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dwarf74 posted:Temper was introduced in Night of Knives, where he's one of two main characters. Obo appears there, too. What are peoples thoughts on the suggested reading order for the non-mainline books for a first time reader? I've thinking about going with the TOR reread's suggestion of return of the crimson guard between reaper's gale and toll the hounds. What about the prequels?
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Sep 20, 2018 21:48
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Yarrington posted:What are peoples thoughts on the suggested reading order for the non-mainline books for a first time reader? I've thinking about going with the TOR reread's suggestion of return of the crimson guard between reaper's gale and toll the hounds. What about the prequels? The karkanas trilogy(lol) is very underwhelming and the ending of book 2 sucks. I have just started Dancer's Lament and it is good so far. Cotillion is trying his damndest to kill Kellanved and constantly gets owned.
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Sep 20, 2018 22:32
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My recommended read order for Night of Knives is don’t. For the later books, I don’t think it matters much except to wait to read RoTCG after Bonehunters, and Orb, Sceptre, Throne after Toll the Hounds.
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Sep 20, 2018 22:51
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Yarrington posted:What are peoples thoughts on the suggested reading order for the non-mainline books for a first time reader? I've thinking about going with the TOR reread's suggestion of return of the crimson guard between reaper's gale and toll the hounds. What about the prequels? I like wertzone's list. The TOR list is laughably bad. "No, really, read Forge of Darkness first," Erikson says. Here's my favorite : http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2017/11/a-better-malazan-reading-order.html?m=1 Night of Knives should be right before Bonehunters. It's short and while it's not the height of the series it's helpful for the other ICE books.
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Sep 21, 2018 00:19
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Yarrington posted:What are peoples thoughts on the suggested reading order for the non-mainline books for a first time reader? I've thinking about going with the TOR reread's suggestion of return of the crimson guard between reaper's gale and toll the hounds. What about the prequels? If you're gonna read the ICE books I recommend Night of Knives after Midnight Tides, and ROTCG after Bonehunters, with the rest whenever you feel like after that. They're drops in quality from the main series (NoK especially) but they can also serve as a nice break from Erikson's heavier writing. Bauchelain and Korbal Broach you can read whenever but you probably at least want to read Memories of Ice first. As far as prequels go, you will want to save the Kharkanas books (Forge of Darkness and Fall of Light) for at least past Reaper's Gale. Both books establish plot lines that connect heavily to Toll the Hounds and introduce characters you won't meet until then. In my opinion having the background of Forge adds a lot to big sections of Toll the Hounds. The ICE prequels are pretty good and as far as I can remember don't spoil anything from the main series, or at least nothing that isn't spoiled by the second book. You could read these whenever and possibly the best placement for them is before GOTM, except that I wouldn't want anyone's introduction to Malazan to be an ICE book.
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Sep 21, 2018 07:43
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Just under a month until the Malazan murder hobo stories volume 2 is available as in ebook edition. Fiends of Nightmaria, Crack'd Pot Trail, and Wurms of Blearmouth.
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Sep 21, 2018 16:21
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The Ninth Layer posted:The ICE prequels are pretty good and as far as I can remember don't spoil anything from the main series, or at least nothing that isn't spoiled by the second book. I have to disagree, while an easy read I also found them to be shallow as gently caress, and I can't help but feel that they diminish the sense of scale that formed the backdrop of the main Malazan story. All those little tidbits that hinted at really cool stuff that happened previously? That sense of history you felt, where important things had happened in a big world and you could only get a glimpse of it because the world is complicated and mysterious? Nah, turns out that all those super powered world changers happened to arrive on Malazan Island all at the same time and formed a little club. It was like a YA novel, character X arrived, did their gimmick and soon after the heroes won. I didn't hate those prequels at the time, they were competently written, but they are basically YA versions of MBOTF and in hindsight I wish I hadn't read them at all.
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Sep 21, 2018 18:22
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dwarf74 posted:I like wertzone's list. The TOR list is laughably bad. "No, really, read Forge of Darkness first," Erikson says. I wasn't specific enough that that was the ONLY suggestion i was taking from the TOR list, gardens of the moon was hard enough to get through i can't imagine trying to do those prequels first.
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Sep 21, 2018 21:33
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I would finish the main series and then maybe the ICE stuff if you like it. If not then Kharkanas. I would absolutely not recommend reading the prequels before finishing as I think you need the preconception of history before getting it torn down.
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Sep 21, 2018 23:02
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ICE's latest two books are genuinely good and each moved at a pace that made Fall of Light seem like it was standing still. Only knocks against them are a fair handful of fanservicey Malazan in-jokes. But they were ignorable enough to just groan and move on. Of his other Malazan books, Blood and Bone is the only one I really remember the plot of. That doesn't necessarily mean it was better than the rest, though. Just more memorable.
