[Traveller]

I got the impression that it's when something only needs that tiny extra push, for good or ill, that he acts. He can maybe only do that - so he chooses the exact moment where only a tiny nudge is required for maximum effect. By nudging Brys, the tiniest bit, to have that drink, he gets to doom the entire Letherii civilisation to the rule of the Edur.

[Macros]

He's just a shit that loves to see the world burn.

No, he loves to be the nudge that strikes the match

[Traveller]

Yeah he waits for moments like when a soldier say something like 'when I retire after this battle, I'm going to marry my sweetheart, we've got a whole home and future planned out..' and then nudges that stray bullet right between his eyes.

He's the personification of the phrase 'Don't tempt fate.'

That's why he waits and watches 99% of the time. Waiting for that perfect moment.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 06 July 2020 - 06:38 AM

[Aptorian]

There sure is a lot of anti-Errant propaganda being spread in this thread by the "We hate The Errant Fanclub". smh.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 06 July 2020 - 10:37 AM

[Cyphon]

They dont need to, he's doing the job for them already.

Edit: Is there any evidence of positive nudges that he does in the books?

This post has been edited by Cyphon: 06 July 2020 - 09:06 AM

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Ublala into Shurq's path?

[Traveller]

Just read this in RG but it's relevant here..

'Draconean blood hardening into stone, horizontal sheets of the substance, already beginning to separate from the surrounding earth, to lift up on edge, forming strange, disarticulated walls. Some then began sinking, vanishing from this realm. Falling through world after world. To reappear, finally, solid and impermeable, in other realms, depending on the blood’s aspect, and these were laws that could not be challenged."

So, does this explain the origin of the black glassy walls of rock Seren Padac encounters?

[Aptorian]

Interesting notion. Though I thought it was some kind of Omtose Phellack effect, not draconean blood.

[Traveller]

Cyphon, on 06 July 2020 - 09:05 AM, said:

Edit: Is there any evidence of positive nudges that he does in the books?

From the Errant in Rg - "I let Tehol live, didn’t I? That must count for something."

Do you think he nudged the choice of which man on the ground got stamped on, or is he referring to something else?

This post has been edited by Traveller: 08 July 2020 - 08:09 AM

[Traveller]

Aptorian, on 07 July 2020 - 02:14 PM, said:

Interesting notion. Though I thought it was some kind of Omtose Phellack effect, not draconean blood.

The whole region was frozen by Omtose Phellack, enough to seal in the dead. The battlefields and bodies are all frozen in ice, but the walls Seren finds aren't described in the same way as say, the walls of ice the Sengar brothers find at the bottom of that crevasse. Thats all decay and corpses frozen in time; these are more like dark glass, with ghosts trapped inside.

Reading that description made me think of that immediately anyway.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 08 July 2020 - 08:08 AM

[Aptorian]

It would fit with the sundering of Emurhlan and the killing of Dragons and Draconian Ascendants.

[Andorion]

Traveller, on 08 July 2020 - 08:06 AM, said:

Aptorian, on 07 July 2020 - 02:14 PM, said:

Interesting notion. Though I thought it was some kind of Omtose Phellack effect, not draconean blood.

The whole region was frozen by Omtose Phellack, enough to seal in the dead. The battlefields and bodies are all frozen in ice, but the walls Seren finds aren't described in the same way as say, the walls of ice the Sengar brothers find at the bottom of that crevasse. Thats all decay and corpses frozen in time; these are more like dark glass, with ghosts trapped inside.

Reading that description made me think of that immediately anyway.

Its frozed draconean blood. I am more or less sure of it. Omtose Phellack's ice is totally different and distinct

[Keysi]

Starting this book again. I bloody love Tehol. Gotta be the best character in the entire Malaverse.

This post has been edited by Keysi: 13 September 2020 - 06:53 PM

[Keysi]

Re the Errant only being able to nudge.... how exactly does that wok? Why can he physically do no more than that? We know he does have access to huge amounts of power, some times, so why is he restricted in when he can use it?

Also, just reading the fight with Iron Bars and the Sereghal. One calls him a child. Evidence they knew of humans and called them children even before they were interred in the Azath? Maybe not and its just what they started calling them after hearing them scurry about above them for hundreds of thousands of years, but its an interesting co-incidence that thats also what Karsa and the other Teblor call humans.

Also, its a shame Karsa never got to meet the Sereghal. I wonder how that would have gone down.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

When I first started reading this book I did so feeling annoyed that Trull's story was this entire book after being teased about it throughout HoC, which took the fun out of reading MT the first time even though I found it a pretty good book nevertheless. On my second read-through however, on my own custom reading order, I greatly enjoyed this book, and this is definitely one of the best of the entire series. In hindsight I would have read MT after DG and before HoC, which would have made for a much better narrative flow for me personally. I can't say this enough, Midnight Tides is one of the best books I've ever read.

From a social commentary POV, this is perhaps one of the best criticisms of the USA as a society, from the Letherii's overt materialism, their belief that everything they do is pure awesomeness and that their history has so far been nothing but an uninterrupted upward trajectory, conveniently turning a blind eye to their own faults, which is no doubt a dig at American Exceptionalism. I'm also 100% sure the Letherii's raw version of magic compared to the rest of the world is a commentary on the lack of spirituality present in America. Not all of the Letherii are all that bad, as evidenced by King Ezgara Diskanar, the Bedict brothers and Seren Pedac. As expected, the Letherii military are portrayed as the one truly honourable part of Letherii society, which ties in Erikson and Esslemont's fondness for the military.

Physically, I picture the Letherii as predominantly blond, blue-eyed Caucasians and speaking with American accents, and I always picture the Eternal Palace as resembling the Capitol building.

From what I understand, the Tiste Edur are the ones who've forgotten the most about their past compared to the Tiste Andii and the Tiste Liosan, which I guess is to be expected since the Elder Warren of Kurald Emurlan has been shattered.

This book gives us our first glimpse of the Crimson Guard which I find pretty nice.

As for the Bedict brothers, I always picture Hull as looking like a grizzled Chris Hemsworth, Tehol resembling Christian Bale and Brys looking like a young Brad Pitt.

The weakest part of the book for me was the subplot of Tehol alongside the three women Hejun, Rissarh and Shand which ultimately leads nowhere.

This book is right up there with GotM in terms of enjoyment.