The Malazan Book of the Fallen: Too many wor'ds.

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The Malazan Book of the Fallen: Too many wor'ds.

Yarrbossa: Mar 19, 2008

Just finished Deadhouse Gates. Such a good ending. About 30 pages from the end I felt like I had just finished any A Song of Ice and Fire book, then Coltaine is reborn into a child, and Duiker's body is taken back to (presumably) Darujhistan to be revived. Hell loving yes! I also loved how Icarium and Mappo wrapped things up, with Icarium forgetting everything that had happened, and them going on their way. I suspect this is the eternal journey that those two will forever repeat.

I wonder if I will ever see Duiker and Coltaine again, or if I'm just left with the knowledge that they live to see another day. It'll be nice to find out, so don't spoil it for me!

This is already ranking among my top fantasy series, possibly even THE top. It's just been that good, and I'm only two books into this madness! Thank you SA, thank you.

# ? Nov 21, 2011 04:00

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# ? May 14, 2024 17:25

Abalieno: Apr 3, 2011

Well, at the very least you'll have fun with Memories of Ice.

Already starting with the Prologue.

# ? Nov 21, 2011 05:57

pakman: Jun 27, 2011

I've had to put Memories of Ice on the backburner because there's a couple books I wanted to read between Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice. Hopefully I'll get back to the series within the next couple weeks.

# ? Nov 21, 2011 14:26

Donald Duck: Apr 2, 2007

I just got Gardens of the Moon off Amazon and even within the first 100 pages I'm noticing typos, were these in the paper copy or is it just a recognition problem with the ebook version? Most of the time its nothing important but it has made a couple of sentences read really awkwardly or make no sense at all.

Donald Duck fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Nov 23, 2011

# ? Nov 23, 2011 23:54

Big Bad Beetleborg: Apr 8, 2007; Things may come to those who wait...but only the things left by those who hustle.

Donald Duck posted:

I just got Gardens of the Moon off Amazon and even within the first 100 pages I'm noticing typos, were these in the paper copy or is it just a recognition problem with the ebook version? Most of the time its nothing important but it has made a couple of sentences read really awkwardly or make no sense at all.

Have you met Toe the Younger, or perhaps the Tiste And�? The ebooks blow, I think they were just OCR'd and got a very quick glance over and nothing more.

# ? Nov 24, 2011 01:06

Levitate: Sep 30, 2005; randy newman voice

YOU'VE GOT A LAFRENI�RE IN ME

I found the first half of the series in ebook was bad about that stuff, but it seemed to get better on the later books

# ? Nov 24, 2011 16:18

Masonity: Dec 31, 2007; What, I wonder, does this hidden face of madness reveal of the makers? These K'Chain Che'Malle?

I wish I'd read the books in Ebook first. Toe the Younger is an awesome name.

# ? Nov 24, 2011 17:43

dmccaff: Nov 8, 2010

Donald Duck posted:

I just got Gardens of the Moon off Amazon and even within the first 100 pages I'm noticing typos, were these in the paper copy or is it just a recognition problem with the ebook version? Most of the time its nothing important but it has made a couple of sentences read really awkwardly or make no sense at all.

Really? I bought the GotM eBook off Amazon as well and had no typos whatsoever.

I'm 8 chapters into Deadhouse Gates. Not keen on this Felisin character, does she continue to act like a bitch for long? Not sure what the deal is with Iskaral Pust. And trying to decipher what he says is hard work. If he and Kruppe are ever in a room together I think my head might explode...

# ? Nov 26, 2011 13:22

Turpitude: Oct 13, 2004; Love love love

be an organ donor; Soiled Meat

dmccaff posted:

If he and Kruppe are ever in a room together I think my head might explode...

Something like this happens in book 8 and it is just as amazing as you might imagine!

# ? Nov 26, 2011 18:13

pakman: Jun 27, 2011

Turpitude posted:

Something like this happens in book 8 and it is just as amazing as you might imagine!

I can't wait to get to book 8, then. Still haven't started Memories of Ice because I got distracted with other books.

# ? Nov 26, 2011 19:26

IncendiaC: Sep 25, 2011

Turpitude posted:

Something like this happens in book 8 and it is just as amazing as you might imagine!

The only thing that would make that scene more awesome is if Tehol and Bugg were somehow there too.

# ? Nov 26, 2011 19:58

MaterialConceptual: Jan 18, 2011; "It is rather that precisely in that which is newest the face of the world never alters, that this newest remains, in every aspect, the same. - This constitutes the eternity of hell."

