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Beak just wants to help his friends.
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Jan 18, 2019 01:22
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| # ? Jun 4, 2024 21:36 |
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I've enjoyed the two Path to Ascendancy books so far. I'll be interested to see whether Book 3 gives much insight into Kellanved, as the first two mostly focus on Dancer. It's nice seeing some of the Old Guard as well, mind you.
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Jan 18, 2019 20:22
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kingturnip posted:I've enjoyed the two Path to Ascendancy books so far. The best part of PtA is seeing that the emporors demon, this legendary horror, is just another loving nacht. I'm genuinely excited to see where they take him, because he's the only named nacht that isn't (yet) a soletaken. Also moody teenage tattersail is legit great to see, even if the timelines don't make sense. I'll happily tolerate all the dumb fanservice for more Tattersail
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Jan 18, 2019 22:46
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what if it was "The Malazan gently caress of the Ballin" and it was just Fiddler and Hedge making love on a crate of explosives for 1,000 pages?
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Jan 21, 2019 01:14
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If they still do the drum while everyone else looks on in awe, I'd read it.
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Jan 21, 2019 01:19
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hey, boi, you wanna see the ochre potsherd i'm carrying in these pants?
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Jan 21, 2019 01:38
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I'm about a third of the way into Orb, Sceptre, Throne and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would from everyone's reactions here. ICE is still fairly poo poo at juggling multiple viewpoints (let's have a random cutaway to Barakhol turning on his forge, lets talk about Karsa living on the edge of town, but never refer to him by name) but the advantage of reading it straight after TtH is that Erikson's done all the foreshadowing and has set all the pieces up and we can jump right into the story without it turning into the confusing morass that was RotCG. Also the sequence of the Tyrant strolling into town, causing Baruk to burst into demon-flames and Vorcan to go crazy with pain is probably the best  that ICE has pulled off so far.
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Jan 22, 2019 11:26
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Strom Cuzewon posted:I'm about a third of the way into Orb, Sceptre, Throne and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would from everyone's reactions here. ICE is still fairly poo poo at juggling multiple viewpoints (let's have a random cutaway to Barakhol turning on his forge, lets talk about Karsa living on the edge of town, but never refer to him by name) but the advantage of reading it straight after TtH is that Erikson's done all the foreshadowing and has set all the pieces up and we can jump right into the story without it turning into the confusing morass that was RotCG. Having recently finished Toll the Hounds but having previously having no real interest in the ICE books, you're making me feel like I might give them a shot (after DoD and TCG obviously). I like the Darujhistan stuff. Although I also want to a do a full reread at some point... and y'know, possibly read some other books occasionally. Still not sure about the Kharkanas books though. Mostly because I just find the Tiste fairly boring. In terms of Malazan "history" I'm much more interested in the Jaghut, Imass and K'chainosaurs.
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Jan 22, 2019 12:12
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See, the thing about the Tiste is that most of the things you think about them are wrong.
anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 13:00 on Jan 22, 2019 |
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Jan 22, 2019 12:33
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#motherdarkdidnothingwrong We need a spin-off series about her escaping from that black hole.
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Jan 22, 2019 12:49
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OST is not bad at all, imo. And if you just finished TTH it's a direct sequel.
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Jan 22, 2019 13:39
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Almost finished DoD now, so I'll finish off the series first. Any harm in reading OST before the other ICE books?anilEhilated posted:See, the thing about the Tiste is that most of the things you think about them are wrong. I can see groundwork being set up for that in DoD, and some of that has made them seem a little more interesting. I think it's more that I really would like more Jaghut/Imass history though. Do the Kharkanas get into the Tiste interacting with the Malazan world (which I know has a name but I can't remember it) or is it all set before any of that began? Edit: And the poo poo just hit the fan big time in DoD... although it does suffer a little from the marvel movie villain problem of while I'm invested in the good guys and there are goosebumps, "hell yeahs" and "oh no not ...." moments all over the place, their foe is just a nameless, faceless swarm of automatons that I just have zero emotional attatchment to/investment in (positive or negative) or even know their motivations. It's still pretty awesome though and only a fraction of the pieces in play are currently involved so I'm guessing things are going to ramp up in the next book. Gravy Jones fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Jan 22, 2019 |
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Jan 22, 2019 14:24
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Origins of Imass and K'Chain will be touched upon, yes. Also a lot of ascendants. Basically, if you're expecting two more books of Anomander being a broody rear end in a top hat, that's actually only a very little part of what the Kharkanas books entail. So yeah, it's very much a part of the Malazan world and it does shatter a lot of theories one makes when reading the BotF.
