my thoughts thus far, at about 160 pages in

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my thoughts thus far, at about 160 pages in

#21 detritus

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Posted 23 December 2008 - 11:31 PM

Dolorous Menhir, on Dec 22 2008, 05:56 PM, said:

mandog, on Dec 21 2008, 11:56 PM, said:

I can say for certain that I will finish this series.

I said the same thing when I started the Wheel of Time.

I did not. WoT never got its claws into me.

#22 EsotericForest

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Posted 01 January 2009 - 11:06 PM

Well now I'm about 320 pages into the book (Work has cut back on my time to read haha)...and I have to say I was fairly confused till I got 150 pages in or so...and I'm still semi-lost even now. I think the main part that's throwing me is who is on whos side...who is the good guys...and who's the bad guys...excusing the extremely cliche terms haha. That being said I am really enjoying it and am starting to get into it.

"Ignoring him, she stepped back out of the ellipse and began singing in the Woman's Language, which was, of course, unintelligible to Iskaral's ears. Just as the Man's Language-which Mongora called gibberish-was beyond her ability to understand. The reason for that, Iskaral Pust knew, was that the Man's Language was gibberish, designed specifically to confound women."

-The Bonehunters-
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#23 Cold Iron

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Posted 01 January 2009 - 11:33 PM

EsotericForest, on Jan 2 2009, 10:06 AM, said:

SE would be pleased to hear this

Your confusion is entirely intentional, I assure you.

#24 EsotericForest

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Posted 02 January 2009 - 02:54 AM

I can't completely blame him...suspense and actually having to use your mind when you read a book is a good thing...better than mindless garbage most writers put out

#25 alt146

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Posted 02 January 2009 - 05:21 PM

EsotericForest, on Jan 2 2009, 01:06 AM, said:

There arent really any clear-cut good guys or bad guys in the series, which is part of why it's so interesting to read.

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#26 detritus

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Posted 02 January 2009 - 06:09 PM

alt146, on Jan 2 2009, 05:21 PM, said:

EsotericForest, on Jan 2 2009, 01:06 AM, said:

There arent really any clear-cut good guys or bad guys in the series, which is part of why it's so interesting to read.

agreed all the subterfuge is one of the best aspects.

#27 EsotericForest

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Posted 04 January 2009 - 09:07 PM

Well I've just finnished the book and I have to admit I did really get into it. Without a doubt I will be reading the next book soon.

#28 killer angels

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Posted 05 January 2009 - 03:00 PM

just finished GotM this morning. I found it very interesting and could follow it easier after about 150 pages in. I cant wait to start the next one.

#29 detritus

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Posted 05 January 2009 - 06:32 PM

I'll be done with this in about 2 days. and I am seriously thinking about jumping from book one to book three so I can get more of these characters, and see where the story goes.

#30 Aptorian

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Posted 05 January 2009 - 06:39 PM

Don't do it. While DG takes place in a different setting, it still has Crokus, Apsalar, Fiddler, Kalam and the shadow gods.

And it is an incredibly good read.

The books are ment to be read in the right order as you'll see from events crossing over from one book to the next.

#31 End of Disc One

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Posted 05 January 2009 - 08:15 PM

Yeah don't do it. Even though books 2 and 3 take place at the same time, you'll realize that SE writes his books from start to finish, and that when you read book 3 you're expected to understand things that were introduced in book 2. Revelations about the world come and go. An example of what I'm talking about is, say, Quick Ben and Kalam are talking about something unique about one of the warrens, and then a few pages later you see Paran and Lorn, many miles away, talking about the same thing.

#32 Salt-Man Z

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Posted 05 January 2009 - 08:24 PM

Also, there's a revelation at the end of DG that is completely spoiled if you read MoI first.

"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch

#33 detritus

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Posted 06 January 2009 - 05:44 PM

so much for that idea then

#34 Aptorian

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Posted 06 January 2009 - 05:48 PM

Just wait untill you get started, you're a cold man if you don't shed a tear or two by the ending of DG. And DG actually makes the ending of MoI even more powerfull.

#35 Salt-Man Z

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Posted 06 January 2009 - 06:49 PM

Aptorian, on Jan 6 2009, 11:48 AM, said:

Just wait untill you get started, you're a cold man if you don't shed a tear or two by the ending of DG. And DG actually makes the ending of MoI even more powerfull.

You know, I had heard that SE initially intended MoI to come before DG; that final scene of MoI actually makes a lot of sense that way. (Much like HoC leads into MT.)

#36 Illuyankas

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Posted 06 January 2009 - 06:54 PM

Haven't heard that before. Any source on that?

Also, my first Malazan book was MOI, which was surprising once I got to the 'Thus Ends The Third Book of the Malazan Book of the Clumsy' bit and went "Wuh?" But it did create some anticipation for DG which was paid off in spades.

Hello, soldiers, look at your mage, now back to me, now back at your mage, now back to me. Sadly, he isn’t me, but if he stopped being an unascended mortal and switched to Sole Spice, he could smell like he’s me. Look down, back up, where are you? You’re in a warren with the High Mage your cadre mage could smell like. What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s an acorn with two gates to that realm you love. Look again, the acorn is now otataral. Anything is possible when your mage smells like Sole Spice and not a Bole brother. I’m on a quorl.

#37 Salt-Man Z

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Posted 06 January 2009 - 07:15 PM

Gah, I can't remember where I read it. I thought maybe it was on Pat's blog, but a search there turned up nothing. Didn't seem to be from Wikipedia, either.

Anyway, what I read was that SE was a good chunk of the way into MoI when his hard drive failed (or some other computer problem) and he lost the entire thing. He was so upset about it that he decided to do DG as book 2 instead, and then start over with MoI as book 3.

Obviously, with no source, the veracity of that tale is suspect, but as I said, the ending of MoI tying back to DG adds some plausibility.

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 06 January 2009 - 07:15 PM

#38 Aptorian

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Posted 06 January 2009 - 07:17 PM

I thought it was HoC that was lost? It sort of fits with the two year gap between HoC and MT.

#39 ch'arlz

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Posted 06 January 2009 - 08:04 PM

_SE_ in an interview at http://encyclopediamalazica.pbwiki.com/Dro...view+%282003%29

Quote

It was a bit of an accident that Deadhouse Gates immediately followed Gardens -- I'd originally planned for Memories of Ice to be the second novel, and I had almost three hundred pages of it written before Gardens was even published. But I lost those three hundred pages. So, in grief I turned to Deadhouse Gates. Hind sight? I think it turned out for the better. I am satisfied with the sequence. Memories as the second in the series would have been a mistake, because it would have set a precedent I didn't want, whereas Deadhouse, jumping away as it did from Gardens, set the right precedent.

Shaken, not stirred.