SFF Readalongs led by Kitty G discussion

This is for discussion of Chapter 1 of Memories of Ice. Please ensure you do NOT post spoilers for any other part of the book! Thank you!

True to SE's style, Chapter 1 started with more new characters introduced. I really think I'm getting a hang of this as I did not find myself groaning (as I did during GOTM) when this happened. Bauchelain and Korbal Breach fascinated me and I look forward to discover their role in this series.

Hurrah - Toc the Younger is back!! I enjoyed reading his parts so much that I was really unhappy when he abruptly disappeared for the rest of GOTM - no thanks to Hairlock.

So much to digest in just a single chapter. Lady Envy daughter of Draconus and yet also a companion of Anomander Rake who killed the last wielder of Dragnipur, i.e. her father! And are we going to see more of the K'Chain Che'malle after hearing about them in the past couple of books? It seems as if the Matron of this race was the original soul sealing the Rent who escaped.

TS Chan (can we call you TS for short?) summarized the chapter very well. My favorite part of the chapter was Lady Envy relating the bit about Anomander Rake's sword and that he killed her father. Other than the nice pairing of Toc and Tool, there wasn't a lot of amazing things in this chapter. Knowing what I know of Erikson's writing he is just laying the groundwork for bigger and better things to come in the book.

Alex wrote: "TS Chan (can we call you TS for short?) summarized the chapter very well. My favorite part of the chapter was Lady Envy relating the bit about Anomander Rake's sword and that he killed her father. ..."

Oh yes, TS is fine, and get ready for the ride that Erikson has in store for readers in this book. I'm up to Chapter 10 and there had been no letting up in every single chapter from here thereon.

In this chapter we're introduced to Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, an interesting duo if there ever was one. If anyone is so interested, Erikson has written a series of novellas casting this pair in the lead roles. They tend to be pretty funny and macabre at the same time. I wouldn't call them vital reads to your Malazan experience, but you won't kick yourself for reading them either. They don't really have any impact on the main series itself, but they're fun for sure.

This chapter is for a large part a recap of the events of Gardens of the Moon, while at the same time Erikson is introducing us to new characters. Gruntle, who is clearly unsettled by the mannerisms of Bauchelain and Broach, is not so unsettled as to not deal with them. He is a man with a clearly steely nature, and isn't put off by danger too easily.

Also reintroduced is Toc The Younger. This guy goes through some crazy stuff, as we've already seen in Gardens when he made his abrupt exit in that book. I was really glad to see him again in this book. And his pairing with Tool is just fantastic. Along with them we meet Lady Envy and her companions, here we get a bit of a family tree with Envy, her sister Spite, and their father Draconus, the forger of Dragnipur. And the Seguleh are in a word, hardcore.

Toc keeps some wild company.

Really good set up chapter and recap of GOTM.

Seemed to be some kind of connection between the Wolf and Toc the Younger perhaps?

Really like the character Tool and the new trio we seem to have with Toc and Lady Envy.

Also love how Toc was able to use his bow string to decipher roughly how long he had been out for and found this another example of how clever Erikson's writing is.

Getting a really good feeling from this book already. Being the 3rd book now it's nice to finally feel I can read this series with confidence that I won't get too lost and being able to link things together (helps having this reading group as well)