[iktaral pust]

itkovian , toc , tool
ill say tool , but itkovian close behind

[Master_of_the_Deck]

Oh my god, it is so hard to choose! Here is my list!

Ganoes Paran
Kruppe (at times, sometimes he does ramble on a bit)
Anomander Rake
Iskaral Pust (love, love love him!!!)
Fiddler
Kalam
Quick Ben
Trull Sengar
Onos T'oolan (Tool)
Raest (the humour, oh so so droll!!)
Hellian (oh my goodness, could SE have written a funnier character??? I think not!!)
Crump (idiocy at it's best!!)
Tehol Beddict (probably had to be my favourite of the whole series!)
Bugg

If there are some characters here that are in later books, I apologise!! No spoilers though!!!

[getalotofit]

Quick Ben. the most gangsterous mage eva.
Tayschrenn. suprised the shieza outta me.

[Treg]

I started to dig Ganoes Paran a little more in this book than in the prior one. I could relate to his coming to grips with a new position.

Itkovian and the Grey Swords. They were made of win, sir, even if... well...

Picker and Blend. Or is that "Damnit Blend"?

[Deren]

I don't know, but currently Toc and Buke are my least favourite. Their actions and behaviour are incomprehensible from other than a mere structural standpoint and utterly stupid. Toc for joining the Domin and leaving Envy, Tool and the Seguleh for Hood knows what (poorly and artificially justified by not being as good a fighter as they are, for he simply has no bloody damn good enough reason, nor way to sustain himself), and Buke for rooting with the bloody damn Seer rather than Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, instead of seeing the pragmatism behind having two dreadful soletaken taking care of an enemy commander. There's a constant lack of pragmatism in this series of letting powers and options go to waste (the sorcerers could attack the cannibal masses from the flanks and dispense of tens of thousands easily, what with them having no means of attack against sorcery or above), just so the author can get all pieces into place and let tragedies take their course. I'm not against tragedies, but it's a problem when it's at expense of human psychology, realistic decision making in the face of danger and options and instead in favour of meaningless farces and interpersonal rivalries and all those redundant whiny inner monologues.

This post has been edited by Deren: 21 September 2011 - 08:48 AM

[worry]

Pragmatism as realism. A real knee slapper, this guy! Yet indeed, why didn't these chumps use their computer brains to do cost-benefit analyses of all their options and maximize their self-interest as any rational actor would. It's like Steven Erikson decided not to populate his world with poli-sci majors. Then again, that's how we know it's fiction.

[sting01]

Currently reading, so I may be partial, but I would say I do like One Arm. Or it is close to kind of person I would loved to be IRL (alas I failed on that, I still have my 2 arms).

Let say, he is a strategist, he understand politic, he do care for the people as a chief shall care, he is loyal to the Empire (assuming the Country is bigger that the Head of State). All things that makes him close to a Mannerheim (WW2), or a DuGesclin (hundred years war), or even a Marius (dictator 6 times, always hapy to release power and return to his farm, never elected nor followed the cursus honorarius).

[Supernova]

From MoI, it's got to be Quick Ben, Itkovian and the Bridgeburners. Love the dialogue between the Bridgeburners!

[Deren]

worrywort, on 21 September 2011 - 09:19 AM, said:

Pragmatism as realism. A real knee slapper, this guy! Yet indeed, why didn't these chumps use their computer brains to do cost-benefit analyses of all their options and maximize their self-interest as any rational actor would. It's like Steven Erikson decided not to populate his world with poli-sci majors. Then again, that's how we know it's fiction.

I don't care about pragmatism as a philosophical or psychological concept (not that you're really concerned about it), and whether it is always followed to the fullest extent possible, ever - or not. Only that disregarding it in certain situations of survival and alternatives, and possibly favouring much shallower, baser feelings of smugness (and probably expecting the reader to share in that smugness, forgetting the practically hopeless situation for a caricature of smirky faces), or otherwise offfering no believable understanding of behaviour (yes, you'd join the crazy zombie hordes for a fun ride just "to meet your friends" and then feel all dejected about not finding food), shows the lack of an authentic psychology. Or at least certain blind spots and simplifcation in the overconfidence of a structure. I'm also not saying that it's a disastrous book, but are you implying that it may be all-around perfect? Why am I even asking...Steven Erikson, master-caracterizer. He even came up with one woman-archetype for use in every situation (give or take some nuances).

This post has been edited by Deren: 24 September 2011 - 02:43 PM

[worry]

It's not a zombie horde, it's a cannibal horde, and the alternative for Toc was certain death. I'd eat people for much lower stakes than that. I'm not arguing that SE's perfect, but I think you're resisting or even not acknowledging the farcical elements that are a cornerstone of this world. Detachment, irony, slapstick, and yah even a bit of caricature are fundamental to his purpose, not cracks in the veneer. There's as much M*A*S*H and Catch-22 DNA here as there is Apocalypse Now, and reading it from a purely Vulcan perspective isn't advisable.

