[Steamer]

hi guys,

The lure of the brilliance of Steven Erikson made me start MT much earlier this year than I planned (I was going to wait and read the new Pat Rothfuss book first) but i couldnt wait that long so I began MT last week and am currently 125 pages through...

First of all Im a big SErickson fan but i am finding the start of this book quite slow...perhaps due to being set in a different time and location than the prevous 4 installations

did anyone else find this to be the case?

Im assuming the story picks up at some point yeh??



Cheers

[Luzburg]

I guess it is slow to begin with, but it does pick up in pace towards the end.

Its my second favourite book behind Reapers Gale.

[Cyphon]

MT is regularly hailed as one of the best books in the series. And not without reason.

[JPK]

I had a similar issue with my first read-through. I suspect it is because in many ways very similar to GofM. He dumps you headfirst into a brand new cast of characters and a society that you have absolutely no foothold with. Again, I will agree with the others. The payoff is very very worthwhile.

[Puck]

What everyone else said. After a slow start, MT kicks ass.

[King Bear]

Whenever I try to decide on my favourite volume from TMBOTF it's always a tie between MOI and MT.

In other words, yes it picks up and is generally awesome. Just allow SE the time he needs to set up this new continent, plot arc, and cast of characters. You won't be disappointed (I hope).

[zenMichael]

And just to play devil's advocate, I'm someone who REALLY disliked MT (though I still think it's beautifully written--it just seemed a bit too obvious overall for me), and even I will grant you that the final 25% of the book is FAR better than the rest of it (though, honestly, I like the beginning of the book as well; I'm pretty much good with the book before the big event that kind of kicks the plot into gear, and later, once everything starts to hit the fan; everything in between just seems a lot of really obvious social commentary with Tehol & Bugg as the saving grace of an otherwise eh story. But to each their own.)

[Sinisdar Toste]

for some insight from the horses mouth regarding MT and themes, check out the latest post from SE at his Life as a Human blog

[Ceda Cicero]

Try to think of the brand new cast, setting and systems as a little bit of a "breather" from the storylines on Genabackis and Seven Cities. That's what I did when I first tackled MT, and as a result, I felt that the whole shift was refreshing. The first portion of the book is definitely a little slow, and that's probably part because it's all new stuff, and part because that's just SE's style. If it helps, keep in mind and try to appreciate that he's taking some time to lay some great thematic ground (as he himself points out in his recent blog entry), mainly around the relationship of siblings (the Beddict and Sengar boys) and inequity (mainly with Lether, but certainly with the Edur as well.) And while it might make for a bit slower going at first, these themes pay huge dividends by the end of the novel.

I would argue (so would a lot of people here actually) that MT is the tightest novel in the series, on every level. By that I mean it could almost stand alone, and while there's lots of new info that will make your head hurt like GotM all over again, it's ultimately a story unto itself. I personally finished MT feeling like, more than any other book thus far, it had the most satisfying conclusions to individual arcs of any of the books. Satisfying, but also some of the most heartbreaking.

-On the converse, SE is doing TONS to lay the groundwork for later volumes of the series. Things that seem to have no place in any of what you've read so far are going to be hugely relevant to the books that follow, especially RG, DoD and presumably (possibly most importantly) tCG. As such, whatever faith in SE you were able to muster up in GotM, dig deep and find it again. It'll be worth it.

This post has been edited by Ciceronian: 14 February 2011 - 12:07 AM

[aginor]

I'm still in MOI and there is a foreshadowing of Midnight Tides and parts of tBH as well. Just when Paran and squad drop down to investigate a Tiste Edur body washed up on the banks of the Eryn River right at Ortnal's Cut. Quick Ben, Paran, and a Moranth are discussing the Shadow Warrens the Paran does his Master of the Deck personal transporter act and sees the throne of Shadow. The shadows around the throne tell Paran:

Quote

Anomander Rake, Son of Darkness! The Edur have sworn to destroy Mother Dark. You must warn him! Poisoned souls, led by the one who has been slain a hundred times, oh, 'ware this new Emperor of the Edur, this Tyrant of Pain, this Deliverer of Midnight Tides!

After reading this I now understand why a full re-read is necessary before Crippled God. Now if I can just hold out and finish all of them.