-Walter Benjamin, "The Arcades Project"

Just finished Memories of Ice. What a read! The only downer is that it looks like these characters won't be showing up again for a while. Oh well I'm sure the House of Chains characters are still awesome anyhow. Thanks to everyone on here for getting me interested in the series!

# ? Nov 27, 2011 22:36

5ive: Oct 5, 2010

MaterialConceptual posted:

Just finished Memories of Ice. What a read! The only downer is that it looks like these characters won't be showing up again for a while. Oh well I'm sure the House of Chains characters are still awesome anyhow. Thanks to everyone on here for getting me interested in the series!

Just finished HoC. I can assure you, Karsa will make up for any characters you miss from Genabackis

# ? Nov 28, 2011 04:19

The Ninth Layer: Jun 20, 2007

I also finished HoC right about now. Started on Midnight Tides but having a little more trouble getting into it. This may be about the time in the series where I need to take a break and read something else first.

# ? Nov 28, 2011 04:47

NovemberMike: Dec 28, 2008

The Ninth Layer posted:

I also finished HoC right about now. Started on Midnight Tides but having a little more trouble getting into it. This may be about the time in the series where I need to take a break and read something else first.

Midnight Tides starts slowly because you don't know the characters and some of the politics are kind of boring, but Tehol and Bugg are two of the best characters in the series and the book is one of the stronger in the series.

# ? Nov 28, 2011 07:01

Levitate: Sep 30, 2005; randy newman voice

YOU'VE GOT A LAFRENI�RE IN ME

dmccaff posted:

Really? I bought the GotM eBook off Amazon as well and had no typos whatsoever.

I'm 8 chapters into Deadhouse Gates. Not keen on this Felisin character, does she continue to act like a bitch for long? Not sure what the deal is with Iskaral Pust. And trying to decipher what he says is hard work. If he and Kruppe are ever in a room together I think my head might explode...

Felisin is a great character because yes you hate her and everything she does but you see why she's hosed up and making retarded decisions and so there's this bit of sympathy for a character that spends most of her time being repugnant

# ? Nov 28, 2011 14:40

Gunshow Poophole: Sep 14, 2008; OMBUDSMAN
POSTERS LOCAL 42069; Clapping Larry

Masonity posted:

I wish I'd read the books in Ebook first. Toe the Younger is an awesome name.

Everything is "tom" from (space, a face, the earth) instead of "torn" as well

I last posted at the beginning of September about struggling through the first book and hot drat I'm almost done with the third now and things like Chain of Dogs / Siege of Capustan are pretty amazing. I've had a really good time, glad I stuck it out.

# ? Nov 29, 2011 15:36

FuriousxGeorge: Aug 8, 2007; We've been the best team all year.

They're just finding out.

Just finished TCG. I'd like to thank you guys for recommending this series, I really enjoyed it. I haven't ever read another series that dealed with the topic of immortality/vast lifespans and really gotten a sense the author could describe what that sort of thing could be like. The way the world changed underneath everyone, the animals were hunted out of extinctions, whole lands died and were reborn. Great stuff.

Not gonna list out all the highlights of the series for me, they were mostly the same as everyone else posts about.

I will have to say though, after all this the image that keeps popping into my head out of all these books is the image of the children of the King of Kolanse being stuffed and left with the rest of the trophies. Ugh, get out of my brain. The Assail really deserved to be the big bad guys in the end. I'm probably going to wait a few years to do a re-read so more of it is fresh again, but the whole story with the Snake is going to be one of the things I really look forward to that I found boring the first time around. The kids from the top to the bottom of that society really got it hard.

FuriousxGeorge fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Dec 2, 2011

# ? Dec 2, 2011 07:45

Abalieno: Apr 3, 2011

In the second part of the Q&A Erikson explains the evolution of behaviors of ST and Cotillion (and apparent inconsistency) from book 1 to 4. He puts it exactly the way I interpreted it, so I'm glad it makes sense even if it's not intuitive for the reader.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/12/steven-erikson-answers-your-house-of-chains-questions-part-2

quote:

In the early scenes in Gardens, Cotillion and Shadowthrone are new to their ascension. They�re still smarting from the �assassinations� and Laseen�s betrayal, especially Cotillion, an assassin beaten at his own game (and his Talons being murdered). Accordingly, he plots his revenge. But all precipitous acts need justification, sooner or later�

Cotillion is not a nice man. He was never a nice man, and he shows that through Sorry�s actions, all of which subvert his desire to bring the Bridgeburners on board. The point here is that, ironically, for Cotillion it takes becoming a god to rediscover his own humanity. Imagine if he�d taken his newfound power and simply extended it to serve his own inhumanity (as expressed in Sorry)? Even Shadowthrone would have balked at that (eventually). Of course, you�re invited to think of these two gods as thoroughly corrupted by their newfound powers: but their journey is actually the very opposite. From tyrannical mortal rulers to gods prepared to surrender everything (except their humanity).

