The Malazan Fallen discussion

Chapter Four discussion thread

Seren is suspicious that the Queen is intent on starting a war against the King's wishes - and Hull Beddict looks to be playing right into her hands

There was to be war. And Hull Beddict will make of himself its fiercest proponent. The queen’s own unwitting agent. No wonder Buruk tolerates his presence.

The stealing of the seal harvest was a prelude to war then - a suicide mission undertaken by willing crew

Ships crewed by the Indebted, with the provision of clearing those debts upon the event of their deaths. Lives given up for the sake of children and grandchildren. They would have had no trouble manning those ships.

Death as a means of escaping debt - which is how we learn the Beddicts parents died - or at least the father. Suicide

You chose the protection of the King’s Guard, and now the role of Champion. Where debt will never find you. As for Hull, he walked away – from gold, from its deadly traps – and sought honour in saving people. And even when that failed ... do you honestly imagine Hull would ever consider killing himself? Our father’s cowardice was betrayal, Brys. Of the worst sort.’

So the Beddict brothers have managed to dodge their father's debts in different ways. Brys has royal protection, Hull left the country, and Tehol sleeps on his roof and wears a sheet.

We also learn that Hull Beddict and Seren have a history

Hull found her, then lost her. But she’s still there – that much is clear. Seren Pedac, Brys. She’ll protect him—

Meanwhile Tehol is building his crew for his nation busting con. So far we have

The Front

Shand, Tarthenal
Rissarh, Tarthenal
Hejun, Feraed

Three women looking for revenge on Letherii as well as a new life for their people.

The Crew

Skilled trades people who have been excommunicated from their guilds. Competent, but with enough spite against their former industry associations to keep things hush hush. Tehol needs these guys to build or at least look like building the run down docks he intends to buy.

Have you hired your crew?’ He stripped off his skirt and began donning the trousers.
‘Twenty of the most miserable malcontents I could find.’
‘Grievances?’
‘Every one of them, and I’m pretty certain they are all legitimate.

Of course Tehol hasn’t been able to keep this entirely secret. The guilds know something’s up – they just don’t know what – but they aren’t happy.

‘Really? Assure the guilds we’re not out to underbid. In fact, the very opposite. Nor do we pay our crew higher rates. No benefits, either—’
‘Barring a stake in the enterprise.’
‘Say nothing of that, Bugg.


The Muscle

Ublala Pung – Half Toblakai – and the good half at that. Four lungs and very well endowed.

We meet Ublala as he undergoes his sentence for murder. The sentence involves

Any criminal who could swim across the canal with a sack of docks strapped to his back won freedom.

A sentence or trial so popular that there is a whole betting industry built around it.
Ublala having four lungs manages to make it across and earn his freedom. And he is hired as muscle.


The Opposition

Geren Ebberict
Formerly thought by me to be on Team King. It appears Gerun is really on team Gerun. He has been grasnted the Kings Leave

For the remainder of the soldier’s life, he was immune to criminal conviction. He was, in short, free to do as he pleased, to whomever he pleased, barring the king’s own line.

He earned the King’s Leave by saving the king from an assassination attempt. But Tehol has managed to follow the money trail of the assassins back to Gerun himself. Gerun arranged the assassination and then doublecrossed his employees.

Clearly, only Gerun Eberict had known the full extent of the scheme. His hirelings would not have anticipated their employer’s attacking them. Killing them.

And Gerun has been using the King’s Leave to build his own little Empire. He is king thug. Killing his way to fortune and success, mounting up a hefty body count. So much so that the King is sending him away to the Edur talks just to give the city a break.
Gerun has also been able to use his position to twist enough arms to discover that Tehol run his own business empire using fronts.

‘Were you aware,’ the Finadd said, dipping a finger into the thick, viscid liquid, ‘that Tehol still possesses myriad interests, in property, licences, mercantile investments and transportation? He’s raised pretty solid fronts, enough to be fairly sure that no-one else knows that he’s remained active.’

The problem Tehol faces with Gerun is that Gerun has just made a huge win by betting on Ublala Pung surviving his trial. But Tehol holds the other side of that bet. He owns the bookmaker. And Tehol has no intention of paying up. Solution, fake the suicide of the bookie.

‘Who was holding Gerun’s tiles on that bet this afternoon?’
His servant’s grizzled head appeared in the hatch. ‘You already know, since you own the bastard. Turble...
‘... Thus, Turble has to commit suicide.’
‘I doubt he’ll agree to it.’
‘No, probably not. But set it in motion, Bugg. Down to the Eddies. Find us a suitable corpse.

But Tehol also knows that Gerun will eventually find out that Tehol has short changed him. His solution...

The Undead Thief

Shurq Ellalle - Undead Master Thief
Becoming undead was a two step process. One being undergoing trial by drowning for

Careless self-defence leading to the death of an innocent

And secondly, surviving the trial by virtue of the fact that she had been cursed by a former victim of her thievery – who just happens to be Gerun.

