[Abyss]

ABYSSMAL EDIT TO NOTE THE FIRST FEW POSTS ARE MY RUNNING THOUGHTS WHILE I WAS READING THE BOOK.
FOR MY 'JUST FINISHED IT' POST JUMP DOWN TO POST #7.

So i'm reading THE CRIPPLED GOD and it's totally living up to expectations at the 200ish page mark and i want to be able to jot down thoughts, mostly expressions of awe or fanboygasm, without risking spoilers in the TCG forum, hence, this thread.

Below here there will be SPOILERS on a rolling basis. MY SPOILERS. Mostly so i can do a thorough ABYSS JUST FINISHED IT thread in the TCG forum when i'm done in a week or two.


So... to be clear...

SPOILERS
SPOILERS

THE CRIPPLED GOD SPOILERS AND

ALL OTHER BOOKS SPOILERS
BELOW HERE THE BOOK WILL BE SPOILERS

HUGE MASSIVE FUCK YOU AND ALL
YOUR SPOILER READING KIND SPOILERS
SPOILERS GREAT BIG FORKRUL ASSAIL SEX TOY SIZED SPOILERS NOT THAT

ASSAIL SEX TOYS APPEAR IN THE BOOK SPOILERS
AT LEAST NOT SO FAR
SPOILERS

WHAT SORT OF SEX TOYS DO YOU SUPPOSE THE FA WOULD USE

SPOILERS

WAIT FORGET I ASKED SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS AND ALSO SPOILERS.

SPOILERS.


That should do it...



FIRST HUNDRED PAGES or so...

The frikkin prologue has Liosan, Assail, Andii, Cotillion w Edgewalker and Eleint, Imass, Icarium, Elders, Heboric's body, Paran's Host... SO HAPPY. Apsa'lara joining Nimander. Nice touch that. And it looks like Karsa's in play too.

So if Kalse and co look like they're dead but actually don't need their bodies, could the same be said about the 'dead' dragons Udinaas and co found back in RG...?

Re the Bonehunters - EVERYBODY LIVED! Well, except everyone who died.

Deadsmell's revelation is thoroughly interesting. Especially because of the implication that Omtose Phellack is becoming human aspected. Which i called back around TB, btw.

Bottle meeting Ruthan Gudd = AWESOME. And Gudd's totally lying. Stormrider armour saved him my ass.

Nice touch showing QB at the Spar of Andii - that goes all the way back to GotM, that does.

The Charge. Y'know... there is a certain trope in fantasy lit that runs to capitalizing an event to sort of immortalize it. We've seen it with The Fall (the CG's and Coltaine's, actually), The Chaining, the Seige of Pale.... but the Khundryl's attack back in DoD was so abrupt and seemed to be such a failure it was almost painful. The way the aftermath is being discussed is just awesome. And brutal. Poor Gall. But very interesting how his wife is stepping forward as a player.

Kilava gave birth to a shapeshifter who became a First Hero... Trake? It almost has to be Trake. Which explains her following him in MoI and why she's summoning Gruntle now. But who is she expecting to attack the SD gate? Dragons?

FID'S A CAPTAIN!!!!! YAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

Also, corporal Corabb! Hee.

GO BAALJAAG! Oh. Ouch. Bummer that.

HOLY FUCK. Gruntle just took down Olar Ethil without even veering. Sort of.

The scene where Mappo, Setoc and co give up Tool's kids was viscerally uncomfortable. Seriously. I had to read it twice and I still don't believe Mappo just did that. Which says something about the level of writing SE is bringing here.

Draconus and Ublala are even funnier than I expected. Ublala's dreams are very interesting. "I'm going to polish my hammer." "He means that literally." Ha!

Dear Krughava - damn right you should feel bad for being late.

So Lostara did draw Cotillion in and basically saved the day. Nice touch that.

Neep and Balm discussing how they fought the Nah'ruk by getting low was positively brilliant, and a brilliant example of why the marines are so good at fighting. Your opponent's ten feet tall and wearing major armour and can eat you... get low, start cutting.

Hedge and his alchemist just mentioned the drum. I may have just wet myself a little.


SECOND HUNDRED PAGES or so...

Y'know, if i were the Shake, i'd be VERY unhappy right about now. Those Liosan are just a huge pain, aren't they?

Silchas' encounter with the 'Gods'... well, that's interesting... Dassem and Dessembrae are separate entities... we've seen 'echoes' of gods before (Keruli)...

