Abasard

I just finished Abasard's part in Reaper's Gale. I think his death hit me harder than any deaths other than Whiskeyjack's and Itkovian's. But considering how small Abasard's part is in this series by comparison, that's saying quite a bit.

You're following Redmask's story and you understand his motivation, where he's coming from and why he's doing what he's doing. Not really a bad guy (at least not as far as I am in the books). He just wants back what was taken from his people.
And then you hear Abasard's story. How can you not share the joy of his observations about the vastness of the world, how there's room for everyone in it, his happiness that his family is healing and getting healthier, and his hopes for their future. You can't help rooting for the kid.

And then just like that it's all shattered.

I had to stop the audiobook to take a few minutes for this lump in my throat to settle. I know this is fantasy, but it just reminded me how life can be cruel and very very far from being black and white. This is one of the things I really like about fantasy in general, and which Malazan does particularly well; it encourages or forces you to see things from multiple perspectives and to take different people's thoughts and motivations into account. I think this has rubbed off on me in real life, and I'm glad for it.

Anyway, I just wanted to distract myself with this post for a few minutes to help cope with this part. Back to the book.