House of Chains is the fourth volume of Canadian author Steven Erikson's epic fantasy series, the Malazan Book of the Fallen, and a direct sequel to the second volume in the series, Deadhouse Gates.The novel was the first in the series to be published in hardback, first appearing in the United Kingdom on 2 December 2002. A mass-market paperback edition followed on 3 October 2003. The first United States edition was a hardcover published on 22 August 2006.