Ruthan Gudd... oh yeah, we called that one. The reunion with Skanarow was great.

Cotillion: "I'm never possessing a woman ever again." . heh. But that scene is almost as emotional as the Apsalar/Squint chat from TB.

The parley was awesome. Nice touch having Aranict retell it. Still waiting for her to open up some serious magic, but her perspective as an advisor and outsider is nicely done.

Shelemshara rallied the survivors of the Charge. Awesome.

Banaschar is amazingly complex. In DoD he was all but a traitor, now he's crying over what's to come.

Fid = BEST CAPTAIN EVER. But if the army is facing the FA army, and the Perish/Bolkado/Gilk/Letherii are going for the Heart, what does Tavore have in mind for the marines/heavies...?

Cuttle to Bottle - "Smiles sold all your stuff." *hugs*

They don't name her, but Cotillion just totally sent Apsalar on a mission. I think.

Ah Stormy and Gesler... so much bromance...

Stormy meeting the Last Jaghut Army was priceless.... "You're in my way." HA!

Tavore is playing a very, very scary game here. Her reaction when Masan shows up with the Unbound is telling. Also, confusing... are the Unbound nice now? I seriously doubt it...

"Mortal Sword Gesler will command." "You don't have to live with him!" BWWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA....hee...

Felash's handmaiden just became my favourite character in the series. For at least ten full minutes or so. "Couldn't you have found a prettier one?" ....AAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA....

The Snake is back and the kids are fucking. Um. Anyways, looks like Held is important. And it also looks like the Snake is on its way to meet the Bonehunters post split from the Perish and co, which is going to play havok with Tavore's Great Big Suicide Battle Plan.


Yedan explained to Withal how he's going to take out dragons. His army consists of refugees, ex-cons and less than 30 actual soldiers, and he's planning for dragons. I think i wet myself a little. Again.

This post has been edited by Abyss: 09 March 2011 - 05:33 PM

[Abyss]

250ish...

Draconic Elder God of the Imass or whatever, you don't. Fuck. With. The Bridgeburners. Of Death.

Dear Gruntle and Mappo... please stop bemoaning your sad existances and hit something.

Wait wait wait... Tool First Sword Dassem Ultor Kron Imass god what???? *reads it again* WHAT??????

Did Equity just say that the Lord and Lady of the Beast Hold ARE HER ALLIES?!?!?!!??!!?!?
(okay i'm not entirely surprised but still... that's going to be a problem... or maybe that explains why Tavore is really splitting the armies... but then why send the KC...argh.)

And as for the Eleint as allied with the FA, does Equity mean the Liosan soletaken, the unaspected 'feral' ones, the warren-aspected dragons... and what does that mean for Cotillion's chat with the three in chains.... oh, the thinkymeatz.. they burnz....

I liked the bit of insight into FA physiology... stab them and THEIR BONES FIGHT YOU!

Relatedly, Felash's handmaiden got another ten min of fave character status for that scene. This woman puts the hard in hard core.

[Abyss]

UP TO 650ish

(because i was away from clickyputerbox for a few days these are all lumped together more or less by plotline... BTW SPOILERS)

SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE

Ok. Yedan is awesome. i get it now.

Conversely, Twilight.... you're an asshat. yah yah yah principle freedom futility whatever next time just frikkin kneel...

Well look at that... Brevity and Pithy are not useless. 'Send me back in. I want another taste.'. Oh yeah.

Wow, Sandy has lost it HUGE. Tho i get the sense she was abused at some point, hence the 'Rake is pissed' flashbacks.

I absolutely love how the Liosan on the other side are convinced they're facing a batallion of elite Hust troops. Laughing swords ftw!

Hounds of Light, now dog food. Nice.

Yeah Withal, i think it was time to walk too.

Did Yedan just die... DID YEDAN JUST HOLY FUCK YEDAN JUST DIED!!! And he took one last dragon with him. This whole series of fight scenes was just jawdropping.

Ok Nimander and co, better late than never. Very cool dragon fight.

Apsalara and Nimander sittin' in a tree.... and umm, maybe put some clothes on?

Korlat, i realize you have mommy issues, but up until thirty seconds ago, you thought she was dead. Doesn't that get ANY points? Guess not. (unless Nimander and co had already updated on her ressurection i suppose). Jeez, Phaed wanted to kill her and she's being nicer.

