[bilbo_elffriend]

I have been wondering for some time about the significance of the titles of the Malazan books. Some of the titles of the books make sense, but some of them don't. Am I missing out on something?

• Gardens of the Moon : Moon being Moon's Spawn and Garden referring to Pale
• Deadhouse Gates : Eponymous
• Memories of Ice : Possible related to the Jaghut leader of the Pannion Domin...???
• House of Chains : Again, eponymous. It is in this book that the CG really enters into the fray
• Midnight Tides : Possible related to Mael.... ???? What does 'Midnight' imply? Edur relate to dusk and not to night, so its not about them for sure. Or is it just a literary way of telling us that stuff happened to Lether when they least expected it (vis-a-vis midnight)...??
• Bonehunters : Eponymous
• Reaper's Gale : Not so sure about this. Obvious reference is to Hood, but its not like Hood has some really special place in this tale. Now if this title had been used for the 8th book, it would have made more sense since Hood plays a really important part, planning out the rescue of Darkness Shadowthrone and Rake. Whats the significance of this title in the seventh book? The book mainly concerns itself with the Bonehunters' conquest of Lether and other Letherii politics. Yes, there are a lot of deaths and battles which may partly justify the name, but that is not a very convincing reason is it? A lot of people died in GotM (siege of Pale), DH (7th Army) MoI (capustan), MT etc etc.
• Toll the Hounds : The most confusing of them all. Yes, the hounds DO appear in the book, but the only major thing they do is cause a lot of mayhem in the finale at Dharujistan. Does that justify this title? And what 'Toll' are we talking about here?

[SpectreofEschaton]

bilbo_elffriend, on 19 March 2010 - 08:45 PM, said:

I have been wondering for some time about the significance of the titles of the Malazan books. Some of the titles of the books make sense, but some of them don't. Am I missing out on something?

• Gardens of the Moon : Moon being Moon's Spawn and Garden referring to Pale Actually a reference to Apsalar's line about the god Grallin, who lives in the Gardens of the Moon.
• Deadhouse Gates : Eponymous Indeed.
• Memories of Ice : Possible related to the Jaghut leader of the Pannion Domin...??? Mentioned several times in the book, sort of a metaphor for the T'lan Imass as a whole.
• House of Chains : Again, eponymous. It is in this book that the CG really enters into the fray Could also be alluding to Karsa's train of chained souls.
• Midnight Tides : Possible related to Mael.... ???? What does 'Midnight' imply? Edur relate to dusk and not to night, so its not about them for sure. Or is it just a literary way of telling us that stuff happened to Lether when they least expected it (vis-a-vis midnight)...?? Is mentiioned near the end of the book, a metaphor for Rhulad's reign.
• Bonehunters : Eponymous Quite.
• Reaper's Gale : Not so sure about this. Obvious reference is to Hood, but its not like Hood has some really special place in this tale. Now if this title had been used for the 8th book, it would have made more sense since Hood plays a really important part, planning out the rescue of Darkness Shadowthrone and Rake. Whats the significance of this title in the seventh book? The book mainly concerns itself with the Bonehunters' conquest of Lether and other Letherii politics. Yes, there are a lot of deaths and battles which may partly justify the name, but that is not a very convincing reason is it? A lot of people died in GotM (siege of Pale), DH (7th Army) MoI (capustan), MT etc etc. Not sure on this one.
• Toll the Hounds : The most confusing of them all. Yes, the hounds DO appear in the book, but the only major thing they do is cause a lot of mayhem in the finale at Dharujistan. Does that justify this title? And what 'Toll' are we talking about here? I believe it's a poem near the end of the book, metaphor for the way things just...fall apart.
• Dust of Dreams: (hopefully it's okay to mention this here, no spoilers), is just a beautiful title. What's left when the Dust of Dreams settles? And where is it falling from? Is it really falling?

[End of Disc One]

I'm pretty sure the Midnight Tides metaphor was used several times in the book. It has to do with fate, and how these characters are caught up in a terrible situtation and unable to do anything about it. Like the tides crashing on the beach at midnight.

[Trull's son]

Deep stuff, deep stuff.

Reaper's Gale could be a number of things. 'Reaper' could be hood, as mentioned, or anyone willing to capitalize and 'reap' the rewards ( a lot of this can be seen throughout the book itself). Gale, a storm. so it could mean that there will be a storm of disorderly capitalization in store.

...or its a metaphor for REDMASK!

[WhiskeyJackDaniels]

For Toll the Hounds there is one part where there is an actual toll of a clock, and that's when the HoL show up. Kruppe mentions it at one point.

[bilbo_elffriend]

Please see my edits in blue

Quote

• Gardens of the Moon : Moon being Moon's Spawn and Garden referring to Pale Actually a reference to Apsalar's line about the god Grallin, who lives in the Gardens of the Moon. Not so sure about this. Why would be a 900 page novel be named after a single line in the story that has nothing to do with anything else in the book?
• Deadhouse Gates : Eponymous Indeed. But the sad thing is that this title totally disregards Coltaine and the 7th Army.
• Memories of Ice : Possible related to the Jaghut leader of the Pannion Domin...??? Mentioned several times in the book, sort of a metaphor for the T'lan Imass as a whole. Metaphor for the T'lan Imass? As in their heavy sad memories and Itkovian's final act of taking in all their sorrows?
• House of Chains : Again, eponymous. It is in this book that the CG really enters into the fray Could also be alluding to Karsa's train of chained souls. Like I said, eponymous. Since Karsa turns out to be the Knight of the House of Chains (reluctant, but still...)