For both gods, plans change, profoundly; and among the gods, they�re not alone in that, either. The key to this transition comes mostly from Cotillion, who through his interaction with mortals who are, in one sense or another, helpless, comes to a realization of all the things he had walked away from as a mortal, all in the quest for absolute power. If you like, Cotillion and Shadowthrone represent the possibility of enlightenment even among the gods: and the light they eventually shine across the entire pantheon proves blinding indeed.

The only consistency they display is one of mutability and fallibility, and the willingness to adapt as circumstances change. This doesn�t make them any less arrogant (well, not Shadowthrone, anyway), and this is expressed by their constant front of being in control of everything, even when they�re not. Cotillion is more honest when speaking with chosen mortals, but when he discusses things with Shadowthrone, well, they have old roles to play, as old friends always have. So much of control, in human society, depends on the front presented, that veneer of confidence and brazen balls to the wall (of course, this front often hides something venal and self-serving, and politicians come to mind [Cameron, anyone?], but in the case of these two gods, they actually move towards humanity rather than away from it, and that�s the gist of their tale). In these novels, not even the gods are immune to change.

At a certain point, ST and Cotillion stretch their ambitions, and maybe, in a way, that�s what Cam and I did, too. As much as the storyline was pretty much in place, we both had to be prepared to alter it whenever something cooler came along. There was always an organic component to this series.

# ? Dec 2, 2011 22:50

Vanilla Mint Ice: Jul 17, 2007; A raccoon is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.

I-I actually did not realize at all that was the perspective he was trying to write for them. Welp guess it's another to look out for in the re-reads!

# ? Dec 3, 2011 05:45

GET INTO DA CHOPPA: Nov 22, 2007; D:

This is like the 3rd time I try starting on this series, and every single time this Kruppe guy just kills the books for me. Does it get any better, or should I stop feeling awful about dropping this series?

# ? Dec 5, 2011 12:21

Opal: May 10, 2005; some by their splendor rival the colors of the painters, others the flame of burning sulphur or of fire quickened by oil.

Kruppe is a fixture in the series so he's not going anywhere, and to be perfectly honest with you there's an entire book that is basically all Kruppe so if he's that much of a deal breaker for you and none of the other features are redeeming enough I would give up now while you're ahead.

# ? Dec 5, 2011 13:55

Kekekela: Oct 28, 2004

GET INTO DA CHOPPA posted:

This is like the 3rd time I try starting on this series, and every single time this Kruppe guy just kills the books for me. Does it get any better, or should I stop feeling awful about dropping this series?

Probably drop it,
if you dislike kruppe that much you'd get more bang for your buck reading something else I think.

# ? Dec 5, 2011 20:54

Quarterroys: Jul 1, 2008

Kekekela posted:

Probably drop it,
if you dislike kruppe that much you'd get more bang for your buck reading something else I think.

I'm gonna have to disagree. Kruppe is really only in 3, maybe 4 books total, and as a big fan of the series I mostly disliked him. I rarely if ever skim or skip parts of books, but I did skim most of his TTH Darujhistan exposition dialogue and still really enjoyed that book, unlike most.

IMO, Kruppe is meh in Gardens
Memories of Ice really awesome in this one
Toll the Hounds mostly garbage, particularly the exposition dialogue pervading this book

Did I miss any appearances? Maybe The Crippled God

# ? Dec 5, 2011 21:19

Kekekela: Oct 28, 2004

Cervixalot posted:

I'm gonna have to disagree

ok? I mean if you disliked him to the point where he made you stop reading three times already like the poster I was responding to, and still kept with it, more power to you I guess. I'd still stand by original statement however, since it's much easier to find something that you like that doesn't continually turn you off, from my experience.

# ? Dec 5, 2011 22:21

wellwhoopdedooo: Nov 23, 2007; Pound Trooper!

GET INTO DA CHOPPA posted:

This is like the 3rd time I try starting on this series, and every single time this Kruppe guy just kills the books for me. Does it get any better, or should I stop feeling awful about dropping this series?

Kruppe is much more than he appears to be. Or exactly as much, depending on how up on your tropes you are.

# ? Dec 6, 2011 01:37

HeroOfTheRevolution: Apr 26, 2008

Like kekekela said, Kruppe is probably the most blatant of Erikson's philosophizing characters and as the series goes on every character morphs into a mini-Kruppe so yeah if you can't power through it you should probably just give up.

