[Abyss]

champ, on 09 July 2021 - 07:29 PM, said:

Re chapter 16, The Unloved Woman... Made me think of Tavore...

It's absolutely Tavore. The ceremony Nilgher describes can't be anyone else.

[worry]

Yes to that, sadly, and yes to Gruff being the best Captain, more exuberantly. Talk about cold iron!

[Abyss]

I'll back up and cover Chaprters 18-19 in a moment, but right this second Ch 19 just blew my thinkymeatz all over the wall....

"...Holding the center is half a legion of marines formed into a wedge.... Warleader. They are not interested in standing against our charge. They intend to attack."

...

...

A Malazan Legion is roughly 4-6000 soldiers. Generously, half a legion is three thousand soldiers. Probably less because the Marines were non-standard troops, not regulars.

Thoros shows up with five tribes of Teblor (8000 warriors per the book), a bunch of Wilder tribes with no numbers given, and at least two thousand Saemdhi Imass.



"They intend to attack."

...and then...

......and THEN....

.........AND THEN....

damn. Did they ever.

[blackzoid]

Anyone else get a heavy Tehol Beddict vibe from Captain Gruff?
Just in the way he speaks.

[Abyss]

blackzoid, on 12 July 2021 - 04:33 PM, said:

Anyone else get a heavy Tehol Beddict vibe from Captain Gruff?
Just in the way he speaks.

Not exactly... less witty, less sheer intelligence, less potentially malevolent, but more empathy.
To be fair the earbook narrator is giving Gruff a very specific voice and its totally affecting my sense of the character.
The narrator does him as this effeminate melodious older male voice, but at the appropriate moments (mostly when dealing w Silgar Younger) she adds this hard note to utterly perfect effect.

[Abyss]

Me reading chapters 20-21-22-23

WOW

oh fuck

OH FUCK

OH DEAR GOD WHAT THE FUCK

Yay!

...yay?

Did Spindle just recruit the Jheck to the Malazan Empire yes YES HE DID

OH SHIT that's going to fuck everything up

oh hi tears arms off demon lady! ...ew.... EW! Oames wtf....

good timing Rant...

THEY ARE DEAD DEAD DEAD whoa...

oh hell now THEY ARE DEAD TOO EVERYONE IS SO DEAD....

STILLWATER HOLY HOUNDFUCK

OH HI COTILLION!!!!!!!
...hi Shadowthrone too. Nice to see you guys.

Stillwater was a WHATNOW??????

..."he just wanted a bath". ...i am dead and it's Stillwater's fault.

Did the Marines JUST RECRUIT A BUNCH OF TEBLOR WARRIORS HOLY FUCK YES YES THEY DID

[Cyphon]

Those chapters are just hit after hit of wtf did I just read.

[Abyss]

Cyphon, on 13 July 2021 - 04:19 PM, said:

Those chapters are just hit after hit of wtf did I just read.

yes YES THEY ARE

[Abyss]

Just finished.

I am exhausted.

I need a nap.

...but first i need to listen/read LARGE CHUNKS OF IT AGAIN RTF NOW OMG THAT WAS SO GREAT.

[Messremb]

Yeah this book is good. Very good. SE back on excellent form after the navel gazing in FoD/FoL.

I lost track of the fate of Rants half sisters, which army did they go with and chances of survival of any of them? Are all the Jheck D'ivers then? I thought before they were Soletaken. War-Bitches litter will be a whole brood of power. Nice to see that even amongst "their" kind the Teblor didn't even know some tribes survived. Also more Imass? Just how many hidden peoples are there?

I'm going to have to dig out a map and see what the big event might do to the continent. There's a river so it'll have an easy way out. Similarities abound to old coastlines on Earth, shattering of Omtose P being the equivalent of global warming.

The chapter outtakes are very nice to have back even if mostly are attributed to New Morn

Re-read incoming shortly. When is the next book due......

[Abyss]

Messremb, on 14 July 2021 - 09:58 AM, said:

I lost track of the fate of Rants half sisters, which army did they go with and chances of survival of any of them?

Delas was with Rant and Pake at the end and alive.
Sathal died in the initial charge on Culver, Dayliss sees her body missing limbs and bleeding out.
Tonith appeared to die with the Marine trying to rescue her from the flood when they stepped on a mine. Dayliss saw Tonith standing, missing half her face, just before that.
Relatedly Dayliss appeared to die when the Marine shielding them from the flood dissolved.

