Now that Amanda and Bill have concluded the reread of the ninth (and penultimate!) book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, Dust of Dreams, we’re opening the floor for questions to Steven Erikson!
The procedure is pretty direct. Steven will do his best to answer your questions in the thread below as soon as possible. Keep in mind that the timing of the answers is subject to Steven’s schedule, of course. Just a note that a Q&A occurred earlier in the reread of Dust of Dreams in regards to Hetan’s sequence in Chapter Fifteen. You can find Erikson’s Q&A here. Take a read through if you haven’t already. Odds are that any question you have regarding that sequence has already been addressed at length.
There are no strict guidelines for questions, but concise and well-composed questions are always always always best! And once again, a big thank you goes to Steven for taking time out of his schedule to engage in depth with fans of the Malazan series!
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My question relates to your writing process and how you plan out your characters and their arcs.
I just reread Deadhouse Gates, and the Blistig we see in Deadhouse is drastically different from the Blistig we see in Dust of Dreams/The Crippled God. In DG, Duiker’s viewpoint on the wall at Aren shows Blistig is visibly shaken by Mallick Rel and Pormqual’s choices not to help Coltaine and the Chain of Dogs. He even goes so far as to disobey Pormqual’s orders to march his garrison out of Aren. He is the voice of reason in the command structure at Aren, and he’s ignored.
His journey over the series leads him from being a compassionate commander concerned for his troops in DG to the Blistig who is more interested in desertion in Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God. My question is this: when planning out character arcs, does characterization take precedence over plot?
In Blistig’s situation, he changes from being a compassionate commander (in my interpretation of the events in DG at least) into a commander who is contemplating abandoning the Bonehunters in DoD/CG. Are these choices made because this is the version of the character you envisioned from the beginning? Or did you need a character in the Bonehunters to represent the soldiers who are considering desertion?
This is a specific situation to illustrate my question, but there are many characters in the books who change drastically from the first time we see them.
I’m a first time reader and I’ve just started on The Crippled God.
I have two questions that are related.
Firstly, some characters’ deaths are involved tightly with the plot and evidently serve a purpose (Whiskeyjack or Beak, for example). Others, while not necessarily major in terms of page exposure, are dealt a seemingly meaningless death. Keneb, for example, dies in Dust of Dreams after a lot on foreboding concerning his overloading responsibilities and his deteriorating relationship with Blistig (both play no role in his death). When you are writing, what makes you decide to kill off a character? I understand a theme recurrent in Dust of Dreams is the chaos of chance (being at the wrong place at the wrong time). Was that the point of Keneb’s death, which made you decide to have him killed and not pursue the other story threads you had begun?
Secondly, how do you decide which minor character lives and which dies when you write out a huge battle scene? There are hundreds (thousands!) of soldiers in the Bridgeburners or Bonehunters. Most are only mentioned in passing or briefly seen. How do you select the character you will kill and the characters that will survive? Characters like Pella in The Bonehunters, Primly or Ebron in Dust of Dreams are killed on page. Why them and not other characters? Do you write biographies of all your soldiers ahead of time and keep those that inspire you the most or basically pick names from a hat?
Hi Steve,
Kind of a vague question, but what’s the deal with the Jheck? We’ve seen them on several different continents. They shapeshift in wolves. They have some sort of link to Tellan and/or the Imass (from SW). They invaded Stygg in a single day and night at some point (from BF). Their ancestry goes back as far as the Thel Akai, and yet they seem to be still mostly living in fairly primitive ways.
Unlike almost all the other races, we’ve never had a PoV from a Jheck nor have they played much of an important role in the plot of the MBotF, so they remain quite mysterious. Any light you can shed on them? Was there ever a great Jheck civilization that collapsed and left them scattered across the world, or have they always been hanging around in the margins? Are they nomadic? Does being soletaken wolves make it hard for them to have pet cats or herd goats? I’m just curious!
Thanks Steve!
Isoroku@3 Just preempting Steven to tell you that you see more of them in Forge of Darkness. I will say no more on that subject.
Can you provide any more information on the Battle of the Red Spires? It’s mentioned by the Orshayn T’lan Imass, and we really don’t get much about it other than the Spires were controlled by the Order of the Red Spires, and one of their enemies was “the Bearded One.”
