[chartman]

[quote name='T3st0' date='05 June 2009 - 12:52 PM' timestamp='1244220751' post='616366']
QUOTE (Xachariah @ Mar 30 2009, 01:58 PM)

• The captain of the Ragstopper turns out to be none other than former High Fist Cartheron Crust.

What? Did I totally miss that part or what?


I apologize up front if this has been covered already, but...shouldn't Kalam have recognized the Captain? I know the whole trip was being confounded by Mockra, but I would of thought that CC would have garnered some recognition. I thought it was great how the Captain kept dumping info to Kalam about who and what was happening on the ship...brilliant!

-chartman

[D'rek]

Verjigorm, on 28 November 2009 - 12:09 PM, said:

What really startled me was the armor talking to Moby within tremolor. It ticked a whole chain of questions, like "Why was Daseem Ultor's daughter within tremolor?" or "Why did Moby kill her?" I think that "Moby killing her" is what the armor meant by telling him that he made "a mess" on his floor.
What I -as a first time reader- really liked about this is the feeling of "You know nothing yet", what it gives me.

Apart from that I was really surprised about Kulp's sudden death and Kalam's "buddy" being reveiled as Pearl.


For the Chain of Dogs ending...it seemed a bit inevitable. I wasn't really surprised that it happened, but I "enjoyed" the intensity of those moments. The only "sad thing" for me there was, that I enjoyed Kalam's story and Fiddler's part far more than Duiker's journey. I also wasn't too attached to Coltaine, cause he seemed to "uber" to be as interesting as many of the other characters.

Moby didn't kill her... the mess on the floor is from Moby peeing in his quivering fear...

[J D Dunsany]

I'm a relative newcomer to the Malazan books, but I did finish 'Deadhouse Gates' relatively recently (I'm about 300 pages into 'Memories of Ice' - only another 700 to go, then!) and think that, yes, it's better than 'Gardens of the Moon'. Certainly, it's more memorable.

The jaw-dropping moment for me was Coltaine's death. Erikson squeezes every last bit of pathos, horror and wonder out of it. The mages destroying the capemoths, Squint having to take the shot, the fact that it was the culmination of a long long thread in the novel in which we come to admire the character hugely - all contribute to the impact of it. I couldn't read on for a few minutes. I just had to let the images and the implications of the event soak into my mind. Amazing stuff.

jdd

[eastendleo]

Battles, monsters, gods and demons(both human and otherwise): so much on an epic scale. And one of these stands out for me as surpassing the others: the trees along the final leagues of Aren Way encrusted with the crucified. The last being Duiker, and from a mass scene of slaughter, his crucifixion is detailed and harrowing. Battles and monsters...

[PoorFlory]

Duiker's crucifixion and his soul being taken away. He was my favorite character in this book and I was sad when he died, only to be like a giddy kid when his soul is recovered. That and Feslin becoming the leader of the Whirlwind. I didn't see that coming. Something about sibling revenge...woot.

[Vesper]

The moments of Deadhouse Gates that made me say "Holy &#%$!!"

-When Heboric can see Hissar burning 20 leagues away
-When the ship bearing the fugitives sails into a warren
-When Icarium realizes that the last time he was at this particular spot in the desert (that we know of) was 94,000 years ago
-When it is revealed that Iskaral Pust is being worshiped like a god by the bhok'arala through elaborate rituals
-When Kalam takes out 8 men in the desert (and then it was funny that the other two were taken out by the demon)
-When Mappo and Icarium come upon the true place of convergence, and are too afraid to enter it
-When Icarium swats a Hound of Shadow aside
-When they realize that the floor in the Azath House has a map of everything, everywhere
-The appearance of the T'lann Imass undead dragon, which takes them through a warren of fire
-When Coltaine breaks his fist punching out the marine, and Sormo recognizing that the man has almost ascended (seriously, this part of the book is, I believe, the best written; it is not only humorous but all the characters seem to act completely genuinely, as one would expect them to without anything contrived)
-When Apsalar/Sorry remembers being Dancer, and the identities of Shadowthrone and Rope are realized
-The whole of Kalam's battle to the Empress
-When Moby is revealed to be a soletaken
-When the Ragstopper's captain is revealed to be Stormy's father, High Fist Cartheron Crust
-Felisin's full apotheosis into Sha'ik
-When it's revealed that the dhenrabi soletaken is actually a dhenrabi d'ivers of five beasts
-When it's revealed who Servant is

Yeah, that's mostly all of it, I think.

