[iso9001]

Thank you people, you are helping me very much in this long journey

When I ask a question, I ask it because I fear that the answer was explained but I failed to get it. If this is not the case, a simple RAFO is a decent answer for me because it indicates that I am going to have my answers later and I am OK with this

I have not seen the ultimate reading order. I was planning to read all 10 books consecutively and then decide what to read more if I want to read more. Can you please point me to the reading order?

Regards

[iso9001]

I think I found the order:



1. Gardens of the Moon
2. Deadhouse Gates
3. Blood Follows
4. The Lees of Laughter's End
5. The Wurms of Blearmouth
6. Memories of Ice
7. House of Chains
8. The Healthy Dead
9. Midnight Tides
10. Night of Knives
11. The Bonehunters
12. Reaper's Gale
13. Crack'd Pot Trail
14. Return of the Crimson Guard
15. Toll the Hounds
16. Stonewielder
17. Goats of Glory
18. Dust of Dreams
19. Orb, Sceptre, Throne
20. The Crippled God
21. Blood and Bone
22. Assail
23. Forge of Darkness
24. Fall of Light
25. Walk in Shadow

Is this OK? I am planning to "skip" 3, 4, and 5 as they are Bauchelain and Korbal books


Regards

[Abyss]

iso9001, on 02 January 2016 - 07:19 PM, said:

I think I found the order:



1. Gardens of the Moon
2. Deadhouse Gates
3. Blood Follows
4. The Lees of Laughter's End
5. The Wurms of Blearmouth
6. Memories of Ice
7. House of Chains
8. The Healthy Dead
9. Midnight Tides
10. Night of Knives
11. The Bonehunters
12. Reaper's Gale
13. Crack'd Pot Trail
14. Return of the Crimson Guard
15. Toll the Hounds
16. Stonewielder
17. Goats of Glory
18. Dust of Dreams
19. Orb, Sceptre, Throne
20. The Crippled God
21. Blood and Bone
22. Assail
23. Forge of Darkness
24. Fall of Light
25. Walk in Shadow

Is this OK? I am planning to "skip" 3, 4, and 5 as they are Bauchelain and Korbal books


Regards

That's rock solid. No inadvertent spoilage.
I'll note the BnKB novellas can be read pretty much any time, and GOATS is completely outside any timeline of the MBF or ME.

[Gorefest]

I originally just read book 1-10, because i didn't even realise there were other books in the series from esslemont. As Puck rightly says, it works and if you are daunted by the size prospects then 1-10 are a perfectly fine stand-alone set. However, it did leave me with a lot of loose ends and questions that i subsequently found to be picked up in ICE's works. In retrospect, i would have preferred my first read to have been a mix as suggested above. Nevertheless, just reading the 10 MBotF works does give you a good and enjoyable coherent story.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 03 January 2016 - 12:57 AM

[Kanese S's]

iso9001, on 01 January 2016 - 08:49 PM, said:

Gorefest, on 01 January 2016 - 07:38 PM, said:

Might be skipped? I am unfamiliar with this language that you speak, I fear.

I meant the books that I wouldn't miss much if I don't read For example, Return of the Crimson Guard seems to be a "might-be-skipped" book

Regards

I loved all the ICE books, so yeah. I don't think you should skip them. I did, initially, and really wish that I hadn't.

[worry]

Yah, ideally you get NoK and RotCG in there. I think it mostly works either way though (intertwining them or saving ICE for after), but skipping them all together is a mistake.

[Kanese S's]

People have mixed opinions, but I loved RotCG for the different perspective it gave me on Laseen. So I would definitely recommend it.

But it's not until after Bonehunters. Next book after you finish House of Chains should be Midnight Tides.

This post has been edited by Kanese S's: 04 January 2016 - 04:10 AM

[iso9001]

Thank you guys

I think I am going to follow the list above except for the B&KB books since they seem to be separate completely and I am not that much interested in them. The list suggests The Healthy Dead but I will skip it and will start The Midnight Tides as per with Kanese's suggestion

I actually wonder about Crimson Guard since I read so much about them but almost nothing happened. Also, I do wonder about Laseen and want to learn so much more about her. Therefore, RotCG just became a must-read book for me

Regards

[Kanese S's]

The B&KB books are hilarious (and also very quick reads) though. You can basically read them at any point after Memories of Ice, though.

