[Abyss]

pat5150, on 21 January 2011 - 05:14 PM, said:

Just finished the book. Holy shit, that was good!
...

Die! DIE!!!
I COMMAND YOU TO DIEEEEEEE!!!!

[Hetan]

pat5150, on 21 January 2011 - 05:14 PM, said:

One word of advice: If you do have time, a complete reread would probably work wonders. You have no idea about the amount of foreshadowing found in previous Malazan volumes. I'm more than a little awestruck about that, and I wish I'd had time to read the whole series before giving TCG a shot.

Patrick

This.... pay attention people!

[Abyss]

Hetan, on 21 January 2011 - 06:30 PM, said:

pat5150, on 21 January 2011 - 05:14 PM, said:

One word of advice: If you do have time, a complete reread would probably work wonders. You have no idea about the amount of foreshadowing found in previous Malazan volumes. I'm more than a little awestruck about that, and I wish I'd had time to read the whole series before giving TCG a shot.

Patrick

This.... pay attention people!

YOU TOO HETAN!
YOU TOOOOOOOO DIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

[Ceda Cicero]

Hetan, on 21 January 2011 - 06:30 PM, said:

pat5150, on 21 January 2011 - 05:14 PM, said:

One word of advice: If you do have time, a complete reread would probably work wonders. You have no idea about the amount of foreshadowing found in previous Malazan volumes. I'm more than a little awestruck about that, and I wish I'd had time to read the whole series before giving TCG a shot.

Patrick

This.... pay attention people!

GRAAAAH I wanted to do this so much. I made it through 1-3 on a reread and by God it was enlightening and overall a great time. And I have no doubt that just rereading the first three books helped prep me for tCG. However I had to decide whether it seemed more important to reread the entire series or finally slog through ICE for the last volume. I chose to go with ICE (I'm sorry, I may be in the minority, but RotCG is just a pain in my ass) and am gonna be on schedule to finish SW by the time tCG gets to my front door.

Truthfully if I had a shred of self-discipline I'd shelf tCG until I finished a full re-read, that's how important I think it could be. But I don't.

Edit: Pat, Hetan, this may be a stretch, or downright impossible, but is there any direction you could offer in terms of pointed rereads? If I don't have time for a full reread before the last volume, I'd still love to pluck some books off the shelf and flip through them. I'm not asking for specific topics or scenes to revisit, but maybe like... which books would be most beneficial to go back and comb over briefly?

This post has been edited by Ciceronian: 21 January 2011 - 06:55 PM

[Abalieno]

I have a question that I'd like answered without spoilers at all. Having read only a part of the series I don't even know what questions one carries to the end, but:

Is the mystery of jade statues and "hole in the sky" with millions of more statues falling in the gap one of the mysteries wrapped up by the end of the book, or it's one of those still unaddressed?

[blackzoid]

Hetan, on 21 January 2011 - 06:30 PM, said:

pat5150, on 21 January 2011 - 05:14 PM, said:

One word of advice: If you do have time, a complete reread would probably work wonders. You have no idea about the amount of foreshadowing found in previous Malazan volumes. I'm more than a little awestruck about that, and I wish I'd had time to read the whole series before giving TCG a shot.

Patrick

This.... pay attention people!

Already started back in September in preperation for this. Got up to middle of RotCG when SW came out. Then read the second half of that book in one day. Should be finishing up TtH this weekend and will start rereading DoD next week. And yes, based on the events of just DoD, I have noticed a lot of themes that have been mentioned previously in the series. (I paid more attention to whenever Justice was mentioned. Very interesting. And quite shocking was that SE had set up Ruthan Gudd in TBH! I'd not remembered that at all)

[Salt-Man Z]

But the fun of doing a reread is in knowing how it ends. So I'll read TCG, then catch stuff as I go follow along with the Tor.com reread. And when we finally reach TCG again (in like 4 years) it'll be even more amazing.

[End of Disc One]

blackzoid, on 21 January 2011 - 07:16 PM, said:

And quite shocking was that SE had set up Ruthan Gudd in TBH! I'd not remembered that at all)

Really? What did it say in TB? Because I thought it was really strange how he just showed up in DoD without doing anything in RG.

