Welcome to the Malazan Reread of the Fallen! Every post will start off with a summary of events, followed by reaction and commentary by your hosts Bill and Amanda (with Amanda, new to the series, going first), and finally comments from Tor.com readers. In this article, we’ll cover chapter eleven of The Crippled God.
A fair warning before we get started: We’ll be discussing both novel and whole-series themes, narrative arcs that run across the entire series, and foreshadowing. Note: The summary of events will be free of major spoilers and we’re going to try keeping the reader comments the same. A spoiler thread has been set up for outright Malazan spoiler discussion.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
SCENE ONE
On the outskirts of Coral, Spindle works on the Redeemer’s Barrow. The Andii have left, taking Kurald Galain with them but leaving everything else behind. As he looks on the city, all the Great Ravens take sudden flight from it. Recalling all that had happened, Spindle declares to himself that “Only a bastard would say… That the finding of faith could only come from terrible suffering. That wisdom was borne on scars.” He weeps.
SCENE TWO
Banaschar, feeling the pain of no alcohol anymore, comes across soldiers who have discovered one of the many dangerous denizens of the Glass Desert. After the soldiers head off to ensure the camp is clear (after Faradan Sort forbids betting on the creatures), Banaschar looks around and thinks that “Something died here. Someone. The shock had torn through the land… And the power unleashed in that wild death had delivered such a wound upon the Sleeping Goddess.”
SCENE THREE
Blistig makes “personal” arrangements with Pores to set aside some water that his own guards will watch over. Blistig leaves, telling himself “She’s not going to kill me. I ain’t here to die for her, or any other fucking glory. The real ‘unwitnessed’ are the ones who survive… Pores understands. He’s cut from the same cloth as me… You ain’t getting me Tavore. You ain’t.”
SCENE FOUR
Pores sends a note to Kindly to set up a meeting.
SCENE FIVE
Kindly, Lostara, Faradan Sort, and Ruthan Gudd meet with Tavore to discuss concerns—the toll of the desert on the wagons, animals, and soldiers; the lack of water; the inability of the mages to access their warrens; the fading morale of the soldiers, and the many rumors of Tavore: she’s going to sacrifice the army so she and the Elder Gods she’s in league with can ascend, she’s in league with the Younger Gods and is kidnapping the Crippled God’s heart as a bargaining chip. Gudd tells her the common thread is she is “kneeling before a god, and what Malazan soldier doesn’t get a bitter taste from that… doesn’t know the story of Dassem Ultor? Homage to a god by a commander is ever served by the blood of those under his or her command.” When he adds the army isn’t serving the Empire but her, she wonders confusedly what she’s done to “deserve that,” which stuns them all. Kindly points out their cause—saving the Crippled God—isn’t a great one since nobody worships him or even much likes him. She questions whether none of the soldiers has ever suffered, or broken, or wept, or grieved, and when Kindly says of course they have but they won’t worship those things, she challenges him to look into the god’s eyes and “make your thoughts hard. Make them cold. Unfeeling. Make them all the things you need to in order to feel not a single pang… Look into his eyes before you choose to turn away.” He responds he cannot do that since the god “does not stand before me”, but Tavore replies, “Doesn’t he?” Banaschar interrupts the others leave. As Gudd exits, Banaschar makes a strange gesture at him.
SCENE SIX
Kindly tells the others “You can’t ask soldiers to open their hearts. If they did, they’d never take another life… We need to harden ourselves… she wants us to go soft.” Gudd though tells her he and the others missed her point: “We don’t dare look across into the eyes of a suffering god. But Kindly, she dares. You asked for more from her—gods below, what more can she give? She’ll feel all the compassion none of you can afford to feel. Behind that cold iron, she will feel what we can’t… And you asked for more?” He adds to Sort, who had mentioned her soldiers don’t talk much (Kindly was worried of mutiny), that maybe it’s because they have realized what Tavore is doing, “what she’s taken from them. What she’s holding inside, for safekeeping. The very best they have.” Gudd leaves, but Sort still wonders what she can tell her soldiers to stiffen their spines. Lostara says just by standing with Tavore, that’s enough for the soldiers; it’s what Blistig does—his obvious opposition—that is the real risk to the army and soldiers. The messenger arrives with Pores’ note for Kindly, and when asked about the grunts’ rumor-mill, he says there are a lot of rumors but it’s all just for entertainment. The officers wonder if they are worrying for nothing.
SCENE SEVEN
Gudd tells Skanarow he’d considered kidnapping her and leaving, but Tavore changed his mind and so they’ll stay “till the bitter end.” She likes his marriage proposal.
SCENE EIGHT
Tarr’s group prepares to march again in their usual inimitable fashion (“piss bottles” are discussed).
SCENE NINE
On the march, Tarr confirms with Bottle that there are no warrens around, and that this also means nobody can find the army in the desert. Bottle says Fiddler should just ask him himself, and wants to know if this is coming out of a Deck reading. Tarr asks again if “they” are blind, and Bottle says yes. Bottle asks who came up with the name “Bonehunters,” but when Tarr says it was the Adjunct, Bottle thinks that’s impossible; she couldn’t have known back in Aren. Tarr asks about Quick Ben and Bottle tells him he doesn’t know (he doesn’t have a “sense” for any of the Bridgeburners), but if he had to bet, he’d say Quick’s alive and “still in this game.” Tarr leaves and Cuttle comes to Bottle to talk about the army not collecting any booty, that he (and others) aren’t thinking about the future and a possible need for coin. Bottle asks if he means it’s because they’re the “walking dead,” but Cuttle says no, “Something’s happened to us… We’re any army not thinking about loot… No one cares about silver and gold… We’re probably the only army the world that doesn’t… This army has gone insane.”
SCENE TEN
Widdershins, having overheard Bottle ask about the Bonehunter’s name, tells his group (Deadsmell et. al) that Bottle knows something. They decide there is some “inner circle” that’s in the know and has all the plans. They ask if Sinter is in it and when she says she isn’t, Badan says to forget it.
