[Spiridon_Deannis]

Ok, no waffling around. Gimme most polls about fav tomes of this cycle, you´ll probably get DG and MoI...and quite some statements why some dudes left the saga over the years because *it did not live up to DG & MoI anymore*...

Curious.

I have reread the whole f*cking *thing* some 4-5 times over the last 4-5 years (as they were published, of course, and I luuurve the TOR- Reread) & and instinctively I will give you DG/MOI as my fave *emotional* reads, even though - by now - I will call the text starting MT as the REAL literary MCCoy of this cycle...just not as involving...

So what is ist about DG & MoI that rings a bell ?

IMHO ? Simple ! (From a view of an older guy that has been reading the genre since 1975):

The *Man SE* pulled a subversive, gritty, bloody version of LotR on us ! Yeah - call me crazy !! But as Karsa would say: Witness !

-> Chain of Dogs => kinda like Fellowship of the Ring => One humungous road trip of some buds without a chance that make it a long way, just to get creamed close to their destiny.

-> Pannion Domin => Mordor => the joint that by its evilness pulls together the most unlikely allies to detroy it...at heavy & tragic loss...

...and then comes HoC and Karsa Orlong...and JRRT becomes REH... ;0)

...the guy IS a genius...

This post has been edited by Spiridon_Deannis: 16 July 2010 - 05:05 AM

[Ain't_It_Just_]

Well, the entire premise of the Chain of Dogs is legendary. In HoC and BH, you'll see how this manifests itself amongst the 7C citizens.

And MoI, well...I think somebody else can explain it better.

[Tattersail_]

this is my third attempt at a response, i'd say that all people have their favourites as well as their favourite characters, i think it would be an even spread across the board if every fan had their vote! you have to admit they are all great books, what are your favourites? MOI and DG are great in their own way and they involve a lot of people favourite characters, i would have to say though that without gotm this series wouldn't be as great!

[Kanubis]

The one thing GotM does right is make you really like some characters and be desperate to find out what happens to them. You read MoI gagging to see what happens with the Bridge Burners, still slightly numb from the whole Chain of Dogs thing, and then everything about the Bridge Burners in the book turns out to be awesome. 

I think SE just got it right with the pacing and characterisation there. I actually think it was lucky he put MoI aside to write DG first in the end.

[Abyss]

I've written this elsethread but i'm too lazy to selfsearch so this will be similar but different if you've read me on this subject before...

If you're like me, by the time you discovered MBF you had made your way through whole reams of fantasy lit, some good, some bad, some awesome. Then you read GotM which was perhaps the most jarring 'drop you in the middle and not explain anything' series opener ever. And it's a solid book, tragically underloved but a totally fun and engrossing read and if it grabs you (ie: you weren't thrown off by the legendary first 200 pgs), then you're on board for more.

And then you read DG and the classic fantasy rulebook goes out the window. Sure, you have Fiddler/Crokus/Apsalar being awesome in a more or less classic fantasy quest storyline, but then you have Felisin/Heboric basically being assholes to each other and Kulp showing up and introing all kinds of bits and pieces about the Warrens and the history and the bigger picture and you get the idea that there is a LOT going on here; and you have Kalam, who isn't even a high point of the book until he gets to Malaz, is stabbed, thrown overboard and basically appears to be dead meat likely to spend the remainder of the book running for his life... and he starts HUNTING CLAW; you have the engaging Lostrara and Pearl showing up here or there; Icarium and Mappo... realize that we never actually see why Icarium going beserk is a big deal, yet when it actually almost happens at tremolor the tension is serious... and then a Hound of Shadow jumps down a dhenrabi d'ivers shapeshifter's throat and all hell breaks loose... and then there's the Chain of Dogs... look, i don't know about any of you, but until DG, i had never, in my long history of reading fiction, read ANYTHING like the Chain of Dogs. Not only is it original, and emotionally draining, and exciting, but it's SO well written. Vathar Crossing. Sorno's death. Coltaine breaking Gesler's nose. Inducting the servants as marines. Corporal List's visions. Coltaine's Fall. And then what happened next... so by the end of DG, SE has basically hooked the reader because you NEED to know what he'll do next.

