Malazan Book of the Fallen (Malazan Universe)

Discussion in 'TMB Book Club' started by The Blackfish, Apr 15, 2015.

  1. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Been finished for a half hour and still simmering about the last 10% of that book. Phenomenal. So much to take in. Every time I try to wrap my head around a plot I’m remembering new cool shit like the T’lan Imass who Harllo found and his interaction with Raest. Crokus/Chalice. The Noms. Picker/Blend. Antsy and the dead cat. Iskaral Pust making up new laws for House Shadow.

    So many amazing plot lines and how well he converged everything. Fuck man, GRRM needs Erikson to give him a lesson in making 40 plot lines converge.
     
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  2. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    So Dragnipur was created to protect the Gate of Darkness from the ever expanding/destroying warren of Chaos. The gate was inside the wagon and the victims of Dragnipur were forced to pull it away from chaos forever. In previous books (or earlier in this book I cannot recall) Draconus kept talking about how Rake was not killing enough people or enough powerful people and Chaos was going to overtake them, so Rake, Hood and others conspired to sacrifice themselves to combat this. With their added power they were able push Chaos back and allow Mother Dark to relocate the Gate to Black Coral.

    I honestly don't remember exactly what was going on with Clip and how it played into all of this, but fuck Clip.

    Dassem wants to kill Hood. He has a vendetta against him from way back when he was Hood's First Sword. Rake stood in his way (mainly by having already killed Hood iirc)

    Traveller keeps on travelling. You'll see him again in some of the Esselmont books, not sure about the remaining Erikson books.

    K'rul meets with Kruppe and Fisher, but Draconus will make his presence known soon enough

    Also for reasons such as this I for the millionth time cannot possibly recommend the Tor reread enough to help unravel these dense portions of the book.

    https://www.tor.com/2013/07/31/mala...-toll-the-hounds-chapter-twenty-one-part-two/
     
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  3. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Clemson TigersCarolina Panthers


    [​IMG]
     
  4. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Yes that is a p awesome painting.

    I imagined that scene as identical to the end of Wreck It Ralph Breaks the Internet I just took my kids to, which was a roughly similar scene.
     
  5. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Yeah now after you typing that first paragraph I absolutely remember all of it now, I think it’s just so much fucking content that it’s hard to get my brain around it all, especially when it usually takes me so long to read the books. I finished Book 1 in early 2017.

    Also even though it makes it “easier” or “more enjoyable”, I want to read the books first with a little outside help as possible, but I am 100% going to reread the series, probably using those chapter by chapter guides
     
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  6. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Ah Murillo you dumb sack of shit
     
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  7. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    I never have a fucking clue as to what Shadowthrone and Cotillion or doing or talking about
     
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  8. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    To be fair Cotillion rarely has a fucking clue as to what Shadowthrone is talking about.

    You’re going to fucking love the Path to Ascendancy books
     
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  9. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    The ending wraps up what they’ve been up to the whole book, just keep following Traveller’s story.
     
  10. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Alright on to book four of Hounds

    Can’t believe I started this series in fucking May
     
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  11. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Cutter going to Humble Measure’s mine is the best Xmas gift I got
     
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  12. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Ummmm what the fuck is happening in Darujhistan
     
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  13. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Convergence
     
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  14. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    All the things
     
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  15. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Everyone is dying
     
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  16. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Started Dust of Dreams, it's amazing how much you miss characters that disappear for books, like Tehol, Bugg, and Fiddler/Bottle/Malazans in Lether.
     
  17. lazy bum

    lazy bum active consumer
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    every time I open this thread it makes me want to start a re-read again. I've been through twice and there's still so much I'm fuzzy on. But it's such a daunting task.
     
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  18. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Start of Dust of Dreams was super confusing, as always seems to happen to me with all these books, but they are about to the read Deck reading and good lord is he a master at building suspense from absolutely nothing.
     
  19. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Dust of Dreams is really good so far, 21% through. I think I can do without any SwordArmed Raptor stuff though, I don't find that interesting at all.

