Monday, August 9

Waiting for the Crippled God

Savaged by the K’Chain Nah’Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods – if her own troops don’t kill her first.

Awaiting Tavore and her allies are the Forkrul Assail, the final arbiters of humanity. Drawing upon an alien power terrible in its magnitude, they seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate every human, every civilization, in order to begin anew. They welcome the coming conflagration of slaughter, for it shall be of their own devising, and it pleases them to know that, in the midst of the enemies gathering against them, there shall be betrayal.

In the realm of Kurald Galain, home to the long lost city of Kharkanas, a mass of refugees stand upon the First Shore. Commanded by Yedan Derryg, the Watch, they await the breaching of Lightfall, and the coming of the Tiste Liosan. This is a war they cannot win, and they will die in the name of an empty city and a queen with no subjects.

Elsewhere, the three Elder Gods, Kilmandaros, Errastas and Sechul Lath, work to shatter the chains binding Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, from her eternal prison. Once freed, she will rise as a force of devastation, and against her no mortal can stand. At the Gates of Starvald Demelain, the Azath House sealing the portal is dying. Soon will come the Eleint, and once more, there will be dragons in the world.

Source
I just finished book 9, Dust of Dreams so the cliffhanger ending is still fresh in my mind and I wish I could continue reading tomorrow. I guess I'll have to try to read 1-8 all over again and then number 9 once more before The Crippled God arrives.
10 Books, averaging at 1000+ pages per book. The Malazan Tales of the Fallen is such a mind boggling experience. So many story lines that are converging, you just know some questions will not be answered even though Erikson's brilliance lies with the revealing of secrets rather than the keeping of them. There's so much history, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word, in the books to puzzle over, I think this may be most alive pieces of fictional IP ever created. Certainly at a level with Tolkien and 50 years of finding "previosuly undiscovered" manuscripts and notes by J.R.R's sons and beneficiairies.

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting! It reminded me to get a new copy of House of Chains that I had left in the plane somewhere. it has been ordered. I still have time to catch up before part 10 comes out.

    Although I have only read 3 and a half of the books so far I agree this is a unique and utterly awe inspiring piece of literature. Despite it is 'just' fantasy it will eventually get the credit it deserves as one of the greatest artistic achievements of humankind.

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  2. Also only 70 days till 'Against All Things Ending'. Maybe a reason to reread another 2000 pages in the coming days.

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  3. Mmmmm, I suspect you can add 100-200 days to those 70 Phè. That's the date the pre-ordered hardcover edition will ship. SInce I got every other Stephen Donaldson book in the Thomas CoOvenant series as a pocket, I'll wait for that release.

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  4. I enjoyed reading that, has me gripped, it's finely crafted and I'm left wanting more, maybe it's about time I visited a bookshop...

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  5. Glad to hear it's got your interest Geek.
    But... I'm not sure I'd recommend Steve Erikson to a first time or returning after a long absense reader:

    Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson

    Gardens of the Moon: 209k
    Deadhouse Gates: 270k
    Memories of Ice: 351k
    House of Chains: 306k
    Midnight Tides: 271k
    The Bonehunters: 365k
    Reaper's Gale: 386k
    Toll the Hounds: 392k
    Dust of Dreams: 382k
    The Crippled God: 378k (tentative)

    Total: 3M 310k
    That's threemillionthreehundredandtenthousand words (give or take a dozen).
    Luckily, you can read up to book Four before you really get sucked into the big global story. Books 1,2 and 3 are still relatively reserved in scope with three one of the generally acknowledged high points in the series.

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  6. I ignored your warnings and bought myself a copy of Gardens Of The Moon this morning, read the first few pages on the bus and so far so good, I don't feel intimidated by the scope, just means I have a lot to look forward to :)

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  7. /me smiles

    Enjoy it Geek. It's a great read. I look forward to you catching up with Phé in a month or so :-)
    Oh and should you get the sensaton you're reading book two of a series and not book one in which things usually get explained, you're not.
    The author leaves you guessing about a whole lot, which is cool from my point of view. Books two and three will turn what you think you figured out upside down :-)

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  8. Yep. On all of Lani's comments. I do have my new copy of book 4, so maybe I can stay ahead.

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