Source
r/Malazan•
RaaaR

At Toll the Hounds. I'm getting a bit frustrated with the series.

SpoilerSPOILERS TtH

Of course the series is called Malazan Book of the Fallen, I know this, but can nothing good happen?
I've reached chapter 18. Murillio just died in the last chapter trying to get Harllo back. It's getting predictable at this point.

If someone sets out to do good, they won't be able to and will likely get killed in the process.
If someone's suffering or wonderful character is being described in detail, they're going to die soon.
If two people develop feelings for each other, it won't pan out.
Oh you like this character? Nope, they're going to die. And because this is Malazan, maybe they'll come back as ghosts and maybe they won't, so you can't even move on properly.

Did Mallet and the other Bridgeburners really have to die? I sincerely hope there's a better reason for it than Humble Measure having a ridiculous grudge. That's such a retarded reason to kill some central characters.

At this point I'm honestly pushing on just to see Karsa and Samar hook up and what Fiddler gets up to. And I worry the former won't and the latter will die. Not even the Tiste Andii's storyline is holding my interest and this makes me sad since they're such an interesting race.

I apologize for the rant; I don't have anyone to discuss the series with IRL. People joke about ASoIaF killing off a lot of the main characters, but Erikson has taken it to the extreme where the issue isn't funny anymore, even if this series is supposed to be tragic. There's very few people I care enough about to keep me interested. I don't know if I'll want to finish the last two books or just read some synopses for closure. I'll see how I feel about it by the end of this book.

Posted Oct 29, 2017, 3:43 AM UTC · edited

2014
wjbc4th read, 1st audiobook. On RG.•

It's not as predictable as you make it sound. In fact, I love that the series is unpredictable, sometimes people succeed and sometimes they fail. Sometimes characters survive and sometimes they don't. Sometimes romance is consummated and sometimes it isn't.

Wait until you finish TtH and see how you feel, it has a kickass ending -- the last third of the book or so.

26
trane7111•

Seconding this. I was getting a little frustrated with TtH as well, but that ending...made it one of my favorite books, with some of my favorite scenes.

9
ni_nad•

I third this. If you look around on this sub, most mentions of TtH are that it is one of the most difficult books to finish. But, the ending is amazing. It may not make up for all the frustration caused by the first 70% or so of the book, but it is still brilliant. I remember reading somewhere that the author was going through a particularly dark period due to his father passing away, leading to this dark style of writing.

Soldier on, DoD is much easier to read!

5
SimpleHarmonic•

I thought TtH was one of the best books in series actually. I finished it in 9 days, the writing is incredible! The ending is amazing too.

1
sohma2501•

Here's the thing about malazan...the author keeps it real.

People have gotten so used to either an ex machina ending suddenly tying things up in a neat little package or that love light happiness ending where great/good/bad characters make bad mistakes or decisions and get away with it.

That doesn't happen here.it also shows that you can do everything right or have a very righteous cause and still get screwed over by bad people doing bad things.

This series is also shades of grey and that's life.there's a lot of truth here.

It's a series that you either get it and love it or your like I don't get it yet or I don't like all the deaths because I'm use to happy endings.

With Martin again most of the deaths are there for a reason..even if that reason seems stupid.it shows that no one is safe.

War is going on..big and small characters all have agendas and hopes and dreams and it's just life getting in the way as they say.

It's a great series.I just started book 9.

I disliked most of book 8.it was a massive slog till the last 300 pages then it's awesome.didn't drop the series because I want to see how things end then it's on to the rest of the malazan side books..

Stick with it.

11
OldWolf2BH•

I had a similar feeling in BH, the scene where the Imass wander by and cut Heboric into several pieces, disembowel Cutter , slaughter Greyfrog. They all die in no uncertain terms.

Malazan being Malazan, I expect they're either all dead. Or maybe one survived with some misdirection from the author.

But then we immediately find that actually nobody died, they all make miraculous recoveries.

Is the author just taking the piss out of other books where the protagonist takes an apparently fatal wound but, in a piece of bad writing, recovers and is quickly back to normal?

6
bardfaust•

Heboric died and so did Greyfrog, right?

Heboric was a soul after that, and Greyfrog was a demon from another realm who's biology rebirthed himself.

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cmetz90•

That’s all true. I would say that Heboric was really the only one in that scene to actually die, but death doesn’t necessarily mean your piece gets taken off the table in Malazan. Poor Heboric doesn’t get much rest, even after getting hacked to pieces.

1
Corlanthis•

Sometimes a break helps. I actually had to put Toll the Hounds down for a good six-seven months, the first time I took a stab at it. Wasn't able to get through it until I picked it back up later.

1
cmetz90•

IMO, anytime you think this series is predictable, you’d better strap in because you can bet there’s a sharp left turn up ahead. Also, you should definitely hold on to your thoughts about the repercussions of doing good, and really watch that theme as it plays out in DoD and TCG.

1
lowry4president•

Just keep reading...tth frustrated me quite a bit it took me longer than i wanted to to finish. I then finished dod and tcg in half the time tth took cuz they're so both great. The Series ends differently than youd expect I think

1
madmoneymcgee•

It's all fairly random and that's how life is. It can be amazing who ends up surviving in impossible odds vs who gets cut down in unexpected places. A big theme in the book is how history echoes and that's exactly what you get with Humble Measure and the cycle of revenge.

Plus, most of the characters are fighting in various battles.

1
Evenfluxx•

I found that the tiste andii story lines were hard to follow the first read through. May as well stick with it till you've finished the book then make your decision.

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annomandarisKurald Galain, Starvald Demelain•

Also remember that this story is about a group of soldiers that are pretty much hunted by everyone. And that anyone that gets power, will draw other conflict on themselves. Its a recurring theme, that its better to just stay out of the notice of gods than to get in this game.

but have no fear, keep going, things do turn out good for some people, though i must say you have much heartbreak ahead of you, there will be shining beakons of hope.

1