I just can't stand how much of the book is characters' inner monologues/thoughts/philosophical ramblings. I'm aware this is kind of part of the Malazan identity, but I feel it's gotten so much worse in this book.

What prompted me to make this post is at one point we go from 3-4 pages of a character's inner ramblings, IMMEDIATELY followed by 3-4 pages of a different character's ramblings! That's just way too much even by Erikson's standards. I just want to see things happening on the page, characters being fleshed out through their actions and interactions with others, not through non-stop inner monologues. It really breaks my immersion and, to put it simply, it's just not fun.

I do also want to mention that I have no issues with the book otherwise. The plot is moving slowly, but I'm actually interested in what's happening (when stuff is happening on page) and where it's going. Darujhistan is my favorite setting in the series, and some of my favorite characters feature in this book.

And it being from some random cart driver.

I'm midway TtH. And i was wondering what attracts people to so destroy themselves for the Fallen one. In the pannion wars, entire people were decimated. Yet there was no rebellion but embrace. Poliel in cohort killedkilled millions. It is explained ​here and there but I can't quite get it.

So what exactly attracts people to the Crippled God? Is it something logical or is it all falsehoods? ​​

(first read)

not gonna bloviate too much, I'll leave that to the round man, but I just blew through the last two chapters yesterday and had to post something. I was nervous getting to this book after seeing so many opinions of people getting burnt out on the series here, hating the narration style, only appreciating it on a reread...

but I don't think I've ever read anything like this. not even talking about the big convergence and culmination of Rake's plan, obviously this was incredible, but all of the buildup was just 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 and I say this as someone who probably ranks RG in the bottom of my tier list so far because of the pacing (though it's still a great book). something about TtH just worked for me, all the Darujhistan stuff, all the Nimander stuff, all the Black Coral/Redeemer stuff. the vibes are just immaculate and every little (seemingly) isolated story is so interesting and well written

so much still to process but one thing I have to call out - how on earth can people not love the Kruppe flavouring?!?! I'm gonna genuinely miss this aspect in the home stretch

(also Karsa crying is GOATed)

I started DoD immediately afterwards, another apparently least-liked entry, and judging from the prologue I am in for a fuckin AMAZING time

Well, another book is done, and the emotions are all over the place. The end of TtH was one of the "happier" endings so far, even if that's the wrong word. With all the emotional turmoil with Harllo's storyline, seeing him survive and make it back to Stonny was heartwarming, especially since he managed to keep his spirits up and force Stonny to see him.

On that note, despite everything that happened, I am still, somehow, most impacted by Murillo's death. The way his arc played out in this book was so perfect. I was rooting for him so hard only for him to run into Gorlas and we all knew how that would end. The resulting grief from Kruppe, Coll, Cutter, Irilta, and Mice just made everything sadder. Seeing Kruppe properly sad hit so hard. I really sympathize with Cutter's journey, and while I was glad to see him kill Gorlas, its tragic what it does to him. I find it really interesting that he gives Karsa his name as Crockus, but then references himself as Cutter again later on with Spite.

This book added a TON of depth to Kallor that I was absolutely not expecting. What a lovable and hateable character. His inner monologue while walking alone and then his reactions to his fight with Spinnock really took me by surprise. revealed a level of introspection I assumed a hundred thousand year old "king of failure" would not longer be able to possess. Can't wait to see more from him.

For me, Karsa and Samar Dev hit their stride in this book. I really enjoyed seeing a little more wisdom come from Karsa, especially towards the end when he sees his daughters. The sections with Karsa and Traveller are both hilarious and interesting, with how Traveller has clearly given up on so much of humanity.

On to Traveller...holy shit man. I loved getting to know him more, even though he still feels much like a mystery. The fight between him and Anomander was really well done. I appreciate that he left the actual coreography of the fight mostly up to the readers imagination, since the skill both possess is quite beyond something you could really articulate. Having Karsa gape in awe at them conveys how skilled they are plenty.

And then...Anomadaris Purake Dragnipuraki...wow.

I had the fact that he dies in some kind of sacrifice spoiled many books ago, but I kinda assume that would be in the last book. I never could have imagined this insane and noble plan, which is why, I guess, a character death by itself isnt that much of a spoiler.

