Karsa Orlong

For that, there is this http://www.tor.com/features/series/malazan-reread-of-the-fallen

Shame about the library, but at least you have one nearby! My current plan is to read one of the books per month. Given that it'll take me a couple of weeks to read each one it should allow me another couple of weeks each month for TBR stuff. I probably won't let it go too long between each cos, even after having read them twice, I'm worried that I might forget stuff between books. SE's not big on giving recaps (i.e. there aren't any!) and it's four years since I last read them, so . . . Plus I'm planning to fit in the ICE books at the appropriate places, too, and there's three (soon to be four) of those that I've never read. That means it might be a couple of months between SE's books - ample time to forget everything

Oh dear Do you think you'll finish it before the library want it back for that inconsiderate person who wants it? Yeah, I genuinely think it's best with this book not to try and understand it all straight away, cos otherwise the drip-feed of information would probably drive you mad. I guess it's something that you can either enjoy or not - glad to hear it's the former Things will become clear(er). Eventually . . . I think it's largely down to his use of the so-called unreliable narrator, in that at any given time we're getting someone or other's point of view, but their idea of what really happened - and why, and to whom - may be completely different to another character's. Or, as Paran said at one stage: “There were too many omissions, half-truths and outright lies in this... this chaotic mess.” I think SE was trying to tell us something there Considering how verbose he is, SE does have the ability to convey a lot of info in a few words. I imagine it must take him an age to hone some paragraphs until they say just enough, not too much, not too little. Mind you, it does tend to go out of the window when he gets to the philosophy

Tattersail, grieving for those who fell at Pale: ...an anonymous aide would paint a red stroke across the 2nd Army on the active list, and then write in fine script beside it: Pale, late winter, the 1163rd Year of Burn’s Sleep. Thus would the death of nine thousand men and women be noted. And then forgotten.

Welcome

Or you could carry on with Abercrombie. Just sayin'

Tool's awesome. I think the T'Lan Imass are my favourites of all the races in the series Favourite quotes time, seeing as I reached this first one this morning Lorn and Tool: “Tell me, Tool, what dominates your thoughts?" The Imass shrugged before replying. "I think of futility, Adjunct." "Do all Imass think about futility?" "No. Few think at all." "Why is that?" The Imass leaned his head to one side and regarded her. "Because Adjunct, it is futile.” Whiskeyjack and Paran: “Every decision you make can change the world. The best life is the one the gods don't notice. You want to live free, boy, live quietly." "I want to be a soldier. A hero." "You'll grow out of it.” Kruppe (to himself, as usual . . . ): "My," Kruppe breathed, "but Kruppe's dreams have taken a strange turn." No s**t, Sherlock

Love the description of Tool's voice as being "born of stones and dust"

Thanks Claire It was actually that very introduction that inspired me to start writing when I first read the book. It was his 'no compromises' attitude that really got to me. Fascinating stuff, and that was before I'd even read any of the story itself

Glad you enjoyed it, Laura Don't lose it, because I guarantee you'll be diving back into it when you read the second book, probably with your jaw on the floor (like I did ). I'll say no more for now

Oh I hope not, that's why I wondered where he was up to (not much further on from last week, from what I've gathered). I've just been chucking in comments about stuff as I come across them, otherwise I'd never remember what I wanted to say Anyway, first rooftop assassins encounter occurred at lunchtime today (in the book, not for me at the office ). I always remember the rooftop battles in this book, cos I might've been inspired to include one in the story I was writing Yeah, and riding down to the fishing village with the Adjunct and seeing that Sorry's father's boat was missing . . . I wonder if that's the same person I was chatting to about it on SFF Chronicles. His username there was Conor. He started PMing me about the series because there was a guy on there being constantly negative about it - and quite aggressively so - when Conor was asking questions about stuff, and it was really starting to annoy him. Last I heard, he was on Memories of Ice and totally loving it That review is pretty much spot on, I think. It does chuck you in the deep end. I loved that about it the first time I read it, and still do now. It's a challenge, and so different from most of the other fantasy I'd read at the time. The major 'problem' with this book, imo, is that a lot of its depth and its secrets don't reveal themselves until you re-read it after having read the rest of the series. There's so much foreshadowing, so many throwaway comments that relate to events five, six, seven books down the line. On re-read it's almost like reading a different book entirely, so many jaw-on-floor "oh, so that's what that was about!" moments. A lot of people don't have the patience for that because they feel they need to understand everything straight away, which I can appreciate but it's a shame nevertheless. Part of the fun I found in these books was being swept along and figuring stuff out as I went

