#Tiste andii

[the-evil-duckling]

A short series of malazan quotes, part 1:

"The flower defies."

Tiste Andii poem, in its entirety.

[yoschag]

Im big fan of the Malazan Book of the Fallen and i adoooore Korlat, so here my vision of her

[chloristoflora]

"The truth is simple - to me at least. Brood, you and I, we have fought the Malazans as liberators in truth. Asking no coin, no land. Our motives aren't even clear to us - imagine how they must seem to the Empress? Inexplicable. We appear to be bound to lofty ideals, to nearly outrageous notions of self-sacrifice. We are her enemy, and I don't think she even knows why."

"Sing me the Abyss," Kallor sneered. "In her Empire there would be no place for us - not one of us."

"Does that surprise you?" Rake asked. "We cannot be controlled. The truth laid bare is we fight for our own freedom. No borders for Moon's Spawn. No world-spanning peace that would make warlords and generals and mercenary companies obsolete. We fight against the imposition of order and the mailed fist that must hide behind it, because we're not the ones wielding that fist."

"Nor would I ever wish to," Brood growled.

"Precisely. So why begrudge the Empress possessing the desire and its attendant responsibilities?"

Korlat stared at her Lord. Stunned once again, thrown off-balance yet one more time. The Draconian blood within him. He does not think as we do. Is it that blood? Or something else? She had no answer, no true understanding of the man she followed. A sudden welling of pride filled her. He is the Son of Darkness. A master worth swearing fealty to - perhaps the only one. For me. For the Tiste Andii.

Memories of Ice, by Steven Erikson (Malazan Book of the Fallen #3)

[humbababa]

Who wants to claim the Throne of Shadow? Just watch out for those Tiste Andii! They'll get ya!

[honeybeeps]

kanese people have epicanthic fold???? my apsalar is asian headcanon is going strong

[bardic-desperation]

Reading Malazan : Book of the Fallen is so frustrating because on the one hand I'm like:

"Such dense worldbuilding! An intriguing magic system, and an immense cast of characters with complex histories, values, and priorities! Heartbreaking fates, and bittersweet tales!"

And on the other hand I'm like:

"...I am two books in and I have no idea what's going on. Is anybody going to explain me how anything works, and what motivates the characters, so I might get a sense of scale, stakes, and emotional investment? Did that person matter? Did that word matter? It probably did, though it is meaningless to me now and I already forgot it. Oh no, that's not a Tiste Andii but a T'lan Imass? Oh that person's name is Mallick Rel, not to be confused with Rallick Nom?? What's a Jagoff Tyrant, and why should I care about his Unctuous Phallus Warren?!?? Fuck you."

I'm hooked.

[litcityblues]

'Gardens of the Moon' --A Review

After finishing Rhythm of War last year, I decided that I wanted to take a Sanderbreak (Sandercation?) for a while and was looking around for a nice, meaty fantasy series to chomp into and decided that I would take the plunge and see what Malazan: Book of the Fallen was all about.

I know that might seem a little crazy to people: going from Sanderson to Erickson seems like going storm chasing for relaxation purposes, but I wanted to pace myself. I figured, one book a year, it'll be the series that takes me through my 40s and I'll wrap it up just in time to turn 50 and be done with it. Seemed like a good plan, so I grabbed Book One, Gardens of the Moon off Kindle and jumped right into it.

Instantly, I could see why people find this series so intimidating. It was hard to get into. The early parts of this book felt like I was reading someone's DND campaign, which, strangely enough, turned out to be kind of true. (Technically, it was a GURPS campaign.) But, I persevered and kept going and things started falling into place. Characters started being consistent-- I started to like them! Paran showed up! We met Tattersail! We were getting an idea of what was going on in this book with the Bridgeburners and their Sergeant, Whiskeyjack and then, just as I was finding a groove, the story switched to a totally different place and an all-new set of characters.

I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating I found that.

(All the Malazan fans reading this are now nodding their heads and saying things like 'Oooooh, buddy, just you wait- it gets better!')

After getting myself over that particular hump, then things really began to click. The characters started coming together. The mission becomes clear and by the time I got to the end of the book, I was staying up late just to finish it because I wanted to see what happens.

Gardens of the Moon opens in the 96th year of the Malazan Empire where 12-year-old Ganoes Paran watches as the Mouse Quarter of Malaz City is sacked. He wants to be a soldier when he grows up, though the veteran sergeant Whiskeyjack, watching on the ramparts with him, disapproves of that.