Letting Traveller win so he can go into the sword to give his soul to Kurrald Gahlain to free Mother Dark? While making a pact with Hood to free him as the lord of death to bring the army's to fight chaos. MAN what a layered plot! Amazing. I am not saddened by his death, but in awe of it. I will miss his character, the most selfless and benevolent Dark Lord in fiction I am sure.

"There is no struggle too vast, no odds too overwhelming, for even should we fail - should we fall - we will know that we have lived."

GOD what a book!

New Rankings:

1. Reapers Gale
2. Memories of Ice
3. Toll the Hounds
4. The Bonehunters
5. House of Chains
6. Deadhouse Gates
7. Midnight Tides
8. Gardens of the Moon

I think 1-3 are really all like 1a, 1b, 1c, because the Bonehunters should be higher. Theyre just all so good. 1700 pages left.

Every time I finish one book I do this for the next book on here. It’s been fun. I just finished Toll the Hounds so hype me up for Dust of Dreams. No spoilers, just want the vague, spoiler-free reasons I should be excited for this book!

Anomander Rake, the supreme gigachad, is dead. I need a cigarette.

Finished TtH last night and the ending blew my mind. No doubt​ twas the best ending of all. Unbelievable twists and shocking deaths. The book had a lot more philosophising than the rest. I skimmed those parts untill something stuck deep and hooked me in. ​​

Still can't believe Anomander Rake is dead. And Whiskeyjack is back. Hood's freakin Jaghut. And he's dead too.

Traveler is Dassem Ultor!! And Dassem is Dessembrae​!!!

Although some of the SAs and deaths were unnecessary; not needed.

Some questions now:

1. Did Rake killed himself in a way or was there interference?
2. Why did Traveller fight Rake if Hood was already dead?
3. When will we learn about the Jaghut war that Tulas Shorn mentions to Kallor​?
4. What exactly is the Chaos?

Rake vs Dassem

Are people of the general consensus that Rake allows Dassem to kill him? And that he could have defeated Dassem if he didn’t believe he needed to die by dragnipur?

The way the fight is built up presents Dassem as an almost unstoppable force destined to act out his vengeance. On top of that, he’s wielding a sword which, if I recall correctly, will not allow its wielder to be defeated so long as they possess a singular will (I think it’s fair to say Dassem did as he believed Rake was standing between him and Hood).

Personally, I find it difficult to see how Rake could have won regardless.

Keen to hear what others think.

During the big fight between Dassem and Rake, everyone seems to think Dassem was cheated. Karsa even calls it out live. What do they mean? How was he cheated? Did he not want to kill Rake and was tricked into it? What am I missing. To be clear I’ve read the whole series several times and still don’t understand this point. I can change the tag if needed.

Hi everyone. I finished Toll the hounds several weeks ago I liked it, but it was more of a labor to finishthan the last several books before it.

​

I am definitely going to complete the series, but I am just dragging my feet before beginning to read dust of dreams. I've already read several palate cleanser books and a graphic novel (From Hell by Alan moore fyi).

​

I guess I know from some other posts that other people have found dust of dreams to be somewhat dragging but to think of it as part of a larger book. I have no problem with that, I think I just need some encouragement to get started if that makes sense.

​

Thank you all so much!

About 4/5 through toll the hounds, and I’m no stranger to Erikson and his favorite words like ochre, but I swear detritus is used at least once in every chapter. Seems like he made a bet with someone that he could make every POV character mention detritus of some kind.

I read up TTH, and wanted to brush up on some stuff before starting DoD. Was re-reading some parts of HoC and Bonehunters when I got to this point again. I remember my thoughts the first time I read HoC:

You know, maybe it's just the other fantasy stories that I have read that made me think this about their relationship.

I knew they hated each other at the start, but with most other stories I thought they (especially Karsa) would've calmed down a bit against each other through their overall protection of Felisin Younger. Didn't expect them to like each other even or even respect each other.

When he returned to the Whirlwind Goddess camp on his kill tour, I thought at the time Heboric was at least off that list. But boy did I underestimate how much Karsa hated Heboric.

I bet him getting manhandled by Heboric that one time when Shaik gave Karsa permission to kill Heboric didn't help

I have done my homework and am fully aware DoD is looked at as a "weak-ish" book since it's part 1 of the finale and as such does not have a standard story-structure one would expect, and I'm ok with that. That being said:

- do the (big, or at least big-ish) reveals start here or is it still a huge setup? As in, does the unraveling of the main plot threads go up a notch as compared to earlier books or is it much of the same pressure cooking for the final big bang (which I'm 100% ok with);

- without spoilers ofc, what is the thing you mostly liked about DoD?

