Hubris, downfall, the tragic hero—these are all themes Erikson is incredibly fond of exploring. The real beauty of The Malazan Book of the Fallen is that we’re able to cheer, or jeer, or weep at each character’s fate no matter how long we’ve known them, whether it comes out of the blue or whether it’s signposted from the very beginning. The beauty of Deadhouse Gates is that it manages to have it both ways, to some degree. You just know that it can’t end well for everyone, but you’re never sure who the victims will be until it happens—and even then, there’s a chance that you’ll spend days living in denial. If anyone thought Felisin, as the young frightened noble girl faced with such extreme horror in the Prologue was going to find her way to a better life before being directly harmed, that cold first line tells us this is not going to be a happy storyline. And the last line of that paragraph drives it home: “You’ll learn to like it, girl.” (Note the reminder to us she is, in fact, only a girl) But then Erikson takes us even further into despair by showing us Felisin’s new bitter wisdom: “I will” and how this act of rape has become merely business: “Does he get a day of rest?” This is a bitterly icy and dark opening to this plot strand (and fair warning—it doesn’t sunny up). In the Otataral mines, Felisin, youngest daughter of the disgraced House of Paran, dreams of revenge against the sister who sentenced her to a life of slavery. Escape leads her to Raraku, where her soul will be reborn and her future made clear. The now-outlawed Bridgeburners, Fiddler and the assassin Kalam, have vowed to return the once god-possessed Apsalar to her homeland, and to confront and kill the Empress Laseen, but events will overtake them too. Meanwhile, Coltaine, the charismatic commander of the Malaz 7th Army, will lead his battered, war-weary troops in a last, valiant running battle to save the lives of thirty thousand refugees and, in so doing, secure an illustrious place in the Empire’s chequered history. And into this blighted land come two ancient wanderers, Mappo and his half- Jaghut companion Icarium, bearers of a devastating secret that threatens to break free of its chains…

The idea of the army/garrison being “broken” and “brittle” will carry for some time with this group. Interesting…sounds like Dujek saved Duiker from death in battle. And this led indirectly to the loss of Dujek’s arm from a horse bite! Ha, had we already been told that? I can’t recall it, and it sort of amuses me in a dark way. I assumed that the arm had been lost through some gloriously heroic deed, rather than merely being bitten by a horse and then being removed by surgeons!Remember Korbolo Dom? He likes to call his soldiers “Dogslayers” (which is kind of hypocritical coming from a traitor, don’t you think?). In this case, the “dogs” are not only the Malazan soldiers but also refugees; children, women, the elderly, the destitute and the nobility, natives and migrants, warriors and witches and the weak. Oh, and actual dogs. Macabre Moth Motif: The whole sub-continent is sinking into bloody rebellion, and the capemoth, a native kind of moth that thrives on rotting flesh, can be seen everywhere. It is also one of the symbols associated with Hood, Lord of Death. I also love that Duiker realises that just ignoring the natives and the things they do can make enormous danger for the invaders—especially with an important year approaching for those of the Seven Cities. I think this is valid commentary on any people who invade others, and decide to pretend local culture doesn’t exist. How frustrating it must be for Duiker!

After several chapters hinting at Apsalar journeying to Sha'ik's corpse to enact her prophecised resurrection, Felisin arrives instead. Oh. Em. Gee. What a bloody ride! I feel absolutely wrung out by this reading experience, completely exhausted, rundown, joyful, hopeful and a myriad other emotions that I have hopefully articulated well enough over the course of this novel. The Jhag has arrows with warrens carved into the shafts that can bring down dragons! These sound amazing—and supremely powerful… As Fiddler, Crokus, and Apsalar travel separately through Raraku, Apsalar's memories gradually confirm that the Rope, the patron god of assassins, who possessed her as Sorry, was the previous Emperor Kellanved's assassin Dancer, and that Kellenvad and Dancer must have escaped Laseen's assassination efforts by ascending to godhood over the new Warren and House of Shadow.

Read Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson

We know Stormy and Gesler are on the verge of ascendancy, so we can see why something about them—”a latent power” would make him “uneasy.” Then of course follows Felisin’s assessment of the lake water’s level and musings on previous escape attempts—this fairly screams “foreshadow!”