Why are we only in the 12th century of Burn’s Sleep in the books? What happened 1200 years ago – did Burn wake up? Evidence seems to suggest that she couldn’t have, since her waking up supposedly means the end of civilization. Of course, we don’t exactly know the specifics on it, but it seems like the world of Wu is Burn’s dream, much in the way that the Warrens are K’rul’s blood (and perhaps the various worlds of the warrens exist through the dragon’s blood, via K’rul’s pact), so her waking up definitely wouldn’t be good.
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! I was hoping you could give us an update on your progress on Fall of Light. Have you managed to fit in the War on Death after all? Is the early-2015 release date listed on Amazon accurate? Anything you are willing to share would be great.
Hello Steven,
once again I would like to thank you for taking the time to interact with your readers/fans and I hope you realize you make a lot of people happy by doing this (I suppose you do). My respect for you has only grown over the years since I finally “got it” – after two aborted attempts at Gardens of the Moon, the third time was indeed the charm, and after that, I was sold. The highlight for me was Toll the Hounds, which I feel is the most artfully and skillfully and heartfelt in the series, and, I have to admit that coming from that book to Dust of Dreams was a little difficult. Though book nine carries my favorite title of the ten, it was a book I struggled with, but I don’t know if I can identify what I found hard about it. Lots of good stuff in there, too.
Anyway, my question is not directly related to the book. I was rather wondering if you ever find the time these days for a good old session of tabletop roleplaying these days, with Esslemont or others. And if you do, how about filming a session and put it out there? :-D As a game master I am very curious about the games you played that preceded the Malazan books, though I suppose you have other things in life to inspire you now.
Oh, and I also wonder about anything Fall of Light, of course, but so do we all. Love that title too, by the way!
This has also been the longest ‘dry spell’ I’ve experienced with regards to Malazan books, do you feel any pressure to finish the second Kharkanas book or are you comfortably confident with it? :-) [I am in no way complaining about the time you are taking, I’m used to Martin’s five-six year projects!]
Thank you for your time,
Remy
Steve, how do you feel about the newly-revealed cover art for Willful Child?
For those who haven’t seen it yet -> http://edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com/ProductDetailPage.aspx?group=related&sku=0765374897
Hi Steve,
It’s that time of the decade again when the cartographers try their hands at the Malazan World Map, for the very last time before ICE reveals Assail to us (finally!). Just wanted to see how warm or not the latest effort is?
Best,
Wert
PS The map was created by D’Rek at Malazanempire, with myself pasting Jacuruku in.
Steve:
You’ve mentioned that you often have a particular cinematic moment in mind as you begin a book. In the case of Dust of Dreams, we get (at least)
two threeseveral great moments:Chapter 23 with the inital battle between the Bonehunters and the Nah’ruk has several moments (Quick Ben and Ruthan Gudd).
Chapter 24 with the battle between the Keeps and the Unrooted or the sealing of the rift or the view of the battlefield or ..
Which one was your cinematic viewpoint for DoD? (Or a different one–like a line of children walking through a desert)
Did you know Icarium’s journey from the first or did it evolve as the story evolved?
Thanks, as always.
Hey Steve!
Love the series and my question is kinda offtopic, but I was wondering if there are any plans to reprint the hardcover books for the entire series? I would love to own them all in hardcover but since I found out about this series only two years ago, prices for the early hardcovers are extreme to say the least…
Regardless wish you the best of luck and cant wait until the next book!
Hi Steve,
No question from me – there’s so much I would like to know about the Malazan world that it would probably need a couple of encyclopedias.
I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful, wonderful saga you’ve given us. It was truly incredible.
Hope to read more about Karsa Orlong one day – he’s probably the single most fascinating fantasy character I have ever encountered.
Thanks !
Hi Steve,
First, thanks for all your hard work in making a world in which I love to lose myself. This book in particular, was the one I was reading while I sat with my grandpa when he was actively dying, and many parts of it really struck close to home. Anyway, on a lighter note, my question is: If you lived within the Malazan universe, in which region and time period would you want to live? Also, would there be any gods you would find yourself following?
Thanks!