Sorry to hear Xiao-Xiao is poorly, Sarah - I hope it sorts itself out quickly Pixie got a similar lump on her face a few years back - turned out she'd tried to eat a bee and ... well, you can guess the rest She's not the sharpest tool in the box, my cat

I was sad to hear about this. I used to enjoy The Rockford Files a lot, and I loved him in the Support Your Local Sheriff/Gunfighter movies. But my favourite will always be Hendley, The Scrounger, in The Great Escape and his friendship with Blythe, The Forger. Marvellous. R.I.P. James

*Tumbleweed* Finished 'Book One - Pale' on the way to work this morning. A few of my favourite characters are turning up now, especially The Bridgeburners: Kalam, Quick Ben, Fiddler, and Whiskeyjack. Loved the way this section finished, with Gear prowling the streets of Pale searching for Hairlock. The image of Hairlock running around in the 'body' of a marionette, throwing around super-powerful magic, always amuses me Kalam and Quick Ben being mysterious. Fiddler spouting portents like there's no tomorrow. Tattersail and her deck of cards. Paran riding his horse through the gate from the Imperial Warren into Laseen's throne room Sigh, I've missed this series I'd forgotten it was this early in the book that Sorry attempted to assassinate Paran - for some reason it was in my head that it happened once they got to Darujhistan

I think most series have at least one book that falls below par, so I'm not too surprised. Hopefully the next one will be back on track Indeed - just just up to the start of Book Two - Darujhistan - more comments to come in the ded thread

# 44 Caesar's Women (Masters of Rome IV) by Colleen McCullough 1996 - Arrow paperback - 880 pages From Amazon: Rome. 68 BC. Julius Caesar has proved himself a brilliant general. But when he returns to Rome he lays down arms only to take up another battle: this time for political power. This is a war waged with words, plots, schemes, metaphorical assassinations - but also with seduction and guile. Love is just another weapon in Caesar's political arsenal, for the key to political glory lies with Rome's noblewomen: powerful, vindictive Servilia, whose son Brutus deeply resents his mother's passionate, destructive relationship with Caesar; Rome's revered Vestal Virgins; and even Caesar's own daughter, sacrificed on the altar of his ambition. Thoughts: Well. At the end of the previous book in the series, Fortune's Favourites, McCullough noted that it marked an end to the epic sweep of the novels and that now she was going to get down to the nitty gritty of the fall of the Republic of Ancient Rome, the point at which she had been aiming all along. This fourth book would be set almost entirely in Rome itself, rather than encompassing vast, continent-spanning campaigns and mixing it with doses of political machinations within the walls of the city itself. And that's pretty much what she's done. I was expecting big things from this book, having read several glowing reviews. From its title, you would guess that this is a novel about the women of Ancient Rome and how their lives affect and are affected by the fortunes of their men. Central to this are: Servilia, who was brilliantly introduced in previous books as a horrid, vindictive child; Aurelia, Caesar's mother, whose strange relationship with her son continues; his daughter, Julia, whom he quickly begins to use as a pawn in his political games; and Terentia, wife of Cicero, who very cleverly seems to guide her husband's political career. These are all brilliant characters, vivid on the page (particularly Servilia, as you would hope), and the novel is at its best when it concentrates on them, not forgetting Caesar's marriages to Pompeia and Calpurnia. However, where the novel stumbled for me was in the politics. In this book we see Caesar's quest for power as he advances through the political ranks. Lacking, as it is, the sweep and drive of the previous books, huge chunks of the book are taken up with political manoeuvrings and speeches. Some of these are very well done, but McCullough seems to get bogged down in reeling off paragraphs full of names (all of which start to sound very much alike and can get confusing, to the point where I stopped caring and they washed over me) and the passing of laws. I found that these sections, unleavened by the breaks away to different storylines like in the previous books, quickly became stodgy and tedious. Also, much of the book is taken up, as you might expect, with Caesar's battles of will with the boni, or 'Good Men', who include his old enemy Bibulus and Servilia's despised half-brother, Cato. Again, some of this is very well done, but boy does it go on. And on. I didn't think Cato was particularly well characterised, either - he seems to shout all the time. There is no subtlety to this one. Cicero, too, seems unnecessarily weak and timid. Caesar is just too perfect - annoyingly so. McCullough makes no effort to find his flaws, almost like she's deifying him. He should have been the best character in the books, but he pales in the shadow of Marius and Sulla. This is a huge error on McCullough's part, in my opinion. I applaud her for the attention to detail, but this is the first book in the series that I felt would have benefited from being much, much shorter. Eight hundred pages of what I described above was at least 300 pages too much, for me. What's worse, the book takes the best part of 300 pages to actually get going in the first place. These books have never been big on action, but the lack of any sort of impetus gained from the goings-on beyond Rome's walls means that there's nothing here to cleanse the palate, so to speak. It's a book that seems to operate on one note, rather than using the whole scale. I should point out that my disappointment in this book isn't due to my usual author/series burn-out. I was excited to read this book, and in places I found it brilliant, it's just that - for me - there were a lot of negatives to balance the positives this time around. It hasn't put me off reading the rest - not entirely - but it may be a while before I pick up book V. 6/10

