Favorite Character Commentary

Malazan and other stuff.

Moderators: lucimay, Onos T'oolan

Post Reply
User avatar
lucimay
Lord
Posts: 15044
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:17 pm
Location: Mott Wood, Genebakis
Contact:
Contact lucimay

Favorite Character Commentary

Post by lucimay »

i really wanted to make a poll (just to give RofG another poll to skew :lol) but there are TOOOOO MAAAANNNNY!!! ARG.

and i'm too lazy to sit down and make the long list of them. so someone encyclopedic can (uh...murrin? heh) but this thread will just be for talking about them...your favorites. like;

blah blah blah karsa blah trull sengar blah blah blah Pearl blah Gesler blah blah blah Coltaine blah blah blah Duiker....like that. :biggrin:

or listing them in order of favoritism.

Fiddler
Whiskeyjack
Anomandar Rake
Caladan Brood
Kalam Mekhar
Quick Ben
Hellian
The Beddicts
Trull Sengar
Mappo Runt
Icarium
Kruppe
Karsa Orlong
...
ok, i have to stop or...

oh oh

Iskaral Pust
Cotillian
Coll, Murillio
Duiker
Coltaine....and on and on.

they're all my favorites. i can't choose. eek

i guess...Duiker would have to be my second favorite next to Fiddler.

reading Deadhouse Gates was like reading history happening...like being at the Peloponnesian Wars with Thucydides or something...just eye-popping reading. Duiker's first person perceptions of the Chain of Dogs were intensely absorbing and emotional and how he conducted himself in the midst of horror and touched those around him; leaving bits of history in his own wake as he recorded history by living it. phew. just blew me away.

Fiddler. Sgt. Strings. as if i didn't already love the guy...the scene in Bonehunters in Braven Tooth's room. that cemented Fiddler as one of my all time favorite characters in literature EVER.

truly, the characters are what make this series difficult for some, it's a cast of thousands, hard to follow all the threads and stories at first...but they are also what make this series great....each and everyone is complex, wonderful, and unique.

so...somebody else, go on...tell about your favorites! :biggrin:
you're more advanced than a cockroach,
have you ever tried explaining yourself
to one of them?
~ alan bates, the mothman prophecies


i've had this with actors before, on the set,
where they get upset about the [size of my]
trailer, and i'm always like...take my trailer,
cause... i'm from Kentucky
and that's not what we brag about.
~ george clooney, inside the actor's studio


a straight edge for legends at
the fold - searching for our
lost cities of gold. burnt tar,
gravel pits. sixteen gears switch.
Haphazard Lucy strolls by.
~ dennis r wood ~
Top
User avatar
I'm Murrin
Are you?
Posts: 15840
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:09 pm
Location: North East, UK
Contact:
Contact I'm Murrin

Post by I'm Murrin »

I think I've mentioned elsewhere that I think Karsa is a brilliant character.

Erikson sure likes his double-acts: Icarium & Mappo; Trull Sengar & Onrack; Tehol & Bugg--all great, and rather than acting entirely as gimmicks or comic relief, all have a serious and engaging story to be told.
Ben be nimble, Ben be Quick, Ben jump... in over his head?
Speaking of Ben, all of Erikson's genii--his supposed men of "singular intellect"--are well done: Ben, Kruppe, Pust, the previously mentioned Tehol...

I could go on...
Top
User avatar
[Syl]
Unfettered One
Posts: 13020
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2002 12:36 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by [Syl] »

Duiker and Heboric.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner
Top
User avatar
I'm Murrin
Are you?
Posts: 15840
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:09 pm
Location: North East, UK
Contact:
Contact I'm Murrin

Post by I'm Murrin »

Duiker offers the perfect perspective on the Chain of Dogs. The detachment of the historian juxtaposed with the emotional attachment that forms from being intimately associated with the history he records.
An aside--I can't see him being anything but a tragic and sad figure when he reappears, however. To survive such a thing is almost more cruel than to die.

