If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil." – Tim O'Brien Paran actually has a really interesting arc going on and some unexpected changes in him. While I don’t get everything that his new ‘position’ entails I think it means that he will be a big player at the end. I was really excited for him to be reunited with Tattersail in the form of SIlverfox but alas that actually ended up being one of my least favorite parts of the story….again see #6.

Title Drop: "Memories of ice" is said by Tool during a discussion of the ancient war between the Jaghut and the T'lan Imass. The text is also peppered with the phrase as a descriptive metaphor, indicating a sort of melancholia. Priva di pathos, come se tutta la carica e la tensione fossero esplose con il tradimento avvenuto prima della battaglia, la morte eccellente che ha fermato il tempo sia nella lettura che nella storia. Truly, this series redefines the word "epic" in fantasy. Compared to this, I don't think we would consider most other fantasies as in the same category - they certainly don't have the same scope at all. This series kind of stands apart, maybe going TOO far... The sheer scale of the undertaking - the twisted, overarching plots that far transcend even this massive volume; an immense cast of characters, both immortal and mortal; a history of over 300,000 years, and characters who have lived out all of those years; myriad races, cultures, and multiple worlds - it's almost impossible to imagine that an author could actually pull this off and make it work. Yet Erikson, somehow, does. Colony Drop: Whenever the Malazans and Caladan Brood interact, the question is always asked- where is Moon's Spawn? You know, the giant floating mountain that doubles as Anomander Rake's fortress? The answer isn't revealed until the final chapters. Under the sea, waiting to be dropped on the Pannion city of Coral so the allies will not have to engage in a lengthy siege. A Malazan book usually takes me twice as long to read as compared to another fantasy of similar length. This one, in particular, was really dense with so much to take in; from all the foreshadowing to the revelations, to the amazing battle scenes, and the empathetic development of a vast cast of characters. However, Erikson's writing and narrative skills seem to be improving as we move from one book to the other and in spite of the density of the overarching plot, Memories of Ice was easier to appreciate than its predecessors.

Enter your sign in name and password

The Pannion Domin have access to undead K'ell hunters, reanimated corpses belonging to an extinct lizard-like species called K'Chain Che'Malle. These particular hunters have had long metal blades grafted onto their arms — in essence, undead velociraptors with swords on their arms, which makes them doubly difficult to destroy. In Capustan, Coll and Murillio take the Mhybe into the Temple of Hood. The unnamed warrior constructs a sarcophagus for her to be placed in. The two Darus are baffled and afraid, especially when K'rul, an elder god known for his blood rites, enters the temple. K'rul tells Coll and Murillio that the Mhybe's dreams will become a new world, one where she will be young again. What can I say, Captain P is not the only one who captured my heart in MoI. The great forming friendship between Mr. Bony and Tic Tac really melted my heart, as they didn’t get much attention in earlier books. The ending for them…..OMG..that was smth unbelievable and so unexpected for them, my jaw had literally dropped wide when reading about their fate. Upon entering the Seer's territory, Toc abandons his party and joins the Tenescowri, hoping they'll meet up with the Malazans. Weeks later, starved and delirious, he is summoned by the Pannion Seer and sees the corpse of an old man being animated by a Jaghut who is further empowered by grey tendrils of power reaching down. When he's given another vision of his party through Baaljagg's eyes, the Seer casts him into a prison with the K'Chain Ch'Malle Matron that once dwelt in the Rent at Morn. He is kept alive with sorcery while the Matron, insane from pain and grief at the loss of her children, breaks his bones over and over in her embrace. Slave Mooks: The Tenescowri are a particularly horrifying example. The cannon fodder of the Pannion Domin, they aren't permitted any supplies from their superiors, restricting them solely to what they can loot from the enemy. As such, they're lightly armed but driven to the point of madness by near starvation and will charge headlong at the enemy against all odds in the hope of slaking their hunger by any means necessary. Though not very effective by most standards, they have the weight of numbers on their side and their presence on a battlefield is horrifying enough to do a real number on the enemy's morale (and their own morale is virtually unbreakable on account of how they have to literally engage the enemy constantly or die a slow, horrible death). It's telling about how hellish the Pannion Seer's rule is that people actually volunteer for the Tenescowri to escape what the Domin does to its civilian subjects.

Lister's reading is once again solid. I will continue reading this series and would recommend it to a friend as long as that friend knew, that even though this is fantasy, not to expect any happy endings. Fate Worse than Death: A member of Onearm's host suffers this fate daily. Ormulogun, the great Imperial Artist, earns his living by creating brilliant works of art for posterity to accurately record the conquests of the Malazans. He is cursed to be accompanied by an immortal, unkillable toad demon, Gumble. And Gumble has a very specific curse to visit upon Ormulogun: Gumble is an art critic. The toad long ago drove the artist mad from the unending critiques of his work, but Ormulogun cannot stop making art. Silverfox walks in the Tellann dreamworld and meets the Rhivi spirits. Her plans to use the dreamworld to return her mother to youth are all in ruins after Itkovian embraced the T'lan Imass. She is so bitter with the sense of failure that when the Rhivi spirits tell her she can still save her mother, she turns away in shame instead of talking to her. Tool and Lanas Tog meet Silverfox, and Tool asks her to return the Ay to life. She does, and Tool asks her to return him to life as well. She does. Lanas Tog then takes Silverfox to the rest of the T'lan Imass, and she offers to undo the Ritual of Tellann. They say not yet, speaking of plans to accompany Lanas Tog to rescue their kin trapped in the far-off war. Silverfox asks to accompany them. Pran Chole tells her that Itkovian's gift will allow them to return to their memories when the Ritual is eventually undone, something they didn't expect.First the siege of Capustan is lifted when the protagonist army arrives, but the defenders (who are honorable mercenaries) have nearly been killed to the man. Hetan and Cafal leave with the rest of the Barghast and run into the now mortal Tool and Kilava. Hetan and Tool become lovers.

For me, with this book I believe I have finally gotten a grasp on what the series is. I wish someone had written it out like this to me earlier, so I could understand. Nevertheless, I will try and fill that role for those like me who come after. The characters, goals, and motivations are not simple. This is a gray world. Good characters turn evil and evil characters become good, and sometimes justice is not seen. Despite this, death is usually not the final word, as characters ascend, return, or are reborn. Grey Sword Trimaster, commanding officer of Wings One, Three, and Five of the Grey Sword cavalry [22] Someone from the past will show up with a completely different name and you will have to try to figure out who they are. Sometimes it is easy and other times you really have to work for it.Sua è la mano dietro la nascita dell’Impero del Pannion Seer, un Impero malato a causa del suo tocco folle e malvagio, un Impero che si nutre di sé stesso e del male puro. Un Impero senza idee di sopravvivenza, solo di morte, distruzione, conquista, cannibalismo. A buddy read with my family and friends at BB&B! Because we love Fantasy and are a bit of masochists too... The T'lan Imass are gathering to a summons, the magical warrens are poisoned and the world is in danger by a dark and malign threat.