I actually finished Hounds about a week and a half ago, but I jumped straight into Dust of Dreams, and I’ve been putting this off, cause I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to write in here. To be fair, I never really know what I’m going to write, it just sort of works out.

“Iskaral Pust’s love was pure and perfect, except his wife kept getting in the way” is my favorite line of the book. It goes up there with “A riotous proliferation of mammary excess” and “I did not ask you to make love to my toes.”

I went through Hounds mostly by audiobook, and for the most part it was pretty easy to follow. 8 books in, I feel like I actually have a more or less solid grasp on things, and a good handle on the world. Plus, mostly sticking to characters I already know and am familiar with really helped.

EXCEPT.

Erikson has a habit of naming people within the same narrative group with names that start with the start with the same letter, or are very very similar. Baudin and Beneth. Korbolo and Kamist. Sinn and Sintar. Samar Dev and Seren Pedac (not in the same group, but very similar naming convention). Hounds took this to an extreme with the narrative group that, in my head, I named the Scooby Doo Gang. The Rakelings. One is named Nimander, and one is named Nananda, and what the actual heck-fie, Steven Erikson.

Ask me what their relationship is to each other. “Hey, Tycho, what’s-“ no idea. I know some of them are children of Rake, and some of them are not, but whether they’re friends, or family in some way? Nope. I kinda followed their storyline the whole time, but every time it switched back to them, I was like “Oh these jerks again, okay, let’s get through it.” They were definitely, for me, the draggy part of the book.

You know what WASN’T the draggy part of the book? The scenes in the Dragnipur warren. Yes please. I was into that since the first time we saw it, and I honestly thought it would tie into the climax of the whole series. I had formulated in my head the various problems, and what would be the most clever way to solve them? Well, we have the cart being dragged through Dragnipur, and we can’t let the Chaos catch up to it, or bad stuff happens; and we have the Crippled God being an asshole and trying to wreck shit. So, what if, like, we Dragnipur’ed the Crippled God, and he could use his god powers to get the cart permanently out of reach, and he’s not bothering the world anymore, problems solved.

Nope. That’s not what happened. I also had kind of wondered if there were Hounds of Light, since there is a thematic correlation between light, dark, and shadow. And sure enough, there they are. Again, I thought they might tie into the end and come out as a surprise for anyone who didn’t think about that, but then they’re just dropped right there, so, never mind on that either.

This book also takes the unusual tack of having Kruppe telling parts of the story. He mostly gives like, panoramic bird’s eye views of the city and events happening therein, and it took me a couple goes to get used to it, but then I remembered the bit at the beginning where a couple gods come up to Kruppe and he’s like, yo, wanna see me dance and hear a story, dig this, homies. And then I kinda got it. A lot of his time is taken up with the story of Gaz and Thordy, and I had no idea what their deal was, or why they were important until the end, when they summon Hood and then HOOD GETS DRAGNIPURED.

That was a moment that really was like… what. The fuck.

The Darujistan Five kinda sorta reunite, except things mostly go bad for them. Crokus/Cutter has an absolutely kickass scene, though, when he confronts Gordikas and totally Vimes’s him. (In The Fifth Elephant, by Terry Pratchett, >!Sam Vimes, His Grace, the Duke of Morpork, Commander of the City Watch, confronts the bad guy, shows him his tiny little crossbow and makes sure bad guy understands he has a weapon. Bad guy attacks, and Vimes blows him up with a mortar shell, which was the real weapon!<).

I enjoyed that bit.

Dragnipur is destroyed, and Envy tells Fisher her father (Draconus) is back… so… everyone in Drqagnipur is free again? Maybe? Or maybe it’s just the Elder gods/modern gods?

So, that was Toll the Hounds.

One quick question: Will someone be kind enough to explain exactly what happened in the first scene of the prologue? The woman and the old man with the dogs, and then Edgewalker, Shadowthrone, another hooded figure, I assume Cotillion show up and chat, and they're awaiting a fourth, who shows up but it's never revealed who it is, and then a cart rolls up and the woman says it's her ride, and that's it. Never mentioned again. What was that about, please and thank you.

