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I've been slowly getting through FoL through the free audiobook version I got via Audible trial, and man, Sharenas going from about to die, to potentially saved, to definitely bleeding out, to actually saved, to carving up the soldier that got her for food is probably the biggest case of emotional whiplash I've ever gotten from a book.
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Jul 11, 2016 04:42
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| # ? May 18, 2024 00:18 |
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Sometimes the world is kind. I got a message on Facebook from an acquaintance the other day, since I'd been posting about my Malazan reading experience. Today I met up with him for lunch, and he gave me this:  So I'm pretty thrilled with that!
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Jul 13, 2016 02:51
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That is a nice gift and looks to be in great condition. There was one for au$250 on eBay last month.
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Jul 13, 2016 12:58
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GotM question: What is the intention of the Bridgeburners' revival of Hairlock? It only seems to cause trouble for everyone.
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Jul 17, 2016 07:28
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I believe the answer is, essentially, "it seemed like a good idea at the time."
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Jul 17, 2016 07:32
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Pretty much. They know/think (there will be a retconning) someone's out to kill them so they make an alliance of convenience with a guy who's understandably as pissed at Tayschrenn as someone who read ICE's books.
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Jul 17, 2016 07:57
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snoremac posted:GotM question: What is the intention of the Bridgeburners' revival of Hairlock? It only seems to cause trouble for everyone. At some close point before the battle Hairlock makes a deal with Whiskeyjack and Quick Ben to save his life if he's bout to die and in return he'll help them hunt down whoever has it out for them. Them putting him in a puppet is just them fulfilling that promise before they learn how much grief it will cause.
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Jul 17, 2016 19:50
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Cardiac posted:Eh, I have a hard time seeing Duikers horse survive the Trail of Dogs. It does survive, the young Wickan who survived the COD, Temul I think, he rides it in his subsequent scenes.
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Jul 25, 2016 22:19
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As a massive Malazan fan, I have just had the misfortune of finishing Fall of Light. It was complete and utter drivel. Its as if Erikson heard all the complaints about the constant philosophizing in MBOTF and decided, "No, they are wrong, we need more of that, we need every character and every page constantly moralizing and philosophizing and analyzing and oh god this poo poo is boring as hell...". More seriously, if Steven Erikson has an interest in philosophy then more power to him, but I'd rather he didn't dress it up in fancy covers and try to take my money by pretending its something I might want to read. Just get a loving blog and pontificate all you want. History will not be kind to Fall of Light, its boring, its irrelevant, it has one of the most eye rolling fan service pandering moments I've ever read and I'm sorry that I made myself read through the whole turgid mess.
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Jul 25, 2016 22:28
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bucketybuck posted:As a massive Malazan fan, I have just had the misfortune of finishing Fall of Light. It was complete and utter drivel. I'm glad someone shares my opinion on this. I posted about it a few weeks ago and no one responded. That coupled with liking Dancer's Lament was making me question my tastes in fiction. Fall of Light's plot could easily have taken place within a handful of chapters, and should have.
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Jul 25, 2016 23:11
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I got a couple chapters into it and haven't touched my Kindle in weeks. "Turgid mess" is pretty spot on.
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Jul 26, 2016 00:39
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I found FoL a struggle at times myself, definitely. There was some good scattered throughout, but I definitely zoned out quite a bit during the entire chapters of internalized nonsense. Audible made it easier to get through, I would just set it to 1.5x speed and try to soldier on. I doubt I would have bothered if I didn't love the Malazan books so much tho.
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Jul 26, 2016 06:53
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Nearing the end of FoL on Audible and my general feeling is that, when characters are talking and actually doing things, the book is good and engaging, and Erikson has gotten some good laughs out of me along with some very legitimate disgust toward some characters Hunn Raal essentially absorbing the memories of the camp's blacksmith and not showing a single loving shred of empathy for him was a fantastically galvanizing moment in just wanting to see the dude get utterly hosed up by someone for me.. The problem is that it feels like these parts suddenly hit an all-time low and, as Squee did, I zoned out quite a bit.
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Jul 26, 2016 07:04
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Yeah, there was a bunch of stuff I really liked. Mostly the stuff in the WAR ON DEATH camp and Brood hulking out against Spite & Envy. It's weird though, since so much of this is just setup for the last book in the trilogy you'd think he'd actually show something like the first Tiste battle to involve magic directly, but nope. Still looking forward to the trilogy's conclusion, mostly because it's gonna have to include so much kickass poo poo we already know is gonna happen that there'll be less room to philosophize. What's been set up so far that we know is gonna happen i n the last one? - A bunch of people get soletaken - A larger battle involving the Liosan, Edur and Andii where Scabandari's betrayal happens, possibly involving dragons - Whatever happens with Osserc - WAR ON DEATH
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Jul 26, 2016 07:17
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I actually really liked the way that battle was handled. Somehow felt fitting to the absurdity of it all. But I'm fairly sure I'm in the minority here.