SCENE ELEVEN
Sinter recalls exploring caves when she was a child, caves filled with sarcophagi, and she remembers the worry about people being buried when they weren’t dead. She feels she is just waking up, “to find that I have been buried alive… This desert belongs to the dead.” She thinks her sister finds it easy, and was surprised she had returned rather than deserting. She thinks Kisswhere should have just kept going; it would have made it easier for Sinter. Kisswhere though hasn’t spoken to Sinter since her return. The other soldiers, though, look at Kisswhere differently, “with a seriousness… that spoke tomes about finally belonging.”
SCENE TWELVE
Kisswhere rides the wagon in a lot of pain, wishing they’d left her behind as “an act of mercy,” but she knows armies don’t allow anyone off—“We got us a war, comrades… No one’s allowed to get off.”
SCENE THIRTEEN
Kisswhere falls unconscious off the wagon. Sinter realizes she has a bad infection and is feverish.
SCENE FOURTEEN
Helian is sober and confused.
SCENE FIFTEEN
Despite Helian’s confusion, and former drunkenness, her squad are glad she is their sergeant.
SCENE SIXTEEN
Urb thinks perhaps Helian is seeing herself clearly for the first time and wonders if she likes what she sees. He wonders as well if he wants to get involved with her (not, he notes, that she’s shown any interest), though being the “walking dead,” what difference it makes he’s not sure. He thinks if he professed any feelings she might just mock the idea of love or just laugh. He’s not brave enough for that he thinks, not brave about anything much, but he’ll do what he could to keep her alive—“he didn’t have the courage for anything more.” He realizes “I’ve been the walking dead all along, and I didn’t even know it… I’ve been telling myself this was being alive… This hiding. Wishing. Dreaming. Wanting… Hiding ain’t living. Hiding’s just walking dead.”
SCENE SEVENTEEN
Saltlick tells Clasp she and others have figured out there was a “kind of elite group… Somehow all closer to Fiddler, back when he was a sergeant” and she and they want in. He tells them fine, they’re in.
SCENE EIGHTEEN
Gaunt-Eye and Flashwit discuss Skulldeath—how he’s a prince, his jumping ability, how the soldiers saw him kill eight Nah’ruks.
SCENE NINETEEN
Hedge hears the soldiers laughing behind them and tells Bavedict Fiddler must have given them the “Old ‘Walking Dead speech.’” He recalls Dujek doing the same at Pale, then says what Fid says to his Bonehunters doesn’t have much to do with the Bridgeburners. Bavedict points out how Hedge had been complaining that Fid had rejected him, and hedge muses on how it had been easier on Fid when he thought Hedge was dead. “He could put me away, on some shelf in his skull, and leave me there… I get it… I just don’t like it… I mean I’m back… Fid should be happy. Bavedict tries to say Fid is growing closer to Hedge with the Walking Dead speech, but Hedge says, “You’d be wrong. When you’re dead, Bavedict, you ain’t got no brothers. Nothing holds ya together… the dead Bridgeburners are all together, but that’s just old memories, chaining ‘em all to each other… The dead ain’t got no friends.” But after Bavedict mentions Whiskeyjack, Hedge admits maybe Whiskeyjack can change things, and says Bavedict has given him something to think about. He points out Fid never did that, and says he never actually much liked Fid, and eventually Bavedict gives him the insight that Hedge loves all the dead Bridgeburners but not the one live one.
SCENE TWENTY
Jastara thinks of how she and Gall have taken comfort in each other, and the angry words and looks from the others thanks to that. She decides not to talk to Hanavat.
SCENE TWENTY-ONE
Shelemasa, seeing Jastara turn back, tells Hanavat she can’t imagine what Jastara thinks she might say to her. Hanavat is angered at the judgmental tone of Shelemasa and the others who presume to know what Hanavat feels: “What I hear from you—see in the eyes of the others—has nothing to do with me. Have I asked for pity?… Do not speak to me of sides. There are none. There are but people… doing what they can to get by.” She says she understands what Gall sees when he looks at Hanavat (pregnant with a child she says it is for her to know whose it is) and why he cannot. She tells Shelemasa Jastara doesn’t deserve hatred and when the women go to Jastara and comfort her, then “I shall go to her and take her into my arms.”
SCENE TWENTY-TWO
Henar Vygulf recalls the day his father took him into the herd for him to choose his first horse. When Henar asked about a horse “choosing” him, his father told him “There’s not a horse in the wide world happy to choose a rider. Not one beast eager to serve… delighted at being broken, its will beaten down. Are they any different from you or me?” When he chooses a horse, his father is surprised he didn’t pick the truly stand out one, and when he asked Henar if he thought he didn’t deserve “the best,” Henar surprised him even more by saying, “Not if it means breaking them.” He thinks his father would love, and laugh, to see him and Lostara together. They discuss Brys’ sentimentality and perhaps sense of pity in putting them together, and also how Brys and Aranict are together. She says how she thinks they won’t survive this journey, and he relates a story of his maid from his youth, how she told him stories with happy endings (her own love was far gone) because “she wanted that happy ending. She needed to believe in it. For her, and for everyone else.” When he mentions how she eventually married and became pregnant, Lostara says she must have given up on her original love—“probably wise I suppose. Part of growing up.” But Henar says he thinks of her with that child, he pictures “tears run[ning] down her cheeks. And she’ll remember a young man on the edge of the sea.” Lostara is crying herself as he tells her they will in fact survive, and one day he’ll introduce her to his father, “and he will laugh.”
SCENE TWENTY-THREE
Banaschar is telling Tavore of how he used to counsel commoners when he was a priest of D’rek and how some were irritated by love: most were complaining about relationships and thought the priests knew nothing of love and/or romance. He says he eventually learned that “romance is the negotiation of possibilities, towards that elusive prize called love.” In the silence that follows, he thinks of the jade spears and how he can words if he listens carefully enough: the language from some world where people look to the heavens and ask “Are you there”, but the heavens do not answer. While here, in this world, Banaschar asks and “down come the voice: ‘Yes. We are here. Just reach.’”
