[QbWjGp]

* SPOILERS MAYBE * Doesn't reveal the end..just what I thought it would be.

For some reason when reading this book, I thought at the end it would have the final chaining of Trull. From where the Tlan Imass found him. (Can't remember his name)
Or can we guess that is what will happen next after he returns to Rhulads side?

This book also makes me sad cause we'll never see most of the characters from it since it takes place a long time right? I know the GODS and such will, but none of the mortals.

Anyways..just wanted to make some chatter about it since I know no one who has read these.

[worry]

We see the chaining explicitly in the HoC prologue, so I'm not sure it's necessary to see it again (though I don't doubt it would be interesting from another POV).

The timetable for this book isn't that long ago, actually, and you do see some of the mortal characters again, so don't worry. You're not the first person to get that impression though, I wonder where it comes from.

This post has been edited by worrywort: 18 September 2012 - 08:06 PM

[Kanese S's]

Maybe people hear that it's set before some of the earlier books, and they mentally jump to the various prologues from earlier volumes that take place way before, so they assume that MT must be set thousands upon thousands of years ago.

[Defiance]

One thing that's important to remember when reading Midnight Tides is Seren's encounter with the Crimson Guard. This doesn't tell us exactly when the book is taking place, but it does show us that the Malazan Empire is out there somewhere in the world since, as we know from one of the first four books - Gardens of the Moon, I think - the Crimson Guard was formed in opposition of the Malazan Empire.

[QbWjGp]

Thanks for the responses. I feel like a retard for not remembering that. Or maybe I did and thats what I've been picturing in my head.
Just so much in all these books, don't know how you guys/gals remember it all!

[worry]

Most of us are computer programs with decent AI.

[boesjwoelie]

The reason some people (me anyway ) may think it takes place long long ago, is the time frame indication at the start of chapter one.
Dont have the books at hand right now, so im not sure what it says precisely, but i do know that most (all?) of the other ones start at bruns sleep eleven something. MT doesnt say anything about burn.
After some more forum/book reading i found thats because the edur dont know about burn - but when i started MT i assumed thats because burn wasnt asleep yet, meaning its set at least 1100 years ago

Also, all the new names and places... It just had a kind of ancient feeling to me =)

This post has been edited by boesjwoelie: 21 September 2012 - 07:23 AM

[Magic]

boesjwoelie, on 19 September 2012 - 10:02 AM, said:

The reason some people (me anyway ) may think it takes place long long ago, is the time frame indication at the start of chapter one.
Dont have the books at hand right now, so im not sure what it says precisely, but i do know that most (all?) of the other ones start at bruns sleep eleven something. MT doesnt say anything about burn.
After some more forum/book reading i found thats because the edur dont know about burn - but when i started MT i assumed thats because burn wasnt asleep yet, meaning its set at least 1100 years ago

Also, all the new names and places... It just had a kind of ancient feeling to me =)

I agree with all those reasons and they also talk about Holds and not Warrens. We had already been told that Holds were the precursors to Warrens. The magic is trapped in ancient times. In addition, no one seemed to know anything about the Letherii in the other books. They are never mentioned, which would indicate either a long gone civilization or a future one. Future one didn't fit at all.

Erikson actually answers the question about not showing Trull's shorning in MT on TOR.com in the Erikson question portion of the Read/Reread of MBotF - Midnight Tides. I don't remember what he said, sorry.

[Scerakor]

I just wanted to mention that you aren't the only one who sort of felt that he was left hanging w.r.t Trull. I guess it is evident that his current views have been clashing with the rest of the kind throughout the book but I too expected it to be acted out. If you are interested, I looked up what "Magic" above mentioned, Steven Erikson's response to this question on the Tor.com reread of MBotF.

2. djk1978. Midnight Tides is Trull’s story to the T’lan Imass. I anticipated on first read that we would see the exact final straw that leads to Trull’s shorning and being chained in the Nascent. Yet for all his doubt and indecision and the varying degrees of hints as to what the cause of his shorning will be, we don’t see that final event in Midnight Tides. For me at least that was a surprise. I should probably have expected it from you. I guess in terms of a question did you always intend to leave that part out or did the end come as a natural break with anything to follow resonating as a bit anti-climatic?

Steven: It was always intended to be left out, because it was, by that point, inevitable. Also, in telling his story, Trull’s own emotional context had to play a fundamental role in what he was prepared to describe. Also, the conceit of the framing device was undermined in the narrative, since part of Midnight Tides described events Trull could know nothing of, but I’ve done that before (This River Awakens), so I was prepared to run with that contradiction. In a sense, the audience always sees more than the characters, and that’s always the point behind this structural conceit.

[Ruthan Good]

I kind of thought that everything Trull did in the book, his relationship with Rhulad, Rhulad's distrust of Fear which resulted in his distrust of Trull, all those things together added up to Trull's being Shorned, and no one event actually caused it.

[wehrlen]

You can clearly see that MT happens the same time as MoI and HoC, since during Feather Witch's second tile casting she sees that the Beast hold has new rulers:

Quote

The throne's back is now hunched, the ribs drawn downward, the shoulder blades steep and narrow. The arms, upon which a ruler's arms would rest, are risen now, each in the visage of a wolf, and in their eyes burns savage life.' She paused, then intoned, 'The Hold of the Beast has found Twin Rulers'

[Imperial Historian]

The timeline is not important. The timeline is not important.

The relationship of the letheras continent and the actions taken on it to the rest of the world is something SE has had some of the most problems with. Most timeline indicators have MT happening an indeterminate time before GotM. Featherwitchs reading is usually explained away as a prophecy. Don't try and think to hard about the timeline, it doesn't end well.