This post has been edited by bilbo_elffriend: 19 March 2010 - 10:12 PM

[SpectreofEschaton]

Because tri-colored quotes are out of style...

If I had to speculate about GotM, it would be that while it's a direct reference to the line, the line is thematically representative of the story itself. Don't forget, it's also tied directly to the later quote in BH when "one by one, the gardens died". It could symbolically represent a beginning, an innoncence, the sense of you have no idea what's coming, in a way.

That's just my theory, though.

[Defiance]

Reaper's Gale is just referring to the fact that so many people died, I believe. Didn't Hood finally become active in Letheras in this book?

[worry]

In terms of MoI being a metaphor for the T'lan Imass, it recalls their obsessive war against the Jaghut. Pretty straightforward. It definitely has to do with the Pannion Seer specifically, his sister and mother, and how that whole history is coming to a boil (and parallels the coming to a head of the Whirlwind story). But it's also kind of all-encompassing for the T'lan Imass's grudge.

[bilbo_elffriend]

Quote

Reaper's Gale is just referring to the fact that so many people died, I believe. Didn't Hood finally become active in Letheras in this book?

Letheras was still under the influence of the Jaghut freezing ritual right? Did the jaghut stasis spell wear off? Any quotes?

But as I had said earlier, if the title implies Hood getting a good lot of souls into his realm, then a lot of other books also qualify for the same title, right?

Quote

In terms of MoI being a metaphor for the T'lan Imass, it recalls their obsessive war against the Jaghut. Pretty straightforward. It definitely has to do with the Pannion Seer specifically, his sister and mother, and how that whole history is coming to a boil (and parallels the coming to a head of the Whirlwind story). But it's also kind of all-encompassing for the T'lan Imass's grudge.

What I wanted to know was the relationship of the title of the book with the story within the book. I think its more related to the Jaghut than to the T'lan Imass' obssessive war. Or maybe the seeding of the Beast hold with the memories of the T'lan Imass... maybe??


Seems like ttH is still a mystery to all....

[Illuyankas]

The Hound's Toll is used several times in different books as essentially an alternative phrase to 'butcher's bill'.


As for the others, Spawn means back garden in Andii and Dragnipur is an advanced gardening tool, the story revolves around a morgue's fence, it's like Waiting for Godot except they're cocktail waiters and the fridge is broken, the subtitle being 'The Defense of Bill's Lucky Lockup Chain Emporium' is a bit of a giveaway, it's all about the ocean god Hannan Mosag controlled, torrid porno, a bizarre choice to combine fanfiction of Mass Effect with a kiteflying competition, and describing a series of nightmares on cocaine. One of those was actually sincere.

[worry]

I don't think the Jaghut require memories of ice though, since they're inherently aspected that way. The T'lan Imass remember their near extinction at the hands of Omtose Phellack-wielding Jaghut Tyrants (and more "innocent" Jaghut fighting not to get wiped out), and that has been the sole driving force in their existence since the Tellan ritual. This has a very specific blowback in terms of the Pannion Seer, but also in the toll that millennia of self-imposed dehumanization has had on nearly an entire species of people, and the relief that is offered by Itkovian is...extraordinary, to say the least.

On the other hand, I suppose it could also relate specifically to the Jaghut child who became the Pannion Seer. His mother sacrificed herself without fighting in order to give her children a chance, not invoking her powers with ice, and it's unclear what level of experience the children have with OP. The Pannion Seer essentially becomes a warped Tyrant as a result of his childhood trauma, and this might mirror the more OP-oriented Tyrants of history without actually invoking the ice. But it would still strike a chord with the T'lan Imass to witness another Tyrant in the world.

I simply don't remember if the T'lan Imass know the Seer is a Jaghut, which is kind of important in terms of their release from duty, so to speak. So this could all be sheer babbling. But my main point is that it works on several levels, most namely the micro situation with the Pannion Seer, and the macro situation with the entire Imass-Jaghut history.

[Illuyankas]

Also more seriously, the phrase memories of ice is used (I think by Kruppe) to describe the living Imass before they performed the ritual, when there's glaciers everywhere and they're struggling to stay alive.

[Baudinsballs]

Reapers Gale. I took it to be the Malazans bringing death and retribution across the continent. Reapers Gale. You reap what you sow.

[HoosierDaddy]

Memories of Ice: Does no one else remember Imassian memories flooding the new tundra (read ICE) realm ruled by Togg and Fanderay? It's a portrait of the world that has been long forgotten by both Jaghut AND Imass, and also a metaphor for their continuing struggle of T'lan and Jaghut.

Reaper's Gale: Death sits on the Throne of Ice (MT). Hedge talks about how the whispers he is hearing is Death, convincing him to give up (RG). He gets to the Throne and thinks about how the figure there just "blew away his last breath" and left his body (RG). Death, also can be known as a "Reaper" thus "blew away his last breath". It's the last breath of life, thus the Reaper's Gale is the bringer of Death.

[Salt-Man Z]

"Toll the hounds" can also be literally interpreted as "summon the hounds" and could describe either the Hounds of Shadow coming to Darujhistan, or the re-appearance of the Hounds of Light, or both.

[sssimon]

I would agree with Illuyankas. Towards the end of the book Kruppe mentions something about Rake(?) paying the Hound's toll. But shouldn't the book be titled "Toll of the Hounds"?

[Eispeis]

Salt-Man Z, on 22 March 2010 - 03:46 PM, said:

"Toll the hounds" can also be literally interpreted as "summon the hounds" and could describe either the Hounds of Shadow coming to Darujhistan, or the re-appearance of the Hounds of Light, or both.

This.

I've alwas taken it as meaning, not necessarily "summon", but more "here come the hounds (of Light)".