SCENE TWENTY-FOUR
Fiddler watches the priest and Adjunct talk. A Group of young Khundryl walk with him, and he doesn’t send them away, as “too many had that lost, hopeful look in their eyes. Dead fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters. Massive absences through which winds howled. Now they hovered . . as if he was the column itself.” He knows if they don’t have water, “all of her plans die here. And the gods will close like jackals, and then the Elder Gods will show their hand and blood will spill. The Crippled God will suffer terribly… They will feed on his agony… for a long, long time.” He thinks how the decision to have the CG’s house sanctified might end up a terrible error if they fail, as it will trap him in this world. “It will make suffering your holy writ—oh, many will flock to you. No one likes to suffer in isolation…for no reason. You will answer both, and make of them an illness. Of body, of spirit… I never said I’d like you… You just asked us to do what’s right. We said yes… [but] we’re mortal… fragile—among all the players, we’re the most vulnerable.” He thinks though that might be appropriate, and then muses how “Ignorant historians will write of us… will argue over our purpose… seeking our motives. Looking for hints of ambition. They will compose a Book of the Fallen. And then argue over its significance.… but truly, what will they know? Of each of us?”
He thinks how children have always made him feel awkward, reminders of futures he’d set aside, and made him feel guilty—“Crimes of necessity, each time I turned away.” He recalls Whiskeyjack standing at Mock’s Hold talking to a child of some merchant (Paran), though he cannot recall the advice Whiskeyjack gave him. He tells the Crippled God (in his head) that whatever they “manage to do, it will have to be enough. We will bring this book to an end, one way or another.” He realizes as he looks at Tavore, “we have lived the tale of the Adjunct. First it was Lorn… now it is Tavore… The Adjunct never stands at the center… The truth of that is right there in her title… it means this: she will do what she has to do but your [CG] life is not in your hands… your life is in the hands of a murderer of Malazan marines and heavies. Your life is in my hands.” The historians will get it all wrong, he says, missing the point that “Fallen One, we are all your children.”
Amanda’s Reaction
It is amazing to step back to Coral and see something that has happened as a result of a novel we read so long ago (or what feels so long ago now), to see Spindle again and a reminder of the Redeemer’s High Priestess.
It seems the Andii are heading back to Kharkanas—hopefully they arrive in time to assist with the Shake’s defence of the Shore.
The Great Ravens? All I can think here is of the scene in Batman Begins where the bats swirl around young Bruce Wayne and leave him terrified of black winged creatures. I remember that the Great Ravens came from the Crippled God, right, so I’m guessing they are heading to where the main thrust of the action is in this novel.
In the scene with Banaschar and the many-mouthed worm (creepy, non? I would not want to wake up with that anywhere near me!) I do like this example of how language can develop organically:
“Myriad are the forms of the Autumn Worm-”
“What’s that? A myrid worm, y’say?”
So a mishearing leads to a renaming, which is then enforced later in the scene. And you can absolutely see this having happened with names and phrases all through history.
This death that happened in the desert… It sounds momentous, and I wonder if we will see the results of it: “Something,” he whispered, “died here. Someone…” The shock had torn through the land. And the power unleashed, in that wild death, had delivered such a wound upon the Sleeping Goddess that she must have cried out in her sleep.
There is something horrifying about a quartermaster attempting to ration water for a desert crossing when he has no idea about how many days the desert crossing will take. Impossible. And the Adjunct is holding her knowledge of how wide the desert is close to her chest—no doubt to prevent mutiny or stealing of private rations etc. Except that Blistig here is making sure he has private rations, which I find to be particularly despicable behaviour. We’ve seen in recent chapters the way the Bonehunters have closed ranks and taken on this battle ahead of them, but here we see Blistig creating a rift that you know will become a chasm pretty soon.
Aww, that letter from Pores to Kindly—I love it. And I also love Himble who is introduced here, as a heavy who survived two pushes by the Nah’ruk but lost the fingers on both his hands, and is now working as a clerk. Something tells me that Pores decision to talk to the armourer and weaponsmith about rigging up a contraption for Himble is also about giving this heavy his pride back, as well as the future need for his abilities again.
This Glass Desert is warrenless? Seems so, since the Bonehunter mages can’t dowse for water using their magic. But we have seen some magic employed within this desert—I wonder if the new warrens would work here?
Here we have a strong example of how the Bonehunters are rallying around the Adjunct and her insane decision to cross the desert. Rather than dissuading her against it all, Kindly and Faradan are offering solutions to help the soldiers march quicker and longer. And they follow her even with knowing that the soldiers are raising all manner of rumours that the command group are unable to face down, because they have no idea where she gets her knowledge.
I have to say, this is frustrating me now. You think that if the Adjunct could just reveal something, then it would make it all so much easier for those beneath her to stomach what they are doing. Yes, they follow her right now, but they don’t know why and she doesn’t know why either. What is causing them to follow her? Really? Magic? It is frustrating for me as a reader to see all these encounters and discussions, and know that a lot of them could fade away with some extra knowledge of how Tavore comes by what she knows, and whose is the hand guiding her.
Is it the Crippled God? She certainly talks strongly enough here about the fact that the whole army should be worshipping him, since there is not a one of them who isn’t broken in some way. And then this:
“I cannot, Adjunct,” Kindly replied, in a shaken voice. “For he does not stand before me.”
And Tavore met his eyes once more. “Doesn’t he?”
Does this not imply that perhaps she is a representative of the Crippled God? Tavore, the High Priestess of the Crippled God!
Wow, Ruthan Gudd’s words here are so powerful—the idea that Tavore is giving everything of herself, feeling everything and suffering compassion, so that the soldiers of her army can remain immune and able to do the fighting without feeling.
The heavies always seem to surprise and delight me—here we have Himble reciting Pores’ message to Kindly perfectly from memory. And then some laughter from me, when we realise that actually a lot of the rumours about the Adjunct are coming about because the soldiers are a bit bored. And then this also made me chuckle:
Faradan met Kindly’s eyes. “Are we panicking over nothing Kindly?”
“To be honest,” he admitted, “I really don’t know anymore.”
Ha, this scene with Koryk and Cuttle and the others is just a perfect little glimpse into what the soldiers are actually thinking and how they’re coping—mostly by nagging and jibing each other, as they usually do. Yeah, the idea of drinking their own piss is a horror show that might well come true depending on these water rations, but they don’t seem to be thinking any worse about their future, even with the clearing down of their possessions. They seem so single-minded.
This is so zen—and it’s actually something I aspire to myself: “In any case, he’d lost most of his useful gear. Only to discover that he really didn’t need it after all.” It’s amazing how little you actually need to get by in life. For me, some clothes and toiletries, a Kindle, a credit card and this laptop I type on might be about all I actually need. The rest are just nice trappings.
