Malazan II

[Wilbur]

Switch to ebooks. That'll kill the OCD.

Oh, how I laughed at the idea of ebooks having "uniformity" as a quality.

Oh, HOW I laughed.

[Toblakai]

I won't do this for books that have maps.

In regards to OCD and matching covers, I threw in the towel a few years ago. It's a losing battle. Say "fuck it" and you'll be happier.

Yeah, the maps suck. But I just type "Malazan Map Letheras" in Google and hit the images tab. Voila! Zoomable map on my tablet.

[Muttering Bill]

Switch to ebooks. That'll kill the OCD.

I have a Nook for years, but I never took to it. Nothing wrong with it aside that it doesn't feel right.

Anyway, that would involve re-buying 12 books to have them all in the same format.

You are not alone in your suffering. It bugs me to no end that my Bakker books are three different sizes. Another recent annoyance was Cibola Burn being in hard back and flip-flopping the prominence of the author name with the book title.

I stopped buying Bakker's books because of that. I wasn't really attached to the series though.

The change in paperback size on the Dresden Files bothers me greatly as well.

In regards to OCD and matching covers, I threw in the towel a few years ago. It's a losing battle. Say "fuck it" and you'll be happier.

Forge of Darkness hasn't had an MMP release either. Looks like I may have to just deal with it for this series.

[Toblakai]

Anyway, that would involve re-buying 12 books to have them all in the same format.

If you are not already, you should get some counseling or psychiatric help as I am sure the OCD is impacting a lot more than just your book purchases. And I don't mean that to be flippant, as I have my own disorders I deal with and receive therapy for. And I am sure I am not alone here, as it seems that a much larger precentage of "normal" people than I ever relealized receive help for something (ADHD, OCD, anxiety, depression, autism, etc.)

[Ghjhero]

Has anyone ever read the main 10 books in a different order in a reread of the series? I was thinking that it you wanted to go by strict chronological order you could read it as;

MT

GotM

DHG

MoI

HoC

tBH

Or if you wanted to stick with one particular setting at a time you could read it as;

GotM

MoI

DHG

HoC

MT

tBH

OR

DHG

HoC

GotM

MoI

MT

tBh

Thoughts? I've only just started RG, so I don't know how the rest of the series would pan out.

[Toblakai]

I would maybe try rearranging on a third read, if I was crazy or bored enough to do that. For a second read, I would read in the same order to see how everything was laid out or foreshadowed with the knowledge of the grand plan. I think you would understand his genius more that way.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

I would maybe try rearranging on a third read, if I was crazy or bored enough to do that. For a second read, I would read in the same order to see how everything was laid out or foreshadowed with the knowledge of the grand plan. I think you would understand his genius more that way.

I plan on just that....but in maybe two years or so. I love the series, its just am having Malazan overload, since I didn't have to wait on the books to come out. And just Erikson is TEN huge books. I wanna do it but obviously after I quit dreaming about being stuck in warrens and shit, Lol. And I wanna meet Karsa so bad. Wouldn't you like to have a beer with that man, then Witness his destruction of some sort of god or demon or such. See, I need a break after the Crippled God.

[Rhom]

I would maybe try rearranging on a third read, if I was crazy or bored enough to do that. For a second read, I would read in the same order to see how everything was laid out or foreshadowed with the knowledge of the grand plan. I think you would understand his genius more that way.

Eh... I'm not sure that genius foreshadowing is a strength of his. Certainly not the way that Jordan or Martin have laid it out. The inconsistencies in the timeline and the overall metaphysics of the world have obviously changed so much from GotM to TCG that you can't rely on any predictions from one moment to the next. I do think he improved on it as the series went on, but look at the way he used warrens even early on compared to later.

That being said, I once saw a pretty detailed description of what to read when if you wanted to read it chronologically. Even throwing in the mixed up times for all the prologues and epilogues that happened tens of thousands of years ago.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Eh... I'm not sure that genius foreshadowing is a strength of his. Certainly not the way that Jordan or Martin have laid it out. The inconsistencies in the timeline and the overall metaphysics of the world have obviously changed so much from GotM to TCG that you can't rely on any predictions from one moment to the next. I do think he improved on it as the series went on, but look at the way he used warrens even early on compared to later.

That being said, I once saw a pretty detailed description of what to read when if you wanted to read it chronologically. Even throwing in the mixed up times for all the prologues and epilogues that happened tens of thousands of years ago.

I agree @Rhom. I'm sure there's a lot you'll pick up on a re-read, but as you say I've noticed little to none foreshadowing. Hell, half the time when he refers to a character and doesn't use his/her name, your left scratching your head til you figure it out on your own. It seems like he had this great story in mind and wasn't really concerned with foreshadowing like Martin or "The Unknown" as Bakker leaves so many questions. Erikson just wrote the story as it came to him and the hell with the rest. Just how I see it.