First, I’d like to point out that such collection of awesome names and nicknames have not been witnessed since, maybe the Iliad.
You have: prophecies, fate, it’s written, and destiny on one side ,and freedom, randomness, frustrated gods and chaos (both the mathematic al kind as the “convergence” and the poetic kind) on the other.
The question is , what is your prefered dosage of these opposites when you’re building a world as an artist, and does it mach your view on such things in real life.
If you want , you can simplify the answer in %.
0% is everithing is random
100% you can’t escape your destiny.
Hi Steve!
Since Wert already posted the map question I was going to ask, I’ll throw a couple quick geography bits at you.
–Is Quaint (from the Healthy Dead) on a particular continent? Or is its location deliberately vague?
–Likewise, does Farrog and the Great Dry from Crack’d Pot Trail have a location?
–Does Stratem actually have any nations on it (before the Crimson Guard started their governship between RotCG and SW) or is it all just city-states like Toll City and scattered towns, as we saw in RotCG?
–We know Nemil is in the centre of the 7C continent at the south end of the Catal Sea. Perish is west of that, and Shal-Morzinn is somewhere around the western side of the continent, too. The Cabal Archipelago is also somewhere around there but no specifics known. Since 7C is so big, are there other nations in western 7C we’ve never even heard of? If so, how much information have you and Cam made up about them that you’ve never gotten a chance to use in your books? I do like that there are big chunks of the world we only see ever-so-briefly or not at all in this series, like Umryg, Nabraja, the northern Genebacis cities, Itko Kan, so I’m quite content with only getting hints about western 7C from the Perish, Rythe Bude and the Goats of Glory. I don’t really want to know all the history and culture of those places, unless/until a Malazan story visits them “properly”. However, in the interests of having a world map that isn’t quite so empty in some regions, if there are nations out there we haven’t heard of would you like to share some names that we can write in and speculate about?
As always I’d like to give you another big thank you! DoD absolutely wrecked me emotionally the first time I read it, in the best possible way!
Hi Steve,
My question is about the chapter heading of Dust of Dream’s Book One, which is a striking statement, “The Sea Does Not Dream of You”.
I discovered later that the line reoccurs throughout your books, like a kind of echo– in a poem somewhere and spoken by a character somewhere else.
My question is whether there was any particular reason you had for repeating this line, or any special inspiration to it? I feel that the ‘You’ is also addressed to the reader as well as characters of the series – and that it was like a firm warning sign to all who read this book.
Thank you for this wonderful series.
Hello Mr Erikson, I have a bit of a tangental question here: Is Assail the last novel about the malazan empire, as it seems to say so in its blurb. Also, if warren’s are Krul’s blood, does that make Chaos the rest of his body? Finally, is the Abyss outside of space-time, or is it just space. Thank you very much for this Q&A and your brilliant books. You’re the (tied for) best!
Hi Steve,
As always, thanks for taking time out of your schedule for this.
I was wondering if anything surprised you in the writing of this penultimate book (or really ultimate, since it was concieved as one and had to be split?). What I mean is, now that you were moving into the end stage, and you were moving down some character and plot paths that I assume (feel free to correct the assumption) were pretty laid down at this point, in the writing did anything or anyone suddenly branch off unexpectedly? Did you go, for instance, “Huh, didn’t see Quick doing that!”
Thanks again
Hi Steven,
I’ve finally caught up with this re-read and would like to ask you my first question. We have seen the return of Draconus as well as Hood awakens to mortal flesh once again. So why not Anomander Rake? Did you felt that he is already done? I believe many readers would feel that he should be not yet done. Thanks for a wonderful series. I have been reading fantasy books for 40 years by many writers, none of them could match your focus. Many of them started brilliantly but fumbled on their later books and took years to deliver the next book of equal quality. However you managed to deliver all ten high quality books within 20 years so to me you are the best.
Hello, as I have mostly had my plot questions answered during the reread I’ll just jump into thematic questions:
A) For me, DoD was easily your most cynical book about the nature of humanity. Extintion is abound, a lot of ‘last of their people’ walking around, violence for violence’s sake, so on and so forth. Did you do this because you wanted a dip before the triumph (as bleak as that triumph may be) finish or had you always planned for this book to be the one where you looked more starkly and perhaps more damning at the human condition than any previous book?