This post has been edited by Kanese S's: 04 January 2016 - 10:31 PM

[iso9001]

Thank you Kanese, maybe I would give that a try

Here are some other questions:


1) Couldn't understand what happened Heboric when he visited the puncture and Giants. What was all those creatures?
2) Didn't Treach have a Destriant? Why did Heboric ask Treach if he needs one?
3) L'oric thinks about Felisin and Bidithal as "We knew he wanted her. Yet we did nothing.". Bidithal has ben doing this terrible act for some time and everybody knew it. But it is when Felisin got damaged that they feel remorse. I always wondered what it would take it to make them act against Bidithal. This (I mean this remorse after Felisin but not after any other innocent girl) makes me sad.
4) Did L'oric put his familiar into the warren so that his kin wouldn't figure out that his fathen is gone, right?
5) What was the reason for Icarium to attack Karsa? Why did they have to fight?
6) Why and how can Tellann Ritual destroys Omtose Phellack?
7) Why did Imass leave the female Jaghut whom Karsa saved (Aramala) alive?
8) I think how-blood Jaghuts' other hals is Imass but that is my wildshot guess (The answer is RAFO, I know )

Regards

[Abyss]

iso9001, on 07 January 2016 - 03:44 PM, said:

1) Couldn't understand what happened Heboric when he visited the puncture and Giants. What was all those creatures?

Big frikkin idols with souls trapped in them. The rest is RAFO.

Quote

2) Didn't Treach have a Destriant? Why did Heboric ask Treach if he needs one?

Heboric asked because Treach had just invested him. Why would Heboric know that information?

Quote

4) Did L'oric put his familiar into the warren so that his kin wouldn't figure out that his fathen is gone, right?

Not just his kin. Anyone who might be looking to seize control of the warren.

Quote

5) What was the reason for Icarium to attack Karsa? Why did they have to fight?

Karsa decided that he wants to fight Icarium on principle. Icarium isn't willing to back down.

Quote

6) Why and how can Tellann Ritual destroys Omtose Phellack?

The Tlan Imass genocidal wars on the Jaghut are reflected in the racial warrens.

Quote

7) Why did Imass leave the female Jaghut whom Karsa saved (Aramala) alive?

Sticking Jaghut under rocks and slowly draining their power is easier than killing them, and keeps their souls from jumping into someone else.

[Gorefest]

1) RAFO. But yeah, a giant green statue broken into pieces floating in space, with lots of souls trapped inside, hurtling towards Wu from Somewhere Beyond. Where have you seen giants statues before in relation to Heboric? And what did you already learn from that?

2) Heboric didn't ask Treach anything, it's just an internal monologue, i.e. he is talking to himself. He sees that his tattoos have changed shape to resemble a tiger-like pattern, so he reasons that it must have been the newly Ascended God of War, Treach, who has taken the place of Heboric's previous God, Fener, that changed his tattoos. And by that action tries to claim Heboric. Heboric probably performed a similar role to Destriant or Shield Anvil for Fener before he got ex-communicated, so he assumes that Treach wants something similar from him. So he's just mumbling to himself, similar to you pondering something like "Ah, Erikson, trying to boil my brain with more magic twists, aye?".

3) Things always hurt more when they are closer to your heart. Sad but true for most people. Unrestricted empathy is a rare thing.

4) Yep.

5) Karsa just wants to fight anything that stands in his way and he was told several times beforehand that Icarium was an individual that one should not challenge. Saying something like that to Karsa is like waving a red sheet in front of a bull. Icarium could tell from Karsa's stance/body language that a fight was inevitable, so he just figured they might as well get it over with quickly. It's the nature of convergence of power, spiked with a hint of ego.

6) Not sure I understand the question. What does this relate to? In a very general sense, we know that Tellan is fire-aspected, Omtose Phellack is ice-aspected. Fire melts ice. Something like that?

7) They probably couldn't kill her, as she was very powerful. So instead they trapped her for (what they thought) eternity, until Karsa broke their wards.

8) Didn't even understand the speculation, so yeah, RAFO I guess.

