[Shadow of Shadowthrone]

Hey all, I'm not really posting here often but to make a long story short I am now about 500 pages into Dust of Dreams. So far, my favorite novel is Toll the Hounds and my least favorite is Reaper's Gale.
Anyway, I was afraid Dust of Dreams would be a letdown based on the first 100 or so pages but now I am just as hooked again, though there are a few things I need to have clarified. These books are pretty dense and sparse at the same time. Oh, and amazing.
Allright, so here's a few questions. Answers and/or RAFOs much appreciated.

1) There is a storyline that I am unsure about. Some children (are they children?) wandering about in a desert. One of them carries a baby appropriately named Held. What am I supposed to read into this story? Have they appeared before in earlier volumes? Where are they going and where did they go from? There are two storylines I feel I kind of glaze over, and this is one of them...

2)...the other being the one with Setac (Setoc?) and the K'Chain Che'Malle. What is this flying monster thingy/hunter, and can someone lay out for me the whats and whys of this storyline without spoiling the last half of the novel?

3) What happened to the Errant's eye (I have forgotten - was it Feather Witch clawing it out or something)?

4) Why did Sinn and Grubb go into the Azath house?

5) Who is Kilmandaros and that Forkrul Assail character (Setch something)?

6) What is Lieutenant Pores doing with Kindly? Is it a game?

7) How did Tool become the leader of the Barghast? (Forgotten) And did he marry Hetan? And is he flesh-and-blood now or still T'lan Imass?

8) Is there a connection between the Errant and Toc the Younger?

9) Why does the Malazan army decide to trek through the Wastelands. If these lands are so deadly, why not sail around?

10) Am I correct in assuming that these places with names like Ample Rooted are ancient K'Chain Che'Malle cities and that these dinosaurs somehow had high tech which to human characters may seem like magic? (I asked Steven at a signing whether he was influenced by ancient astronaut theories and such but he said no)

11) Taxilian and other characters are exploring one such city built into a giant dragon shell. Have I met these characters (Taxilian excepted) before? Where did they come from all of a sudden? And what was Taxilian's role before Dust of Dreams?

12) How am I supposed to envision the appearances of the following characters (I really don't have a clue how they are supposed to look - but hey, for most of Gardens of the Moon I believed Quick Ben looked like a cross between Gimli and a monk): Corporal Tarr, Captain Kindly, Lieutenant Pores, Captain Ruthan Gudd, Koryk, Corporals Touchy and Brethless, Sergeant Balm, Deadsmell, Yan Tovis and Yedan Derryg (and why do these two have different surnames), Nep Furrow,Torrent... yeah I am curious about those. With such a huge cast I can't blame Erikson for not describing everybody in detail but I can't attach even one physical trait to these people.

13) Why was Hedge first on Tavore's list, why was this particular reading of the Deck so fraught with danger, why were everybody slammed to the walls etc.?

14) Who/what/when/why/where is Kalyth?

As you may gather, I am looking forward to re-read the saga

(Reading Night of Knives for the first time as well, I like it a lot - it's much easier to read which is kind of nice when reading it simultaneously with the doorstoppers)

[Bauchelain the Evil]

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

Hey all, I'm not really posting here often but to make a long story short I am now about 500 pages into Dust of Dreams. So far, my favorite novel is Toll the Hounds and my least favorite is Reaper's Gale.
Anyway, I was afraid Dust of Dreams would be a letdown based on the first 100 or so pages but now I am just as hooked again, though there are a few things I need to have clarified. These books are pretty dense and sparse at the same time. Oh, and amazing.
Allright, so here's a few questions. Answers and/or RAFOs much appreciated.

1) There is a storyline that I am unsure about. Some children (are they children?) wandering about in a desert. One of them carries a baby appropriately named Held. What am I supposed to read into this story? Have they appeared before in earlier volumes? Where are they going and where did they go from? There are two storylines I feel I kind of glaze over, and this is one of them...

They are children escaping an invasion in Kolanse by strange people who are killing/brainwashing everyone

2)...the other being the one with Setac (Setoc?) and the K'Chain Che'Malle. What is this flying monster thingy/hunter, and can someone lay out for me the whats and whys of this storyline without spoiling the last half of the novel?

