Ahira's Hangar

Can you tell I was in a hurry getting ready for work when I made that post?

Getting those names so mixed up???

We ARE on completely different pages with the CG. I do not care how much he has been tortured and how long he has been imprisoned - still no excuse to wreck entire civilisations! I'm sure Satan can seem like a nice guy at times, too.

And I sure do not think that the followers of ANY God under ANY circumstances have the right to destroy worlds.

But it a testimony to the power of Erikson's writing that you are able to be sympathetic to him, and to his followers.

And by the way - I also LOVED LOVED LOVED Ganoes Paran and his sappers. The tears. The toad burning.

And Hellian (I hope I got the right name this time - at work and still in a hurry ) getting sober - and finding out that someone is in love with her in the middle of a huge battle. (I cannot remember - did she and her fellow make it out of the battle alive? )

As for Mappo - his betrayal of the children haunted him. As it did most of the others involved wh oalso went on about their own business rather than help the kids.. Yes, there was one person who did not betray them and did his best to help them. Didn't stop some self doubts and self torture on the parts of those who turned their backs on those kids.

Hey guys. Finished the book late last night. Intended to post at work today, but they kept me busy all day (the nerve! ).

Sooo, let's see. Uh...well...I think y'all have everything covered. The End.







Just kidding!

Did you happen to catch the scene where Cotillion decided to bring Crokus and Apsalar back together? I can't remember who he was talking to (and I don't dog-ear pages like *some* people , so there's no hope of my finding the scene right now), but he started musing about how he forced her to choose to work for him and maybe he should make amends. And I said, "Yes, you rat bastard, in fact you should." And then he did. So, points for Cotillion.

Which he sorely needed after he assassinated the Crippled God. For my part, I don't think the Fallen One had a prayer of ever getting home. I think he was well and truly stuck there, and clearly was ready to set up shop -- he'd shouldered his way into the Deck of Dragons, after all, and was doing a pretty good job of filling out his House (who was the Leper? Fid?). I think Shadowthrone and Cotillion didn't want the competition. And it was clear to me that they'd planned that ending for him all along.

(As a writer, I found it fascinating to watch Erikson morph TCG into a fairly decent guy -- uh, god. Here he's been the Local Embodiment of Evil for 9,000 pages, give or take, and suddenly in this book he's just, y'know, misunderstood. And I'm buying it. Impressive writing! And here's another thing I noticed about this series as a whole, since you mentioned the Tiste Liosan : The good guys usually wear white, right? But the Liosan, who are Light, are arrogant assholes; we end up rooting for the guys in black, like Rake and Caladan Brood. Nothing like turning the epic fantasy paradigm on its head.... )

As for the Otataral Dragon -- dunno how else that could have ended. She would only have been free for a short time -- the dragons were already massing to kill her (altho their motivation could have been more clearly explained...). And once dead, magic would cease to exist, and *no*body wanted that. A sad ending, yeah, but what can you do.

Speaking of sad endings: Gruntle. And Gesler and Stormy -- I understand why their sacrifice had to be made, but I wish Gesler could have made it back to Stonny somehow. And yeah, Mappo. The thing with the kids struck me as kicking the guy when he was down. He had a job to do and did it, fer cryin' out loud; it's not his fault that everybody else in the world hadn't been saving all the kids in his place. And I gotta tell ya, I'm worried about Ublala. He's a better guardian than that last guy who spit-slicked his hairdo (eww!), but he's no Mappo....

Dunno about Hellian and Urb -- after their big smooch, I lost track of 'em. Hopefully they survived.

I remarked to Highdrake via text today about the Karsa Orlong Butterfly Effect. And Heboric had his own -- but what was he doing at the bottom of the ocean? And who was the guy with the lantern down there?

The Bolkando princess's handmaiden as a Seguleh -- that was good.

And who knew Hood had a sense of humor? "I never liked the Forkrul Assail."

Highdrake, I can honestly say "S/he is a god. If s/he cannot handle the situation, I sure as heck cannot. The god/dess has to save him/herself." I sure wouldn't consider it MY responsibility to rescue a diety.

But I am not someone set up to be a true believer, either. Just not made that way. People who are more religious in their natures might give a completely different answer.

Ali, if you think the CG is really really dead - what happened to his spirit and power? When Fener died power errupted and brought zombies back to life - what happened to the CG's?

Hmm. I went back and re-read this part. Bear with me...

TCG realizes that he cannot call his "children" down without destroying the world. K'rul tells him, under the sea, that there is a way for him to return to his children: "It begins with Heboric, but it ends at the hands of another." And Mael says his cobbled-together body is "unsuited for your return."

Then after Heboric grabs the Otataral Dragon with his Otataral hand, he uses his jade hand to boost TCG back up to the top of the barrow. So far, so good. It must be Heboric's boost that ignites the jade fire around TCG. But then TCG links eyes with Koryk, and Koryk sees a promise there. And then Cotillion rises up behind TCG and stabs him. And the green fire shoots up into the sky.

So yeah, maybe the green fire was TCG's soul or essence or whatever, restored then to his people. Fid tries to tell Koryk that killing the makeshift body was the only way for TCG to find release.

But what was TCG playing at by linking up with Koryk at the last minute? Was he going to take Koryk with him? Or was he going to possess Koryk's body and stick around? Or something else? That part smells kinda funny to me. Maybe Cotillion killed TCG to keep him from doing something rotten, like double-crossing the Malazans. But then how else would TCG have gotten his release? Who would the other "hands" have been to send him on his way?

And it sure sounds like K'rul and Mael knew what Cotillion was planning to do, doesn't it? Shadowthrone in league with two Elder Gods?

I kind of missed that part the first time through. I was kind of stunned at Cotillion's actions and read right past the green fire shooting off...