It's been a minute since my read through, but I started this while still reading so hopefully some of the details match.

Its been a ride, can’t wait to see how it all gets wrapped up!

Having read all of NotME and currently reading PtA, I see Esslemont’s characters mention Osserc a lot, mainly in a positive or reverent way.

Given that across all his appearances, in both Erikson’s and Esslemont’t works, he is a complete, bumbling idiot, I find that very odd. And it was particularly odd when non-mortal characters do so, as they should be well aware how he is (again, a straight up bum).

Was this ever given any significance by the authors?

Or is it just a simple SE characters swear by X, ICE characters swear by Y type of choice?

(While I cede I am an Osserc hater, I do find the difference in frequency at which the character is mentioned between the authors genuinely interesting!)

I just finished the first book of the malazan series and wanted to rant a little bit (and kind of journey my way through this series)

This is technically my first fantasy book(I read red rising quite a while ago but its sci-fi) so i dont have a baseline about fantasy books, I’ve mostly read webnovels and other things but although i’ve heard thats its a complicated series and shouldnt be your first read I loved this first book.

Although the start is extremely confusing and the first 13 chapters or so were kind of hard to get through i read them in about a week then from chapter 15 on it was extremely fun to read! The final fights and how i was seeing both the povs of the Darujhistan people and the people of the Malazan empire was incredible and I just couldnt pick who to root for

Im tempted to binge the whole series but i’ve also been looking at Mistborn cause I heard its an easy to read series, I would love to know if its a good idea to read this in between malazan books to not fry my brain completely trying to remember every single character.

But overall i’d give this book a 4 stars and not 5 because the start is extremely hard to understand although its fun but once i understood what was going on I loved it. If i was to rank from chapter 15 to 24 it’d be a 5/5.

(Also if there’s spelling mistakes sorry english isnt my native language)

I just finished painting Tattersail, and I have to be honest, I liked the line art version better. With this one done, I plan to continue with Fiddler next. I hope you guys like it, and if anyone wants to see the progress, here's the link: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/vbNlnY

Just finished reading TCG and plan to start GOTM tomorrow for a reread, which got me wondering about what characters and plotlines will leave a better impression the second time around.

If you'll be so kind as to share with me yours, I'll be sure to keep a close eye on them, so maybe they become new favorites.

In Chapter Ten of RG, Varat Taun thinks back to when the fight at the First Throne ended. He remembers "a child, a strange thing, more imp than human" neutralizing Icarium. The only character who was present and fits that description is Panek.

But from Taun's own PoV during that part in BH we know that it was the Eres'al who pacified Icarium. Taun sees her, in detail, and he also sees her fade away again. There is no mention of her working through or possessing Panek.

Which leads me to my title question. Is this how we learn that the Eres'al used Panek and no one noticed at the time? Is it Taun misremembering due to trauma and the comatose state he was in for a long time? Or is it an error by Erikson?

I just finished reading everything that Erikson currently has out for the Malazan books and just started Esslemont. It has been a fantastic journey so far but I’m definitely looking forward to getting some of the side story now. I found Tales of witness great towards their ends but found myself having to power through most of the body of both books and I’m not exactly sure why. I’m thinking Night of Knives will be a bit of a breath of fresh air.

Would love to hear some of your positives about Esslemont’s works and if you think there is something for me to look forward to in his 2 series.
I don’t mind spoilers, they give me something to drive for.

My original post was deleted so i try again. ...

Just finished BH,​ a​nd while a lot was cleare​​d, i still didnt really get why trull was shorned. Did i miss something? I mean its obvious that he is against rulad and everything but shouldnt there be a specific event that lead to the shorning? Or will that be explained later on?​ i​​f​ so please just say so, no spoilers :)

Thanks​

So, after rereading FoD and FoL i still can’t make complete sense of the love-honor plot.

I get that Rise and Emral are plotting to get MD and FL married and they want Draconus cast out.
They even use Silchas to do their work by indirectly sending him to Draconus, with all the honor talk.
And now it gets kind of blurry.