[Eispeis]

Vesper, on 09 February 2010 - 07:51 AM, said:

<br>-When the <i>Ragstopper</i>'s captain is revealed to be <b>Stormy's father</b>, High Fist Cartheron Crust<br>

<br><br>What? I thought the Crust Brothers were Napan (or was that Admiral Nok mebbe?). Anyway; Stormy is a Crust?!? This is the first I remember hearing of it. Makes him a teentsy bit more awesome though.

This post has been edited by Eispeis: 09 February 2010 - 08:24 AM

[Sinisdar Toste]

no, stormy was crusts adjutant, not his son. and yes the crusts are napan, stormy is falari

[Vesper]

Sinisdar Toste, on 09 February 2010 - 06:01 PM, said:

no, stormy was crusts adjutant, not his son. and yes the crusts are napan, stormy is falari

Oops, you're right. For some reason in my mind I replaced the word 'adjutant' with 'son'. I just went and looked it up now.

My bad.

[Beezulbubba]

All great WTF moments posted so far. Some subtle ones (that I did not see posted yet):

- When Fiddler and co. approach G'danisban and the guard states "The city is closed" and then spits between the hooves of Fiddler's horse. The next paragraph reads:

It would later be said that even a Gral's horse knew an insult when it saw one. Before Fiddler could react, his mount's head snapped forward, stripping the reins from the sapper's hands, and bit the guardsman in the face. The horse had twisted its head so that the jaws closed around the man's cheeks and tore cheeks, upper lip and nose. Blood gushed. The guardsman dropped like a sack of stones, a piercing, keening sound rising from him.

Upon seeing this, the Arak horse warriors ride up and start offering Fiddler $$$ and daughters for his horse. I read this part a couple of times to savor it (it was awesome!). Fiddler's horse is quite special (as is touched upon throughout DG).

- March of COD: After the battle at Gelor's Ridge, when Duiker has sunk down due to exhaustion and emotion, he hears Lull's voice (but altered). Duiker looks up to see Lull's mangled face. Lull says: "I'm a lucky man Historian. Look, not a single tooth knocked out --- not even a wobble."

- The story thread of Felisin is sort of one long wtf. . . . quite tragic.

This post has been edited by Beezulbubba: 21 February 2010 - 07:54 PM

[Beezulbubba]

I am almost through my first reading of DG!

Another holy sh#% moment for me is Kalam using his full assassin skills after he is paralyzed by Salk Elan, stabbed and dumped off the Ragstopper in the Malaz City harbor. He hits the gauntlet of Claw waiting him wearing nothing but his skivvies. He skulks through using assassin techniques to hide his body temperature from detecting sorcery, gears up and then starts taking down the Claw awaiting him.

Another holy shi#% moment is Topper speaking through one of the dead Claw Kalam had just dispatched, challenging Kalam to come get some. Topper then dumps every last Claw (via the Imperial warren) into Malaz City to take Kalam down. ..... friggan awesome!

[Abyss]

Beezulbubba, on 02 March 2010 - 02:53 PM, said:

I am almost through my first reading of DG!

Another holy sh#% moment for me is Kalam using his full assassin skills after he is paralyzed by Salk Elan, stabbed and dumped off the Ragstopper in the Malaz City harbor. He hits the gauntlet of Claw waiting him wearing nothing but his skivvies. He skulks through using assassin techniques to hide his body temperature from detecting sorcery, gears up and then starts taking down the Claw awaiting him.

Another holy shi#% moment is Topper speaking through one of the dead Claw Kalam had just dispatched, challenging Kalam to come get some. Topper then dumps every last Claw (via the Imperial warren) into Malaz City to take Kalam down. ..... friggan awesome!

I know i posted this upthread, but it bears repeating. All through GotM and most of DG, we get a bunch of hints that Kalam is something special. People are in awe of him. They talk about him a certain way... he even has his moments of awesome, the rooftop fight in Darujhistan, taking out the Whirlwind raiders, attacking the enkar'al... all cool, but not completely over the top... and then Pearl/Salk almost takes him out easily, and for a few pages, maybe you think 'huh... not such a big deal after all'... and then SE shows us why. Makeshift gear. No magic. Wounded. And the Claw are dead meat.

- Abyss, even liked when Minala saved his ass.

[Vaine]

It's been a while since I read DG, but from what I can remember;

-The true identities of Shadowthrone and Cotillion revealed.

