Gruff is the New Kruppe 😌 A walking paradox of a character that's so intriguing you can't put the book down while reading them. Anix Fro did gave me some Samar Dev vibes with that invention. Great to hear you two going through this one.
Excellent as always! Hearing you mention putting the book down to laugh reminds me of when I had to put the book down, but to feel EMOTIONS instead - Nilghan recounting some of the things he witnessed in his travels. The Tale of the Unloved Women - Tavares being remembered, even if not by name, but her story not being unwitnessed - absolutely destroyed me. Had to put the book down for the night and just go to bed.
Hi Caleb, isn't great when a story can evoke strong enough feelings in us that we need to take a moment? It is an incredible feat if you think about it. Those squiggles on the page have been turned into something that have created a genuine emotional reaction in us. It always blows my mind when I think about it.
@@ReallyGoodandKind And steak too. Damisk steak, a bit raw. You could say he was a staked bare steak. Not a bear steak or a bear stake, mind you. But, yes, there were indeed high stakes. And raw steak. 🥩
I have always wondered if Erikson truly doesn't remember a lot of the details of the world/books as he claims; or if he is just trolling the hell out of us. The Damisk question on FB and then the character treatment in the books makes me think it is the latter. Philip seems to think the same lol
Now I feel that I need to comb through all of Erikson's previous interviews and pay close attention to all those instances where he just shrugged and said "oh, I can't remember, it's been such a long time"... Can't remember, my ass! Erikson is the anti-Sanderson and its keeping everything close to the chest lol
Watching this video is an entire saga: first I watched part of it alone, but couldn't finish as I had to go back to work, and I didn't want to listen to it while working, I don't want to do that to your videos. Then, last night I watched it with my boyfriend. It was very late and we both fell asleep. Not because the video was boring, but because it was really really late. Now it's attempt nr. 3, and I am determined to let nothing interrupt me from finishing the video. So let's cut to the chase (ahem): -The footage that caught Philip in the act of doing evil deeds is top notch. Such good quality cameras, to capture Philip's silhouette and features. Great investment in high quality surveillance equipment seems to have paid off! -Now the video content: I love how considerate you both are about the characters, about innocence, about the importance of healing one's wounds. I appreciate so much the neutrality and kindness of your perspectives. I loved what A.P. said about acknowledging treatment for trauma, acknowledging the need that some people have for help. And once they have been helped, they get to choose what to do with the rest of their lives - which we saw in the case of Sarlis. It speaks to every one of us so much, as we often avoid, or postpone healing things within ourselves, and thus we are stuck in something that chains us down. -Rant - he is one of the most adorable and innocent characters written by SE :) -Gruff - like Nif said perfectly - is the new Kruppe :) -Let's get to the most important part: are we not gonna talk about RAKE? How is this even possible? I am shocked, shocked! ☺️How did this happen? Is it because you kept it for the discussion with SE? Please tell me that's why you "forgot" about Rake.😋 Thank you for the amazing discussion and please forgive me for the wall of text.
@@ACriticalDragon hahah awwww, a whole video would be amazing, I must admit. I don't know about the name though... "Let's talk about THAT scene in Chapter 15" ? 😋
@@ACriticalDragon oh wow, A.P., I thought you were joking! I hope it is not a burden to you. I would totally love a video on that scene, and I am grateful for the (yet another) awesome birthday present (which will be my birthday present each year from now on), but I hope it is not too much of a hassle. And I hope I haven't crossed the line and upset you in any way with my comment, I was trying to be funny. Coming back to the video: if/when it happens, it will be a great moment 🤗🤩 I'm so curious about your analysis of the moment and your opinion about what is happening there. Thank you. And my apologies again if my tone was too much and/or I have upset you.
Not at all Rox. It is a great scene, very interesting, and there are some narrative and stylistic aspects of it that are worth talking about. Also, I am glad that you recognised that surveillance footage of the nefarious Dr. Fantasy was such good evidence for his dastardly deeds. One of these days the world will realise the truth.
