SFF Readalongs led by Kitty G discussion

This is for discussion of Chapter 4 of Memories of Ice. Please ensure you do NOT post spoilers for any other part of the book! Thank you!

And I thought Chapter 3 was revelatory.

The old witch of Tennes called Quick Ben twelve-souls. Is that why he has access to all those warrens?

But the chapter belonged to Captain Paran. As a reader who finished DG, his initial thought of his sisters was heartbreaking "No matter what, Tavore will take care of Felisin. That, at least, I can take comfort from.." And in a matter of hours, he received news of Adjunct Tavore and Felisin being taken to the Otataral mines. "The children of my parents are, one and all, capable of virtually anything. We can survive the consequences." Oh man, Ganoes Paran, you have no idea the truth of that statement, and I believe that even us readers have yet to see the extent of what the Paran siblings are capable of as the series progresses.

And with that, the absolutely stunning reveal that Paran has emerged as a new card in the Deck of Dragons, an Unaligned, not just any Unaligned but the Master of the Deck! My mind has been completely blown away now.

Aside from the above, I love the scenes where the Bridgeburners stole the map table and proceeded to lose a whole lot of money. It injected a much needed dose of humour into the very grim circumstances.

The scene between Paran and Silverfox was poignant and the exposition was handled very well such that it didn't end up being an info dump.

Paran dreaming of a screaming child within a wound. *Shudder* the prologue comes to mind.

I really liked this chapter I'll admit and I completely agree that Paran stole the show. I was heartbroken by his sad response over Tavore and Felisin, and I was a little annpyed that he didn't feel more sadness about Felisin being sent to the Mines (as I imagined maybe he would be more upset).
I certainly agree that his sisters are very capable (as we know) and that there's surely a lot more to see from them as the story goes on.

It's interesting that the plot is switching between two major stories, 1 being the GotM and MoI one and one the DG and I assume HoC one and yet they both feed into one another and have links and ties all over the place. I admire Erikson's ability to do that.

I also really liked the scene with the Witch and I thought that the fact that she know about how the world worked from a scientific pov (in terms of shifting plates, volcanoes and revolving around the sun) was pretty interesting.

On the whole this book is far more interesting to me so far and I look forward to continuing :)

There was a lot of information in this chapter that I feel like I am still trying to process. The whole Deck of Dragons conversation between Silverfox and Paran was a little confusing. I got the gist of it that Paran may well be the master of the Deck of Dragonsand has been unwillingly sent on a quest to find if his origin and what he has become. I feel Paran's journey into the sword is more important than I realized at the time.

I enjoy the comradery between all of the soldiers, though my favorite soldier thus far is Picker, who is one tough female.

Again I enjoyed this chapter and all the revelations. Still dont 100 % understand all the different relms, warrens, and the deck of cards but it seems as though the characters themselves are still figuring it out so I guess it'll come.
Love how the smallest thing in the malazan series can turn into something massive eg the whole Paran releasing the hounds, and night chill who had the tiniest part in GotM.

There is a list of the warrens and what they are in the glossary in the back of the book. I have made great use of it as I have progressed through the series.