Sister of Cold Nights. Int. eresting.


THE BONEHUNTERS DRY SPELL

Summary of 9\10s of the conversations to this point...
Character A: So... what's up with Tavore.
Character B: Dunno. Guess we'll follow her anyways.
Character A: Word.
Blistig: Drats. Foiled again!
...what's amazing to me is that i'm rivetted even so. Spax, Abrastal and Kruhava's chat about compassion in particular was very interesting.

Shortnose and the heavies avenging Stumpy was. Awesome.

The Grey Helms just joined Greenpeace. Go figure.

Now i'm getting thirsty just reading about this.

The Snake kids dying with the soldiers was perfectly shattering.

And Mael comes through... finally.

Leave it to Tehol to dominate a scene without even being in it.


MISC

Hood eating Equity's head may have been the most inadvertantly funny thing in this series ever.

Tulas and Silchas are buds from way back. Ha!

Ok, ok... Gruntle wanted to kill Trake via suicide by fighting dragons. Kilava stopped him to save her son. I get it. It's just a biut aside to everything else that's going on.

Spindle goes priestly. Heh.

Re Felash's handmaid... I KNEW IT. Okay i totally didn't know it tho i had thought it briefly, but it was awesome anyways. And Abrastal has SIX on staff! Oh, there's a story there...

KALAM'S BACK!!!!!! JOY!!!!!!! STABBY JOY!!!!!

THAT'S RIGHT DRACONUS, YOU SHOW THOSE ELDER BUMS WHO'S BOSS.

ok, i wasn't expecting much from Sech but Kila went out pretty easy considering.

[Abyss]

100 PAGES TO GO...

HERE'S YOUR HOST GANOES PARAN!

Oh damn that whole sequence was sweet.

So good to see QB and Kalam in acction again, doing what they do best, which is kill powerful things.

I knew, in my heart, that SE was going to have the Tobla'ka'ral from HoC show up, but that was damn cool and totally not how i expected.

The sappers weeping at the sight of the boxes of munitions was perfect. "Bless you sir" HA!

The Host's sappers' attack on the pass was nothing less than perfect Malazan goodness. Redbolts... and the FIDDLING HEDGE DRUM!!!


EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL

I know there's still 100 pages to go, but the assault on the Spire was just mindfucking dragonfucknutsedly glorious reading.

Holy fuck.

Nice to see the TTG folks weren't just standing around being witty. Nice to see Aranict finally work some mojo.

Ah, the Barghast gods weren't completely full of shit after all.

Bye Setoc. Bye Krughava. Bye Tanakalian. And i think we lost one of the Wolf Gods there too.

Brys taking out an FA with its dead god's name was a nice touch.

Imass and Jaghut side by side. Undead, then alive, then mostly dead. Go figure.

TUFTYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! Nice collar, cat. Heeee....

That's right Picker - let sleeping Blend lie.

Teblor... those are Letherii borne, shouldn't they be Tarthenal? Unless they renamed themselves after Karsa visited i suppose.

Wait, wait wait... Fener Karsa hits altar god dies rain of blood what? WHAT??? Okay, that's one more for the reread... but holy fuck what an effect... we seem to be running of of Gods of War...

THAT'S RIGHT TORRENT YOU SHOW HER WHO'S DA MAN. Nice exit dude.

Roach. Hood's ankle. Priceless.

Gesler and Stormy... okay, i'm man enough to admit i teared up a few times there. Especially Bent's gesture.

Grub's growsed up good.

Dear Steven Erikson. Thank you for telling us about Spax' burning penis wound. I want you to know that may be first among the things from this book that will stay in my thinkymeatz. Thanks ever so much. really.


FUCKING DRAGON

I'm totally sympathizing with Korabas here. Surpisingly.
Tulas and Silch need to hurry up.




...ok... on to the final 100... and i can't begin to explain what i'm feeling having just typed that...

[Abyss]

IN THE STRETCH...

Shockingly I couldn't finish it last night, tho i'll correct that tonight. i hope. 50 or so pages on....

Nice touch bringing Hetan back, but i'm somewhat on the fence about Tool's plotline... in the end it was all about Olar Ethil wanting a hug? Still felt great about that reunion tho'.

Damn right Hedge's Bridgeburners are in on this.

Leper. Really? Ouch. That doesn't bode well.

