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Toll the Hounds
Group Read - Toll the Hounds
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TtH - Chapter Twenty Four
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Lee, High Priest of Shadow
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Jan 05, 2014 02:12PM
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The main one – Rake arrives in Dragnipur and uses the power of the new born child god to feed himself into the Gate of Darkness – The gate drops through Dragnipur and and makes it’s home in Black Coral. Mother Dark accepts Rake’s sacrifice and the Tiste Andii are reunited with their goddess – we also find out that Aranatha was being used as Mother Dark’s avatar.
With the arrival of the Gate of Darkness in Black Coral the Dying god’s assault on the piece of Kurald Galain at Black Coral comes to an end. Endest Silann had been tasked with resisting that assault and he was failing until MD showed up. Itkovian is then able to embrace the Dying god’s avatar ie Salind and take it’s pain.
The Trygalle Trade Guild finds itself in Dragnipur – after being led their by Cartographer who was working for Hood to that very end it seems
A wretched dead-looking Jaghut was walking up to Cartographer, who, lashed to a wheel, had come to rest with his head down, eyeing the Jaghut’s muddy boots. ‘I had begun to wonder,’ the Jaghut said, ‘if you had become lost.’
Hood then sends Toc the Younger to ride in the Guild’s wake as his herald to summon the gods of war. On the way he is to stop in on Picker who is still lost in her coma world.
Listen, I ride to the gods of war. Do you understand, torc-bearer? I ride to all the gods of war.’
He tasks her with a message to Karsa from Hood that he is to kill a god. But we don’t know which one yet
‘Toblakai, you will be needed.’
‘To do what?’
‘Why, to kill a god.’
‘Which god?’
And there’s a final battle for the sword of Dragnipur in the streets of Darujistan – We had Tulas Shorn helping out by carrying off 3 of the Hounds of Light – The undead Seguleh came and reclaimed his lance off Cutter and weighs in – Karsa gets some as well. And the two sisters Envy and Spit back off when Gruntle shows up with the Trygalle Trade Guild
The sisters barely registered the quiet arrival of a carriage well behind the Hounds. Alas, the same could not be said for the one who stepped out from it and swung strangely bestial eyes towards them.
That steady, deadly regard reached through indeed.
They halted their advance. Sorceries died away.
Karsa gets to meet his two daughters and his dog
And Shadowthrone and Cotillion have a conversation confirming there hand in what transpired between Hood and Rake. And it seems that Pusts play for the Dragnipur was not entirely out of the will of his master
‘And it would have been mine!’ Shadowthrone hissed in sudden rage. ‘If not for that confounded fat man with the greasy lips! Mine!’
‘Iskaral Pust’s, you mean.’
Shadowthrone settled down once more, tapped his cane. ‘We’d have seen eye to eye, eventually.’
‘I doubt it.’
I thought it funny that Shadowthrone had delegated the writing of the scriptures of Shadow to Pust – who subsequently wrote himself in as the magus of Shadow and is now writing in that he is allowed an extra wife
‘Well,’ Cotillion said, ‘didn’t you write it?’
Shadowthrone shifted about. ‘I was busy.’
‘So who did?’
Shadowthrone would not answer.
Cotillion’s brows rose. ‘Not Pust! The Book of Shadows, where he’s proclaimed the Magus of the High House Shadow?’
‘It’s called delegation,’ Shadowthrone snapped.
‘It’s called idiocy.’
‘Well, hee hee. I dare say he’ll find what he’s looking for, won’t he?’
‘Aye, with the ink still wet.’
And Caladan Brood arrives to take Rake’s body and sword. He buries him in a barrow forged from Burns own flesh using the warren of Tennes. He seals it with a capstone which he inscribes the word “Grief.”
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Funnily enough, with all the drama and mayhem, I just loved the scene with Picker and Karsa, especially when she is so 'not' intimidated.
'Toblakai,' she said, 'I have a message to deliver to you.' She was speaking Malazan.
'I don't know you,' Karsa said to her in the same language.
'The feeling's mutual,' she snapped, 'but let's not let that get in the way.' She hesitated. 'Do you want this message private, or maybe I should just shout it so everybody can hear.'
Karsa shot Samar Dev an amused look. 'Did I ever tell you, Witch, that I liked Malazans?'
But also Dev's comments when Picker says she has a message from Hood for Karsa and she pipes in with
Samar Dev snorted. 'Let me guess. "Keep up the good work, yours truly."'
That made me smile. I wasn't surprised to learn that Shadowthrone made a play for Dragnpur via Pust, he could count on Pust's greed. I am noticing that there is quite a few things that Ammanas is keeping from Cotillion though. I was especially surprised that Cotillion made no comment on the hounds running riot through the city. That seemed to serve no purpose other than cause mayhem. I thought that Cotillion was changing somewhat and would have tried to prevent that. Or maybe in the context of the whole timing and agenda, it wasn't that much of a big deal to him.
So we end up with poor old Crokus once again sailing off into the sunset with a morose outlook on life.
Looks like the Nom family are going to become quite the player in Daru in the future eh?
Rake arrives in Dragnipur and uses the power of the new born child god to feed himself into the Gate of DarknessThis was really good chapter, but rake using the child god to break free the gate of darkness from the sword that part for me was hard to believe because draconus I think told kadpalsa to make pattern so that they could make a god who help them fight with chaos but then how did rake use that god to break free the gate from the sword.