[iso9001]

Thank you Abyss and Gorefest,

My last question has lots of typo, sorry. It should be as:

I think half-blood Jaghuts' other halves are Imass but that is my wild-shot guess (The answer is RAFO, I know )


And for the others, thank you again

Regards

[Abyss]

iso9001, on 07 January 2016 - 08:30 PM, said:

...
I think half-blood Jaghuts' other halves are Imass but that is my wild-shot guess...

If you're referring to Aramala's conversation with Karsa 'don't you wonder what the other half is', i always took that as her suggesting it was Toblakai/Teblor/Thelomen/etc. Mostly so Karsa would make the sex with her, but that's an aside.

Icarium is a Jhag, and nothing in any book up thru HoC suggests he's part Imass.

[iso9001]

Abyss, on 07 January 2016 - 08:51 PM, said:

iso9001, on 07 January 2016 - 08:30 PM, said:

...
I think half-blood Jaghuts' other halves are Imass but that is my wild-shot guess...

If you're referring to Aramala's conversation with Karsa 'don't you wonder what the other half is', i always took that as her suggesting it was Toblakai/Teblor/Thelomen/etc. Mostly so Karsa would make the sex with her, but that's an aside.

Icarium is a Jhag, and nothing in any book up thru HoC suggests he's part Imass.

Yes I was referring to his conversation with Amarala but I never thought she would want to have sex with Karsa just after her release And it is also a good achievement for Karsa to not rape her considering she was naked

Regards

[Shallen]

Hello, Lanseen was aiming to cause the downfall of the noble houses. Tavore's brother Paran, was considered a disgrace to the empire. By choosing Tavore, Lanseen dealt a deadly blow to her noble family. By Tavore' acception alone, it was a treachery to the nobles.

iso9001, on 26 December 2015 - 05:14 PM, said:

Hi all,

I have started the fourth book and questions are piling up Before them, I am curious if there is someone else besides me who is relieved to see Karsa is not in the second book

Here are my questions:


1) What exactly is Karsa's wooden sword? How come he can cut pieces of flesh with a wooden sword?
2) I believe I will get to know more of the flooded warren, if not explained already, right?
3) What made Pormqual what he is, a coward maybe? I expected a lot more of a High Fist rather than letting Coltaine die or disarming the army? Maybe he was under spell just like King Theoden of LOTR.
4) Is there any specific reason for why Laseen chose Tavore as Adjunct?
5) Why didn't Nok prevent the rebellion and save Coltaine if he had such opportunity and power?
6) Why residency in Deadhouse is important? What benefits does it provide and how?
7) Nok explains Tavore about the disappearances of Emporer's old crew but I guess I failed to understand. Did they fake their deaths because they were Napans and they thought that people would think of them as the acoomplices of the assassination? What does being Napan have to do with all these?

Regards

[iso9001]

Thank you Shallen


A quick question: Why do Cott and Ammanas want The Talon to fail? I would expected them at least support since Cotillion established this organization.

Off-Topic: I have two cats whose names were picked from Japanese Manga One Piece. One is Luffy and one is Marco I adopted my third cat and I am looking for a name for him. I so want to name him Coltaine (Blackwing maybe) or Whiskeyjack but since the previous two are from One Piece, I am looking for a name from the manga. My last three choices are: Trafalgar Law, Tommy and Tiger. What do you suggest? And if you were to pick a name from Malazan BotF, what would you pick?

Regards

This post has been edited by iso9001: 11 January 2016 - 03:27 PM

[iso9001]

Well, I have chosen the name Leo for my cat. It may also stand for Leoman of the Flails

Regards

[Abyss]

iso9001, on 07 January 2016 - 11:19 PM, said:

Abyss, on 07 January 2016 - 08:51 PM, said:

iso9001, on 07 January 2016 - 08:30 PM, said:

...
I think half-blood Jaghuts' other halves are Imass but that is my wild-shot guess...

If you're referring to Aramala's conversation with Karsa 'don't you wonder what the other half is', i always took that as her suggesting it was Toblakai/Teblor/Thelomen/etc. Mostly so Karsa would make the sex with her, but that's an aside.

Icarium is a Jhag, and nothing in any book up thru HoC suggests he's part Imass.

