Bakker の Pacific Rim Job

[Sci-2]

Ok I am behind the times I think on excerpts and stories and whatnot.

So what are the currently available Atrocity Tales and excerpts? And where can I read them? I think I asked this once before but couldn't remember... I have only read "False Sun."

Here's the other one:

The Four Revelations of Cinial’jin

eta: Gets much less discussion because there aren't any major plot revelations.

eta 2: Or at least none I noticed.

[Madness]

Ch. 1 Excerpt

Ch. 3 Excerpt Reading Summary (Thanks again, Wilshire)

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

Thanks Madness!

[Sci-2]

Just finished WLW, will have thoughts later. But Sci, chorae do negate magical items. Mimara has to be careful with the chorae so as not to ruin her new armor and knife.

Ah thanks for that. Guess that's a no on the Subtle Knife cutting the Carapace.

[Sci-2]

Double posting:

If Shae has to stay in the circuit of encircled amputees to keep from falling into Hell, how did he and Seswatha ever fight?

Did they battle in Golgotterath, when Seswatha came for the Heron Spear?

[lokisnow]

They may have 'fought' in the sense that Roosevelt and Hitler fought. I don't think there's any indication that Seswatha and Shaeonanra ever confronted each other, but each were important leaders in two opposing factions.

[Sci-2]

They may have 'fought' in the sense that Roosevelt and Hitler fought. I don't think there's any indication that Seswatha and Shaeonanra ever confronted each other, but each were important leaders in two opposing factions.

Possibly. But when Serwa recollects Seswatha's life she makes it sound like a direct mage duel:

"Yes," she finally said. "Most assuredly yes. I have battled Shauriatas in my Dreams. I have been tortured by

Mekeritrig. Chased across Eärwa by Aurax and Aurang. The Consult is as real as it is wicked and deadly, Sorweel.

Short of my father, the world knows no powers more ferocious. Even absent the No-God and the Second

Apocalypse, they warrant the bloodthirsty fanaticism of Men."

[Rhom]

Here's the other one:

The Four Revelations of Cinial’jin

eta: Gets much less discussion because there aren't any major plot revelations.

eta 2: Or at least none I noticed.

I had read False Sun. Have not read that one. Thanks for the link!

[Happy Ent]

After finishing Four Revelations, please read my misheard Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics for it. The only place this can still be found is at an obscure Dutch forum.

http://forum.gamer.nl/showthread.php?p=2569455

[Francis Buck]

Thanks for posting those Madness (and to Wrath for asking the question), I was wondering where to find them all myself.

As of now I believe I am completely and totally caught up on reading all things Earwa. WLW was very good, although damn cliffhanger-y (especially in the sense of "everything's lined up and ready to explode", much like the end of ADWD), not that that's a bad thing. Allcaps Dragon did not disappoint.

The False Sun was awesome. Honestly I think Bakker's writing there was some of my favorite in the series. It was also cool to get an inside POV of a big Consult bad guy like Shae, since villains like that, a lot of the time, are exempted from having POVs, in this series and elsewhere. Titirga was a pretty badass character considering how little screentime he had.

Overall, there's definitely a ridiculous amount of depth to the series, much of which I don't think the average reader really even begins to fathom. My only significant dislike of the series (aside from the prose, which I still find inconsistent, but I know that's more just my personal tastes) is the serious lack of variety in female characters, particular POV characters. The constant whore stuff throughout the series gets a little old by the fifth damn book. And it doesn't help that the only two major female characters are completely wrapped up mentally with being a whore. It's not even that they're bad characters, because they're not (Mimara's one of my favorite characters in the series, and easily in the top three POVs I most looked forward to throughout TJE and WLW). It's just the lack of other female characters that kind of tarnishes the experience. I know Bakker has apparently claimed this is intentional, and that it will somehow serve a greater point at the end of the series or something, which may entirely be true, but I find it hard to believe that he couldn't acheive this same point while still having at least one major non-whore female POV.

So yeah, other than that the series is fantastic and the world-building is straight up genius. I am now very anxiously awaiting TUC.

Oh, and a question: What are people's thoughts on Maithanet's assassination? Is the narindar "supernatural"? Do they have divine assistance? I don't totally get the distinction between a guy like Esmenet hired, and whatever Sorweel's deal is.

EDIT: Another thing, what's the deal with the "Nonman heroes always growing"? Do we know anything else about this? Never heard anything about that before, nor did notice it in my entire reread (other than where it's mentioned in...I think TFS? Not sure, it's all running together now).

[Sci-2]

After finishing Four Revelations, please read my misheard Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics for it. The only place this can still be found is at an obscure Dutch forum.

http://forum.gamer.n...d.php?p=2569455

Nice - synchs up with the original rather well!

For those too lazy to travel here's the song:

Spoiler

Erratic Rhapsody

Queën

Is this the real life?

Or is it literature?

Caught by a man-tribe,

No escape from this shit for sure.

Skewered one eye,

Look up to the skies and see.

I'm just an Ishroi, I need no sympathy,

Because my viewpoint makes little sense,

just stream of consience,

Any way the words blow doesn't really matter to Scott, to Scott.

Conphas,

Just killed a girl,

Put my hands around her neck, squeezed tightly,

now she's dead.

Conphas, life goes on and on,

But I’m bonkers so I don't remember shit.

Conphas, oooh,

I was mean and made her cry,

for else I’d have forgotten her tomorrow,

that's how Bakker makes us tick, the Cunoroi erratics.

Fire, and nails and stuff,

Send shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time

Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go,

Gotta leave you and face oblivion

Conphas, oooh, it’s time for a flashback,

but first let's hear Martemus play his solo...