Heboric, based on my above comment, offers a complementary role to Duiker's character - the disillusioned placed in a position of importance, one that requires an emotional commitment he is unwilling to offer. A man who was once deeply involved but now, when it is most important, has no wish to be.
I preferred Heboric in House of Chains; in Deadhouse Gates his story was less engaging, viewed through the cynical eyes of Felisin; in Bonehunters he seemed held at a distance, somehow detached from the reader.
Top
User avatar
Sorus
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 13870
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:45 pm
Location: the tiny calm before the storm
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by Sorus »

I couldn't choose a single favorite, and even a list in order would be difficult to compile. (There are so many!)

Trull Sengar is earning some points at the moment - I just started Midnight Tides.

Not really a spoiler, but just to be safe:
Spoiler
Everything worth fighting for is gained without fighting.
Every struggle is a struggle against doubt. Honour is not
a thing to be chased, for it, as with all other forces of life,
is in fact impelled, streaking straight for you. The
moment of collision is where the truth of you is revealed.

Oh, a change is coming, feel these doors now closing
Is there no world for tomorrow, if we wait for today?


Top
User avatar
lucimay
Lord
Posts: 15044
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:17 pm
Location: Mott Wood, Genebakis
Contact:
Contact lucimay

Post by lucimay »

that's a particularly excellent passage, Captain! 8)


and Murrin...regarding Karsa, i thoroughly enjoyed Samar Dev and her reactions to Karsa...an imMEDiately engaging character! Erikson just keeps pulling them out complete. 8O
you're more advanced than a cockroach,
have you ever tried explaining yourself
to one of them?
~ alan bates, the mothman prophecies


i've had this with actors before, on the set,
where they get upset about the [size of my]
trailer, and i'm always like...take my trailer,
cause... i'm from Kentucky
and that's not what we brag about.
~ george clooney, inside the actor's studio


a straight edge for legends at
the fold - searching for our
lost cities of gold. burnt tar,
gravel pits. sixteen gears switch.
Haphazard Lucy strolls by.
~ dennis r wood ~
Top
User avatar
Spiral Jacobs
Giantfriend
Posts: 440
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:03 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 3 times

Post by Spiral Jacobs »

My favourite characters are:

Icarium and Mappo
Trull Sengar
Karsa Orlong

Icarium and Mappo because their relationship is so touching and Mappo's devotion to holding back Icarium, with the knowledge that Icarium killed his entire village (he does know that, right?), is amazing.

Trull and Karsa I like because Erikson devoted long parts of the books to them. I absolutely *loved* the whole first part of House of Chains, simply because it focused on Karsa and Karsa alone. That way I can really get into a character, the growth, the adventure, etc. The same goes for Trull, but to a lesser extent. I liked the more singular focus on that storyline in Midnight Tides.

In short: Karsa all the way. Merciless killer? Check. Wrestling with demons? Check. A hidden sense of humour? Check. Am I left wondering what the hell is going to happen to him? Check!
Top
User avatar
I'm Murrin
Are you?
Posts: 15840
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:09 pm
Location: North East, UK
Contact:
Contact I'm Murrin

Post by I'm Murrin »

Spiral Jacobs wrote: Icarium and Mappo because their relationship is so touching and Mappo's devotion to holding back Icarium, with the knowledge that Icarium killed his entire village (he does know that, right?), is amazing.
He was told that, yes.
Spoiler
But the truth was, the Nameless Ones probably destroyed the village to convince Mappo to accept the job.
Top
User avatar
duchess of malfi
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 11104
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2002 9:20 pm
Location: Michigan, USA

Post by duchess of malfi »

Duiker
Love as thou wilt.

Image
Top
User avatar
Farm Ur-Ted
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 674
Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2006 1:40 am
Location: Colorado

Post by Farm Ur-Ted »

My favorites:

Paran
Crokus (Cutter)
Kalam
Quick Ben
Gruntle
Lostara Yil
Heboric
Fiddler (Strings)
Karso Orlong
Apsalar
Pearl
Seran Pedac (maybe my all-time favorite)
Last edited by Farm Ur-Ted on Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:35 am, edited 2 times in total.
Top
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 23742
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 34 times

Post by Fist and Faith »

Onos T'oolan
Fiddler
Duiker
Coltaine
Bult
Quick Ben
Whiskeyjack
Kalam
Anomander Rake
Kruppe
Korlat
Apsalar

Oh lord, how long is this list supposed to be??? :lol:
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon
Top
User avatar
Holsety
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 3444
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 8:56 pm
Location: Principality of Sealand
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by Holsety »

Hmm, I'll go with:
Onrack
Tavore
Karsa
Mappo
Bult
Crump
Corporal List
Beak
Hannan Mosag
Lostara Yil
Pearl
Udinaas

My absolute favorite is...toc the younger.

