Malazan Issues [And Stuff] (Spoilers)

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Yeah, I'm coming up to that part now. And was exactly what I meant when I said "Brutal."

On the plus side, gotta love Ublala Pung.

--A

[Holsety]

My favorite thing about Ublala Pung isn't Shurq Ellale's favorite thing about him, but rather, him and the Letheras river in MT.

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Mine's gotta be the buried Toblakai gods, and Draconus.

(Bars and those gods was pretty damn cool too: "I already killed a god today...If I'd known this was going to be a day for killing gods, I would have paced myself better.")

--A

[Holsety]

I don't know why, but the first time I read Midnight Tides, I thought that the Seguleh Gods were actually semi-immortal and that was the only reason Bars couldn't kill them, and Silchas Ruin had special powers that enabled him to kill them.

[Fist and Faith]

Mine's gotta be the buried Toblakai gods, and Draconus.

(Bars and those gods was pretty damn cool too: "I already killed a god today...If I'd known this was going to be a day for killing gods, I would have paced myself better.")

Doesn't get much better than this!

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Started OST now, but damn, I may complain about the beginning of DoD, but the end is just damn good.

Also, we got a "memory" scene from Ruthan Gudd that has him crawling from beneath the grounds of a dead Azath house! (Dunno which one, but definitely not Letheras because it was burning, and that one just...died...)

So...and although Faradan Sort thinks he is a Storm Rider because of the armour etc. of ice, she (sorta) dismisses the thought, and his own thoughts about the armour indicate that it is not his.

Anyway, Seguleh, here we come. (Also, is this the book where Esselmont writes Kruppe? I feel it may be, to Kruppe's detriment. ) We'll see.

(And earlier I may have mistaken Shadowthrone for Pust, but it's because it was so jarring...he mixed them up and delivered with neither. Sorry IE).

--A

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Damn, I do love the Seguleh. (And that whole thing with Dassem Ultor and the 8th and the monastery...brilliant.)

Anyway, finished OST and busy on TCG now. I forgot that Gudd survived the short-tails...he and Bottle now making their way back to the remnants of the Bonehunters.

--A

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Finished TCG at 03h00 this morning.

Also forgot that Rudd was called "Elder" by the T'lann Imass, that he denied actually being an Elder God, and blamed it on his parents, whose identities we unfortunately never discover.

Also was mentioned somewhere that he was Greymane's opposite number...so Stonewielder and Icewielder? Dunno.

TCG was certainly a wild ride, and really, the whole series "twist" was very SRD in some ways...the villain turns out to be the victim etc...

Starting Blood and Bone now, which I would have said I wasn't a big fan of, but this re-read is definitely showing me the good stuff in books I didn't previously like that much so...

--A

[Holsety]

Also was mentioned somewhere that he was Greymane's opposite number...so Stonewielder and Icewielder? Dunno.

Well ice is solid water, and stone and water are permanence at rest and permanence in motion...

[Fist and Faith]

Well done, H.

[Holsety]

Well done, H.

Well sometimes I notice a lot of similarities between Donaldson and Erikson...however, this reread (on which I'm not very far, only most of the way through DG) Donaldson similarities have not been on my radar very much.

[Holsety]

I know this is a double post, but I was playing a game called Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak the other day and I noticed what I think was an allusion to Gardens of the Moon and Orb Scepter Throne.

Spoiler

There's a teenager named Aaron who ultimately joins your adventuring party who lives in an Eastern City (pretty modernized with some asian style gangsters and stuff) called Llangford. Llangford doesn't have a political council like Darujhistan does. Towards the end of the chapter he gets possessed by a tyrant. The tyrant was unleashed by a foreign mafia so it would cause havoc in the city and destroy it, giving them an opportunity to assassinate the leaders of the asian gangsters who have a strong foothold there. The tyrant doesn't have tusks like Raest, but he has a mask, and is very tall. Not only that, but the asian gangsters, who may have some prior ties to serving and then sealing away the tyrant, also wear masks.

This is a series which I am already sure shared some kind of influence with The Wheel of Time.

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Well, finished all the Malazan books, (except Karkhanas and the short stories). Made the mistake of going straight from Assail to the first "Book of Witness" (the Karsa series) so now I've been left hanging. (And then I went to the "Path to Ascendancy" books, and left hanging there again, since I don't have the 4th one yet.) What good books.

--A

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Hooray, my "Forge of the High Mage" arrived early, so that shall be next.

On that topic:

1) I note that the antagonist in the "Wurms of Blearmouth" story which opens the 2nd Collected Tales is named Fangatooth Claw The Render...given that SRD is a fan or Erikson, and that he wrote an introduction to the 1st story in the 1st Collected Tales, is this a play on Fangthane The Render? (Where's Holsety... )

2) Don't you think Stanley Tucci would play an amazing Bauchelain?

To return to the first topic...

I note that while the 1st 3 ascendancy books, (Dancer's Lament, Deadhouse Landing and Kellanved's Reach) are all sub-titled "Path To Ascendancy" Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3, this latest one is sub-titled "A Tale of the Paths to Ascendancy."

Anyway...

--A

[Holsety]

I note that while the 1st 3 ascendancy books, (Dancer's Lament, Deadhouse Landing and Kellanved's Reach) are all sub-titled "Path To Ascendancy" Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3, this latest one is sub-titled "A Tale of the Paths to Ascendancy."

Anyway...

--A

Huh that is probably insignificant but funny. Did you get them all from the same publisher?
(It reminds me of Esselmont's series being called "Tales of the Malazan Empire")

OH AND I FORGOT TO SAY

1) I note that the antagonist in the "Wurms of Blearmouth" story which opens the 2nd Collected Tales is named Fangatooth Claw The Render...given that SRD is a fan or Erikson, and that he wrote an introduction to the 1st story in the 1st Collected Tales, is this a play on Fangthane The Render? (Where's Holsety... )

I am not a great source on this because I don't think I even have that one. I would trust in your own judgment. Do you see any connections besides the name? But it sure sounds like you're right.

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No, they're not from the same publisher, although the 1st 3 were...the 4th is from Penguin of all things...

I just called on you because you're fond of drawing parallels between different series etc.

--A