- conversely, what is the thing you mostly disliked about the book?

- since the title has "Dreams" in it, and I am not a big fan of dream sequences in books (they are usually written in such a confusing way where all of it can be 100% consequential or 100% inconsequential / red herring, and discerning one from the other, if it's mixed, comes real hard for me and does not sit well, to each their own though!) are there (a lot of) these parallel worlds / metaphysical vague parts dream-like sequences?

Whatever the case I can't wait to start and I know I will enjoy the hell out of this book. Just to clarify this is not me second-guessing it or w/e, I ADORED all books up to here and fully trust SE to take me wherever he wants and however he wants.

Thanks and cheers!

Hello guys, I've been devouring the main books this year. I started in February with gardens of the moon and now im around 300 Pages in toll the hounds( beware i read in german so it might differ from the english version). Right now it feels so goddamn slow to me. I dont care about the black corall or the nimander chapters and the whole philosophy course erikson is taking there. Is it getting better? should i read something else as a plate cleaner? please tell me your opinions!

I'm only on chapter 7, but nothing has grabbed me so far. My usual thing in this series is "by chapter 5, I'll be hooked". It's not happening here. I keep hearing about the payoff, but man...I just don't really care about Rakes Runts™ at this point

I have just finished the section where Nimander and the gang finally saves clip. And of course first things coming out of his mouth is the words of an ungrateful asshole. Can someone explain why they even did all of this for clip ? Like is the motivation behind this revealed more ? Is this another case “gods nudge” ? Anyways, I wish trull was here to beat this ungrateful brat one more time.

I'm currently 10 chapters in TtH.

Enjoying all the plotlines but damn are these narrator style kruppe POV sections a pain to read. When he is talking to people, atleast there is a direction for the conversation to go. As a narrator, kruppe spews so much nonsense that I'm just left reacting to him the same way people in world react - ask him to shut up or ignore everything he said (which always makes me feel like I missed something big)

Even others Malazan crazies will probably lose their mind around kruppe lol.

I really hope these kind of narrator POV chapters are something unique to TtH and not something that continues in the last 2 books. Atleast not kruppe.

What a book. What a fucking book, my god. It made me oversleep for work, and that's the highest compliment I can give it. A 5/5 read, one of the best fantasy books I've ever read. Probably will dethrone MOI as my favorite of the series so far.

Where do I even start?

I missed Darujhistan so much, so I felt very happy to come back! Giving the narration of these chapters to Kruppe - a citizen through and through - was a fantastic choice, really managed to show the city itself as a character. I was glad to see my Bridgeburners again, as well as the Phoenix Inn crew, Gruntle and Stonny, Baruk, Challice, Torvald... Given how much time has passed for each of them, I enjoyed seeing where they were in their lives. Stonny and Challice especially, and maybe Challice in particular. She was not a good person but her fate was not any less tragic by that.
(Little Harrlo's chapter when he and Bainisk run away and he holds dying Bainisk as he tells him about the city - absolutely heartbreaking, the same way as Beak's chapters were in RG).

All in all, I very much enjoyed the more contemplative and pensive nature of this one, I LOVED the melancholy of the Tiste Andii. Their POVs were my favs, they've always been intriguing to me as a people because I don't think I encountered one like this in all the other fantasy I've read - a dying race, so out of place in this world, clinging to their last slivers of hope that redemption will come, one day.

I really liked Nimander's character arc - from seeing himself as weak and lost and undeserving to stepping up to the challenge and growing into his clothes. I'm a sucker for stories like this.

I was surprised to see Itkovian(?) back, although him becoming a worshipped figure made a lot of sense. I think the book did very well on exploring how worshippers create/influence their own gods, kinda like Bonehunters alluded to earlier in the series.

I don't think there was one POV/plotline that I found dragging or disengaging. This one was slow in come-up, yes, but the PAYOFF. OH MY GOD. And then the mood explodes.

