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Loving Life Partner posted:I got a question for the Malaz crowd: In book 2 the poems actually do relate to what's going on in the story, from the perspective of someone in the future retelling the events. It's not like they're a big deal, they just provide a little bit of a different perspective on some things. I've got a pretty big aversion to poems and songs showing up in the middle of novels, but I don't mind it when they're just a few lines.
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Aug 22, 2012 04:50
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Yeah I read books. posted:I finished Reaper's Gale recently as well, and was wondering earlier if I missed something - what the hell happened with Icarium that was being referenced by Veed and that soldier? They were talking about how he went loving crazy and killed a ton of people at some point but I don't actually remember that happening? Was it off screen? After they found out about the throne of shadow and before they got to Letharas? Also what happened after the machine 'blew up'? I feel like I may have missed some stuff or zoned out while reading or something... Did you read Bonehunters? They're referring to the battle at the Throne of Shadow where Icarium went apeshit and had to be stopped by Quick Ben.
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Aug 22, 2012 05:01
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Currently on Memories of Ice, near the middle. Got a question: I just read a part where someone told Gruntle "time to hone your tiger-claws." If I remember correctly, there's some sort of Tiger God (Trake/Treach) and he seems to be in a conflict with Fener, who's the Boar God. What exactly is the whole story behind that? I feel like it's important but I'm completely missing the backstory. Does it get revealed later on (perhaps in other books) or have I missed something that's already been revealed? Also is this some sort of foreshadowing that Gruntle is a (perhaps unwitting) servant/soldier/whatever of Trake?
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Aug 22, 2012 09:45
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The Ninth Layer posted:Did you read Bonehunters? They're referring to the battle at the Throne of Shadow where Icarium went apeshit and had to be stopped by Quick Ben. I surely did, but for some reason have absolutely NO recollection of that. Do you happen to have a page number?
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Aug 22, 2012 09:54
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The Gruntle thing does get elaborated on much more. But you may have missed some foreshadowing depending on how far you are. Has the siege of Capustan happened?
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Aug 22, 2012 11:06
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The Dark Wind posted:Currently on Memories of Ice, near the middle. Got a question: You haven't missed anything, keep reading.
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Aug 22, 2012 11:11
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Yeah I read books. posted:I surely did, but for some reason have absolutely NO recollection of that. Do you happen to have a page number? Starts at around 1168 in my copy. It's one of the last chapters of the book.
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Aug 22, 2012 11:15
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Yeah I read books. posted:I surely did, but for some reason have absolutely NO recollection of that. Do you happen to have a page number? Icarium killing a lot of people and wiping out cities was also mentioned several books back when he and Mappo were introduced as characters. Icarium is cursed in some way that makes him go into a blind rage and murder everyone, yet not remember a thing about it. In Reaper's Gale he actually mentions that Time fascinates him, and we know that he has built various machines across the Seven Cities (if I remember correctly) that measure the passage of Time.
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Aug 22, 2012 13:05
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 In the western sky the bright emerald banner of the Visitor descends like a portent of annihilation. On the continent of Jacuruku, the Thaumaturgs have mounted yet another expedition to tame the neighboring wild jungle. Yet this is no normal wilderness. It is called Himatan, and it is said to be half of the spirit-realm and half of the earth. And it is said to be ruled by a powerful entity whom some name the Queen of Witches, and some a goddess: the ancient Ardata. Saeng grew up knowing only the rule of the magus Thaumaturgs -- but it was the voices out of that land's forgotten past that she listened to. And when her rulers mount an invasion of the neighboring jungle, those voices send her and her brother on a desperate mission. To the south, the desert tribes are united by the arrival of a foreign warleader, a veteran commander in battered ashen mail whom his men call, the Grey Ghost. This warleader takes the tribes on a raid like none other, deep into the heart of Thaumaturg lands. While word comes to K'azz, and mercenary company the Crimson Guard, of a contract in Jacuruku. And their employer... none other than Ardata herself.
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Aug 22, 2012 18:19
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It's perpetually baffling to me that the Malazan titles get this inane font.
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Aug 22, 2012 19:14
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Holy crap, I had no idea there was a book for Bauchelain & Korbal Broach! I found it at B&N today while picking up a copy of Toll the Hounds (wanted to get Dust of Dreams as well, but they only had a copy that was one of the huge ones, and I'm anal about my books all being the same size!) Anyways, I thought it was super cool that there's a book for the necromancers so I snagged that, too - super excited to read it. Anyone have anything good to say about it?
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Aug 23, 2012 05:10
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Oh, I think those novellas are even better than the series  But think about it like Terry Pratchett writing Malazan. They are humorous and satirical. The Lees of Laughter's End is the very best. Can't do better.