[T'renn]

I like Tayschrenn best for some reason, in all his choices, all his faults and his successes, I can relate to him most.

[jasec]

Up to this book, my favorite character is probably Anomander Rake. Always can't wait for the next part he shows up.

I also love reading about the Lady with the three masked warriors. Tool is also a big time favorite. Gruntle is funny to me and Itkovian is pretty darn cool as well.

too many cool/great characters. It's amazing how this author can give you a feel of these characters even though there are so many characters.

[jasec]

I loved gruntle's apathetic attitude to life it seemd and especially him being the new lord of war (forgot the title) for Treach. I remember him saying him serving Treach was like a hobby, much to the dismay of one of the priests.

Despite his casual attitude towards life, he got real riled up due to his woman companion getting raped. I just loved how much martial prowess he possessed but seemed to not really care for it.

[Deren]

worrywort, on 24 September 2011 - 06:34 PM, said:

It's not a zombie horde, it's a cannibal horde,

That's a nice bit of pedantery over a figure of speech. I also know that they're peasants and there's a special term for them which tends to elude me.

worrywort, on 24 September 2011 - 06:34 PM, said:

and the alternative for Toc was certain death.

Yes, that is the explanation that is eventually given, but it's not presented that way, and I think it could easily have been presented another way. The reason that it was explained this way is of strucural nature, and it's actually fine by me, but the way it was presented was flippant, and, yes, he actually imitated the typical Zombie clawing motions. It also doesn't convince me because it's almost certain death anyway, and the earlier group was at least protective, and even if it was still highly risky, in theory, a real person in that situation might easily prefer staying with the friendly, tough guys, instead of joining a stinking horde of fanatical cannibals. But in the end it mainly annoyed me because it was presented in that flippant manner, although the reader has every good reason just to wish for the group to continue on wiping out the hordes, instead of one of them joining them and thus probably prolonging the resolution even more (and besides, it's far less "awesome"). It is emotionally provocative and contrary to what the writer probably imagined it to be (interesting, adventurous, thrilling, slightly amusing, whatever).

worrywort, on 24 September 2011 - 06:34 PM, said:

I'd eat people for much lower stakes than that.

Ok, that is creepy, and what now?

worrywort, on 24 September 2011 - 06:34 PM, said:

I'm not arguing that SE's perfect, but I think you're resisting or even not acknowledging the farcical elements that are a cornerstone of this world. Detachment, irony, slapstick, and yah even a bit of caricature are fundamental to his purpose, not cracks in the veneer. There's as much M*A*S*H and Catch-22 DNA here as there is Apocalypse Now, and reading it from a purely Vulcan perspective isn't advisable.

Ok, that's true, and for the most part I enjoy it just as anyone. But in some cases the timing in contrast with the extreme tension and insane suffering might not be totally satisfying. And my perspective is less Vulcan than emotional.

This post has been edited by Deren: 03 October 2011 - 06:02 PM

[Slaythe]

Wow I was going to list like 3 but found that I like too many of these characters.
Rallick Nom
Kalam
Toc
Tool
Paran
Kruppe
Anomander Rake
Icarium
Caladin Brood
Envy
Fiddler and Hedge

[Caracal]

Ugh.. MoI swells with amazing characters, from Gruntle's endearing grumble-tumble behaviour and his reluctant transformation, Itkovian who is probably one of my all out favorites, Korbal Broach and Bauchelain are loveliest combo of fun and scary, Envy is very fun to read, and Korllat/WJack dinamics is excellent. Kruppe is Mr. Cherry on top.

I can tell you who is my least favorite character - The Mhybe. Terribly boring. And SilverFox is a good concept, but utterly unlikable and truth to tell kind of lame. (similar to Feather Witch in MT). Cool but something vital is missing.

[Sinisdar Toste]

Caracal, on 07 November 2011 - 02:47 PM, said:

I can tell you who is my least favorite character - The Mhybe. Terribly boring. And SilverFox is a good concept, but utterly unlikable and truth to tell kind of lame. (similar to Feather Witch in MT). Cool but something vital is missing.

funny, that's sort of the same conclusion silverfox herself comes to once all her plans fall apart

and since i've responded to two of your three posts already, i might as well say Welcome to the Empire!

[Caracal]

Thanks for the welcome. She does doesn't she? Well, the cool thing about SE's characters is that when there's something i dislike about them is what SE more or less intended to be like that

[worry]

The Mhybe is wonderful. A lovely, masterfully empathetic exploration -- magnified of course -- of how every mother is destroyed by her children. The sacrifice, the transfer of life source, the using up of one person for the benefit of another. And the ungratefulness of children; the inadequacy of gratefulness, even.

This post has been edited by worrywort: 07 November 2011 - 09:46 PM

[DragniRake]

Anomander Rake. He cant be touched.