The "New" Giants
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- Frostheart Grueburn
- The Gap Into Spam
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- wayfriend
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I've attributed the Giantish tomfoollery we see to their being a batallion of soldiers that have been together for a while and seen plenty of combat together. Its a soldier-thing to engage in this kind of monkeying around. (Half of the entire Malazan series is about this, it seems.) Also, Giants are supposed to exhibit humor frequently and with verve - how else to accomplish this if you are Donaldson?
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Perhaps Longwrath has had an Earthsight vision, but that vision is incomplete or imprecise. For instance, the vision may have shown him that Linden would arouse the World of the Worm's End, but not shown him all the further consequences of this and how it fits into the "big picture" of the cosmology, or shown him the possibilities for Linden and others to respond in ways that produce a more hopeful outcome. If so, we can infer that on the basis of this incomplete vision he has concluded that Linden must be stopped at any cost.
- Wildling
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I agree with both of these statements and would only add that these are giantish warriors (Longwrath included) and therefore may be less inclined towards casualness than someone like Pitchwife.Remillard wrote:I think we haven't had time to get to know them very well honestly. The introduction of the Giants in FR is much like the introduction of the Giants in TWL... under dire events at the very end of the novel.
I see full evidence in the usual Giantish behaviors in the trash-talking between the Ironhand and her fellow Swordmainnir, so I fully expect the depiction of the Giants to be true to the culture. Remember that they are long-lived and far from fecund. There's no real room or reason for their culture to have changed substantially. I don't believe they are more barbaric; they are dealing with situations of extreme duress in their usual heroic manner.
- deer of the dawn
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Precisely. I think these Giants were selected for this particular mission, and it wasn't an exploratory lark like some previous missions; and centuries have worked their attrition on the Giants' lack of fecundity, they may just be a more serious culture/race than the Foamfollower's generation was.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. -Philo of Alexandria
ahhhh... if only all our creativity in wickedness could be fixed by "Corrupt a Wish." - Linna Heartlistener
ahhhh... if only all our creativity in wickedness could be fixed by "Corrupt a Wish." - Linna Heartlistener
- Wildling
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I'm not so sure about that. All we saw previously were some guy sailors, Foamfollower, and The First, who was the more severe of the group. It may be that the Swordmainnir tend more towards seriousness than the sailors do.
deer of the dawn wrote: and centuries have worked their attrition on the Giants' lack of fecundity, they may just be a more serious culture/race than the Foamfollower's generation was.
- Cord Hurn
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Exactly.wayfriend wrote:I've attributed the Giantish tomfoollery we see to their being a batallion of soldiers that have been together for a while and seen plenty of combat together. Its a soldier-thing to engage in this kind of monkeying around. (Half of the entire Malazan series is about this, it seems.) Also, Giants are supposed to exhibit humor frequently and with verve - how else to accomplish this if you are Donaldson?