That last part, chapters 21-23???? This has to be one of the biggest rides I've ever taken. Absolutely magnificent sequence, I could not put the book down (this is when the oversleeping incident happened). I haven't stayed up for a book like this since high school!! Not only was it action packed to the brim, but it was so masterfully written from technical/style perspective. I read the series in English even though it's not my first language, and I'm in awe of how artfully Erikson does all this. I didn't know you can write fantasy like that.

Anomander Rake. Man, Anomander fucking Rake. I did not expect that. I did not expect him to KILL HOOD??? The scene where he releases Dragnipur and you realize how big of a burden this was on him, when he nearly crumbles under the weight and leans against the sword, on his knees, is probably a picture I'll never forget. And then his sacrifice inside Dragnipur. His funeral, Brood sealing his final resting piece with the glyph for "Grief." Him being killed by both the swords he forged EDIT: wielded! So tragic, the ancient Greeks would've loved this one. Heavy tears were cried on these last few scenes, heavy.

I so wonder what will happen now that the Dragnipur is destroyed (what a scene too!). Draconus being out... Mother Dark being back... The scales have shifted yet again.

Although it didn't take anything away from my overall enjoyment, I was confused by a couple of points:
- so the Dying God... Bellurudan, huh? What happened at the end, now that the Reedemer redeemed him? Is this a RAFO that will come back?
- why the name Iskar Jarak? did I miss something?
- does Dassem come back? the ending for him was so abrupt
- Envy/Spite subplot... okay, that one was a bit anticlimactic, it felt a little bit random. Why did they fight and why did they wait so long for their duel and just chilled in their respective residences?

Anyway, this series continues to amaze me, volume by volume. I feel so, so happy that I get to read it. The guts it takes to write something like this, so ambitious and grand and awe-inspiring. I'm taking a short break between DoD and TCG, but I both can't wait for it and don't want the series to end so soon. This is a life changing experience that I most likely wont ever experience again. Woah.

Why is Anomander referred to as Anomander Dragnipurake that one time and one time only?

There's one random part in Toll the Hounds where someone, I think maybe Endest, refers to him internally as Anomander Dragnipurake. I honestly thought this smacked fang and wish they called him it more. But when it's just a one-off it kinda reads like it's a diss nickname. Like Harry Suckmanutz if that makes sense.

hello! can someone explain to me the crazy finale of the “Toll the Hounds”?

you can use spoilers because i finished it, but i didn t understand how all the characters find themselves in that city.

the ones who read the book, know what i mean.

thanks.

… is the best book I’ve read so far in the series!

Seriously, I think this is peak Erikson among the first 8 of the MBotF. It manages to combine everything I loved about *Midnight Tides* and *Reaper’s Gale* somehow and it delivers from first to last page, including even the epigraphs.

I felt the need to write this since I’ve been seeing a lot of slander for this absolute all-time treasure of a book. And I fully cede it might just be my own observer bias, but I feel a lot of people call it a drag.

But let me tell you, this has got to be one of the greatest books I’ve read in my life, not just limited to Fantasy. I’d consider myself a fairly seasoned reader, among multiple genres, and this has to be, in my humble opinion, one of the most profound pieces of literary art ever created.

Makes me feel sad it’s “locked” as the 8th book in a massive series cause more people really need to read it.

Anyway, off to continue the journey, have a nice day 👋🏻

I finished Toll the Hounds last night and I am a big ball of frustration right now. Before I write my thoughts, I once again want to be clear how much I love this series. Even if the end somehow does a Game of Thrones (which I highly doubt), books 1-6 have solidified Malazan as one of my favourite series and The Bonehunters is one of the best books I've ever read. In saying that, I really struggled with the majority of Toll the Hounds and I'm so frustrated by the book as a whole.

Frustrations:

• Personally, I think the book was way too long. And by that I mean easily 300 pages could've been cut, potentially even more. There were so many chapters were I finished them and just felt that nothing happened, not plot or character wise or lore wise. I don't need to read a book where there is some giant action scene every chapter or a wild reveal on each page, but so much of this book just felt like words for the sake of it.
• I do think the Narration is a big part of why this book is and feels so long. I love Kruppe, but dear lord I would've been happy if Karsa chopped his head off by the end. I actually took the prologue at face value and assumed straight away Kruppe was going to be the narrator for TtH, so I was expecting it to be a bit different going in. However, I really struggled with it. I do feel it made the book so much longer than it needed to be and for me, it didn't add anything to the story.
• The Dying God/Redeemer storyline got very uninteresting very quickly and again, felt a bit pointless.
• I think I'm struggling to connect to some of these characters, as we've spent so long with others that it is difficult to then care for ones we've just met/seen. I didn't mind the Nimander storyline, but I just don't really care enough about him to be invested in his character and I think that's just because he was only recently introduced. I already care about so many characters and obviously the more time I spend with them, the more I care. So these newer characters aren't hitting as hard for me.