I’m curious as to why Bottle asks about the name of the Bonehunters and how they got it, and then thinks: “But this is impossible. Aren. She couldn’t have known. Not then.” Does that mean that they are named for the task they are performing now?
Some wonderful scenes through this chapter, featuring the various soldiers, and their discussions. One that pulled on the heartstrings for me was where Sinter watches her sleeping sister and thinks about that fact that the rest of the soldiers now realise that she didn’t desert, that she went to find help, that she would have been in the charge of the Khundryl if not for her horse going down. And then Kisswhere’s fever-filled thoughts, where she thinks: “We got us a war, comrades. Can’t stop and chat. We got us a war, and no one’s allowed to get off.”
Poor Urb. Poor unrequited love Urb.
And then poor Hedge, feeling so alone and unwanted amongst those of the Bridgeburners who are still alive. He is neither with those alive, or with those who are in the realm of the dead.
Oh wow, that sweet, sweet scene between Henar and Lostara really touched me—he believes they will survive because he believes in their love.
I really don’t think I have any surprise at all that Fiddler also shares the compassion towards the Crippled God that Tavore has.
Bill’s Reaction
I like how we shift away to Coral here to get a reminder of things moving in other parts of the world. The Andii leaving shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise at this point, and I think we might hazard a guess as to where they might be going. As for the Great Ravens, if one recalls where the come from, that might help for some guessing as to where they are going, if not to join the Andii.
I also like how the metaphor works with Spindle and his peace, his emotions that he’d thought safely sealed away—this idea of a deep well as the metaphor coming from someone of whom it was just said had trained (somewhat at least) in military engineering and was now a pit boss on the works. And then how that idea of something being “sealed away” underground fits as well the horrors of his memories of Pale and the collapse of the tunnels there, sealing away so many: “My friends… The tunnels. Oh my heart, my heart.”
And then along the same crafting discussion, that very purposeful language of memories “wheeling” and coming to “roost” in Spindle—the bird imagery obviously in line with the flight of the Ravens (and dark, black memories they are as well, just like the Ravens).
And that moving closing image of him on his knees weeping, made all the more moving by the simplicity and brevity of that line, “He knelt,” (also apropos coming as he thinks of gods), emphasized by it being on its own line. Powerful opening scene.
Interesting difference in the view toward betting in the worm scene with Banaschar and Sort and the soldiers in comparison to an earlier march and those scorpions
We’re getting many references to some disaster that has befallen this Glass Desert, some great death that happened here. We get it from Banaschar , then later in this chapter from Sinter. We’ll have to see if this is just background enrichment or if it will play a part in what’s to come
Blistig continues to be a sad storyline for me, but what I like about this scene is how he assumes Pores is just like him, which on the surface might make sense, but Pores’ response seems here at least to argue against that premise. On the other hand, his opposition to Tavore is becoming more active and more overt (in his head at least). And then later we have Lostara worrying about the effect on the army of his opposition and concerned about him attracting “followers.” Might these guards of his be the beginning of such a stage? It’s a nice bit of added suspense.
I know we later hear that many of the rumors re: Tavore that she is confronted with are said by the messenger to be mere “entertainment,” but I think I would have liked hearing these in the grunt talk rather than conveyed via the officers. At least at first, I know they need to confront her with them to put some pressure (more pressure) on her. And while no reader obviously is going to think these are correct, I think they do raise the questions readers actually do have—is she in league with some gods? If so, which ones? Does she talk to any of them? Where does she get her “hidden knowledge” from?
It was a nice structure move to have the conversation about Dassem and godhood earlier before this scene (for all that earlier conversation raises its own host of questions/confusion)
I have to confess, I don’t recall if we’re supposed to know what that gesture of Banaschar’s is to Gudd, or if we find out later. Anyone? It does draw attention to itself.
I think Kindly answers his own question about Tavore (or at least one of them) when he says, “How can she not understand… “ that the soldiers can’t “feel” as they kill, for it is clear she does understand that.
A nice setting detail on this conversation: “The sun blinding their eyes”—since they all are “blind” to Tavore’s speech until Gudd makes his points.
Is it just me, but when it is mentioned that Gudd seems distracted as they talk about the soldiers’ morale—is that an odd little POV in the italics part “Or maybe a thousand years.”?
Also an interesting little acknowledgement of his power when he says nobody could stop him if he decides to leave.
Gudd’s point is a nice second layer atop the discussion of Tavore and compassion that we saw at the end of the earlier chapter. And I like how his words don’t simply end the conversation, or the concerns, which would not have been realistic.
The humor, both Pores’ note and then the interplay between Skanarow and Gudd, does a nice job of lightening the tone. On another level, I think it’s a nice sort of microcosm of the overarching theme of compassion—these little dips into loving relationships we’re seeing throughout—these two, Lostara and Henar, Brys and Aranict, poor Urb and Helian, even Banaschar later talks of love. When one talks about compassion, it helps to see these people have the capacity for love in the concrete, not just the abstract.
In a different sort of way, I think the scenes amongst the grunts show us the same—a capacity to form bonds, to feel. The scenes do other things—continue to characterize, raise some questions (where is Quick Ben and how is he keeping himself in the game, what is it that Bottle thinks Tavore knows but shouldn’t have with regard to the Bonehunters’ name), point to some ideas (it’s important “they” don’t see what this army is doing), show that things/morale are not as bad amongst the army as the officers thought, etc. But mostly for me it continues to show them as a bonded. It’s also, for me, just so much richer to get this viewpoint from the ground, from the grunts, and from so many of them. Too many faceless soldiers in other fantasies. Not in this one.
And in that vein of the grunts POV, the whole inner circle/elite group bit cracked me up. Of course they’d think that. Not a lot to say about it, save I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Speaking of bonding, poor dead Hedge. You can’t help but hope Bavedict’s points penetrate Hedge’s head and that he and Fiddler find something between them before things go from desperately awful to even worse.
This brief scene amongst the Khundryl nicely echoes the compassion theme with Tavore. Note the similar wording even as Jastara wonders, “Do I dare look into Hanavat’s eyes?” and later Hanavat talks of Gall “facing away.” She is a marvel of compassion and understanding here. And I love her line, which is so universal, of “They are but people. People of all sorts, each doing what they can to get by.”
