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.

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

I didn't really see Udinaas as apathetic. He's the only one that treats Rhulad as a person rather than a concept. Rhulad's entire family, understandably, flat out gives up on him as a human (edur) being. His level of compassion throughout the series is nearly unparalleled.

edit: For content, I'm on my second reading of the series (on Bonehunters) and I really think it is even more satisfying the second time through. Knowing what the end result is really puts the series into perspective. Also, I get to realize that almost all of the concepts that I thought came out of nowhere later in the series were actually referenced early on but I was just in too much of a rush (and didn't see the bigger picture) to notice. It took a second reading to remember that the Crimson Guard are actually introduced in the first book and not Midnight Tides.

On that topic, Iron Bars I wondered what the gently caress happened with him after the end of the series and then read ICE's books and was disappointed that a cool character was abandoned to ICE and barely used. Must have been Erickson's character?

imagine dungeons fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Nov 15, 2014

# ¿ Nov 15, 2014 01:28

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 12:11

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

coyo7e posted:

That's because he started out as the biggest douche in the bag. I can't think of many characters who're less mature and more arrogant, outside of maybe the Tiste Edur emporer dude who ended up with the lovely wardrobe and immortality deal.

In all fairness, he chills the gently caress out after the first book though. I guess dying will do that for you.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2014 04:31

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

ICE's books haven't really done anything for me. I haven't read Assail yet, nor does it seem like I will based on the reviews. I got caught up wanting to know what happened to certain characters but I've realized that an open end is better than a poorly written end for me. I'm sure ICE was crucial to forming the stories to characters I fell in love with but he's just a sub-par author and I'd rather not know what happens than know than something stupid happens.

edit: FoD, on the other hand, challenged all of our preconceptions of what history was. I really appreciated that its first person take was so different to the perception of people 3,000 years later. I can't wait to see what other notions we're disabused of.

imagine dungeons fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Nov 22, 2014

# ¿ Nov 22, 2014 01:54

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Yarrbossa posted:

I'm about halfway through the Crippled God and goddamn, Yedan is a loving beast. Dragons? No problem, lemme just chop their goddamn heads off. Hounds of Light? Yup, gonna gently caress them up too. The Shake were boring as hell in the last book, but they are totally making up for it now.

I'm so glad things are picking up...the first half was such a slog for some reason.

That is objectively the most badass event in the entire series. There are sequences I like more and characters I like way more but just in terms of accomplishment that stand trumps everything else.

p.s. Jose, your spoiler didn't work.

# ¿ Dec 6, 2014 05:39

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

I don't think that its weird for someone to be confused by Gardens of the Moon, let alone any of the other books. Some elements are ambiguous and don't make a lot of sense until you have proper context from further reading.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2015 07:43

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

3D GAY WORLD posted:

Also, I've been listening to the audiobooks through the whole series, and I just want to make sure that anyone else who considers doing so makes sure to get the newer audiobooks narrated by Ralph Lister (first three, so sad that he's gone now) and Michael Page (four onward, he's got some problems with pronunciation for the fourth book, but he gets a lot better). For the love of god, do NOT get the version read by John Haag.

Are the John Haag ones the really amateurish ones? I assumed that was a fan or something reading them. Really bad. No sense of drama or flow and the audio quality is garbage. The Ralph Lister readings are, as you said, excellent. I was disappointed that he didn't come back for the rest. Gardens of the Moon was a little shaky but he really hit his stride with Deadhouse Gates.

Don't dread finishing TCG! It puts everything into perspective and when you go back and reread it adds multiple new layers of enjoyment. I am on my second reading of the series and enjoying it even more than the first time! And, to second a common sentiment here, Gardens of the Moon was much, much better the second time around.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2015 23:16

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

rejutka posted:

Also, I refuse to live in a world where Karsa is not played by Conan Stevens and voiced by Ric Flair.

Hahahaha, Ric Flair?!?!?!?!?

# ¿ Apr 5, 2015 02:19

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

zeal posted:

Will I really have to read the Esselmont books to get more focus on the Crimson Guard? I really liked Iron Bars &co. in Midnight Tides.

