Bloat

[Shryke]

I gotta agree. On my reread of MOI a few years back, there just weren't that many Mhybe scenes. People bitch about them constantly, but she's just not in the book that much.

[AUyushu]

Could I humbly point out that this, maybe, is the problem?

That's a valid point, but it's not like I go in planning to skim, I start reading, realize how much I dislike those sections, and skim :). And I don't mind the tone of Erikson with what he did with the Mhybe scenes in the other books, he does the tragedy versus heroism angles very well IMO, just didn't like that arc at all (and as you mentioned, I'm hardly in the minority on that). There is plenty of other horror and tragedy in MOI to counterbalance the heroic scenes, it's not like those scenes are the only things in the book that are that way.

The kids in the rift, Harlo, Stonny, the cannibal armies in general, what happens to Toc throughout over half the book, the Bridgeburners going down, Whiskeyjack, there is a ton of similarly bad toned stuff going on, it's not like the Mhybe is the only source. I'd agree her parts are jarring, but it's not because of the tragedy IMO, it just doesn't flow as well and wallows in it. But everyone will have different opinions on stuff, which is what makes discussions interesting.