The setup for the finale is amazing. between Tavore and the Army at one point, Fid's marines (love typing that) at another, and somewhere out there the Host, QB/Kalam, Calm and Icarium and Mappo, Korabas... oh fuck me this is SUCH a treat to read.

So THAT'S what Cotillion was up to with Ampelas and co. Nice! And i laughed when Telorast and Curdle were pulled in to the Storm. Seven Ancients and counting. Boo-yah.

I'm hoping that we're going to see Gudd and Lostara unload a metric tonne of Shadowdance and Stormrider mojo at what's coming, but on another level i'm actually not.

At this point I can't quite decide whether Tavore living or dying is a better end, Especially if the army is otherwise wiped out.

I AM fairly sure i'm going to get all kinds of weepy if Skanarow/Gudd or Lostara/Henar ends badly. which seems likely.

BYE CRONE!

Yes that's right Mr. Crippled God, they're being nice to you. Maybe you should have considered that possibility before, y'know, being a dick.

So does this mean Skinner is keeping his chunks from SW? Hmmm...

[Abyss]

AAAAAAND DONE.

Just finished it.

Wow.

Just wow.

[Abyss]

Okay.... years in the making, about a week and a half in the reading, it's Steven Erikson's THE CRIPPLED GOD.... and i JUST FINISHED IT.


...okay, to be fair, i finished it, then i wept a tiny bit, then i re-read a whole bunch of parts from the last 200 pages or so, but you get the idea....


This was an awesome, awesome book. Solid end to a solid series and fully worth the anticipation. Seriously, I'm thrilled that SE and ICE are going to continue writing this world, but if that was it, I could walk away happy.
This one had everything. EVERYTHING. I'm pretty sure i saw the K'itchen S'ink charge in at the end there... EVERY major race was in play somehow, most major characters got some form of closure, the biggest plot lines were wrapped, and hell, a fair number of characters even got a happy ending, which was something i was utterly not expecting.

Nitpicks? Sure. Dangling plot lines? Totally. Things we really REALLY wanted to know and still don't? Plenty.

I don't care. I never needed complete closure, just a satisfying big finish and damn but SE gave us that.

So let's go Abyssmal on this, shall we?


BEST NEW CHARACTER - There were none! But Felash's Handmaid was barely a supporting character in DoD and holy fuck did she dominate every scene she was in here. The ultimate revelation that she was Seguleh was a bonus and a totally perfect one. Her fight with Equity was awesome even when she lost and when she took the ship later i had a good laugh.

BEST OTHER NEW CHARACTER - I realize we've had Hood around for ages, but in his new 'I am the baddest Jaghut. Ever.' aspect he was a lot of fun to read. Eating Equity's head may have been one of the funniest things to happen in this series. His crushing Reverance at the Spire was practically a bonus after that. 'Enough of your justice' wasn't quite 'Turn it around', but it was close. And now he has the meanest dog-thing ever as a sidekick.

BEST OLD NEW WAIT WHAT WHO? CHARACTER - So Crump was Nefarias Bredd but there never was a Nefarias Bredd but whne there was it was Crump. Got it.

BEST OLD FRIEND IT'S NICE TO SEE AGAIN - Kalam. Hands down it was great to have him back and he was in fine fine form, killing pure FAs like nobody else. Honourable mention goes to Kruppe for arming Torrent to protect his daughters.
And no, 'Kruppe's semen' is not considered a character.

BEST CHARACTER WHO WENT THE DISTANCE - Fiddler. You don't need me to explain why. Wow.

BEST I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING MOMENT - I'm going to have to think about the 'Gesler and Stormy accidentally summon Fener/Karsa figuratively slices Fener in half/every undead gets alive again' thing a while longer, but one way or the other THAT was a surprise and the effect it had... well.. i think i took all the undead as granted until suddenly they were inconveniently alive again at the worse possible time.

WORSE DEATH - Oh. Mappo. Wow that sucked. It totally made sense and the minute he gave up the kids to Olar i knew his pages were counting down, but wow that sucked in a 'that was painful to read' way. Worse than Trull, that was. Trull at least got to his brother.

LAMEST DEATH - Kilamandaros by Draconus. I wasn't expecting much from Sechul, but this was Kila. She hits eleint in the brainz as a hobby. I was expecting more of a fight, even if Draconus was the draconic Boogeyman of the Elder Gods.