Yes. In many ways you'll wish you hadn't though. Maybe it was the removal of mystique or maybe it was the writing quality.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2015 06:16

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

I just finished the series for the second time. The books that seemed tedious before (TTH and DOD) were much more pleasant this time around, having the benefit of foreknowledge. This read through hit me a lot more emotionally as well. The sad parts seemed a lot sadder. Maybe its because I was taking my time with them instead of rushing through. Definitely the most rewarding fantasy series re-read for me.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2015 07:37

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Does the new reader improve at all? I really liked Ralph Lister but such is life.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2015 17:39

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Maybe these aren't the books for you.

# ¿ May 25, 2016 08:31

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

At least they're cool sounding words.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2016 21:30

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Ynglaur posted:

But wait! Look at those scythe-like blades!

And their too human eyes.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2016 03:40

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

I'm on my third re-read now. It's even better.

# ¿ Sep 4, 2016 02:04

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

A couple of them are pretty decent and some of the others are stinkers (I haven't read Assail or Dancer's Lament) but if you're still looking for more after finishing Erickson's books, you could do worse.

edit: I don't think I would intersperse them in with the Erickson books though, save 'em for after if you do read them.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2016 03:52

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

dishwasherlove posted:

You're not meant to understand Nep. Erikson riffing on the lovable fantasy trope of character with weird accent that the author writes out even though all the other characters are from different places but they don't get written accents for some reason.

I think the reason is that no one in the books can understand him either.

# ¿ Sep 7, 2016 04:32

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Fenrir posted:

Who would play Quick Ben? I think Samuel L Jackson would work if he was like, 40 years younger.

Absolutely not!

# ¿ Oct 3, 2016 07:18

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Captain_Person posted:

Jesus gently caress Hetan's hobbling

That's definitely the roughest part in the series. Ugh.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2016 22:08

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Gravy Jones posted:

On my third reread now (first only 5 books were out, second 8 were out, so will be my first full read-through) and this has been one of my favourite things in coming back to books I've read before.

Given that each book tends to have half a dozen plot strands that are all impressively woven together in a final convergance, the fact that the series itself also has these loose threads that build through all the books is pretty cool. I don't know if they have a pay-off on par with the climax of individual books, but even if they don't I'm just digging the jigsaw puzzle nature of it.

I'm on my third full re-read. Looking forward to connecting even more stuff that I missed! Gets better every time.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2016 11:34

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

snoremac posted:

Regarding ICE books I was surprised after finishing the Malazan series that Leoman becomes an ICE character after Bonehunters. I was always waiting for that shoe to drop.

Regarding Forge of Darkness, the actual Tiste era is much more intriguing than the reminiscences of the era in the Malazan series, which are saturated in too much pathos and vagueness. The tone is very different from Malazan generally. It's like War and Peace with a bit of sorcery so far.

Steven Erikson: War and Peace and Sorcery.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2016 21:51

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Kharkanas trilogy: The Brothers Kharkamazov

ICE: I read everything up until Assail. Some of them are okay. I guess.

imagine dungeons fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Nov 28, 2016

# ¿ Nov 28, 2016 22:04

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Strom Cuzewon posted:

Best B character has to be Touchless and the weird arguments he keeps having with himself. I guess he must be possesed by Oponn, but they're both shoving him in different directions.

Wait, isn't that two different characters or are you making a Helian joke?

# ¿ Dec 17, 2016 01:28

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Oh, a joke. I get jokes.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2016 02:36

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

RC Cola posted:

I saw you guys talking about Dune a while back. Is it any good/worth reading?

Dune is really good and worth reading. The Frank Herbert written sequels are pretty good and one is even great.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2017 05:05

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Strom Cuzewon posted:

^^^^ Also tleilaxu farts, never forget

I'm pretty much incapable of understanding scifi without looking at it through the lense of Dune. That's how big an impact it's had on me. I'm confident I'm not alone.

The comparisons with Malazan always struck me as odd. In the foreword to GotM Erikson cites Dune as an example of how it's possible to throw readers in and trust them to pick up important points - he conveniently ignores how the first few chapters consist of five or six characters explaining their relationship to the hero, setting out their objectives, and describing their philosophical and symbolic roles in the story to come.

I think it's God-Emperor and next two books that share those elements more than the first book.

# ¿ Jan 14, 2017 04:42

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Strom Cuzewon posted:

Correct. Which is why it's weird to me that we have the scene which suggests it is a mystery. It so strongly recreates the rites of the Domin, and it set up the expectation that there was some significance to how the kid is conceived. Im not saying that he's literally a member of the PD, that would be mental. But Erikson foreshadows that there is something more going on than just a simple pregnancy, which left me feeling slightly deflated when he never follows up on it.