Thank you for the great discussion. I am glad you brought up Benger, Stillwater and Anyx Fro, they are absolutely fantastic. I loved when Benger talks about Mockra's Curse, meaning a kind of solipsism, thinking everything might be an illusion. It is funny but totally believable that overusing Mockra could lead to this state of mind. Also, when Stillwater reveals her background as a Untan noble, claiming she left them because she found the members of the court too much of cutthroats. I laughed out loud several times.
Can't wait to watch this but it will be a while. I just finished Bonehunters and now I am taking a break from Malazan to read the Age of Madness trilogy. Then it's back to the final four books in Malazan book of the Fallen, then on to Novels of the Malazan Empire, Kharkanas, and Path to Ascendancy. The finally, the God is not Willing. So I will get around to watching this... sometime well into next year I guess?
Oh my goodness I so loved this book! So different from MBOTF and particular the Kharkanas books! I flew through it so fast that I missed completely Stillwater’s attempt to play fetch!! Once again AP to the rescue! Haha! Now I’m off to watch you and the “Nemesis” discuss Dust of Dreams. I have sooo missed your discussions on my most favorite series!! Thank you gentlemen
An hour of spoilery goodness! Thank you A.P. and Philip. Great discussion of a great book. Really glad I read this. Wouldn't mind a discussion encore.😁
Thank you so much. I am sure there will be a few other videos on the book as time moves on, but it was nice to do a proper chat about it as it was released in the US this week.
Am behind as I just finished this a few days ago and playing catch up. Gruff reminded me of the Tim Roth character in Rob Roy. Regarding Stillwater, I see her as more like the Accountant. That she can't read people and takes everything literally. It never occurs to her she is getting new armor and not just repaired. I did appreciate the cameo of Dancer and Shadowthrone. I wonder how much of that was just to include the Sorry joke somewhere. There was also an 'ah ha.....awwww' moment when the coins for the new warrens were called Runts. As was the description of the ceremony for the Unloved Woman. One touching scene was Rant's night with Pake Gild. It is never really made clear when this normally occurs but 10 seems acceptable. It is also an interesting flip from Karsa telling everyone to wiitness him but now he is the Witness if everyone else The only issue I really had is some of the exposition seemed a little forced or convenient. For example suddenly everyone is a expert on blood oil. Perhaps there was some exchange of knowledge over the years but...
Hi Eric, I hope that you enjoyed it. Everyone being an expert on blood oil... like the Malazans in House of Chains who knew about it nearly 20 years ago? And if they weren't expert then, there have been 20 years of Malazans in and out of that town and area. It is not exactly an overly convenient timeframe. Plus, one would assume military briefings under the great and good Mallick Rel the Merciful would be a bit more thorough these days. But this is a decade, give or take, after TCG, so I would expect more general knowledge of the world and what went on to have made its way around. Karsa has become somewhat famous, so it is understandable that people now know a lot more about the previously isolated people. I am totally with you on the Tim Roth character from Rob Roy.
@@ACriticalDragon There were a lot of things I did like. I might have overstated my issue with that example but some of the information backfill of the time gap seemed a little awkward to me. But that might have been a result to keep the book shorter and more focused. But am curious to see how many new ascendants there are and the Runts. And the ochre count was only 2 but there were 3 undulations. The latter only stuck out because the first two usages were used just a few pages apart.
Thank you Iskar. We were obviously late to the game on this. Too much Malazan and too little time. Always great to hear from the legend himself. Thank you, Iskar.
I'm about halfway through the book right now, so I'll have to come back later - and for the spoiler talk with Erikson as well. But I'm already loving this book so much! Rant experiencing anger for the first time, Damisk casually breaking the chains of an enslaved god, Stillwater and her poor, poor friends 🤣
I'm just commenting for the algorithm to help you out, don't want to watch yet since I haven't read the book. I generally dislike starting unfinished trilogies, is this book worth making an exception for?
