The Novels of the Malazan Empire form a companion series to Steven Erikson's main Malazan Book of the Fallen, written by co-creator Ian C. Esslemont. Beginning on Malaz Island itself — the backwater birthplace of the Empire — the series follows soldiers, veterans, and wanderers caught in events that the main series only sketched in passing. The first book unfolds over a single cataclysmic night; later volumes broaden to epic campaigns across distant continents.

There is no single protagonist — the series shares Erikson's multi-POV approach, foregrounding soldiers, sorcerers, and survivors whose lives intersect with the Empire's vast machinery. Recurring characters include the veteran Temper, the scarred Crimson Guard Avowed, and Greymane — a general whose legendary disgrace threads through several volumes. The most memorable figures are often ordinary people caught in extraordinary events rather than heroes acting on destiny.

Six novels span the breadth of the Malazan world: from the Shadow Moon that reshapes the Empire's leadership in Night of Knives, through the return of the fearsome Crimson Guard mercenary company, campaigns in the spirit-haunted jungle of Himatan, and finally to the ice-locked mystery continent of Assail. Esslemont grows considerably as a writer across the series, and each book expands the world's mythology while resolving questions that Erikson's main series left deliberately open.