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Aug 23, 2012 06:03
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General Battuta posted:It's perpetually baffling to me that the Malazan titles get this inane font. What baffles me is that cover art that terrible is still allowed. Well, that style at least, that isn't the worst example of it I've seen. Still pretty weak, though. Take a picture of a guy at a renfair, photoshop him onto some GIS jungle, shop that onto GIS ruins, and you're done! Oh wait, I forgot, set your color to dead white and select your brush tool. 200 pixels with a soft radius and opacity turned down. Swipe that poo poo around, yeah boy. Atmosphere up in here. I mean, look at this cover:  That is not a very good cover. Focal point's weak, action is confusing, bad crop. Some of this is the publisher's fault, not the artist's, as this is only part of a painting. The rendering is pretty decent, at least. But here's this:  A guy dressed up in a hood dual wielding what appear to be kukris. Behind him there are clouds. It works as an image, at least. Strong focal point, interesting pose, foreboding mood. But to judge a book by a cover, I don't give a rat's rear end about this guy. Another generic assassin posing in a thunderstorm. The first image is inferior purely as an image, but poor as it is, it's a far better book cover. It's an actual scene from the book, gives you a (very basic) feel for the setting, and it has goddamn charm to it. It isn't the most amazing painting, but at least it looks like someone gave a poo poo about the painting itself, and the book it represents. It's not like there aren't thousands of great cover artists out there, or that they won't do awesome covers for Erikson books, case in point:  Hell yeah. This one battle wizard is so hardcore he's sieging a castle with a lightning sword. It's not even totally accurate to the book, but god drat it imagines the feeling of it so perfectly. This is what I was trying to picture inside my head during that battle, not this. Nothing about the art itself I can critique. Gives you a feeling the artist not only gave a poo poo, but that he lives for this poo poo. Crap photomontaged/3d rendered covers piss me off no end. If someone recommends Erikson to you and you see Mr. Twin Swords from above on the cover of one of the books, I couldn't really blame you for not giving it a try. Sorry to derail but this has been building for a while, and that Blood and Bone cover set it off 
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Aug 23, 2012 06:13
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Yeah I read books. posted:Anyways, I thought it was super cool that there's a book for the necromancers so I snagged that, too - super excited to read it. Anyone have anything good to say about it? I haven't read the 5th one yet but they are a great read. There is a collection with the first 3. The 4th one is a a bit random but very funny with some good references to the big books.
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Aug 23, 2012 06:30
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dishwasherlove posted:I haven't read the 5th one yet but they are a great read. There is a collection with the first 3. The 4th one is a a bit random but very funny with some good references to the big books. Yeah, the one I got has (what I'm assuming to be) the first three in it. I don't know if I should grind out the rest of TtH first, or just start it now!
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Aug 23, 2012 06:35
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Toll the Hounds is kind of a slog, but it has an amazing payoff. One of the best in the series. Finish it first. Reading the short stories might be a good idea before starting Dust of Dreams and the Crippled God though.
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Aug 23, 2012 10:44
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I'm about 80% through Midnight Tides, and I've been introduced to Iron Bars, who is a total badass. His entourage and him alone have made me instantly want to learn more about the Crimson Guard. Is this I.C.E. territory, or does it get touched on during the main series? I'm going to finish the main series before hitting I.C.E., but I'm just curious when they get some airtime. I'm only halfway through this series, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to declare right now that this is my absolute favorite fantasy series I've read thus far. I've bounced around in the past quite a bit when trying to think what I like the best, but goddamn these books are amazing and blow everything else away. Thanks to this thread for getting me introduced to it.
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Aug 27, 2012 02:33
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Yarrbossa posted:I'm about 80% through Midnight Tides, and I've been introduced to Iron Bars, who is a total badass. His entourage and him alone have made me instantly want to learn more about the Crimson Guard. Is this I.C.E. territory, or does it get touched on during the main series? Unfortunately, Iron Bars is at his badass peak in MT.
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Aug 27, 2012 03:44
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Yarrbossa posted:Iron Bars Yeah the I.C.E. Iron Bars material is enjoyable but not NEARLY as good as the MT stuff.
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Aug 27, 2012 05:20
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Blog Free or Die posted:
 v
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Aug 27, 2012 19:08
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PS Publishing Newsletter posted:THIS WEEKS BIG NEWS     
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Aug 27, 2012 19:21
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Junk Science posted:Unfortunately, Iron Bars is at his badass peak in MT. That's disappointing. Good thing there is no shortage of badass characters! Speaking of artwork, is there a decent collection of Malazan artwork somewhere? I occasionally see something awesome like in the OP, and wonder if there's like a book of artwork out there somewhere to look at.
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Aug 28, 2012 00:15
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coyo7e posted:Not disagreeing with anything you said however, I'm pretty sure that's Cutter, in that cover. And we've all established that he's about as generic assassin as you can get, so it's accurate to the book, if nothing else.. v Funny, I would swear that's Kalam, even though it doesn't look anything like the hulking man he is portrayed as.