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Jul 26, 2016 08:01
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Dude has written so many battle scenes now. I'm actually glad he mixed it up. I think he is treading carefully with this trilogy when it comes to what he is choosing to show and not show. No point destroying the entire mythos surrounding the Tiste. But I do agree that it is hardly his best book and it is definitely his hardest.
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Jul 26, 2016 10:17
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Illinois Smith posted:What's been set up so far that we know is gonna happen i n the last one? Just to highlight how useless a book FOL is, I would suggest that none of the items on your list are actually even set up in FOL. You could skip it entirely and miss nothing important relating to those plotlines, they get touched upon in only the most boring superficial ways. If you told me Robert Jordan wrote FOL I wouldn't be all that surprised.
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Jul 26, 2016 19:29
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Eh, we got the Liosan part of the story in FoL, I wouldn't call that useless - the all-out war seems to be over, now it's gonna deal with the Denier rebellion. We also got a pretty good idea of what K'rul is up to and set up the conflict between Anomander and Mother Dark. Plus we established Osserc is a dork but everyone really expected that. I honestly thought Scabandari's betrayal was much, much later but that could've been caused by the presence of K'Chain there, they seem to be on another world by the time FoL takes place.
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Jul 26, 2016 19:37
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anilEhilated posted:Eh, we got the Liosan part of the story in FoL, I wouldn't call that useless What story? Plenty of words devoted to them but the reality is that it was a whole load of nothing that could easily have been told in a few chapters. At least in the end they had more relevance than the Hust legion I suppose, but thats certainly damning them with faint praise. And I don't think the words "all-out war" apply to anything in that book.
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Jul 26, 2016 19:49
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Eh, I liked some of the Liosan parts. Mostly the Hunn Raal stuff and Olar Ethil beginning to gently caress with him almost immediately. People coming to grips with the new power K'rul gave them was a major theme and yes, while a lot of it drags on I think on a reread it's gonna play better than if everyone was suddenly badass at magic. I don't even know why I'm defending it. I definitely had a WHEN ARE WE GETTING TO THE FIREWORKS FACTORY feeling while reading it too but I still thought it was an okayish Malazan book. Not the best or most riveting but at the end of the day this is still a trilogy that exists to flesh out poo poo you already know is gonna happen. Also at least after this book I can finally tell Sukul Ankhadu, Menandore, Sheltatha Lore, Spite and Envy apart.
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Jul 26, 2016 20:19
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you guys are selling me on FoL, looking forward to getting to it 
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Jul 26, 2016 20:57
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 i mean sure, why not get a book cover on your entire back
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Jul 27, 2016 04:18
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Concurred posted:
Has a full-back tattoo of one of the badest-rear end characters in modern literature. Lives at home with mom.
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Jul 27, 2016 07:37
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"HEY, COOL TAT OF GERALT." - Saddest man, 2016.
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Jul 27, 2016 17:56
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Shockeh posted:"HEY, COOL TAT OF
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Jul 27, 2016 18:30
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Shockeh posted:"HEY, COOL TAT OF DRIZZT." - Saddest man, 2016.
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Jul 27, 2016 18:35
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Shockeh posted:"HEY, COOL TAT OF WHISKEYJACK." - Saddest man, 2016.
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Jul 28, 2016 09:04
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bucketybuck posted:What story? Plenty of words devoted to them but the reality is that it was a whole load of nothing that could easily have been told in a few chapters. At least in the end they had more relevance than the Hust legion I suppose, but thats certainly damning them with faint praise. Of the top of my head Huun Raal taking over the Legion That dude becoming the Watch and having time travel visions Urusander gets wacked Hood starts war on death by stopping time or something We learn alot more of the Thel Akai No one forces you to read Eriksons books and he has gotten heavier on the philosophising so if you don't like it maybe you should just stop reading his books? Me i liked FoL but being a 2nd book in a trilogy tends to mean certain things...
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Jul 28, 2016 11:37
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My friend and I were talking last night and have come to the conclusion that Donald Trump is the Chained God and Bernie Sanders was Sha'ik.
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Jul 28, 2016 16:07
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FlyingCowOfDoom posted:My friend and I were talking last night and have come to the conclusion that Donald Trump is the Chained God and Bernie Sanders was Sha'ik. I definitely get more of a Kallor vibe from Trump. Always trying, always failing. Thinks so highly of himself. Everyone wants him dead. Would cause his empire to get nuked into oblivion.
