Kevin's Watch

This is the place for general discussion of House of Chains, the Fourth Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. If you haven't finished the book, beware of spoilers.


As I've said in the past, House of Chains is probably my favourite of the books in the series so far, and Karsa Orlong is one of Erikson's best characters. The book introduces several interesting new characters, and begins the tying together of storylines from the previous two books.
The focus of the novel is, in a sense, the rise of the House of Chains. But it's also about the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs; it's about how people cope with living in the shadow of a legend. And it's about false gods, and broken families, and the chains that bind everyone.
Bloody good book. What do you think?

I'm a big Karsa fan, so yeah. One of my favorites.

The first third of HoC is Erikson's best work by far imo.

This was by far my favourite, because the whole first part is one story about Karsa. A very welcome change from the constantly changing perspectives and a much better way of showing off Erikson's writing skills.

I prefer this, in general: focusing on a character and watching him/her evolve, instead of a host of characters all semi-finished or superficial.

Deadhouse Gates was my favorite until Memories of Ice, which was my favorite until House of Chains.

I really liked Midnight Tides and Bonehunters (I'm actually around page 500 there, but I'll be done soon) too. In fact, Trull Sengar might be my favorite character, now that I've finished Tides. As of right now, though, I like neither quite as much as House of Chains. Not that I think that Erikson's writing is declining or anything, House of Chains was just the best thus far for me.

Bonehunters has some more Karsa stuff

I think House of Chains was just the most balanced of the last three books. His writing has improved, but Midnight Tides had a very different structure and the whole tragedy/comedy balance thing, and Bonehunters just seemed a little weaker than I expected; House of Chains is, I think, the last book that was both an improvement on previous volumes and seemed to have a consistent feel throughout.

Midnight Tides was different, but I def reveled in that difference. The Edur were nearly without exception engaging (never saw much from binny) and the villains owned the pants off of Raest, Korbolo Dom, the Pannion Seer, Sha'ik, etc.

Korbolo in particular was just a shitty, boring character stuck in an awesome series. Coltaine owned him, and in house of chains he was just stupid and boring despite being a former friend/replacement/something of whiskeyjack. His plans are best described as egotistical and boring. I wanted him to be eaten by a stray hound or something.

Spoiler

I thought he was dead, and then in Bonehunters they (someone) say something about him being alive IIRC. How boring. I didn't pay enough attention to his fate in Chains.

EDIT-The other villains were fine, they just didn't match up to the ones in Tides. I don't count the more obvious, ominous, evil one because he's not really at the forefront yet.

And now that I think of them, the Seven (or however many there are now) are boring too. In the book they appear in, they're already outstripped by Karsa, who's also more interesting and more likable despite having a mean streak.

i like your take, Holsety. i like how you sift through the characters. even if we don't agree...i like your commentary!

Holsety wrote:Korbolo in particular was just a shitty, boring character stuck in an awesome series. Coltaine owned him, and in house of chains he was just stupid and boring despite being a former friend/replacement/something of whiskeyjack. His plans are best described as egotistical and boring. I wanted him to be eaten by a stray hound or something.

Spoiler

I thought he was dead, and then in Bonehunters they (someone) say something about him being alive IIRC. How boring. I didn't pay enough attention to his fate in Chains.

Spoiler

He wsn't just mentioned, he played quite an important role in The Bonehunters. He's the new First Sword, being used by Laseen to make the Wickans look like an enemy, and using her in turn along with Mallick Rel. He's a fool, but a successful one. He's supposed to appear that way to you--nowhere near as good as he thinks he is.

Lucimay wrote:i like your take, Holsety. i like how you sift through the characters. even if we don't agree...i like your commentary!

Thanks.

The only ones I didn't like much were the seven and korbolo. The former get some creds for influencing Karsa, though. I realize korbolo did some smart stuff, but his one or two POVs in Chains just made him seem...annoying?

Lucimay wrote:

Fist and Faith wrote:I only met Kilava several pages ago. Onos T'oolan is the only one I know to any degree. But is it even possible that anybody of any race or species could be cooler than the Toolman???????????????

heh... one word. Karsa.

I'm 100+ pages into HoC, all of which has been about Karsa. And if things don't change pretty seriously, he'll never be close to as cool as Tool. Yeah, he's a heck of a fighter, but there's nothing intriguing about him. The fact that I find his culture quite reprehensible sure doesn't help.

No problems, though. I know things can change considerably. I'm just sayin'...

soldier on. the best is yet to come.

HOLY COW!!!!!
Still not entirely sure what's going on, because the one in DG doesn't seem to be him. Still, there's gotta be a connection, and I guess I'll get to it in a few days.

OK, I guess it is him. They just explained the sword issue I had. But still, Leoman said he's seen 17 summers, or something like that. Maybe it's coming?

I'm frustrated as hell....MoI had me hooked and I picked up HoC the moment I'd finished it, now I've read 188 pages with no relevance to the rest of the series at all! ARRRGGHHHH!!!!

okok I KNOW there WILL be but there isn't yet!

Welcome to the Malazan Book of the Fallen, Stonemaybe. That's what I keep saying about this series -- with just about every book, you spend the first 100 pages going, "What the *?&$%^&* is going on???" and then you're so hooked you can't quit.

Not to worry, Stonemaybe. Even if you're not crazy about all the Karsa stuff, you'll see why it's important. And it moves on to some of the great characters from the other books, too.

As I've said before, I think Karsa is one of Erikson's best characters. Really starts to come into his own after the section of the book devoted entirely to him, though.

I agree totally, Murrin. Karsa is a cool character, and gets cooler as the series goes on.

I SUPPOSE I'll have to trust you all then......