Steven Erikson's Dust of Dreams

[Jerol]

WhiteHaven, stick with MT until the end. The "convergence" is worth it.

[WhiteHaven]

Imho, MT was the last really good Erikson book. So if you are having issues with it...does not bode well.

Really? Oh damn.....

However, I am going to fight my way trough - seriously, I have to find out if the Empress is a lesbian :P

[urizen]

Really? Oh damn.....

However, I am going to fight my way trough - seriously, I have to find out if the Empress is a lesbian :P

While the Bonehunters and Reapers Gale might not be better than Memories of Ice, they most certainly trumps Gardens of the Moon and House of Chains. Toll the Hounds might be slow but the finish is up there with anything (not counting DoD of course) Erikson has put out in earlier books.

[MinDonner]

*gives in*

*orders DoD*

I used up all my self-control today in not eating cakes at work. I have none left to resist books with. I guess all the rest of the stack will just have to wait...

[pat5150]

Just wanted to let you guys know that Amazon.co.uk is shipping DoD since yesterday. . . :)

Patrick

[Relic]

Just wanted to let you guys know that Amazon.co.uk is shipping DoD since yesterday. . . :)

Patrick

pat any idea when amazon.ca is releasing it? they have two dates online. Spt 1 and Jan 2010.

[Werthead]

Okay, something quite genuinely badass happened which is intriguing.

SPOILER: DoD

However, I suspect some of the old Felisin debate is going to be reignited by what happens to a female character (not Felisin) in this book.

Really? Oh damn.....

However, I am going to fight my way trough - seriously, I have to find out if the Empress is a lesbian :P

You also need to read Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian Esslemont, as the Empress has a larger role in that book than arguably any of the others.

While the Bonehunters and Reapers Gale might not be better than Memories of Ice, they most certainly trumps Gardens of the Moon and House of Chains. Toll the Hounds might be slow but the finish is up there with anything (not counting DoD of course) Erikson has put out in earlier books.

Gardens of the Moon improves on rereads, which I heavily suspect the other two do not. It's also far less headache-inducing to read than any of the later books. Whilst the prose is not quite as good as Erikson at his best, it's also far less turgid and cluttered with pointless philosophical debates which basically seem to be saying, "War is bad," and "Capitalism is the new colonialism,".

[Lord Baelish]

My copy should be arriving tomorrow. I hope so anyway, as I can't wait any longer to start this book. I'm starting to get twitchy with Malazan withdrawal. Even my reread isn't enough to cure me. Come on, Royal Mail. Don't let me down!

[murphy]

Just wanted to let you guys know that Amazon.co.uk is shipping DoD since yesterday. . . :)

Patrick

I got my notice yesterday, too, from Amazon UK. Expect it by the end of the week.

[duchess of malfi]

Given my dislike of the later books in the series, I will wait until more reviews are in (I disregard Pat's, since he is such a huge fan of the series ;) ) before deciding whether to order it from the UK, or, perhaps even read it at all. If Erikson sticks to telling the damned story I will be much more likely to read it than if he gets off into hundreds of pages of navel gazing tangents. :rolleyes:

[ljkeane]

Yeah, I ran out of patience with the series with Toll the Hounds, it's one of the few books I've ever started and not finished. If there are a lot of positive reviews I might see if I can find it at the library but I don't think I'll be buying another Steven Erikson book, which is a shame because I initially enjoyed the series.

[Caligula_K]

Ya, my ordering these books from the UK days are over- I'll wait for the Canadian release, and buy it at discount price. I'm also looking forward to reading other reviews, since although Pat is generally a good reviewer, his reviews of Malazan are about as reliable for me as Dragonmount's reviews of Wheel of Time.

[kcf]

I expect mine will arrive today - unforntunately, I won't be home until Wednesday. I expect my wife will taunt me with it tonight.

[Werthead]

Given my dislike of the later books in the series, I will wait until more reviews are in (I disregard Pat's, since he is such a huge fan of the series ;) ) before deciding whether to order it from the UK, or, perhaps even read it at all. If Erikson sticks to telling the damned story I will be much more likely to read it than if he gets off into hundreds of pages of navel gazing tangents. :rolleyes:

The tangents are definitely still there, although nowhere near as badly as in TTH. The format is also back to normal (no passages in Kruppe's POV this time) and it's a lot busier. Loads of battles and several small, short wars so far.

One of the odd things about this book:

SPOILER: DoD

The Khundryl, whom I've previously been meh about, kick some serious ass and come alive in this book. Their sections have been quite enjoyable. The White Face Barghast, OTOH, become really despicable and loathsome in this volume and you end up wishing they'd all die, which is odd as I quite liked them in MoI. Weird.

