Welcome to the Malazan Reread of the Fallen! Every post will start off with a summary of events, followed by reaction and commentary by your hosts Bill and Amanda (with Amanda, new to the series, going first), and finally comments from Tor.com readers. In this article, we’ll cover part three of chapter twenty-four of The Crippled God.
A fair warning before we get started: We’ll be discussing both novel and whole-series themes, narrative arcs that run across the entire series, and foreshadowing.
Note: The summary of events will be free of major spoilers and we’re going to try keeping the reader comments the same. A spoiler thread has been set up for outright Malazan spoiler discussion.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
SCENE ONE
Gall tells Hanavat he will die in this battle and she says she knows, but she refuses to flee. When he says he was weak, she points out he “walks the same ground” as the rest of them and he gave them his courage and cunning, gifts he can use today in the spirit of Coltaine and the Wickans. She tells him she is proud of him.
SCENE TWO
Faradan Sort warns her soldiers of the Pure’s voice power, though she doesn’t know how they’ll stop it.
SCENES THREE–THIRTEEN
Sister Freedom is confident and begins to speak. The Seven attack her and as she fights she orders her army to charge. Blistig decides to fight and fight—they won’t get him! Lostara, Ruthan Gudd, and Henar stand with Tavore as they are flayed by Brother Aloft’s voice, which neither Tavore’s residual Otataral effects nor Gudd’s ice serve as protection against. Badalle steps forward and calls forth the shards, the FA god, which descends upon the Aloft and devours him. Badalle sends the shards away.
SCENE FOURTEEN
Gall orders a charge, though he must turn from helping Tavore.
SCENE FIFTEEN
Faradan leads her soldiers in after the Khundryl charge.
SCENE SIXTEEN
A group of regulars that Tavore named pull out of line to go help her: Ordinary Gray, Grid Ffan, Could Howl, Hare Ravage, Sample, and a few others.
SCENE SEVENTEEN
Kindly orders Pores back to guard the children at the camp.
SCENES EIGHTEEN–TWENTY-THREE
Lesser Watered Trissin laughs to see only four standing in front of her soldiers, with only another dozen Malazans coming in support. Unable to get through to Tavore to get her to retreat into the phalanx, Ruthan orders a charge, shocking the hell out of Trissin. The regulars run up to try and help. Trissin watches her Kolansii get pushed back and order them to surround the small group. She is killed by the regulars’ mages (illusionists). Several regulars fall defending a wounded Henar until Lostara can reach him. They all try to head back to the phalanx. Lostara calls for Cotillion to possess her again, but gets nothing.
SCENES TWENTY-FOUR–TWENTY-SEVEN
Gall is mortally wounded and lying on his back as he hears the Malazans chanting “Khundryl! Khundryl! Khundryl!” Sister Freedom steps forward over Gall to face the last of the Seven-Nom Kala. Gall hears her tell Nom Kala to surrender. He somehow drags himself to his feet (purposely ripping apart his own intestines to do so) and stabs Freedom from behind with his dying breath. Nom Kala steps forward and kills Freedom.
SCENE TWENTY-EIGHT
As Banaschar watches, the army is crumbling, though the three Fists Kindly, Sort, and Blistig continue to fight. Pores and Hanavat joins him and he says he’s sorry about Gall. He asks about the baby’s name, and she tells him she hadn’t thought there was a point until now. They watch the Bonehunters die.
SCENE TWENTY-NINE
Paran reaches the ridge to see the battle and is shocked at the losses. He orders a charge, wondering if Tavore still lives.
SCENE THIRTY
High Watered Melest is shocked by the arrival of another army and orders them destroyed.
SCENE THIRTY-ONE
Paran pulls out a card and tells Mathok to charge through the portal.
SCENE THIRTY-TWO
Ruthan Gudd is shocked by the sudden arrival of Mathok and thousands of warriors through a new portal. As are the Kolansii.
SCENES THIRTY-THREE–THIRTY-SEVEN
Tavore wanders a dozen or so steps off from the ranks, the enemy no longer before them. Lostara goes to join her but Henar pulls her back. Tavore stands alone, looks up to the sky, and howls a “cry of anguish that… held nothing human… When her voice gave out, all could see that cry continuing in the stretched contortion of her face. Silent now, she gave nothing to the sky, and in that nothing, there was everything.” Paran can’t believe that had been Tavore’s cry. He moves toward her, wondering what the watching soldiers could still possibly want from her. Tavore feels Paran rushing her and thinking it an enemy, whirls to kill him but he catches her wrist and tells her it’s him. She stares at him, and then breaks down crying in his arms, telling him, “I lost her. Oh Ganoes, I lost her!” He holds her and realizes as he looks at the soldiers they now had what they’d been waiting for, as they too drop to their knees, “surrendering to whatever was left inside of them
SCENE THIRTY-EIGHT
Mathok kills High Watered Melest, ending the battle.