3) What happened to the Errant's eye (I have forgotten - was it Feather Witch clawing it out or something)?

The errant tried to take human blood from FW but she retaliated by clawing and eating his eye, thus creating a link between them and becoming his priest

4) Why did Sinn and Grubb go into the Azath house?

5) Who is Kilmandaros and that Forkrul Assail character (Setch something)?

They are both Elder Gods. Killy embodies destruction and Sechul Lath Chance. We met them before in a Azath in RG

6) What is Lieutenant Pores doing with Kindly? Is it a game?

7) How did Tool become the leader of the Barghast? (Forgotten) And did he marry Hetan? And is he flesh-and-blood now or still T'lan Imass?

At the end of MoI Hetan fell in love him ( who had become a mortal Imass once again) and they marry. Her father, Humbrall Taur drowns as they're going to Lether and he becomes the warleader.

8) Is there a connection between the Errant and Toc the Younger?

9) Why does the Malazan army decide to trek through the Wastelands. If these lands are so deadly, why not sail around?

RAFO

10) Am I correct in assuming that these places with names like Ample Rooted are ancient K'Chain Che'Malle cities and that these dinosaurs somehow had high tech which to human characters may seem like magic? (I asked Steven at a signing whether he was influenced by ancient astronaut theories and such but he said no)

Yes

11) Taxilian and other characters are exploring one such city built into a giant dragon shell. Have I met these characters (Taxilian excepted) before? Where did they come from all of a sudden? And what was Taxilian's role before Dust of Dreams?

RAFO

12) How am I supposed to envision the appearances of the following characters (I really don't have a clue how they are supposed to look - but hey, for most of Gardens of the Moon I believed Quick Ben looked like a cross between Gimli and a monk): Corporal Tarr, Captain Kindly, Lieutenant Pores, Captain Ruthan Gudd, Koryk, Corporals Touchy and Brethless, Sergeant Balm, Deadsmell, Yan Tovis and Yedan Derryg (and why do these two have different surnames), Nep Furrow,Torrent... yeah I am curious about those. With such a huge cast I can't blame Erikson for not describing everybody in detail but I can't attach even one physical trait to these people.

13) Why was Hedge first on Tavore's list, why was this particular reading of the Deck so fraught with danger, why were everybody slammed to the walls etc.?

14) Who/what/when/why/where is Kalyth?



As you may gather, I am looking forward to re-read the saga

(Reading Night of Knives for the first time as well, I like it a lot - it's much easier to read which is kind of nice when reading it simultaneously with the doorstoppers)

[D'rek]

There's really no point in asking these 500 pages in. Finish the book, then ask the questions you still aren't sure of.

[champ]

Going off half a novel...

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

1) There is a storyline that I am unsure about. Some children (are they children?) wandering about in a desert. One of them carries a baby appropriately named Held. What am I supposed to read into this story? Have they appeared before in earlier volumes? Where are they going and where did they go from? There are two storylines I feel I kind of glaze over, and this is one of them...

Most likely this story is a prelude to something major that is going to kick off in tCG and their first appearance is in DoD... Escaping from the suffering in Kolanse...

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

2)...the other being the one with Setac (Setoc?) and the K'Chain Che'Malle. What is this flying monster thingy/hunter, and can someone lay out for me the whats and whys of this storyline without spoiling the last half of the novel?

Setoc - RAFO
The K'Chain story, they are off to find their Shield Anvil and Mortal Sword, the flying monster thingy is a Shi'gul (sp?) Assassin, one of three protectors bred by a Matron at any one time...

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

3) What happened to the Errant's eye (I have forgotten - was it Feather Witch clawing it out or something)?

Correct, FW stole and ate it, linking the Errant and her together...

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

4) Why did Sinn and Grubb go into the Azath house?

Something new is was created which they were sensitive to... RAFO

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

5) Who is Kilmandaros and that Forkrul Assail character (Setch something)?

As BtE said!

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

6) What is Lieutenant Pores doing with Kindly? Is it a game?