BEST DEATH OF GLORY - Stormy and Gesler. Sure, they went out killing a whiny teenage girl and saving a dog respectively, but with everything we've seen of these two, going all the way back to DG, these were so in character and perfect that they just worked. Plus Gesler getting into a fistfight with an FA was priceless, and Sinn was a crazy witch who really needed to die.

BEST BREAKOUT CHARACTER - Yedan really blew me away this book. He kills Hounds, he kills dragons, and somehow it's not over the top, it's just awesome.

BEST BATTLE - All of them. The Shore. The Host's sappers taking the pass. The Spire. The Barrow. The Bonehunters Regulars. Every holy fuck cast of thousands hurling themselves to their bloody deaths moment in this series has been epic and this book gave us some of the best. If i'm really, really going to pick one i'll go with the Regulars' stand because that was the most emotionaly gripping and the one where the characters' chances of survival seemed lowest. On some level, i knew the Shore would end with an Andii rescue, the sappers would take the pass (no fucking kidding), the allies would not let Revenance destroy the world and at least some of the Marines were going to make it, but Tavore, Gudd, Lostara, Hevar, Banaschar, Kindly, and especially Tavore, were is such 'these characters are going to die' jeapordy that i was really, REALLY drawn in. Even knowing the Host was on its way, i wasn't sure.

BEST COULD MY HEART PLEASE CRAWL OUT OF MY MOUTH NOW MOMENT - Tavore almost stabbing Ganoes at the end. SE doesn't shirk from tragedy (see: Coltaine, Whiskeyjack, Felisin, Trull, Hetan, Tool, Gruntle, Mappo and especially Felisin and did i mention Felisin, hence why this was so agonizing) and this could have gone either way. I threw up in my mouth a little at that scene.

THE DAMN YOU STEVEN ERIKSON DAMN YOUUUUUUU! PRIZE GOES TO - As tickled as i was to see Ublala step in as Icarium's guardian... i can't. frikkin. believe. we didn't get closure to that story. Yet i understand that was the point. But even so.

BEST BUDDIES - Silchas and Tulas Shorn... now THAT was funny and fun to read. Nice touch having Silch decide to stand with Korabas instead of against her. Totally fit with the character.

THE AWARD FOR WAIT.... EW... - If Tiam manifests as the five headed sum total of all dragons, how the fuck did all those people make the sex with her??? Oh shut up and stop staring at me people you were all wondering it too...

BEST SINGLE FUCK YOU GODS MOMENT - Torrent, broken in half and dying, takes Olar Ethil out with a magic arrow to the brain. Nice exit. This character came a long way from Redmask's stooge in RG.

MOST TOTAL I HAVEN'T DECIDED YET THING - So did Cotillion free the CG from his body and send him up to his worshippers.... or just kill him? Hmmmm....

BEST CLASSIC MOMENT FOR THE FANS - The Fiddling Hedge Drum. HA!!

AND THE AWARD FOR LOVE CONQUERS ALL GOES TO - I was all into the tragic 'he's immortal she's not' Skanarrow and Gudd thing, the 'someone's gonna die' element to Lostara and Hevar, but Urb finally declaring his love to Hellian and the two of them sucking face over Clasp just as the Kolansii charge was SO PERFECT.

Honourable mention goes to Crockus and Apsalar for their quite perfect one-paragraph coda.

THE SIR NOT APPEARING IN THIS BOOK AWARD GOES TO - Only Tehol could dominate every scene he's in without actually appearing in the book. That letter...

THE OH SHUT UP AND KILL SOMETHING OKAY I TAKE THAT BACK AWARD - There was a lot of talking in the first half of this book. Curiously i only realized that about halfway through and it didn't really bother me because the characters doing the talking had grown to the point that i was actualy curious to read what they were saying. Similarly, did we really 'need' as much 'walking in the desert dying of thirst' scenes as we got... no, probably not, but unlike many other fantasy books where those scenes read like pointless filler, this worked. The Snake and the Bonehunters both, it just worked, perhaps more because of where they ended up than what they were doing at the time, but even so.

BEST MOMENT THAT WILL UNFORTUNATELY STICK IN MY BRAIN AND IF I HAVE TO SUFFER SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE - Spax, running to battle, exhausted, the world is at stake, his people going to certain death, massive lizards and mindfucking Assails and undead cavemen and all kinds of crazy shit going on.... 'Wow, my penis hurts where the Queen's daughter bit it.'.

Words fail me.



