Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
Since the Malazan series can be quite exhausting physically and emotionally, I make it a habit to wash it down with a good Discworld novel!
Pyramids is the sixth novel (I think) of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. I finished it just after reading Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson. Like most of Terry's Discworld novels, Pyramids is a short read. But what it lacks in pages more than makes up for it in side-splitting humor as is signature with Terry's works. Highly irreverent with the genre, the series would be sure to cause you to break some silly grins and sudden laughter in the classroom, the park, or in the train. You're reading Discworld, they would understand.
Pyramids is a story about a reluctant Pharaoh Prince who decides he would rather be an assassin (who doesn't like killing, really, only likes running around above those buildings). When his father dies, responsibility forces him to fulfill his duties while his country plunges into chaos as inexplicably, the gods come alive and war threatens its borders.