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I'm working on my first read-through of the series now and I'm up to House of Chains chapter eight-ish and I know some very broad strokes spoilers for the series at large and it's kind of incredible how comprehensible and interesting the prologue and first chapter of TGINW are with just the Karsa origin of House of Chains as background.
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Jun 17, 2021 09:48
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Infinite Karma posted:Very frustrating that the only way to read it on a Kindle will be to pirate it unless you want to wait 4 extra months. For a long time you used to be able to add a UK address, switch over to the UK kindle store, buy what you wanted, and switch back. I haven't tried it recently though.
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Jun 18, 2021 04:04
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There's a chain of events (ending spoilers) that I didn't put together until my reread: Kellanved taking control of the Logros leads to Tool getting fired from the job of First Sword of the T'lan Imass, and Traveler being named First Sword. After getting fired, Tool can go hang out with the Adjunct for Gardens of the Moon. This led to Hood getting angry because Traveler a) was supposed to be his Mortal Sword, not Shadow's and b) those Imass are supposed to be dead and in Hood's realm. Traveler breaking his Mortal Sword vow to Hood leads to Hood kidnapping and loving up Traveler's daughter. Which led to Traveler swearing vengeance on Hood. The Rope convinces Rake to kill Hood, which led to Traveler killing Rake after Rake stole his vengeance by killing Hood first. That frees up Hood from his job (Hood's payoff for being part of the plan). Hood's army of undead entering the sword leads to Drakonus going free from the sword and Hood's army of undead saving the Thone of Darkness (saving the Throne of Darkness is the payoff the Emperor and Hood used to convince Rake to kill Hood) in the finale of the penultimate book and saving the world That allows Hood and his mini-army of Jahgut to resurrect, and the Bridgeburners to fully ascend to fill Hood's job, and save the day in The Crippled God. I just wanted to add that I picked up Gardens of the Moon to slowly read between my other reading project, which is dry as dirt. In the second or third chapter, before Paran even meets the Bridgeburners, someone just casually mentions that Hood took Traveler's daughter. That's a series of intricate plot points spanning the books, starting from page 20 or so and ending at the conclusion of the last book. I appreciate that. BigHead fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Jun 20, 2021 |
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Jun 20, 2021 06:43
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I hope at some point in the new trilogy we get a brief cameo by Hood and Roach
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Jun 20, 2021 10:39
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BigHead posted:There's a chain of events (ending spoilers) that I didn't put together until my reread: Was Tool ever fired from being First Sword? I thought he still held the title while he was traveling with Envy and co in Memories of Ice? The title was one of the big reasons why the Seguleh were so keen on dueling him, and when he lost to Mok, Kilava got pissed and tried to kill Mok for beating the First Sword of the T'lan Imass. I'm pretty sure First Sword of the Empire is a separate title from First Sword of the T'lan Imass. The rest of what you said checks out though.
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Jun 21, 2021 15:09
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Gravity Cant Apple posted:Was Tool ever fired from being First Sword? I thought he still held the title while he was traveling with Envy and co in Memories of Ice? The title was one of the big reasons why the Seguleh were so keen on dueling him, and when he lost to Mok, Kilava got pissed and tried to kill Mok for beating the First Sword of the T'lan Imass. I'm pretty sure First Sword of the Empire is a separate title from First Sword of the T'lan Imass. The rest of what you said checks out though. They thought they took the title away from Tool but it didn't count because Kellanved didn't have that authority IIRC
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Jun 21, 2021 15:16
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Gravity Cant Apple posted:Was Tool ever fired from being First Sword? I thought he still held the title while he was traveling with Envy and co in Memories of Ice? The title was one of the big reasons why the Seguleh were so keen on dueling him, and when he lost to Mok, Kilava got pissed and tried to kill Mok for beating the First Sword of the T'lan Imass. I'm pretty sure First Sword of the Empire is a separate title from First Sword of the T'lan Imass. The rest of what you said checks out though. Look at that! https://malazan.fandom.com/wiki/First_Sword_(disambiguation)
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Jun 21, 2021 15:24
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First Sword is like, I dunno, "Roman" or something, in that everybody wants to stamp it onto their Empire to give themselves some sort of legitimacy. By the Malazan era they're probably trying to associate themselves with the human First Empire, not the Imass one, which makes it even funnier. I remember an interview with Erikson where he half-joked that Karsa might not even appear in The God Is Not Willing - does anyone know if that's actually true or just something he was toying with? Because that would be a ballsy move.
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Jun 21, 2021 16:42
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Erikson posted the first review on his facebook and the reviewer called Karsa "Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Novel" so presumably the madman did it https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/20...RSQj28lm4D1JLDU
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Jun 21, 2021 18:21
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Gravity Cant Apple posted:Erikson posted the first review on his facebook and the reviewer called Karsa "Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Novel" so presumably the madman did it Allegedly he's not showing up till book three, which would be god-tier poo poo.