SCENE THIRTY-NINE–FOURTY-FOUR
Hellian fights with her last soldier, Maybe where Rumjugs and Sweetlard had been guarding (both are down). Corabb yells a warning about the breach and rushes to protect the Crippled God’s chained body, joined by Shortnose. The Crippled God watches the “savage, desperate defence from the two Malazans.” He senses Brother Grave has figured out the CG is here at the hilltop and that the Forkrul Assail “can wound me, can feed on my power for all time—and none could challenge him. He will unleash my poison on the world.” Shortnose is killed and then Corabb, though each took down a lot of Kolansii and held long enough for Fiddler to arrive to kill the two remaining enemy. He looks up and sees more coming and calls for Hedge. Hedge pulls his last cusser and rushes the group of Kolansii, but is tackled by Fiddler. The munition flies down but is a dud. Nefarias Bredd joins them and gives them cover while they return to the marines. Fiddler yells at Hedge for nearly killing himself again the same way as last time. They check their soldiers—Fiddler has about twenty marines left while Hedge has only Rumjugs and Sweetlard, whom Fiddler calls “Bridgeburners.”
SCENE FORTY-FIVE
Fiddler rests for a moment, thinking they won’t be able to push back the last assault with only 20 soldiers. Someone asks, “So, who are we fighting for again?” and is answered by, “Everyone.” To which the questioner replies, “No wonder we’re losing.” The soldiers break out into contagious laughter.
SCENE FORTY-SIX
Smiles… smiled.
SCENE FORTY-SEVEN
Cuttle, lying down the slope dying, hears the laughter and thinks back to his childhood and play battles and the innocence and beauty and love and he thinks, “You should have seen our last stands. They were something. They were something.”
SCENE FORTY-EIGHT
The Crippled God listens to the laughter and now he thinks:
I will remember this. I will set out scrolls and burn upon them the names of these Fallen. I will make of this work a holy tome, and no other shall be needed.
Hear them! They are humanity unfurled, laid out for all to see—if one would dare look!
There shall be a book and it shall be written by my hand. Wheel and seek the faces of a thousand gods! None can do what I can do! Not one can give voice to this holy creation!
But this is not bravado. For this, my Book of the Fallen, the only god worthy of its telling is the crippled one. The broken one. And has it now always been thus?
I never hid my hurts.
I never disguised my dreams.
And I never lost my way.
And only the fallen can rise again.
And as he listens to them laugh, “suddenly the weight of those chains was as nothing. Nothing.”
SCENE FORTY-NINE
The Forkrul Assail listen to the laughter and in the immortal words of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, wonder, “Who are those guys?” They prepare to advance and at the sudden silence, Brother Grave rejoices at the fact that those guys “know it is over!” High Watered Hagraff wishes to celebrate with him, but is prevented by the sudden appearance of an arrow in his shoulder.
SCENE FIFTY
Heading into his slaved soldiers, Grave feels, “like a black current beneath the stone of his will, emotions that had nothing to do with the desire to destroy the enemy now opposing them. They were in awe.” Annoyed, he tells them to destroy the enemy. Having not read the earlier parts of the book, he then says he will claim the Crippled God and “none will be able to oppose me.” Having been summoned by said claim, Quick Ben tosses him a blast of wizardry, driving him back into two blades, “Compliments of Kalam Mekhar.”
SCENE FIFTY-ONE
Quick Ben kills a few hundred Kolansii. The survivors scatter and he and Kalam run for the hilltop.
SCENE FIFTY-TWO
Hedge points out the arrival of Quick Ben and Kalam. Fiddler wonders why they’re running, since the Kolansii fled, until he looks up.
SCENE FIFTY-THREE
Apsal’ara enters through a portal, leading Nimander and his people. Above her soars Korabas, fighting dragons. Apsal’ara turns to flee, but the warrens are gone, destroyed by Korabas. She thinks she has brought Nimander in only to meet Korabas and T’iam. Another rift opens and five dragons fly through: Desra, Skintick. Korlat. Silanah. Nimander. They are drawn into the storm above, and as Apsal’ara watches, the “goddess of the Eleint had begun to manifest.” She runs for the nearby hilltop.
SCENE FIFTY-FOUR
Quick Ben arrives and tells them all to say inside the ring formed by D’rek. Fiddler asks if D’rek can protect them and Quick Ben says, “Didn’t you plan this?” Fiddler replies, “Plan? What fucking plan?” Korabas’ blight strikes the remaining Kolansii, who are vaporized.
Amanda’s Reaction
That farewell between Gall and Hanavat is really special, when you consider the depths to which he fell, and the loss of any purpose to his life. And here Hanavat tells him that she is proud. That choked me a little, because she was waiting for so long to see her husband returned to himself after the failed charge of the Khundryls.