Call it a battle of wits! An entertaining one at that...

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

7) How did Tool become the leader of the Barghast? (Forgotten) And did he marry Hetan? And is he flesh-and-blood now or still T'lan Imass?

Humbrall Taur (sp?) Hetans father died in an accident, Tool was elected war leader.
Did he marry Hetan, unsure but they had children... And he is flesh and blood!

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

8) Is there a connection between the Errant and Toc the Younger?

Not that we know of... So far...

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

9) Why does the Malazan army decide to trek through the Wastelands. If these lands are so deadly, why not sail around?

Can't sail if there is nowhere to land! And RAFO

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

10) Am I correct in assuming that these places with names like Ample Rooted are ancient K'Chain Che'Malle cities and that these dinosaurs somehow had high tech which to human characters may seem like magic? (I asked Steven at a signing whether he was influenced by ancient astronaut theories and such but he said no)

Correct

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

11) Taxilian and other characters are exploring one such city built into a giant dragon shell. Have I met these characters (Taxilian excepted) before? Where did they come from all of a sudden? And what was Taxilian's role before Dust of Dreams?

Met them in MT/RG

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

12) How am I supposed to envision the appearances of the following characters (I really don't have a clue how they are supposed to look - but hey, for most of Gardens of the Moon I believed Quick Ben looked like a cross between Gimli and a monk): Corporal Tarr, Captain Kindly, Lieutenant Pores, Captain Ruthan Gudd, Koryk, Corporals Touchy and Brethless, Sergeant Balm, Deadsmell, Yan Tovis and Yedan Derryg (and why do these two have different surnames), Nep Furrow,Torrent... yeah I am curious about those. With such a huge cast I can't blame Erikson for not describing everybody in detail but I can't attach even one physical trait to these people.

Make it up! I think of their personalities/qualities and form a picture... You know Kindly is old, angry and bald, Gudd and his beard and so on...

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

13) Why was Hedge first on Tavore's list, why was this particular reading of the Deck so fraught with danger, why were everybody slammed to the walls etc.?

Hedge first, who knows, probably because he's dead/ascended/in the know?
It was so dangerous for numerous reasons, power draws power, doing the reading in the Master of the Tiles back garden, having a caster as powerful as Fid...

Slynt in the Shadows, on 16 February 2011 - 06:44 PM, said:

14) Who/what/when/why/where is Kalyth?

Destraint to the K'Chain, lugging around the wastelands hunting for a Mortal Sword and Shield Anvil for the K'Chain... She is last of the Elan people...

[Ceda Cicero]

They can't sail around to Kolanse cuz Tavore went all pyro on their ships and even with Tehol's ingenuity Lether cant provide ships to transport an army the size of the BH.

There are surely other reasons to the march but as other posters have said, RAFO.

[worry]

I think you have Kalyth and Setoc mixed up. Kalyth is with the KCCM and Setoc is the girl raised by wolves. She's the younger sister mentioned in passing during RG's Redmask storyline when the KCCM slaughter a village and her brother jumps in their way to save her. She was found by wolves and raised by them and that is why the Barghast don't brutalize her; these are the wolves that ate the hearts of the Grey Sword corpses in RG, and are therefore likely servants of Togg and Fanderay. Which is why Setoc is referenced with "a thousand hearts" or something like that. So needless to say she's special in some way.

[Sinisdar Toste]

worrywort, on 16 February 2011 - 08:51 PM, said:

I think you have Kalyth and Setoc mixed up. Kalyth is with the KCCM and Setoc is the girl raised by wolves. She's the younger sister mentioned in passing during RG's Redmask storyline when the KCCM slaughter a village and her brother jumps in their way to save her. She was found by wolves and raised by them and that is why the Barghast don't brutalize her; these are the wolves that ate the hearts of the Grey Sword corpses in RG, and are therefore likely servants of Togg and Fanderay. Which is why Setoc is referenced with "a thousand hearts" or something like that. So needless to say she's special in some way.

just adding that i think it's likely that she is the destriant of the wolves

and the people that are exploring kalse rooted with the ghost - taxillian, breath and rautos are the only ones we've met before. last, asane, sheb and nappet are all just random letherii who got killed by icariums machine

[worry]

Well I didn't wanna guess that far ahead, but I suppose at 500 pages the OP has already gotten far enough wonder that about Setoc.