I see a glimpse of a caterwauling Sranc,

Inchoroi, Inchoroi, will you show us you Wracu!

Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening.

Sil!

Where is Aurax? Where is Aurang?

Where is Aurax? Where is Aurang?

Where is Aurax? Wutteät. Ciogli owns!

I'm just an Ishroi nobody loves me

(That's just a Nonman from noble family)

spared by Quya from monstrosities.

Quya come, Quya go, hey you can’t just go

Shigogli! No, we will not let you go

(We’re betrayed!) Shigogli! We will not let you go

(We’re betrayed!) Shigogli! We will not let you go

(Let us go) Will not let you go

(Let us go)(Never) Never let you go

(Let us go) Never let you go (Let me go) Ah

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia, there they go

The Inchoroi have some Bashrags put aside for me, for me, for me

Do you know when you flay me and gouge out my eye

I remember my loved ones whom I left to die

Aisralu, Aisarunqu, Ensialas, ...

That's just how I work, that's just how I work, yes it's weird.

Nothing really matters, anyone can see,

Nothing really matters,

Nothing really matters to me

A sentence that just ...

Oh, and a question: What are people's thoughts on Maithanet's assassination? Is the narindar "supernatural"? Do they have divine assistance? I don't totally get the distinction between a guy like Esmenet hired, and whatever Sorweel's deal is.

Well there are layers here. You have the WLW taking the place of the narindar, so you have the former's power utilizing the power of the latter.

Sorweel''s deal still isn't clear. He may end up channeling the WLW into his own flesh, or he may indirectly allow the currently incarnate WLW to kill Kellhus.

[Francis Buck]

Well there are layers here. You have the WLW taking the place of the narindar, so you have the former's power utilizing the power of the latter.

I must've missed something, because I've no clue what you mean by the WLW taking the place of the narindar. Was it the WLW that killed Maithanet?

[Sci-2]

I must've missed something, because I've no clue what you mean by the WLW taking the place of the narindar. Was it the WLW that killed Maithanet?

The WLW warrior finds the narindar that Esmi will hire.

The Narindar and the WLW have a conversation about Ajokli before the WLW kills him and takes his place.

"The Four-Horned Brother..." the long-haired man was saying. "Do you know why he is shunned by the others?

Why my Cult and my Cult alone is condemned in the Tusk?"

"Ajokli is the Fool," he heard himself reply.

The long-haired man smiled. "He only seems such because he sees what the others do not see... What you

do not see."

"I have no need of seeing."

The Narindar lowered his face in resignation. "The blindness of the sighted," he murmured.

[Galbrod]

Is there consensus that Maithanet is indeed assasinated (as opposed to the WLW assasinationg someone dressed up to appear like Maithanet)?

[Francis Buck]

Okay, so basically Esmi was always talking to the WLW even from the first meeting? Don't know how this went over my head.

[Madness]

Battle Synthese, V. Iron Man... It's coming, peoples. Somehow, Aurang is able to work sorcery through the shell of the Bird Synthese - and even then distance is the primary dimension of disadvantage.

[Madness]

Jesus, posting just rocketed... that was to the Seswatha fight Shauriatas comment.

Also, +1 on WLW replacing the Narindar and being the Empress' Champion.

[Rhom]

Sorry, I thought it was pretty apparent that the WLW did in Maithanet. :dunno:

I don't see any reason to believe it was a fake.

[Sci-2]

Battle Synthese, V. Iron Man... It's coming, peoples. Somehow, Aurang is able to work sorcery through the shell of the Bird Synthese - and even then distance is the primary dimension of disadvantage.

This might be possible but it'll likely have to happen before Kellhus reaches Golgotterath seeing as it takes multiple mages to project anyone into the Synthese (TTT):

"Across the world in Golgotterath," Kellhus gasped, still stamping out the coals of his manic lust, "the Mangaecca squat about your true flesh, rocking to the mutter of endless Cants The Synthese is but a node. You are no more than the reflection of a shadow, an image cast upon the water of Esmenet. You possess subtlety, yes, but you haven't the depth to confront me."

Achamian had told him of this creature, that its capacities would be largely restricted to glamours, compulsions, and possessions. The great shout that was its true form, the Schoolman had said, could be heard only as whispers and insinuations at such a distance.

-TTT

This also raises another question - if the human Consult members are contained in circles of amputees, is it then who are these Mangaecca chanting around Aurang to project him into the avian body? Or did other human Consult members who joined later end up partaking of a perfected means of immortality devised by the Tekne?

[Francis Buck]

Sorry, I thought it was pretty apparent that the WLW did in Maithanet. :dunno:

I don't see any reason to believe it was a fake.

Yeah I think Maithanet is dead. Would kinda draw away a lot of the potency of that whole storyline if he turned out to be alive. That was actually probably the biggest twist that I had no clue about (or if I did then I forgot about it). I was pretty pissed honestly. Maithanet seemed like an alright guy in the end, and his partial humanity seemed to not make him completely incapable of experiencing emotion. I always liked the part in the first series when he shows up at Atyersus and takes down the thing called Simas out-of-nowhere.

After reading that TUC excerpt, I'm thinking even more so that not only is Seswatha's Heart a means of convincing people to fight the Consult (a la the Inverse Fire), but that it may also serve as his own special means of immortality. Someone has to stick around to fight Shae, right? We know such things are possible, and we know that souls can be divided. Maybe he didn't trust people to do it on their own, even with this his memories. In the Celmomian prophecy, the high king even said that saving the world would be a task that fell upon Seswatha's shoulders. Perhaps it was quite literal? Would also, of course, explain the timeliness of the Dreams.