It's an illustration of my frustration with his chekovs roulette - lining up a surplus of further plots just to keep the reader guessing about what's going to happen next.

I actually really like Scillara's plot. It's a much smaller, human tragedy in the midst of all the world changing epicness.

I'm fairly certain its Korbolo Dom's child. His dusky blue skin is noted almost every time he's in a scene and the child has blue skin.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2017 21:29

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

turboraton posted:

I'm about to finish Assail (dunno why goons hate it so much). What should I read now? Bauchelain? Fall of Darkness? The one about Dancer?

The Bauchelain and Korbal Broach books were pretty entertaining.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2017 10:19

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

turboraton posted:

I'm doing a Malazan re read because I don't wanna finish FoL. Help I've become a Malazo junkie.

I've read it twice and audiobooked it once. Better each time. Still haven't read FoL yet though.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2017 07:02

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

I was initially upset about the second narrator but when I put it on 1.25x speed it was much better. He talks too slow.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2018 05:20

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

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.

# ¿ Sep 21, 2018 23:02

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Gravy Jones posted:

Just finished The Crippled God. Checked my Amazon order history and I first bought Gardens of the Moon in January 2008, a week before my kid who is starting highschool this year was born. Yikes. Only the first 6 or 7 books were out then and I've obviously taken some pretty long breaks (as well as doing some partial rereads) in that time. Either way... it's been a journey.

Your 11 year old is going to high school? drat, I'm an underachiever.

I started reading them in 2008 as well but bounced off of GotM hard about 1/3rd of the way in. A year later, I made it about 2/3rds into GotM and knew I would read the rest of the series. They were all finished by the time I got to the Crippled God. I was relieved they were all written in such a timely manner after the Wheel of Time debacle.

edit: I'm on 4th re-read (1 paper, 1 kindle, 2 audio) and still catching new stuff all the time. The audiobooks are well done if anyone is wondering. The narrator does change after MoI but he finds his groove by the end of HoC after a kinda rough start. His portrayals of Rhulad in particular are excellent.

imagine dungeons fucked around with this message at 07:47 on Mar 2, 2019

# ¿ Mar 2, 2019 07:42

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Dalmuti posted:

gently caress kuru-qan. ole dumbass

dude was pretty ineffective

# ¿ Mar 4, 2019 10:02

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Strom Cuzewon posted:

And the "confrontation decided by a single diceroll" is surely (Toll the Hounds spoiler) Murillio and Councilman Absolute Fucker?

Isn't it Traveler doming Rake ?

# ¿ Apr 3, 2019 10:46

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

User posted:

He's also a jobber.

Or the main character of the series.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2019 19:25

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Anyways, Erikson is saying that it all sucks. He is correct.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2019 03:55

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

There�s a lot of fisting in these books too.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2019 02:50

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

thumper57 posted:

It's up there, certainly, until you make the mistake of reading online how it was all decided by loving d20 roll.

The d20 didn't write the story afterwards.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2019 00:47

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

Man with Hat posted:

Aaw, that's nice. I should probably reread the Kharkanas books but it would be nice if the trilogy was finished first. I liked them! Espescially the Jaghut stuff was interesting to me.

Tulas Shorn is one of my favorite characters in the main series by the way. His inner monologue on animals is heart breaking.

I liked Tulas Shorn In MBotF. He was a likeable dick. I haven�t read FoL but in FoD he�s just sad boring guy like everyone else. I did like FoD just not any of the characters I thought I would.

Was any of the Kharkanas stuff gamed? I think working around the curveballs players threw him was a strength of MBotF.

imagine dungeons fucked around with this message at 11:53 on Jul 19, 2019

# ¿ Jul 19, 2019 11:51

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

They�re introduced in FoD as a jaghut creation.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2019 21:55

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 12:11

imagine dungeons: Jan 24, 2008; Like an arrow, I was only passing through.

dwarf74 posted:

It's even more rapey than Malazan, and also pretty child-rapey. It's pessimistic while Malazan is optimistic.

I enjoyed it a few years ago but just can't anymore.

But the world building is strong at least.

I read the prologue or whatever and noped out afterwards. At least you know what you�re in for from the beginning.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2019 19:43

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

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