This is a softly spoken reading of a section of Steven Erikson’s ‘Reaper’s Gale,’ the seventh book of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I read this passage for the first time today and I was just so taken by it that I had to make this vid. It contains massive spoilers for those who are interested in the series so beware and enjoy!

But Koryk here, well, that was different. Felt different, anyway. Because she was older now, she supposed. More experienced, so much so that she knew what stirred her little winged flutter-bird. Watching Koryk kill people, ah, that had been so sweet, and lucky everyone else was too busy to have heard her moan and nearly squeal and guess what it’d meant.

Reaper’s Gale —

Seren Pedac and Trull Sengar

essence of putrescence

steven erikson —

HAHAH PAGE 90 Omg you’re still a baby in the malazan world, burn’s mercy on you, child. Lemme guess, is it Crokus keeping you hooked? Because I effin’ loved Crokus so much in that book (and still do). The characters that aren’t magically enhanced hold a sacred place in my heart (although there are mages *cough*quickbenaedephondelat*cough* that hold a place there too). Right so Crokus was a definite hook for me, so were Tattersail and Paran, really amazing stuff there. Hood’s breath, that feels like so long ago when I read that book (I’m on book 7 now). Kruppe is beloved in my heart that hilarious, clever bastard. Page 90 is still too early to understand everything in it’s entirety (wait till like book 3 LOLL) but baby the pay off is like nothing you’ll ever imagine. These books will change your outlook on life. I love that you’ve written to me to keep me updated, please feel free to hit me up when you finish a chapter LOL and don’t be afraid to get into specifics about stuff. KEEP ON TROOPIN’ BRIDGEBURNER I’M PROUD OF YOU<3

jimtheviking replied to your post: jimtheviking replied to your post:   We live in an…

Erikson solves everything, I find. At least from a moral and philosophical point of view :P

“To close, I’ll return briefly to that diabolical matter, to assure my readers that while I am entirely and absolutely engaged in manipulating your emotions through the stories I write, I won’t do it to lie to you. Ever. I am a believer in Aristotle’s argument on the value of catharsis in tragedy. We need to feel to be reminded of what feeling is like. Now more than ever. My novels are an invitation to compassion, for what that’s worth. And finally, I can’t make you feel anything unless I feel it first.”

He truly does solve things for me, and this quote right here embodies the reason I find such consolation in his writing. It makes me scared to thing he’ll one day stop writing, one day I’ll run out of things to read…

I should be studying for bio but I JUST READ AN INTENSE CHAPTER FROM rEAPER’S GALE

Read More

I made a Karsa Orlong and Aramala

laughing because people think asoiaf is a long series with 1,770,000 words meanwhile the malazan is 3,300,026 words long

Why We Could All Learn from Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen

littlemissmetal:

Whether we’ve read and appreciated them or not, this remains the case.

Nobody in Malazan is referred to as “gay”, “bisexual” or “straight”. Characters are referred to in sexual connection with one another only as lovers or partners - their gender and sexual orientation is never deliberately clarified, drawn attention to or justified because it doesn’t matter.

Beauty is not mandatory. Not every female character is described as beautiful, not every male is described as handsome. There is a complete lack of the usual token divide between attractive good and unattractive evil. Where the character falls in that spectrum has no bearing on what they look like, and nor does the way anyone looks have a bearing on their story or what happens to them. It just simply is.

The only time anyone’s skin colour is made mention of, it is another character commenting on the place they must come from (Kalam and Quick Ben are always recognised as originating from Seven Cities for example) but no other comment is made. Skin colour is not important. 

Gender is not regarded as a barrier to anyone. The Malazan armies in particular are made up of both male and female soldiers, and none are considered weaker than any other because of the difference in their gender. Men and women can do all the same things. One of my main bugbears with other authors (George RR Martin is a strong example) is the overt sexism in their writing. Rape can happen to both men and women, and yet in Westeros only women are ever raped. In Malazan, it occurs to both sexes (Children of the Dead Seed anyone?) and in two of the cases of female rape in particular there is real thought given to the consequences and what happens afterwards - their stories do not end there. It isn’t made into a token thing that just “happens” - we see how devastating an event it is in the characters lives and how it affects them in the future.

So to summarise - in the Malazan Book of the Fallen nobody is discriminated against because of race, gender, sexual orientation or the way they look.

Couldn’t we all learn something from that?

While I agree with most of what was said here, I wouldn’t say that skin color isn’t important in the Malazan world. Take for instance the Tiste Andii (black skinned), Tiste Edur (brown skinned), and Tiste Liosan (white skinned). Now although their different skin colors are a result of their divine parentage, these three groups generally remain separate from each other, at least up till Reaper’s Gale, where I am right now. And think of how Ahlrada Ahn was treated like a second class citizen among the Edur because he was a Tiste Andii so obviously lightening his skin that they could see through his facade. 

And pointing out a characters skin color is not a bad thing so long as it’s doled out equally amongst the characters. SE will tell you when a character is white just as often as when he’d tell you a character was black, brown, green (in reference to Jaghs). Because, let’s face it, if it were otherwise we’d have even more artists depicting main characters as white when they should be black like this:

Quick Ben and Kalam are supposed to be black.

And as a side not, I see a lot of depictions of Apsalar as a white girl when in the books she’s described to be as close to an Asian as Erikson can manage with words alone.  In The Bonehunters specifically we get a line from a bartender to Apsalar:

‘You’re from Quon Tali,’ he said in a quieter voice. ‘Itko Kan, I’d guess, by the tilt of your eyes and that black hair. Never heard of a Shadow Dancer out of Itko Kan.’  

People from Itko Kan are referred to as Kanese. The hints are there, albeit quite subtle but there nonetheless. And I think they’re important because if they weren’t there, people would think everyone was white. It even still happens when they’re specifically described otherwise.

creepingmalaise:

Malazan Re-read of the Fallen: Reaper’s Gale, Chapter Sixteen

These are the sorts of things that appeal to the worldbuilder in me, both the anthropologist and the gamer. I like anthropological hypotheses played out in fiction. Fantasy is a place where philosophy can really spread its wings. Forge of Darkness is, in many ways, Erikson’s thought experiment. A world where he sets up the conditionals and then lets the chips fall where they may.

Mordicai Knode, reviewing Steven Erikson’s Forge of Darkness.

Which I’m halfway through at the moment, and loving it.

(via ekkolalia)

I am dying to read it

abrickonjupiter:

Dude, Steven Erikson’s art style is creepy as shit.

i love it

if I gain a follower who reads malazan I have to always personally introduce myself and give him/her a virtual handshake because you are all awesome

why do I feel like crying whenever i turn a page of Reaper’s Gale

I am so damn close to the end of this series do not want do not wanttttt

three more books after this do you know how little that seems to me????????

all i feel is fear and sadness ughhh