Which brings us to MoI. MoI takes a whole bunch of classic fantasy tropes and guts them and remakes them, better, stronger, faster. Allies become enemies, sure, but you REALLY see the respect of two sides that have been fighting for years coming together. An evil foe... a canibalistic evil foe... a canibalistic evil foe with a bigger evil foe behind it.. oh hell yeah, the CG is a serious Big Bad... and the HISTORY... Jaghut vs Imass, Elder Gods, newer gods, ascendents, Tiste Andii, dragons, skykeeps, tribes of savages, the Malazan Empire, Brood and Burn's hammer, undead lizards with swords for hands, Bauachelain and Korbal Broach... and on top of all THAT, the Bridgeburners... we didn't really get to see just what they could do in GotM, and maybe you thought the marines and sappers in DG were badass... well... And the Grey Swords. And then there's Gruntle and Trake. And the Seige of Pale. By halfway through this book, even the experienced fantasy reader has had their mind blown about seventeen times. And that's to say nothing about Toc's journey, Lady Envy's group, the SEGULEH... maybe you liked Donaldson's Bloodguard, maybe you thought Jordan's Aiel were the shit, maybe Brooke's Jax was the mostest coolest weapons master ever, til you read about these guys. And y'know, Paran and the MoD thing. Quick Ben. Rake. Itkovian. The sheer number of 'wait, did i just read what i thought i just read?' moments. And then just for good measure SE kills off a whole bunch of characters in an absolutely brilliant convergence finale that somehow manages to amount to a happy ending. More or less.

HoC basically lets the reader catch their breath. And MT is awesome. But the sheer impact of DG and MoI are why i at least stick them at the top of the fairly high stack of awesome books I have ever read. the rest of the series is where SE (and ICE) tell a (brilliant great awesome) story, but DG and MoI are where they grab your attention.

- Abyss, hasn't given this much thought...

[Salt-Man Z]

I'll let you answer your own question:

Spiridon_Deannis, on 16 July 2010 - 05:04 AM, said:

I will give you DG/MOI as my fave *emotional* reads, even though - by now - I will call the text starting MT as the REAL literary MCCoy of this cycle...just not as involving...

[Ember]

Well, I have to say... I found the Chain of Dogs to be incredibly moving. I was totally gutted after the fall of Coltaine, but it was still incredible. Beautifully written, unique, and just devastating and OMG HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN. Like you said... good (nay, unbelievable) emotional read, maybe?

[Siergiej]

Abyss - that's a post full of awesome, sir

Why do ppl love DG & MoI the most? I can tell You only from perspective of someone, who hasn't yet started reading The Bonehunters (damn You, mister postman! Where are You?!). But I don't think my opinion will change, no matter how many MBotF books I read. DeadHouse Gates and Memories of Ice are just purely fantastic. Inexplicably fucking awesome novels, that's what they are

DHG is so emotional. Even despite being grim fantasy about wars consuming thousands of lives (Kallor seems to hold the high score with 7 milion, however, it's not DHG), it still is so emotional. Every story is great, they fit each other perfectly. Ending of each part makes for an insanely good climax, and there are three of them: Kalam hunting Laseen, Fiddler & co. arriving and Tremorlor, while trying to stop Icarium from tearing the world apart, and finally, the fall of Coltaine. To be honest, it is the one and only book, that made me cry. I still consider it to be just below Memories of Ice, but I've never read anything as tragic, as the last moment of Chain of Dogs. For me, it aleady is a legend of literature, and personally, I rate fantasy genre rather low.

MoI... well, I don't know the words capable of describing how much of "genius per page" this novel contains. It's dark and grim shit, yeah, I'd even say it is a bit too brutal. But still, the story told in Memories of Ice brought back to me two of my favourite characters (Quick Ben and Anomander Rake) and made me look for my jaw downastairs so many times, that I stopped counting. Full of action, and yet almost impossibly complex. Tons of great characters. And on the top of that, amazing finale. Just amazing. Perfect. Excellent. So much action, so much emotion. And if MoI would ever become a movie, the scene with Moon Spawn getting out of the water and crushing Seer's tower would the best scene, like... ever.

House of Chains and Midnight Tides combined aren't half as good as either DHG or MoI. That's why some time ago I stopped reading Malazan Book of the Fallen. But recently I reread DeadHouse and Memories of Ice and... I am sucked back in

[ansible]

Perhaps I am alone in this, but I actually recall HoC and MT probably being my favorites, followed by DG. I'm just starting to reread DG now, so maybe my opinion will change. It's been awhile since I last read the series.