Yeah, I really twisted your arm on this one. Look at all those rhetorical devices I employed to create a persuasive argument... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I hope that you enjoy it. I am looking forward to hearing what you think about it.
it doesn't outwardly spoil the main climactic end of the Crippled God I think but I do believe there are a lot references to events that happen between HoC and now, stick with it.
The parallel with Karsa killing the Deragoth was great! Shame on me for missing it :)) And your fire cracker comment was quite something :P I do agree that the marines turning to help the Teblor makes sense. But I also understand why people find it not to be credible. And I think it has to do with the rigidity of th emilitary taking orders. On one side, we have this instance, and many others where the soldiers took things in their hands without being given orders. But then you have an entire army surrendering their weapons and ending up crucified based on an order. I do understand the difference between the two instances as well, but I get why people would find these difficult to reconcile. That's it, I'm done engaging with the entire content of the video :P
I'm not sure if Rant having his empathy is something unique to him because of his human heritage, as opposed to Karsa who lacked it at first because of Teblor blood. At least that's not how I saw it. I think it has to do with how they grew up. Karsa grew up in the safety of his village, being the strongest young man, taught the confidence of the way of the warrior. Rant grew up without guidance, not even that of his mother, hated and chased away by everyone, having his heart broken time and again. There are two main ways that people react to being tormented beyond their ability to take it. One is Rant's way, where experiencing pain opens one's eyes to seeing it in others and trying one's best to help with that burden and to make sure never to be the cause of it. The other way we saw with explored beautifully with Felisin. In that way, they are different faces of the same coin. As for Karsa's age, if I remember right, there is a bit of discrepancy between two of the books, probably Deadhouse Gates and House of Chains, where he is 17 in one book and a "young lad of 80" in the other, which points to the fact that the Teblor are very long lived, like the Edur, and that they take a long time in maturing. Which makes sense when you live for so long, I suppose.
@@ACriticalDragon Yes, from all accounts. I was going to do my re-read first, but work has been hellishly busy, so I might skip to the end, so to speak.
Gruff is the New Kruppe 😌
A walking paradox of a character that's so intriguing you can't put the book down while reading them.
Anix Fro did gave me some Samar Dev vibes with that invention.
Great to hear you two going through this one.
Thank you O'Niflrog of the Clan Niflrog. Gruff remains one of my favourite characters from the book.
My favorite book of the year. I've read it twice. I might've teared up listening.
Hi Bryson, Erikson does know how to pull on the heart strings and throw those punches to the feels. Always good to hear from you.
Excellent timing gentlemen. Insomnia thinks it's winning, when in fact I'm now enjoying the dulcet tones of you two clever chaps!
If my former students are believed, my discussion of literature is a great remedy for insomnia.
@@ACriticalDragon we have established that my brain is broken - which perhaps explains this exception :P
I hope that you got some sleep, and thank you so much for listening and coming by, Derri. It is always great to hear from you.
Yep you guys are spot on I think about Oams. My mind went right to him being a talon in that scene.
I can neither confirm nor deny anything that may have been stated, implied, inferred, or deduced. 😁
Excellent as always! Hearing you mention putting the book down to laugh reminds me of when I had to put the book down, but to feel EMOTIONS instead - Nilghan recounting some of the things he witnessed in his travels. The Tale of the Unloved Women - Tavares being remembered, even if not by name, but her story not being unwitnessed - absolutely destroyed me. Had to put the book down for the night and just go to bed.
Hi Caleb, isn't great when a story can evoke strong enough feelings in us that we need to take a moment? It is an incredible feat if you think about it. Those squiggles on the page have been turned into something that have created a genuine emotional reaction in us. It always blows my mind when I think about it.
@@ACriticalDragon it's incredible!