Regarding the others (spoilered for OP's sake, if necessary):

Spoiler

I have a feeling that some of them were ghosts even before Icarium did what he did, as some of their stories seem to have happened in previous ages of Letheras. At least that's how I took it. For instance, either Sheb or Nappet mentions a powerful Hivanar that isn't Rautos...could just be a big family like the Noms, but I'd like to think they're from different ages.

This post has been edited by worrywort: 16 February 2011 - 11:09 PM

[Sinisdar Toste]

worrywort, on 16 February 2011 - 11:08 PM, said:

Well I didn't wanna guess that far ahead, but I suppose at 500 pages the OP has already gotten far enough wonder that about Setoc.

Regarding the others (spoilered for OP's sake, if necessary):

Spoiler

I have a feeling that some of them were ghosts even before Icarium did what he did, as some of their stories seem to have happened in previous ages of Letheras. At least that's how I took it. For instance, either Sheb or Nappet mentions a powerful Hivanar that isn't Rautos...could just be a big family like the Noms, but I'd like to think they're from different ages.

that could very well be.. sheb does say that he thinks he might have died in the paupers pit he was thrown in.

[snake0026]

Sinisdar Toste, on 16 February 2011 - 10:13 PM, said:

worrywort, on 16 February 2011 - 08:51 PM, said:

I think you have Kalyth and Setoc mixed up. Kalyth is with the KCCM and Setoc is the girl raised by wolves. She's the younger sister mentioned in passing during RG's Redmask storyline when the KCCM slaughter a village and her brother jumps in their way to save her. She was found by wolves and raised by them and that is why the Barghast don't brutalize her; these are the wolves that ate the hearts of the Grey Sword corpses in RG, and are therefore likely servants of Togg and Fanderay. Which is why Setoc is referenced with "a thousand hearts" or something like that. So needless to say she's special in some way.

just adding that i think it's likely that she is the destriant of the wolves

I believe it's confirmed that she is Destriant twice:

Spoiler

First, when she meets with Toc he addresses her as such, and then again when she stumbles upon what's left of the Trygalle Trade Guild. I think it was Cartographer who uses the title first, and then it comes up again when she meets Gruntle, as it has to be explained to him (who instantly recognizes her as Destriant, iirc) that she is not there to fight him or Trake on behalf of her own Gods of War)

This post has been edited by snake0026: 17 February 2011 - 12:38 AM

[Shadow of Shadowthrone]

Thank you all for answering. I do realize that I could've waited until I have actually finished the book, but I was afraid I'd forget about those questions by then.
Happily sitting at my workdesk with fresh hardcovers of The First Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach and Stonewielder next to me Now I miss only Crack'd Pot Trail and, well, The Crippled God. Getting more and more engrossed with the entirety of Malazan output.

I do remember Taxilian's name from a previous volume, I wonder what he did then (before Dust of Dreams) - did he come with the Malazans on their ships to Lether?

[champ]

Setoc...

Spoiler

Aye, she's confirmed as Destraint but didn't want to risk spoiling it as I know the Gruntle meeting is at the end of the book...

[snake0026]

Slynt in the Shadows, on 17 February 2011 - 01:00 PM, said:

Thank you all for answering. I do realize that I could've waited until I have actually finished the book, but I was afraid I'd forget about those questions by then.
Happily sitting at my workdesk with fresh hardcovers of The First Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach and Stonewielder next to me Now I miss only Crack'd Pot Trail and, well, The Crippled God. Getting more and more engrossed with the entirety of Malazan output.

I do remember Taxilian's name from a previous volume, I wonder what he did then (before Dust of Dreams) - did he come with the Malazans on their ships to Lether?

He did indeed, hailing from Taxila (hence his "name") in the Seven Cities, before getting his brain sucked out in Letheras by Icarium's device at the end of RG.