You’ve often said that MBotF is a postmodern series and while I can see where you could make the arugment for TtH being one I can’t wrap my head around the entire series being one. There is side glances but nothing as overtly as Kruppe awareness of the narrative. So can you explain how it is one? (I am, barely, more familiar with Postmodernism in a socialogical context, than a literature one but mostly it just goes over my head).
Lastly I’d like to thank for both the Snake and Jaghuts, good day!
Not Steve, but I think I know the answer to this one. ICE’s six-book series is informally labelled the ‘Novels of the Malazan Empire’ to distinguish it from the ten-volume Malazan Book of the Fallen and the follow-up trilogies. Assail is, I believe, merely the final book of ICE’s six-book arc hence why it’s got that title. ICE has said he may write further books in the Malazaverse, including potentially prequels about the foundation of the Empire, so it’s not necessarily the last book about Malaza ever.
I also believe ICE and Steve have the Malazan encyclopedia (with more maps!) on the to-do list. Maybe Steve could let us know how far down that list it is? :)
Thanks for another great book! Dust of Dreams is definitely one of my favourites :) With such a rich book several questions spring to mind:
1. In the discussion between Kilmandaros and Mael they compare Rake’s actions in breaking Dragnipur to locking all the gods in a room to force them to deal with the Crippled God. It seems clear as to how the breaking of Dragnipur influenced the Tiste and how it frees Hood to act but how do Rake’s actions prompt the other ascendants to deal with the Crippled God?
2. It seems as though when the Errant encountered Setch and Kilmandaros they already had their own scheme in mind but it was not clear what that plan was. It seemed to be related to stealing the Crippled God’s heart and allying with Calm. Can you explain what exactly it was that they were trying to do and why? Setch’s motivations seem particularly opaque and his various thoughts appear to contradict each other in both Dust of Dreams and the Crippled God.
3. Tavore states that Fiddler’s reading was an insult and elsewhere it is stated that it marked those involved. What does this mean exactly? Who was marking the participants and in what way was it an insult?
4. Are the warrens that Grub and Sinn find themselves in new worlds, illusions or memories? Did Icarium create new worlds or simply incorporate existing worlds? Will we ever get more information on the fate and history of Icarium?
As BDG mentions above, Dust of Dreams is a fairly unrelentingly depressing book – bad stuff happens to good people, and bad people, and people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We see the worst of human nature, counterbalanced only by little flashes of potential, and much of the darkness in humanity is concentrated in a few situations to really bring it home.
I recall from your Life as a Human blogs that it was between Books 9 & 10 that you took time off to recharge your batteries with a bit of archaeology, and you eloquently describe just how well that worked out ;)
It isn’t quite the right place to ask this yet, but what I’m curious about was whether that situation changed anything in what happens in both DoD and TCG? I consider the books to be one long novel, but the feeling, the atmosphere in both is extremely different.
Did your brush with mortality make you reconsider how any events were presented?
Also, by this point as you at last reveal the staggering ambition of the Malazans (hint, hint, show, TELL) it has finally become obvious to all that the overwhelming plaintive cry of the series is for compassion.
Are you willing to reveal what you personally considered the primary themes of each book?
Oh, and finally, is the Bonehunters versus the Nah’ruk right to be considered the mirror of Pale – both feature magical devastation of the elite forces, yet where the one triggers the eventual decline into a brittle squad level remnant, the other seems to be a final tempering into a cold iron blade.
I have a couple of questions as well, but I will save those for the TCG Q&A. I find it more fitting to ask them there.
But I’m posting here to thank Steven once again for taking the time to answer questions. :)
You are awesome, Steven.
Ok, two questions then, related to the Kharkanas books.
1. You said earlier that you were having trouble to fit in both Tiste and Jaghut threads into the next book. Is this still the case?
2. If the answer to 1. is ‘no’, are you expanding the series to 4 books, or will you be writing about the Jaghut in a separate book (or books)? I guess that would leave the Jaghut plot hanging after Forge of Darkness.
Thanks :)
Also I wish I could edit my post…sociological**
Hi Steve,
when introducing the Barghast in Memories of Ice, did you allready have in mind how their journey would end in implosive self destruction on the continent of Lether or was that a decision you made when writing Dust of Dreams?