# ? Dec 6, 2011 06:24

Wesley Walker: Nov 12, 2006

I'm looking for a new series after finishing A Dance with Dragons, so I picked up Gardens of the Moon. I just passed page 100.

Thank you thread, because if it wasn't for the OP and subsequent posts, I don't think there's any way I would've finished this book. I'm excited for where it goes, though.

# ? Dec 7, 2011 19:37

Gunshow Poophole: Sep 14, 2008; OMBUDSMAN
POSTERS LOCAL 42069; Clapping Larry

Kruppe turned me off the first time I ran into him as well.

He gets better as he is actually involved in the plot rather than just as a tool of exposition.

However, as these guys mentioned, you will never escape the inner monologue-outer monologue - perception exposition mechanic. Other characters take up the standard in the future.

# ? Dec 7, 2011 22:51

Lunchtray: Jan 24, 2007; I was all of history's great robot actors. Acting Unit 0.8. Thespomat. David Duchovny!

Just finished book 8 Toll the Hounds. I'm on the home stretch! 2 more Erickson books and 1 ICE in between book 9 and 10.

# ? Dec 8, 2011 20:28

victrix: Oct 30, 2007

Guys... I just finished Crippled God.

What do I do now?

I no longer want to read other fantasy novels.

# ? Dec 9, 2011 10:03

Opal: May 10, 2005; some by their splendor rival the colors of the painters, others the flame of burning sulphur or of fire quickened by oil.

Read The Name of the Wind, it's pretty good.

# ? Dec 9, 2011 10:07

Antinumeric: Nov 27, 2010; BoxGiraffe

the periodic fable posted:

Read The Name of the Wind, it's pretty good.

Just don't read the second one. It has the only group of people I find I can despise as much as the elves in Eragon.

Other options, China Mi�ville has similar philosophical rants in his work, or just read the ICEsslemont stuff.

# ? Dec 9, 2011 15:00

Opal: May 10, 2005; some by their splendor rival the colors of the painters, others the flame of burning sulphur or of fire quickened by oil.

Antinumeric posted:

Just don't read the second one. It has the only group of people I find I can despise as much as the elves in Eragon.

I haven't read the second one yet because it's only out in Soft Cover Leviathan Edition but I was looking forward to it quite a bit. Is it as bad as you're making out? I really hope you're just exaggerating. :ohdear:

# ? Dec 9, 2011 16:10

Levitate: Sep 30, 2005; randy newman voice

YOU'VE GOT A LAFRENI�RE IN ME

I haven't read it but I hear there's an entire section of the book devoted to faerie sex and it's pretty creepy

# ? Dec 9, 2011 16:33

pakman: Jun 27, 2011

Levitate posted:

I haven't read it but I hear there's an entire section of the book devoted to faerie sex and it's pretty creepy

There is, and ohgod is it bad.

# ? Dec 9, 2011 16:46

coathat: May 21, 2007

I wish there was a law against fantasy and science fiction writers putting sex scenes in their books.

# ? Dec 9, 2011 17:06

The Gunslinger: Jul 24, 2004; Do not forget the face of your father.; Fun Shoe

the periodic fable posted:

I haven't read the second one yet because it's only out in Soft Cover Leviathan Edition but I was looking forward to it quite a bit. Is it as bad as you're making out? I really hope you're just exaggerating.

We should really just discuss in that thread but yeah it's pretty bad. Actually to clarify that the writing is excellent but the plot meanders all over the place and you won't always like where you land when it does settle. For a massive book it essentially goes nowhere which is really frustrating too.

# ? Dec 9, 2011 17:41

wellwhoopdedooo: Nov 23, 2007; Pound Trooper!

pakman posted:

There is, and ohgod is it bad.

It's not nearly as bad as practically every other sex scene in a book I've ever read.

I'm all for this law against sex scenes. The only one I've seen add to the story in a way that a pan to the fireplace couldn't is the one between Jezal and Ardee in The Blade Itself, and after I hit the second scene between two different people, it turned out that he wasn't trying to metaphorically show how hosed up their relationship was, that's just the way Abercrombie writes sex. But, you know, if he had done that on purpose, it would have been a pretty impressive legitimate use of a sex scene.

When it doesn't add to the story, it's just a disturbing look at the author's kinks.

Anyway, it's mostly just goons screaming. Boneing is far from the only thing Kvothe is preternaturally good at. There are (back-loaded) important story elements, so don't skip it entirely. It's not just one 50-page sex scene. Clam down, people.

# ? Dec 10, 2011 01:52

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# ? May 14, 2024 17:25

Grammaton: Feb 3, 2004; Cleric

The Cthaeh scene is pretty cool though.

# ? Dec 10, 2011 03:44

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