tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post1312633196448856894..comments2024-03-20T19:40:58.078-05:00Comments on The OF Blog: Malazan Re-read Series: Steven Erikson, Deadhouse GatesLarry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-28669484712895642802010-05-21T15:06:16.620-05:002010-05-21T15:06:16.620-05:00That scene in GotM between Ganoes and Tavore hints...That scene in GotM between Ganoes and Tavore hints at tensions between Tavore and Felisin/Ganoes pretty clearly, I think. Felisin hates Tavore (and I'm sure she never expected her sister to go that far) but I think she subconsciously also hates Ganoes for not being there to help her. <br /><br />Could be an overinterpretation, but I think by deliberately leaving some of the background and motivations in the dark, Erikson encourages the reader to create her (or his) own ideas about events and relationships. He gives directions, but leaves us to cross some mountains ourselves, to meet up with him on the other side.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-55787388943753191772010-05-21T14:03:46.039-05:002010-05-21T14:03:46.039-05:00I would agree with you, but I recall Ganoes mentio...I would agree with you, but I recall Ganoes mentioning his sister in the first book and how she was like. While doubtless it would have been more powerful to have seen the actual arrest as a means of contrast, I do think Erikson attempted to do more than just show Felisin after her degradation.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-78623109127545291132010-05-21T13:18:32.460-05:002010-05-21T13:18:32.460-05:00For me, the series took off right away with Garden...For me, the series took off right away with <i>Gardens of the Moon</i>. I didn't find it confusing at all.<br /><br />I find Felisin unsympathetic, too, but that doesn't prevent her from being an interesting character.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-77594780006646606682010-05-21T13:11:53.334-05:002010-05-21T13:11:53.334-05:00You had a similar reaction to the one I had, with ...You had a similar reaction to the one I had, with maybe a slight difference.<br /><br />I think that 3/4 of the book are wonderfully written, better written even than the majority third book. But the convergence of the finale felt, as a whole, again rushed as in the first book, and losing intensity. When analyzing I figured that both Felisin and Coltaine threads were strong thoroughly. While the other two storylines, Kalam and Fiddler, ended into weak and repetitive combat scenes and ultimately lost their impact. Woven together these two weaker threads also broke the balance of the other two.<br /><br />What I mean is that I think that the structure of the book was solid, for all four plot threads, for the majority of the book. But was then flawed in the last 250 pages or so.<br /><br />I also thought that the Felisin part was deeply flawed in its structure. In order to show the journey and change of a character you show an origin and then a destination. This book misses the origin. We aren't being show the "former" Felisin as a young girl (which is also connected to the fact that we NEVER see "slice of life" scenes for ANY character, making a rather daring and unusual choice). We only see her already broken. So her evolution as a character is actually omitted. We only see a segment.<br /><br />Now I'm reading the 4th book and in retrospective it could have been a wonderful choice, and yet even here only hinted and not realized. What Erikson could have done is restoring that missed part of book 2, in book 4, through flashbacks. He actually does this, but not enough to fully flesh out the character before she was "broken". This possibility could have been great because it builds the character with an inverse direction. We finally get to know and see Felisin when Felisin is no more (dominated by the goddess), and the contrast would give a lot more meaning and empathy to both book 4 and 2.<br /><br />I also thought that the theme of obsession worked really well and "motivated" Felisin to behave like that. The exaggeration you point out origins in the obsession (but again the obsession isn't well perceived because the betrayal is not shown and "felt" by the reader). Taken from the interview on your blog:<br /><i>"Felisin's inability to recognise people who cared was a direct result of the betrayal that sent her to the mines and her experiences once there.</i><br /><br />Book 4 enhances quite a bit the whole second book.<br /><br />Yes, cutting some spurious plot threads would have made a neater and more effective book, but would have made the series itself weaker. This was, I think, something deliberate. It is repeated in every novel: there are plot threads that are brought to a close and others used to connect the books.Abalienohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05905346715225346337noreply@blogger.com