What’s your take on the Ian C. Esslemont’s novels?

Personally I think they are great. It’s kind of refreshing to read them in between the main storyline. The scale is smaller yet the characters are well developed and engaging. Also, I feel like you miss a small part of the main story if you skip those books. Lots of characters/events appear or are mentioned randomly in the Erikson’s books which you wouldn’t fully appreciate if you didn’t read the Esslemont’s novels. Honestly I would recommend new readers to include those books in the reading order to fully appreciate the Malazan experience.