I was not as big a fan of the last couple books as I was of previous ones, but this may have been because there was a long gap and I came back to malazan kind of disoriented.
I just started reading "Forge of Darkness," an Erikson book that takes place when Mother Dark is still around. I picked it up with a gift card wondering if it would be milking the series for cash, but I actually like it so far.