Dust of Dreams [spoilers!]

[Onos T'oolan]

This is a difficult book to read. I laugh for ten minutes, read for five, laugh for ten...

"Now, brother, you happen to be the most eligible Beddict - legitimately eligible, I mean - so why not cast wide your amorous net? Even if, by some peculiar quirk on your part, the Adjunct is not to your tastes, there is always her aide - what was that foreign sounding name again, Bugg?"

"Blistig."

Tehol frowned. "Really?"

A server arrived, a man older than a Jaghut's stockings, and the next few moments were spent shouting at the deaf codger - fruitlessly - until Ebron stumbled on to the bright notion of pointing at Deadsmell's plate and goblet and showing two fingers.

As the man set off, wilful as a snail,...

...

No one spoke for a time. The server approached with a heavy tray. It was like watching the tide come in.

"Just how nasty is he?" Ebron asked Bottle.

"Quick? Well, he gave a dragon a bloody nose."

"A real dragon or a Soletaken dragon?"

"It makes no difference, Ebron - you pretty much can't tell just from looking at them. You'll only know a Soletaken when it veers. Anyway, don't forget, he faced down the Edur mages once we quit Seven Cities."

"That was illusion."

"Ebron, I was in on that - a lot closer than you. Sure, maybe it was illusion, but maybe not." He paused, then said, "That's another thing to consider. The local mages. They used raw sorcery, pretty much Chaotic and nothing else. No warrens. But now there's warrens here. The local mages are in worse shape than we are."

"I still don't like the idea of some kind of collective ritual," Deadsmell said. "When you're under siege you don't pop your head up over the parapet, do you? Unless you want feather eyelashes."

"Well, Fiddler went and did just that with the reading, didn't he? Nobody died -"

"Rubbish. A whole building went crashing down!"

"Nothing new there, Ebron. This whole city is on shaky ground."

"People died, is what I'm telling you, Bottle. And if that's not bad enough, there were plenty of witnesses claiming to see two dragns rise out of the rubble." He ducked his head and looked round. "I don't like dragons. I don't like places where dragons show up all the time. Say we try some ritual - what if fifty dragons come blasting down out of the sky, splatting right on top of us? What then, hey?"

"Well, I don't know, Ebron. It depends. I mean, are they real or Soletaken?"

"Nep Furrow, I need a curse."

"Eh? Geen way! Groblet! Coo!"

"Captain Kindly. I was thinking hives, the real itchy kind. No, wait, that'll just make him even meaner. Make him cross-eyed - but not so he notices, just everyone else. Can you do that, Nep?"

"War butt wod i'meen, eh?"

"How about a massage?"

"Kissands?"

"My very own, yes."

"Urble ong eh? Urble ong?"

"Bell to bell, Nep."

"Nikked?"

"Who, you or me?"

"Bat!"

"Fine, but we'll need to rent a room, unless of course you want an audience?"

I can't stand it!!! "Bat!"

[aliantha]

What's really sad is that I can almost, sort of, understand what Nep Furrow is saying....

And -- oh, yeah! -- I've just remembered who the Soletaken dragons are! And no, Tool, I'm not going to tell you!

[lucimay]

lol!! nep furrow is the only character in a book whose speech i cannot not understand one single word of. not one. no kidding!!

[I'm Murrin]

You didn't understand "Nikked?"

[Onos T'oolan]

"Nep Furrow, I need a curse."

"Eh? Geen way! Groblet! Coo!"

"Captain Kindly. I was thinking hives, the real itchy kind. No, wait, that'll just make him even meaner. Make him cross-eyed - but not so he notices, just everyone else. Can you do that, Nep?"

"War butt wod i'meen, eh?"

"How about a massage?"

"Kissands?"

"My very own, yes."

"Urble ong eh? Urble ong?"

"Bell to bell, Nep."

"Nikked?"

"Who, you or me?"

"Bat!"

"Fine, but we'll need to rent a room, unless of course you want an audience?"

"Nep Furrow, I need a curse."