Hurlo, Fisher, and Gothos are the authors of the best pre-chapter things so they got pts for that. Not my fave characters though, if fisher's even made an appearance I'm not aware of it (don't even know if/when he was/is around).
Top
User avatar
I'm Murrin
Are you?
Posts: 15840
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 1:09 pm
Location: North East, UK
Contact:
Contact I'm Murrin

Post by I'm Murrin »

Fisher is one of Esselmont's characters; he'll get a book eventually.
Top
User avatar
stonemaybe
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 4836
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:37 am
Location: Wallowing in the Zider Zee

Post by stonemaybe »

I can't believe no-one's 'favourited' Tehol!!!

Tehol Beddict (& Bugg, double-act)
Iskaral Pust
Onos T'oolan
Kruppe
Sgt Helian
Aglithophile and conniptionist and spectacular moonbow beholder 16Jul11

(:/>
Top
User avatar
Onos T'oolan
First Sword
Posts: 383
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:08 am
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by Onos T'oolan »

Well, I guess this id answers the question, for those of you who didn't already know who my favorite is. :D
"You have no understanding of what his title of Sword signifies - he is without equal in this world." -- K'rul
Top
User avatar
Mr. Broken
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 1308
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:49 pm
Location: The arm pit of hell, Titusville Pa.

Post by Mr. Broken »

I'm sure Ill have more ( Im not very far into the series) but here's my meager list Kruppe, Bauchelain, and Temper.
Wide Eyed Stupid
Top
User avatar
Mr. Broken
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 1308
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:49 pm
Location: The arm pit of hell, Titusville Pa.

Post by Mr. Broken »

Kallor rules! no pun intended.
Wide Eyed Stupid
Top
User avatar
lucimay
Lord
Posts: 15044
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:17 pm
Location: Mott Wood, Genebakis
Contact:
Contact lucimay

Post by lucimay »

Mr. Broken wrote:Kallor rules! no pun intended.
:lol:

thanks for sorta bumping this thread mister b. i actually hadn't looked at it in a pretty long while.

now that its over (or...well, after reading TCG) my list hasn't changed much but i'd have to say that after all was said and done, there's no way in hell i could actually pick favorites. there are just too many.
altho i do think karsa was probably the character whose story i most wanted to see more of. and i too loved Seren Pedac.
oh! and i really liked Silchas Ruin too! and Hood!

i'll tell ya, the only characters i DIDN'T like were crokus (aka cutter) and charlice. blech. bleh. whiner pee babies. :P
you're more advanced than a cockroach,
have you ever tried explaining yourself
to one of them?
~ alan bates, the mothman prophecies


i've had this with actors before, on the set,
where they get upset about the [size of my]
trailer, and i'm always like...take my trailer,
cause... i'm from Kentucky
and that's not what we brag about.
~ george clooney, inside the actor's studio


a straight edge for legends at
the fold - searching for our
lost cities of gold. burnt tar,
gravel pits. sixteen gears switch.
Haphazard Lucy strolls by.
~ dennis r wood ~
Top
User avatar
Onos T'oolan
First Sword
Posts: 383
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:08 am
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by Onos T'oolan »

:LOLS: Absolutely! Cutter/Crokus was only good for a point of narration. We learned a lot from what Apsalar and Cotillion said to him.
"You have no understanding of what his title of Sword signifies - he is without equal in this world." -- K'rul
Top
User avatar
Mr. Broken
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 1308
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:49 pm
Location: The arm pit of hell, Titusville Pa.

Post by Mr. Broken »

Feather Witch was one of my least favorites, but Crokus/Cutter is up there.
Wide Eyed Stupid
Top
Post Reply

Return to “Steven Erikson Forum”