Planet Sillicon

Notions of Malazan

By blog on Jul. 24, 2009.

If you haven’t read Toll the Hound, book 8 of the Malazan book of the Fallen series, or don’t intend to read it, then this post won’t really make much sense to you, but it should still be interesting nonetheless.

I am about half way through the book, yes, it has been a long time in the reading, and I don’t know… some things are just still bothering me. For instance, I just found out that The Dying God and The Crippled God are not the same person, and here I was the whole while thinking this Dying God was just The Crippled God playing at a new trick. But no, The Dying God is Bellurdan… as in husband of Nightchill, former Elder Goddess, and whose soul (at least a part of it) went in with Tattersail’s in the formation of Silverfox, the only living Bonecaster… That has got to come to some confrontation at some point, but maybe not, and what’s with Aranantha? Why is this girl strong enough (magically) to overpower Bullurdan as The Dying God? I’m happy that she did, but I am looking forward to some explanation. I have a suspicion, which could be way off, that she is in some way connected to Mother Dark (an incarnation of her in physical form?) and perhaps the reunion of the Tiste Andii and Mother Dark… not sure, just a suspicion.

Something that has really bothered me through this book is the depravity that has gone on as a result of The Dying God… the living scarecrows dancing in the fields, dripping that horrid Selmankelyk, which then everyone is drinking? I think this is just a little too horrifying, even for Malazan.

I have to say, I’m rather pleased that Itkovian will have Seerdomin for company, it was so sad to realise how lonely Itkovian had been.

On another note, here is a list of things I’m looking forward to/hoping for in this book; learning who Traveller is, seeing how Apsalara will get out of Dragnipur, – which I think, by the way, is a house of the Azath, I mean, that’s what is riding in the giant wagon – hopefully seeing more of the Elder God who built the Azath Houses, because he seemed awesome, seeing Nimander’s group reunited with the rest of the Tiste Andii, finding out what the go with Aranantha is, seeing more of Harllo and his awesome Imas friend, seeing what’s left of the Malazan army kick the crap out of that nasty idiot who hired the assassins to have them killed, Cutter getting the hell over himself, and hopefully seeing more of the ghost ascended Malazans.

So, I’m really enjoying certain aspects of the book, but as I said, I really hate what’s going on with The Dying God… I really hope he just dies already.