"Eh? Go away! Groblet!(? whatever) Shoo!" (Possibly "Who!" As though his initial protest is just for show. "Who!" also explains her response.)

"Captain Kindly. I was thinking hives, the real itchy kind. No, wait, that'll just make him even meaner. Make him cross-eyed - but not so he notices, just everyone else. Can you do that, Nep?"

"Sure, but would, I mean, eh?"

"How about a massage?"

"Kiss's hands?"

"My very own, yes."

"How long, eh? How long?"

"Bell to bell, Nep."

"Naked?"

"Who, you or me?"

"Both!"

"Fine, but we'll need to rent a room, unless of course you want an audience?"

[I'm Murrin]

"Sure, but would, I mean, eh?"

I'd've said "Warr butt" was "What about" (Wharrabout wot ...). Not a clue about the latter half of the sentence, though.

[Onos T'oolan]

Yeah, that's not bad.
"War butt wod i'meen, eh?"
"What about what I make, eh?"

[lucimay]

heh. thanks for the translation!!

[I'm Murrin]

Spoilers ahoy.

Hehe, quite an ending, then. Deftly played by Erikson, how many readers just took him at his word, I wonder, and failed to realise how little we know of what happened to the Bonehunters in that battle? We didn't see the deaths of most of the ones we know. Even Quick Ben.

Icarium's vanished again, and left the Errant bound to an Azath, an interesting twist that will no doubt annoy the heck out of the Elder God. I wonder if Icarium's next appearance will be within the city that was named for him.

Shadowthrone and Cotillion were noticably abesnt from this one, though I suppose for two thirds of it they were busy orchestrating the climax of Toll the Hounds.

I hadn't considered that Hood, too, would be released from Dragnipur when it was shattered. Everything is reawakening.

Lots of threads unfinished as we move into the final volume, not just those from this book.

[I'm Murrin]

but i really really don't understand who all those kids are or even exactly
where they are or where they came from. are they the children of the Elan? that would make sense.

The children are the last survivors of Kolanse. Kolanse was almsot destroyed by drought and famine, they'd consumed absolutely every resource left in the land, and then the Forkrul Assail came down to deliver justice. The children from many different parts of Kolanse were sent out to escape it, wandered the desert, and made it against all odds to a city built by Icarium.
There are a lot of details missing regarding Kolanse - all that mixed up stuff from the Malazan side about the Forkrul Assail using the Crippled God to open a gate to their Warren - but that's about what can be gathered so far.



And why, by the way, did you go shoot down my comment about the Che'Malle and the Bonehunters when the two groups haven't even met yet, eh?

[I'm Murrin]

Badalle's last poem: She says, pretty much, that Rutt is touched by Eres'al. Also reveals that Held is a she, and suggests there's more to her than it seems.
Theory: Held is the child of Eres. I have no evidence beyond one line of a poem.

[aliantha]

I suspected the ribby snake was made up of Kolanse survivors, once I figured out they weren't Letherii.

I dunno that the K'Chain Che'Malle worship *all* of the Bonehunters. Just a couple of them. And I'm not sure "worship" is the right word in any case.

Interesting about Held, and not surprising that I missed all that stuff in the poem. I'd re-read it but Tool has my book. And I haven't heard from him since he got to the part about

Spoiler

his namesake's death/murder.

[lucimay]

Theory: Held is the child of Eres.

omg. eres and....BOTTLE?????? woot!

(well he does seem rather...er...potent!! )

oh and yeah... no they haven't met the bonehunters yet
but they are, for all intents and purposes, allied with them now.
or at least i assume we can assume as much.

yeah i didn't catch that the kids were from kolanse.
i prolly read it too fast. i'll start on it again pretty soon.

[I'm Murrin]

Edit: Ah, crap, I misread it. The girl who knows silence is a game is Sinn, and Grub knows the kiss of the Eres'al. Badalle's the one helping them find the battle so they can aid Icarium. Ignore my previous theory, there's now no foundation.