Thanks!
Ah, Kah-turak. That was among my questions I wanted to keep for after TCG. You can guess why. :)
BDG @25:
Register your account with TOR. It’s free, you get your name in black, and you can edit your posts too ;)
Fiddler @27
Wow, I never noticed you could register here before, lol. And I’ve been hanging around since they began re/reading Gardens of the Moon. Thanks for the headsup, now I’m officially a member.
And now that I am, I might as well throw in another question, and I kind of know that I won’t get a proper answer, but hey, a man can try.
–>> What’s the deal with Ruthan Gudd
Hi Steve,
Thanks for taking the time to engage with your readers and for writing what I already feel is the best fantasy series I’ve read to date (even though I’ve only just started TCG). I have two questions.
1). I’ve always enjoyed how the Malazan world echoes our world in terms of its trajectory from the age of the dinosaurs (K’Chain) to early hominids like the Eres, on to Neanderthal-like Imass, and finally humans. Was this pattern always a conscious decision or coincidence (that maybe you ran with when you realized it)? Did the war between Che’Malle and Nah’ruk open the way for eventual dominance of the Imass and then humans similar to how dinosaurs’ extinction opened niches for mammals to occupy, or do you think Imass/humans would have evolved regardless?
2). This question applies more broadly to the series as a whole, but I’ll put it in terms of a DoD events specifically. It also echoes Bill’s question above. As the books went on, it became fairly obvious that Gesler and Stormy were destined to play a large role in some way as a consequence of their journey into Tellann (Thyrllan?). Finally, in DoD we see them take up the mantle of Mortal Sword and Shield Anvil for the KCCM and lead them to victory. Did you have this destination in mind for Gesler and Stormy back in Deadhouse Gates or did their role not become apparent until later while writing the series?
Thanks again!
Hello Everyone
Sorry for the delay. I’ve been GoH at MisCon these past few days and am now about to explore some of Montana before returning home. I will do my best to get to your questions as soon as possible.
Cheers
SE
Thanks for the update Steven. As far as I’m concerned, take as long as you need. I’m just happy you are willing to participate with us.
Not sure who manages your stevenerikson.com website, but is there any chance they could make a page for upcoming events that you’ll be making an appearance at? I never know when you’re going to show up to speak at various cons. I know lots of people would love a chance to see/meet you in person.
Hi Steven!
Once more thanks a lot for taking your time and of course your books.
Since the first time I read Dust of Dreams I found it very difficult to understand Tool’s motiviation in sacrificing himself and his family. I mean here is a character who experienced first hand the painful loss of mortality. Then after thousands of years he gets a second chance and becomes mortal again – even finding someone to love and starting his own familiy.
Why does Tool so willingly throw away everything he longed for (or didn’t he?) to save a group of people who would rather see him dead and gone more than anything else? Is this just Tool’s sense of duty as a leader (if so, but what about his responsibility and compassion for his loved ones?) or was he rather forced to act the way he did? Be it by the influence of some powerful entity such as Olar Ethil or, as someone already suggested in an earlier post, do we see some characteristical Imass thread here, where compassion for their group always takes predominance over anything else. Would by great if you could share some of your thoughts on this topic.
Many thanks, take care & all the best,
Chris.
Hi Steven,
As always, thanks for taking the time to swing by and talk with us. I’ve got a few questions I would love your thoughts on.
Nearing the end of the series, we’re seeing a lot of callbacks to things from before, as well as major payoffs to storylines that were books in the making. How much of DoD/TCG did you see and know when starting out? And in terms of your plotting, were you always working towards these outcomes, or did you veer anywhere new as you went? How did you find yourself balancing chapters, storylines? With so many moving parts, did you actively focus on balancing everything together or did they just come naturally?
A recent trend in fantasy lit seems to be magic in the world operating as science, with natural laws and rules as defined by the author and world. When developing the magic of Malazan, how did you view it? I’m curious as to your take on magic in general, actually. There seem to be hard and fast rules, a hierarchy in Malazan, but also a lot of wiggle room depending on the wielder. Would love your thoughts.