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Aug 28, 2012 00:26
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CrazyLikeAMadDog posted:Funny, I would swear that's Kalam, even though it doesn't look anything like the hulking man he is portrayed as.
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Aug 28, 2012 01:49
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coyo7e posted:Kalam is nowhere near that boring. I still hope Kalam isn't dead. As far as I know, he's still in "stasis". 
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Aug 28, 2012 03:13
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coyo7e posted:Kalam is nowhere near that boring. Still can't be Cutter he looks like he might do something besides be angsty and have his guts spilled
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Aug 28, 2012 03:38
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The best malazan art:
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Aug 28, 2012 04:45
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drat, I think you just  me. Should have praying mantis blades for arms, though.
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Aug 28, 2012 05:04
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It needs the quote to go with it.
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Aug 28, 2012 05:15
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02-6611-0142-1 posted:It needs the quote to go with it. Indeed it does.
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Aug 28, 2012 07:23
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Bars. Iron Bars.
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Aug 28, 2012 09:31
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I started this series roughly a year ago and finished last night. Usually I read one, go through some other books and then start the next one, but the last two I read back to back. This series was very enjoyable, but I can't help feeling that a lot of storylines didn't go anywhere. It feels like most things just ended, instead of coming to an end, if that makes any sense. It was especially noticeable when multiple characters not seen or important for a few books suddenly came back in the final chapter to get a happy ending of some sorts. At the same time others just kind of vanished. Maybe I ovelooked something, but things like what happened to Gruntle, or Karsa suddenly popping up, killing someone, and then never being mentioned again just felt out of place.
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Aug 28, 2012 12:26
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I would say Malazan has about as many good or great covers as bad ones, for instance: is this Yedan Deryg?  Everyone's favorite  , Toc This one is only a better crop and better font away from being great, despite the romance novel vibe. Really though, the publishers and designers should have gotten him a proprietary font from day 1, or at least a Malazan logo. Branding motherfuckers!
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Aug 28, 2012 15:37
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Pardens of the Moon is my favourite book in the series
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Aug 28, 2012 15:49
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Pardens of the Moon, featuring Drizzt Do'Urden
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Aug 28, 2012 16:02
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HeroOfTheRevolution posted:Pardens of the Moon, featuring Drizzt Do'Urden
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Aug 28, 2012 20:17
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So the look is all wrong, but there's an awful lot of Elric there.
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Aug 29, 2012 02:45
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I'm about halfway through TtH, and just realized something I really like about this series, and I don't know if it stems from me just being slow or if that's the way it's written - When you have a character that you've been reading about for half a book, and it's suddenly revealed that you already know who this character is because you met them 3 or 4 books ago. In this case it's Seerdomin, who helped Toc the Younger. I always think that's super cool when it happens, but wonder if I should have picked up stuff in clues earlier.
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Aug 30, 2012 07:01
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I'm determined to never buy a mass market paperback whenever possible, so the fact that I may probably end up buying a book with this terrible a cover saddens me. Every time I look at it I think Christmas. People in red suits riding a green carriage. I didn't even see the undeads the first dozen or so times I saw it, so I originally saw it as Santa's sleigh falling down a mountain for some unknown reason. Then I saw the undead and it's Santa's sleigh being attacked by undead and falling down a mountain. Give me generic action dudes brandishing their swords any day over that poo poo. My favorite covers are probable the ones from Deadhouse Gates, House of Chains and Midnight Tides covers. I really don't know why I like the MT cover so much, as it's just some dudes standing around a dragon's skull, but I do. As a side note, a while ago when I read the books I was really crazy about Memories of Ice. I even argued with some dude about it on this very forum. But in retrospect I kinda like it less. It was a bit of a mess, with too many POVs, and too many dudes standing around talking about their power levels. Don't get me wrong, I really liked what the dudes standing around were talking about, but it was still kind of an entire book of exposition, plus a battle that I didn't particularly like - I don't much care for Erikson's battles, I much prefer his world and mythology building, and his occasional great characters. Also in retrospect I like Deadhouse Gates a lot more. I thought just about every character was great, it didn't have too much power creep, and it had a lot of simple human moments. Duiker was a great character to document the Chain of Dogs, especially because he was a historian and the history of the Malazan world is, as I said, one of Erikson's strong points. But it was also great because he wasn't a soldier (at that point in his life, anyway). We saw the battles from the point of view of someone who wasn't fighting (mostly), and was there to see how the battles were affecting the civilians so to speak. I really liked Felisin's journey and transformation as well. I thought she was a really great character, and Erikson really gets the type of desperate, fearful anger that Felisin displayed. Heboric was a good character as well, it's unfortunate DG was his only appearance in the series. I really should get to House of Chains one of these days. 
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Aug 30, 2012 09:06
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So, if you were reading Dresden Files between the Malazan books, I'd suggest to try the Iron Druid instead. It's just ridiculous on so many levels that it's simply brilliant. You won't regret it.
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Aug 30, 2012 16:18
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