[The Seguleh 46th]

Salt-Man Z, on 21 January 2011 - 07:26 PM, said:

But the fun of doing a reread is in knowing how it ends. So I'll read TCG, then catch stuff as I go follow along with the Tor.com reread. And when we finally reach TCG again (in like 4 years) it'll be even more amazing.

Halfway thru RotCG on my re-read project. Leaning towards Worrywort's view on Laseen now, as i believe him and I debated her merits quite a long while back, as i was firmly in her camp back then (maybe it was someone else on the forums, just thinking it was worywort for some reason...). Still am, sorta, as i still wanna say she is pure genuis, but not sure of the other stuff i believed of her then (in regards to the NOK convergance, etc.)

Anyhoo. looking very forward to TTH, as i remember very little overall from that book, as it was by far the hardest one for me to digest the first time going. Not in a bad way at all, more in the way that i felt kinda dumb and overwhelmed, as there is just sooooooooo much information in that volume (IIRC) that i hope to at least recapture half of it this second go around......made my brain bleed. Still feeling woozy and i haven't even started it yet.

This post has been edited by The Seguleh 46th: 21 January 2011 - 07:48 PM

[blackzoid]

End of Disc One, on 21 January 2011 - 07:42 PM, said:

blackzoid, on 21 January 2011 - 07:16 PM, said:

And quite shocking was that SE had set up Ruthan Gudd in TBH! I'd not remembered that at all)

Really? What did it say in TB? Because I thought it was really strange how he just showed up in DoD without doing anything in RG.

I don't have the book handy, but go to the sections where the Bonehunters are loading up to leave Seven cities (before Fiddler and his group catch up). Its a pov of Kaneb with the various Bonehuneters captians and Tavore. Ruthan Gudd is described as being maybe from the Falari Islands but that Kaneb isn't sure.

[champ]

End of Disc One, on 21 January 2011 - 07:42 PM, said:

blackzoid, on 21 January 2011 - 07:16 PM, said:

And quite shocking was that SE had set up Ruthan Gudd in TBH! I'd not remembered that at all)

Really? What did it say in TB? Because I thought it was really strange how he just showed up in DoD without doing anything in RG.

The first time he's mentioned...

Quote

Up ahead, on a rise overlooking the grey, white-capped sea, stood the Fourteenth’s command. The Adjunct, Nil and Nether, Fists Blistig, Temul and Keneb, and, slightly apart and wrapped in a long leather cloak, T’amber. Just behind them stood Warleader Gall and his ancient aide Imrahl, along with captains Ruthan Gudd and Madan’Tul Rada. The only one missing was Fist Tene Baralta, but Pores had heard that the man was still in a bad way, one-armed and one-eyed, his face ravaged by burning oil, and he didn’t have Kindly in charge of him either, which meant he was being left to heal in peace.
Ruthan Gudd was speaking in a low voice, his audience Madan’Tul Rada and the two Khundryl warriors, ‘... just fell into the sea – those breakers, that tumult in the middle of the bay, that’s where the citadel stood. A tier of raised land surrounded it – the island itself – and there was a causeway linking it to this shore – nothing left of that but those pillars just topping the sands above the tideline. It’s said the shattering of a Jaghut enclave far to the north was responsible—’
‘How could that sink this island?’ Gall demanded. ‘You make no sense, Captain.’
‘The T’lan Imass broke the Jaghut sorcery – the ice lost its power, melted into the seas, and the water levels rose. Enough to eat into the island, deluging the tier, then devouring the feet of the citadel itself. In any case, this was thousands of years ago—’
‘Are you an historian as well as a soldier?’ the Warleader asked, glancing over, his tear-tattooed face bathed red like a mask in the setting sun’s lurid light.
The captain shrugged. ‘The first map I ever saw of Seven Cities was Falari, a sea-current map marking out the treacherous areas along this coast – and every other coastline, all the way to Nemil. It had been copied countless times, but the original dated from the days when the only metals being traded were tin, copper, lead and gold. Falar’s trade with Seven Cities goes back a long way, Warleader Gall. Which makes sense, since Falar is halfway between Quon Tali and Seven Cities.’
Captain Kindly observed, ‘It’s odd, Ruthan Gudd, you do not look Falari. Nor is your name Falari.’
‘I am from the island of Strike, Kindly, which lies against the Outer Reach Deeps. Strike is the most isolated of all the islands in the chain, and our legends hold that we are all that remains of the original inhabitants of Falar – the red- and gold-haired folk you see and think of as Falari were in fact invaders from the eastern ocean, from the other side of Seeker’s Deep, or some unknown islands well away from the charted courses across that ocean. They themselves do not even recall their homelands, and most of them believe they have always lived in Falar. But our old maps show different names, Strike names for all the islands and the kingdoms and peoples, and the word "Falar" does not appear among them.’
If the Adjunct and her retinue were speaking, Pores could hear nothing. Ruthan Gudd’s words and the stiff wind drowned out all else. The lieutenant’s leg throbbed with pain; there was no angle at which he could hold his injured arm comfortably. And now he was chilled, the old sweat like ice against his skin, thinking only of the warm blankets he had left behind.
There were times, he reflected morosely, when he wanted to kill Captain Kindly.

