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Cardiac posted:Itkovian Sometimes me and my friend who I read through the entire series with will text Malazan names back and forth just to conjure memories Beak Kruppe Toc (which? The Younger of course)
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Dec 15, 2021 22:02
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The best line in the series is at the very end and gets me every time ”Gesler - we are told - died saving the life of a dog.”
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Dec 15, 2021 22:22
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Memories of Ice gets me every time. It's Toc and Seerdomin ‘Thank you for the use of your cloak,’ he said. ‘You are welcome, Malazan. These winds were once warm. Come, lean on me while we walk – your weight is as nothing.’ They slowly made their way towards the building. ‘Easily borne, you mean.’ ‘I did not say that, Malazan. I did not say that.’
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Dec 15, 2021 22:51
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Cardiac posted:Itkovian Yes. Him. I was just thinking of him when people starting going through all the bad rear end moments. Might need to dust off Memories of Ice. Best in the series. With a Midnight Tides a close second.
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Dec 16, 2021 06:24
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The Khundryl Burned Tears declaring the greatest tribe of the plains.
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Dec 16, 2021 09:49
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Spinnock Durav holding back the High King.
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Dec 16, 2021 13:52
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Khizan posted:Spinnock Durav holding back the High King. Spinnock is severely under-rated, he owns. Spinnock Durav posted:
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Dec 16, 2021 14:11
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Dec 19, 2021 01:50
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I like when Havanat gives Rutt her baby to carry. That moment and Badalle's dream about the original Held make the whole depressing snake slog worthwhile on their own.
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Dec 24, 2021 15:04
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thumper57 posted:I like when Havanat gives Rutt her baby to carry. That moment and Badalle's dream about the original Held make the whole depressing snake slog worthwhile on their own. The snake is one of those challenging reads that does seem emotionally vindicating in the end.
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Dec 25, 2021 03:37
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I'm in the middle of rereading Dust of Dreams, and I'm gonna be quite honest: I just skipped absolutely everything Barghast related past O'nos Toolan's death. The stuff that happens after that is vile and the characters are so irrelevant that I didn't seem to lose anything from skipping a whole chapter.
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Dec 25, 2021 18:12
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Jan posted:I'm in the middle of rereading Dust of Dreams, and I'm gonna be quite honest: I just skipped absolutely everything Barghast related past O'nos Toolan's death. The stuff that happens after that is vile and the characters are so irrelevant that I didn't seem to lose anything from skipping a whole chapter. I do that too on my rereads. I understand his thinking leaving it in there but that doesn't mean that I have to read it ever again.
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Dec 25, 2021 18:17
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I'm glad the barghast get atomized
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Dec 25, 2021 18:45
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Erikson has posted the prologue to "No Life Forsaken" for xmas. https://pastebin.com/32ecvx4b
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Dec 25, 2021 22:26
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coathat posted:The only books that Malazan series has ruined for me are Esslemont's and the later Erikson ones. Hard disagree. Kharkanas series for me is the best Erikson has been and latest book moves the story forward in a very interesting way
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Dec 26, 2021 21:09
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I'm a big fan of the Kharkanas books and I'm on to dust of dreams in my 2nd read. Also if you're looking for something a little lighter in tone for fantasy check out The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buhleman. He's a horror author who made something of a move into fantasy with a book called Between Two Fires (also a good read) but this is the first in a planned series and it's brilliant. Has an excellent form of narration that's funny and world building and features a lot of tongue in cheek humour. Also hits on goblins and giants and krakens in parts and does so really well. I read the first one in two days after I'd finished Toll the Hounds as a change of pace because I just could not put it down.
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Dec 30, 2021 05:02
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My "Mother Dark did nothing wrong" t-shirt (black text on a black base, of course) t-shirt arrived in the post today. I was obviously in a whimsical mood when I ordered it, but I regret nothing.
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Jan 10, 2022 18:03
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My "Mother Dark Did Nothing Wrong" t-shirt is raising a lot of questions that are already answered by the t-shirt.
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Jan 11, 2022 06:34
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After several weeks off and on I finally finished Return of the Crimson Guard and boy, you'd think something as big as Laseen being assassinated would have more weight to it but it's so abrupt and the novel such a slog that I didn't even realize that's what was supposed to be happening at first. There's also something kind of self-sabotaging about the summoning of Ryllandaras being an extremely big deal when during the Bonehunters saga there's an entire plotline where an evil cult summons a murderous unstoppable ancient god that summarily gets stomped by the Malazans without a thought. Like, Erikson did it as a gag and then ICE did it seriously after the fact.