Yes I was referring to his conversation with Amarala but I never thought she would want to have sex with Karsa just after her release And it is also a good achievement for Karsa to not rape her considering she was naked

Regards

Well he had just gone thru considerable trouble to free her. Going all rapey would have been kind of silly.
Also, by that point in the story Karsa has matured just a tiny bit.
Also she's not human, had survived a few centuries under a rock and could probably freeze his manparts off.

Shallen, on 09 January 2016 - 11:59 PM, said:

Hello, Lanseen was aiming to cause the downfall of the noble houses. Tavore's brother Paran, was considered a disgrace to the empire. By choosing Tavore, Lanseen dealt a deadly blow to her noble family. By Tavore' acception alone, it was a treachery to the nobles.

iso9001, on 26 December 2015 - 05:14 PM, said:

...
4) Is there any specific reason for why Laseen chose Tavore as Adjunct?...

Not exactly.

Keeping my response up to HoC, it's mentioned that Tavore took on the role to save her family. By denouncing her brother, shipping her sister off to the mines and taking on the role of Laseen's Adjunct, she left no doubts that the Paran family (what was left of it) was loyal to the Empire.

And then Laseen sent her to cull a bunch of nobles just for good measure.

iso9001, on 11 January 2016 - 01:35 PM, said:

...
A quick question: Why do Cott and Ammanas want The Talon to fail? I would expected them at least support since Cotillion established this organization.
...

The Talon that appears in HoC isn't Cots/ST's Talon. It's a new group using the same name and including some survivors of Laseen's purge.

Note that Baudin was old school Talon and Tavore sent him to try to save Felisin.
The dead lady mage on Avalii was another one and Cots is quite sad about her death.

[iso9001]

Hi all,

I have finally finished MoI It all went fine until last chapter but that last chapter was a little bit disappointment for me or I failed to understand what was happening. I hope it is the latter

Here are my questions:

1) Why did ghosts appear and then annihilate the Dogslayers? Was it Raraku's doing? What were its motives?
2) So, were Claw members just waiting out of the Whirlwind so when Goddess released it they went in and started assasinations?
3) What was Lostara'a mission given by Cotillion?
4) Pearl's mission was to find Felisin but he also assasinated people. So he ran into a bad guy and decided to take him off while he had spare time?
5) Where and why did Reloe go with the help of Bidithal?
6) Heboric was able to block Karsa before with his Ghost Hands. I wonder if he still can?
7) Ammanas was shocked with the fact the two hounds of darkness were released. And Karsa killed them.! Well, IDK what Ammanas had in his mind but Karsa's killing of two hounds might give Ammanas a heart attack
8) Cutter says something happened to him? What happened?
9) Was Tavore's plan to use Korbolo's Dogslayers to kill the enemy from inside?
10) I always thought Whirlwind Goddess was in the fragment of Kurald Emurlahn but it seems she wants it for herself. So where was she? Why do people want this fragment for themselves? What will they gain?
11) So Goddess is Imass and in fact Onrack's wife who was betrayed by Onrack. So how did she become a Goddess? How is she affecting Sha'ik? If she doesn't own the warren, from where do her powers come from?
12) Is Raraku being filled with water again? Why?
13) At the end of the book Raraku rises to claim the shattered warren. What does that mean?
14) What is children of Kilava?
15) I'm not clear why the two dogs (Bent and the other one) and the mare (Duiker's) helped bring the spirits of the slain to Raraku's heart?
16) I am going to start Midnight Tides. Any other suggestion before MT?

Also, too may disappointments for me with the ending. Here is the list:

1) The song told Fiddler that he must kill or aid Kalam kill the Goddess but AFAIK Talon killed her. This was a disappointment for me.
2) Kalam and QB came out of a warren after Fiddler was saved by Hedge. What were they doing? Hiding? If so, why?
3) I like Karsa and his development but his level of power (killing the hounds close enough to easily) makes me feel uncomfortable. Do you feel the same?
4) After the cold iron / hot iron talk, people said "Leoman this" and "Leoman that" but we couldn't see much of him.
5) I kind of think the relation between Onrack and Trull is imbalanced. Not enough time was spent and nothing special happened between them but they are like blood brothers. I am having hard time reading their parts. What about you?
6) No war at all? Well I am happy that most of the army survived but I hoped more action

Regards