Deadhouse Gates (Book 2 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen)

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Fiddler, Crokus, and Apsalar prepare to leave, with Fiddler in Gral disguise as guardian and guide to two newlyweds making pilgrimage. A group of Red Blades ask Fiddler if they’ve seen a man on a roan riding out; Fiddler says no. Crokus is worried whomever Kalam met the night before has betrayed him. As they ride out, Crokus tells Fiddler Moby has disappeared. Crokus is confused and upset over why his uncle didn’t do anything with his power.

And as well his anxiety over the Dosii and Sawark’s seemingly willful ignorance of them and talk of rebellion. (Echoes of the same worries Duiker thinks of as he goes into the traders’ tent earlier.) There’s going to be a lot of speculation on Otataral coming, and I’m not sure we can do much here without some spoilers, but I did want to point out how early we get some very interesting information on it (and from an appropriate source). Did someone mention skulking in shadows? Because this guy is just awesome at it. Mebra is yet another minion of the Apocalypse, and is about as trustworthy as you’d expect someone with a name that sounds a bit like “cobra” to be. Welcome to the Malazan Re-read of the Fallen! Every post will start off with a summary of events, followed by reaction and commentary by your hosts Bill and Amanda (with Amanda, new to the series, going first), and finally comments from Tor.com readers. In this article, we’ll cover Chapters 24 and the Epilogue of Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson (DG). The House Paran plays a large part in this book again but this time it is in the form of the two sister Felisin and Tavore. Ganoes Paran was a main character in the first book but in Deadhouse Gates it is the two sisters, different in every conceivable way that burst into the narrative. Tavore is the new adjunct to the Empress, one of the most powerful positions in the Empire whereas Felisin has been exiled along with others of noble blood and sent to work in mines in a god forsaken place miles from her home. The plight of Felisin make up a substantial part of the tale and is very well written.In the vast dominion of Seven Cities, in the Holy Desert Raraku, the seer Sha'ik gathers an army around her in preparation for the long-prophesied uprising named the Whirlwind. Unprecedented in its size and savagery, it will embroil in one of the bloodiest conflicts it has ever known: a maelstrom of fanaticism and bloodlust that will shape destinies and give birth to legends…

Speaking of the dangers of confectionary, have you met Raraku’s very own Child Catcher? Just in case blokes like Cotillion and Iskaral Pust lulled you into thinking Shadow cultists aren’t *all* bad, along comes this guy. Though to be fair, Bidithal’s perversions are less a Shadow thing and more a dirty, privileged old man thing. His position as an advisor and powerful Shadow mage means Sha’ik lets him not only get away with murder but also with rape, female genital mutilation, and a whole host of other kinds of abuse. I can guarantee that you’ll look forward to seeing this guy get his just desserts from the moment you meet him… Korbolo DomAfter several chapters hinting at Apsalar journeying to Sha'ik's corpse to enact her prophecised resurrection, Felisin arrives instead. When Kulp and Duiker talk about Coltraine using sappers to build up the ruined monastery on the hill near Seven Cities, would this be the same ruins created by the earth shaking that Kalam remembers, or am I getting confused with my locations? Okay, this is just an aside and not the reason I pulled that quote: doesn’t armageddon somehow sound like a modern word? Even though it featured in the Bible? I don’t know why—maybe it’s just me… Possibly it’s more recent association with nuclear warfare? Okay, I pulled that quote because the prophecy didn’t sound quite as bad as all that, so clearly I am missing something here!

From Raraku the whirlwind of the Apocalypse will come forth. And more, there will be a convergence.” From webs to Ropes: for the Assassin of High House Shadow, Cotillion takes a surprisingly hands-on role in guiding his reluctant protégée, Apsalar, and her companions. Perhaps feeling slightly guilty about abducting her, then possessing her, then forcing her to commit brutal acts of murder in Gardens of the Moon, the Patron of Assassins now appears to have taken on the role of kindly uncle to the knife-artist formerly known as Sorry. Conscription: The Chain of Dogs goes on for so long and bleeds so much, Coltaine has to conscript the servants of the Nobility as more foot soldiers, providing them with barely any weapons or training.

Iconic Sequel Character: Karsa Orlong is first introduced in this book as Sha'ik's unnamed Toblakai bodyguard. Also, Leoman of the Flails, Gesler and Stormy, Blistig, Keneb, Lostara Yil, Pearl, Cuttle, and T'amber. Does the fact that Sha’ik is a willing vessel make her any less of a victim than Sorry? You’ll probably never get the chance to ask her, I’m afraid. She’s protected very fiercely indeed by her two loyal bodyguards: Leoman, and Toblakai. Leoman of the Flails Poor Felisin—to fear Tavore so. We’ll see much more of that, and why Tavore engenders such fear, in later books. Baudin and Heboric arrange, with Duiker's help, to escape from the mines during a slave mutiny and give Felisin the chance to go with them, and she agrees. En route to the coast, Heboric finds a huge jade pillar that turns out to be merely the finger of an enormous figure, and touches it with his stumps of hands, which draws his god Fener into the mortal realm. Fener flees and Heboric's hands become tangible, mixing his Denul warren with the magic-deadening properties of otataral. Duiker sends the mage Kulp on a Malazan boat to retrieve the trio from the otataral island, but the company is drawn into a mad mage's watery warren. They board the ship Silanda on which they find headless Tiste Andii oarsmen still capable of accepting commands and probable Tiste Edur corpses in the captain's cabin. Soon they encounter Logros T'lan Imass warriors under Bonecaster Hentos Ilm pursuing an unnamed quarry who inform the humans that they are in Kurald Emurlahn, the Tiste Edur Elder Warren. One of the T'lan Imass sacrifices himself to heal the breach in the warren, and the Imass take one of the heads, but they leave the humans behind to find their own way out. The Reveal: A major one pertaining to the Myth Arc: Shadowthrone and Cotillion, the new lords of the Realm of Shadow, are actually the old Emperor Kellanved and his personal assassin Dancer, who were murdered by Laseen years prior to the start of the series. Their violent deaths were actually their steppingstone to godhood, but that's not common knowledge until Fiddler figures it out in Deadhouse Gates, although a couple of hints are dropped previously in Gardens of the Moon.