The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Section 1

Please keep all discussion to the events and speculation from Chapter 1 - Chapter 9.

No spoiler tags required. Though it would be highly appreciated if you Uncheck Add to my Update Feed to avoid accidentally spoiling this for your good read friends.

Please do not discuss events from later chapters. Referring back to events from a previous section/book is fine.

I had trouble remembering what happened. I still do, but I think I'm getting my bearings now.

Investigator Adamat is probably the most interesting character apart from maybe the god/chef. His wife seems interesting too. Looking forward to see where that storyline goes as well.

Yeah it took me a second too, a lot of names. I really like Taniel(although he isn't in the best of shape at the moment) and Ka-poel.

I've been doing the short stories in preparation for this and that kind of jogs my memory as to what happened in the first book.

Jake wrote: "Yeah it took me a second too, a lot of names. I really like Taniel(although he isn't in the best of shape at the moment) and Ka-poel."

Yeah, Taniel seems to be suffering a sort of PTSD from killing that god. And apparently no one believes him.

Man a lot happens in chapter 9. Or at least I have a bunch of questions.

Powder Mage Wardens? I forget the deal with Wardens to begin with. I know the Kez employ them to take out Power Mages. Now it seems like they are using them.

Taniel had suspicions that Fell was more than a secretary, and we get some confirmation of that. I'm curious to learn more.

And what the hell is up with Taniel? Pretty gruesome/crazy what he did to that Warden.

Up to Ch 5 - So Kresimir didn't really die. Where the hell is he then?

Taniel has graduated from snorting gunpowder to getting his fix in some equivalent of a Chinese opium den.

Adamat rescues most his family - Yay! I think.

David Sven wrote: "Up to Ch 5 - So Kresimir didn't really die. Where the hell is he then?

Taniel has graduated from snorting gunpowder to getting his fix in some equivalent of a Chinese opium den.

Adamat rescues mo..."

Yeah good question. Even his brother doesn't seem to have a clue.

Probably going to be worse when he gets back.

Yeah, Tamas is Taniel's father.

Alex wrote: "And that scene where Taniel punches out the Warden's chest and pops out a rib? Fucking incredible.
"

That was good. I think him shooting a god has somehow beefed up his Powder Mage powers?

Alex wrote: "This book is absolutely blowing me away so far.

Much, much better than I remember the first being.

The opening scene was kick-ass (especially the outhouse bit) and the plots established itself qu..."

In the first one Wardens were constructed by the priveleged specifically to kill powder mages. They were big strong and super hard to kill. But they were stupid and like the priveleged had an aversion to gun powder. These guys are different.

What was up with Taniel not being able to ignite the powder near that warden?

Taniel may have gained something from killing the god. But also Ka-poel has been warding him, if you remember from the first.

My guess is since the new Wardens are powder mages too, they are countering it somehow. Similarly causing bullets to miss.

Rob wrote: "My guess is since the new Wardens are powder mages too, they are countering it somehow. Similarly causing bullets to miss."

Yeah - They are being referred to now as turned or twisted Powder Mages so I'm guessing they can stop gunpowder from igniting?

And I'm guessing there's going to be a Taniel, Vlora Kar-Poel love triangle? I'm on team Kar-Poel myself.

Oh me too. All the way!

Alex wrote: "Didn't Vlora and Taniel have a falling out, though?

Yeah. She cheated on him

Tamas is the first to notice a difference in the wardens when the Kez army I'd charging the wall.

Also, Alex, I'm not holding my breath for a Taniel-Vlora-Pole threesome. They just don't seem to happen that often. Maybe if you joined Vaginal fantasy.

Yeah the threesome may need to wait for fanfic.

Something is definitely up with Taniel. Besides the whole ripped out rib thing with the warden, he wasn't much affected by the enormous amount of drugs he was taking.

I like all of the characters, but I agree with some of the posters above, the Adamat storyline is my favorite.

Suzanne wrote: "Yeah the threesome may need to wait for fanfic."

Alex started already..

You may need to create a new folder!

I needed those first 100 pages to get into the world again, though I read the previous book last July.

It didn't grab me like the first one, most of the story is similar, nothing really new. Of course there is that new power of Wardens and powder mage transformed mages. But Taniels behaviour is foreseeable as is Tams and Adamat's. Only the last chapter grabbed my attention:
"The Hounds at our Heels will soon know we are Lions."
That was a worthy speech and reminds me of the chase of armies in one of the first Erikson books (don't remember which one).

I didn't like the ideas of democracy, unions, and prime-minister in this universe at all. Previously, it had a "kaiserlich und königlich" monarchy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K.u.k.) touch of old Habsburgian rule. Now, it is too modernistic for my taste and develops towards some Bismarckian imperialism.

Cant say much to add to the above comments, but its non stop action, just slipped right back into the storyline.

Strong start. Last book I struggled with Adamat's chapters and thought he was the weakest of the 3 main POV's. Much better this time, way more intense from the start. An upright policeman becoming ruthless in his desperation to find his kidnapped family is a common trope but it done really well here. And the fantasy setting puts an interesting spin on it that makes it feel new and compelling.

Taniel is really annoying me so far. He seems to have PTSD but I don't really understand why. He's been a soldier for years, killed people, seen his friends die... but fighting Kresimir upsets him this much? I'm pretty sure there was a throwaway line where Taniel says he hasn't even bothered to check if his friends who fought alongside him are alive or dead, which is really scummy. Also since so many people doubt him and I've not read PoB in a while: did Taniel really kill a god or is he just making it up to get attention?

Tamas' section is set up to be really cool. My only concern is having just read the 'Chain of Dogs' in Deadhouse Gates (Andreas referenced this in his post) this storylines might pale in comparison.

Alex: Yep, Vlora and Taniel's falling out is the only thing stopping the greatest ending to a love-triangle in the history of epic fantasy :D

Awesome:D I've not really picked up on many similarities between Erikson and McClellan tbh, although I've only read 2 of the Malzan books so far so I'm not exactly an expert. I've also seen a load of people point out similarities to Sanderson (especially his Mistborn series), but again since I've only read Sanderson's WoT books I'm not an expert. Has anyone picked out any other cool influences in this series?