The series serves as a prequel to Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and tells the story of the Tiste, Jaghut and Azathanai, three hundred thousand years before the Malazan Empire began its conquest on Genabackis, with a focus on characters such as Anomander Rake, Draconus, Hood, Gothos and K'rul.
Much like in the case of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, the Kharkanas Trilogy draws inspiration from Erikson's background as an anthropologist and archaeologist.
[3] That the characters — even commoners — of both the Malazan series and the Kharkanas trilogy seem to be engaged in long philosophical discussions and introspection, can be attributed to the fact that Erikson has actively tried to dispel the notion or assumption that exists regarding the level of intelligence or lack thereof directly corresponding with a person's class.
Regarding the themes, again drawing inspiration from history, Erikson notes, "when art ceases to oppose — or to stand outside — the desires of the power bloc of a particular civilization, it gets into trouble".
[6] PS Publishing also released a two volume, signed and slipcased limited hardcover edition (300 copies) in October 2012 with cover art by David Gentry.
He later added that the creative toll employing the writing style used throughout the previous books had also factored into his decision to take a break from it in order to do it justice.
[17] Writer and critic, Bill Capossere of Tor.com wrote in his very positive review, that while it certainly takes some time for the story to pick its pace, the wait is worth it.
He concluded that Erikson's ability to handle even very serious scenes with exactly the right type of humour and wit made Fall of Light a pleasure to read.
[19] The reviewer at the Critical Dragon stated that the novel builds on the ground established in Forge of Darkness, adding further depth and complexity to the world, while fleshing out the conflict and characters, which bodes extremely well for the third book, Walk in Shadow.