Aranatha was being used as Mother Dark’s avatar.
Now we know what arantha was all about from the start, also here I did not get why did Nimander turn into a sole taken dragon and assaulted clip aka dying god, because I think arantha or mother dark told him to do so.
Also what about silanah was she finally unleashed??.
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He gained access by taking the eye. When Apsalara breaks herself free she hears a voice in her head
‘Mistress of Thieves. Take the eye. The eye of the god. Apsal’ara, steal the eye . . .’
Trembling – wondering – how? How could he reach so into her mind? He could do so only if . . . only if—
Apsal’ara gasped a third time.
And so . . . once in pain, once in wonder, and once in . . . in hope.
I believe this is Rake reaching into her mind - which is why she is suddenly filled with hope. She realizes that the only way Anomander could reach into her mind is if he was in there with her. And so she steals the eye and tosses it to Rake.
Sumant wrote: "also here I did not get why did Nimander turn into a sole taken dragon and assaulted clip aka dying god, because I think arantha or mother dark told him to do so."
Because he and the other Tiste from Drift Avalii had an aversion to going soletaken drilled into them by Andarist. Tranforming into a dragon was dangerous and unleashed the beast in the blood so to speak. I think Silchas mentioned that he didn't like going soletaken unless he had already decided to unleash violence because it was very hard to stay in control.
Sumant wrote: "Also what about silanah was she finally unleashed??"
It doesn't say exactly. Spindle assumes that Silanda went after Gradithan but we don't read any more about that.
Erikson's mastery of his craft really stands out to me in this chapter. The fact that he can bring humor out in such a serious chapter is a huge reason why the malazan books are my favorite series ever.The dialogue between Shadowthrone and Cotillion, Karsa and Picker, and Cartographer in general are hysterical.
Sorry to just jump in (I have been creeping for a while!), but I just finished the entire 10 books back to back not too long ago and don't think I could read them all so soon again. My brain might explode.
This book has the closest to an uplifting ending of any in the series (so far). And that's pretty amazing since Rake died.I loved Whiskyjack telling off Hood, and Hood's reaction.
I don't think Crokus is just going off as a heartsick sourpuss again. On the contrary, I think he's grown. And his interaction with Karsa says something about how much he's grown. Speaking of which, Karsa's grown a ton too, and it was good to see him in awe of others (like with the fight between Rake and Traveller).
And again, there's a big deal about using a God's eye. We have one-eyed roc and Togg's(?), then Feather Witch with the Errant, and here Rake with the Dying God.
Mod
You can see some of the risks that this plan had? Traveller refusing to fight, or killing Rake with Grief instead of Dragnpur, Kallor or Pust getting the sword, the sisters getting the sword...... audacious plan.
And then there's the question of how many people were in on the plan? At a minimum, we know that Baruk, Kruppe, Brood, Hood, Shadowthrone, and Cotillion were in on it. I think, from the message that Paran gave Picker, and from the deal he made with Hood, that he was in on it too. Am I missing anyone?Also, as thing played out, it looks like Shadowthrone was the least trustworthy of these. He definitely seems to have planned on taking Dragnipur for himself, even though he had promised otherwise.
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I got the Mother Dark thing right! I think that makes 1!
I thought it was Brood who scared off Envy/Spite, not Gruntle.
And I laughed for nearly 5 minutes at:
But also Dev's comments when Picker says she has a message from Hood for Karsa and she pipes in with
Samar Dev snorted. 'Let me guess. "Keep up the good work, yours truly."
So the lingering question I have is: who is Bainisk? Do we know. I was expecting a bad end for Harlow, and he may just have one yet. Seems like he might be possessed.
I am still finding it hard to bring my brain in terms with the plan, there has to be so much variables in this equation because rake making himself getting killed by dragnipur and then landing into it and how did he come to know about the child god ? because he was for a brief time in the sword and I think only draconus and kadaplasa knew about it and then he using the pattern to break free the gate of dark from sword was definitely a high point.
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Great call on that one Rob. Most people miss that one.
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That was Harllo's friend at the mine who died when they escaped.
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And I don't care if you do or not. I woke up at 5am on a day off and it just popped into my head. Must have been too awake to remember last night. ^_^
One thing bothers me about Mother Dark - why now? It feels like she just randomly decided to reconcile with her children for no reason. Also, why did she possess Aranatha instead of showing herself openly from the start.From Clip's POV section, it seems he honestly believed himself to be Rake's Mortal Sword.
Mod
At a guess, I wouldn't be surprised if Mother Dark had been keeping tabs on her children all along, through one possession after another, and I agree with David that those possessions need not have been complete. And if that's so, then it makes sense that she would only reveal herself at a decisive point. But that's sheer guesswork.And I agree about Clip believing himself Rake's Mortal Sword.
Yes I get the sense she couldn't manifest herself completely until the battle in Dragnipur was resolved. Altho I'm not sure she was possessing others, it seems she was using Aranatha from very early - Nimander was too young to remember how she born a simpleton. Perhaps that is why Mother Dark chose her.
I agree. I keep forgetting how long these Andii live.
Thanks David, Duffy, Lori. The Mother Dark part makes more sense to me now.
I notice Monkrat and Spindle took us back to the redemption vs justice argument, and since Monkrat comes out sounding better, I guess Itkovian and redemption win this one morally as well as literally.