[Larry.]

I'll likely review it by the end of the month, although my reading load just got a lot, lot heavier.

[Gigei]

Imho, MT was the last really good Erikson book. So if you are having issues with it...does not bode well.

Naah. I hated MT and I liked RG, tBH and TtH. Lots of people don't like MT.

[Werthead]

So now we know what Tavore's plan is. And oddly, it makes sense. Not sure if it justifies taking a whole army to the far side of the planet on a blind, mad dash into the unknown, but it's certainly interesting.

Also:

SPOILER: DoD

We find out what the Crippled God's real name is.

One character from a previous book gets to make a fecking gigantic entrance in this one.

Ublala Pung becomes the road trip buddy of the last person you'd expect.

Although the end of TTH seems to fall about 2/3 of the way through this book, the moon notably hasn't exploded, which is odd. I assumed that would be visible across the whole world.

The forces arrayed against the Bonehunters by this point are huge, although they have some badass allies cropping up as well.

Astonishingly, the Errant becomes even more annoying and twattish than before.

Erikson continues his unwarranted building up of Whiskeyjack as the Best Thing Evaaaah.

The Shake, whilst still being not very well-established in previous books, do bring about an event we've arguably spent all eight previous books waiting to happen.

[urizen]

So now we know what Tavore's plan is. And oddly, it makes sense. Not sure if it justifies taking a whole army to the far side of the planet on a blind, mad dash into the unknown, but it's certainly interesting.

Also:

SPOILER: DoD

We find out what the Crippled God's real name is.

One character from a previous book gets to make a fecking gigantic entrance in this one.

Ublala Pung becomes the road trip buddy of the last person you'd expect.

Although the end of TTH seems to fall about 2/3 of the way through this book, the moon notably hasn't exploded, which is odd. I assumed that would be visible across the whole world.

The forces arrayed against the Bonehunters by this point are huge, although they have some badass allies cropping up as well.

Astonishingly, the Errant becomes even more annoying and twattish than before.

Erikson continues his unwarranted building up of Whiskeyjack as the Best Thing Evaaaah.

The Shake, whilst still being not very well-established in previous books, do bring about an event we've arguably spent all eight previous books waiting to happen.

SPOILER: DoD

And that is??

Who?

Mappo Runt?

Maybe the Moon wasn't visible to the Lether continent when it happened.

Other allies than the known ones like the Grey helms etc?

The Errant becoming even more annoying sounds unlikely.

I didn't know we were waiting for any specific event to happen.

[Werthead]

SPOILER: DoD

And that is??

Who?

Mappo Runt?

Maybe the Moon wasn't visible to the Lether continent when it happened.

Other allies than the known ones like the Grey helms etc?

The Errant becoming even more annoying sounds unlikely.

I didn't know we were waiting for any specific event to happen.

Direct answers (major spoilers, but the book is now officially out so that's allowed)

SPOILER: DoD Major

Kaminsod.

Draconus.

Draconus, although Mappo Runt does turn up briefly.

It's described in it's wounded state just before Hood's death and Draconus' liberation are reported.

Try twenty thousand K'Chain Che'Malle who are, surprisingly keen to help out with the big new menace. Five thousand T'lan Imass also show up from Assail just for the sheer hell of it.

The Errant is actually pissing everyone off by this point. Bugg threatens him with annihilation and reportedly the Master of the Deck is keen to twat him down as well.

Mother Dark and Draconus return, although we knew that from TTH. And we get a re-run of the Moon's Spawn battle at Pale, on a far vaster scale, with many more skykeeps and different classes of skykeeps involved.

The ending to this book is insane and the cliffhanger is absolutely enormous.

[urizen]

Direct answers (major spoilers, but the book is now officially out so that's allowed)

SPOILER: DoD Major

Kaminsod.

Draconus.

Draconus, although Mappo Runt does turn up briefly.

It's described in it's wounded state just before Hood's death and Draconus' liberation are reported.

Try twenty thousand K'Chain Che'Malle who are, surprisingly keen to help out with the big new menace. Five thousand T'lan Imass also show up from Assail just for the sheer hell of it.

The Errant is actually pissing everyone off by this point. Bugg threatens him with annihilation and reportedly the Master of the Deck is keen to twat him down as well.

Mother Dark and Draconus return, although we knew that from TTH. And we get a re-run of the Moon's Spawn battle at Pale, on a far vaster scale, with many more skykeeps and different classes of skykeeps involved.

The ending to this book is insane and the cliffhanger is absolutely enormous.

Great, thanks :thumbsup:

Where in all this is Silchas Ruin?

SPOILER: DoD Major

Ublala and Draconus?? How did that happen?