The Malazan Fallen discussion

Chapter One Discussion Thread. Please use Spoiler Tags,

First page of Chapter One - Portents and Arrivals
Only too well did men and women of the city remember their last visitors: elements of the Third Army rendezvousing with recruits and enforcing the Imperial Regent’s new edict against magery. The riots that followed engulfed a quarter of the town in flames.

Again we are parallel with the start of GotM Prologue. Instead of Ganoes standing on Mocks Hold watching the riots as the Third Army set about wiping out mages on Surlys orders; in this first page we find an old Warrior standing upon Mocks Hold remembering the riots themselves.

One old fisherman voiced the opinion that it might be the Emperor himself, returned. Men and women raised their hands in signs against evil and edged away. So looks like Kellenved has been away for a while and is not exactly loved but the fishing folk of Malaz City.

Temper being another character with a long Malaz history and we know that BotF is full of them. We start to learn more about the Crimson Guard which is pretty much a big foreshadowing of the following books. Avowed is THE word here.

Sidelong, he watched the Claw examine him. The last time he’d stood this close to one of these assassins had been a year ago and that time they’d been trying to kill him.

The plot thickens with Temper. Claw were sent to kill him? You'd imagine that they don't get sent out on small jobs, so he must have been a key player.

There's a lot of hints and mystery but not a lot of action in chapter one. Definitely a table setting chapter. I will say I have a hard time Esslemont's phrasing that I never have had with Erikson. I'll read a sentence and think, what? And have to re-read it. There's also none of the epic repercussions of Erikson's writing.

Not a bad chapter, though there was a bit too much "Hey, I've got a dark mysterious history that I don't want people to question if I fight this guy...wait, there's a Claw, I don't want him to recognize me because they were after me...wait, this guy's a Bridgeburner, must fight urge to flee" for me. I get it, Temper has a past that he's trying to hide from, there's no need to bludgeon readers over the head with that information every time he runs in to someone.

Criticism aside, the chapter sets up who the main characters are, adds some mystery (who is Kiska following?), and foreshadows a bit of what's to come:

A Shadow Moon. The souls of the dead come out under a Shadow Moon...the pits of shadows open up. Damned souls escape and new ones get caught. Devils run amok through the streets.

A little slow on reading this past week and weekend, but have to agree with previous comments. Esslemont's writing is a rougher ride to get through, while with Erikson it just felt like I was moving through the story very easily.

>Looking forward to seeing Temper just go crazy (if that even happens. He may just drop dead from old age: don't really know what is a spoiler since this is my first read of NoK)

>Kiska feels a little over her head. May get into a little trouble sooner rather than later.

>Having a Bridgeburner show up early ties nicely into BotF. I don't remember any members of the squad who were burned severely. Might not be a cross over reference, will just have to wait and see.

Temper & point & Dassem Ultor are the names which I take from these chapters. Also Daseem was the first sword of the Malazan empire and Temper remembers that he had killed any avowed who crossed his path, only person to survive duel with Daseem was Skinner.

Kiska seems to me like a wannabe claw.

Also the ship arriving on docks on Malaz island seems like a big news to this sleepy island, because the ship has a fist on it as all seem to think.