The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Poor Toc :(

I mean, damn! The guy gets thrown into the Warren of Chaos then is awakened by some kind of spirit and released, then travels with that motley crew and is now being bear hugged to death by the Matron. Can this dude catch s break, please?

Bridgeburners are so bad ass. Trotts going to lead them into Capustan to try and take back the city with 37 of them and no Quick Ben. That's what I'm talking about!

So I was confused earlier about Paran, whether or not he has taken the position of master of the deck but I'm guessing not yet. He's still having those tummy pains.

Again, I feel like I'm missing a lot that's going on but I'm still completely engrossed in the story

Holy shit, Quick Ben is awesome! I mean, damn. Just read the scene when he meets the necromancers and blows them away. So much bravado and awesomeness. "But, Bauchelain. I did" Dude thought he had the upper hand but I don't think many people can get it on our boy Quick Ben.

Even the damn Barghast gods are putting in with him. And love that he looks forward to matching wits and skill with the Crippled God. "In any case, I don't rival gods. But, sometimes, I beat them at their own game."

So ... Keruli is the manifestation of K'rul! Did not see that coming at all.

And that war council meeting might have been my favorite scene of the book so far. So many great leaders all in one place, deciding where to go from here. Whiskeyjack busting out laughing at one of the high priests was great.

Just to put it out there, I would love a partnership of Quick Ben and Kruppe. Although they might be too similar in the scheming ways. QB needs more of a Kalam-type. Wonder if they will ever meet back up again

Oh and so it appears that Paran has finally come to grips with being the Master of the Deck. Love that both Gruntle and QB have told him to follow his instincts when it comes to the House of Chains. Makes perfect sense to, like Gruntle said: if the crippled god is part of the game, he has to now play by the game's rules. If his house is accepted, I wonder if that will remove the poison from the warrens.

So many thoughts on this section, it's hard to keep them all straight. Can't wait for others to catch up!

- We hear in the book 3 intro quote about Heboric getting Reved. Later we learn the Malazans may have been behind it (the claw), to lessen the influence of Fener's "cult" inside the Malazan army (which directly leads indirectly to Fener dying)
- Gruntle becomes Trake's Mortal Sword (side note: I've seem both Trake and Treach...what was the difference again?)
- Keruli becomes Rath'Krul is really Krul! K'eRULi...That should have been a big hint :P
- I love Kruppe's mule, who thinks he is a horse, who is the smartest horse/mule around. Didn't Pusk also have a rather singular mule?
- Also, both Pusk and Kruppe act insane but are instead very smart, devious, and master manipulators. There has to be a connection.
- Hood himself comes to greet Brukhalian's soul. How cool is that?
- It seems Toc's and The Mhybe's dreams are merging.
- We learn about how Fener got pulled into the mortal realm because he could not claim Heboric's hands, for he was reved unjustly. The protective shield around Heboric's hands were destroyed when he came into contact with an object from the warren of chaos (was it during the battle on the ship with the insane sorcerer escaped from the Ottateral mines, or when he touched the giant finger rising from the desert?)
- So inside Dragnipur is one entrance to the Warren of Darkness
- Nightchill is indeed Sister of Cold Nights, K'rul's brother. She wants Paran to shatter Dragnipur.
- The Barghast gods are born (rediscovered? ascended?). Whole will claim the throne of the beast? Barghast? T'lan Imass? Renegade T'lan Imass? There were two thrones there, but it looks less likely than ever it was for Paran/Silverfox
- K'rul made the warrens. The warrens flow w/ K'rul's blood.
- All the gods bestow power on Talamandas, who helps QB access all the warrens. Hood in particular.
- The conversation between WJ and Dujek about their "mitigating circumstances"/"predicament" - not sure what the Empress has on them or what the situation is they are referring to
- So The House Shadow is still empty. Shadowthrone/Cotillion are merely occupying the gate house to the actual warren.
- Paran wants to grant the CG legitimacy. QB and Gruntle agree.
- So the Seer and the Matron have apparently nothing to do with the Crippled God. Misdirection. After defeating Pannion Seer the ascendants face the Crippled God.
- Togg and Togctcha, the two ancient beasts older than the the elder gods, are the Barghast gods. Togg being the one-eyed wolf that inhabits Toc.
- So Silverfox's dad is Tool. haha.
- There are more T'lan Imass out there...renegades. Not heeding the gathering. What are they doing?
- Oh, so Kellenved never ceded the First Throne, so some T'lan still follow him? Or who do they serve? They employ the Warren of Chaos.
- The T'lan Imass want to die. Silverfox denies them. Poor Imass :|
- Another entrance to the Warren of Darkness exists. One is inside Dragnipur, another is down the Rake's throat when he takes his soletaken Dragon form.
- Laseen wasn't trying to kill the BBs. She fears WJ.
- I thought Pran Chole might also inhabit Silverfox earlier, but then we see Pran Chole so that is ruled out. Instead it is Pran Chole's daughter.
- So I am still trying to work out the souls inside silverfox. There are 4, not 3. 1) Tattersail 2) Nightchill (Sister of Cold Nights/K'Ruls sister) 3) Pran Chole's daughter 4) ??? We keep hearing Bellurdan but have we seen any evidence of it?
- The grey swords and their gods demand the release of the T'lan Aye from Silverfox. She denies them too
- What the hell is she up to with the Mybhe? I still can't figure out what she is waiting for, and what should happen if the wolves catch her in her dream
- Two of the missing T'lan Imass clans have been decimated, not fighting a Jaghut, but a human on a far off continent. I suppose we'll hear more about that in another book.

I'm feeling really bad for all those undead Tlan Ay as well, don't forget about them, because they got denied at the same time as the Imass.

Yes, those are some really sad puppies... *ka ching!*

Posted on this in an earlier thread, but it looks like we receive confirmation that the dude Paran interacts with while inside Dragnipur was indeed Draconus...

Wait. Paran needed silence to think, fast and hard. When he'd been within Dragnipur, walking
alongside the chained souls dragging their unimaginable burden, he had indeed spoken with one such
prisoner. Abyss below, that had been Draconus. Yet he could recall nothing of the words exchanged between them.

Strange that he can't recall anything that was said between them...

Also I loved the scene where Whiskeyjack executes the Women of the Dead Seed (eww by the way...) in what he sees as a merciful act sparing them from Rake's brutality. In reality though, it was Rake trying to spare Whiskeyjack.

The following scene where Korlat unpacks what happened for Whiskeyjack is also masterfully done. So good. (: I've come to really appreciate the interactions between Korlat and Whiskeyjack - especially amidst the brutality of this book.

Ok. I have to ask, why do you do your smilies backwards? Ive never seen anyone else do that before.

Haha it's a relic from way back in the day when AIM was a thing. I hated the emoticon that :) would automatically turn into so I switched it around to prevent it. Unfortunately, these days Facebook is smart enough to pick up on the smiley no matter which way it is and will change it (although gchat hasn't as of yet)

Ah. OK. Yeah facebook even converts my ^_^ I think..which I don't see used by too many people.

Curse the unwanted intelligence of facebook! And yeah I would agree yours is on the rarer side. (:

Peter wrote: "Also I loved the scene where Whiskeyjack executes the Women of the Dead Seed (eww by the way...) in what he sees as a merciful act sparing them from Rake's brutality. In reality though, it was Rake trying to spare Whiskeyjack.

I really liked that part too...the fact that Whiskeyjack didn't really realize that until just after the fact either. At the very moment that it was too late to do anything about it. So many layers of subtle writing in this scene.

More proof that Rake is a true badass.