Malazan Book of the Fallen -- Epic Fantasy

The history of the Malazan world extends back for over 300,000 years and has not been fully revealed. Nevertheless a brief summary follows.

In the beginning there were four Founding Races: the K'Chain Che'Malle, Forkrul Assail, Imass and Jaghut. The K'Chain Che'Malle were a technologically-advanced species employing gravity-based magic and building floating fortresses called 'skykeeps'. The K'Chain Che'Malle were eventually destroyed, largely in a war with their own creations, a resurrected sub-species known as the Short Tails. The Forkrul Assail removed themselves to an unknown location long ago where their fate remains unknown. Around this period, two factions of a group of alien races known as the Tiste invaded the world. This race was divided into three subraces: the Liosan, Edur and Andii. The Liosan have had little contact with the world, remaining sealed in their own Warren. The Andii were largely wiped out in the invasion with a few surviving at Bluerose; other forerunners of the invasion also remain under Anomander Rake. The Edur decayed into a tribal species.

The humanoid Imass and the tusked Jaghut waged war against one another across many thousands of years, mainly due to the extremely savage and powerful magic of those rare Jaghut known as Tyrants. Although the Imass destroyed the Jaghut over 33 major pogroms, enough escaped by magical means for the Imass to take extraordinary measures to destroy them. The Imass underwent the ritual of Tellann, becoming the T'lan Imass. Their entire race became undead, so they could survive long enough to finally destroy the last remnants of the Jaghut. In the process, the source of their magic shifted from the Hold of Beasts to the newly created Elder warren of Tellan. Meanwhile, a minor offshoot species of the Imass seems to have evolved into humankind -- another offshoot developed into the Barghast race, as revealed in Memories of Ice. Over 100,000 years ago, the First Empire of humanity came into existence, based on the subcontinent of Seven Cities where the First Emperor sat on the First Throne. The First Empire explored the world, establishing colonies on all of the main continents (possibly bar Assail). A contemporaneous empire, controlled by the High King Kallor, came to dominate the continents of Jacuruku and Korelri and ruled with terror and fear until his own High Mages summoned down a god from a foreign realm to destroy Kallor. They failed. The Crippled God's fall shattered the continent of Korel