Midnight Tides — Steven Erikson

(Malazan Book of the Fallen #5) After decades of warfare, the five tribes of the Tiste Edur are united under the implacable rule of the Warlock King of the Hiroth. But the price of peace is a pact with a hidden power whose motives may be deadly. To the south, the expansionist kingdom of Lether has devoured all lesser neighbors - except the Tiste Edur. This is the story of the Tisti Edur and the Letherii civilization, on a continent separated from everyone else in books 1-4. If there was confusion before Midnight Tides, there is none now: Erikson is creating a global epic fantasy story ... and it's worth the read.