Flash forward seven years later and the Emperor has been overthrown and replaced by the chief of the assassins, the new Empress Laseen, whose rule is backed up by the Claw, the imperial assassins. They're several years into a series of wars launched by Malazan to conquer the continent of Genabackis.

The High Fist Dujek and the Malazan 2nd Army have been besieging the city of Pale, one of the two Free Cities left on the continent for several years. Pale is holding out thanks to an alliance with the powerful Anomander Rake, leader of the non-human Tiste Andii. Pale does a fierce battle and Rake takes his floating fortress, the Moon's Spawn, and withdraws south. The Empire did take severe losses, however, and some characters suspect that the Empire may be engineering the elimination of those who loyal to the former Emperor.

The last free city remaining is Darujhistan and that's where the characters start to converge. The surviving Bridgeburners and Whiskeyjack are to infiltrate the city and work with the assassin's guild to take down the leadership to make conquest easier for Malazan. Paran and Tattersail are heading toward the city because now gods and other magical forces appear to be converging on the city as well.

Everything comes to a head in Darujhistan. Rake allies with the real rulers of the City, a secret cabal of mages. The Empire and Adjunct Lorn release an ancient being, a Jaghut Tyrant in hopes of damaging Rake or injuring him enough to force him to withdraw. The Tyrant is defeated and Rake takes down a demon lord released inside the city.

The book ends with Dujek and Whiskeyjack leading the 2nd Army into rebellion against the Empress, the Seven Cities following in their wake. They want allies- not to fight the Empress, but to fight the Pannion Seer, a new empire advancing from the southeast and more dangerous than anything they can possibly imagine.

Overall: I love how everyone secrets in this book. I love how every single character is a shade of grey. Erickson leans far, far away from any fantasy notions of clear-cut heroes and villains here and it's so refreshing to read.

I also love how he deals with trauma. Every character is broken and traumatized in their own way. They're living on a continent that's been consumed by war and death for at least seven years now. But and I'm not sure exactly how to word this- the trauma they've suffered is not the end all be all of the character, which stands in stark contrast to what you see in The Stormlight Archives and Wheel of Time.

(And yes, I know Rhythm of War takes excellent, awesome strides to acknowledge this problem with Kaladin and force him to examine his trauma, which is unusual for fantasy and so awesome to see- but it also puts him through yet another wringer. Again. Part of Rand's character arc in Wheel of Time does lead to 'Veins of Gold', but there's also an awful lot of trauma that defines the character before you get there-- so I acknowledge that it's not quite that clear cut, but Malazan handles trauma way differently.)

The writing in this is excellent and a lot of the moments that caught me by surprise in retrospect weren't exactly hidden- they were just subtle enough that if you blinked you might miss them. (For instance, the character of Sorry/Apsalar is possessed by a God- The Rope at the start of the book and freed by the end, but it took me a bit to put two and two together with that. Same way with the big reveal at the end of the book-- the big reveals are all right there if you know where to look, but they're just sprinkled in so gently that it's easy to miss them, which makes the subsequent reveal that much more impactful.

The magic system took some getting used to, but I also loved the approach there as well. It's just magic. People do it. You figure out the complexities and the rules of the system throughout the story.

Conclusion: You son of a bitch, I'm in! But, I'm going to pace myself with these books, right? One book a year, that was the plan. Nice and easy. Slow and steady wins the race. I don't want to burn on this series after all, but...

I've already snagged Deadhouse Gates off Kindle. My Grade: **** out of ****

[optiwashere]

I stopped reading Gardens of the Moon after 250~ pages because frequent character switches got confusing and I couldn't get a solid idea of the magic system. Does it ever get better?

I liked the the prologue, but I feel like they just dropped me into middle of 50 different powers scheming against each other after that. Also the coin is spinning.

TL;DR — This is a series that I love but really struggle to recommend.

Anon, it took me... ten years (?) to finish that book. I still think it's pretty terrible even having read the whole main series. So, I get where you're coming from lol.

That said, the writing quality immediately skyrockets when you hit Deadhouse Gates due to the fact that he wrote that book so many years after the first. But the books fly around a massive world and constantly switch around POVs, so...

If you don't like frequent POV switches, then you won't like the series. Flat out. There's something like 450 POV characters, but some of those brief POVs are some of the most powerful. Some of the characters are really high up in my faves of all time. Onos T'oolan, Tavore & Felisin Paran, Beak... Samar Dev??? Korlat!!! Itkovian, my beloved... there's some amazing characters mixed in with some truly awful ones.