-Kalam fighting the bandits(?) with Apt.

-Everything that had to do with Fiddler's horse.

-Kalam using the full potential of his skills as an assassin in Malaz City.

-The order issued to Squint near the end, having him end Coltaine's life.

[Abyss]

The revelation that the entire human First Empire tried to ascend, and blew it, was huge.

- Abyss, fell down the stairs.

[Vaine]

Abyss, on 05 March 2010 - 07:59 PM, said:

The revelation that the entire human First Empire tried to ascend, and blew it, was huge.

- Abyss, fell down the stairs.

I can't remember that part. :\

[Sinisdar Toste]

heboric's ramblings in the city with all the statues that are actually people

[Beezulbubba]

Vaine, on 05 March 2010 - 09:17 PM, said:

Abyss, on 05 March 2010 - 07:59 PM, said:

The revelation that the entire human First Empire tried to ascend, and blew it, was huge.

- Abyss, fell down the stairs.

I can't remember that part. :\

I don't remember that one either. What page inDG, Abyss? I know Gesler, Stormy and Truth are close to ascending (after riding the Ragstopper through the fire warren when the ship was being pulled behind the wake of the undead Dragon / T'Lan Imass Bonecaster soletaken) . . . . but I do not recall any mention of the First Empire attempting to ascend.

[D'rek]

Beezulbubba, on 08 March 2010 - 10:57 PM, said:

Vaine, on 05 March 2010 - 09:17 PM, said:

Abyss, on 05 March 2010 - 07:59 PM, said:

The revelation that the entire human First Empire tried to ascend, and blew it, was huge.

- Abyss, fell down the stairs.

I can't remember that part. :\

I don't remember that one either. What page inDG, Abyss? I know Gesler, Stormy and Truth are close to ascending (after riding the Ragstopper through the fire warren when the ship was being pulled behind the wake of the undead Dragon / T'Lan Imass Bonecaster soletaken) . . . . but I do not recall any mention of the First Empire attempting to ascend.

Dunno the page number, but I think it's a combination of two things: when Heboric, Kulp and Felisin are journeying through the caves in Raraku Heboric talks about the last few days of the FE and how many were trying to go Soletaken as a means to ascending. Then Iccy, Crokus and company come across a FE city where the citizens got slaughtered by the T'lan Imass after the giant Soletakening ritual was unleashed and made them all crazy beasts.

[Red King]

DG, for me, was one of the most emotionally taxing books as well being so awe inspiring that when it reached the part Coltaine was finally cornered I was furious and yelled that it wasn't fair. Anyways, three of my absolute favorite parts was where the mounted wickans are racing up the hill and shortly after they get up there, the whole hill moves and its the sappers buried underneath with their shields over their backs. For me, it was just an amazing part that it made me laugh out loud and showed you how truly crazy sappers were when it came to war.

Another part of was when they were crossing the river and Duiker just couldn't understand how this was happening until he finally got to the water and realized there was a bridge their, built with sapper booby traps of course. And my finale favorite bit was the sapper captain being demoted and Coltaine saying shortly after wards "I didn't know what to do!" It made me chuckle, especially when SE describes the face expression the Sapper captain had.

[Flict]

I finished my first read of GotM yesterday! The ending was great!
I think easly the most amazing bit (and the climax of the book) was the killing of Coltaine. It was so sad and epic.

Also, I agree that:

Vesper, on 09 February 2010 - 07:51 AM, said:

-When Icarium realizes that the last time he was at this particular spot in the desert (that we know of) was 94,000 years ago

Was a great momment! It conjures the "omg, there is much more than I can think of going on" feeling that I love.

Vesper, on 09 February 2010 - 07:51 AM, said:

-When Coltaine breaks his fist punching out the marine, and Sormo recognizing that the man has almost ascended (seriously, this part of the book is, I believe, the best written; it is not only humorous but all the characters seem to act completely genuinely, as one would expect them to without anything contrived)

I got confused by this... Maybe because I don't know a lot about ascendancy yet. Hoping next books clarify this.

Soletaken Peach, on 29 July 2009 - 11:35 PM, said:

• Has anyone else found the revelations of this book IRONIC? Here I was, thinking the Emperor was the most serious man in the whole Malaz empire. - But apparently he used to own a bar named Smiley's, and tends to giggle and ramble when speaking now that he's Shadowthrone! lol.

I thought the same things! Really funny.