HI AP. I will be back at the end of the week to watch this one. Can't wait. Have a great day.
Hi Seth, sorry for tempting you. I look forward to hearing your thoughts when you finish the book.
I couldn’t Bear what happened to Damisk.
It was awfully grizzly, wasn’t it, Kal?
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy a hairy situation for sure
@@ReallyGoodandKind Especially considering the nudity. I mean Damisk, not the bear. That would be a bare bear attack. Not to be contemplated!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy there certainly were stakes in that scenario
@@ReallyGoodandKind And steak too. Damisk steak, a bit raw. You could say he was a staked bare steak. Not a bear steak or a bear stake, mind you. But, yes, there were indeed high stakes. And raw steak. 🥩
I have always wondered if Erikson truly doesn't remember a lot of the details of the world/books as he claims; or if he is just trolling the hell out of us. The Damisk question on FB and then the character treatment in the books makes me think it is the latter. Philip seems to think the same lol
I have said it before, Erikson is a lot sneakier than that cool, clam, collected Canadian exterior seems to suggest. 😂
Now I feel that I need to comb through all of Erikson's previous interviews and pay close attention to all those instances where he just shrugged and said "oh, I can't remember, it's been such a long time"... Can't remember, my ass! Erikson is the anti-Sanderson and its keeping everything close to the chest lol
Watching this video is an entire saga: first I watched part of it alone, but couldn't finish as I had to go back to work, and I didn't want to listen to it while working, I don't want to do that to your videos. Then, last night I watched it with my boyfriend. It was very late and we both fell asleep. Not because the video was boring, but because it was really really late. Now it's attempt nr. 3, and I am determined to let nothing interrupt me from finishing the video. So let's cut to the chase (ahem):
-The footage that caught Philip in the act of doing evil deeds is top notch. Such good quality cameras, to capture Philip's silhouette and features. Great investment in high quality surveillance equipment seems to have paid off!
-Now the video content: I love how considerate you both are about the characters, about innocence, about the importance of healing one's wounds. I appreciate so much the neutrality and kindness of your perspectives. I loved what A.P. said about acknowledging treatment for trauma, acknowledging the need that some people have for help. And once they have been helped, they get to choose what to do with the rest of their lives - which we saw in the case of Sarlis. It speaks to every one of us so much, as we often avoid, or postpone healing things within ourselves, and thus we are stuck in something that chains us down.
-Rant - he is one of the most adorable and innocent characters written by SE :)
-Gruff - like Nif said perfectly - is the new Kruppe :)
-Let's get to the most important part: are we not gonna talk about RAKE? How is this even possible? I am shocked, shocked! ☺️How did this happen? Is it because you kept it for the discussion with SE? Please tell me that's why you "forgot" about Rake.😋
Thank you for the amazing discussion and please forgive me for the wall of text.
Do you want me to do a whole video on that scene? What title could I give it that wouldn't be a spoiler?
@@ACriticalDragon hahah awwww, a whole video would be amazing, I must admit. I don't know about the name though... "Let's talk about THAT scene in Chapter 15" ? 😋
It might take me a while to get to, but I will do a video on that scene. Consider it a birthday present.
@@ACriticalDragon oh wow, A.P., I thought you were joking! I hope it is not a burden to you. I would totally love a video on that scene, and I am grateful for the (yet another) awesome birthday present (which will be my birthday present each year from now on), but I hope it is not too much of a hassle. And I hope I haven't crossed the line and upset you in any way with my comment, I was trying to be funny.
Coming back to the video: if/when it happens, it will be a great moment 🤗🤩 I'm so curious about your analysis of the moment and your opinion about what is happening there.
Thank you. And my apologies again if my tone was too much and/or I have upset you.
Not at all Rox. It is a great scene, very interesting, and there are some narrative and stylistic aspects of it that are worth talking about.
Also, I am glad that you recognised that surveillance footage of the nefarious Dr. Fantasy was such good evidence for his dastardly deeds. One of these days the world will realise the truth.