Spoilers from here on out for Dust of Dreams

!I’m about ten chapters into Dust of Dreams and HOLY CRAP is this one tough on the teeth. From the very start, where you’re thrown into a K’chain Che’malle society, with some chick riding out looking for a Mortal Sword and Shield Anvil for the KCs, and there are roughly about two dozen KC names with about four dozen apostrophes liberally spread through out, and I was just IMMEDIATELY lost. I’ve been trying to keep up and follow along, and I’ve been reading the Reactor Reread pages for each chapter when I finish, but MAN it’s rough going. !<

!It doesn’t help that there are about ten million characters, 9 million of which are soldiers and each one gets their own screen time, and we’re spending a ridiculous amount of time on backstories of characters we’ve seen only once, or never, before. So. I dunno.!< I’ve come this far, I intend to finish the series.

Speaking of which. I had a little brain flash earlier this week about the ending of the series. I don’t know anything about it. I don’t have the slightest clue. All I know is a little snippet I read that someone else wrote about it. That it’s >!a really good ending, and it recontextualizes everything that’s happened, and on a re-read, you can see everyone being moved into place from the very start.!<(Spoilering out of an overabundance of caution)

And what popped into my brain (and let me make this completely clear: I do not want ANYONE to confirm or deny ANYTHING. I don’t want to be spoiled even the tiniest little bit) was that somehow or other, >!the Crippled God problem will be solved by Doctor Stranging him. I would have said TribeTwelving him, but that’s a reference significantly fewer people would get. Basically, setting up a time loop so that the Crippled God gets stuck in it and can’t escape, effectively trapping him forever, but resolving the whole thing that Cotillion was mulling about how if he can’t kill it, he doesn’t know what to do. !<

Anyway, I give that about 3% chance of being the solution, because there’s been no hint of >!time travel!< in the series, and if that is what happens, I’ll be disappointed, because I didn’t want to be able to guess. I want to be surprised. I want to read the ending and go OOOOHHH, cause this, that, that, this, and the other thing all set that up and HOLY CRAP.

Anyway. Toll The Hounds, done. I hope you enjoyed the post, if you read it. Thanks for listening, and I’ll be back when I finish Dust of Dreams. See you then!

I would love to hear anyone and everyone’s final impressions of the book.

The epilogue, was truly a cherry on top of one of the best cakes I’ve ever eaten. The conformational nod to duiker’s resurrection was much appreciated. Also quite comforting due to >!our previous loss of Whiskyjack!<

Personally I liked DG more. But the dialogue in MoI was superb.

I’m so excited to see what the house of chains has in store for me!

Wow, that final battle was crazy. Is quick ben dead? Has any bonehunter survived? Given Gesler and Stormy's POV the answer is no.. thank god I can jump straight to TCG, wouldve hated having to wait a year+ for the 10th book back when this released

I really liked how the final fight was framed more as an extremely unlucky interaction than a planned brawl. 40k nahruk is an insane number, and yet they never planned to fight the bonehunters, but were instead hunting dragons and laying waste to Warrens? That's so interesting, need to find out the reasons asap

This is quite the polarizing book for me. I'd dare say that some of the POVs were extremely tedious and a struggle to read for all the wrong reasons. But it also had one of my favorite sections and many moments are great. And most importantly, given it's only the first half of what's supposed to be 1 giant book, I'm willing to give it alot of lee way.

I honestly have a million questions but the 2 most prevalent on my mind are:

1. I still don't understand how the hell Shadowthrone and Cotillion will tie into this finale. What is their plan or are they just uninvolved?
2. I kinda wonder what Rake's opinion be of Tavore wanting to free TCG. Initially i expected he'd be against it as, well he was part of the chaining, but given he freed the people trapped in Dragnipur, perhaps he'd agree with her

I'm one of the people who held out on reading the series because of all of the reviewers telling folks it's too hard to follow, you can't read it without a wiki on hand, there are too many characters, etc. And in some small sense, there's a little bit of truth to that sentiment, though after having finished GotM I think it's WAY overblown.

Before anything, I've gotta say I enjoyed the book very much. I kept hearing that the first entry is the weakest, so I went into it with pretty low expectations. Man... it's a pretty awesome book. The fight scenes are great, there's lots of "cool" sort of cinematic moments that don't come off as cheesy. The dialogue is mostly excellent. Kruppe has to be my favorite character, I hope to see more of him in the remainder of the series.

If I had any criticisms, it might be the way Crokus spoke/behaved, especially around Aspalar. It reminded me of Simon from The Dragonbone Chair a little bit, sort of a glaring immaturity that could be distracting.