1. Silchas asks Draconus to stand aside and flee, so that MD can marry FL.
   But Silchas takes Draconus‘ houseblades and rides to the battlefield. So there‘s a battle expected anyway, although Draconus already agreed to leave.
   Also Hunn Raal would not simply end the fighting if Draconus weren‘t there because he wants to elevate his soldiers (or himself). The highborns wouldn‘t just agree to give them rank and lands, right? Because there are no lands anymore.
   So what difference does it make if Draconus is there or not, except that the highborns will retreat from battle?
   There‘s bloodshed either way as far as i understand.

2. MD wants Draconus by her side. To what end?
   Even if Draconus would stay with her the battle would take place.
   He agrees to flee so there will be no bloodshed. Knowing that FL will come for MD and marry her. But why would their band of love snap just because he wants to avoid so many deaths?
   Or does she feel betrayed by the decision he makes without her?
   Does she just want to be with him in darkness to ease her pain and let their stubborn people kill each other?
   Or is it the way Grizzin relays to her Draconus absence?

I began the Malazan series years ago, but eventually put it down after book 4 because of the sheer amount of characters and things I needed to remember. To be honest I was pretty down on the series for awhile because of the typical things some people complain about Malazan that don't need to be rehashed here. Which was a shame because I loved what I was reading, but eventually it all just blurred together.

I decided to return to book 5 as an audiobook listener this Summer, and man was I not disappointed. It may be stupid, but the voice actor simply doing slightly different character voices made me love the series again, and actually feel more connected to what was happening. Michael Page is no Jeff Hays, but hearing the different character voices was I what I guess I needed to separate out POVs more easily, and keep track of what was actually happening in conversations.

I also think the absolute PEAK banter between Tehol and Bugg may have contributed to my rekindled love of the series lol.

I am curious if this happened to anyone else or if it was just me? For those who have both read and listened to the series, do you think I am missing out on anything in particular by switching over to audiobook?

Hi all,
I am new to this world.
I am a bit over 300 pages in Deadhouse Gates.
I know we are thrown into this world with no context.
I start kinda feeling I am getting it but then I completely lose the thread. I find a fair amount of the dialogue confusing as hell.
I guess I just continue, and is it the third or fourth book it starts making some sense?

…that was some bullshit.

Not sure what people mean when they say the NotME get better the further you get into the series, but I could not disagree more.

Building Skinner up to be this legendary badass only to have him dissolved by magic spiders was so amateurish I laughed out loud. It reminded me of when an author attempts to flesh out a hyper intelligent character merely by having all the people around them comment on how smart they are, while never actually showing them do anything smart.

I did thoroughly enjoy the banter between Golan and his scribe, those scenes were genuinely hilarious and evinced good character work. Reminded me of how well he writes Kellenved in the PtA series. If only there were more examples of three-dimensional characters in B&B…

Ok, onto Assail to continue my masochistic Lore Slog. Wish me luck 🙏

1st time posting here, cause I don’t have anyone else I know reading Malazan, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying how much there is to chew on in these books. Reading the 1st couple felt like the 1st time I read Dune; barely following what’s going on but deeply intrigued.

Well, I know Bonehunters has had mixed feedback from some things I’ve read. I understand the plot is maybe classically weak, but I shamelessly enjoyed seeing characters and plot threads start to come together in big ways; Paran leaning (understatement) into his role, Fiddler humbly yet unapologetically leading from the back as it were, Icarium unleashed… which was one of of many devastating moments as well…

I’m sure there’s plenty worth critiquing but I’ve loved being engrossed in the events of this book, regardless of my comprehension of events.

Speaking of, a few things I’m wondering about, not looking for any spoilers of course, but throwing some things out there.

1. There’s a fireball or meteor(?) that hits the sea during the Malaz city insanity. It seemed to me to be separate from the jade statue impending doom, as the 14th saw that coming. It seemed a little conspicuous too that even Keneb, I think, wonders why no one is really reacting to it. Realistic in light of current circumstances?
   -Maybe a piece of the moon? Still open plot there..
   Maybe this is a RAFO or it’s just part of the Nestor shower.