Faradan’s memories of her time against the Stormriders—the bitter cold and deadly foe—are a good reminder that many of these soldiers have been through so many conflicts. It sort of defies imagination that they are ready and willing to take up arms again, especially facing this massed army against them and probable death.
So smug, Sister Freedom: “They were all about to die and nothing they did would prevent that.”
It is always a momentary shock when we see how powerful the Forkrul Assail are—even without using their Voice. I mean, the seven T’lan Imass would seem pretty damn undead and indestructible to most foes, but Freedom just batters them around as though they are nothing. And then another immediate example of just how nasty these Forkrul Assail are, as the regulars with Lostara and the Adjunct are shredded by the power of Akhrast Korvalain.
This scene with Badalle calling upon the D’ivers version of the ancient god of the Forkrul Assail, in order to destroy Brother Aloft, is one of those parts of the story that has been gently and gradually built up—from seeing the Shards and watching the Snake children eat them, from watching Badalle use her own words as power, from learning that the locusts are actually part of a god that was rejected. It’s moments like that when the skill of this storyteller really comes home to you.
It was pretty special seeing a POV from the regulars of the Malazan force—especially those regulars that Tavore named. Suddenly we’re watching their skills and their tenacity and they have most definitely become witnessed.
It seems as though the Lesser Watered are just as arrogant as their pure brethren: “They would sweep past these fools, and then wheel round to close on the flank from behind.”
Oh Ffan! I would have liked to see much, much more of you—I think we could have been friends: “Find their fucking commander and hit the fucker with all you fucking got, you fucking got it?”
It’s peculiar and done very well when we see the four from Trissin’s POV—the ice-clad soldier, the dancer, the tall soldier and the commander—especially when we’re able to watch how scary they appear to those facing them.
Ha, that moment of illusion from the regular mages is funny—but also could feasibly not be illusion, considering they’ve already had the manifestation of a god on this battlefield!
Where is Cotillion and what is he doing that, even in these desperate moments, he is not willing to join with Lostara? Or is it more than he believes now is the time for the mortals to do their thing?
Oh Warleader Gall… This one is an affecting death, because we’ve seen what it took to get this man on his feet again and willing to do battle. We saw his child born, and know that he leaves behind a widow, who loved him well. But what a way to go! Holding in his intestines as he shocks Sister Freedom with his final blow—that is a hero’s way to die, surely?
You know, I’m pleased that, when it came down to it, even with his fierce dislike of Tavore, Blistig here is one of the Fists that refuses to fall. He might be doing it for all the wrong reasons, but he is certainly holding up his side of the soldier’s bargain.
Paran’s arrival is a proper Gandalf moment, isn’t it? Massing for the charge just as the army they come to rescue reaches the point where they are going to succumb to defeat? Although first we think that they are but the remnants of a force who have come here to die as well, until Paran opens that gate and the Bonehunters are saved.
And, once again, Tavore’s words about being unwitnessed prove false: “Those are fellow Malazans dying down there! Look on them! All of you, look on them!”
That meeting between the Paran siblings is brutal. I don’t know what is being loosed from Tavore as she lets out that cry—I don’t know what is happening there—but I had a real heart in mouth moment when I thought she might kill her brother. That would have broken her, I think. Who is the ‘her’ that she refers to? Is it their other sister? Or is it T’amber? Is she finally giving into the grief of losing the person she loved above all others? It is so very, very bittersweet, this reunion.
Oh Corabb! It seems special to have, of all people, the Crippled God witness his death and mark his bravery as he fell. He was truly a Malazan soldier in that moment, as he held back the Kolansii to allow Fiddler to bring some backup.
Man, I thought that was going to be Hedge going down again in battle, although I was amused by the fact his last cusser is a dud—just seems somehow typical for Hedge.
“Listen, you ain’t hiding another cusser, are you?”
“No. Hood take me, I been carrying that one for bloody ever. And all that time, it was a dud!”
And that moment where Fiddler refers to Hedge’s last soldiers as Bridgeburners is a really special thing to see—after all the times he has refused to see them as such.
Oh, that moment of laughter. The part that touched me the most was when Cuttle listened to them, and then thought back to his childhood and then peacefully went into death. That was quiet and dignified and so sad.
And so, after all these pages, we see the true meaning of the series name, as the Crippled God decides to witness these deaths, these fallen.
Can you imagine what it would be like as the commander of an army to have your near-defeated foe laughing as you make your final plans to assault them? That would be oddly terrifying, I think, and certainly have the effect of making Grave a little cross! And then especially when he realises his own soldiers—those supposed to be directed by the force of his Voice—are in awe of these Malazan heroes. Who wouldn’t be?
