Kevin's Watch

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.

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!

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...

Duiker and Heboric.

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.

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.

that's a particularly excellent passage, Captain!


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.

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!

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.

Duiker

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)

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???

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).

Fisher is one of Esselmont's characters; he'll get a book eventually.

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

Tehol Beddict (& Bugg, double-act)
Iskaral Pust
Onos T'oolan
Kruppe
Sgt Helian

Well, I guess this id answers the question, for those of you who didn't already know who my favorite is.

I'm sure Ill have more ( Im not very far into the series) but here's my meager list Kruppe, Bauchelain, and Temper.

Kallor rules! no pun intended.

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

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.

Absolutely! Cutter/Crokus was only good for a point of narration. We learned a lot from what Apsalar and Cotillion said to him.

Feather Witch was one of my least favorites, but Crokus/Cutter is up there.