No role in this book, but briefly showed up in book 1, and Kalam is concerned. Kallor gets referenced, a High King who is second in command to Caladan Brood. Reminds me of Hedge talking about blowing up palaces in book 1 Love that the first guy on the ramp is described as also grinning. I think all the sappers are a little bonkers. To what extent is coping with death (especially in war) a matter of finding the right balance between remembering and not remembering?
Considering the title of the entire series is 'Malazan Book of the Fallen', I think there is something crucial going on here. In the previous chapter, he references his List of the Fallen, but now he almost doesn't want to know their names. And then the first conversation about the 'Chain of Dogs', which brings in the chains motif again.ĭuring the battle, Duiker has an inner exchange with himself about the value of remembering the names of fallen soldiers (page 553 in my edition). And I love seeing the Wickans and their dogs in battle later in the chapter.
Just about gets the discrepancy of Wickan/Malazan to whiny noble in a nutshell. We start out with the badass Wickan dogs (in the epigram) and then a scene where one grabs and runs off with one of the nobles' lapdogs. I adore how much the dogs are part of the conversation in this chapter. Still love seeing these from Duiker's perspective, and that he got a little more actual battle exposure in this one. A little less epic than the last one, but we're starting to get a sense of how well Coltaine is able to use tactics, his resources, and his position as an amazing leader to win unwinnable battles.