Thank you for the great discussion. I am glad you brought up Benger, Stillwater and Anyx Fro, they are absolutely fantastic. I loved when Benger talks about Mockra's Curse, meaning a kind of solipsism, thinking everything might be an illusion. It is funny but totally believable that overusing Mockra could lead to this state of mind. Also, when Stillwater reveals her background as a Untan noble, claiming she left them because she found the members of the court too much of cutthroats. I laughed out loud several times.
Can't wait to watch this but it will be a while. I just finished Bonehunters and now I am taking a break from Malazan to read the Age of Madness trilogy. Then it's back to the final four books in Malazan book of the Fallen, then on to Novels of the Malazan Empire, Kharkanas, and Path to Ascendancy. The finally, the God is not Willing.
So I will get around to watching this... sometime well into next year I guess?
Thanks for commenting despite not being able to watch for... ...
Another brilliant video. Philip and yourself have such good repartee.
Thank you, JayKay. I am really glad that you enjoyed it.
Oh my goodness I so loved this book! So different from MBOTF and particular the Kharkanas books! I flew through it so fast that I missed completely Stillwater’s attempt to play fetch!! Once again AP to the rescue! Haha! Now I’m off to watch you and the “Nemesis” discuss Dust of Dreams. I have sooo missed your discussions on my most favorite series!! Thank you gentlemen
An hour of spoilery goodness! Thank you A.P. and Philip. Great discussion of a great book. Really glad I read this. Wouldn't mind a discussion encore.😁
Thank you so much. I am sure there will be a few other videos on the book as time moves on, but it was nice to do a proper chat about it as it was released in the US this week.
Am behind as I just finished this a few days ago and playing catch up.
Gruff reminded me of the Tim Roth character in Rob Roy.
Regarding Stillwater, I see her as more like the Accountant. That she can't read people and takes everything literally. It never occurs to her she is getting new armor and not just repaired.
I did appreciate the cameo of Dancer and Shadowthrone. I wonder how much of that was just to include the Sorry joke somewhere.
There was also an 'ah ha.....awwww' moment when the coins for the new warrens were called Runts. As was the description of the ceremony for the Unloved Woman.
One touching scene was Rant's night with Pake Gild. It is never really made clear when this normally occurs but 10 seems acceptable. It is also an interesting flip from Karsa telling everyone to wiitness him but now he is the Witness if everyone else
The only issue I really had is some of the exposition seemed a little forced or convenient. For example suddenly everyone is a expert on blood oil. Perhaps there was some exchange of knowledge over the years but...
Hi Eric, I hope that you enjoyed it.
Everyone being an expert on blood oil... like the Malazans in House of Chains who knew about it nearly 20 years ago? And if they weren't expert then, there have been 20 years of Malazans in and out of that town and area. It is not exactly an overly convenient timeframe. Plus, one would assume military briefings under the great and good Mallick Rel the Merciful would be a bit more thorough these days. But this is a decade, give or take, after TCG, so I would expect more general knowledge of the world and what went on to have made its way around. Karsa has become somewhat famous, so it is understandable that people now know a lot more about the previously isolated people.
I am totally with you on the Tim Roth character from Rob Roy.
@@ACriticalDragon There were a lot of things I did like. I might have overstated my issue with that example but some of the information backfill of the time gap seemed a little awkward to me. But that might have been a result to keep the book shorter and more focused.
But am curious to see how many new ascendants there are and the Runts.
And the ochre count was only 2 but there were 3 undulations. The latter only stuck out because the first two usages were used just a few pages apart.
Great book, great conversation.
Thank you Iskar. We were obviously late to the game on this. Too much Malazan and too little time. Always great to hear from the legend himself. Thank you, Iskar.
So the character Damisk had a "Damascus moment"`?
I can't believe I didn't make the Damascene pun. I hang my head in shame. Well done.