Now all three of these Forkrul Assail have been taken down, thanks to Kalam, Warleader Gall and seven T’lan Imass and Badalle. And they were all there because of Tavore—she pulled them together into this battle and gave them the determination to stand by her. That’s pretty cool.
Also, Kalam and Quick Ben are just badass.
And then the dragons arrive—Storms of them. I love that image of the Tiste Andii that we’re familiar with joining the battle with Silanah—the ebony dragons and that scarlet one among them. Anyone else starting to worry about this whole T’iam business? It has been mentioned enough times that I really don’t think I want to see it happen!
Wonderful exchange between Quick Ben and Fiddler, and it feels like they’ve all never spent a day apart:
“Didn’t you plan this?”
“Plan? What fucking plan?”
And hands up who is not going to stop reading at that point…!
Bill’s Reaction
One of the strengths of this series has been duos, as we’ve mentioned before. Some easy ones come to mind, like Tehol and Bugg, Mappo and Icarium, Quick Ben and Kalam. But the romantic ones also are often quite strong, albeit sometimes in different ways. Gall and Hanavat has been one of those, and I find their parting here to be quite moving. Their sorrow and grief and knowledge painting their farewell, but not ruling it.
I always enjoy these little moments before these big battles or smaller intense conflicts when one of the characters has to rid themselves of a relatively minor fear. In this case, Faradan Sort checking for scorpions. Because you know, that’s going to be what gets her killed today.
You had to know something was going to happen to wipe that smile off of Freedom’s face, but I like that it was the sudden appearance of the Seven. I felt bad for these guys; I’m pretty sure I’d thought they would fare better against Freedom than they did.
Here at last, Blistig’s stubbornness and bitterness will seemingly stand him in good stead.
That’s an edged (no pun intended, well, maybe a little) insight by Lostara when she thinks of her Shadow Dance as, “The dance of the world—this fucking, miserable, murderous world.” A sad statement that such a dance can be seen as a metaphor for the world as a whole.
So twice Lostara calls for Cotillion. Where is he?
Well, that was a kinda graphic ending for Brother Aloft.
Of all the many reasons why one is rooting for the Malazans here, I think Badalle adds yet another one. Not to protect her from the FA, but for the Malazans to live so this child does not have to become the scourge of vengeance. Can’t we spare her that, you want to say as a reader.
I like the small details embedded in this battle to make it more realistic and allow for us to envision how the undermanned Malazans might be standing as long as they do. For instance, the way the heavy infantry of the Kolansii are hampered by the steepness of the hill, by trying to avoid the fight between the Seven and Freedom, by the random scattering of boulders.
I also like how we see smart commanders at work—as both Gall and Faradan Sort see what will happen if the Kolansii can work their way to the open ground and form up again.
This is another moving moment, the regulars who were named by Tavore pulling out to go to her. And love those names!
And oh, how can you not love that charge by the fearsome foursome? Can’t you just see the face of Trissin as those four crazed sheathed in blood maniacs charge her forces? She’s already on the edge, no wonder she dies by illusion (hmm, one could say her illusion of an easy victory is what killed her… )
So, would anyone have been surprised if Erikson had killed off Henar here? Just curious.
Sad though to see the regulars named by Tavore start to fall. I’ve said it before, I don’t know an author who can wring sadness from the death of a minor barely-known character like Erikson in this series.
Or the death of a major character, like Gall. But just when you think he’s fading away, they pull him back in. Sheesh, really with the ripping apart his own intestines. OK, he’s worthy of standing with the Wickans I’d say. So glad he got to hear that chant before he died. Helping kill Freedom was a luxury; that chant was all.
Another in a slew of big screen oh please oh please oh please moments at the end here—the arrival of Paran, the charge of the Host, and then the from-the-portal charge of Mathok.
Well, I know we’re going to have some big talk about Tavore in our last whole-series posting, but I’m curious what folks think about this cry and meeting with Paran. I’m going to hold off on meaning for comments, but I do want to point out the parallels between this scene and the one where Tavore killed Felisin.
- Both characters are siblings obviously.
- In both, one character is pretty much out of it. Felisin had just been abandoned by the goddess and clearly Tavore is in a daze here.
- In both, one of the Parans walks quickly toward the other
- In both, Tavore is unaware of the other’s identity—She does not know it is Felisin in the armor and she does not know this is Ganoes approaching her
- In both, an army is watching.
- Both Parans that are not Tavore see their sister through visor slits:
- Felisin: “Beyond the mesh and through the slits of the visor, Tavore strode ever closer” and “through the visor’s slit, she stared up at her sister.”
- Paran: “Through the bars of his helm’s iron grille, she was directly ahead, a prisoner still.”