Tehol hires her to clean out Gerun’s fortune. In return, he offers her ongoing physical maintenance of her undead body along with the ability to have sex – somehow.

“I want my skin glowing with palpable vigour. I want a certain dark allure to my eyes. My hair needs styling. New clothes, a flowery scent lingering in my wake. And I want to feel pleasure again.’
‘Pleasure?’
‘Sexual.’
‘Maybe it’s just the company you’ve been keeping.’
‘Don’t make me laugh.’
‘You’ll cough up stuff.’


And Speaking of undead – we are introduced to Kettle. A 10 year old girl who acts as the guardian for the Azath house. An Azath house amidst some Jaghut Ruins. If we hearken back to the Prologue where Gothos is about to unleash Ice on the battle field, he is standing near an Azath House with some Jaghut buildings nearby.

The Azath is dying. Kettle has been keeping it alive by feeding it fresh bodies which she hunts at night. Kettle has befriended Shurq. She took down the man who followed her to Tehol’s house – vampire style

‘I bit through his throat. It’s the quickest, and I like the blood.’
‘Why do you like the blood?’
‘In my hair, to keep it from my face. And it smells alive, doesn’t it? I like that smell.’
‘How many do you kill?’
‘Lots. The ground needs them.’
‘Why does the ground need them?’
‘Because it’s dying.’
‘Dying? And what would happen if it does die, Kettle?’
‘Everything will get out.’

And there are some very nasty things trapped by the Azath. In particular, 5 Toblakai – and we’ve seen last book what just one of those is capable of.

And so we have part of the meaning of the Ceda's Tile reading - the restless Barrow Tile of the Azath Hold

Kettle waved one grubby hand at the rumpled yard. ‘Restless. All of them. I don’t know why. The tower sweats all the time now.’

Shurq is probably the greatest undead nymphomaniac in all of Western literature.

I forgot how many of my favorite supporting characters were here.

Wow. This is my first time reading MT and I can't believe how much stuff I have missed thank you for the summary. Keep up the good work :)

Thanks Huzaifa :)

David Sven wrote: "Thanks Huzaifa :)" No worries :D

I'm finally starting to get into this book. I'm enjoying Tehol and his plotting.

Yay! Love Tehol and Bugg.

Great summary David. As usual.

I have to admit that I was not much of a Tehol fan first time round. I enjoyed Bugg, but I found Tehol over the top and often his humour was forced. But this time round I am enjoying his word play a lot more. I am really looking forward to his banter with the Awesome Threesome.

I am also fascinated by Kettle. Couple of things. Firstly, as per the discussion by Tehol and Shurq, who would curse a ten year old girl? It seems very excessive, considering the cost would be, what was it? half a million or a million? Then her role, it appears her job is to feed the Azath with bodies. It certainly sounds like the dead are getting restless, talking to her, asking for release.
So is it this Azath house in trouble, or are all Azath houses struggling? Interesting stuff.

We are also really beginning to see Letharii politics in its true form. This society is fascinating. It really looks to be all the ugly traits of the western world, the domination for greed growth, subjugation of races, there was a quote, which I can't find now, but it talks about never looking back and reviewing what has been done. But always looking forward to continue to grow.

If there is a word missing in the Letharii dictionary, it would be empathy. I can't wait for the upcoming meeting with the Edur.

I'm wondering if this Azath is at all different from the Houses of the Azath we've seen so far. This is talked about as a stone structure, and I can't remember if the Azath houses incorporated stone, but my image of them was more treelike.

One thing I've been enjoying about this book is that of the new characters, not all of them are soldiers, assassins, or thieves (yet?).

The Azath are like trees that grow from stone. Deadhouse is a stone house. Tremorlor looks to be made of limestone. I think they have combined properties of both wood(or trees) and stone.

David Sven wrote: "The Azath are like trees that grow from stone. Deadhouse is a stone house. Tremorlor looks to be made of limestone. I think they have combined properties of both wood(olr trees) and stone."

That explains my confusion.

From Gotm ch24

I am the House
imprisoning in my birth
demonic hearts,
so locked in each chamber
some trembling enraged
antiquity.
And these roots of stone
spread the deepest cracks
in parched ground
holding for ever the dream
of fruit, ah, pilgrims
come to my door
and starve ...

Azath (ii.iii)
Adaephon (b.?)

David Sven wrote: "The Azath are like trees that grow from stone. Deadhouse is a stone house. Tremorlor looks to be made of limestone. I think they have combined properties of both wood(or trees) and stone."

Kinda similar to K'Chain Ch'malle sorcery!

Btw, Tehol and Bugg remind me of Bruce Wayne and Alfred.

Hull and the Queen both want war, but for different reasons. The Queen sees it as the quickest, most profitable way to conquer the Edur. She and her advisors can't imagine that the Edur might prevail, and it looks like Seren agrees with this estimation, taking into account simply the numbers involved.