If Tavore is the character of whom it is said she holds compassion, then Fiddler I’d say is one of the characters who embodies it, who lives it, and acts on it. We hear of Tavore’s compassion, but we don’t really see it, not so much, at least not yet. But we do get to see it with Fiddler. If Tavore is the “mother” of this army and Fiddler the “father”, then this little aside with the Khundryl youths is a nice metaphor of that—Fiddler’s small act of compassion in not sending them away, his recognition of them, their need, their pain. And if Tavore is the enigma, the closed book, Fiddler is, often, wholly open, via dialog or, in this case, interior monologue. We see his compassion in his response to the agony of the Crippled God, the use of him. We see it in how it doesn’t matter whether he “likes” the Crippled God or not. And his humanity, alongside his compassion, is clear in his acknowledgement of the fragility of people. The acknowledgement that they can but try, do what they can, do their best, but that is no guarantee.
And, of course, there’s the whole meta-thing going on. Here we are reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen and here is Fiddler thinking of how historians will write a Book of the Fallen. Is this what we’re reading? Was this composed by a historian? How do folks feel about this?
We’ve seen Fiddler and children before, and it’s good to remember that as he thinks on how children make him feel awkward and worse, guilty, that there is another group in the Glass Desert now. How will Fiddler feel if they come across the Snake?
When Fiddler says the CG’s life is in his hands (and how heartbreaking is that description of himself as a “murderer of Malazan marines and heavies”?), is he talking in the abstract, or is this part of that special mission Tavore has for him and his people?
Amanda Rutter is the editor of Strange Chemistry books, sister imprint to Angry Robot.
Bill Capossere writes short stories and essays, plays ultimate frisbee, teaches as an adjunct English instructor at several local colleges, and writes SF/F reviews for fantasyliterature.com.
IIRC, after Banaschar makes his gesture towards Ruthan Gudd, Gudd then proceeds to tell the soldiers that Tavore feels compassion for all of them so that they can remain obdurate. So perhaps it is a signal of permission?
In amongst all of the secret feelings and ulterior motives and unspoken personal ambitions, it is nice to just see an actual act when Fiddler accepts the Khundryl youth. It is a personal failing of mine as a reader, but the subterfuge of hidden motivations and endless talk and speculation about said drivers is not something that I pick up on or readily enjoy, so a purposeful, intentional act comes as refreshing to me.
IIRC, this is about the point in tCG that I start just tearing up and weeping for no apparent reason… that continues until after the final word of the final epilogue.
As a rereader I wasn’t sure how to bring this up, but since Bill’s comments allude to it, I’ll take a shot. Early in the chapter, during his conversation with Tarr (location 7335 on my Kindle), Cuttle says ‘Can’t do that mission if we don’t {make it across the Glass Desert}.’ OK, what mission? Fourth Squad only? or more broad? Where have we heard of this before?
At this point I take anything related to Ruthan to be excruciatingly cryptic and frustratingly void of anything helpful in figuring out who he is. Maybe by the end if the Kharkanas Trilogy?
It was somewhere around here that I started to wonder why certain Malazans got new “army” names, and others just kept their original names. Like, why didn’t Faradan Sort get a name like “Stomper”? Why does she stay Faradan Sort?
My best theory from the only pattern I can find is that if you were somebody important before you joined the army, then you keep your name.
A few chapters ago, when Fiddler got the remaining marines (and the heavies and sappers attached to them):
——————–
From Fiddler’s description way back in HoC, Sergeant Braven Tooth started nicknaming recruits he trained decade ago, and the practice caught on with other training sergeants, too, so many/most Malazan soldiers get new names during their initial training, but some don’t (ie: Koryk, Smiles, Tarr and Bottle all went through training together, but Koryk didn’t get a new name while the other 3 did).
Fiddler himself didn’t get a new name during training but did later from Whiskeyjack, so it does happen elsewise, too.
The practice definitely seems less common amongst the officers – probably because many officers enroll straight into the officer cadre and it is less common there. Someone like Fist Kindly, though, might’ve gotten the name anyways simply because he has such a reputation, or it could be he rose up through the ranks and had the name before ever becoming an officer (like Whiskeyjack).
Faradan Sort, in particular (and also Rythe Bude) was a seasoned soldier before even joining the Malazan army so she probably transfered straight into an officer position with little training, so even less opportunity for a new name.
About the Book of the Fallen, I had an uh-oh-of-course-moment. I always took it as the Fallen ‘people’, so all the Malazans that died / would die during the series. But Fiddlers speech made it into the story of the Fallen One, where all the previous books were working towards to. I think both are correct, and that this double meaning is on purpose (Q&A?).
At the same time I had a ‘gnah-gnah-moment’. (Just an anecdote, sorry for it’s length.)
Because only the first two books were translated into Dutch when I ‘met’ the series (2006/7?), I read all the other books in English. In 2010, with The Crippled God approaching, a new publisher translated the first four books anew (but apparently stopped after that).
It always naggled me that they changed the titles of the books. Not only became ‘Memories of Ice’ – ‘In de ban van de woestijn’ (‘Under the spell of the desert’ ???), they also gave the series a new overarching title: ‘Spel der goden’ (Game of the Gods) with subtitles per book (‘Boek 1: Tuinen van de maan’ – ‘Book 1: Gardens of the moon’, etc).
And now, in the final book, it turns out that that series’ name was a lot more important than the translaters thought. How to fix that… gnah gnah ;-)
Something else: I really liked the Pores-Kindly-interaction, with the nice misdirection of Himble Thrup of summarizing the message into a more ‘normal’ one, but repeating the cream doth rise perfectly.
Or actually, I liked this chapter a lot. The soldiers, Tavore, Fiddler, the rumours and inner-circle, Hedges recognition of the Dead Walking speech and his pain/denial towards Fiddler, young Henar Vygulf…
Lovely chapter.
I love the traversal down the army convoy as we get the thoughts of many of the squads we’ve come to know and love.
But talking of known soldiers, this is also one of the first mentions of the ‘unknown’ soldiers – the regulars. It’s here I realised that we’ve basically spent all our time ONLY with the heavies and marines, and much of the actual army remain completely ‘unwitnessed’ to us. And there’s Faradan Sort alluding to exactly that – their strange, downright weird, quietness, a sort of ephemeral quality, as if they’re there but not really there.
