The Kharkanas Trilogy is a three volume epic fantasy series written by Steven Erikson that serves as a prequel to the author's ten volume Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Set more than 300,000 years before Gardens of the Moon, the trilogy explores the tragic history of the Tiste people and the circumstances leading to the fracture of their race. It also delves into the machinations of the Elder Gods that still impact the world at the time of the Malazan Empire.