DLC Bookclub - MIDNIGHT TIDES - MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN - Prologue & Chapter 1

[@willp2877]

Really happy to have discovered you guys as I finished book 4 and will continue watching as I read from here! Forget the Elder Gods. You guys are the Elder Millennials. & I'm here for it. Malazan and dad jokes make for a great combination.

[@TBaggins96]

I just finished The Crippled God at about 5 this morning after pulling an all nighter. Seeing the joy of you two is helping to process the emotions! I've really been enjoying going back through the whole journey with you two.

[@EricMcLuen]

When I finished my reread I went back to the prologue to GotM to compare and was tough not to go start it all over again.

[@petervandeweyer517]

Both Jeff and Lana describe their bookstore and immediately stumble into the plot of You've got mail. 🙂

[@Ad4msI]

Oh! One more I loved: “And upon the Throne of Ice sits Death, cowled and frostrimed, stealer of caring, to shatter the anxious shackles of mortal life. It is a gift, but a cold one.”

[@Ad4msI]

For my passages this week, Udinaas’s thoughts on the Letherii stood out: “He had been born into debt, as had his father and his father before him. Indenture and slavery were two words for the same thing.” “he did not miss the company of his own kind, miserable as it often was. Nor were the comforts of Lether sufficient lure to attempt what was virtually impossible anyway-he had memory of seeing such comforts, but never of partaking in them.” And finally: “To the Letherii, gold was all that mattered. Gold and its possession defined their entire world. Power, status, self-worth and respect-all were commodities that could be purchased by coin.”

[@SouravUldyssian]

A great start to the series guys. You were both extra funny today. First of all, if possible, please reread the small section between Gothos and Mael once more, line by line. It is very crucial for lots of things to come. Especially Mael's request to Gothos about not destroying the scene of devastation, but preserving it in ice, seal it and "freeze time itself". Really good that Jeff picked up on the date being 1159 which is few years before the normal timeline of 1162-1164. Also note one more date along with the 1159, given in the Crippled God section, and then compare that to the date in chapter 1. In this book, the Glossary is very helpful, to help deal with all the new terms, don't be afraid to use that every time a new term comes up. You know at the end of House of Chains, Trull starts to tell his story to Onrack and the other Imass, so this is it. You can reread the prologue of House of Chains once more (ignore the date there, thats just wrong), and will get more context for future. Don't think much about the Tiste Edur connection with the Moranth, as that will never be brought up again, and will only confuse more. The Edur on the ship with the headless Tiste Andii, that on the other hand...... Can't wait for the next week.

[@quinnloucks2869]

For over a decade, I’ve been approaching life with Jeff as my “Carol” in his theoretical book store.

[@claytonhomer3096]

Excellent discussion as always. Lana gets bonus points for the Cones of Dunshire Parks and Rec reference! I love all the books, but this is one of my personal favorites. I cannot wait to hear you get into it. Cheers!

[@nazhopkins5825]

This is the book that I would say is elevated as an audio on at least 1.5 speed. The narration of some characters is just hilarious.

[@rammsund]

Oh god this book is so damn good! Can’t wait to hear you discuss it with Steven Eriksson!

[@Tremain]

Very excited for this new journey, Midnight Tides is special.

[@petervandeweyer517]

In Maastricht in The Netherlands there is a bookstore in an old church.

[@EricMcLuen]

Soon you will know what an ootooloo is. Anomandaris Purake - aka Mandy Pu.

[@longtermparking4]

Excited to now be caught up to (re)-read along with you two! I think I remember being a little impatient at entering yet ANOTHER new setting at first with this book but came around on it hard by the end. More broadly, this is probably my favorite "area" in the series now - and we've barely scratched the surface! Some top notch characters in this one still to be introduced. Really enjoying the sort of out-of-time feel, and the POV so deeply rooted in a new culture(s) of it this time around. A bit like HoC Book 1 with the Karsa/Teblor stuff in that way (somewhat less so since we know Trull already, and yes there are dates listed, but you get the idea).

[@Anteum]

One of my favorite bookstores is Robert's Bookshop in Lincoln City, OR. The place is a maze with books filling every nook and cranny where part of the fun is just finding all the books.

[@JordonD09]

This book was tough for me to start, but by the end I was mortified it was over. Amazing book, I'm excited to hear your thoughts on it!

[@Jabberwhorl_Cronstadt]

Same! I got into a real groove by House of Chains, but then Midnight Tides really threw me for a loop. I leaned heavily on the Tor read-along to settle in, and yeah, once you get your feet under you Midnight Tides is an all-timer.

[@Torqradio]

Love this book. I personally think its the closest we get to a typical fantasy hero, who we can back and identify with. Readers know who I'm talking about.

[@feral7523]

The well hung Pung right?

[@tightyellowshorts]

Powell's is Portland. Elliott Bay Books is Seattle. You've just done a YUGE NW NONO - mixing up Portland and Seattle. 😄

[@slidenaway]

Let’s gooooo MT freaking HYPE

[@liamcarragher7459]

Ahh what a pleasent surprise! The classics keep rolling in. You are in for a treat with this one guys, can't wait to hear your reactions through this book.