A prisoner of the army’s needs? Of her own internal drive and will? Of necessity? One could argue that for both of these scenes. With such parallels, a reader could be forgiven for thinking Erikson was going to do the unthinkable here and have Tavore kill her brother just as she had killed her sister—all unknowing. But instead, the scenes diverge. And rather than end in death, tragedy, isolation (Tavore alone, Felisin alone), ignorance, and the carrying of a burden alone, it ends in life, shared grief, knowledge, and “surrender.” The writer in me absolutely loves the craft in the way these two scenes are structured. Beyond the obvious emotion.
Then we get a mere moment’s respite of comedy with Maybe and Helian before we’re tossed into the action/emotion ringer yet again.
Oh, Corabb. He went out as he would have wanted, but still, you had to hope his luck would hold him to the end. That’s a lovely detail—his sweat falling on the Crippled God and running like tears down his face. And Shortnose’s smile as he falls.
Then another quick moment of relief—the dud, Nefarias Bredd’s appearance (but is it really him?), only to learn how many are left, and what that means for all the others.
And then, oh, how many times can I say, “one of my favorite moments.” But really. The laughter. One of my favorite moments. The epitome of bittersweet. Of laugh while it hurts. Of laugh rather than weep. And followed by the beautiful, simply beautiful moment with the dying Cuttle:
Childhood. The battles they fought… the sunny days of dust and sticks for swords and running this way and that, where time was nothing but a world without horizons—and the days never closed, and every stone felt perfect in the palm of the hand, and when a bruise arrived, or a cut opened red, why he need only run to his ma or da, and they would take his shock and indignation… and that disturbance would be gone… and ahead there was only the sun and the brightness of never growing up… You should have seen our last stands. They were something. There were something.
Tears your freaking heart out.
And this moment does not pass unwitnessed. For the Crippled God is there to see and hear it all. And he will record it in, what’s that, a Book of the Fallen? And what is the title of this series? Hmm, what does this mean…
And then I love the other effect the laughter has, this one on the listening Kolansii and High Watered Haggraf. “Who are these foreigners?” indeed.
I confess to a little confusion on this arrow. There seems to be an emphasis on it being a “Kolansii” arrow. Is it a retrieved one from the hilltop. Or is this from the actual Kolansii ranks, a sign that this laugher, this “awe” the soldiers feel is threatening the hold of the Forkrul Assail on them, something Grave himself references when he notes the “emotions that had nothing to do with a desire to destroy the enemy.” I admit, one would think there would have been more made of it had it come from their own ranks, which would seem to indicate it came from the hill. But I kind of like the idea of it coming from the Kolansii soldiers (who, I have to say, have really gotten the short end of the stick in these battles—forced to fight to the last soldier by the Voice—I’m a little surprised more wasn’t made of this amongst some of the characters).
Oh silly, silly Grave. Don’t you know what happens when folks in this series start talking about being unstoppable? They usually get stopped. Kalam and Quick Ben, ladies and gentlemen. They’ll be all week and twice on Sunday…
Well, here we are. Fiddler, Quick, and Kalam on the hilltop, Korabas above, T’iam manifesting. One god curled around, another god about to loose his chains. We’re almost there folks. Friday’s the end, Wednesday’s the book/series wrap, and then Steven will be joining us for Q and A.
Amanda Rutter is the editor of Strange Chemistry books, sister imprint to Angry Robot.
Bill Capossere writes short stories and essays, plays ultimate frisbee, teaches as an adjunct English instructor at several local colleges, and writes SF/F reviews for fantasyliterature.com.
with regards to the scene when Tavore and Ganoes meet up…I defintley think she is talking about Felisin when she says that she “lost” her.
I think the guilt that she has been feeling for so long has finally come to the surface…
…not the guilt of killing her (as she doesn’t know she did) but the guilt of sending her off to the mines and not being able to protect her
Now, I’m finally caught up… I started the series in May and found this discussion sometime after that. I’ve found it to be enormously stimulating and helpful — thanks Amanda and Bill for “GM-ing” the read! I’ve posted occasionally, ex-post facto, but I do have some overall questions which I hope to ask here in a bit… If that’s okay!
The (remaining) marines laughing… Tavore finally opening up…
I love this series.
I always thought that when Tavore recognized Paran she immediately jumped to their shared history and thought of Felisin – so I couldn’t imagine it was anybody but Felisin that she lost. What would be the other options?
My only thought on reading it was that she meant Felisin. I guess it could be thought that she meant T’Amber, buy why would seeing Ganoes remind her of T’Amber? Given that Ganoes is the one being spoken to, I think she’s got to be speaking of Felisin.
I think Felisin is the only candidate. T’Amber doesn’t qualify, she is a known casualty. Nor would Ganoes particularly feel that same pain.
What can you say, I love how SE has pulled it all together here at the end. It’s poignant and bittersweet especially given how many of our favorites are dying, but in the end they are witnessed after all. And their sacrifice will be remembered by someone.