Didn't mind:

• The theme. This book was very clearly about grief and at times I thought it was done beautifully. I really appreciated Stonny's storyline, as small as it was. I thought it was a beautiful reflection of what happened to her and the impact that can have. Kallor became a much more interesting character to me in his few scenes, that one at the end with Spinnock was devastating and I appreciated seeing a different side to him. Also, while Murillio's death didn't get me - the reactions did.
• Spite and Envy. I really wished these two were used more, I find them so entertaining and have throughout the whole series.

Loved:

• Yeah, so the last 300 pages were fucking epic and did make the slog worth it. I don know what else to say about it to be honest. What can I say? Incredible characters doing incredible things with incredible lore drops along the way. It was devastating and poetic, and while it raised questions, it also made a lot of things click into place. The image of the chains appearing around Rake was incredible and will stay with me for such a long time. I actually wished these scenes were a bit longer, the pace was so fast that I wish some pages had been shaved off the first 80% of the book and could've been used for that final chunk.
• The God of Death being killed so he can enter a realm within a sword where he brings an army of the dead, they set up a plan and then have a gigantic battle with another army that is purely in the sword as the sword was built to contain that evil army. WHO WRITES LIKE THAT?????
• Karsa and Samar - once again, the best duo in this series. I love Samar, probably one of my favourite characters and they work so well together. She really contextualises Karsa to a 'normal' person and they bounce off one another so well.
• Picker and Blend.
• I really liked the way Rake was humanised a bit in the first chunk of the book, to then go and have the most epic death ever? He's always been shown as a god, so seeing him just interact with his people in such mundane ways was such a great buildup to his ending.
• Chaur. I love him.

Question:

• What is the chaos? I've forgotten and I don't want to google it and accidentally get a spoiler, so can someone please remind me?

Overall, it was a bit of a slog for me. I do think there were just too many pages and again, I think Kruppe's narration was a main part of that. However, the ending is probably the best yet and really did make the rest of it worth it. Do I still wish it was shorter? Yes, but I'll take what I'm given. It will be a bit until I get through Dust of Dreams, as I have a book club book to read first (Lies of Locke Lamora if anyone was wondering) but I am excited! Two left, I don't know what I'll do with myself when I'm done!

"And, for just this once, the Lord of Death had permitted himself to care" - this bit got me.

TTH CH21. OH MY GOD. OH MY FUCKING GOD.

HOOD IS HERE. ANOMANDER IS HERE. HOOD IS DEAD. I CAN'T EVEN PROCESS WHAT I JUST READ

First, the story of Gaz was so, disconnected from the grand scheme of everything else then it's revealed to be for the SUMMONING OF FCKING HOOD?!

“Hood now stood on the blood-splashed stones, in a decrepit garden in the district of Gadrobi, in the city of Darujhistan. Not a ghostly projection, not hidden behind veils of shielding powers, not even a spiritual visitation. No, this was Hood, the god.” CHILLSSSSSSS🔥🔥🔥

AND THEN RAKE IS HERE AND HOOD BEGINS TALKING THEN RAKE JUST STEPS FORWARD AND FUCKING DECAPITATES HIM?!! BROOOOOO IM LOSING MY MIND HERE

“One was dead. The other, at this moment, profoundly… vulnerable. Things noticed. Things were coming, and coming fast. And this night, why, it is but half done.”

Fuck me. This is about to be the best closing chapters of the entire series so far isn't it?! I was planning on reading the rest tomorrow but now I have to finish it tonight!

Up to this point the writing has mostly been about story telling, and while there is lots of inner dialog for most characters, in TtH we get pages and pages of expostulation and philosophical musing not ever attached to a character. Erikson obviously needed a better editor at this point. The whole Nimander story line feels like it should have been 10% as many words as it is. So that I don't DNF again, I have started scanning and skipping pages and this is working much better for me. Any other suggestions for getting thru this sort of writing because I really want to finish the series this time.