[@ChristopherStone]

Hell yeah! I restarted MT for this!

[@maxnewellmz8025656]

You guys are starting my favorite book of the series so far. Hell yeah.

[@eugenemurphy6037]

The gang is back!

[@moresoysauce5489]

You guys are so goofy today 😂 love it

[@dlasis]

Here's my summary of the Prologue: Scene 1: Battle of Edur and Andii vs KCCM. Scabandari(Grey skinned Tiste) stabs Silchas Ruin (Albino). Scab takes Ruin to an Azath tower and binds him with chains. NOTE: Silchas is the youngest brother of Rake and Darist (hint: three brothers) Scene 2: Mael asks Gothos to freeze the entire continent for preservation instead of cleansing it. Scene 3: The Fallen One enslaves Withal and tells him to create a magical sword in exchange for his freedom.

[@nojohns1748]

Yes! we have finally reached ,my favorite chapters of the entire S.E.R.I.E.S.

[@chasefugate56]

I listen to Joanna's podcast with Mallory, The House of R. They are both big fantasy fans and I would pay good money to hear their thoughts on Malazan. They mainly focus on tv and movies so it will never happen but a guy can dream.

[@karloswald407]

Anomander loves a good walk-about, true Aussie that Andii

[@KarelOrlong]

Jeff was right, Eleint means dragon, so Blood Eye and Silchas are both soletaken dragons.

[@dlasis]

Eleint, to me, are people who could turn into dragons.

[@francb1634]

It's the opposite. Eleint are natural dragons. it's used specifically to differentiate "dragons" from "soletaken with a dragon form"

[@dlasis]

@@francb1634thanks. I always knew that Eleint is pertaining to dragons. just a fancy-schmancy Malazan term.

[@bdc1909]

I think they are used interchangeably. Greyfrog uses eleint about Osric after he changes into dragon form in HoC

[@mikedgood]

I think the soletaken dragons are variously referred to as having the blood of eleint or the blood of tiam. But generally I think eleint is used to refer to dragons qua dragons like Silana et al

[@dlasis]

@@mikedgoodyou guys are the reason why I love this community. yes! Eleint = dragons

[@tristancambonie2335]

Fear and confirmation 😂

[@darksaint0124]

A lot of the fandom doesn't like this book on a first read, but it goes into a lot of top 3 lists after a reread.

[@danielgwynne7266]

That just isn’t true though, it’s one most love by the end of it on first read and on average goes down a spot or 2 after reread compared to the rest

[@darksaint0124]

@@danielgwynne7266 What is the point on just making stuff up with nothing to back you up? People can just look how others feel about the book. Starting with a whole new cast in a new continent is something that can easily can be shown to be a thing people haven't liked about this book since it came out. I question the entire point of you replying to me with something that can very easily be proven false with simple Google searches.

[@danielgwynne7266]

@@darksaint0124 dude midnight tides has been decreasing in the yearly book ranking and the % of voters that have reread at least once is going up it isn’t that hard to guess. It still at 5th place though and it wouldn’t be if a lot of people disliked it on first read. And from looking at the data in the survey for a bit the people who have reread seem to rank it lower supporting my conclusion. Just cos a guy comes on Reddit every saying he doesn’t like say midnight tides or dg doesn’t mean that’s the fandoms opinion overall

[@CorprealFale]

On the colors. It's not even a fantasy idea as such. In lots of culture, China for example, "mourning white" is the thing, not "mourning black".

[@Sorak311]

open up those pages... a satire or F A N T A S Y

[@ylevre3285]

For what it's worth, I think the line is "Sci-fi or fantasy", but satire or fantasy is pretty funny XD

[@slidenaway]

@@ylevre3285I always struggled because it sounds like sci-fi but also weirdly like… something else, idk there’s an effect on it or something??

[@salomealhusami594]

These two are REALLY in need of a conversation with either Philip Chase, A. P. Canavan, Jimmy Nutts, or Johanna from Johanna Reads-literally ANYONE who has read Malazan and held discussions about it-after every book they finish because we are on book 5 and they still see everything as a joke. I feel that they need one of these three to bring them back to the seriousness of the poignant and important scenes. I appreciate the sense of levity, but it's getting to be too much! Sometimes, it is inappropriate. Sometimes, it is tasteless. Sometimes, it takes the tension out of the serious scenes. Their comedic sense is not well-balanced at all. I hoped that with each book they finish, the jokes will begin to lessen in frequency and intensity, but, no, it seems like they are going to keep up the same rhythm all throughout the series! It's getting ridiculous! Steven Erikson already balanced the serious scenes with scenes of dark comedy or real comedic relief. The books can handle some more of their jokes, but not ALL of their jokes and not all the damn time! It's really frustrating because I really loved them when I first started watching them and because they are doing Malazan content, but, now, I'm not really sure that I can handle watching them anymore and that really saddens me. 😪😪😪

[@fentdevil]

God forbid they have fun and enjoy their reading experience and discussion. Not everyone can be as pretentious as you, I'm afraid.