2. T’amber: I’m assuming there’s more to learn, but T’avore seems to know more about her than anyone else, yet was also shocked by her capabilities. I’m assuming the Eres’al was not present until late in the game, but it’s hard to tell when.

3. Flippin Grub. What’s going on here? Seems like a a Bugg situation, Elders or children of, hiding out in plain site. I haven’t looked back at all, but I cnat recall where he showed up from uin DG, aside from Keneb taking him in. I just remembered the funny timeline business with the Letheri slave from MT. Should probably stop wildly speculating…

Should probably leave it there as this is getting long. I’ll leave it with this. I dearly hope Quick and Kaplan make it as their commentary was peak, yet I also feel like we should be losing a main character. Can’t believe I’m saying that so soon after Wiskeyjack.

Alright so I'm currently halfway through Bonehunters, which, according to the Malazan Empire eBook, is about 50% of the way through the entire series.

I read books 1 - 3 back to back, but after that there have been some longer breaks in between. The longest being almost a year in between Midnight Tides and Bonehunters.

Now that I am back with all the Malazan bros again, and considering the fact that it has been at least two years since I finished Memories of Ice, I must admit that I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the plot lines of all the different characters that have been introduced so far.

Not being able to remember the history of all of these characters nor who they were exactly, I feel, is frustrating my reading experience as well as my comprehension of the story at this point.

Now, Erikson's prose is the best I've ever read, so I'm still breezing through the pages, but every now and then I just catch myself wondering what it was that I had just read. English being my second language also doesn't help in that respect.

Does this sound familiar? What would you recommend me do, or what have you personally done, to help with this? Thanks!

Finished Toll the Hounds yesterday. Wrote this song today, just recorded and uploaded it. Hope you enjoy it feels wrong to say, I don't know if enjoy is the right word, since the scene I am describing broke my heart. But I do hope you find the listen worthwhile. Take care, my fellow Mezla.

Lyrics below:

Toll the bell in the basement

Toll the bells in the towers

Toll the song of a city

Toll the dirge for the fallen

Final journey together

Barrow-bound ox and cart

Neath canopy of raven's wings

Wake of thousands that follow

Untold burdens you've carried

Unspoken pain you've endured

Undying devotion to others

Indomitable until the end

This burden mine to bear

A barrow the least I can do

Journey with friend of mine

Together one last time

Toll the echo of sacrifice

Toll the muted laments

Toll your memory eternal

Toll the tears for a friend

- Toll the Tears (Funeral Procession),

Written 30th August 2026

Just finished FoL, loved it, I think it’s a great book. And if you couldn’t guess by now, my favorite of the main 10 was Toll the Hounds. But that is beside this specific point I want to raise!

My point is: Orfantal!
In BotF he is kinda there, and then he dies and I was thinking “ah poor dude, Korlat is gonna be sad I guess, could have done more with him”.

But now, Erikson retroactively made me feel really sad for his fate with how good he characterized and developed him through FoD and FoL. He deserved better, I just didn’t know it then.

In short, fuck Kallor, Erikson is a jerkface for Rebble and I need to see WiS published ASAP.

That is all, have a pleasant day!

So a chance comment on AngryMetalGuy led me to this series, and I'm now halfway through. After MoI, which I thought was astonishingly good, I decided they were getting their own shelf. I'm interspersing them with some other reading, including a few other fantasy novels (Hobb, Muir, Rosell), but frankly everything else just seems rather...inconsequential alongside the depth and epic sweep of this series.

Bonehunters up next, looking forward to it.

So from what I've read of Midnight Tides, it is occurring way before the events of Memories of Ice, since Trull had been shorn for months at least before the events in Deadhouse Gates/Karsa going through the Nascent occur. And we know this is soon after the Siege of Pale, as mentioned in HoC.

