The real question is, if conventional geopolitical discussion is allowed to spread to the Close, where (which subform[s]) would it not be feasibly able to spread to? It seems to me that Mallory's would be relatively safe, for one.

The weasel/stoat/whatever, I think it's name is Creature, owned by one of the malazan soldiers, is once described as something like "it was just smart enough to know how stupid it was, which made it extremely angry." This is a very similar description to one of the descriptions of the Prin...

That the mind emerges from and is dependent upon the brain is not the issue. No, the question is: When we speak of minds, can someone who would reduce consciousness to biology offer an adequate picture of what it means for us to know something? To know anything? Adequate for what purpose? If it's e...

To be honest, I think it might make more sense if High Lord Kevin were considered as being the Creator. In this way Kevin and Covenant are more easily identifiable as one and the same person. Covenant has not exactly cast himself into his own creation, it's just that he has forgotten everything abo...

I passed by a lady a few days ago wearing a shirt with a heart very beautifully imposed over a skull. A fun way of thinking about that "young/liberals think with their heart and old/conservatives think with their mind." Well I guess it's all pretty easy with a little guidance. I can see a ...

Only an idiot does something because the POTUS appears to suggest it. The people who die from drinking and/or injecting some sort of disinfectant deserve to go pick up their Darwin Award in person in whatever afterlife awaits them. Apparently he has stopped taking it...presuming that he ever really...

Hmmm, IIRC, Sorweel got killed by the ancient non-man which then provoked him back to sanity in order to overthrow the influence of the Consult on the non-men... --A But didn't Sorweel make it out with Serwa? And then Zsoronga made Sorweel give him a handjob or something? Did the nonmen leave Ishte...

I have a huge post. I hope it garners some further discussion, as I just finished up the book today. 1: So I'm pretty sure I'm serving Golgotterath. I've been working at an emergency service for doctors and we get a lot of calls for consults. And they ain't from no priests ;) . 2: I'm also pretty su...

I'm nowhere near done with the book yet, but some thoughts on me brought on by Kelmomas (sp?) You know, Kelmomas was probably among my least favorite characters in the series. But strangely, once he was caught, he seems to actually be a bit more worthy of thought. As far as I know, I've never killed...

I ordered an unholy consult from Amazon, hopefully this book we will have the proper diagnosis for kellhus.

I have an idea as to why Proyas was raped by Kellhus, and an idea as to the essence of the no-god. Proyas was raped because Kellhus - maybe - is trying to humiliate humanity or one of its leaders in preparation for his failure to eliminate the consult. Either to make them weak enough to survive, or ...

The Unholy Consult...for the second time. No way! How did you get an ARC? Plus, how is it? I have a friend from TSA who bought it and then sold it to me after he read it. We did the same thing for "The Great Ordeal". It's excellent. The last half of the book is non-stop action. There are ...

Actually I read your description and it sounds great barring time commitment.

I have only read this work once. It's probably my favorite work of Arthurian fiction for the way it adds gentle and weird humor while also maintaining a grasp of the importance of life. I remember it capturing absurdities of battle that perhaps never really quite existed, but still in some sense sti...

This thread was a great idea... ..and it's so well-suited to my nature, because I accidentally anti-recommend things that I really like! Here's one about "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch," by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: It's from a story where a bunch of people are in a gulag prison/l...

I didn't like it anywhere near as much as an Erikson book :) But I think the story is fitting because it's about kellanved and dancer when they were just folks. I was thinking recently about how the stories seem more concretely human and sensible. Character helps stop an army from invading your city...

Almost certainly correct - IMO. I believe there's actually some point in the books where the gods laugh at Dessembrae the ascendant force, and compare him/it to Dassem and point out how much better, more authentic, or less of a self obsessed toad Dessembrae is - or something along those lines (I rea...

A weathervane jams in place because the wind blows hard.

EDIT-FYI, not why I chose the avatar.

In fact, the only reason Foul moved to Mount Thunder is because Fire Lions were (for his purposes) the best he could do in place of his standard lava on short notice (millenia are short notice for Foul). Actually I've often wondered why Foul didn't rebuild the Creche. It can't be because he didn't ...

I think most TCTC readers think highly of Mhoram, though he probably ain't everyone's favorite character. I think I have a decent way of looking at the "Lord Mhoram's Victory" thing as "the medium, not the message." Generally I tend to think of the simple lesson of Mhoram as givi...