I just finished reading Deadhouse Gates for the first time by alternating reading a book chapter and then listening to this podcast. It's been very helpful having two people who've read the series already and are in a position to highlight events or people as "hey remember this, it'll be important later" or "this is the same guy we saw way back when". For example, I would have had no idea who the captain of the ship was even with the name drop if y'all didn't make the connection explicit. It's nice getting those connections without having to worry about spoilers from Googling. As for the book itself, I have mixed feelings. Just purely in terms of writing, Deadhouse Gates was a big improvement over Gardens of the Moon whether because it was written as a book instead of a screenplay or because Erickson got better as a writer in the decade between the two (or some of both). The main issue is that I just really really hated the Felisin sections. I understand that she is important for the plot, that she is a victim, and that her reaction to the bad things that happen to her is realistic, but I just don't want to live through other peoples' trauma in my entertainment. The having to stop reading what I actually wanted to hear about during the buildup to and aftermath of the rebellion and slog through pages of This Bitch was horrible. Dramatic improvement to my experience once Felisin had her transformation. The ending was very satisfying it terms of wrapping up storylines while still leaving the main plot unresolved. Very interested in seeing how this plays out when we get back to it (in book 4?). Excited to see how the Genabackis crew is faring against this holy war thing in Memories of Ice! Although now that I'm almost caught up, I have to make the decision on whether I should wait to start until y'all are closer to the end of the book or read at a rate of 1/2 chapter per week.
I'm glad the format is helping make those connections for you. That's one of things we are trying to accomplish. I hear your sentiments regarding Felisin. The rest of the book was enough to outweigh these segments for me. Thanks for listening!
![[Short Recap] Deadhouse Gates - Steven Erikson](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mK5iJ4dW7bs/mqdefault.jpg)
I just finished reading Deadhouse Gates for the first time by alternating reading a book chapter and then listening to this podcast. It's been very helpful having two people who've read the series already and are in a position to highlight events or people as "hey remember this, it'll be important later" or "this is the same guy we saw way back when". For example, I would have had no idea who the captain of the ship was even with the name drop if y'all didn't make the connection explicit. It's nice getting those connections without having to worry about spoilers from Googling.
As for the book itself, I have mixed feelings. Just purely in terms of writing, Deadhouse Gates was a big improvement over Gardens of the Moon whether because it was written as a book instead of a screenplay or because Erickson got better as a writer in the decade between the two (or some of both). The main issue is that I just really really hated the Felisin sections. I understand that she is important for the plot, that she is a victim, and that her reaction to the bad things that happen to her is realistic, but I just don't want to live through other peoples' trauma in my entertainment. The having to stop reading what I actually wanted to hear about during the buildup to and aftermath of the rebellion and slog through pages of This Bitch was horrible. Dramatic improvement to my experience once Felisin had her transformation.
The ending was very satisfying it terms of wrapping up storylines while still leaving the main plot unresolved. Very interested in seeing how this plays out when we get back to it (in book 4?).
Excited to see how the Genabackis crew is faring against this holy war thing in Memories of Ice! Although now that I'm almost caught up, I have to make the decision on whether I should wait to start until y'all are closer to the end of the book or read at a rate of 1/2 chapter per week.
I'm glad the format is helping make those connections for you. That's one of things we are trying to accomplish. I hear your sentiments regarding Felisin. The rest of the book was enough to outweigh these segments for me. Thanks for listening!