Necroing this thread just to say - I finally finished Dust of Dreams (book 9) after the second attempt. I am not sure why the first attempt stuttered to a halt - i think i just got lost with all the tribesman and too many names. Anyway, on the 2nd go around, I could hardly put the thing down.
If anyone else has read this series, I found this thread that could be helpful, though probably best to save until you have read through once already:
Malazan re-read