Well, it’s done and I’m completely wrecked. What a fucking experience. I almost think I could leave it at that but I won’t! I could also leave it at this and be done:
‘Worm says fuck you, Assail!’ – Widdershins (of all people!)
Anyway, jeez what an ending. Of course there’s the epilogues, but I’ll refrain from posting about them here.
Those last two chapters, guys. Seriously. I’m not sure which was my favourite. I think for characters, Ch.24 and The Bonehunters concurrent battles at the Barrow and on the field. But for events, Ch.23 was just crazy. The way he moved from character-to-character, group-to-group in that ENORMOUS battle towards The Spire was incredible. So many amazing scenes, like:
- Aranict, Brys Beddict, Faint and Amby.
- The Jaghut, T’lan Imass and K’Chain Che’Malle fighting together to take down the Fork’rul Assail.
- Spax rushing to help and having to turn back was amazingly written.
- Anything involving Abrastal.
- Sinn ‘awakening’.
- Hood climbing the ice and Bent climbing over him.
- Fener manifesting and Karsa KILLING HIM, blood raining down and the dead become the living – holy shit.
- Stormy and Gesler’s last words to each other
- Two best friends, their dog and the (former) God of Death save the world.
It was truly, truly EPIC and a mind-blowing experience.
Then came Ch.24 where he just stomped all over my already ruined heart:
- Fiddler and Hedge! Fiddler and Hedge!
- Mappo died for nothing. So sad.
- Tavore’s speech to the regulars was rousing.
- Blistig is still and idiot.
- Corabb’s death shocked me more than any other I think – I really thought of all he would survive.
- Tavore’s the hidden talon that Throatslitter mentioned way back in Dust of Dreams (or was it Reaper’s Gale, I forget)
- When she met Ganoes on the field and wept for Felisin. Did she know the whole time that it was her who killed her sister? Hard to say. Cold iron and all that.
- The POV of The Crippled God – wow.
- These concurrent battles were a lot messier and quicker than Ch.23s – very fitting for the Bonehunters.
I don’t have much more to say other than WOW.
Are Stormy and Gesler truly dead now or was this the step to ascension?
Good point. I doubt we'll ever know, though.
I think Onos T'oolan was Erikson's favorite character. Bringing him back to life again and reuniting him with his children and Hetan - never expected something like this in the Book of the Fallen.
I was conflicted on this. It was good that someone got their happy ending, but I thought Hetan being brought back was a bit too easy and undermined the horror of her storyline in Dust of Dreams.
I thought Karsa would hava a bigger role. Well, it was big. Maybe a more active one.
Why did we see Picker and Blend again?
I think Orb, Sceptre, Throne deals with all of them. Be interesting to see how ICE manages Erikson's characters. Supposedly it's his best book along with Assail. Also, after the Kharkanas trilogy Erikson is writing a trilogy all about Karsa, set after the Book of the Fallen. Called The Toblakai trilogy.
Weren't two huge parts of the Crippled God missing?
Probably need to read ICE for more on this.