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Sep 22, 2018 00:23
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Half way down with the 2nd path of ascendency books. Both of these are good, fun books. I recommend these over the Karakas Trilogy. if ICE keeps putting out stories like PoA and Erikson keeps putting out stories like KT what a turnaround in quality is all I am saying. My one complaint is mother loving kallor shows up in the 2nd PoA.
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Sep 25, 2018 22:04
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That's his curse though... He's drawn to participate in every convergence and always fail
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Sep 26, 2018 01:17
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pile of brown posted:That's his curse though... He's drawn to participate in every convergence and always fail I know. I just hate him. Mr Hootington fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Sep 26, 2018 |
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Sep 26, 2018 01:25
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He's my favorite character.
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Sep 26, 2018 11:45
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The best Malazan marine scenes are in Reapers Gale imo. I love Helliun and her tavern to tavern invasion. oh and rip Beak
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Sep 26, 2018 13:55
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Had that realization that Emancipor Reese is the still jinxed reincarnation of Kallor. Still doomed to never succeed, and watch everything around him collapse and die.
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Sep 29, 2018 07:33
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i know malaz is a weird place but i dont think a dude can be the reincarnation of a dude who aint dead yet
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Sep 30, 2018 02:32
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Dalmuti posted:i know malaz is a weird place but i dont think a dude can be the reincarnation of a dude who aint dead yet It's Kallor for fucks sake. The dude is baseline human with vast amounts of experience, and has probably died + gotten better more times than Elminster the Sage + Flash Gordon combined. And Flash Gordon has a crazy high death count, like 20+ times in the comic strips. Flash Gordon dying then getting revived by Zarkov's super-science was the penultimate event in most of the full-color Flash Gordon sunday strip story arcs.
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Sep 30, 2018 06:10
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The scene with the Drum in Reaper's Gale is one of my favourite bits of Erikson's writing, it's such a wonderful look at the completely messed up heroism and tragedy of the Malazans, especially the sappers. Though I do kind of wish that Hedge stayed dead, and continued his ascension to become the god of sappers
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Sep 30, 2018 21:21
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Strom Cuzewon posted:The scene with the Drum in Reaper's Gale is one of my favourite bits of Erikson's writing, it's such a wonderful look at the completely messed up heroism and tragedy of the Malazans, especially the sappers. Hedge and Fiddler are ascendents because all the Bridgeburners are by the end of the series. Would be interesting to know if they still age.
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Sep 30, 2018 21:31
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Mr Hootington posted:Hedge and Fiddler are ascendents because all the Bridgeburners are by the end of the series. Would be interesting to know if they still age. Very true, but it would have been really cool to see him do it in his own right - during the Drum the sappers are reminiscing so much it's practically a prayer to Hedge, and the way he appears during the vision-quest under Y'Ghatan means there's a much closer link between him and the sappers than the other Bridgeburners. I kind of wonder how much of it is Erikson being deliberately meta - part of Fid's rejection of Hedge later is because he had come to terms with Hedge's death, and to Hedge swerve from where Y'Ghatan implied he was going is a neat way to put those feelings onto the reader. Kind of like how Corabb (mostly? completely?) stops being a PoV character once he becomes just one of the marines. And while I'm in spoilers - the Marine who gets suddenly chopped down by one of the Ken'rhllah in the house is one of the more savage deaths in the series. Just completely sudden and unceremonious. We might have an answer to your question in the Karsa trilogy.
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Sep 30, 2018 21:47
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I am finally almost done with Bonehunters. Can anyone give me the lowdown for the nascent and the silanda? What is the deal with that, I feel like I forgot that.
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Oct 1, 2018 01:49
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The nascent is a world the edur flooded so they could use it as a transit system. The silandra was an andii ship that was taken by the edur, then karsa happened, then it was left to drift until some malazans found it and took it in a wild ride.
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Oct 1, 2018 02:26
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Knobb Manwich posted:The nascent is a world the edur flooded so they could use it as a transit system. Not just any ship, but one containing almost all of the Andii living on Drift Avalii, presumably they went looking for Anomander. Iirc the Nimander & co says the heads belong to their parents but that doesn't with then being children of Anomander.
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Oct 1, 2018 08:19
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Oh ok thanks. I remember it was flooded but just not by who and remember the heads as well.
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Oct 1, 2018 15:05
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I'm about to crack the last 40% of The Crippled God after reading from Midnight Tides on up this year. I can really relate to the Malazans' trek through the crystal desert.
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Oct 1, 2018 15:37
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Mr Hootington posted:The karkanas trilogy(lol) is very underwhelming and the ending of book 2 sucks. I have just started Dancer's Lament and it is good so far. Cotillion is trying his damndest to kill Kellanved and constantly gets owned. The opposite. The Kharkanas books are the best and the book 2 ending is one of the best endings in any piece of art ever.
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Oct 2, 2018 19:45
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zokie posted:Not just any ship, but one containing almost all of the Andii living on Drift Avalii, presumably they went looking for Anomander. Iirc the Nimander & co says the heads belong to their parents but that doesn't with then being children of Anomander. Wasn’t the Silanda captained by one of Trulls and Rhulads brother as well?
