[maquis]

ok, I reaaly hate the maps in the books, they are hard to read and left out tons of details.

1. I am reading chapter 9 and I am totally lost. The high fist discussing battle tactics with the Adjunct.

'Adjunct, is it possible to reverse the landings? The Eleventh and the Wickan lancers disembarking on the east coast, south of Apple. The Ninth on the west coast, to Tulips.'

The above sentence makes absolutely no sense, since Tulips located on East coast, what does it have to do with west?

Where/what is Fox Pass?? a river??

2. why hide Paran from the High Mage?

3. Why cull the nobility ??? what is the propose???

thanks

[Aptorian]

 maquis, on 25 August 2011 - 12:58 AM, said:

Where/what is Fox Pass?? a river??

Don't know about this one.

Generally I try to not pay too much attention to geographic details in fantasy books since it will end up doing your head in.

 maquis, on 25 August 2011 - 12:58 AM, said:

2. why hide Paran from the High Mage?

Paran was killed. Tay knew about this. Him coming back from the dead would be a problem. If he returned it could mean a number of things. Maybe he wasn't really a human but something else? Was he a spy for the Andii, for example? Or was he an ascendant or a servant of an ascendant? Returning from the dead could mean he'd made a deal with some power?

These questions would need to be answered, if needed forcibly.

 maquis, on 25 August 2011 - 12:58 AM, said:

3. Why cull the nobility ??? what is the purpose???

thanks

I can't quite recall if a direct reason to cull them is mentioned, besides them working against the Empress.

How ever politically there is always plenty of reason to cull the nobility. Killing off a good chunk of them, creates fear and hesitation. If you've shown that you don't mind hitting the most influential and most powerful people in your empire, then others will pause before stabbing you in the back.

Second of all war is costly. I am sure killing all these nobels and taking their lands and afterwards liquidating their assets helped the imperial coffers.

[Kanese S's]

I thought it was because Laseen believed that the nobility had grown too influential in both politics and the military. So she acted very directly to counter that influence. By killing them.

[Bauchelain the Evil]

 Nyapt Cat, on 25 August 2011 - 03:32 AM, said:

 maquis, on 25 August 2011 - 12:58 AM, said:

3. Why cull the nobility ??? what is the purpose???

thanks

I can't quite recall if a direct reason to cull them is mentioned, besides them working against the Empress.

How ever politically there is always plenty of reason to cull the nobility. Killing off a good chunk of them, creates fear and hesitation. If you've shown that you don't mind hitting the most influential and most powerful people in your empire, then others will pause before stabbing you in the back.

Second of all war is costly. I am sure killing all these nobels and taking their lands and afterwards liquidating their assets helped the imperial coffers.

I believe there were two
major reasond given in the books.

1 The nobles had started to buy positions in the army as if they were candies, which resulted in lots of imcompetent nobleborn officers which damaged the reputation of the Malazan Army.

2 Ingratiating the masses

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

In what context is Fox Pass mentioned? To me it sounds as though it's some kind of mountain pass -- what's the closest mountain range to either of those coastal cities?

[D'iversify]

 maquis, on 25 August 2011 - 12:58 AM, said:

'Adjunct, is it possible to reverse the landings? The Eleventh and the Wickan lancers disembarking on the east coast, south of Apple. The Ninth on the west coast, to Tulips.'

The above sentence makes absolutely no sense, since Tulips located on East coast, what does it have to do with west?

I've noticed this before and just put it down to one of the following (1) Erikson meant east not west (a similar mix-up occurs in 'The Lees of Laughter's End), (2) Erikson mixed-up Tulips with one of the cities actually on the west coast, perhaps Nathilog or Genabaris, which have both served as staging posts for campaigns in the past, (3) Erikson originally located Tulips on the west coast, decided to move it (aesthetic reasons) and momentarily forgot about the move when writing this passage.

I wouldn't let faulty geography annoy me too much. I remember David Gemmell stating that in Legend (his first Drenai novel), he implied that Vagria was both east and west of Drenai. This was also Erikson's first book and was written over a long space of time, going through several stages including at one point being a film scrip (played for laughs). There are quite a few minor flaws and inconsistencies with later novels throughout the text, what arehere labelled GOTMisms, but I've never felt they were detrimental in a broad sense to its quality as a novel, especially when considered in isolation.

This post has been edited by D'iversify: 25 August 2011 - 11:47 AM

[korik]

This Tulips error was first noticed by the German translator IIRC, Erikson has admitted it was an mistake on his part in one of the early Q&As.... I think that in later versions of the novel Tulips has been removed from the map in order to (make an attempt to) address this

[weaverbird05]

I always assume that exact geography is much like the exact timelines... they don't really exist, but neither do they make or break a story.

[maquis]

thanks for the replies.  I am a fan of A song of ice and fire, I am used to Martin's detailed military tactics descriptions in the novels, combining with the detailed maps provided in ASOIF, I have a lucid image in my mind of who's having an advantage in the war and who's not.  I am a sucker for military tactics. =)<br /><br />The Empress strikes me as a communist (Chairman Mao in particular), culling the nobility to ingratiate the lower class.....

This post has been edited by maquis: 25 August 2011 - 09:25 PM

[Kanese S's]

I think you're really reading way too much into it if you think she's a communist...

She's a brutal pragmatist. The nobility are competition where power is concerned, and have a lot of money, and are diluting the quality of the military by buying positions in it.

Culling them allows her to eliminate rivals for power, seize assets to pay for wars, and stamp out the practice of buying military positions, all at the same time. Brutal, yet practical.

[D'iversify]

 maquis, on 25 August 2011 - 08:41 PM, said:

thanks for the replies. I am a fan of A song of ice and fire, I am used to Martin's detailed military tactics descriptions in the novels, combining with the detailed maps provided in ASOIF, I have a lucid image in my mind of who's having an advantage in the war and who's not. I am a sucker for military tactics. =)<br /><br />The Empress strikes me as a communist (Chairman Mao in particular), culling the nobility to ingratiate the lower class.....

Lassen's culling of the nobility does have parallels with the purges of Mao and other communist regimes, but not in an indeological sense. The Empress, in addition to securing her position against the remaining Old Guard of Kellanved and Dancer, has to deal with the older elite who originally dominated Quon Tali, namely the Untan and Talian nobility. You have to remember that, as a Napan, Laseen lacks a powerbase amongst the mainland aristocracy, indeed was once an enemy exile of theirs. The old aristocracy still have most of the wealth and power in Quon Tali as the Malaz elite who supplanted them was always a small, heterogeneous group who have now themselves grown smaller and divided. Moreover, the old aristocracy resent being dominated by these island outsiders. in such circumstances, the Empress' main potential powerbase, aside from her Claws, are the plebeians and peasants of Quon Tali, who have always resented their local overlords and in many ways prefer the new order as it has brought peace to a formerly war-ridden subcontinent, wars of which they were the main victims in terms of suffering and the financial toll. In this manner, they are very much like the peasants of China and serfs and proletariat of Russia and can consequently be similarly appeased.