Malazan Empire: Impression on rereading DG - Malazan Empire

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Impression on rereading DG

#1 User is offline   blewin 

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 07:28 AM

This is my 4th reread of DG (I'm sure someone out there might have outrun me in this!) :D and I'm in the start of the Chain of Dogs march.

I see Cuttle's first appearance, who later shows up in you know where. How does Cuttle survive? everyone dies except for the ones who get on Gesler's ship and the ones who follow Duiker in the last leg of the exodus. I don't remember Cuttle being mentioned though. Assuming that he actually gets onto Gesler's ship (maybe it's mentioned in later books? but I can't find it).

man, I can never cease to be amazed by the descriptions and the careful layout of troops (allies and enemies alike) that Erikson did in this book. Besides BH, DG's one that I can read again, again and again!

anyone in the process of rereading this awesome novel?
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#2 User is offline   Dolorous Menhir 

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 11:09 AM

I'm fairly sure Cuttle was on the Silanda with the wounded, but I could be wrong.

This is my impression upon rereading Deadhouse Gates:

BEST

BOOK

EVER

The fall of Coltaine gives me chills every time. I really care about those who go to their deaths with him - Lull, List, Bult, the Foolish Dog, the Crow. I hate to see them die.

And then Duiker...
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#3 User is offline   GardenGnome 

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 11:43 AM

Yeah, he was on the Silanda. Then he ended up in jail, for trying to kill one of the nobles, when the refugees arrived.

DG is the best book for the series, tied with MT. Duiker is what makes the book so great. Right now I'm rereading MT, though... I reread DG a month back or so.
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#4 User is offline   tiam 

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 04:15 PM

Yeh he took a spear through the shoulder if i remember. Also BH i find hard to read again. I mean ive read it atleast times but only for info. For an actually good malaz read i turn to DG or MT
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#5 User is offline   Reborn 

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 08:54 PM

I would not go so far as to call Deadhouse Gates the best book I have ever read, but it is undoubtedly among the top 10, maybe even top 5. Midinght Tides is there, too, sniffing at its heels.

Too bad I depise rereading books, no matter how awesome the book.
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#6 User is offline   Raymond Luxury Yacht 

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 10:34 PM

I just reread DG and it's great. I'm in the middle of my third time through the series, but unfortunately my dad is coming to visit for thanksgiving and wants to borrow MT and BH, so I guess I won't get all of the way through it.
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#7 User is offline   blewin 

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Posted 21 November 2006 - 09:08 AM

Ray, your dad reads the series? that's so great! you can discuss with him about the books anytime.

yeah, Dolorous. like... 90% of the characters in the book died? if it isn't that awesome a story and writing, I wouldn't even finish it.

Garden, for some reason, I just can't reread MT, even though it really is a great book. I agree that it's on par with DG. um, maybe that's because I don't have MT on my bookshelf, and that one of the main focus in MT is on tribes?

that's a shame, Reborn. :D

I'm up to Kulp breaching the flooded warren (what warren is that though?). Man... just gives me the shivers. It's just so sad that Kulp got out only to die. *sniff*

and Sormo mentioning a Jaghut being born in a distant land, that's foreshadowing MoI, isn't it?
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#8 User is offline   Raymond Luxury Yacht 

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Posted 21 November 2006 - 06:39 PM

[QUOTE=blewin;137189]Ray, your dad reads the series? that's so great! you can discuss with him about the books anytime.

]

Yep, he actually got me started reading fantasy back when I was in the fourth grade. i figured I'd return the favor and introduce him to SE. I've been a little hesitant to loan him the books though. The last time I loaned him a series I really liked was when I was about 12 and he got stationed in Korea. He left them there when he came back. I was not happy. IN hindsight though it was the Belgariad, so he might have done me a favor.
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#9 User is offline   blewin 

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Posted 22 November 2006 - 11:02 PM

Blegariad... lol. That's the first series that got me into fantasy. Sure, I've been reading some fantasy books before that too, but they were all YA type. But of course it can't compare with the Malazan series. I'm afraid it's getting harder for me to get into any other fantasy series after having read the Malazan books.

come to think of it, if your dad left the book there, then maybe he didn't like it as much.... lol.
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Posted 24 November 2006 - 07:17 PM

I am re-reading it now after just finishing Bonehunters. It is certainly an easier read the second time through and to me, it blows my mind how my first read was literally a skim. I don't remember half of the plot lines and characters.

I do have a couple of questions....I read and re-read the part in the warren with the Silanda and the T'lan Imass dragon but can still not make sense of it. How does the rip happen and what does the dragon do to fix it? Does the ship get pulled into the fire warren with the dragon? It just seems Erickson delights in being vague with certain descriptions and it makes me wonder if he understands this warren stuff any better than I do......

Also, Fid meets the Spiritwalker near the beginning and he then lies to Kalam about it out of fear that Kalam would slaughter the Tano and his family....why would Kalam do this?

Gelor Ridge - what are Nil and Nether doing by killing the horse? Are they passing along skill and diligence to the 7th? Did I read it right that the Sappers had hidden themselves at the top of the ridge in disguised foxholes? Just a strange battle that seemed unwinnable as described. The killing of the horse must have temporarily created super heroes?
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#11 User is offline   Dolorous Menhir 

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Posted 24 November 2006 - 07:49 PM

I don't have an answer for your question about the Silanda, I can't really remember. Kulp made one tear using his warren of Rashan, then it got out of hand and Olar Ethil (the Bonecaster) fixed it? Not sure.

Soupy11;138339 said:

Also, Fid meets the Spiritwalker near the beginning and he then lies to Kalam about it out of fear that Kalam would slaughter the Tano and his family....why would Kalam do this?