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Jan 22, 2019 15:18
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Do any of the books go more into Caladan Brood? I thought he was a little under utilised Finished all 10 books + the first two of the path to ascendancy + night of knives and am about 40% of the way through crimson. Enjoying it all so far.
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Jan 23, 2019 07:25
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Brood is in the Kharkanas books and his relationship with Anonander is fleshed out a bit.
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Jan 23, 2019 08:07
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I solved the mystery of the potsherds
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Jan 23, 2019 09:40
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Having finished Orb, Sceptre, Throne, I would like to change my opinion on Orb, Sceptre, Throne. gently caress Orb, Sceptre, Throne. Malazan always has elements of stuff happening off - screen, stuff that is hinted at or that you have to infer. OST takes this much further than even GotM manages, and has the entire loving plot off screen. Ah hello mysterious witch, do you have that thing I asked for? The Thing is not ready, Kruppe, come back later. Kruppe come back, I have the Thing. Hello Barathol, I have a Thing in a box, don't touch the Thing, it might be a different Thing, I'm not sure. Tayschrenn is here, he has to do A Thing. Or does he?!?
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Jan 24, 2019 22:18
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So, Pulp Fiction?
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Jan 25, 2019 12:06
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Ynglaur posted:So, Pulp Fiction? If Pulp Fiction eschewed all the farcical criminals and just had people calmly handing off the briefcase to each other, yeah.
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Jan 25, 2019 14:37
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Strom Cuzewon posted:If Pulp Fiction eschewed all the farcical criminals and just had people calmly handing off the briefcase to each other, yeah. I guess I'll reread the main series before reading the follow on stuff then.
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Jan 26, 2019 13:39
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Read Kharkanas before you reread. Makes the Jaghut stuff even better and and the main book Tiste stuff more bearable, especially the Shake.
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Jan 27, 2019 13:15
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Really, my biggest problem with OST is that something like 85% of the book is build-up, and then the climax is pretty uninspiring. The fact that Esslemont seems to spend half the book making things mysterious, up to and including not naming characters in scenes, doesn't help. I did finish reading Stonewielder this week. Which is better in some ways - I like the pacing a lot more, Shadowthrone - but worse in others (the parts of the finale involving characters). At the moment, I've got Blood & Bone and Assail left to read on my Kindle, and then the third Path to Ascendancy is out towards the end of February. So that should be the next 6 weeks or so of commuting sorted. Then there's always Bauchelain & Broach and Kharkanas after that.
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Jan 28, 2019 01:05
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upon a DoD and CG reread Ruthan Gudd and Quick Ben have to have known each other from a long long time ago. One of QBs souls has to be Tiste, and Gudd is an elder god that never got followers, right?
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Feb 1, 2019 20:13
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CoolHandMat posted:upon a DoD and CG reread Kinda? Gudd's realisation of who Quick Ben is comes from hearing his full name., iirc. And his follow-up comment has to do with mortals bargaining with the gods. Given that there are several instances of Quick Ben having words with various gods, it's very feasible that Ruthan Gudd has also made a deal with a god. Possibly something to do with his armour. As for how he knows Quick Ben, maybe they've bargained with the same god, or maybe there's a sign-in book that Eriksson never shows; off-camera to the side of Hood's gate. I dunno. Remember that Quick Ben's older sister is alive within the time frame of the books, so Gudd recognising Ben is because of something recent
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Feb 3, 2019 01:12
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Gudd is connected to the storm riders.
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Feb 3, 2019 01:28
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Mr Hootington posted:Gudd is connected to the storm riders.
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Feb 3, 2019 12:46
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I like the theory that Ruthan Gudd is Grizzin Farl, but I like the theory that Grizzin Farl is the nameless d'ivers Forkul god in the Wastelands just as well. As much as I liked the two extant Kharkanas books, and as much as I'm looking forward to witnessing Karsa Orlong making a world of villages, the one thing I'd really like to read Erickson tackle is stories set in the First Empire (the human one, though i'd take the imass one too). My favorite bits of the series are mostly the Seven Cities segments, along with everything about soletaken and d'ivers. I'd love to read a book where Dessimbelackis takes the role Shadowthrone has throughout the core series, as the sometimes-glimpsed figure moving behind whatever events and convergences the cast is forced to endure.
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Feb 3, 2019 13:05
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Ynglaur posted:I guess I'll reread the main series before reading the follow on stuff then. The frustrating thing is that all this implied stuff (once I googled what the heck is going on) is vastly more interesting than the rest of it. From about a quarter of the way through its pretty clear how everything is going to end (when could you ever say that about Malazan?!) and its all just piddling about around the edges. I'm really enjoying Blood and Bone though. The young Prince who got educated by foreign scholars and so learnt about his own country through the equivalent of Marco polo's journal is a pretty great gag.
