyes and Your Mind's Eye
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2009 Interview with Graeme Gibson : "Our common humanity, our common culture, will help make the connections."