Anyhow, I came here just to get some clarification on something. The way I understood the story in its most basic form was Shadowthrone (and the Rope) are trying to prevent Laseen's empires expansion. The Bridgeburners are also plotting against the Empire, and they're about to be disbanded due to their popularity. Where I got lost was... what was Oponn's motivation in making Crokus the Coin Bearer? So much goes on in the book and having just finished it I can't remember anything Crokus did to affect the outcome of story in a meaningful way. He stole from the noble girl. He returned it. He got his heart broken when she shunned his advanced. He watched his uncle explode and then get dragged into the garden. And then, at the end, he tossed the coin overboard. I'm sure I missed something but what was his significance, or rather the significance of being the Coin Bearer? Just to throw bricks at Vorcan?

Speaking of Oponn... they gave Paran the sword Chance. With it he injured Gear the Hound. It felt like Oponn was also there to meddle in Empire affairs, but why was he "helping" Paran with a sword that allowed him to harm Shadowthrone's Hounds if their motivations are sort of aligned?

And lastly, I didn't really understand why Rallick was helping Vorcan at the end. I understand that he's an assassin, but he showed that his friendships were important to him by his desire to right the wrong of a Coll losing his estate. And she's now committed to killing some of his friends (Kruppe especially, though it seemed like he was friendly with the alchemist too). I remember he mentions to Crokus something about just helping for now, but then he took her into the Azath house thing in the garden.

Anyhow... awesome book. If this is considered a weak entry I can see why the series' fans largely consider it their favorite. Starting Deadhouse Gates today, can't wait.

Was just reading through the thread on funniest duo (Tehol and bug but also, Gesler & Stormy for the 2003 tie in Spider-Man pop tart win) so let’s talk about who our favorite characters were besides Fid. Obviously he’s the best.

I really enjoy Karsa and his growth but also the ridiculousness of his character.

And then Kruppe and his ramblings, Quick and his surprises, Sorry and her tragedy, and really liked Toc for some reason. Been a few years since I read them but maybe time for another listen through

Hey! Just finished Gardens of the Moon (absolutely loved it) and at the end of the book we get a list of ascendants and I'm a bit confused by it. To my understanding, Ascendants are a bit like demi-gods, they are not Gods but they are extremely powerful individuals? We get people like Rake and Brood (which make sense) but we also get people like Shadowthrone who I thought was a straight up God? Also, do all Ascendants get a card in the Deck of Dragons? Let me know if I'll just find out later or do answer me if it's not a big deal. Thank you !!

I wanted to get into this series seeing how popular it is, but looking at 20-30 novels, I don’t think I have the time commitment for that. Can I just read the Core ten Book of the Fallen series and get a satisfying story with a conclusive ending or do I have to read Malazan Empire and etc? I’ve already been burned waiting for TWOW and I’d rather not start another ongoing Epic Fantasy series with no satisfying ending.

For unknown reason ,the mask of the Seguleh First is in possession of the Aiel.

Aiels took massive casualties during their war against a number not much higher than theirs.

The only "mass" engagement of Seguleh was in Ost with close to 0 casualties against a force of 10/20 times their number until a massive aerial bombardment was used to stop them .

Seguleh ,even in group ,tend to work SOLO unlike Aiel

1000 Seguleh vs 1000 Aiel (I don t think Seguleh have 80 000 people like the Aiel during their war )

Rereading Gardens of the moon over again, (probably the 5-6th time).

The scene where Crokus confronts Chalice the young maiden... I'm floored by how Eriksson is able to do so much with so little explanation. The awkwardness of Crokus and the daringness of the maiden... Is almost a satire on social status and power play yet it's also almost a hint of romance and Romeo and Juliet.... And it's somewhat a minor scene yet he does so much

I feel so pampered with the depth of his writing.

Also the scene where Rake speaks to Baruth and the little gestures by Rake such as his soft laughter sending chills down Baruth's spine...

It's hard not to fanboy Rake as an antihero.

Why did they allow Sorry to join the army?

She is like 15. Seems like the army has some women in it. However, I'm not sure what the point is to allow a 15 year old girl to join and then allow her to join the bridgeburners.

Is it normal to allow any recruit into the army? Do they regularly recruit teenage girls?