[The Seguleh 46th]

End of Disc One, on 21 January 2011 - 07:42 PM, said:

blackzoid, on 21 January 2011 - 07:16 PM, said:

And quite shocking was that SE had set up Ruthan Gudd in TBH! I'd not remembered that at all)

Really? What did it say in TB? Because I thought it was really strange how he just showed up in DoD without doing anything in RG.

I don't think it was anything huge, more Blistig or Keneb (thinking Keneb) remarking on a feeling of presence or something or rather emanating form that man. Leadership, Will, etc. Could be wrong of course! Thinking it was while the army was awaiting their transports to leave 7C, right before the ones stuck under Y'Ghatan made their way home to the 14th?

Nevermind. See Champoon's post above!

This post has been edited by The Seguleh 46th: 21 January 2011 - 07:51 PM

[Salt-Man Z]

Yeah, Google Books is your friend.

[champ]

Salt-Man Z, on 21 January 2011 - 08:29 PM, said:

Yeah, Google Books is your friend.

Off topic, but I've always wondered how that works?

[pat5150]

Come on, guys...

SE requested that I take down what I considered to be an harmless and spoiler-free poem from the Hotlist. So do you really think I'm going to tell you about the jade statues???

Patrick

[The Seguleh 46th]

pat5150, on 21 January 2011 - 09:33 PM, said:

Come on, guys...

SE requested that I take down what I considered to be an harmless and spoiler-free poem from the Hotlist. So do you really think I'm going to tell you about the jade statues???

Patrick

I still think the Jade and Otataral have some sort of special relationship, despite many good thoeries posted that make my theory stink. Then again, i'm a stubborn one!

[Abalieno]

pat5150, on 21 January 2011 - 09:33 PM, said:

SE requested that I take down what I considered to be an harmless and spoiler-free poem from the Hotlist. So do you really think I'm going to tell you about the jade statues???

It's not spoiler free since it sets the tone and they are the last words in the book.

I just want to know if that mystery is addressed or not, I don't want spoilers about *how* it is addressed or what role it has in the plot. Is that mystery answered or not? Does it even enter the plot of the last book or not?

That isn't a spoiler for me since I wouldn't know anything more about the resolution, I'd only know whether the resolution exists or not.

[champ]

I would say it's pretty much guarunteed that it will feature in the book after DoD prologue...

[chaosek]

On Ruthan Gudd, am I the only one who thinks he's not dead? Sure it may sound unlikely with him storming into the Naruk like that, but it is what he thinks. He welcomes the blessed darkness which doesn't sound like ' great I'm dead' to me. Though it could be a reference to the Azath he got out of. Wonder which one, most likely Tremolor, though I didn't catch it on a reread of DG. But SE's foreshadowing is making me kind of paranoid. It's all over the books and I'm struggeling not to see everything in nothing. Love how the series works like that, like Cafal calling Itkovian ' wolf' all the time in MoI (be a servant to the god of war but before the wolves rise to power).

[Hetan]

@ chaosek - that was Hetan btw, not Cafal.
@ Ciceronian - you will be surprised at how much fore-shadowing there is - right back to the beginning of the series, which is what makes it so amazing - and no, there are no pointers from me.
@everyone else - You can ask all you like but neither Pat nor I will tell you anything about anything.
Sorry, but that's how it works.