These books….
Re: Gall holding it together long enough to stab Freedom in the back
It seems like a lot of ascension has to do with receiving a certain level of worship/admiration/respect from other humans. A great example is the scene when Trull holds off Icarium in Bonehunters – Trull could barely hold off normal warriors but a few minutes later he is toe-to-toe with Lifestealer. What changed? His former friend’s awe/admiration.
There are many similar scenes.
With Gall, I was upset initially that he was still alive and kicking when he had no right to be…until I made the connection with the “Khundryl! Khundryl! Khundryl!” chant and that causing him to ascend in some way to be able to continue, get up, cut off his own intestines and still get in a huge Merry-vs-Witchking level attack
With all of the numerous characters in this series, I lost track, who is Mathok again?
Bill said:
“Oh, Corabb. He went out as he would have wanted, but still, you had to hope his luck would hold him to the end.”
I find that Corabb’s death is often misunderstood. It is NOT his luck running out – indeed, it holds to the very end. If you think back to all those times Corabb let his imagination run wild with thoughts of a glorious death – what death could be more glorious than standing over and protecting a god, taking down enemies even whilst they strike you with mortal blows?
Corabb’s luck still held – he got exactly what he said he wanted.
I remember reading the Tavore/Ganoes bit the first time and thinking as I read it “Oh no, please not again!” And then a huge cheer of relief when Paran manages to catch her arm in mid-swing, followed by a big welling up of tears as Tavore breaks down in his arms. And we get the powerfully sad reminder of the fallen sibling, Felisin, one of the last past characters to be brought up again in The Crippled God.
Both Gall and Blistig were huge fist-pumping moments in this chapter. And I’m glad at least Nom Kala managed to survive.
I do have to say, slightly more negatively, that I found the four-person charge against an army somewhat pulled me out of the action. I didn’t find it depicted very realistically – they would have been surrounded and cut down within moments of contact (and yes, I know, fantasy etc., but it was just a bit too out-there for me).
I never hid my hurts.
I never disguised my dreams.
And I never lost my way.
Love those lines – even if the last one seems a bit disingenuous coming from a guy who helped bring about the Pannion Domin and the whole Rhulad Sengar thing :P
So just the goddess of dragons left to deal with then? Easy :P
@9 Treesinger:
Mathok was one of the commanders of the Whirlwind and close with Leoman of the Flails. He managed to escape Raraku with his people and with the Book of Dryjhna, which he later handed to Felisin Fatter, er, I mean, Younger, and washed his hands of the whole Whirlwind Apocalypse thing.
He then ran into Paran’s army and joined up with him as his cavalry force.
On my first read through I’ll admit to having had some trepidation as Tavore approached Paran.
Her words cleary refer to Felisin.
Jordanes.
I fully agree. I should have been more precise/full there. I was thinking that for him, in a Corabb way his luck held, but from the reader’s point of view (and I should still be precise and say this reader) you wanted him to survive.
Just a quick comment here on Ganoes’ “Through the bars of his helm’s iron grille, she was directly ahead, a prisoner still.” Although it most certainly contains other layers, from Ganoes perspective behind his helm’s iron grille, Tavore would indeed appear to be behind bars.
Just to add to what I said in post 11 as it just occurred to me:
Mathok running into Paran also changed Paran’s mind about going to see the new cult which had sprung up around Felisin Younger. Which meant he never learned who she was or how she got the name Felisin, which in turn meant he never found out that Felisin was Sha’ik, which in turn in turn meant that he never found out that Tavore killed their sister.
Bloody hell, eh?
@@@@@ Bill: Couldn’t agree more about wanting Corabb to live anyway!
You know, it is definitely admirable that the Seven stayed with Tavore instead of going to witness the marines defend The Crippled God and meet him. But you could say the same thing of Tavore herself, who stayed with the regulars and also (presumably) will not be there to witness The Crippled God, after all she’s done for him.
Yep – its Felisin Tavore is referring to.
And… the use of the word “lost” by Tavore is so important in this scene, where Tavore finally gives in to the grief that she has been holding on to for so long. She says “I lost her”. How much more tragic would this have been if it had been revealed to her that she had killed Felisin? Tavore is spared this revelation. This secret is held only by us, the reader, and I think we are all thankful that Tavore remains ignorant?
None of you lot tell her !!
@15 Jordanes. Bloddy Hell indeed. Your comment popped up after I had written #17 above. Erikson really has gone to some trouble to make sure Tavore’s killing of her sister remains unkown to everyone.
@Gruntle,
Lostara is the only mortal who knows. What a secret to keep…
And Felash + Handmaiden(?), but they haven’t been close to Tavore all that time.
I love the ferocity of Blistig here – he’s been the butt of so much up till now, and when he finally starts to understand why he was forced through such suffering, someone is trying to kill him. And through sheer bloody mindedness, he resists everything coming at him.