Gruff 🤟💖☺!
Enjoyed your discussion, thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it, always great to hear from you. Gruff nearly pushes Stillwater off the top spot for me. I truly loved his character.
I'm about halfway through the book right now, so I'll have to come back later - and for the spoiler talk with Erikson as well.
But I'm already loving this book so much!
Rant experiencing anger for the first time, Damisk casually breaking the chains of an enslaved god, Stillwater and her poor, poor friends 🤣
Let me know what you think of the book when you have finished it.
I'm just commenting for the algorithm to help you out, don't want to watch yet since I haven't read the book. I generally dislike starting unfinished trilogies, is this book worth making an exception for?
I think that it works as a standalone and is a satisfying read in and of itself. So, for what it is worth, I think it is worth reading now.
@@ACriticalDragon well shoot, you've convinced me, not that I wasn't on the fence already lol
Yeah, I really twisted your arm on this one. Look at all those rhetorical devices I employed to create a persuasive argument... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I hope that you enjoy it. I am looking forward to hearing what you think about it.
AArrrgh! I'm just on chapter three of House of Chains, but feeling the Lady's pull to skip to this book after finishing Karsa's introduction.
it doesn't outwardly spoil the main climactic end of the Crippled God I think but I do believe there are a lot references to events that happen between HoC and now, stick with it.
Finish the complete series first and use this as something else to look forward to. 😁
The parallel with Karsa killing the Deragoth was great! Shame on me for missing it :)) And your fire cracker comment was quite something :P
I do agree that the marines turning to help the Teblor makes sense. But I also understand why people find it not to be credible. And I think it has to do with the rigidity of th emilitary taking orders. On one side, we have this instance, and many others where the soldiers took things in their hands without being given orders. But then you have an entire army surrendering their weapons and ending up crucified based on an order. I do understand the difference between the two instances as well, but I get why people would find these difficult to reconcile. That's it, I'm done engaging with the entire content of the video :P
Always fantastic to hear from you, Claudia. You always contribute such insightful and thoughtful comments. I greatly appreciate them. Thank you.
Some fantastic observations.
Hi Nick, I am glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.
I'm not sure if Rant having his empathy is something unique to him because of his human heritage, as opposed to Karsa who lacked it at first because of Teblor blood. At least that's not how I saw it. I think it has to do with how they grew up. Karsa grew up in the safety of his village, being the strongest young man, taught the confidence of the way of the warrior. Rant grew up without guidance, not even that of his mother, hated and chased away by everyone, having his heart broken time and again. There are two main ways that people react to being tormented beyond their ability to take it. One is Rant's way, where experiencing pain opens one's eyes to seeing it in others and trying one's best to help with that burden and to make sure never to be the cause of it. The other way we saw with explored beautifully with Felisin. In that way, they are different faces of the same coin.
As for Karsa's age, if I remember right, there is a bit of discrepancy between two of the books, probably Deadhouse Gates and House of Chains, where he is 17 in one book and a "young lad of 80" in the other, which points to the fact that the Teblor are very long lived, like the Edur, and that they take a long time in maturing. Which makes sense when you live for so long, I suppose.
Leoman describes Karsa as 17... but Leoman is an idiot and probably never actually asked.😁😁😁
@@ACriticalDragon Now that makes sense! Both statements :))
Well crap, a spoiler chat for a Malazan book I have yet to read.
Awww I am sorry, Paul. At least it is something to hopefully look forward to.
@@ACriticalDragon Yes, from all accounts. I was going to do my re-read first, but work has been hellishly busy, so I might skip to the end, so to speak.
If a raging feminist decided to impersonate Erickson, this is the book she would write. The book was awful.
Stillwater is the best marine out there !!!
She was certainly a highlight of the novel. A really original feeling character with a great voice.
This is just because I am here first, sooo: firrrrst :)
hahahahah. Congratulations.