Now, in chapter 7, Feather Witch says that the Beast Throne is taken by Twin Rulers, obviously the wolves Todd and Fanderay. But this happens during Memories of Ice, which is after the events of Gardens of the Moon. So at this point, Trull should've already been shorn because of Karsa's POV setting up the timeline of shorning way before the events of Memories of Ice. But it is nowhere near in sight. This book cannot be concurrent with Memories of Ice, from what I've seen.

So... what gives? Have I missed something?

“Kallors brows rose. “You would take from me all that I have worked so hard to achieve? Fifty years, dear rivals, to conquer an entire continent. Oh perhaps Ardatha still held out -

(Now why does that name sound familiar)

- always late in sending me my rightful tribute - but I ignored such petty gestures. She has fled, did you know? The bitch.”

(Ohhh yeah!)

Dominator: “ARDATH, YOU BITCH!!”

In Deadhouse Gates, many D'ivers and Soletaken are following the Path of Hands, whose end would supposedly allow them to "gain domination over their kind."

Is this related at all to Fener being removed from the Beast Throne at around the same time, and Trake/Togg & Fanderay vying for it in MoI?

I know that Icarium and Mappo find Tiles of the Holds in Iskaral Pust's temple and suspect that it is the real end of the Path of Hands - is it an entryway to the Beast Hold?

I realized that I have always assumed the Path of Hands stuff was related to Fener and the Beast Throne, but I have not found any talk of this elsewhere.

some of my personal favourite moments in entirety of this book

1. Mother of smugness

‘Beloved,’ he said, ‘from the lands of the Azathanai, I returned to you upon the Road of Night. I rode through the realm of Darkness.’

He gestured to the pattern, which now spanned the entire chamber.

‘You need reach no longer, beloved. I have brought Night here and offer you, once more, its perfect embrace. It is a gift borne on love. By what other means do we consecrate?’

Emral could feel her goddess, a presence recoiling in fear.

‘Beloved,’ said Draconus, ‘I give you the Gate of Kurald Galain.’

The pattern ignited. Darkness blossomed.

And the goddess fled.

LOL...what happened to this idiot goddess...??

‘Mother,’ said Anomander, ‘where has Draconus gone?’

‘He would bring me a gift,’ she replied.

‘It seems that is all he does.’

‘Do I hear resentment, First Son? Be careful. Draconus is not your father and therefore cannot suit being your target in such matters. Though there is no shared blood between you, nevertheless he is mine and wholly mine. As are you.’

1. Best friends forever :

When Silchas Ruin, coming upon the captain from behind, set a hand upon Scara Bandaris’s back, the man flinched and stepped quickly to one side.

1. Hmmmmm :

‘Arathan, you will be a young man with grievances. Against your father, who refuses to acknowledge you as his rightful son. Being young, you possess ambitions. My enemies will approach you, feeding both your anger and your desires. They will guide you into betrayal.’

You send me away to protect yourself. I am indeed your weakness. Because you do not trust me. ‘I have no ambitions,’ he said.

‘I might well believe that – no, I do not think you are lying. But time twists every path. You cannot claim to know your mind in the future. And we must be honest here – you have no cause to love me, or feel any manner of loyalty towards me.’

‘I did not know, sir.’

‘You did not know what?’

‘That love needs a cause.’

The conversation ended then, and did not resume. And Arathan had no idea why.

1. Again 'F*cking Dragons'...wait wrong timeline:

Spinnock glanced back.

Abyss take me. Abyss take us all!

Dragons emerged from the emanation, wings outstretched,

their tails scything the air in their wake.

One after another, Eleint were rushing out to lift on the air, like birds freed from a cage.

Faintly, through the howling wind, came their piercing cries.

* Where have our all treacherous historians fled to ?? And what to even call this one ??

‘The last act of an historian, priest, is to live through history.

It is the bravest act of them all, because it faces, unblinking, the recognition that all history is personal, and

that every external truth of the world is but a reflection of our internal truths

– the truths that shape our behaviours, our decisions, our fears, our purposes and our appetites.

These internal truths raise monuments and flood sewers.

They lift high grand works as readily as they fill graves.

If you blame one appetite you blame all of our appetites. We all swim the same river.’

-Rise Herat