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Jun 21, 2021 18:39
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Josh Christ posted:Allegedly he's not showing up till book three, which would be god-tier poo poo. The Godot Is Not Willing
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Jun 21, 2021 21:09
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Strom Cuzewon posted:The Godot Is Not Willing  I don't know how much money SE made writing Malazan but it must have been lots. Stubbornly writing the ending to a series that half the fan base didn't like in the Kharkhanas trilogy while writing the cash grab series to shut people up and and then not even featuring the fan-favorite character for most of it is some serious poo poo. Sounds like the Karsa is actually the author insert now, which I did not expect. Eediot Jedi posted:The god is not shilling. LOL Jaxyon fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Jun 23, 2021 |
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Jun 21, 2021 23:45
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Just give me book 3 of kharkanas and gently caress everything else
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Jun 22, 2021 02:31
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Jaxyon posted:
According to this very petty Guardian article he got an advance of £625,000 in 1999 which sounds somewhat ridiculous to me. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/1999/oct/14/artsfeatures
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Jun 22, 2021 07:49
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Strom Cuzewon posted:According to this very petty Guardian article he got an advance of £625,000 in 1999 which sounds somewhat ridiculous to me. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/1999/oct/14/artsfeatures I couldn’t even read that garbage article. All I will say is good for him, he earned it, and I wish him more money in the future.
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Jun 22, 2021 08:03
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Gravity Cant Apple posted:Erikson posted the first review on his facebook and the reviewer called Karsa "Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Novel" so presumably the madman did it The god is not shilling.
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Jun 22, 2021 08:11
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Working on finally finishing House of Chains. I think part of what slowed me down so much over the years (this has been where I tapped out the last couple times I've tried reading Malazan) is that after the Karsa stuff at the beginning, which is incredible, you get a ton of slow burn set up work and people reacting to DG/MOI and it just slows way the gently caress down, especially in comparison to the last two books.
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Jun 22, 2021 09:34
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Broke: kharkanas trilogy Bespoke: a seven book epic about Anomander and Andarist and Anomander being a shithead to his little brother
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Jun 23, 2021 09:37
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Gravity Cant Apple posted:Erikson posted the first review on his facebook and the reviewer called Karsa "Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Novel" so presumably the madman did it Honestly I've enjoyed the characters in these first few chapters enough that I am completely fine with this prospect.
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Jun 23, 2021 18:22
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Yeah the first three chapters really have me raring to go for more.
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Jun 24, 2021 20:44
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Here's another chapter to tide you over. If the pattern holds, we might get one last chapter preview next week before the UK release. https://www.tor.com/2021/06/22/excerpts-steven-erikson-malazan-the-god-is-not-willing-chapter-four/ There's some darker stuff in the last 2 chapters but I'm liking it a lot so far.
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Jun 24, 2021 21:00
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Halfway through The God Is Not Willing, and so far it's pretty drat good. The new marines are a fun mix of terrifying and incompetent, and it's cool to see how the world is moving on and reacting to the events of Book of the Fallen. I was also really surprised how much I enjoyed the return of Spindle and Monkrat Who the gently caress wanted more of them? Not me, but I'm glad we got 'em. If it's been a whle sicne you read the main series, I'd suggest catching up on the first section of House of Chains - a lot of the background details and minor characters have more of a role to play here.
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Jul 4, 2021 20:03
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Oh snap. Gotta somehow order this thing... hardcover needed to fill my bookcase but UK Kindle edition for now!
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Jul 5, 2021 00:20
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BigHead posted:There's a chain of events (ending spoilers) that I didn't put together until my reread: I always read it that when the Bonehunters were on the boat and the spears of jade came down and everybody thought they were hosed there's a conversation with Quick and Kalam that mentions him overhearing a bargain between Hood and Paran to unfuck everything. Assuming the conversation is that hood no longer wants to be Lord of death it then leads to the Hood / Rake / Dasseem confrontation which leads to Hood and his army entering Draginpur, the sword being broken etc...
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Jul 6, 2021 03:44
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I can't remember much of the end except Fiddler got to go fishing.
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Jul 6, 2021 14:02
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Aargh posted:I always read it that when the Bonehunters were on the boat and the spears of jade came down and everybody thought they were hosed there's a conversation with Quick and Kalam that mentions him overhearing a bargain between Hood and Paran to unfuck everything. Assuming the conversation is that hood no longer wants to be Lord of death it then leads to the Hood / Rake / Dasseem confrontation which leads to Hood and his army entering Draginpur, the sword being broken etc... There's also the bit where Paran drawing Hoods card was an accident, which hints at Oponn getting involved in it too. There's also a moment earlier when a random Luitenant is recruiting deserters from the Whirlwind, finds out that Shaik was a Malazan, but then gets distracted and forgets to tell anyone. Which hints at Oponn becoming less cruel and capricious, or at least more of the Lady's Pull than the Lord's Push. I would have liked to see that be explored a bit more, because I think the scene later on when Oponn is squatting in Tayschrenn's tower is the last we see of them in the series, and it's very unclear what they're doing.