[Steamer]

Cheers, I will definately stick with it and yeh its like GOTM as i was like what the hell as so much was being referenced I didnt know about


When the warlock king casts the spell on the Letheri ships at the start of MT is it the same ship that appears in HoC with the headless rowers??
or was it Tiste Andii in that boat??


Franklin Steamer

[worry]

Different ship. The latter is the Silanda, and they were TA rowers.

[Beezulbubba]

Midnight Tides picks up momentum when the Sengal and Buhn brothers perform a task for the Warlock King, Hannan Mosag (you'll know what that task is when you get to that part). From there on it is pretty much a page turner you will have difficulty putting down..... enjoy.

[King Bear]

Sinisdar Toste, on 13 February 2011 - 11:51 PM, said:

for some insight from the horses mouth regarding MT and themes, check out the latest post from SE at his Life as a Human blog

sweet!

[Osserc - Lord of the Sky]

MT is a slower book than the others in the series...it's very different than the others.

[FastBen]

Steamer, on 13 February 2011 - 09:51 PM, said:

hi guys,

The lure of the brilliance of Steven Erikson made me start MT much earlier this year than I planned (I was going to wait and read the new Pat Rothfuss book first) but i couldnt wait that long so I began MT last week and am currently 125 pages through...

First of all Im a big SErickson fan but i am finding the start of this book quite slow...perhaps due to being set in a different time and location than the prevous 4 installations

did anyone else find this to be the case?

Im assuming the story picks up at some point yeh??



Cheers

I just started this one too and I am loving it - the descriptions of Edur culture and civilization is fantastic - SE really did something new with this book and took us to another exotic locale. Its amazing how can just invent these cultures from scratch - the Malazan world just gets richer and richer

[whiskeydut]

Steamer, on 13 February 2011 - 09:51 PM, said:

hi guys,

The lure of the brilliance of Steven Erikson made me start MT much earlier this year than I planned (I was going to wait and read the new Pat Rothfuss book first) but i couldnt wait that long so I began MT last week and am currently 125 pages through...

First of all Im a big SErickson fan but i am finding the start of this book quite slow...perhaps due to being set in a different time and location than the prevous 4 installations

did anyone else find this to be the case?

Im assuming the story picks up at some point yeh??



Cheers

I just finished and it was my fav book so far (halfway through NoK). The start is slow but Tehol and Bugg quickly became my fav two characters in the series. Their banter had me laughing out loud when I was reading on the beach. People were giving me strange looks. Anyway, stick with it, you will be rewarded.

[kuddukan]

Steamer, on 13 February 2011 - 09:51 PM, said:

hi guys,

The lure of the brilliance of Steven Erikson made me start MT much earlier this year than I planned (I was going to wait and read the new Pat Rothfuss book first) but i couldnt wait that long so I began MT last week and am currently 125 pages through...

First of all Im a big SErickson fan but i am finding the start of this book quite slow...perhaps due to being set in a different time and location than the prevous 4 installations

did anyone else find this to be the case?

Im assuming the story picks up at some point yeh??

Cheers

Do NOT stop reading!! I made this mistake months ago, I just came back to the book and found out that it is very entertaining and moving!!

[Abberon]

It's easily one of the best, if not the best in the series. Midnight Tides, IMO, along with TTH, are the best examples of how elaborate and complex Erikson can make his plots while at the same time managing to tie them all back together. I'm reading MT right now on my first re-read and yes, I can certainly relate to it being a slow start, after shit starts going down it REALLY starts going down.

[Phaedrus]

Steamer, on 13 February 2011 - 09:51 PM, said:

hi guys,

The lure of the brilliance of Steven Erikson made me start MT much earlier this year than I planned (I was going to wait and read the new Pat Rothfuss book first) but i couldnt wait that long so I began MT last week and am currently 125 pages through...

First of all Im a big SErickson fan but i am finding the start of this book quite slow...perhaps due to being set in a different time and location than the prevous 4 installations

did anyone else find this to be the case?

Im assuming the story picks up at some point yeh??



Cheers

I felt the same when I started MT immediately after finishing HoC. But stick with it! Im not even half way and its grown on me so much its one of my favorite books in the series!