    Tehol has easily surpassed Kruppe as my favorite character. Naturally he will probably die at the end of this book.
     
  20. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Hood’s Army is so fuckin badass yet it’s got me in my feelings

    Like I’m gonna cry and also punch something
     
  21. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Rake has become my favorite character in the series so far with these last 100 pages of Hounds
     
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  22. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Finished Hounds and bought the last two books

    I feel I am not ready for what’s next
     
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  23. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Ok time to start Dust of Dreams

    I miss Letheras
     
  24. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    It’s in dust of dreams fyi
     
  25. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    There’s no better feeling than seeing Grub as one of the first names in a Dramatis Personae
     
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  26. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Wow that reading of the Deck chapter was amazing
     
  27. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    240 pages in

    Shitting my pants knowing the Bonehunters are likely gonna run into some
    K’chain Che Malle
     
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  28. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    :babyneedabottle:
     
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  29. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    560 pages in and I'm nearly salivating at what the convergence of plot lines is going to look like in 700 more pages.

    Also I want all of the Taxilian/Rautos group to die horrible deaths.
     
  30. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Wait but aren’t they not actually a group?
     
  31. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    The Burned Tears going all Attila the Hun on the Bolkando is a big fuckin mood
     
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  32. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Holy shit, Krughava

    Oh fuck I’m going to FLY through this book
     
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  33. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    I’m going to have to stop reading your spoilers soon when you pass me
     
  34. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Idk man I’m just now getting to book two
     
  35. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    My issue is I always am getting books from the library while reading this series so I take breaks to finish my library books. I just need to buckle in and finish Dust and book 10 before I get any more books, like I just read a book on Eastern Buddhist philosophy and starting an autobiography while also reading Dust of Dreams.
     
  36. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Wow what a scholar
     
  37. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Dinosaur sword hand bois are boringggggg
     
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  38. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    It gets better, but I agree.

    I’m at page 700 and
    this huge ass storm thing is really cool. His imagery about it ripping across the wastelands is really great. Fist sized pieces of hail, huge pillars of destruction. Neat!

    I feel like a lot of people are going to die soon.

    Also I think the Bolkandos are more boring than they should be.
     
  39. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    400 pages in
     
  40. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Is Dust of Dreams the book with that storyline?

    Yeah, fucking Barghast
     
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  41. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    From what I understand it’s not a complete book by itself, so a lot of plot lines don’t get resolved until book 10?
     
  42. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Correct
     
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  43. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Hot Take

    But if the shore actually did go away and swallowed up all the Shake with it I wouldn’t be upset at all
     
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  44. Irush

    Irush Well-Known Member
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    Can someone confirm for me that
    Rautos, Taxillian, Breath, etc are all really just Icarium going crazy?

    It has to be
     
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  45. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Isn’t he the ghost character? I think they are real
     
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  46. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Just finished chapter 17. This Barghast story line is becoming one of the dumbest fucking plot lines in the entire series.

    This whole Balak/Hetan/Cafal/Estalle whatever her name quadruple death on the night before the battle was fucking pointless. I just spent like 100 pages of this book having to pretend to care about this awful fucking plot thread just for it to end this way? How fucking stupid and completely unsatisfying in every way possible. Terrible.
    Edit
    well everyone but the clan that retreated is fucking dead anyways due to what I’m assuming is the Jaghut warren/hold of ice? Now doubly pointless. Whatever at least they are all dead and we can move on
     
    #746 RonBurgundy, Jan 13, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2019
  47. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Icarium plot line question for The Blackfish or others:

    so just got to the part where Icarium is reborn in the Matron’s chamber and I’m still confused, was Veed/Rautos/Taxilian/Sheb/Last and crew actually imaginary or were they actually alive and Veed sacrificed them all to bring Icarium back?

    Sometimes his writing really isn’t clear on this
     
  48. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    Not Jaghut
     
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  49. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    I was confused as well and don’t honestly remember now
     
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  50. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Also was anyone else super disappointed with the reveal of the goddess Burn?