Midnight Tides (Book 5 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen)

Product Information

His small army facing nightly maulings from three tribal nations, Dassem Ultor develops a Malazan strategy that will still be known and practiced as 'Dassem's answer' decades later [87] The ice filling Buryd Fissure in the Teblor lands of the Laederon Plateau suddenly melts. It reveals the preserved bodies of countless beasts and the bodies and broken stone weapons of an ancient T'lan Imass battle much to the Teblor elders' puzzlement. [75] Isn’t it hideous the way that the Edur mages sneer at Seren when she mentions the Edur children? I guess it is the age-old question: would you sacrifice millions to save billions? This is very much a Watchmen-like moment! And their callousness in allowing their own side to succumb to the wave of power… No respect for the Letherii right now. However, I am certain that Erikson will soon provide me reason enough to not exclusively side with the Edur either! According to author Steven Erikson, Midnight Tides "is a story of two sets of three brothers" with one set "on one side of the cultural divide and one set on the other." Tehol was the last of the brothers he needed to create as he was writing, "and I didn't know what to do with Tehol. So I put him on a rooftop and then I wrapped a blanket around his hips and his story sort of came from there. And he had his manservant. It just built from there. I think even initially I didn't understand fully who the manservant was going to be, but that kind of all fell into place." [41]

After the outlawed Bonehunters defeated the Edur, and their emperor was killed by Karsa Orlong, Tehol was crowned king of Lether and thereafter known as "Tehol the Only", with Janath as his Queen. The undead burglar known as Shurq Elalle finds herself suddenly motivated to live again when Tehol offers her a deal; an undead girl named Kettle tries to warn people that the Azath House of Letheras is dying; and in the Sengar household, Udinaas, a slave of the Tiste Edur and a former Indebted of the capitalistic Letherii Empire, finds himself at the center of attention after a divination by the seer Feather Witch draws unwanted attention. That all of this was achieved with but a handful of modest proclamations and edicts makes the situation all the more remarkable. Adjunct Tavore Paran and the Bonehunters invade Lether and overthrow the Letherii Empire. [167] [168] Rhulad Sengar and the Tiste Edur conquer Letheras and Rhulad becomes emperor of the Letherii Empire. The Errant manipulates the death of Brys Beddict.

Select a format:

Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 4, UK PB p.169, When Stoop reunites with Skinner in 1166 BS he mentions that it has been nearly a century since the Guard left Stratem Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Per Word of God, Erikson set out to turn Lether into something not often seen in the fantasy genre- a fantasy interpretation of the United States of America. With its focus on continental expansion, devastation of tribal peoples, focus on debt and money, he may have done a bang up job. Funny, but, as an accountant, I see benefits in a life that is lived according to gold! However, it seems to me that the grasping nature of the Letherii is not supposed to be a pleasant one, and we aren’t meant to warm to them. Having said that, the fact that the Tiste Edur enslave them (even to a decent standard of living) means that we really shouldn’t be warming to the Tiste Edur (especially as well noting the way we’ve seen them behave in previous books, and considering their misrepresentation of the Tiste Andii “betrayal.”) Seems like this will be an odd book, with no clear race to cheer for. Trull, walking on the beach, sees a white crow, a sign of evil. He wonders if the Letherii are harvesting to weaken the Edur before the Great Meeting, as the Edur need those seals to head off famine. He assumes the Letherii will argue as always their need for expansion and point to the rewards gained by other tribes that have sworn allegiance to Lether. Fear joins him and tells him Hannan is guided by visions. Trull thinks of how the Dark Times came when the Edur were sundered, Father Shadow disappeared, the Kurald Emurlahn warren was lost (though not the magic), and the warren’s fragments ruled by false gods and kings. Trull thinks Hannan has greater ambition than simply ruling the Edur tribes. Fear notes Trull would rather not fight, though he isn’t questioning his courage (Rhulad appears to however). He recalls when the Edur were masters of the Hounds and of the warren, before being betrayed by the kin of Scabandari Bloodeye and then the Andii. Fear warns Trull others among the Edur may think as Rhulad and asks Trull to stop disdaining Rhulad. Distant Prologue: The prologue of Midnight Tides takes places at an unnamed point during The Time of Myths, in this case during the Sundering of the Realm of Kurald Emurlahn in the Time of the Elder Gods, and shows the invasion of the Tiste Edur. It is continued as the prologue of Reaper's Gale.

Tehol Beddict and Janath Anar are proclaimed king and queen of Lether. Brys Beddict is reborn. [172]Again, absolutely stunning imagery from Erikson, as he describes this silent frozen night where the raptor hunts. And we meet Trull Sengar! I am interested in seeing whether his story will make me warm to him. Not only that, but a young Trull. Stonewielder, Prologue, UK TPB p.18 Calculated by knowing Korelri year 4178 equals 1167 BS and that the Stormwall was started 400 years before the start of the Korelri calendar Interesting that both an Edur and a Letherii would see a white crow as an ill omen. More on that to come. I will say we’ve seen a white flying creature already.

Icarium makes an offering of a timepiece to a city of the First Empire in the coastal area that would later become Raraku [42] Intriguing that we learn immediately that Trull is a Tiste Edur who questions the validity of his life, but would not shout about it to others. What is a shame, as well, is that Trull remembers a more idyllic life, when war was not so prevalent and hunger was not part of his life. Anti-Climax: Inside the dying Azath House lie a band of Toblakai gods as well as Silchas Ruin, a Tiste Andii Ascendant, and the entire book builds up to an epic showdown between them upon their escape. What happens instead is that the Toblakai face off against Badass Abnormal Iron Bars in The Last Dance and Silchas Ruin escapes Just in Time to take them down in a brief Curb-Stomp Battle that isn't even described.The combined forces of Silchas Ruin's Tiste Andii and Scabandari's Tiste Edur invade the Malazan world defeating the armies of the K'Chain Che'Malle on Lether and seizing the gate between worlds. [12] Sandalath Drukorlat falls in battle with the K'Chain Che'Malle. [14]