Kimloc surrendered to the Malazan invaders without a fight. Thus his name was dirt among Seven Cities natives - which is why Fiddler was the first person to see him after the invasion. We know Kimloc surrendered to protect the lives of his people, which would be lost futilely were he to mount a doomed resistance, but Kalam either doesn't understand that or (more likely) his judgement is clouded by emotion in this matter.

Quote

Gelor Ridge - what are Nil and Nether doing by killing the horse? Are they passing along skill and diligence to the 7th? Did I read it right that the Sappers had hidden themselves at the top of the ridge in disguised foxholes? Just a strange battle that seemed unwinnable as described. The killing of the horse must have temporarily created super heroes?


The ritual involving the horse - as far as I understood, the "life force" of the horse was used to "power" a cavalry charge uphill which allowed the Malazans to triumph. I'm not aware of the horse ritual affecting the performance of the sappers or anyone apart from the other horses. Been too long since I read that part though.

Oh, and most of the battles of the Chain of Dogs seemed as unwinnable as described.
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#12 User is offline   caladanbrood 

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Posted 24 November 2006 - 08:09 PM

Soupy11;138339 said:

I do have a couple of questions....I read and re-read the part in the warren with the Silanda and the T'lan Imass dragon but can still not make sense of it. How does the rip happen and what does the dragon do to fix it? Does the ship get pulled into the fire warren with the dragon? It just seems Erickson delights in being vague with certain descriptions and it makes me wonder if he understands this warren stuff any better than I do......

The general principle for rent-repair (Go down the Homebase for all your rent repair needs;)) is that you need a soul to seal a rent. Or, in extreme cases, many souls. What the Imass did was pretend he was going to sacrifice himself to seal the rent, but infact stole one of the Andii heads, and threw that in to seal the rent.
Not sure about what happened after, as I don't have the book with me:(
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#13 User is offline   Dolorous Menhir 

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Posted 24 November 2006 - 08:41 PM

Brood, I think he's talking about the later rift which Kulp creates while attempting to escape the Nascent. The one that Olar Ethil - who was fortunately passing by - fixed by using Kulp as a conduit.
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#14 User is offline   caladanbrood 

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Posted 24 November 2006 - 09:05 PM

Oh. Ok:o
O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde; keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi.
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#15 Guest_Soupy11_*

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Posted 24 November 2006 - 10:51 PM

Thanks for the explanation, really helps....

Pretty neat to re-read Keneb's introduction.
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#16 User is offline   blewin 

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Posted 24 November 2006 - 11:30 PM

I got another question here! does anyone know exactly how many months does the Chain of Dogs last? (to Aren)

Soupy11;138339 said:

I do have a couple of questions....I read and re-read the part in the warren with the Silanda and the T'lan Imass dragon but can still not make sense of it. How does the rip happen and what does the dragon do to fix it? Does the ship get pulled into the fire warren with the dragon? It just seems Erickson delights in being vague with certain descriptions and it makes me wonder if he understands this warren stuff any better than I do......


ok, I got the book here. Let's see... Kulp opened a rent in the mad mage's warren using his Meanas warren. The ascendents helped to mend that rent of the mad mage's flooded warren. Then the warren of fire Silanda went through to get to the mainland of seven cities was the dragon's warren - chaos.

um... does that sound right? I might have missed something there.
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#17 User is offline   Dolorous Menhir 

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Posted 25 November 2006 - 10:41 AM

That dragon was Olar Ethil, the first Imass Bonecaster, and her warren would've been Tellan (fire - hence the burned appearance of Baudin, Gesler, Stormy, Truth). Not Chaos.

But then in BH, Cotillion says that Gesler & co. gained their fire-resistance and golden skin by passing through Kurald Thyrllan or Liosan. So perhaps the Bonecaster passed through one of those warrens (Thyrllan is closely related to Tellan, note similarity of names) and the Silanda followed on it's wake.
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#18 User is offline   Reborn 

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Posted 25 November 2006 - 11:05 AM

Slight spoiler for HoC in text below:

Don't forget that the Tiste Liosan in HoC are hunting for those who entered their warren, which undoubtedly refers to Gesler, Truth and Stormy. Their warren is, if I remember correctly, named Kurald Thyrllan.
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#19 User is offline   jscottnelson 

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Posted 18 December 2006 - 04:15 AM

Dolorous Menhir;136667 said:

The fall of Coltaine gives me chills every time. I really care about those who go to their deaths with him - Lull, List, Bult, the Foolish Dog, the Crow. I hate to see them die.

And then Duiker...


I have to admit, I read that scene late at night and was up for another two hours -- the imagery was just so horrific and burned into my mind. SE can really torture his characters, the key for me was in GOTM I had a hard time really caring for anyone, but I was intensely rooting for the characters in the Chain of Dogs. I have to admit I skimmed some of the other arcs a little bit trying to get back to CoD, and the fact that by the end every single one of the military folks is dead was sad -- although also very realistic (how often do people in such desperate situations really make it out?)

One of the most intense endings I've ever read.
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#20 User is offline   Onos 

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Posted 06 January 2007 - 08:13 AM

Funny, i LOVE MoI. That is my favorite and i could read it again and again. Starting HoC is a chore now in comparison. (and i was motivated through DG since it would get me to MoI) Not that i want to knock people that love DG, i am just happy a series can inspire such passion in readers. (and all the books serve their purpose in the bigger picture)

I love the chain of dogs plot, though it is very dark. But the other story lines kinda weigh it down a bit. Felisen is totally the Egwene of the book... Also i love the characters drawn into MoI.... I am far more emotional in book 3. Book 2 is sad... but they are walking dead as soon as they leave Hissar. A 'miracle' anyone survived. Book 2 has 3 storylines that could be in 3ish different books... book 3 ties together at the end.
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