[Tes'thesula]

I'm sorry, but i must contrtibute to the thread...in Viking's favour

i was always under the impression that Coltaine left Hissar in a fighting withdrawl. Yes he anticipated the actions of the rebels, but the point was he could not have held Hissar, especially with a High mage against him and another on the way. If you remember Kamist Reloe's magic was not restricted until a few battles before Duiker rejoined the Chain.

(just in the process of re-reading DG and thought i would "help" the discussion)

cheers

[Paran]

Paran makes a huge point in MoI about soldiers retiring, and how they deal with their life after constantly living in the moment, etc. One of the major things I love abt that book.

************************************************************
Never argue with idiots. They bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

[Folken]

To be honest, I have never understood this need for sex in Fantasy. What's with that? A story can progress just fine without sex. Erikson keeps it to a minimal and even then its 100times better romance than other novels that have bucketloads of it.

[caladanbrood]

quote:

Originally posted by WriterNotViking:

quote:

Originally posted by Longhorn:
@WriterNotViking - are you...?

Nah, couldn't be.

Could it?

Am I what? Could it be what? Should I be worried?

If you're wondering if you know me from some other place, I am reasonably sure that there is only one WriterNotViking on the web... Unless Google lied to me.

He thought you were Erikson At least, thats what I assumed he thought

[Leoman]

Maybe I should turn to the Dark Side...

[drinksinbars]

aye but if you read it carefully it takes them maybe half a year to march the whole way across the continent, theres no way they could of held hissar for that length of time. as for dujek and whiskeyjack they wanted the city so they wanted to be there first. plus if kallor hadnt betrayed them then the tlan ay would have destroyed the kell hunters and the city would have been easily taken. instead it was unfortunate coincidence that ocst so many lives.

[doolally2au]

I have to agree with Drake Labatt, the characterisation of women definitely needs some work.

I do, however, like the archaeology/geology stuff, which Caldazar and Matrim hate. If I hadn't already know Erikson was an archaeologist before I read his books, I would have guessed from the things he wrote. Maybe this stuff only appeals to us archaeologists?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

[Asheroth]

I'm too busy wondering just how the hell Erikson came up with the entire Malazan world and its many characters, intriguing history and so on to have any criticism.

Oh, except that the Mhybe was so boring it made me want to cry.

---------------------------
Frightened Peasant of Low House Newbie
Consort of Chains


'I arrived at the station, and found that I was half an hour early, I must have got the time of the train wrong. I suppose it is entirely possible,' continued Arthur, 'that British Rail had got the time of the train wrong. It hadn't occurred to me before.'

[Morgoth]

quote:

Originally posted by Skrzypek:
@Imperial Historian

Well, you've convinced me about Dujek.
But Coltaine?
He managed to clear Hissar of rebels, he also beat the native army, leaving no significaant force that could threat him in a short run. He could leave Malazans and civilian in Hissar and let the Wickans destroy all small native forces around.
The united Malazan atmy could be build only after the orders from laseen have arrived. This means, that waiting in Hissar had another advantages.
Abnd supplies, supplies, supplies. It's easier to be supplied when you have a port around, than in the middle of the desert, where one can only hope for the good will of the author (in other words, the Trygalle Guild

When outnumbered by insane amounts of enemies, the last place you want to be is in a fortress with no way to get out. If Coltain stayed in Hissar he would have been surrounded and starved to death. It is as simple as that. First of all,they would have had to slaughter every single cattle because there would be no way for them to keep the hordes of animals within the walls of the keep. The food would have lasted half as long if even that.

Secondly, tens of thousands of refugees within a keep ment to hold a normal sized garrison would have ment an enormous potential for plagues and such.

Thirdly, again because of the overwhelming amount of people, they may very well not have had a large enough supply of water.

Furthermore, the wickans were horse warriors. They fought from horseback. Now, think back on the battles fought by coltain during the chain of dogs. Who were the deciding factors of each victory? The Warlocks, the Sappers and the Wickan riders. Hiding in a keep would have made the wickans less usefull than a regular marine.

The most important factor though, is the mobility of the chain of dogs opposed to a fortress. Against a fortress the seven cities armies could just send men against the wall until they overan the defenders and slaughtered all. With the chain of dogs, Coltain had options, he could adapt, he could withdraw, and most importantly he could reach allies. Remember that Aren was not his original destination.

[Murrin]

quote:

Originally posted by stonerman:
and then shadowthrone, he is always giggling insanely, breaking deals, betraying people, and always coming across as a lot dumber than the rope. Yet he is the honourable emperor Kellanved who inspired loyalty and bound together the old guard with faith and companionship, and also used his razor sharp cunning to go froma barkeep to an emperor, always struck me as odd

Heh - and would you expect Iskaral Pust to be one of the four persons of 'singular intelligence' in the series? You wouldn't, but that's what he is (Kruppe, Quick, Pust, and Tehol).
Shadowthrone happens to be from the same place as Pust, and has the eccentricities expected of those people. It's been mentioned all through the series that he was a little mad, and of course the ascension into that particular position seems to require certain attributes of him (and I think his personality traits were exaggerated when he became Ammanas). But despite all that, he's always been sly, and smart. I don't think he actually ever inspired much loyalty - but the pair of them, Kellenved and Dancer, would certainly have shown competence, enough to establish their early following, and to pull off the deposition of Mock.

[McLovin]

But wait, I thought Tiste was really Marduk so that means...

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!