#pannion seer

[iwillberunningfromdemons]

The grip on the sword did not falter. The burning blade continued to spread its devouring flame outward, incinerating as it went. Screams filled the air.

Urdomen closed in with their short, heavy blades. Began chopping.

Thr Mortal Sword's intestines, snagged on a sword tip, unravelled like a snake from his gut. Another axe crashed down on Brukhalian's head, splitting the heavy black-iron helm, then the skull, then the man's face.

The burning sword exploded in a dark flash, the shards cutting down yet more Pannions.

The corpse that was Fener's Mortal Sword tottered upright a moment longer, riven through, almost headless, then slowly settled to its knees, back hunching, a scarecrow impaled by a dozen pikes, countless arrows.

Kneeling, now motionless, in the deepening shadow of the Thrall, as the Pannions slowly withdrew on all sides - their battle-rage gone and something silent and dreadful in its stead - staring at the hacked thing that had been Brukhalian... and at the tall, barely substantial apparition that took form directly before the Mortal Sword. A figure shrouded in black, hooded, hands hidden within the tattered folds of broad sleeves.

Hood. King of High House Death... come to greet this man's soul. In person.

Why?

A moment later and the Lord of Death was gone.

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

[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 ****

[tyrillina]

‘You have told us what you were. But we still do not understand - your . . . generosity. Your compassion. And so we ask again. Why have you done this for us?’

Sirs, you speak of compassion. I understand something, now, of compassion. Would you hear?

‘Speak on, mortal.’

We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned. T’lan Imass. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance.

‘We do not understand, but we will consider long your words.’

There is always more to do, it seems.

‘You do not answer our question — ‘

No.

‘Why?’

Beneath the rain, as darkness gathered, with every face raised to him, Itkovian closed himself about all that he held within him, closed himself, then fell back.

Back.

Because. I was the Shield Anvil. But now . . .

I am done.

And beneath the Moon’s torrential rain, he died.

-Memories of Ice, Malazan Book of the Fallen 3

[flippingpagesturningthoughts]

Alright. This Pannion Seer. Balls-to-the-wall insane.

[iwillberunningfromdemons]

The Tenescowri ringed the city in a thick, seething band. A third of a million, maybe more. Such a mass of people as Buke had never seen before. And the band had begun to constrict. A strangely colourless, writhing noose, drawing ever closer to the city's feeble, crumbled walls and what seemed but a handful of defenders.

There would be no stopping this assault. An army measured not by bravery, but by something far deadlier, something unopposable: hunger. An army that could not afford to break, that saw only wasting death in retreat.

Capustan was about to be devoured.

The Pannion Seer is a monster in truth. A tyranny of need. And this will spread. Defeat him? You would have to kill every man, woman and child on this world who are bowed to hunger, everyone who faces starvation's grisly grin. It has begun here, on Genabackis, but that is simply the heart. This tide will spread. It will infect every city, on every continent, it will devour empires and nations from within.

I see you now, Seer. From this height. I understand what you are, and what you will become. We are lost. We are all truly lost.

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