And on that note more to come and a pile of threads for me to jump into, but those are my thoughts after finishing this thoroughly satisfying holy fuck i can't believe i just read that book.

Thanks Steven.


- Abyss, now rereading it. again.

[Obdigore]

A couple things.

1) Damn you SE prize - don't forget that Iccy says 'I remembered something...' when Ublala pulled the potsherds from off her soapbox.

2) The Tiam thing - I have been asking and am also curious about that. Giant dragon orgy inside her? No idea.

3) The Killy vs Drac - as noted by some other people in another thread, apparently Killy was extremely weakened by breaking through the wards controling the Otat Dragon.

4) Thing you really wanted to happen for some reason but didn't - Fiddler hooking up with Tavore. Am I the only one that thought this was going to happen?

Add the 'Thing you are happy that happened because it made that warm feeling but probably shouldn't and you still can't decide if you like it or not' award - Hetan coming back to life.

This post has been edited by Obdigore: 09 March 2011 - 05:56 PM

[Migol]

Quote

THE AWARD FOR WAIT.... EW... - If Tiam manifests as the five headed sum total of all dragons, how the fuck did all those people make the sex with her??? Oh shut up and stop staring at me people you were all wondering it too...

BEST SINGLE FUCK YOU GODS MOMENT - Torrent, broken in half and dying, takes Olar Ethil out with a magic arrow to the brain. Nice exit. This character came a long way from Redmask's stooge in RG.

I'd give honorable mention to Gall somewhere between these two for having his instestines, and other organs spilling out while he stabs a FA in the back.

[buddhacat]

Quick note for the Kilmandaros point: As others have said in other threads (including me), the reason Kilmandaros was easy (easier, at least) to kill was because she was seriously weakened by the effort to free Korabas (Errant complains about it, Sechul comments on it.)

[buddhacat]

Thing that may be happened but never saw it coming, but did it really happen: Tavore having a soft spot for Banaschar.

[buddhacat]

Yeah, Hetan coming back was the most disappointing thing in the book. And she appears un-"hurt", like Tehol's wife is after Bugg fixed her memories.

Also, some undead did not get enlivened - why not?

[Luzburg]

buddhacat, on 09 March 2011 - 06:31 PM, said:

Yeah, Hetan coming back was the most disappointing thing in the book. And she appears un-"hurt", like Tehol's wife is after Bugg fixed her memories.

Also, some undead did not get enlivened - why not?

And she had new feet.

The unbound weren't at the fener fest, so they stayed undead.

[Lister of Smeg]

Apparently people that went through Hood's gate weren't revived, which is why Toc stayed dead. Hetan came back because when she died, Badalle somehow took hold of her soul so she didn't pass through the gate.

[Kanubis]

Obdigore, on 09 March 2011 - 05:52 PM, said:

4) Thing you really wanted to happen for some reason but didn't - Fiddler hooking up with Tavore. Am I the only one that thought this was going to happen?

I think he possesses slightly too much penis for Tavore's taste. I like to think Masan gave her a tumble after it all though....

[Traveller]

Lister of Smeg, on 09 March 2011 - 07:19 PM, said:

Apparently people that went through Hood's gate weren't revived, which is why Toc stayed dead. Hetan came back because when she died, Badalle somehow took hold of her soul so she didn't pass through the gate.

....and Toc did the rest, I think...

[Abyss]

Obdigore, on 09 March 2011 - 05:52 PM, said:

A couple things.

1) Damn you SE prize - don't forget that Iccy says 'I remembered something...' when Ublala pulled the potsherds from off her soapbox.

Yes but i took that as Iccy's usual trigger to go off on some quest, all the mor etragic because instead of his guardian prompting it, he does it of his own accord.

Quote

3) The Killy vs Drac - as noted by some other people in another thread, apparently Killy was extremely weakened by breaking through the wards controling the Otat Dragon.

Totally valid point, and to be fair she did get one shot in, but even so i expected more of a smash up. Draconus is just THAT badass, i suppose.

Quote

4) Thing you really wanted to happen for some reason but didn't - Fiddler hooking up with Tavore. Am I the only one that thought this was going to happen?

It was more of a father thing, esp when Fid and Bana insisted on feeding her before they left the barrow after planting the Ot' sword.

Quote

Add the 'Thing you are happy that happened because it made that warm feeling but probably shouldn't and you still can't decide if you like it or not' award - Hetan coming back to life.