I’ve just gotten my friend into the Malazan series, (he’s loving it), and we’re using a term to describe your writing style as, “Philosoplotting,” which we’re both very curious about. As far as we’ve seen and discussed, you have this great ability to entertwine valuable character info, worldbuilding and deep discussions on the nature of the world, while also moving the characters to where they have to go. Don’t know if this is really a question, but I’m curious if this was on purpose, or just your natural writing style?
Finally, what was your state of mind at the end of DoD? After putting these characters through the wringer in every sense of the word, getting ready to dive into TCG, how were you feeling?
Thanks again Steven, and I hope you’re doing well!
Cheers,
Marty
Thanks again, Steven. Two questions:
1. Could you clarify your intentions with Icarium’s new warrens and how they are represented? There is a fantastic theory on the forum that describes them as “coins” and expands on the duality and economic symbolism. Was that anywhere near what you thinking of?
2. This was probably the most cliffhanger-ey book you wrote up to this point. Was it any more fun to be able to stop almost immediately after the climax and leave so much in doubt? Because I see no other reason to have left so many loyal and dedicated and trusting readers in such suspense over the life of Quick Ben – and all the Bonehunters, really – except for a bewildering dark side that thirsts with malicious greed for the emotions that you, good sir, left me and many others with when you ended this particular book. And I love you for that.
Steven,
I want to thank you for this series (and universe) I have found reading it incredibly rewarding. The re-read enhances the experience (thanks Bill and Amanda), but even more than that, your willingness to respond here is just awesome! And I want to let you know that I truly appreciate it and certainly don’t take it for granted. To paraphrase from Forge of Darkness, I would guess that you are interested in our opinion on your work.
I have a line of questions about Ruthan Gudd:
Where did he come from? Will we ever get his backstory?
Why was he “borrowing” stormrider armor? How did he come by that privilege (curse?)? AND…. Where did the stormriders come from? Will we ever get their backstory? (I can try)
What about Sulkit? Will we find out what happens to her?
How much of these last two books were gamed ahead of time with Cam? Things like Tool’s storyline, was that all from a gaming session? Or did that come later? What about Hetan? Did you decide to add that particular detail later?
Long time lurker, first-timer poster!
First, I just want to say I am STOKED I’ve finally caught up. First time through the series and it’s taken me about 10 months on and off reading, and this re-read blog has been invaluable in helping me get to grips with this epic series. I will wait until I finish tCH (and the other ICE books) before I try and rank it vs ASOIAF, LoTR and WoT, but it certainly deserves a seat at the table with those other great epic fantasy series… The seige of Capustan and the Chain of Dogs ranks up there with the most intense, emotional and rewarding plotlines I’ve had the pleasure to read.
Question for Steven: I’m aware from reading answers to other questions that Shadowthrone was a ICE character from your role playing days. Can you tell us who was your (main) character?
Hi Steven! Another huge fan of your work and the Malazan universe.
One criticism I’ve heard from others about the Malazan series is that the power scales involved quickly become absurd.
For example, when just a few K’Chain Che’Malle were tearing through armies in MoI, hearing about 15,000 Ve’Gath soldiers in DoD is mindblowing. People seem to either find this awesome or silly.
Did you ever worry about “power creep” through the series, and do you have a response to those that complain the Malazan battles and magic system are overpowered and unbelievable? Was balancing realism/believability against a desire to impress/exaggerate/surpass the last chapter a consideration for you when writing?
I quite enjoyed the sections of the books that have PoVs of non-superpowered characters. But in general they seem unaware of the true power of some of the heavyweight characters and the possibilities of the magic system. Is this the overall picture, that the average Malazan human isn’t aware of the existence of demigods and supermen among them? What do you think would change if the average person did know about the capabilities of the beings among them?
Were there any other issues with, or details you needed to make self-consistent, a world where “normal” people can coexist with beings of ridiculous power we loved reading about?
@38
But werent those UNDEAD KCCM, akin to T’lan Inmass, I think that somewhat justifies the difficulty in defeating them.
Another comparison that might be better would be Karsa taking on the lone short tail, then seeing the Malazan Marines (and Heavies) take on an army. Given that was fairly early in Karsa’s plotline, and he did it bare handed, but still, Karsa!
