Steven Eriksons Malazan series

[Liminal Syzygy]

Regarding the title of "Gardens of the Moon", I could be mistaken but doesn't one of the poems mention the "gardens of the moon"? I forget the exact context.

 

[myrdden]

I thought House of Chains was a bit of a misstep, frankly. It was REALLY dense, and lacked the emotional impact of Memories of Ice or Deadhouse Gates. The Toblakai was a great character, and it gave a very new view of the T'lan Imass, but the ending just didn't smack me with the big stick of "Holy Crap" that the previous two books had.

Still very, very good, however.

That's pretty much how I felt about the ending as well. I liked it, but it didn't have the intensity like the previous two books did. Personally I cannot get into Karsa's character and keep wishing he gets killed off soon (a wish I realize is pretty much hopeless).

 

[Onos T'oolan]

I think "all" the UK covers are great; I also hope that Tor sticks with using them for the rest of the series. Barring that they should just pick one artist and stick with him/her, rather than flip-flopping all over the place with different artists/styles with each title - there should be some consistency after all.

I think any attempt to put "identifiable characters on the covers" is doomed. No artist could ever graphically depict a character from these novels in a way that would satisfy even a small majority of readers - everyone's imagination is unique.

I also think that it's precisely because the UK versions don't attempt to depict close-ups of characters that they are successful. When you focus on one or two characters (which in itself is ridiculous considering the large cast of equally important characters in each book) you lose the 'epic' feel of the books' content.

These books aren't small personal stories about a small group of characters; these books are about epic events spanning hundreds of thousands of years, acted out by a very large cast of characters.

Just my humble $0.02 for my first post

 

[myrdden]

Just my humble $0.02 for my first post

And a fine first post it was.

Welcome!

 

[Onos T'oolan]

Welcome!

Thanks

Regarding House of Chains: I think of the four books up to that point, HOC was the weakest. Pacing/flow was a bit off compared to the previous novels.

I particularly was not crazy about Karsa Orlong -- didn't hate him, just found him a little annoying. I think if I had encountered him in another series/novel I would've liked him, but he just doesn't fit into MBOTF IMO; too typical of the 'Conan'-mold of barbarian-type characters.

For one, I think he's just too powerful - inexplicably so. Secondly, he seems to break some of the 'rules' that have been laid out so far, but without really explaining how eg. his imperviousness to magic - he defeats elder warrens like Tellan, but some squad mage is able to bind him using a spell designed to capture denrabi

On the other hand I really liked the Onrack/Trull Sengar sequences, and I always like all the Bridgeburner story lines.

Still a great book -- it's just that Erikson is so good I can't help holding him to a higher standard

 

[myrdden]

Thanks

Regarding House of Chains: I think of the four books up to that point, HOC was the weakest. Pacing/flow was a bit off compared to the previous novels.

I particularly was not crazy about Karsa Orlong -- didn't hate him, just found him a little annoying. I think if I had encountered him in another series/novel I would've liked him, but he just doesn't fit into MBOTF IMO; too typical of the 'Conan'-mold of barbarian-type characters.

For one, I think he's just too powerful - inexplicably so. Secondly, he seems to break some of the 'rules' that have been laid out so far, but without really explaining how eg. his imperviousness to magic - he defeats elder warrens like Tellan, but some squad mage is able to bind him using a spell designed to capture denrabi

On the other hand I really liked the Onrack/Trull Sengar sequences, and I always like all the Bridgeburner story lines.

Still a great book -- it's just that Erikson is so good I can't help holding him to a higher standard

I agree that HOC wasn't quite as good as the others, but the next book Midnight Tides picks right back up. I'm eagerly waiting the next installment.

 

[barsoomcore]

About Karsa Orlong: First off, he's a Thelomen Toblakai, and we don't really know what the heck THAT means at this stage, but they're CLEARLY forces to be reckoned with. Far more powerful than any human being would be, obviously. Plus he's all full of otataral goodness, and so far the best we can say about that is that it's awfully unpredictable. Remember Rallick Nom? (It was Nom, wasn't it, what smeared the otataral all over himself?)

And we don't see any real evidence that he's impervious or invulnerable to magical effects -- the denrabi-catching spell was getting slowly destroyed by Orlong, and he certainly would have broken free before too long.

He's just really, really tough in the same way that Icarium is. I guess them Thelomen Toblakai are just built tough.

 

[Pants]

I'm in the middle of HoC right now and I'm very much enjoying it. Karsa... isn't my favorite character, but I'm interested in seeing where his story goes.

The whole Tiste Edur/Tiste Liosan/Nascent thing interests me not and is pretty much the ONLY storyline that I have almost 0 actual interest in at this point. That may change though...

 

[Alratan]

I have to add, that whilst Steven Erikson, is generally an excellent witer of fantasy in almost all its aspects, he is... not the best at female characterisation.

 

[barsoomcore]

I've heard this before and am not sure where it comes from. There's a plethora of female characters I find compelling and believable -- Tattersail, Stonny, Felisen (sp), that Tiste Andii woman Whiskeyjack hooked up with whose name I can't recall, Kilava, that hilarious barbarian woman who got pregnant by Kruppe -- there's a great variety, I find, some heroic, some not so much, just like the boys.

Somebody told me they couldn't find Tattersail believable because she's fat but guys think she's hot and nobody thinks fat girls are hot. I did not have a ready reply to that statement.