Agreed.

Migol, on 09 March 2011 - 06:04 PM, said:

I'd give honorable mention to Gall somewhere between these two for having his instestines, and other organs spilling out while he stabs a FA in the back.

Agreed. I liked Gall's plotline. It wasn't shockingly original, but it was nicely done and satisfying, plus it was the impetus for Hanevat's plotline which i totally enjoyed and did find original. We always get the 'broken warrior comes back, takes out the bad guy' thing, but we rarely get his wife holding things together quite like this.

buddhacat, on 09 March 2011 - 06:29 PM, said:

Thing that may be happened but never saw it coming, but did it really happen: Tavore having a soft spot for Banaschar.

Agreed. Bana's plotline from RG to this was nicely done. He really, REALLY went thru majot character shifts, all logical and well played.

Luzburg, on 09 March 2011 - 06:59 PM, said:

buddhacat, on 09 March 2011 - 06:31 PM, said:

Yeah, Hetan coming back was the most disappointing thing in the book. And she appears un-"hurt", like Tehol's wife is after Bugg fixed her memories.

Also, some undead did not get enlivened - why not?

And she had new feet.

The unbound weren't at the fener fest, so they stayed undead.

Lister of Smeg, on 09 March 2011 - 07:19 PM, said:

Apparently people that went through Hood's gate weren't revived, which is why Toc stayed dead. Hetan came back because when she died, Badalle somehow took hold of her soul so she didn't pass through the gate.

I had forgotten the Badalle, element - nice catch, rep'd accordingly.

Kanubis, on 09 March 2011 - 08:45 PM, said:

Obdigore, on 09 March 2011 - 05:52 PM, said:

4) Thing you really wanted to happen for some reason but didn't - Fiddler hooking up with Tavore. Am I the only one that thought this was going to happen?

I think he possesses slightly too much penis for Tavore's taste. I like to think Masan gave her a tumble after it all though....

Heh - yeah, that was left open in their brief scene.

Traveller, on 09 March 2011 - 08:56 PM, said:

Lister of Smeg, on 09 March 2011 - 07:19 PM, said:

Apparently people that went through Hood's gate weren't revived, which is why Toc stayed dead. Hetan came back because when she died, Badalle somehow took hold of her soul so she didn't pass through the gate.

....and Toc did the rest, I think...

He left the body there, which suggests he (or someone) had some idea of what was about to happen with Fener... which raises some interesting questions, altho really even Fener was predicting his own end back in RG.

[Ceda Cicero]

Abyss, no way was the last line from Iccy just another quest-trigger. He had just gone through all the motions of his usual quest triggers earlier on the page ("I feel close this time, Ublala") and then the pause for the broken pottery and that line came after, right before he was about to set out. He totally remembered Mappo in that instant, momentous because (to my imagination at least) it's the first fully-formed memory that comes to Icarium without ceaseless prodding and/or manipulation, and incredibly, incredibly more tragic than him not remembering at all - because Mappo's not there to witness it.

Imagine that man. Imagine that. "Wait.. I just.. I just remembered... Holy shit I have a MEMORY for the first time in 0384560923486029486024 years.. and it's... I HAVE A FRIEND! Mappo! He's my friend and he's been with me for ages and he loves me like a brother! Mappo, where are you, I REMEMBER----- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

That kinda thing.

[Pig Iron]

Most surprising re-used evil overlord cliché - one of the FA actually saying "Kill them all".

Best race - the Jaghut, who live as hermits cause they can't stand all the bad jokes.

WTF's going on is SE using - Karsa killing Fener by cleaving his altar, causing a rain of god-blood over a battle ressing T'lan, undead Jaghuts and formerly dead main characters.

Worst head shaking scene - QB and Paran talking: I thought you had a plan? No I thought that was you? It's OK Fiddler is Batman. Yeah, and my sis was amazing with tin-soldiers when she was a kid. We're fucked.

WTF's going on II - Cot stabbing the suddenly mr Nice Guy Kaminsod who looks surprised.

[tiam]

I was adamant that Cots went and killed the CG rather than releasing him but there was a point that someone (held I think) on another thread noted. TCG says that he is trapped in his mortal flesh but he didnt want to bring down his worshippers because it would kill everyone. So Krul and Mael tell him not to worry and that he will be released by another. Cue Cots stabbing him.

Its still ambigious but seems fairly clear cut that he was released despite my crazy theory.