Come on, Blistig, pull it together man! :P
@8
I’m with you on the regulars. I didn’t even notice the entire time we’ve been following the Bonehunters that almost all of our characters are heavies and marines.
Also, was this concept of “the walking dead” introduced in an earlier book? I can’t remember off the top of my head. That phrase was repeated over and over again in this chapter and it kept making me think of Rick and Carl.
Regarding Tavore, I’m still confused on why she couldn’t reveal more information to her people. Maybe this will be addressed in more detail later on in the book, but I’m looking forward to discussing her actions/motivations later on in the reread.
Tufty,
Thanks. at both times of my reading that, I took it as a general woo haa speach for the survivors.
So, all the Heavies & Marines. (And Tavore communicated all of that post Deadsmell’s healing her and, presumably after her conversation with Misan’s guardians … but before the decision to split the Bonehunters from the Perish/Letheri/Che’malle?)
Oh, and I forgot to mention … I really enjoyed the flashback to the prologue of the first book of the series and the knowledge that the reader possesses, but Fiddler does not.
One last continuation comment from above (and carefully, I hope). A reread reveals so much more. So many hints (things Bill ‘files’) were there for the astute first reader. Sadly, not me … which, I suppose, allows me great fun on the reread.
@@.-@ – presumably because all their nicknames (i think, correct me if i’m wrong), were given to them by braven tooth when they were first starting out. ruthan gudd, faradan sort, both came from different places than there, so they don’t get nicknames.
In my personal opinion, the theme of compassion for the TCG has now gone past that into “apologism” for the TCG.
I really wish some soldier would point out that for all the harm done to him, the TCG set cannibals upon Genebackis, corrupted the Tiste Edur and pretty much wiped out a massive amount of the population of Seven Cities with plague. As “defensive” measures (allegedly)
I’m sure we will have this discussion at the end with SE, but there is not enough condemnation of the TCG to go along with the compassion, for my liking. At least some solder should have said, “well he is a complete dick” by now.
One of the most nagging questions about the series for me has been about the meta Book of the Fallen. What does it mean? Fiddler muses about the historians’ accounts of the Bonehunters here, and meanwhile, we have the two poems by Fisher at the beginning of the Crippled God (the Book I opening poem and the Chapter I poem) that come from the Malazan Book of the Fallen. It comes up again later on, too.
I know its so tangential and was most likely a wink from Erikson to the readers, but I really want Erikson to explore this more, especially if it means more involvement from Fisher!
@12 I don’t dispute that the CG was a dick, and it does seem curious that everyone seems to gloss over that he’s been a right bastard… but the plauge in Seven Cities was Poliel’s doing.
@14 I always thought that the CG had sanctioned or ordered Poliel to do it. Maybe she did act independently.
But aside from that, what the CG did to the poor peasants of Genabackis is rephrehensible. And Karsa’s tribe. And the Tiste Edur. I’m verys surprised that Hedge and Quick Ben who fought in MoI don’t say something to the effect that while they will do what they have to in the name of compassion, the CG showed none to many many people.
I can’t remember, precisely, but they do discuss how CG was lashing out at the pain that all the gods of this world were subjecting him to. How a child who knows nothing but pain only knows how to inflict it, in turn.
I haven’t worked it out clearly in my own head (along with a lot of other fine points in the series, which makes it all the more interesting), but it seems like the different “parts” of the CG are working at cross purposes with each other, or being used by others to do things in his name. Don’t know how much control (or knowlege) the “heart” of the CG has over the actions of the CG avatar living in the tent on the island, for example.
On the subject of the regulars, I always assumed they were around somewhere, otherwise the Malazan “armies” would number in the hundreds, rather than thousands. I don’t have the links handy, but I recall posts to organizational charts showing changes to the squads in the various armies over the course of the series, and I always though “that ain’t enough soldiers!”
To sort of kinda paraphrase Itkovian, compassion is not the same thing as absolution. You can show compassion for the CG and release him without absolving or forgiving him for past crimes. The fact that you’re saving the entire human race by doing so helps a lot, too!
@17 dogshouse
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2990739/14thArmy-PostRG.pdf
@18
Aha!
Then the interesting question becomes: Would Tavore and the others be risking their lives to show such compassion to the TCG if the Earth/Burn/Human race wasn’t at risk?
Its easy to show compassion when you are effectively forced at gunpoint to do it.
Plus, why doesn’t Tavore just say: “those green things up there are going to crash into the world and shatter it just like the moon was shattered. We’re going to prevent that.”
It is true, it is a cause everyone could get behind and it isn’t a secret. I never understood how nobody seems worried about the jade statues, they all just ignore them. Any theories?
The regulars are always around, we just don’t see them as focus characters. Hiding in plain sight as it were – the great thing about books – if they aren’t described, they aren’t there. Same as if the movie camera keeps looking the other way.
On the Book of the Fallen … I’ll wait till later to put my 5p in.
@20 and @21:
This is precisely why we get the discussion between Yedan Derryg and Brevity and Pithy. Saving the world isn’t enough.
I agree with Mayhem @22 on the POV.
We only see the bulk of the 14th Army (the regulars) from afar, when we see the fleet, for example when it’s harboured at Malaz, and Keneb raises the plague flags. Hiding in plain sight indeed.
It always did seem a little weird understanding the shift with the Crippled God – from villain to victim. After rereading the series twice, here’s my input:
The order in which things happen is important here, because it’s not the same order that we learn about them.
One of the first things that the Crippled God does is kidnap Withal and make him forge the sword that will eventually go to Rhulad. Those events move forward mostly on their own after Hannan Mosag learns about it.
Sometime around then (or maybe before actually) is also when the Seven Faces in the Rock send Karsa out to begin his journey. Karsa basically does what Karsa wants, with little guidance.
Sometime later, the Crippled God creates the Pannion Seer, which is easily the most reprehensible thing he does probably in the entire series. The Pannions war with the rest of the Genabackins.