[Darth Richard II]

Heh, i"m with you on the OCD shelf thing, but as I book collector since i was like 12 or so, I've learned to say FUCK IT for most of it.

[Rhom]

I agree @Rhom. I'm sure there's a lot you'll pick up on a re-read, but as you say I've noticed little to none foreshadowing. Hell, half the time when he refers to a character and doesn't use his/her name, your left scratching your head til you figure it out on your own. It seems like he had this great story in mind and wasn't really concerned with foreshadowing like Martin or "The Unknown" as Bakker leaves so many questions. Erikson just wrote the story as it came to him and the hell with the rest. Just how I see it.

That's my perception as well. Erikson does slam bang awesome moments about as well as anyone and the world does have a sense of depth and feels "lived in." However, I agree that he's just out there telling the story as it comes to him and it was not built from the beginning.

Without getting into spoilers for those that are not done, I challenge anyone to look at Quick Ben's first encounter with the Crippled God and then say that the eventual ending was foreshadowed in any way shape or form. I liked the ending and felt that it was a very satisfying conclusion (Erikson's ending... not anything that goes past it from ICE) but it definitely did not feel like it followed the set-up.

[Toblakai]

That's my perception as well. Erikson does slam bang awesome moments about as well as anyone and the world does have a sense of depth and feels "lived in." However, I agree that he's just out there telling the story as it comes to him and it was not built from the beginning.

Without getting into spoilers for those that are not done, I challenge anyone to look at Quick Ben's first encounter with the Crippled God and then say that the eventual ending was foreshadowed in any way shape or form. I liked the ending and felt that it was a very satisfying conclusion (Erikson's ending... not anything that goes past it from ICE) but it definitely did not feel like it followed the set-up.

I am just about to finish DoD, so I haven't read TCG. Maybe foreshadowing wasn't the best choice of words. :)

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

That's my perception as well. Erikson does slam bang awesome moments about as well as anyone and the world does have a sense of depth and feels "lived in." However, I agree that he's just out there telling the story as it comes to him and it was not built from the beginning.

Without getting into spoilers for those that are not done, I challenge anyone to look at Quick Ben's first encounter with the Crippled God and then say that the eventual ending was foreshadowed in any way shape or form. I liked the ending and felt that it was a very satisfying conclusion (Erikson's ending... not anything that goes past it from ICE) but it definitely did not feel like it followed the set-up.

I will answer that when I get there, a few weeks at most. But @rhom has hit the nail on the head. Erikson writes purely by feel and feel alone. But, does a very good job at it. Also, it does challenge the reader to come to conclusions and reasons on your own. Its one of the things I love about his style of writing. Feels very natural and not scripted.

[polishgenius]

While I agree that the Crippled God thing seemed to not be very well set up, there was at least one person on this board who called it bang on the money, so there was something.

There are however other moments where SE sets up things for the long-term reveal really, really well. It's just a very mixed bag with him.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Im on DoD and the whole thing with Lieutenant/Master Sergeant Pores and his dead twin brother. This is a joke right? Or did I miss something? I'm assuming he a big prankster, right? And should have I noticed this in previous books? I recall him, but not this whole deal withe the twin brother.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

DoD has been one of the better books even though you don't see a whole lot of action. I think it is setting up the finale of The Crippled God nicely. I am however just starting on Book 3, a little over half way through. Seems like there is going to be some information forthcoming. But, any book with Tehol and Bugg makes me think its an all-tme classic. If they can't turn Malazan into a HBO series, then at least we can get a Tehol and Bugg sitcom or something.

[Toblakai]

Im on DoD and the whole thing with Lieutenant/Master Sergeant Pores and his dead twin brother. This is a joke right? Or did I miss something? I'm assuming he a big prankster, right? And should have I noticed this in previous books? I recall him, but not this whole deal withe the twin brother.

Joke

And I just finished DoD

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Joke

And I just finished DoD

What I thought. Just so many characters, didn't know I'd there was a hidden meaning I was missing.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

@Toblaiki~did you enjoy it?

[Toblakai]

Mostly yes. It is really only half a book with a lot of dangling storylines, but the last two chapters are pretty epic as would be expected at the end of a Malazan novel. I feel bad for people that had to wait a year and a half for The Crippled God because the ending has a nasty cliffhanger. Erikson did provide a warning and apology upfront about it, but it am glad I can move into the next book without a wait. I might read a couple of stories from the Rogues anthology first just to have some, very slight, buildup.

My only issue was that, even more than the other books, this one could have used some trimming. I feel like it could have been cut down by about 20%. I love the Malazan soldiers, but they really didn't do much in the first half despite so much time being devoted to them. A lot of it was amusing but really could have been trimmed.

Also, the Barghast storyline is pretty harrowing, but despite being hard to read, it is pretty impactful, and that makes him a great author.