[Serenity]

I've only read it the once, so far, but my first impressions were that the first half was slow, the second half was brilliant - which is probably what I've said about several of the books in the series. I suppose I was a little suprised - after the kick-ass ending of DoD - that it didn't immediately pick up in that mode, but I should have known better. I recall a big smile spreading across my face when Kalam reappeared, and from then on it rocked. Sure, a lot of unanswered questions (QB in particular) but I pretty much expected that. I had something in my eye on several occasions towards the end, and I remember my heart thumping as I was turning the pages, which to me is a sign of how much I was into it. Not my fave of the series, but I wasn't disappointed with it as a finale.

[Gatekeeper]

To call Mappo a pussy makes me think you missed the whole point of the series. SE even went out of his way to tell us all about "strength".

[Kanese S's]

maro, on 27 July 2011 - 06:53 AM, said:

Battalion, on 27 July 2011 - 06:32 AM, said:

Why was Mappo such a pussy?

I realise he ran across a desert, but he got beat up far too easily. Then a one-time street thug from lether avenged him just as easily.

Calm was a superior fighter to Mappo, no matter how tough he was.

Indeed.

There's no shame in losing to Calm.

She's dropped tons of people, most unnamed, but one of them was Karsa Orlong, who definitely isn't a wimp. And that was when Bairoth and Delum were alive and right beside him. The only reason they all didn't die right then and there was because for whatever reason she didn't feel like killing them.

[Kanese S's]

Bauchelain the Evil, on 27 July 2011 - 07:19 AM, said:

maro, on 27 July 2011 - 06:53 AM, said:

Battalion, on 27 July 2011 - 06:32 AM, said:

Why was Mappo such a pussy?

I realise he ran across a desert, but he got beat up far too easily. Then a one-time street thug from lether avenged him just as easily.

Calm was a superior fighter to Mappo, no matter how tough he was.

This.

Also, the thug was actually a half-Tarthenal ,strong enough to walk the bed of a river while weighted with bags of gold and later held his own against fullblooded Toblakai gods, who hit her by surprise with a magical dragon-killing weapon.

And right in the face, too.

As anyone who's been hit dead on in the nose could tell you, it probably wasn't that easy to fight very well when her face had just been smashed in.

[Sammehmander Rake]

I myself just completed my first read through, sure It leaves a lot of questions unanswered but it leaves it feeling more 'real' in my opinion. "Open ended" as was mentioned, I think the way it ended would adapt excellently to an epicly huge video game, as the world did start out as a Pen and pencil RPG right?

Easily the best series I have ever read and the only disappointment I have is that the story ended and now I need to find something else to do but it was a hell of a ride and I'll deffenantly jump back in for more!!

Not sure if my post has anything to do ith any thing... I like stuff

Edit; spelling fix due to posting via cell phone >.<

This post has been edited by Sammehmander Rake: 28 July 2011 - 12:57 PM

[IgnatiusKruppe]

"what reallysurprised/dissapointed me was at the last possible moment having sinn become the ultimate threat to the whole plot....."

there is a line in BoneHunters where Grubb is talking about how "she" (Sinn) is on her way and the whole thing is going to hinge on her. No Quote-Fu from me

[IgnatiusKruppe]

I totally expected QB to not get wrapped up either. Erikson would be selling his life short if he didn't leave open the possibility of a Quick Ben novel at some point in the future.

Ben is too universally loved to stop his story at the CG.

[Gatekeeper]

I hope against all hope that there will NEVER be a QB novel. QB is fine just the way he is, and I trust that SE is smart enough to leave us wanting more, not less.

[Kanese S's]

Indeed, much better to leave us wanting more than explain all the mystery away.

[MillionSpots]

I agree with leaving QB largely a mystery. If SE does a complete reveal of him I'd be disappointed. Takes the fun right out of speculation...


As for TCG being a disappointing book... it was not disappointing to me. SE managed to wrap up the CG's story well; it was a great novel. Moved me to tears many times. My favorite moment has to be Kalam and QB reuniting. Icarium's ending I was perfectly happy with, and I was also happy at the several cameo appearances (despite Aragan not being mentioned, and Hurlochel forgotten--he was supposed to be with the Host), and that Crokus was not Cutter any more and had come back to Apsalar.

My sister and I shed tears over Kaminsod's death.


If I have a gripe with TCG, it's that the younger gods never did anything significant to warrant the statement that the Bonehunters and allies were marching to 'oppose the gods'. But that doesn't take away all the love I have for this novel.

[maro]

When I first started reading the series, I thought the "Fallen" bit was about the Bridgeburners (And then the Bonehunters).

Of course, it's referring to the Crippled God.