Now we come to Capustan. When the siege of Capustan is over, Itkovian goes to confront Rath’Fener for his betrayal of Brukhalian. These events are perhaps open to interpretation, but I’m pretty sure what happens is when Itkovian has Rath’Fener’s hands cut off, they should have gone to Fener for him to judge. But Fener wasn’t around. So instead, they went to the Crippled God, who claimed Rath’Fener for his own. When Itkovian judges that the man has suffered enough and goes to embrace him, Itkovian encounters the Crippled God – a being of immense presence, full of pain and agony. Itkovian, being Itkovian, offers to embrace the Crippled God and take his pain. Fortunately for Itkovian, the Crippled God manages to break away before Itkovian is consumed. It is this contact that forces Itkovian’s embrace wide enough to encompass all of Capustan.
This contact is something I overlooked my first time through, or didn’t remember because the context wasn’t there yet, but I think it’s very important. This is the first time the Crippled God is shown compassion, and he is shocked and appalled by it. I believe that until here, the Crippled God simply did not understand any other way to live. Presumably before the Fall he did, but the Fall broke him in more ways than one.
Skip forward a few years. The Crippled God has been somewhat dormant in his various schemes and plots, though he has not released anyone from the burdens he set on them. At some point (and we really don’t know when; perhaps after her encounter with the Empress), Tavore decides that the Crippled God has been treated unfairly and that she’s going to do something about it. This entire thing comes off to me as sort of a “f*** you all” to the gods. A willful defiance of everything they want to do with the Crippled God. Tavore pledges herself and her army to his cause (not that she tells them that… at least not yet).
As someone pointed out earlier, compassion is not the same thing as absolution. No one is forgiving the Crippled God for what he has done, but perhaps Tavore understands it. She’s made some terrifying decisions herself. I think what happens is that the Crippled God is humbled, first by Itkovian and then by Tavore, with a few years to think about it in between. By the time Tavore gives her pledge, he’s willing to change into something different.
… That’s my two cents. Or… four. Or seven. Twelve?
Well it’s a damn good write-up that’s for sure. it shows just how subtle and well-placed the foreshadowing is. pure genius. there’s a quote i’m going to post when the time is right. it’s from DG and it blew my mind when i read it after reading tCG. this is one of those bits of foreshadowing. i remember thinking that itkovian had encountered the crippled god, that all the signs point to it, but i never even once imagined how itkovian could have changed the CG. but how could he not? he goes on to become a god himself. god of redemption no less. the encounter probably shaped the both of them profoundly.
@25 Two other recent events had a big impact, though I am baffled by the timeline so I don’t know which came first:
– the last Chaining. Kellanved and Dancer were there ( I assume already ascended, but seems to make it too recent?), Anomander, Hood and many more of the players we see. I think seeing what happened made Kel and. Dancer decide it was wrong and should change. They convinced at least Hood and Anomander that it was time for change. Dassems fate, and the T’lan Imass, is somehow tied in to this, but I don’t understand how. Later, they recruit Tavore.
– the Forkrul Assail take Kolanse, chain the heart and commit genocide, clearly showing their intentions. tCG starts working on a defense to save himself ( and maybe the world?). His means are limited and crude, basically he grabs what he can. It’s not quite blind lashing out. He makes. Rhulad, he makes Pannion. They could both be attempts to create something that can stand against the Forkrul.
Were Kellanved and Dancer at the chaining? Well, okay; I believe you. I knew Dassem was there.
At first I had always assumed the Chaining was thousands of years ago… but I had also assumed there was just one; Crippled God falls, Crippled God gets chained. Now I’m not so sure.
Kellenved ruled for 100 years as the Malazan Emperor before he gave it up and ascended to become Shadowthrone. Maybe the chaining occurred before they ascended, but after they set out to learn the secrets of the Azath. They were absent for quite a long time.
As for Kolanse, I think it’s stated somewhere in one of the last two books that it went out of contact some 70 years before the events of the book.
Rhulad actually does make sense as a weapon against the Forkrul Assail, but Pannion less so… he’s quite a ways off, after all.
Okay, how about this. Maybe the Crippled God didn’t go to Pannion with intent; maybe he was simply drawn to him because of his nature. He could be considered the Aspect of Pain, after all, and the Pannion Seer was a Jaghut imprisonned in a rift enduring who knows what kind of torture for a long time. Maybe they have a conversation. Pannion, driven mad with pain and anger, speaks of the T’lan Imass. The Crippled God offers a path – of vengeance. After all, the T’lan Imass Summoner will be born soon to a Rhivi woman not so far off. Pannion decides to create an army to destroy the T’lan Imass at their Gathering.
What if everything that happens on Genabackis is just… an accident, of sorts. Dujek Onearm, Caladan Brood, Anomander Rake, Whiskeyjack, Toc, Itkovian, all the southern cities of Genabackis, just… got in the way. The real confrontation was between Jaghut and Imass.
I’m not sure if that theory holds weight or not; I only just thought of it and haven’t given it much time.
Somebody (I think Kalam) made a comment in his thoughts about Cotillion being there.
Also, let’s see if my comments are still automatically flagged as spam without an apparent reason.
I am not having fun with this (4th time now) and no response from anybody from TOR.
EDIT: I manually flagged this post to draw a Moderator to this issue.
@29 Moderator here – I found just one other message from you that somehow got caught in the spam filter, and I’ve just published it.
And — sorry about that… our spam filter is very useful but occasionally a bit finicky. Let us know if you experience any further problems!
Thank you, Stefan :)
Yup, they said in DoD/early TCG that the FA first showed up in Kolanse around 60 years ago.
I definitely do think the Crippled God taking over the Edur and through them the Lether Empire was part of an aim to build a big army and take it east against the FA in Kolanse. Combined with the FA first appearing in Kolanse 60 years ago, it gives a very good answer to the “why is this all happening now?” question, as apparently the CG has been Fallen for 100 000 years and never been as much of a pain in the ass as he is now.
Of couse the CG fairly early on saw that Rhulad was not strong enough to wield Withal’s sword, and was going insane, so he found a new champion in Laederon and had Rhulad send out the champion fleets. Looks like the plan was for the Seven of the Dead Fires to guide Karsa to Lether, where he would kill Rhulad, take the sword and become the new Letheri Emperor. When Karsa was traveling on the Ashok Regiment ship across the Meningalle Ocean and got pulled into the Nascent, he was evidently supposed to surrender to Binadas and be taken to Rhulad as a Champion… too bad that didn’t work out.
