Kevin's Watch

I'm not nearly as much into this one as the first four. I guess I don't feel so alone, since there wasn't even a thread for the book until now. It sure started off great though!! Well, I'm not even a hundred pages in yet, so impossible to really judge yet.

Midnight Tides is one of my favourites of the series so far. It focuses on a specific conflict and doesn't wander too much. It has comedy, tragedy and some great characters.

*sigh* I didn't read a single page while on vacation. Somehow, Christy and our five kids kept me too busy. Can't figure out how... Heh. And Christy played a nasty trick and bought a 1,000-piece puzzle!

I'm enjoying Midnight Tides, but it's certainly not as compulsive reading as the other books were.

It does have that classic one-liner that someone else quoted somewhere else about 'ice or ice' and 'flood or...flood'.

Actually, I started GotM again. Since MT seems very different than the first four, and the listing of characters in the beginning appears to confirm that it will remain much as it is, I think I need a much better grasp of everything. I don't want to miss all the little things.

And hell, I read the first four faster than I've ever read anything of half that length! I cannot get over how amazing they are!! Reading them again will be a joy, and I'll intentionally pay more attention to aspects I didn't try to keep track of the first time.

Fist and Faith wrote:Actually, I started GotM again. Since MT seems very different than the first four, and the listing of characters in the beginning appears to confirm that it will remain much as it is, I think I need a much better grasp of everything. I don't want to miss all the little things.

Just started this sucker (I'm maybe 25 pages in). What's the break-even point for bailing and going back to re-read the first 4? I think I already passed it. This book seems like it's going to be interesting.

There's stuff in the prologue about Morn, btw.

I'm psyched that the cover scene was only ~140 pages in. The cover of House of Chains never made much sense to me.

I've been noticing some similarities in these last couple of books with Robin Hobbs' books, mainly Liveship Traders (I don't think there are any big Hobbs spoilers here, just general stuff). In HoC (and DG), there are the buried cities in the Raraku that remind me of the buried cities in the Rainriver Wild areas. What first reminded me of LT (and mainly Mad Ship) was when Kamal and Fiddler started hearing singing in the Raraku (which turned out to be the ballad of the Bridgeburners). I read that, and just started wondering where I'd read something similar before, thinking it was in one of the earlier Malazan books. Then I remembered that I was thinking of Malta and Reyn hearing singing (or just music) when they were wandering through the buried city (can't remember the town's name) in the Rainriver area.

And then, near the end of HoC, we met T'Amber (I think for the first time). She'd been mentioned many times during the book (I'm not sure if she was ever mentioned in earlier books), but when she appeared, she was so mysterious, and Erikson put a lot into describing the color of her eyes. Dang, I couldn't help but think of Amber from the LT trilogy. I won't go into more, but if you've read those books, I think you'll catch my drift. It really makes me wonder who T'Amber will turn out to be.

Now, in MT, we learn about Blackwood, and that ships made from it are self-healing. Wow! That reminds me a lot of wizard-wood, although I guess the ships aren't sentient, like they are in LT. And there's a character named Kettle (the name of a character in Assasin's Quest), too, although that's probably just a coincidence.

I'm not really going anywhere with this, I just thought it was interesting.

Edit: Later, in Book 3, the resurrection of Rhulad was being discussed (I think by Brys and quon what's-his-name), and one of them said that maybe his soul was stripped from his body before he died, and then reunited with the body after his injuries were healed (or something like that). That process is pretty much the same one Fitz went through at the end of Royal Assassin and the beginning of Assassin's Quest.

One other minor comparison: the Old Blood in the Elderlings books are pretty similar to the Soletaken in the Malazan books.

I just read the section near the end of Book 3 where Corlo explained to Seran Pedac what the deal was with the Avowed: They've vowed to replace Kellanved (and his successors) with the original emporer (who I don't remember at all). And the Avowed basically live forever. I don't know if this was mentioned in DG or not, when the Crimson Guard first appeared, but after reading it, I was like "Whoa!" Crimson Guard = Bloodguard! At least, that's how it seems to me.

I wish I remembered the back-story about the CG from Deadhouse Gates. I think I kind of glossed over those sections when I read that book.

It's not the original emperor (Kellanved was the first, it's his empire)--it's Prince Kazz D'Avore, ruler of one of the many small states Kellanved conquered.

That's the dude! (Or was Kazz a woman?)

This book is pretty good, but I'm reading it right after I read HoC, and I think it's a little bit too much for me. This is the first time I've read two Erikson's in a row, and I'm going to need a few months before I read Bonehunters.

The new characters are great, though. I really like Seran. She's probably my favorite in the book.

What's up with the Drukorlat character? Is she going to turn out to be Korlat?

Heh. When I started Erikson, I read all five available books in two weeks.

Seran Pedac is one of those characters who, like Felisin, is considered one of his best by Erikson himself, but disliked by many of his fans.

Finished it yesterday; that was a great book. I thought the battle scenes near the end were a bit weak this time, but after the previous three books, I didn't really need any more epic battles. I loved the Bugg reveal; it was obvious that he was going to turn out to be someone big, but I didn't know he was going to turn out to be who he did turn out to be (that sounds awful). I think that the ending for Brys was great; at first, I didn't know who the big dude was that came and got him, but I was blown away when I remembered who it was.

So, does Reaper's Gale pick up where this left off? I'm psyched to continue with the Seren story-line. I'll probably read Bonehunters early next year, and RG a month or so after. But, damn, Bonehunters has the worst cover ever. I may have to spill coffee on it right after I buy it.

RG picks up in Letherii one or two years after MT, and about six months after Bonehunters IIRC.

Murrin wrote:RG picks up in Letherii one or two years after MT, and about six months after Bonehunters IIRC.

Really? I thought MT occurred before HoC, and Bonehunters took place right after HoC. So, do we ever find out why Trull ended up stranded on the wall in the shattered warren? I thought we were going to find that out in MT, and since we didn't, I assumed we'd find out in RG.

Heh, I just remembered my favorite part of this book: it's good to know that Hood really has balls.

Bonehunters is right after HoC, and Reaper's Gale is six months after Bonehunters. MT is a year-and-a-half to two years before Bonehunters--so it all adds up. "One or two years" sounded a little short, I think--two years is about it.

Oh!! The Crimson Guard!!! If I could get to the emoticons page with my cell, I'd have some bananas!

Damn! Still haven't learned who Bugg is!! Maybe a Jaghut, though?

EDIT: OK, now I know.

And as someone mentioned, it's nice to see how the Edur that Quick and Paran found in MoI got there. Heh.

Two questions:

1) Who is the Guardian that appears at the very end, killing Rhulad after Brys crippled him; and taking Brys' body away; telling Bugg that he had abandoned them long ago; etc? Did we see him earlier, and I just don't remember? Or were we told that he is someone else and I just don't remember we had that info?


2) Did we witness Bugg doing a favor for the Jaghut witch in the quarry, for which he asks for reciprocity - in the form of freezing the water demon that was being used by the Edur?