Going to have to spoilerise this straight away

I'd like to nominate: Hannibal: Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham In ancient Rome, parents used to silence misbehaving children with the utterance 'Hannibal ad portas' (Hannibal is at the door). Such was the fear and awe that Hannibal Barca instilled... Told in arcing, epic technicolour, this is the story of one of the ancient world's most remarkable figures and the long, bloody conflict between the two 'superpowers' of the times - the Second Punic War (218-202BC) - that hinged on the genius, the ambition and the personal tragedies of Hannibal Barca of Carthage, whose military prowess became the stuff of legend, and Publius Scipio of Rome. History, of course, tells us the outcome: that Rome would be the victor, surviving to become a colossal imperial power, while Carthage would be all but erased from history. It was, however, a close run thing. And the world might have been a very different place had Hannibal succeeded in thwarting the might of Rome. PRIDE OF CARTHAGE is a sweeping, thrilling story of ancient warfare, of armies traversing frozen snow-covered mountains, of battles won or lost by brilliant generals fighting in ingenious, cunning ways. And it's a story teeming with superbly drawn, memorable characters and players, historical and imagined - from Numidian horsemen and the Roman legions to the slaves and freemen from all corners of the ancient Mediterranean world... I think, alongside the Tudors, this is one of the most exciting and fascinating periods of history. I have read a lot about Ancient Rome, but most of what I've read has been set after these events. There have been lots of references to Hannibal in those books, and how close he came to defeating the Romans, so it's something that I'm definitely keen to read at some point. and . . . Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault Alexander’s beauty, strength, and defiance were apparent from birth, but his boyhood honed those gifts into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son’s loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion taught him trust, while Aristotle’s tutoring provoked his mind and Homer’s Iliad fueled his aspirations. Killing his first man in battle at the age of twelve, he became regent at sixteen and commander of Macedon’s cavalry at eighteen, so that by the time his father was murdered, Alexander’s skills had grown to match his fiery ambition. This is the first book in a trilogy about Alexander the Great. I've been wanting to read this one for ages, as Alexander is another historical figure I don't feel I know enough about. Renault's trilogy is very highly regarded, but it has been out of print (in the UK at least) for some time. Fortunately there are new editions being published on 7th August!

Thought I'd open this thread as I've just started on my re-read this morning. Only 30 pages in, but already sucked right back into SE's world. This'll be the third time I've read it right through. The first time I read it I didn't even pick up on little things in the prologue, like the soldier carrying the fiddle. Hmm, wonder who that is? And then the opening scene with Rigga and the fisher girl, leading to the first appearance of Ammanas and Cotillion and the Hounds of Shadow Where are you up to, Tim?

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson Book 1 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen This thread is for discussion of Gardens of the Moon only, and will contain spoilers for this book. For any comments about related events/characters/plot from the other books in the series, please use spoiler tags. The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting, and bloody confrontations. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins. For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze. But it would appear that the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves appear to play their hand . . .

And you won't for a while yet, but it's worth the wait Blimey, you're flying through it

Jeff Wayne did it for War of the Worlds, Wolfsbane did it for Invaders from Mars

The latest on No Man's Sky . . . http://www.gamespot.com/articles/unveiling-the-gameplay-of-no-mans-sky/1100-6420891/

Could do the latter, if the mods are happy for us to do it that way Only three??! The first time I read The Bonehunters it totally blew me away - I read the last 200 pages in one or two sittings because it was so exciting. Deadhouse Gates introduces some of my favourite characters (especially Mappo and Icarium) and ... well, I don't want to spoil anything. Memories of Ice is stunningly good, and seems to be many people's favourite. K'Chain Che'Malle, that's all I'm saying. And then there's the opening two or three hundred pages of House of Chains, which is just relentless. But I think, since my last re-read, the one that stays with me the most is Midnight Tides. It introduces a whole new a new storyline and also some of the series' best characters. Tehol and Bugg - remember those names Just thinking about all that has got me excited about reading them again