Still plenty of scope for books on all the other participants

[Leoman of the Flails]

I felt that SE's use of all the elder races made the last few books, especially CG, my least favorite books in the series and really ruined the end of what was my favorite series of all time. I felt that they worked so much better as backdrop and gave the world of the books such a rich history. it almost felt forced with everything involving the forkrul assail and the k'chain. i absolutely loved the relationship between the t'lan imass and the jaghut and thought the t'lan was such an original use of the undead. the idea of the azath houses was great for the first 6 books, but SE really went out of his way trying to give them a bigger role. what drew me into the series in the first place was all the mystery surrounding these things (azath's, elder races) and was truely disappointed that SE spent the last 4 books undoing that. i will always love the series, but only until the end of the bonehunters, and maybe reaper's gale. in my opinion SE bit off more than he could chew, and maaaaaaan i will never forgive him for what he did to the mappo/icarium plot.......

[worry]

There was no Mappo/Icarium plot. There was a Mappo arc. And then there's Icarium, forever.

[tiam]

MillionSpots, on 01 August 2011 - 03:52 AM, said:

I agree with leaving QB largely a mystery. If SE does a complete reveal of him I'd be disappointed. Takes the fun right out of speculation...


As for TCG being a disappointing book... it was not disappointing to me. SE managed to wrap up the CG's story well; it was a great novel. Moved me to tears many times. My favorite moment has to be Kalam and QB reuniting. Icarium's ending I was perfectly happy with, and I was also happy at the several cameo appearances (despite Aragan not being mentioned, and Hurlochel forgotten--he was supposed to be with the Host), and that Crokus was not Cutter any more and had come back to Apsalar.

My sister and I shed tears over Kaminsod's death.


If I have a gripe with TCG, it's that the younger gods never did anything significant to warrant the statement that the Bonehunters and allies were marching to 'oppose the gods'. But that doesn't take away all the love I have for this novel.

Agreed. They were all feeding off Kaminsods power yet were somewhat non existent as an opposing force. Its difficult to figure out what weve missed and it is possible to see this opposition as those abandoned aspects of gods when ST gives Ruin the sword.

Still as for QB he needs more enlightenment. ATM hes almost a Nakor character, though no where near as plot hinging, yet if he all of sudden busted out something we wouldnt be surprised only speculate how he did it. We need more info that will be in the Kharkanas trilogy.

Also Ruthan Gudd threatens Draconus claiming if they fight one of them will die? Nothing he did showed us that level of potential.

[Bauchelain the Evil]

Arsewipe McBogroll the Third, on 14 August 2011 - 09:21 AM, said:

Also Ruthan Gudd threatens Draconus claiming if they fight one of them will die? Nothing he did showed us that level of potential.

I read it more like Ruthan Gudd was being fatalistic. He knew perfectly well that the one to die would have been him

[Steelriver]

I Loved the book. But i have to agree i got sick of everyones 3 page long whine fests. I would read a paragraph realize its was whine fest #3241 and just skim over it till the story started again. I got along time ago how the people felt about stuff i didnt need to read it over and over and over. More of the great humor and less of the im so pathetic whineing woulda been great. Only other thing that i didnt like was how nearly every bad guy just turns out to be a misunderstood good guy but that happend the whole series.

[Abyss]

tiam, on 14 August 2011 - 09:21 AM, said:

MillionSpots, on 01 August 2011 - 03:52 AM, said:

...If I have a gripe with TCG, it's that the younger gods never did anything significant to warrant the statement that the Bonehunters and allies were marching to 'oppose the gods'. But that doesn't take away all the love I have for this novel.

Agreed. They were all feeding off Kaminsods power yet were somewhat non existent as an opposing force. Its difficult to figure out what weve missed and it is possible to see this opposition as those abandoned aspects of gods when ST gives Ruin the sword.
...

Don't forget the gods were so adverse to acting directly that they would sooner allow humanity to be almost wiped out and live off the survivors than risk their own existances.

Bauchelain the Evil, on 14 August 2011 - 09:35 AM, said:

Arsewipe McBogroll the Third, on 14 August 2011 - 09:21 AM, said:

Also Ruthan Gudd threatens Draconus claiming if they fight one of them will die? Nothing he did showed us that level of potential.

I read it more like Ruthan Gudd was being fatalistic. He knew perfectly well that the one to die would have been him

Don't be so sure... Torrent took out Olar Ethil after all, and all he had was an aspected arrow and a broken spine.

[Steelriver]

Abyss, on 21 November 2011 - 09:15 PM, said:

tiam, on 14 August 2011 - 09:21 AM, said:

MillionSpots, on 01 August 2011 - 03:52 AM, said:

...If I have a gripe with TCG, it's that the younger gods never did anything significant to warrant the statement that the Bonehunters and allies were marching to 'oppose the gods'. But that doesn't take away all the love I have for this novel.

Agreed. They were all feeding off Kaminsods power yet were somewhat non existent as an opposing force. Its difficult to figure out what weve missed and it is possible to see this opposition as those abandoned aspects of gods when ST gives Ruin the sword.
...