And if you're someone that likes hard magic systems, you won't like Warrens. I don't like hard magic — when a book touts its "magic system" first, I'm immediately negatively biased towards it through no fault of the writer in 99% of cases — so it worked for me.

Pros:

Really broad worldbuilding with lots of cultural influences that aren't Western blended in with traditional Western fantasy.

Erikson has an excellent prose style later on (yeah, I know, it's very difficult to believe considering Gardens) and he has a very elegant way of expressing postmodernist ideas.

Extremely varied women characters (hell, Tattersail in Book 1 is already pretty unusual, sadly, in fantasy for being a fat character who's noted as extremely attractive — and Erikson doesn't stop at her when it comes to hot fat women, what a king.)

My favorite withdrawn, depressed, badass, ruthless lesbian commander character of all time, Tavore Paran.

Very strong messages about compassion and what it means to do "the right thing" in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Despite largely dealing with militaries and soldiers, the books are really about kindness, loss, and love, as well as finding the space within oneself to reject the notion of unconquerable despair.

Cons:

Erikson has, like, four character archetypes and they all blend together (barring a few standout characters.)

The worldbuilding is so broad that it sometimes feels pretty shallow.

Erikson loves using excessive epithets (the soldier, the ex-priest, etc.) and it's wild that those made it through professional editing.

Sometimes, Erikson likes his own prose style so much that we have to listen to identical characters internally monologue over identical woes and dramas. I love the Tiste Andii, but holy shit...

There are so many cases of plotting being hidden from the reader in transparent ways. Conversations where two people will refuse to elaborate their thoughts where they often cut off one another with inane, oblique reasons so that the reader is left in the lurch in a way that is often personally unsatisfying.

Possibly neutral or possibly a con, but there's a trillion content warnings scattered all through the books that are actually really, really serious (lots of sexual assault, and in several of those cases it's either completely unnecessary or actively detrimental to the story IMO.)

Having said all of that, I'll leave you with some quotes for why I still love the series despite its (to me) many flaws:

Open to them your hand to the shore, watch them walk into the sea. Press upon them all they need, see them yearn for all they want. Gift to them the calm pool of words, watch them draw the sword. Bless upon them the satiation of peace, see them starve for war. Grant them darkness and they will lust for light. Deliver to them death and hear them beg for life. Beget life and they will murder your kin. Be as they are and they see you different. Show wisdom and you are a fool. The shore gives way to the sea. And the sea, my friends, Does not dream of you. —Reaper's Gale

"No tyrant could thrive where every subject says no. The tyrant thrives when the first fucking fool salutes." —Toll the Hounds

Against a broken heart, even absurdity falters. Because words fall away. A dialogue of silence. That deafens. & The failure of hope has a name: it is called suffering. —The Crippled God

[smellycat666]

My version of Anomander Rake - The Lord of Moon's Spawn

[belialhaematemesis]

Random Lore Fragment of the Day no. 17 (RLFOTD #17)

The Tiste Andii were a non-human Elder Race. They were the Children of Darkness. The first of Mother Dark's children, they were her dearest, the dwellers of the land before light. They were sometimes referred to as the Souls of Starless Night. The Tiste Andii were immortal, and their actions could be difficult for mortals to comprehend. The leader and Archmage of the Tiste Andii was Anomander Rake, who ruled by strength of personality.

Before the coming of light, the Tiste Andii lived alone in Kurald Galain. The city of Kharkanas was their first city. The Tiste Andii worshipped Mother Dark. After Mother Dark turned away, the Tiste Andii fell into turmoil, leaving Kharkanas and wandering from place to place, following Anomander Rake as their Lord.

[aeylis]

Apparently I’ve made sparkly Anomander Rake. Read Gardens of the Moon the other day and loved it. Setting inspired by that one poem before the fete, with the blue city Darujhistan and a bleeding moon.

[malazansapper]

Anomander took his first step on to the stone stairs.

And was held there, as her voice filled them.

No. Be warned, Anomander, dear son, from Andii blood is born a new world. Understand me. You and your kin are no longer alone, no longer free to play your vicious games. There are now . . . others.

Anomander spoke. ‘Mother, did you image I would be surprised? Horrified? It could never be enough, to be naught but a mother, to create with hands closed upon no one. To yield so much of yourself, only to find us your only reward - us slayers, us betrayers.’

There is new blood within you.

‘Yes.’

My son, what have you done?

‘Like you, Mother, I have chosen to embrace change. Yes, there are others now. I sense them. There will be wars between us, and so I shall unite the Andii. Resistance is ending. Andarist, Drethdenan, Vanut Degalla. Silchas is fleeing, and so too Hish Tulla and Manalle. Civil strife is now over, Mother.’