Every body else in that squad is male and middle age.

Hi,

i want to preface this question with a couple statements, first, i've been reading the books in spanish so im having to translate/ check the original english sourced to write this post, second, i jumped from GoTM straight to Deadhouse Gates without rereading the first book (i felt i had a clear grasp of what happened in the story so i did not feel the need to reread the entire book) , im also not using any wikies or spoiling myself with content i am not meant to know before i experience it first hand on the book

As far as my question, or how im understanding the lore:

There is a moment in DG where the chain of dogs has to cross a river name Vathar, located at the east of the holy city of Ubaryd, when the scouting army arrives, they find the ship where felisin, heboric and kulp where traveling with the marines devoted to Fener, who are named Gesler, Stormy and Truth.

My question comes for the interaction between Coltaine and Gesler, where, after some witty comments made by Gesler, coltaine punches him so hard he injuries his hand but breaks Gesler´s nose.

After that incident, its denoted by one of the wiccan wizzards (forgot who was it exactly, probably Sormo who was still alive at that momment) that the blood of gesler is close to the blood of a acendant. (this can be traced to the moment they pass though the fire warren, its also denoted by Felisin when she sees Baduin after saving her that he is "tempred" like some kind of steel )

So its implied by the text, or so i am inclined to think, that Coltain is an ascendant, im asuming this because he was able to hurt a ascendant, even though i aknowledge that through the first and second book is hinted that gods and ascendant are vulnerable to mortals.

Is my asumption about coltaine´s ascendat status correct ?

Thanks for reading !

4/6 NotME done, yippie!

I very much enjoyed this one, not quite on par with SW, but very very good. Darujhistan and its history was something that was begun in MbotF a lot, and had a bunch of plot threads to finish off, and I feel like it did so very well. It's probably the most 'yes this is answering stuff' book to recommend to people who disliked the loose ends in MbotF.

The Seguleh parts were very good. ICE does an amazing job of continuing SE's exploration of single-minded people, how purpose molds civilisation and how humanity can form or break under rules and culture. Jan was an amazing character, and I really liked Dassem getting to be First without ever winning a duel. Some really clever stuff there.

I know people are of split opinions about how Kruppe is being written by ICE, but tbh I found it perfectly cromulent. He seems to be focussed slightly more on Kruppe's visual appearance, and the cadence and speaking style is slightly different, but not in a way that irked me. Gotta say tho, I find the way he helps defeat the Tyrant... weird. Opaque, maybe. He gets an object, he has Humble and Barathol make the bolts ... out of it? With it? Both are repulsed to the extreme by the process, and then Scorch and Leff use the Bolts to finish the Tyrant off (loved that they were the ones to do it). I get that he works in mysterious ways but that was a bit too mysterious for my taste.

Speaking of things not to my taste, Tiserra. Man, can't Torvald catch a break? I don't really understand why their relationship is like this, if it's supposed to be comedic I don't find it funny, if it's supposed to be dramatic I don't understand the reason or resolution.

Back to the positives, the exploration of Moranth munitions and their horror felt very necessary to explore somewhere in this universe. A+, chills on spine.

Interested to see if Orchid will have further payoff in future books.

Same with T'renn (though I'm pretty sure he will).

Loved Caladan Brood in this. The Rhivi's lack of comprehension was great. 'When I was young he was our warleader but now he's old and tired' brother you are talking about a being older than history, older than myth. Your lifespan is a speck of dust to his desert.

Another character who was great: Leoman. I think he found peace in the end there. Him at the sea of Vitr reminds me I need to finish Karkhanas (probably reading BaB, A, reread FoD then FoL next). His outlook of life is very Max Stirner-esque, and he's very open about it too.

If I had a nickel every time Ian Cameron Esslemont took a male deity first written by Steven Erikson and randomly turned them into a woman, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

Thanks for reading!

The banter between characters, friends and enemies alike has been one of my favorite aspects of the Malazan empire. Erikson an Ian both do an incredible job of creating such complex personalities by stepping beyond the normal scope of actions being the main depth of character development.

That being said, I just finished dancers lament and the banter between wu and dorian is pure gold 🙏

Without context to avoid spoilers, what two characters share your favorite banter?

Just a little way into DoD, and this one simple sentence stopped me in my tracks. Badelle, with Saddic resting next to her: ‘She looked down on him, and thought about eating his arms.’