Don't forget the gods were so adverse to acting directly that they would sooner allow humanity to be almost wiped out and live off the survivors than risk their own existances.

Bauchelain the Evil, on 14 August 2011 - 09:35 AM, said:

Arsewipe McBogroll the Third, on 14 August 2011 - 09:21 AM, said:

Also Ruthan Gudd threatens Draconus claiming if they fight one of them will die? Nothing he did showed us that level of potential.

I read it more like Ruthan Gudd was being fatalistic. He knew perfectly well that the one to die would have been him

Don't be so sure... Torrent took out Olar Ethil after all, and all he had was an aspected arrow and a broken spine.

Proven again dont fuck with the humans

[Torrent of the Awl]

Steelriver, on 21 November 2011 - 10:44 PM, said:

Abyss, on 21 November 2011 - 09:15 PM, said:

tiam, on 14 August 2011 - 09:21 AM, said:

MillionSpots, on 01 August 2011 - 03:52 AM, said:

...If I have a gripe with TCG, it's that the younger gods never did anything significant to warrant the statement that the Bonehunters and allies were marching to 'oppose the gods'. But that doesn't take away all the love I have for this novel.

Agreed. They were all feeding off Kaminsods power yet were somewhat non existent as an opposing force. Its difficult to figure out what weve missed and it is possible to see this opposition as those abandoned aspects of gods when ST gives Ruin the sword.
...

Don't forget the gods were so adverse to acting directly that they would sooner allow humanity to be almost wiped out and live off the survivors than risk their own existances.

Bauchelain the Evil, on 14 August 2011 - 09:35 AM, said:

Arsewipe McBogroll the Third, on 14 August 2011 - 09:21 AM, said:

Also Ruthan Gudd threatens Draconus claiming if they fight one of them will die? Nothing he did showed us that level of potential.

I read it more like Ruthan Gudd was being fatalistic. He knew perfectly well that the one to die would have been him

Don't be so sure... Torrent took out Olar Ethil after all, and all he had was an aspected arrow and a broken spine.

Proven again dont fuck with the humans

Did you see that shot!?

[Spiridon_Deannis]

Having read/re-read/leafed through tCG several times over the last 6 months, I spent some time trying to figure out why this book, while I like it very much and is extremely well executed, still seems to fall kinda flat.Over this time, I have read the arguments about pacing, untied knots, unresolved issues, excessive whining, etc. ... . OK, understandable, I re-read specifically for these points, but I had no problem with that, SE had a purpose there.

Then, these days, I stumbled over a little phrase very close to the end of the book...and I thought *the liberation of Kolanse*...and I frowned...*fair enough - Kolanse was liberated. But who the fuck is Kolanse ? Who the fuck was liberated ? Is there a single name that we know or care for ? And please keep The Snake out of this - they are a different deal -> manifestation of D´rek*.

To me, the problem were *the villains*. The CG not being the baddie - becomes obvious during DoD, latest, maybe even earlier (*A god of evil is not the same as a god in pain* HoC ?). The Forkrul Assail...lotsa foreboding and allusions to over the run of the cycle - and nicely *picked off* one by one during tCG...but did I viscerally care about them as the main antagonists ? Not really. They were pretty much faceless until tCG. We got some FA-action in DoD which seemed strangely disconnected from the rest of the book. Before that, we get one or the other *guest appearance* and lotsa foreboding from their aspected ascendants. Interesting, but not very involving.

Did I ever get a feel for the realm of Kolanse ? No. Besides the battle scenarios and the Spire, no descriptions, no people besides FA, Watered and Shriven. Considering the effort that SE put into building Darujhistan, 7C, Letheras and transforming those scenarios into something very lively, it is strange that Kolanse - which should be the most important stage of all - remains a completely bloodless stageset to wrap things up. I don´t know. Was this on purpose, trying to avoid spoilering the final twists ? Then, IMHO, it fell flat. I cared for the *goodies* and loved their actions, but without being emotionally invested in the *baddies* because, basically, their true faces were shown just in the last volume and knocked off before you could really *get into them*, the whole cathartic experience of the end left me strangely cold. I.e. not the individual destinies, but the whole.

And one additional thought that pops up: *In the end, it was all in the hands of some douchebag, multijointed ninja turtles with magic voices that opportunistically took control of that heart ?* It´s...errh...not THAT epic, come to think of it. And we didn´t even get all of them - there´s a bunch left on Assail.

I know SE might call this post-modern. It just didn´t work very well for me.

Strangely enough, I keep rereading the tome for what it is: A collection of some great individual parts that give me enough bangs for my bucks. But I keep imagining if SE had had space for an 11th book just to build the world of the villains the way he did with the other continents.

My two cents...

This post has been edited by Spiridon_Deannis: 13 December 2011 - 01:52 AM