Toll the Hounds

[Werthead]

It's different to the other books in the series, certainly in pacing and depth. I wonder if SE was using this opportunity to road-test certain ideas for the two trilogies he's writing once he finishes the MBF (which I assume are set in the Malazan world; I'll know more after his signing on Saturday). I get the impression the last two books will be more like the earlier ones in style.

Oh, and now we know what the 'dust of dreams' is. Not a T'lan Imass reference at all

[Rosemary]

This is just so unfair! We have to wait until September Now you know what WA stands for - Wait Awhile!

I'm still not going to read any of the posts about characters and/or plots even though I am on tender hooks to know

[murphy]

Originally Posted by Rosemary

This is just so unfair! We have to wait until September Now you know what WA stands for - Wait Awhile!

I'm still not going to read any of the posts about characters and/or plots even though I am on tender hooks to know

Erm. That's tenterhooks. Hooks usually aren't very tender.

[Lenny]

I'd imagine the fact that they've got to wait is very tender with Americans and Australian's, though.

I still say you should all import it.

[murphy]

Originally Posted by Lenny

I'd imagine the fact that they've got to wait is very tender with Americans and Australian's, though.

I still say you should all import it.

I pre-ordered it from Amazon UK, but at the same time I pre-ordered Return of the Crimson Guard. They will both be shipped at the same time----In August.

[Rane Longfox]

With all due respect to Wert's (and pat's) reviews, I do not see this book as slow. I think it works very well as a standalone book (just with many things you learn in earlier books not re-explained, obviously), hence why some might call it slow, I think... it's not a typical mid-series book, certainly. Personally I see this as yet another demonstration of the astonishing depth and detail of Erikson's books. There are threads and storylines that were set up way back in Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice that haven't been revisited since that are suddenly major parts of the book. These extra arcs aside from the main storylines are what makes tMBotF so damn good

[Green]

Whereas I agree with Pat and Wert that it's slow. Too slow. In fact, I'm struggling to give much of a toss about the series any more... which is a massive shame, because until the Bonehunters, it was by far the best thing I'd ever read.

And he still can't let dead men stay dead. Even when he says he will.

[Lenny]

Wellll... those that are dead still aren't really alive in TtH, are they? The obvious like Toc and Whiskeyjack under his real name are still technically dead.

I don't think the first is actually coming back alive, either, but is rather an animated corpse more than anything.

You've got to give him credit for killing off a few characters which I really didn't think would die until they did (especially the really big death... well, both of the really big deaths, actually).

Do we know yet whether Hedge was the one Erikson said would be the last, if he was the penultimate? If the latter is the case, then I'm very hopeful for Kalam.

[Green]

Just because they're dead, it doesn't stop them walking around and talking and getting involved, does it? So the fact that they're technically dead (or that they have a new name, Jesus) actually has very little to bear.

It cheapens the time and any emotional investiture the reader put into that character's death in the first place if death actually means very little. I think that's one of the reasons that the death towards the end lacked the impact of Whiskeyjack's. Who cares if "insert character" is dead? How many times have people died in this series only to come back (in some form) two books later? And even if Erikson comes out and says that "insert character" is staying dead... well, he's said that before, hasn't he?

I'm not saying the book was bad, only that it was slow (650 pages of slow) and lacked the punch of earlier books. I'm not even disappointed any more, 'cos it was still better than Reaper's Gale and I expect the last two books to be pretty run of the mill as well.

[Rane Longfox]

Ah well, at least some of us still enjoy it. People seem to think that because his books have some awesome crash-bang-wallop in them, that it needs to be that the whole time.

Meh, I can't agree.

[Green]

I don't think the whole book needs to be crash-bang-wallop, but 650 pages of snail's pace is a lot of snail's pace. He should balance it out more, spread it throughout.

Think of MoI - that was a big book, and it had two major set-pieces. One in the middle (Capustan) and one at the end (Coral). TtH has one, at the end. It made the rest of the book somewhat dull.

[Rane Longfox]

If you want. I don't see it, and "snail's pace" is just a silly comment.

[Green]

Why is it a silly comment? It's what I thought of the book. The majority of it was slow, and dull. We obviously disagree about the book, but there's no need to say I'm making "silly comments".

I am a big fan of Erikson's. But I do believe that his series is bleeding away, and it's nowhere near the heights it once reached.

[Anomander]

Kruppe to me is steven Eriksson's jar-jar-bing. Really annoying at times. But then I haven't read the latest book, and I intend to take my time.

[Lacedaemonian]

He is a hack so my expectation of this book is perhaps more honest and true than what some of you lesser opinioned people might puke onto various forums about genius and talent. He is just Terry Brooks but with a little more about him. Glen Cook's Black Company is worth a read for those suffering yet another long drawn out epic fantasy slush. He does not have the skill or artistry of Erikson but he has a far greater imagination than most other writers out there. It was not enough that Erikson mentioned Cook as being an inspiration, he should have apologised to the man and set fire to all of his books before throwing himself upon it.

I will read this book once I have read all of Cook's works.