[Trotts]

i dont buy munitions being magical. theyre more or less bane to magic, at least as much as otataral is, and its mentioned a few times. however you bring up a very good point that i glossed over. if the munitions detonate by contact with air, then any sapper crazy enough to try and open one up is done for and thats that.

also, of all technology, id say medicine is the one that is developing, rather than stagnating. sure having a healer helps a ton, but look at trotts? he would have died had not bridgeburner-whos-name-i-cant-remember cut a hole in his throat for him to breath with. that takes knowledge, albeit heat of combat knowledge, but knowledge all the same.

[pippin]

" So, this is a criticism thread, right? Well, I have a question. Why is it that after hundreds of thousands of years, the basic technology level of the world is Roman? Hell, we've only had our civilization for something on the order of 2-3 thousand years, and look at us."

Actually humanoids have been around for several million years, we didn't even learn to use fire for the first few million years. the industrial revolution started only about three centuries ago and would have been impossible without some resources (coal for instance)

[gzar]

I love the series, and Erikson has definitely ascended to the hold of High House Authors where he is currently First Sword. Even so, I do criticize his constant stream of introducing new characters so powerful they can destroy all of existence should they choose. With each entry the awe the reader is intended to feel about such power & responsibility diminishes to the point just being yet another joe, and detracts from previous assessments of characters we grew to respect for their very powers.

While reading Memories of Ice and through it’s conclusion, I was also struck with the strong notion that Erikson had originally intended this book to end the series. House of Chains and Midnight Tides did nothing to alter my suspicion – in fact it strengthened my position as instead of continuing the storyline we are now reading history of other beings distantly involved in the Malazan story in parallel. I will no doubt continue to purchase the remainder of the series as they become available, though I hold no hope for the storyline and characters which captured my soul to continue as anything more than an afterthought, or via majority demand from readers.

I applaud the authors intricate writing skill and his ability to twist an incredible web of seemingly unrelated characters and events into a single, focal drama that gives the reader the option & pleasure of re-reading time and again to catch subtleties previously missed or not understood.

[Folken]

The end of MoI was just the beginning of things to come.
Besides SE had already planned everything out even before the series began, he knows it'll take a maximum of 10books and we also have the name for all the books so you see hes not like other authors who write because fans want more of the same. Oh no he actually planned on writing 10books and all have been sold to Bantam.

Oh and don't worry everyone makes a return in some form or another. Except for those already dead, ie WJ and Felisin. Infact most characters from MoI make a return in Bonehunters:D

[Trotts]

i dont think moi was meant as a closer for the series particularly because it introduces a lot of information concerning the cripple god. yes, the pannion domin is ceased, but moi does nothing for the rebellion of seven cities, and the crippled god is still on the loose, so it wouldnt be a very coherent ending

[Folken]

http://www.malazanem...read.php?t=2584

proof;) lol

[ObsoleteResolve]

On a note on the previous page:

The White-face Barghast (right, that's it, I think...) in MoI get the swords from their ancient Imass ancestors, and they talk about how the metallurgy of that time was far in advance of what they had in the modern day and age. Which is also can be linked to the old Blue Steel of Letheras, I'd imagine- which seems like a damascene style process.

The reason they used in MoI was that, since magic was gaining the foreground as the primary force for society, technology lagged behind. At other points, like the Barghast ancestors, it seems the other way- technology to the fore, while magic lagged.

Which would make sense, in terms of the sheer length of history: some societies would focus on technology, rise, and then fall; then others would focus on magic, rise, and then fall; and then technology; then magic; technology; magic. Because, if one thing is obvious in the Malazan world, the modern linear notion of time (from fire to wheel to sword to gun to atomic bomb) is definitely not in effect: civilizations of much more sophistication than the Malazan Empire have existed in the past, only to fall and crumble with time.

.david

[Agraba]

Quote

Actually humanoids have been around for several million years, we didn't even learn to use fire for the first few million years. the industrial revolution started only about three centuries ago and would have been impossible without some resources (coal for instance)

Only about thirty thousand years ago have we evolved into anything remotely like a homo sapien, and even then we were quite primitive. The whole notion of civilization only started to fabricate about five thousand years ago. The Malazan world had a prospering civilization, in the form of the First Empire, hundreds of thousands of years ago.

[Morgoth]

Different branches of technology, yet neither that much more behind the other. People seem to forgett that it is not that long ago we invented steam power, or learned to use gunpowder efficiently i combat.

And our history has shown many empires which have crumbled and been replaced by empires of much lower technological sophistication. If one were to include magic in the huge function that is our history, then things may have looked a lot different.

[Tristan]

Hi this is my first post and have skimmed through the thread and see some pretty interesting stuff. One of the only complaints that I have is that it takes the books at least 150 pages to get going. The technology arguement seems valid but from what I read the civilizations mentioned so far that predated the Malazans were completely destroyed by many events. I was about to say that the Imass completely destroyed the First Empire for settling in cities and but I remember the calling of the Crippled God being the cause in MT. Which one is it?

[Morgoth]

the calling of the CG more or less destroyed the Kallorian empire, didn't it? It had little to do with the fall of the first empire at any rate.

And Welcome to the forum, Tristan

[Tes'thesula]

aye, and the t'lan Imass did not really destroy the first empire, the first empire collasped because of the spread of soletaken and the Ritual, the T'lan Imass just cleaned up the mess

[Tristan]

Thanks for the replies but I thought that Kallor wiped out his own people to keep the elder gods from taking his empire. I could be wrong but thats what I got from MOI.

[Monoch Ochem]

Hang on there....how deep did I look into that one? 3 Elder gods came in response to what exactly? It was the fall of the CG wasn't it? I mean, the desperation that caused the destruction was attributed to Kallor...I take it that's why Krul, Draconus and Sister of Cold Nights went for him. He knew they were coming to relieve him of his tyranny and so he destroyed everything to spite them. That's how I understood it.

Are you saying that it was his tyranny to begin with (even before the fall of the CG) that made the 3 Elders decide to sort out Kallor?

[Monoch Ochem]

Seems to make sense indeed...when they were communicating with each other, the 3 seemed to marvel at the devastation that they saw on both continents....so the full CG issue must have come as new info. to them (as was Kallor's destruction of his own continent).