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Jan 19, 2022 09:01
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Wolfsheim posted:There's also something kind of self-sabotaging about the summoning of Ryllandaras being an extremely big deal when during the Bonehunters saga there's an entire plotline where an evil cult summons a murderous unstoppable ancient god that summarily gets stomped by the Malazans without a thought. Like, Erikson did it as a gag and then ICE did it seriously after the fact. Different person, you're thinking of Dejim Nebrahl, whom the Nameless ones summon but who gets punked by nearly everyone in modern times, in yet another Erikson gag of some ancient badass huffing their own farts and then getting punked by someone new. Ryllandaras does appear in Deadhouse Gates I believe to talk to Icarium and that's a different incarnation.
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Jan 19, 2022 23:18
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I think he's talking about that plague god
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Jan 19, 2022 23:37
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No, Wolfsheim is referencing Dejim Nebrahl (Erikson's 'gag') and Ryllandaras. I think there is a difference between the two. Dejim Nebrahl is a sort of budget Dessimbelackis who learned how to become D'ivers and terrified a bunch of farmers and hapless merchants in his OG timeline. While Ryllandaras was (I dimly recall) the son of Trake - a god of war - and powerful enough that even Shadowthrone on the cusp of godhood wasn't able to defeat him. And only Dassem Ultor (and I guess some Seguleh goon) was able to hold him off. Still, I get the point. There are some parts of RotCG that work a bit better once you've read the Path to Ascendancy books, but it's hard to really recommend that given how crap the third book is.
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Jan 20, 2022 00:19
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Just finished off The God Is Not Willing. poo poo owns, Erikson fucks.
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Jan 21, 2022 02:26
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I want to read it but know I'll forget everything before the second one is out. Is it kind to someone who's read Malazan but forgets a whole lot of it?
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Jan 21, 2022 05:18
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Yeah, it's fairly self contained - it obviously connects outside the book, but doesn't really rely on that to understand the story itself.
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Jan 21, 2022 05:24
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Serak posted:Yeah, it's fairly self contained - it obviously connects outside the book, but doesn't really rely on that to understand the story itself. I thought it was perfect in that way. I hadn't read the original series in years but I didn't really need to. It told you everything you needed to know and got me hooked on Malazan again. I read the entire thing on a car ride where my wife graciously agreed to drive because she knew I was waiting on this book to come out and when it got to the part where they killed Nistilash in the woods and one of the characters asks Balk who they were, he goes "I don't know, but one of them is very dangerous" I burst out laughing and was like "They're all dangerous you idiot!" Man, what a great book
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Jan 21, 2022 15:37
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The MBotF is getting a heavily revised Czech translation (the first one having been done as the series was coming out and having a bunch of errors due to that) and it's looking pretty badass. I honestly prefer the more stylized approach to the generic epic fantasy covers we got before. Gardens of the Moon:  
anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Jan 22, 2022 |
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Jan 22, 2022 03:37
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Oh man that cover loving owns
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Jan 22, 2022 05:09
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I would loving love the whole series done up like that.
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Jan 24, 2022 06:40
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Finally getting around to reading The God is Not Willing and Stillwater is just the perfect mix of stupid and crazy.
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Jan 24, 2022 15:00
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In case anyone (almost everyone) didn't get on the limited train way back in 2008 or whenever, heads up that Subterranean Press is doing a second limited edition of the series. I have a fair number of their books and they are fantastic. GotM going up for preorder at noon EST this monday!quote:
I know Erikson was interested in a 2 volume omnibus edition which is just not feasible to print but getting something new and special and not at the $10k price the current limited edition is at is really exciting.
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Jan 28, 2022 00:07
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Man I love this series but 2k to complete the 10 books is a decent chunk of change.
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Jan 28, 2022 00:36
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Yeah it's a chunk of change, but they'd be the showpiece of any book collection. Also you'll be getting one edition every 9 months max I'd guess. And if you had to you'd be able to resell them, as I expect they'll sell out within the hour and I believe you get rights of first refusal on preorders of future releases.
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Jan 28, 2022 00:48
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OK just so we are on the same page you realise I was trying to talk myself OUT of trying to get one right? You monster. Think I would settle for Kharkanas or Witness in a fancy set. Less books.
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Jan 28, 2022 01:25
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Is that the cover they use for the printing? Its not bad at all but... I dunno maybe something more elegant for a $200 book... like the Czech one.
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Jan 28, 2022 04:41
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I told my wife about this, thinking she'd laugh at the idea of a $2000 book collection. She told me I should get them... Hm...