Hull, I think, believes that the Edur are more than a match for the Letheri. So he wants war because he thinks it will take the civilization down. Given this, I don't think Hull would care at all if he found out that he was doing what the Queen wanted.

Yeah, Hull wouldn't care. But I wonder if he or the Queen is right. It would really be awful if he provokes the war and Letheras wins. And if the Edur win, what will they do with their victory? I'm guessing they won't be the Edur he admires anymore.

You're right. Hull wouldn't care, in fact he is probably smart enough to figure that is what the Queen wants anyway. The only obstacle then being the King's faction being represented. It's not clear to me yet how ambitious Hull's expectations are. Does he envisage a war where The Edur would subjugate Letheras - or does he just expect that they will give Lether a good hiding.

I can't decide and think he wants vengeance without realizing what full out war would bring. Even he doesn't think the Edur can completely break Lether.

Lee wrote: "We are also really beginning to see Letharii politics in its true form. This society is fascinating. It really looks to be all the ugly traits of the western world, the domination for greed growth, subjugation of races, there was a quote, which I can't find now, but it talks about never looking back and reviewing what has been done. But always looking forward to continue to grow. "

Agree. There is this whole conversation where Hull is explaining Letharii, and i was really struck with how much this is a protest against capitalism in general. And i noted that quote because it's pretty powerful indeed.

"‘Friend, my people believe in the stacking of coins. One atop another, climbing, ever climbing to glorious heights.
The climb signifies progress, and progress is the natural proclivity of civilization. Progress, Binadas, is the belief from which emerge notions of destiny. The Letheru believe in destiny - their own. They are deserving of all things, born of their avowed virtues.
(...)

We have a talent for disguising greed under the cloak of freedom. As for past acts of depravity, we prefer to ignore those. Progress, after all, means to look ever forward, and whatever we have trampled in our wake is best forgotten.’

I agree with you Hanne Letharii show us the worst side of capitalism and without giving anything away, the next book has the most fascinating story line regarding all of this. You will find it very interesting.

I wonder, could putting freedom in the quote so emphatically is supposed to mark Letheras as particularly U.S.-like? I've only lived here (i.e. the USA) and Costa Rica, and I hear that word over- and misused a lot more here. But then the U.S. is a lot more unrestrainedly capitalist than Costa Rica is too.

I think the link between "progress" and forgetfulness is particularly appropriate to this series, where remembering the past is always so important.

The story is becoming more and more dense, but actually with lot of characters being thrown in it is also getting pretty hard to follow the story.Also regarding Gerun how did he go so close to king's chamber in first place to discover that an assassination attempt was made on the king.Was he a house guard or something because nothing of that sort i remember reading.

Gerun was part of the Palace Guard -

The palace Finadd had drawn his sword. He burst into the king’s bedchamber to find three figures leaning over Ezgara Diskanar’s sleeping form.


but also he arranged the assassination himself then double crossed the assassins to make himself out to be the hero.

Regarding the dead girl feeding the Azath with bodies i have just had an idea don't know how relevant it is.But as far as i know a soul is needed by a warren whenever a tear is generated by it.Regarding azath it traps very high sources of power in itself.But there seems to be two parts of an azath house, the actual house which has the powerful entity and the roots which seem to be growing from azath which traps soletaken or in the case of midnight tides tobalaki which are trapped in it.If someone is trying to break free from azath then it will definitely create a tear in azath and may be azath uses the power of entity trapped inside of it to seal the rent but if somehow that power is not enough or the entity trapped inside the actual house also wants to breaks out then maybe it needs to feed to seal rents.

That's an interesting idea. We don't have a very clear picture on how the Azath actually work.
If they are involved in "soul patching" warren wounds, I'm not sure of, but I think it's an interesting theory that they use the beings they have trapped for something besides imprisoning them.
I'm trying to hold my eyes open for clues regarding this. As I'm always open for crazy theories, I like your way of thinking. :)

Tehol and Bugg are so good throughout this book.

I'm getting a little more into this thanks to Tehol but I'm still pretty bored and uninterested. :-( I miss warrens and the deck of dragons and stuff.

Dara wrote: "I'm getting a little more into this thanks to Tehol but I'm still pretty bored and uninterested. :-( I miss warrens and the deck of dragons and stuff."

If you can stick through it you will get some more warren and magic stuff happening in some of the later chapters. Fear not.

This chapter has some of the funniest side characters. I'm loving Tehol, Bugg, and the 3 women. Not to mention Shurq. I'm also super curious who Kettle is, she must have been someone important or seen something very important for anyone to pay to have that done to a child. But then why not just kill her? I know we probably won't find out more for a few chapters, but I really want to know!

Tehol and Bugg really saved this book for me, especially in the early going.

Shurq is pretty good too.