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Jul 28, 2016 16:16
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FlyingCowOfDoom posted:My friend and I were talking last night and have come to the conclusion that Donald Trump is the Chained God and Bernie Sanders was Sha'ik. Which Tavore sister is Hillary? Someone start a list of world leaders and their Erikson counterpart.
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Jul 28, 2016 16:19
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Hillary is Hannan Mosag
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Jul 28, 2016 16:53
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zokie posted:No one forces you to read Eriksons books and he has gotten heavier on the philosophising so if you don't like it maybe you should just stop reading his books? My eyes just rolled so hard that my neck hurts.
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Jul 28, 2016 18:38
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welp there goes my last bookmarked election-free thread
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Jul 28, 2016 18:58
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Putin is Laseen Kim Jong Un is Hairlock latinotwink1997 fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Jul 28, 2016 |
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Jul 28, 2016 19:14
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I normally don't care too much about geography in fantasy novels but I'm midway through Deadhouse Gates and I'm still struggling to make sense of the world. The maps on my Kindle are too small. Could someone give me a spoiler-free rundown of the continents and key locations? I particularly want to know where the empire's capital is located and how far it is from Seven Cities. Are they even on the same continent? Did the prologue with Felisin take place in Malaz City, and is this the same place where Ganoes saw Tavore in GotM? Where is Darhujistan? Anything else I should know? Thanks!
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Jul 29, 2016 04:44
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I might be remembering some of it wrong, but: the Empire's capital is Unta, we don't really see it in the books and it's on a separate continent. Malaz is a tiny island disconnected from everything. Seven Cities and Genabackis, where Darujhistan is, are different continents. I'd say don't worry about the geopraphy too much, it'll fall into place as you read on.
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Jul 29, 2016 05:13
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snoremac posted:I normally don't care too much about geography in fantasy novels but I'm midway through Deadhouse Gates and I'm still struggling to make sense of the world. The maps on my Kindle are too small. Could someone give me a spoiler-free rundown of the continents and key locations? I particularly want to know where the empire's capital is located and how far it is from Seven Cities. Are they even on the same continent? Did the prologue with Felisin take place in Malaz City, and is this the same place where Ganoes saw Tavore in GotM? Where is Darhujistan? Anything else I should know? All of the maps show up in Google Image Search. To answer your questions you need the Seven Cities map (iirc the map in the book itself isn't truly spoiler free because it shows the path of the Chain of Dogs. Most maps should otherwise be relatively spoiler free.) and a map of the world (this was put together by fans but confirmed by Erikson to be mostly correct). Quon Tali (Malazan homeland continent) and Genebackis (Daru continent) are on opposites sides of Seven Cities, which is why Fiddler's group is traveling through it.
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Jul 29, 2016 05:19
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You've been to two main continents so far and one subcontinent which is the really confusing bit. Gardens of the Moon is mostly set in Genebackis, which is across the ocean from Seven Cities. Malazan City is on Malaz Island, which is off the coast of Quon Tali. Quon Tali is a subcontinent separated from Seven Cities, and Seven Cities itself is kind of a flipped Europe -> Asia situation where all the important cities (for our purposes) are clumped on one end. The beginning of Gardens of the Moon with Paran is in First, here's a crop from a larger map because you said no spoilers I guess and it'll give you an idea of the general shape of things:  Malaz is a tiny island in the bottom middle of that picture, off the coast of Quon Tali. You can see it labelled on this one, and you should see some familiar names -- there's the Napan isles, Wickan plains up north, etc:  Then Seven Cities itself. This is just the northeast section of the much bigger continent. Note the Otatral sea + desert on the islands to the north. The chain of dogs stuff takes place through the middle here.  And across the ocean, Genebackis. Only the northern chunk but that's the only important bit so far. Pale where the meat of GoTM begins is just north of lake Azur in the middle, and Darujhistan is on the south of the same lake. The Malazan Empire has already carved out a chunk of the continent up north:  E: You really don't have to worry about many of the specific place names one way or another but I like to have a vague grounding in where all this stuff is happening. NmareBfly fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Jul 29, 2016 |
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Jul 29, 2016 05:51
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edit: beaten As others have said, don't worry too much about the overall geography, it'll all start to come together more as the series goes on. The world maps you'll see online are all made by fans who pasted together the individual book maps into something that more or less makes sense. There's really no official world map and it doesn't really matter. snoremac posted:I particularly want to know where the empire's capital is located and how far it is from Seven Cities. Are they even on the same continent? Unta is the Malazan capital and located somewhere on the north-east coast of QT. Malaz City is an island off the coast of QT. snoremac posted:Did the prologue with Felisin take place in Malaz City and is this the same place where Ganoes saw Tavore in GotM? snoremac posted:Where is Darhujistan? Anything else I should know? Illinois Smith fucked around with this message at 06:19 on Jul 29, 2016 |
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Jul 29, 2016 06:07
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