Badalle is almost the inverse of Brys here – he used the name of the FA god to defeat Diligence, while Badalle uses the god as manifested in the locusts to defeat Aloft. The physical to the spiritual as it were. And a heck of a visual.
Did anyone else notice the lovely touch of Could Howl the Semk?
‘With your sergeant,’ snapped Ordinary Grey. ‘Except for my Semk here …’
They were being jostled, ever losing ground. Grid Ffan’s eyes shifted past the sergeant and then widened. ‘Someone sewed up his fucking mouth!’
‘He likes it that way. Now listen – the south flank—’
That’s a call back to DG, and the Semk godling that was sewn into a body so it couldn’t escape. And after being killed by the Wickans, it seems it was recaptured and joined the Bonehunters!
And I love the touch of Ruthan Gudd standing in exhaustion, and promptly being used as an icepack by Hare Ravage…
The regular infantryman beside him stumbled then, leaned hard against Ruthan Gudd’s hip. Startled, he stared down, saw the man pressing his forehead against his ice-sheathed side.
Eyes closed, the gasping Kanese breathed, ‘Gods below, that feels good.’
And then we turn to the defence at the barrow, and how pitifully few are left. We lose a lot of favoured characters at this point.
Where flies Korabas, there shall be T’iam.
And the goddess of the Eleint had begun to manifest.
Ohhhh crap.
@jordanes
Well put, and good catch on Felisin Younger.
@bill – yup, got the impression that the arrow was a fragging. Ever see “Sir, No Sir!”?
@21, I agree, the arrow was from the Kolanse.
And now, the best line of this whole re-read: “Having not read the earlier parts of the book, he [Grave] then says…” I laughed and laughed at this one.
@20 Mayhem: Thanks for the Semk reminder – I missed that one(amongt many others if it weren’t for this reread). What makes it worse is that I’ve read about the Semk only days ago in DG. (Like Kallor, it seems, I never learn – -Fourth time lucky :-) )
In general: I also couldn’t really see another end for Corabb (even being one of my favourite characters in the series)
Anyone have a list of survivors for the Epilogues? Please ready them for when we get there. These last few chapters were written brilliantly and I loved the fist pumping moments.
Had the same reaction as Wilbur@21 to Bill’s comment.
Thinking back on Felisin. She was a character I both loved and hated at the same time and very tragic. Great writing all round.
Looking at SaltManz Tshirt options in chapter 24 part II, I was wondering when the Meme frenzie will start popping up as is the (ongoing) case with ASOIAF. (If ever)
Reading this part for the first time, I had this lovely *click* moment about the title. It still makes me smile.
See, from the start I had assumed this was a book about the Malazan fallen, the heroic dead, a thing Duiker and other characters also talked about. Only here did I realize that ‘The Fallen’ is also Kaminsod, that it is his book! I never made that connection before.
I must confess it took me a long long time on my first read to realize that TCG and the andii+shake were central storylines, and not secondary / sidetracks… (I assumed it would be all about the humans in the end.) I have learned by now that for Erikson all storylines are ‘primary’ but on my first read that was not clear to me at all. Loving the reread where it all makes sense ;)
(And does this mean Erikson = Kaminsod? Did Erikson while writing feel he was chained to this world, pulled into it against his will, and poisoning it through his prescence? I can sure see him considering himself the shield anvil for his chracters… I’m sure this will come up during the questioning, though I hold out no hope for an actual answer ;) )
@Cassanne – You might want to slightly rephrase that as, “‘The Fallen’ is also Kaminsod, that it is his book, too…” Because the way Steve “manifests” is as a collective entity. The “Book of the Fallen” is also Fisher’s. And Duiker’s. And Kruppe’s. And Saddic’s. And you know what? Also the Bonehunters’ and the Bridgeburners’. In fact, all those who “witness.”
Just one thing that struck me on reading this series: I’ve read a few reviews that point out that Steve turns the classic epic fantasy tale on its head in MBotF. I wholeheartedly agree. And particularly in this one sense: the classic epic fantasy is usually portrayed as the genre of an epoch of political reaction. It is accordingly a genre that expresses a yearning for the “comforts” and “stability” of the feudal hierarchy, and in which problems can be resolved with a twitch of the wand. But, the MBotF is diametrically opposed to this conception. It is precisely about change and replacing that conception of a static and idyllic world with one that is in flux and centered on our imperfect species. No deities or dragons or knights in shining armour to resolve our problems, no sir! We need no condescending saviours…
Thus Steve’s series is profoundly humanist, in the enlightenment sense: i.e., post feudal. But, if that is the case, one might say, so much for his designation of his work as postmod…” :-p
Re: Scene 38
I think it is important to note that Mathok doesn’t just end the battle, he ends “the final battle of the Bonehunter Regular Infantry”. Kinda brought a tear to my eye. The end of the army (and their arc). Relief for those guys … and now the possibility of a future?