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Oct 3, 2018 05:43
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Cardiac posted:Wasn’t the Silanda captained by one of Trulls and Rhulads brother as well? Yeah, Binadas. I like how you learn the history of the Silanda almost completely backwards, it's neat. Although I'm not sure where the spear comes from that Kulp & co remark as "like Barghast, but impossibly bigger".
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Oct 3, 2018 10:39
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My favorite thing about the Silanda is that Binadas wasn't supposed to die. When they were gaming the encounter the guy playing Karsa was pissed and just announced he was chucking a spear at the captain out of no where and crit the roll. Binadas was supposed to be a bigger part of the story. In fact I think a lot of the crazy Karsa gets into is because after the whole slavery and capture bit Karsa's player just gave no shits.
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Oct 3, 2018 11:00
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Just finished House of Chains and it seems like a good time to take a break from the series since Midnight Tides seems to be all new characters. A few questions about the ending of House of Chains though Who showed up to defend Heboric when he was getting attacked? He heard voices but I don't believe they ever say who it was. Was it more undead from Raruku? Also was it Hedge that Kalam heard from behind him outside of Korbolo's tent? Relatively small details but if it was answered in House of Chains I missed it.
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Oct 3, 2018 14:15
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Finished Reaper's Gale and Boy that was a mixed bag. It could probably have used the bloodbath since the number of characters was getting overwhelming but 'quick ben magics the problem away + explosives solve everything' felt like a pretty lame resolution to the three dragon sisters. There are a surprising number of good comedic moments in the last few chapters (hedge getting knocked out, various villains getting randomly crossbowed, Karsa slapping Withal, but goddamn the 'everyone drops everything to follow the lady with the big butt' was stupid and repetitive. And did it feel kind of cheap that after the 'everyone is going to die' setup of the Letharas invasion the army makes it out basically unscathed except for Bottle (which was a great scene)? Also the grossness really got cranked up in this one between the lengthy Janath getting tortured scenes and the reveal of what exactly Feather Witch was doing with Brys' finger. RIP all the Sengars, who were good characters.
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Oct 3, 2018 16:32
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The Reapers Gale cusser crossbow bolt is the peak of the entire series
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Oct 3, 2018 20:56
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Guyver posted:My favorite thing about the Silanda is that Binadas wasn't supposed to die. When they were gaming the encounter the guy playing Karsa was pissed and just announced he was chucking a spear at the captain out of no where and crit the roll. Binadas was supposed to be a bigger part of the story. In fact I think a lot of the crazy Karsa gets into is because after the whole slavery and capture bit Karsa's player just gave no shits. This is neat, how did you learn all of this?
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Oct 3, 2018 22:25
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Erikson talks about it in the Tor interviews. There's also a malazan-wiki page with the known events that are from Erikson and ICE's sessions. http://malazan.wikia.com/wiki/Role-playing_Game_Origins_of_the_Malazan_Series
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Oct 3, 2018 22:38
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I finished the Crippled God for the second time yesterday and I still can't for the life of me understand why the gently caress Blistig was allowed to stay on as a fist for as long as he did. Could someone please explain to me?
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Oct 4, 2018 10:23
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Man with Hat posted:I finished the Crippled God for the second time yesterday and I still can't for the life of me understand why the gently caress Blistig was allowed to stay on as a fist for as long as he did. Could someone please explain to me? Is he even that bad? Sure, his demeanour and grouchyness is appalling, but he's still pretty competent.
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Oct 4, 2018 11:22
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Strom Cuzewon posted:Is he even that bad? Sure, his demeanour and grouchyness is appalling, but he's still pretty competent. I read it as he does literally nothing but complain and get drunk and tell his soldiers they're all gonna die for nothing while the other fists pick up the slack for like three books. Except when he has marines killed for water he tried to steal for himself (which is already gone) in the desert and stabs Pores. Maybe between all of that crap he orders people around but not in a way that I recall being mentioned in the books. Man with Hat fucked around with this message at 14:02 on Oct 4, 2018 |
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Oct 4, 2018 13:59
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Blistig is a weird case where I 100% understand why Tavore at least kept him around but, yeah, keeping him as a Fist never quite made sense with the info given. There was probably a logic to it but I don't remember it being given. Unrelated: anyone else still giggle st Bolead?
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Oct 4, 2018 14:11
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Oh Snapple! posted:Blistig is a weird case where I 100% understand why Tavore at least kept him around but, yeah, keeping him as a Fist never quite made sense with the info given. There was probably a logic to it but I don't remember it being given. I think Tavore says it's because he's one of the only people to have actual first-hand knowledge of the Chain of Dogs (albeit from the walls of Aren). If he dies, who's there to remember it?, given that it's not clear whether Tavore knows that Duiker is alive. If she'd demoted him to Captain, he'd have been shanked by his squads (because he's an utter tool) and he wasn't a competent enough soldier to be a Sergeant.
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Oct 4, 2018 17:03
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