Erikson can capture a wealth of situational expression in such short and simple lines. As I read those words I had a 360 awareness of their situation, deftly and economically sketched out. I need him to keep writing.

Who needs words when you have a penis.

A dear friend of mine just lost a mother quite suddenly. I’m planning on writing a card and including some quotes from some of my favorite stories, including this one.

What are some good quotes to give for someone who’s lost a loved one? Cheers, bridgeburners.

Hey! I am reading Midnight Tides, and have been working at the main series for some years now, on and off. I really enjoy the series as a whole, even if I would say I don’t understand all that much at times. I think Midnight Tides is my favorite so far though. I was wondering, when would you guys say that the understanding of what really goes on happens? Is there some moment when many goes «oh shit is that what all this has led up to»? Or is it kind of normal to not get those feelings until a reread? (Sorry, English is not my first language)

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Take notes Brash

Ordig now resided in bellies with a weighty profundity he never achieved in life, while Aurpan’s last narrative was technically disconnected and stylistically disjointed, being both raw and overdone. The critical feasting was complete and the artists numbered four, Purse Snippet being given unanimous dispensation, and by the host’s judgement sixteen nights remained upon the Great Dry.

As Flicker eases us back into the narrative proper he treats us to his take on the critical feasting of Ordig and Aurpan. It is well worth looking back at Brash's roasting of the two poets and comparing it to Flicker's.

The biggest difference is the length. Flicker is far more concise. Another thing to note is that Brash's roasts were very one-dimensional. There were absolutely no layers to them, compared to Flicker's more layered roasts.

Look at how Flicker starts with the physical reality of the situation: Ordig literally is in their bellies, and he was heavy on the stomach. He then extends that reality into a metaphor about his artistic achievements. And then he goes in the other direction with Aurpan, starting with a critique of him as an artist, and transitioning into a comment on him being both "raw and overdone", a comment that clearly applies to his story, but is using the language of food.

He then pulls a page out of Arpo's book and declares the critical feasting done. Although in this case I think we're probably dealing with an observation rather than a declaration, evidenced by the observation that immediately follows about the remaining artists. And it doesn't take a mathematical genius to see that it's not looking so good for them. Of course we know that there aren't actually 16 days to go (again, likely an effect of Flicker's subtle meddling). It also highlights the lack of planning on the part of the hunters. Assuming there were 16 days left they're not stretching their supply very well. I'll also note that Flicker makes sure to lay it on the host. He's not saying anything, it's the host! Flicker is just a little guy who wouldn't hurt a fly.

I've mentioned the religious nature of the critical feasting before, with regards to certain word choices, and here we have another word with a religious significance: dispensation. While it can, of course, be used in a secular context, it is often associated with religion. The reasons for Purse being given this dispensation are not explicitly stated, but one can presume that it's because of her gender. And who says chivalry is dead?

There is not a lot in terms of alliteration in this paragraph, but there is one notable example: Critical and complete. I think it works really well to make the whole thing really toned down stylistically, and then throwing that strong alliterative pair in there. It makes it a much stronger statement I think.

Talent with numbers

While talent with numbers could rarely be counted among the artist’s gifts, it was nonetheless clear to all of us sad singers that our time upon this world was fast drawing to a close. Yet with the arrival of dusk this made no less desperate our contests.

Here Flicker explicitly points what I mentioned earlier. You don't need an advanced math degree to see that it's not looking so good for the artists. But Flicker's comment about "talent with numbers" is great for another reason as well. I've been talking about the odd timeline inconsistency, and here we have it. Flicker just isn't good with numbers. Although, he probably is and is simply using this to give himself plausible deniability.

While the previous paragraph was very light on alliteration, this paragraph has some nice pairs. The obvious one is "sad singers", but the more interesting one to me is "dusk" and "desperate". Dusk is here associated with desperation by the alliteration as much as it is by the narrative. Semantically he could have chosen to use e.g. "twilight", but that just wouldn't have worked as well. He even alters the sentence structure in a way that brings that alliterative pair closer together. I also see another pair, albeit a weak one, with "clear" and "close".