And as for the welcome and smile raising appearance of Nefarias Bredd … how great is it that his character can be so well constructed with just a few short sentences:
Yeah, I loved the hurt look.
I love that Nefarias Bredd has an accent.
Ffan = fan of F word
:)
Tavore has always been a hard person to understand. Or to like, for that matter.
For a long, long time, I couldn’t decide what I thought of her. I never liked her attitude of command, how she was always so unapproachable and opaque.
This scene with Ganoes…
I feel we needed this. We’ve been told several times that Tavore hides a terrible pain, and we can speculate about Felisin, but we’ve never really been sure until now. To me, the way she breaks down and immediately talks about her sister… it means Felisin has always been in her thoughts, all these books. Tavore will not forgive herself for losing her. And that is so much different from knowing. Not worse, but not better, either. The terrible feeling of the unknown, that for the rest of her life she can never know what went wrong, where, only that Felisin is gone. Lost.
And now we’re allowed to see her finally crack and share her grief with her brother. The only person in the whole world left for her.
And I do mean share. After reading the series three times, my interpretation is that Ganoes shares just as much responsibility as Tavore does. In Gardens of the Moon, when Ganoes is murdered by Sorry, he speaks with Oponn at Hood’s gate. Oponn bargains with Hood for Ganoes’ life—and the bargain is a trade. A life for a life. Someone close… a meaningless death.
Consider the events that led to Felisin’s death. All of the small things that went just a little bit… wrong. L’oric, I believe, even rails against it at the time, how things could have happened just a little differently…
Oponn killed Felisin. And they did it by running her into Tavore’s sword and they probably laughed at the irony of it, because they’re vicious little shits and we all know it.
Oponn killed Felisin and they did it to settle a bargain with Hood—who, by the way, watched it through Felisin’s eyes.
All this for a conversation Ganoes doesn’t even remember. Just as Tavore doesn’t know who she killed.
Ganoes and Tavore share this tragedy and they don’t even know it, beyond the fact that they both know Felisin is gone.
And I don’t even know where to begin to describe how I feel about it all… except to say that I think this is my favorite scene in the series.
@30 That is an excellent summary of their shared, if unwitting, responsibility, Kargul. Thank you.
So Erikson almost pulled a Coltaine’s Fall on us, right up to the “less then a half a thousand regulars were left”…but saved the day with the arrival of the Host and the charge of Mathok’s Seven Cities cavalry.
The chant of the regulars “Khundryl! Khundryl! Khundryl!” sent shivers down my spine. The Khundryl did well by the Bonehunters and emulated perfectly the Wickans. What a fitting end!
And Blistig finnaly managed to redeem himself, through sheer stubborness and will.
I concur that there was a fitting end to Corabb and all the remaining marines and heavies.
HAIL THE MARINES! HAIL THE HEAVIES! HAIL THE REGULARS! HAIL THE KHUNDRYL!
@30 Wow! Yet another connection I missed. Thanks!
I always hoped that Bredd may have been a manifestation of the Heavy’s worship. We’ve seen others (Dissembrae) so why couldn’t that have happened?
I’m basically echoing @30 Karguls post here, having written this before reading said post, but I still feel the need to post.
I really enjoyed how Tavore’s arc came to an end here. One of her first memorable moments is when she unknowingly kills her sister which is one of the saddest scenes in the series. Felisin who had been through so much pain and torment, finally being released from the whirlwind goddess, looking up to her sister, just to be slayed… Gods it hurt.
And because of that, Tavore for me became a pretty unlikable character. She was always distant, seemed cold (coldest iron haha), and was just overall hard to empathize with. It was hard seeing all these soldiers that I like follow on her on faith through so much… Y’Ghatan, Malaz City, Letheri, clash with the short tails, and the Glass Desert… The cracks in her armor were far and few between throughout much of the series. My faith in her did grow over the series as some of these cracks showed, and as the soldiers that I loved continued to follow her.
But seeing a mirror of that scene with Ganoes, and then watching her breakdown over her loss of Felisin, was quite cathartic and in my opinion really brings things around from how we first met her.
Lastly, non Tavore related, I’m just so glad at how good Book 10 is. I first read Gardens of the Moon probably in 2003 and have done multiple partial rereads (including one all the way through DoD). But I’m glad that I finally am completing the series for the first time, now that I have a kid. So many of the scenes with the Snake and some of the quotes from this chapter (Cuttle’s dying thoughts, the quote about not being enough to wish for a better world for our children, etc), Harlo younger in book 8, etc just speak so much more to me. Extremely impressed Erikson managed to stick the landing.