You have killed Tiam. My son, do you realize what you have begun? Silchas flees, yes, and where do you think he goes? And the newborn, the others, what scent will draw them now, what taste of chaotic power? Anomander, in murder you seek peace, and now the blood flows and there shall be no peace, not ever again.

I forsake you, Anomander Blood of Tiam. I deny my first children all. You shall wander the realms, bereft of purpose. Your deeds shall avail you nothing. Your lives shall spawn death unending. The Dark - my heart - is closed to you, to you all.

And, as Anomander stood unmoving, Endest Silann cried out behind him, falling to his knees in bruising collapse. A hand of power reached into him, tore something loose, then was gone - something, yes, that he would one day call by its name: Hope.

He sat staring at the flickering flame of the lamp. Wondering what it was, that loyalty should so simply take the place of despair, as if to set such despair upon another, a chosen leader, was to absolve oneself of all that might cause pain. Loyalty, aye, the exchange that was surrender in both directions. From one, all will, from the other, all freedom.

From one, all will.

From the other . . .

Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

[i-laugh-all-the-way-to-hell]

by Autumn Tavern.

[chloristoflora]

"The what?"

"The Son of Darkness, Banaschar. Know who that is? That's Anomander Rake. Look at 'em, they're all Rake's brood – grandchildren mostly, except for Nimander, who's father to a lot of 'em, but not all. Now, maybe someone's got a hate on for foreigners – you really think that someone would be stupid enough to go after the whelps of Anomander Rake?"

Banaschar turned slightly, stared over at the figures. He slowly blinked, then shook his head. "Not unless they're suicidal."

"Right, and that's something you'd know all about, ain't it?"

"So, if Anomander Rake is Nimander's father, who was the mother?"

"Ah, you're not completely blind, then. You can see, can't you? Different mothers, for some of 'em. And one of those mothers wasn't no Tiste Andii, was she? Look at Phaed–"

"I can only see the back of her head."

"Whatever. I looked at her, and I asked her that very same question you just asked me."

"What?"

" 'Who was your mother?' "

"Mine?"

"And she smiled – and I nearly died, Banaschar, and I mean it. Nearly died. Bursting blood vessels in my brain, toppling over nearly died. Anyway, she told me, and it wasn't no Tiste Andii kind of name, and from the looks of her I'd say the other half was human, but then again, can you really tell with these things? Not really."

"No, really, what was the name?"

"Lady Envy, who used to know Anomander Rake himself, and got her revenge taking his son as a lover. Messy, eh? But if she was anything like that Phaed there, with that smile, well, envy's the only word – for every other woman in the world. Gods below… hey, Banaschar, what's wrong? You suddenly look real sick. The ale's not that bad, not like what we had last night, anyway. Look, if you're thinking of fillin' a plate on the tabletop, there ain't no plate, right? And the boards are warped, and that means it'll sluice onto my legs, and that'll get me very annoyed – for Hood's sake, man, draw a damned breath!"

The Bonehunters, by Steven Erikson (Malazan Book of the Fallen #6)

[first-and-last-neocount]

The real cinnamon roll of the Malazan world.

commission for @annabellarake

very happy with how this turned out!

[ultimate-swordsmanship-bracket]

ROUND 1 MATCH 6: Clare vs Anomander Rake

"The Fastest Sword Of All Claymores"... vs the hundreds-of-thousands-of-years-old wielder of a sword that devours souls!

VS

Summaries under the cut:

Clare is a super-strong and super-fast warrior with advanced combat training, known as a Claymore. Out of all the Claymores she is the only one to have chosen to become one. The Claymores spend their lives fighting man-eating monsters and are part-monster themselves. Her superstrength allows her to wield her heavy claymore sword single-handed.

Anomander Rake is the leader of the Tiste Andii, powerful unaging beings known as the Children of Darkness. Rake is 7ft tall and his black sword Dragnipur is 6ft long with a dragon's skull pommel. He is both a master swordsman and master of dark magic. He once visited the island of the Seguleh, warriors who view eye contact as a challenge to a duel (though he was unaware of this): he ended up fighting several duels with the various warriors who challenged him and accidentally rose to the rank of seventh greatest fighter in their society. The only reason he hasn't become a god is that he hates being worshipped and frequently has to discourage people from doing so. His sword emits chains made of smoke when unsheathed, and even when sheathed creates a sense of terror in those who look upon it; the souls of everyone killed by the sword are imprisoned inside it. Rake can also turn into a black dragon.