This is the last paragraph before we get back to the narrative proper. Flicker started by giving us a full scene where the arrangement was established, and then a quick summary of the events in between. So here we are fully up to date with the timeline, and Flicker is elegantly reminding us of where we left off. He's also hyping up the competition here. The poets really seem to be bringing out the big guns, and looking forward a bit we see that we will in just another page or so be treated to Brash's performance that we've seen teased.

And that's a wrap on the flashback. Next time we'll get a small interaction between Brash and Apto as the former prepares to perform. See you all then!

I'm sure it's been discussed before, but does anyone have a definitive answer to how exactly Rhulad's immortality works when it comes to dismemberment? I've been trying to concentrate on his many deaths this time around, and I don't recall him ever losing a limb. If, for example, his head were removed and pinned down under a rock, or given to the Azath, would he just grow a new head? I know the obvious answer is it works because it was written to work, this is just something that's I can't help but think about the entire time I'm reading.

I’ve been trying really hard to fall for these books and it’s been a struggle. Even early into GotM I recognized that Malazan had everything I needed to love it but I was just so lost and it took two attempts to finish it and go through DG. That was a couple months ago, but I started MoI two weeks ago and I’ve been liking it. After checking out this sub I accepted that I’m not really supposed to know all of what’s going on, and I’ve been really enjoying MoI. Now to the point, Gruntle (who has been slowly growing on me) just found Stonny during the siege and holy fuck… I love him. I love her. People say these books get dark but I was SHAKEN as she was talking about what happened and the pieces came together… then it clicked for Gruntle, and Malazan clicked for me. The compassion in the midst of chaos was so well executed and I think I just fell in love with this series. I’ve gotta give a thank you to the members of this sub who respond to posts and encourage people to push on and give these books a chance, lurking through those comments worked for me.

TL;DR: Gruntle has a soul and is sweetie pie

The translator describes a garden as "à la française" ( in the French way, by opposition to the English one), so that means in the Malazan world, France exists somewhere and has enough soft power to spread his gardens to Seven-Cities.

I cant read over 9,000 pages again and I needed a laptop handy at times previously while I read to remind me of a character least heard from 2,000 pages ago.

Finally finished House of Chains. I absolutely devoured the first 3 books in the series in about 6 weeks. But I really struggled to connect with the first part of House of Chains. Karsa seemed very one-dimensional, and I didn’t feel the same energy I had with the previous books. Going from the end of Memories of Ice to the start of HoC was a massive come down. The first 250 pages took me about 3 months

The next 750 pages took me 3 weeks. I now realise some of that one-dimensionality at the beginning was intentional, as Karsa certainly has arc throughout the story. I did really enjoy returning to the setting, characters and plots of Deadhouse Gates, but a highlight for me was Onrack and Trull Sengar as they seemed to provide a lot of lore and background to what was going on, which initially seemed disconnected from the rest, but eventually tied together in a very satisfying way. The end of the novel was excellent. SE really knows how to stick the landing

Overall I’d say this is a good book, but not as strong as the previous 3. No matter how good the next 750 pages were, I can’t forgot that first part took me almost 3 months

Onwards to Midnight Tides

I think its because I dont enjoy "travel" stories. I like to stay in one place and learn about it in detail. Every plotline in DG is always moving all the time, and there was no time to breath much in one place. Is this normal for the whole series, or will we get more plotlines that focus on just one location like darujhistan. Dont get me wrong, the book was awesome. My expectations were just really high, since this book seems to be the favorite of the series for soo many people Edit: the chain of dogs plotline was awesome and the complaints about walking dont apply to it

Hes always been a fav but since reading Path to Ascendancy I've been itching to draw him.

Why is everything “dun” colored in these books? Like I feel like every other chapter something is described as dun. Can we make something a slightly different but still bland color like ochre or umber? Or just describe it any other way besides saying its dun?

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

Help! Chapter 3 getting esoteric on me.

Have I got this right?
K’Chain Che’Malle are Kaschan, that race put sorcery on Mother dark, stuck her in Abyss, she devours the light (from stars?), and ultimately she’ll kill everything. But, um I’m wondering how does her eating light kill HER when she’s darkness? Ok maybe she kills shadow and light, but darkness will be chilling, right?

I've made it through four books and felt the series has had it's ups and downs, but mostly I've enjoyed the journey and am waiting for things to click and come together....

Midnight Tides is like starting COMPLETELY OVER, AGAIN.

How can he do this to me?

Someone give me a pep talk!