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Jan 29, 2022 21:35
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I threatened a couple of months ago to post my thoughts about the Esslemont books, having hacked my way through them for a second time. I haven't written up all of them - because there comes a point where I'm too drunk for my thoughts to be coherent - but here's a start: Night of Knives Esslemont's first book is eeeeehhhhhh. Set your expectations low and you may enjoy the book. Esslemont isn't much of a writer at this point. PROs: - The book is short - Temper is a decent protagonist to hang around with - This is the most tolerable Tayschrenn gets out of all of his appearances (between Erikson and Esslemont's books) - Malaz Island gets fleshed out a bit more and actually feels a bit more like a place - Makes a Shadow Moon seem like a big deal CONs: - Erikson's foreward will set your expectations way higher than they should be - Kiska. Okay, on a re-read, it's clear that Esslemont is deliberately going for the "Hey, she's 15, she's supposed to be annoying" angle; I can appreciate that's probably the case, but 'intentionally annoying' is still annoying. - Flashbacks - these are introduced with the subtlety of someone who would one day finish a chapter with the finely-crafted lines: 'Very well, you are...?', She inclined her head a fraction. 'You may call me Nightchill.' - Flavour for the sake of flavour. You're writing a lean book about The Night Kellanved Died and then you include a subplot about Storm Riders attacking Malaz? We know they don't take over Malaz Island so why the gently caress do we care? Also, we find out in Stonebreaker what their deal is (kinda), so why the gently caress do they care about Malaz? Why is this plot here?. Part of me thinks it's just so he could include Agayla and Obo being bad-rear end, but does that contribute anything to the story? - This is a book about the big confrontation between Kellanved and Laseen and we don't see or hear what happens.  Return of the Crimson Guard Better on a re-read. I actually enjoyed reading it, which I really didn't the first time. Silk is also a more interesting and enjoyable character if you've read the Path to Ascendancy books. PROs: - Esslemont actually does a decent job of tying what seems like a million plot threads together towards the final confrontation. - His writing has improved a lot from Night of Knives and some of his descriptive/scene-setting sections actually do a reasonable job of putting the reader in the location that stuff is happening in. I am also a good writer - Characters are written well enough that you could reasonably find yourself rooting for characters/groups on either side of the main conflict. Which, given this is basically Laseen vs Mallick Rel, is actually quite impressive. CONs: - gently caress Kyle. There's nothing to redeem him here. He's just an annoying, piece of poo poo, plot-armoured twat that plot happens around or near. He's an unfunny Twoflower. - The book as a whole is way beyond Esslemont's ability as a writer. Yeah, Erikson's Dramatis Personae are extensive, but he generally sticks to 3-4 major POVs during a book and anything beyond that is usually backed up by a lot of prior character development/discussion; Esslemont aims for 6-10 major POVs (you could argue about some of them) and I doubt that some of those characters could even tell themselves apart in a line-up. - I have no idea why I'm supposed to give a gently caress about Laseen, other than "Mallick Rel is a piece of poo poo", but a lot of the tension and suspense of the book is wound up in 'What happens to Laseen?!?' But by the time anyone's reading this, they already know, and likely don't care anyway. Esslemont seems to think that just having a POV scene will make you care about a character, but simultaneously doesn't attempt this with Laseen and then attempts it with Topper. I don't even want to guess at what turds didn't stick to the walls when he was drafting the book. - gently caress Tayschrenn. He does nothing for 95% of the book, then turns up and makes a bad situation worse in a truly cosmic sense. Which sets off the worst plotline in the Malaz series (yes, worse than what happens to Hetan) that slowly and tediously plays out over the next few books.
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Jan 30, 2022 00:19
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kingturnip posted:- gently caress Tayschrenn. He does nothing for 95% of the book, then turns up and makes a bad situation worse in a truly cosmic sense. Which sets off the worst plotline in the Malaz series (yes, worse than what happens to Hetan) that slowly and tediously plays out over the next few books. Yes, this, eloquently put. Please keep going. 
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Jan 30, 2022 01:26
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Sometimes I convince myself Esslemont isn’t that awful but then I think about the lost opportunity of Erickson writing all the Malaz books. Ugh.
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Jan 30, 2022 13:11
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Hand Row posted:Sometimes I convince myself Esslemont isn’t that awful but then I think about the lost opportunity of Erickson writing all the Malaz books. Ugh. Yes but at least I can skip the esselmont so I’m not reading a 20 book gargantuan mega series.
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Jan 30, 2022 22:15
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