Quote

Are all the Jheck D'ivers then? I thought before they were Soletaken.

All are shapeshifters, only some are D'ivers.

Quote

War-Bitches litter will be a whole brood of power.

So it seems. Could be an interesting development down the way, especially if the Jheck are a Malazan nation.

Quote

Nice to see that even amongst "their" kind the Teblor didn't even know some tribes survived. Also more Imass? Just how many hidden peoples are there?

Lots apparently. See the ch9 opening quote re 'refugia'.

Quote

I'm going to have to dig out a map and see what the big event might do to the continent. There's a river so it'll have an easy way out. Similarities abound to old coastlines on Earth, shattering of Omtose P being the equivalent of global warming.

Spindle kept calling it a sea and Three's coments on the Jaghut rituals suggest it should have been there before but the Jaghuts messed with nature.

Quote

The chapter outtakes are very nice to have back even if mostly are attributed to New Morn

Agreed. I like the idea of New Morn as a future city-state looking back at these events.

[Cyphon]

I thought it was largely a very self contained book too. Second dependent on sales and reviews I guess.

[champ]

The scene with Stillwater, Pallid and then Cots was such a funny and well written scene. I loved Cots bewilderment... Is this an act?!?!?! Another laugh out loud moment...


And then when Cots is talking to ST and says Sorry? Ah the feels...

[champ]

Oh that was one thing too, who the hell was it that went medieval on the Skykeeps? That was some destruction...

[Abyss]

champ, on 15 July 2021 - 03:18 PM, said:

The scene with Stillwater, Pallid and then Cots was such a funny and well written scene. I loved Cots bewilderment... Is this an act?!?!?! Another laugh out loud moment...


And then when Cots is talking to ST and says Sorry? Ah the feels...

I have to recheck that, i didn't think they ref'd her by name.
... and Cots saying 'nah, they aren't the same as all' was pretty funny.
Stillwater is a glorious glorious creation, like SE took some of the bestest parts of Sorry, Hellian, and Lostara Yil then threw in some Kalam and QB for good (insane) measure.

[worry]

I think it's kinda like Cots is trying to be a little coy (cuz he's being sentimental) and ST tricks/leads him into saying "Sorry?" like "Pardon?" only to go "Exactly!" or whatever.

It's a very charming exchange that suits them both.

[champ]

Aye it was some great word play by SE.

[pat5150]

Transworld fucked up and I never got my review copy last spring. They just sent me a PDF and I'm slowly making my way through TGINW. Enjoying it so far, even though it's a "lighter" read than expected.

Just read about that chained god decimating four Moon's Spawns worth of K'Chain Che'Malle once freed by Damisk. Now that's a heavy-hitter bastard. Looking forward to see if Damisk's fumbling through the Azath will release that god and the giant bear upon the unsuspecting world.

One thing's for sure. It's good to be back in the Malazan universe with SE at the helm!

[fidge]

When Stillwater finds the grave in Shadow is that the Edur leader from Midnight Tides?

[korik]

Back in from the cold now a new book is out

Honestly I really think The God is not Willing is SE at the absolute height of his powers - a real treat. I see this as one of his finest books, using all his skills from all his previous writing. While the Kharkanas books are going for a VERY different style, that may not be for everyone (if sales figures are to be believed), this is more in the style of the main ten. He effortlessly includes all the things that make his writing so unique, and fascinating:

• Revealing enough background to colour the world, but also leaving enough for your imagination, and wanting more
• Extreme empathy generator - pleas for compassion
• Deep characterization with passages where every word is well chosen, characters that are complex, and make you care about in all sorts of ways
• The driest of wit, with laugh out loud moments
• Visceral action on small and large scales, that has real consequences to the characters that we care about
• A stunning convergence that makes you want to read the whole final quarter of the book in one sitting

I haven't read any Malazan for a few years, but I kept up with some of the (more frequent) interviews SE has given, and stuff like the TVBB podcast. But my big take away is how much the books stand up to a more literary analysis, and how much they give the reader on re-reads etc. This one is a real treat for all Malaz fans...