So if that was the CG’s plan it was intended to happen long before the 14th Army even got to Lether.
The Pannion issue is an interesting one, but we don’t know how much involvement the CG really even had. Pannion emerged from the Morn rent probably already quite crazed. He is said to have emerged from the hills near Bastion and was quickly recognized as a Seer. I would guess that, broken and hateful as he was, the only god who would reach out to Pannion or whom Pannion would reach out to would be the CG as they were somewhat akin. But reviving undead K’Chain Che’malle, possessing a human as a Jaghut ghost, Finnests, glaciers in Coral’s bay – these are all Jaghut magic that don’t need the CG’s help. I’m sure the CG could talk to Pannion and lots of influence over him, but Pannion was probably still in control of himself to a similar degree as Rhulad. Pannion definitely helped the CG with spreading the infection of Burn and destroying Rud Elalle’s Meckros city. I imagine infecting Burn was aimed towards hurting/destroying the younger gods who were draining the CG, and I imagine trying to kidnap Rud Elalle was another effort to gain an ascendant champion like Karsa.
As for the Chainings, there’s references to two confirmed separate Chainings, but there could probably be more. The 14 Jaghut talked about two that they personally attended in DoD, and the second one they referenced seems to be the one in which Dassem’s daughter was used for some sort of ritual and crippled.
From NoK, Dassem speaks with Temper just before Y’Ghatan about how things have changed. I would surmise then, that the most recent Chaining was shortly before Y’Ghatan. As it was pointed out up-thread, Kalam knew that Dancer had also been at that Chaining, though I don’t think we ever actually get full confirmation that Kellanved was there.
So presumably the first Chaining occured when the younger gods realized they could drain the power from the CG, and they gathered up all the parts they could find and sucked them dry. Later on, they found more pieces and did it again, possibly multiple more times. Either The Heart was already found, sucked dry, left at The Spire, and has slowly rejuvenated some power such that it is ready to be drained again, or it has not been drained before and is the last major piece yet to be used. Or something like that. It’s even possible that the Heart was not always at The Spire, but that when the FA decided they needed to purge humanity they went off to find it and brought it to The Spire.
Some excellent points here regarding the CG’s behaviour, especially from Kargual. I especially like the Pannion-theory about the true nature of that conflict – never thought about it that way!
For me, by this point it was obvious how the GC could do horrible things yet still be a victim – he’s literally in pieces! His heart especially is missing from the rest of his body and this for me explains his lack of compassion in his former schemes. I imagine he would be quite a different animal when being whole. Maybe we’ll even see yer how he behaves with all his parts in the right place ;)
Still, that contact with Itkovian makes a lot sense too. Thanks for pointing that out, Kargul, I forgot all about it.
On the Jade statues, we do get several references to them, so I think it’s made clear that people are paying attention to them. But I think in the grand scheme of things, they are so distant (really, really distant) and so abstract a threat, that other things are taking precedence in their thoughts. I also always read this things as partial conversations—in other words, I assume there are lots of conversations going on that I’m not privy too. Sometimes if it is a major plot point, I find it annoying when those aren’t shown. But in this particular case, we both get enough references to the statues, and so much else is going on more immediately, that I don’t have an issue with the lack of book dialog on them.
On the CG, I’m going to hold off on that because I imagine we’re going to have a huge conversation on that at the end. This isn’t a hint to not talk about it here, just a personal preference to talk about it when I can “really” talk about it i.e. talk about everything. Not just the CG himself, but how his actions work into others’ plans/motivations. I just don’t want to have to tiptoe. But feel free to have it out—there have been some great posts on this topic here.
Tufty,
That was a very insightful post considering the CG and his planning with Karsa. I hadn’t given any thought about that yet.
About the Chainings.
I thought the heart was the first piece of the crippled god chained, and the most powerful (hence it being the first). Then as other pieces were found, they were in turn chained. I originally thought the chainings were intended to prevent him from causing trouble in the world.
We definitely find out more about the different pieces of the crippled god and how they act in some of Cam’s books. We already read Stonewielder and saw his aspect as “the Lady” who was the patron of the stormgaurd on Korel. I would guess that one of the chainings happened there, down at the bottom of the pit that the stormriders placed Greymane in. When we get to Blood and Bone we will learn even more (very much RAFO at this point, sorry, spoiler thread if you want to continue). I am actually very interested to get to that part of the re-read actually, there is a lot there if you know what you are looking for.
As for how that all relates to Dancer and Kel and Tavore, I dont know, but I do like the idea that participating in the chaining set Dancer and Kel on the course of freeing the crippled god.
@36 Ted, I also look forward to some explanation of what was the backstory for B&B. As a book it wasn’t to my taste, but I could sense that it hinted at things that happened to the Crippled God in the past.
I really enjoyed the above conversation on why the Crippled God might be deserving of compassion.
To piggy back off of that, one additional thought that I had is in regard to oone of the undercurrents in this series being that the followers of a god may not necessarily be acting as the god would have them act. One of the clearest examples probably being Mallick Rel and at least his earlier actions not being at all what Mael would condone. I can’t recall how much direct influence the Crippled God may or may not have had with the Pannion, but imagine this could certainly be a case of the Pannion worshiping the Crippled God but necessarily acting as the Crippled God would want him to act.
Another interesting facet, is that we haven’t really seen the Crippled God doing anything bad in quite awhile. Which opens up the possibility of him changing which would certainly be deserving of compassion.
One thing that I continue to wonder about: what happened 60-70 years ago that drew the Forkrul Assail to Kolanse. Where were they before then?
I continue to look forward to the rest of the book and see how this all unfolds.
I’m about a decade late to this, but only discovered this series now, and I just have to say,
“Piss Drinker, High House”
was probably the single funniest line I have ever read.
Also ten years late to the discussion. That was a funny line publius!
As for the crippled god turning from villain to victim overnight with really no explanation. I’m not buying it. Yet. Maybe I will feel differently by the end of the book. It feels like SE wrote himself into a corner. It’s also making the journey feel very cheapened. I understand that people want to justify it and make it make sense but it doesn’t. Not for me anyway. I’m hoping I get some clarity and resolution by the end or what a let down.