Just wondering; as the author, how did all the deaths at the end of the book affect you? Were they difficult to write. Love these books by the way.
We get to keep piling on more questions until SE finds time to answer them, right? :P Sorry, Steve!
I would like to add another question though:
We’ve seen throughout the series that the Jaghut can be extremely resilient. The more powerful among them don’t even need a physical form, and can keep their soul in the mortal plane and rebuild their own body, as Raest did, or spend eons separate from their body, as Hood did. They also toy around with souls, capturing some in Finnests, taking over human bodies as a disguise (ie: Pannion), and more. Then there’s Verdith’anath, where we didn’t actually see any Jaghut souls hanging around, nor have we seen any in Hood’s realm.
So the Jaghut certainly have some interesting death/spirit aspects going on, which in some ways is kind of odd because they are so heavily ice-aspected. But, on the other hand, Gothos’ ritual in the MT prologue lead to all sorts of counter-death effects (amongst other effects), like Shurq, Harlest, Kettle, the Azath, the Bentract T’lan Imass/Refugium, and more.
So perhaps all of this is connected. The Jaghut’s ice-magic can be used to “freeze” life itself, preventing death by preserving souls in abstract, magic-metaphorical ice? Which then leads nicely to the whispered-of Jaghut war against Death itself.
Finally, my question – am I on the right track? Could only the Jaghut have “succeeded” in the war against Death and accomplished what they achieved, because of their ice magic/aspect?
Since we’re double dipping, to riff off of Tufty’s question, many for the non-humans (the Jaghuts, and the Tebol, and the K’Chain, and the Assail…I’m not too sure about the Tiste or the Imass) seem to be physically different and socially different but they don’t seem to be that different from humans in term of their cognitive functions, emotions, or their behavioural patterns (outside of maybe the Short-Tails). Did you ever have a version of the Wu where those species (races?) were vastly different from humans or has there always been a focus on humanizing everyone?
Steve! This is unrelated to DoD and a little random but I think you and ICE should sign on an artist and do a graphic novel on the Seguleh. Something dark and gritty, about their exile from Daru to Cant and the last rule of the Tyrant. Or maybe a back story on Jan’s rise to 2nd and his relationship with the 1st and the tradition and lifestyle of those who follow the way of the sword.
Hello mr Erikson. Thank you for your time, your attention and most importantly for all the books.
My question is also not about DoD, but about the whole Malazan series: could you tell us a little about names? Names of places, characters, etc. – there are many and very rarely you tell us the meaning of a name. Of course, many (nick)names are ‘translated’ for the reader, but I mean the names that are in one of your fictional languages.
Is there significance to which names are translated for the reader and which aren’t? Do your/ICE’s names in made-up languages usually have a meaning, or were they picked for their nice sound? (If they have meanings, would you translate a few for me?) For example: series of names like Nimander / Anomander / Andarist make me feel these are words with meanings, but perhaps that’s just my obsessive mind.
I want to add that I really admire how you use names to add dissonance or hidden layers, for example Silchas Ruin (or is ruin here not meant to be a english word??), Clip, Whiskeyjack, Burn, so many more… And it fascinates me how all the soldier characters seem to have completely forgotten their birth names . Even the new recruits leave theirs behind eagerly, it seems. Was that a conscious choice, or did it just happen that way?
I know this is a year old thread but I just got Dust of Dreams on audiobook and I’ve reached the Hobbling scene. I’m not going to question its existences because I understand that the Bargast are tribals and Hettan had stretched there unwritten taboos with her unrepentant freedom and marrying an outsider who became the their War leader. Tul’lan was trying to lead the Bargast as he would lead the Imass, a communal culture vs a tribal culture as well a people feeling as if they were in the trows of holy prophecy . The tyrannical, petty, small minded, and the uncomprehending killed Tul and have their warrant to inflict there bereaved vengeance on his wife for being better than them. Its horrible but it makes sense to me.
WHY the HELL are the Bargast gods tormenting her brother? Is it because he treated with hood? is it because they were once alive and they are the true mirror of their people? is it because as said in the book they are just bastards and this gets them off? would his arrival been to timely to and spoil the moment with discordant note as a culture eats one of their own? WHY!?