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Feb 3, 2019 22:28
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anilEhilated posted:Who we still know gently caress all about; it's all speculation at this point. They are an alien force!
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Feb 3, 2019 22:54
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1994 Toyota Celica posted:I like the theory that Ruthan Gudd is Grizzin Farl, but I like the theory that Grizzin Farl is the nameless d'ivers Forkul god in the Wastelands just as well. Eriksson said that by the end of the Kharkanas trilogy readers should have enough information to know who Ruthan Gudd is. And since no-one bought the second book, I guess we'll have to wait even longer now...
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Feb 5, 2019 22:39
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I thought Ruthan Gudd was probably Arathan since their names are so similar. If Korya is one of Quick Ben's souls then this connects the two of them neatly.
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Feb 5, 2019 22:51
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There's something not quite right about the character of Felash... like, Erikson says a few times through the series that any man who doesn't prefer fat women is a pedophile, which... OK. He repeats this thought again by putting it in Felash's mouth in one chapter in TCG, but that section leads right into one that begins with yet another description of Felash:quote:"...that condescending, patronizing cow doesn't deserve tits like that, or that soft blemish-free skin and lustrous hair. And the way those hips swing, why I'm amazed she doesn't throw out her back with every step, and those damned luscious lips look ready made to wrap themselves round - Gods, what was that?" Shortly before this, Felash comments that she's celebrating her fifteenth birthday. Uh...?
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Feb 5, 2019 22:55
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The Ninth Layer posted:I thought Ruthan Gudd was probably Arathan since their names are so similar. If Korya is one of Quick Ben's souls then this connects the two of them neatly. i prefer the theory that Arathan is Tayschrenn/Artanthos
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Feb 7, 2019 22:09
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I feel less good about that one after reading Deadhouse Landing.
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Feb 7, 2019 22:20
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Can you elaborate in spoilers? I'm not ever likely to read the Esselmont books.
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Feb 8, 2019 01:08
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Not even much of a spoiler really, his time with the cult of D'rek is a pretty big part of the book and unless I missed something it came across as a complete origin story for him.
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Feb 8, 2019 02:40
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Just got done with Assail, and finished Blood & Bone a week or two back. I liked them both, but they're not great books - in no small part because neither has an even remotely satisfying climax. I did like how Lanas Tog flat-out lied to Silverfox to get her to head over to Assail. That made me laugh
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Feb 15, 2019 22:55
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I had the same reaction to Blood and Bone as I've had to every one of ICE's books - starts off limp, has some wonderful character moments in the middle, enough to make me think that this time he's gonna completely nail it, and then the ending just fizzles out/happens offscreen. I remember way back anihilEhated complained that BaB makes Kallor boring, but I disagree. I think BaB makes Kallor bored. He's been going through the motions for so long that even obliterating his ancient enemy doesn't excite him anymore. It's not quite as fun as all the other times he pops up and immediately gets dunked on, but I liked it. I also find his lack of nuance really disappointing. OST has a dozen epigraphs featuring Seguleh* criticising cities, with very Facebook-esque parables about cages and prisons, and then the story shows them coming to the realisation that yeah, cities are poo poo, lets go back to our island. BaB has a dozen epigraphs from foreign imperialist travellers talking about the bizarre and uncivilised ways of Jacuruku and the nightmarish creatures that live there, and then the book gives us...bizarre and uncivilised ways and nightmarish creatures. It's completely lacking in irony, just clumsy and lazy anthropology that Erikson takes great care to avoid. It wouldn't stand out at all in any other fantasy series, but I expect better from Malazan. Onto Dust of Dreams now, which really pissed me off the first time I read it. I loved the K'Chain, I loved the Malazans, but the Bolkando are just boring, and the Grey Helms/Swords feel like a clumsy stand-in for the Grey Swords/Helms, and are only saved by how delightfully lovely Tanakalian is. Best two jokes in the series are in the Dramatis Personae though. Bugg appears three times, in all his various roles, but also (spoilers for literally the last chapter of the whole series) Nefarious Bredd isn't there. I checked, he's not in any of the other books either  * Great detail I picked up, back in MoI Envy remarks "Seguleh? A familiar term, but the context escapes me" because the idea of a Segul as a people, and not a person/organisation is a massive corruption of the original term.
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Feb 18, 2019 11:15
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Latest Esslemont out apparently.
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Feb 21, 2019 19:52
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| # ? Jun 4, 2024 21:36 |
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I managed to finish book 1 after about 10 tries. It wasn't bad it was just a difficult read for some reason. It sounds like book 2 and up are easier to get through?
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Feb 21, 2019 20:05
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