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Jul 6, 2021 16:21
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Oh yeah, I'm in the US so I have to pirate it if I want to read it now, instead of rationally paying for it like I want to, correct? I can't really help it when a company won't give me a product when I'm willing to pay. The rational free hand of the market wins again. Barreft fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Jul 10, 2021 |
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Jul 10, 2021 04:11
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Barreft posted:Oh yeah, I'm in the US so I have to pirate it if I want to read it now, instead of rationally paying for it like I want to, correct? Huh? You know books can be shipped, right? And it's not illegal to buy books from another country? I'd be hosed if that was the case... https://www.bookdepository.com/God-is-Not-Willing-Steven-Erikson/9781787632868 https://www.amazon.com/The-God-is-Not-Willing/dp/1787632865/ (you'll still have to wait a week or two, when shipped without tracking from Bookdepository) Abalieno fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Jul 10, 2021 |
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Jul 10, 2021 04:40
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Oh I didn't know I could get it on Kindle in the US and read it now I don't want to buy a book and pay for intl shipping because I dont want to buy a book and pay for intl shipping when I can read it right now.
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Jul 10, 2021 04:43
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Abalieno posted:Huh? Yeah, I'd rather finish reading it before it even shipped here.
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Jul 10, 2021 04:45
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Barreft posted:Yeah, I'd rather finish reading it before it even shipped here. Well, shipping is free for bookdepository, you just have to wait. But if you can read the digital format that's fine too. I got the hardcover today, in Italy, but I was able to buy directly from Amazon and it arrived in three days. Maybe readers should know this is a "short" one. Half the length of the longest in the series.
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Jul 10, 2021 04:55
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Abalieno posted:Well, shipping is free for bookdepository, you just have to wait. But if you can read the digital format that's fine too. There's options but I don't give a poo poo because there's no reason I cant read it on Kindle in the US now except they won't let me because of some obscure laws or something I don't care about. I already paid for it, but I'm reading it now. Thanks.
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Jul 10, 2021 05:05
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Finished 'The God is Not Willing' today and I really enjoyed it. There are a couple of sections where I kinda rolled my eyes, and the marines are even more banter-ish than usual to the point where it can be hard to remember who's who (although that does make the marines sections generally very funny), but yeah it's good. Stillwater is my favourite of the new characters - she's great.
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Jul 15, 2021 17:23
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I got my copy yesterday and some of the banter between the Heavies feels like peak Malazan.
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Jul 15, 2021 18:09
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Finished it yesterday myself, extremely strong entry and imo easily ranks among the best novels in the series - helped immensely by its focus, which is something I hope is the norm for the remaining books. Great cast, as well, on both sides of the story. Rant is wonderful, his crew is wonderful. The Malazans are Malazans and while their plotline isn't any less serious or lacking in heaviness, they do provide a good relief from it. Stillwater is delightful throughout.
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Jul 16, 2021 16:57
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gardens of the goon
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Jul 16, 2021 19:20
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there is a point where portraying the soldiers of an extremely expansionist empire as almost saintly becomes irritating, but the rant parts of the book compensate for that very well
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Jul 16, 2021 23:09
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Doctor Jeep posted:there is a point where portraying the soldiers of an extremely expansionist empire as almost saintly becomes irritating, but the rant parts of the book compensate for that very well Yeah, if I have one issue with it, it's that there are several scenes where the Malazan's motives are portrayed (at least collectively) as capital-G Good in a way that both really doesn't jibe with all that we know from the main series and feels simplistic in a way that Erickson thankfully tends to steer well clear of. "How was I meant to know that all Palid wanted was a bath?" was pretty laugh-out-loud funny.
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Jul 20, 2021 09:12
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Spoilers for new book, and the series as a whole: I agree with you generally, but there are a couple of bits with Spindle where he points out that with Mallick Rel in charge, things are better within the Empire. There's more of a focus on helping people in the Empire, which is kind of what the Marines here are doing. Now, I don't think that fits with what we see of Mallick Rel during the main series - unless you take the view that he's willing to commit countless atrocities and genocides to put himself in a position to do good as Emperor, in which case: lol - but if the Marines have got autonomy to show compassion and help out when people need it, then, well, it's not like we're short on examples of soldiers committing astonishing acts of compassion during the main series. It makes me wonder if - given the tone of the first book - the central conflict of the series is going to be between Karsa's pledge to destroy civilization, and the utter lack of compassion he recognises from the Teblor tribes (who mostly come across as a bunch of complete assholes).
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Jul 20, 2021 11:07
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After how he was in the rest of the series, seeing Rel apparently by the actual best emperor felt like a huge swerve. At one point in the series I think Bugg mentioned going to have a talking to with one of his priests so maybe he imparted some very valuable lessons.
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Jul 20, 2021 11:15
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