'I dream that we are three
Rutt who is not Rutt and Held
Who cannot be held -
The girl knows silence
Is a game
The boy knows the kiss
Of the Eres'al
The mother of wheeling stars
Who seeds all time
Through me they hear your need
I am the voice of the unborn
In crystal I see fire and I see smoke
I see lizards and Fathers
In crystal I see the boy and the girl.
Heal the wound, God,
Your children are close-'

Recited to Icarium within his mind. Looking at the second half, now, Badalle is having a vision, perhaps through the crystal mechanism, and she has seen the battles with the K'Chain (lizards) and the humans (Fathers), and i now witnessing the arrival of Sinn and Grub on the scene. She tells Icarium to finish what he's doing - close the wound. The children of the snake, having come to Icarias and left behind all memories of their past, are spiritual children of Icarium; he is the creator of their refuge and, in a sense, its god.

[aliantha]

Okay, that's better, Murrin. I mean, I suck at remembering details from this series, but I was pretty sure I would have gotten it if Held had been a girl....

I'm sure you're right about the balance of the poem and its references to Icarium, the K'Chain Che'Malle and the Bonehunters. But what's this about "Rutt who is not Rutt and Held who cannot be held"? Are we dealing with more freakin' Elder Gods??

[lucimay]

Edit: Ah, crap, I misread it. The girl who knows silence is a game is Sinn, and Grub knows the kiss of the Eres'al. Badalle's the one helping them find the battle so they can aid Icarium. Ignore my previous theory, there's now no foundation.

'I dream that we are three
Rutt who is not Rutt and Held
Who cannot be held -
The girl knows silence
Is a game
The boy knows the kiss
Of the Eres'al
The mother of wheeling stars
Who seeds all time
Through me they hear your need
I am the voice of the unborn
In crystal I see fire and I see smoke
I see lizards and Fathers
In crystal I see the boy and the girl.
Heal the wound, God,
Your children are close-'

Recited to Icarium within his mind. Looking at the second half, now, Badalle is having a vision, perhaps through the crystal mechanism, and she has seen the battles with the K'Chain (lizards) and the humans (Fathers), and i now witnessing the arrival of Sinn and Grub on the scene. She tells Icarium to finish what he's doing - close the wound. The children of the snake, having come to Icarias and left behind all memories of their past, are spiritual children of Icarium; he is the creator of their refuge and, in a sense, its god.

i now i see what you were misreading. wasn't sure before cause i couldn't bring the poem to my mind and was too lazy to go look! but really nicely written synopsis of that murrin. this coupled with your RotCG review makes me think you should do this for a living. you're good at it.
this is a good book huh.
i loved badalle's poems.
that is the difference betwixt erikson and esselmont, by the way.
esselmont is not the poet erikson is.


oh! ps...
who else besides me like the queen and her daughter?? (can't remember their names) i'm always amazed how erikson can slip in these new, seemingly semi-peripheral characters and give them intriguing little bits of business to do that may have far-reaching consequences or never come up again.

here's what i wanna know that this book did not answer...

kalam.

[I'm Murrin]

Yeah, it occured to me last night that Quick Ben needs him. He's become too distant and untrusting.

[aliantha]

Agreed -- Kalam needs to come back.

And I liked the queen and her daughter too, Luci.

Fist (oh, you know who I mean!) and I were talking earlier today about Olar Ethil. She gives the Crippled God's name at one point (and now I've deleted his text message about it, phooey) and claims to be older than, well, just about everything. Which set me to speculating that maybe she's from the same world originally as the Crippled God. Maybe? Or am I making stuff up again?

[I'm Murrin]

One of the names she gave for herself was Burn. She's the daughter of Tiam.

[Onos T'oolan]

"The Cripple God? He is nothing. Among the gods, his allies break and scatter. Among the mortals, corruption devours his cult, and his followers are the wasted and the lost - Kaminsod has no army to summon to his defence. His body lies in pieces scattered across seven continents."

Kaminsod