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ok, it took me a while, but I did finish it in the end.
Some questions are addressed in other threads, so I might look into those to seek answers. In particular:
a) Who crucified the Otataral dragon. Pearl and Lostara wander through the Imperial warren, they fall in some kind of hole (it is unclear to me whether it brings them to another warren or not) where they see a crucified Otataral dragon. The weird thing is Otataral is the antithesis of magic, while dragons are inherently magical creatures. So it's a big mystery. And let me guess, it's a RAFO?
Thyr, Meanas, Rashan: we hear musings by many how light, darkness, shadow belong together. Ok, I get it. We have three warrens, we have three Tiste. We have hounds of shadow, hounds of darkness (well, we had, to be precise). Any bets there's hounds of light? RAFO?c) What did Lostara pick up? Pearl gets really curious, but when he tries to peek, wham! So, what was it? Is it RAFO?
d) Corabb. The luckiest man on earth. He's a cat, really? Nine lifes? Or maybe he's the incestual child of the twin jesters? Is there more to it, and if yes, is it RAFO?
e) What happens the night Raraku awakens? Heboric gets saved by three people. IIRC one man and two women. Who were they? I can't match it up with any group. Maybe, I'm just too stupid to see it. Kalam meets an old pal who puts up a distraction before Korbolo's tent. Who was it (some dead Bridgeburner?) Is either of that RAFO? Maybe I just missed it during my reading, in that case, please fill me in.
f) Who's the traveler on Drift Island? He sounds like someone I should recognize. Am I too stupid to see it? If so, please just fill me in.
g) What about the trapped souls on their way to earth. You know, those whom Heboric sees? I don't understand. RAFO?
h) Oserc? He seems weary of the Liosan (then again, who wouldn't). What is he doing precisely?
ok, enough questions, let me tell you about my impressions of the book.
1) Karsa. This character really grew on me. I really disliked him in the first part. Egocentric, and pretty stupid (except for his combat tactics). He developed (and mellowed) quite a bit, which made him a far more likable person. The whole start of the book had a bit of old-testament vibe for me. It was different from anything else in the series, but I liked it.
2) In the second part, the story really picks up. The army gets on the way (more incompetent noble officers, hello Ranal, bye-bye Ranal), Trull and Onrack get moving, Kalam, Cutter/Apsalar, Pearl/Lostara are set on their respective paths. Hounds are released, Liosans arrive (gahd they're stupid). Imass are being Imass. Fissures in the Oasis break open. Things progress. The knot gets tied.
3) Some (minor?) plots resolved. The shadow throne is secured (Rake's brother? kicks the bucket, but who's the traveler)? Osserc is found, but what's he doing? Crokus and Apsalar drift apart (no pun intended), Kalam has an excursion and frees some demon (curiosity almost killed the cat). Karsa meets Icarium, Mappo, (that has unfinished business written all over it) frees a Jaghut, a Forkrul Assail, gets a stone sword and a pony. And finally, scorpions teach us that size is not important.
4) The end. A dreaded convergence. I'm not sure I got all of that. Let's see. Korbolo +Reloe plan to betray Sha'ik and return to the Empire. Pearl and Quick Ben are not having any of that. The bridgeburners ascend (thanks Tanno, but how can I get the song outta my head) Raraku awakens and the dogslayers are killed. Gamet joins the ghosts (btw. should we call them dogslayer-slayers?). Ah, somehow Febryl was part if that, too. Bidithal, who was trying to usurp the Emurlahn warren fragment really got what was coming. Very satisfying. Loric, Leoman and the desert warriors hightail it, because they know they've lost. Will they make a re-appearance or simply blend in the 7C crowd? Karsa kills two mages, two puppies, then runs out of stuff to kill. He makes peace with the Malazans then rides into the sunset (do I see him again, please?). Pearl and Lostara kill a witch, find Felisin, get Korbolo wrapped up as a present, but arrive too late to tell Tavore. The Liosan get to see the world but just want to go home again. Ah and let me summarize the whirlwind goddess by "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". Talk about holding a grudge.
On a deeper level, I might have missed some connections. The Imass we see hunting renegades, are they specifically after the seven gods (now only 6) of the Teblor? If so, it took them quite a while. How do the Tiste Edur connect with the Imass renegades? Specifically, why does Trull think he and Onrack should hunt together? Why do Onrack, Trull and the Imass end up at the first throne (I know the renegades are making for it, but they aren't really there, (yet?))? I know that Onrack's (ex?-)wife is basically the whirlwind goddess, but beside this connection, what does it have to do with the main part of the story? What's the point of Crokus and Apsalar's story once they meet up with Iskaral Pust? Karsa's journey to the Jhag Odhan also leaves tons of threads dangling. Btw. it is Raraku who owns the fragment of Emurlahn in the end, isn't it? The whirldwind goddess got chained and stabbed. So she's out. The chained god gets nothing. Which leaves Raraku, whatever that means. Where does the water come from? Is it from the Nascent? Are the two fragments connected somehow? Or does the water just come from old memories (however that works).
Finally, the tragic part. Tavore kills her sister. I think she hasn't realized it so far. But there's way too many people in the know for it to stay secret, I would guess. It's sad, because Felisin really was back to being Felisin. It could have been avoided. It's almost like a Greek tragedy.
Anway, off to Midnight Tides. I bought it, looked at the dramatis personae, and found very few familiar names. I guess this one doesn't connect very much, does it?
PS the artwork. Don't like it too much. I guess the dude is Karsa with the blood sword (so it's early in the series). Who are the hounds and the dude they're attacking? I don't recall specifically such a scene in the book. There's too many hounds, so it's not the shadow hounds. Maybe it's from very early in the book where Karsa & co 'turn' a pack of Teblor hounds and set them on other Teblor? Odd choice of scene for cover art since it's pretty insignificant.
Thanks for reading my ramblings.
This post has been edited by Cobbles: 19 March 2010 - 08:25 PM
