Assail and the Forkrul Assail

[coolerthanhot]

Thoughts? (Meaning/Characteristics/Plots)

Personally I can't for the life of me come up with a solid theory as to what will go down there.
Most likely this thread will include SPOILERS so if you haven't read Dust of Dreams as well as RotCG, tread lightly.

Also curious to hear people's thoughts on the Forkrul Assail themselves and how they may or may not play out in the book(s) to come.

 

[coolerthanhot]

tough crowd

 

[Koopa]

that is because you are asking for a prediction bordering on a fanfic on what is going to happen.

The Long-tails will for most part follow the bonehunters in defying all the gods, new and old, and fight for their own cause. The shorttails will end up being pawn pieces being used by either the old gods or the new, i'm leaning towards the old god. Part of the longtails will commit treachery, under that second queen.

 

[coolerthanhot]

Your predictions regarding the K'Chain and Neh Ruk (im NOT going to check the spelling lol) seem fairly grounded and are mostly vague enough to be true in a myriad of potential situations.

However I was asking about the Forkrul Assail not the reptiles-kin


Still, thanks for sharing your opinion

 

[Lenny]

After nine books from Erikson, and two from Esslemont, all we know about the Forkrul Assail (and I'm going from a memory that's had a year of everything stacked on top of my last Malazan re-read, so forgive me any wrong facts) are that they're bloody hard to kill, they're incredible fighting machines, and that they seem to see it as their duty to keep the peace.

We might see a cameo from a couple in The Crippled God, and I expect to see the odd couple pop up in future Esslemont and Erikson books, but I doubt we'll truly know anything until Esslemont's sixth novel hits the shelves, which may well be in fifteen years time.

My bet is that we'll see something in Erikson's Anomander Rake trilogy that whets our appetite, but nothing more.

 

[Koopa]

Oh right, sorry, when it comes to erikson my mind is completely upon the possible events that will occur in bok 10 following book 9.
Because of that my mind automatically went to the k'chain che malle when you asked me upon what was going to happen from here on out.
Just chuck it up to possible mistakes you make when reading several books from different authors, not being that good with remembering names, and it being some time since my last read. Not sure wether i should edit my post cause of possible spoilers or not... Others make the call...i'll follow.

As for the assail, i was fairly dissapointed in them really.
They have went from nearly unkillable mysterious being (Karsa with help lost easily, Icarium couldn't finish her off) to beings who basically reduce everything to death out of twisted logic copied from psychopaths whom can be defeated by the yedan derryg (whats his name). No doubt there is more to him then meets the eye, and no doubt there are variations in strenght and manners very much like with any other race, even so...

Also my mind is a bit blurry, but those children where being assailed by forkrul right. They particluarly looked pathetic in comparison to their previous encunters in that part of the book. Mind you, i never quite competely understood those parts. While i did get the gist of it's all still pretty much confusing. What's more i can help but to wonder who's more powerful, Sinn who uses the new paths, or QuickBen who overlapped the old paths so as to make them work. It's proably Sinn but i want it to be QuickBen, for the love of his character. Then again, he need not be more powerful, as long as he hoodwinks everybody, and makes them eat dirt that way.

 

[coolerthanhot]

Oh right, sorry, when it comes to erikson my mind is completely upon the possible events that will occur in bok 10 following book 9.
Because of that my mind automatically went to the k'chain che malle when you asked me upon what was going to happen from here on out.
Just chuck it up to possible mistakes you make when reading several books from different authors, not being that good with remembering names, and it being some time since my last read. Not sure wether i should edit my post cause of possible spoilers or not... Others make the call...i'll follow.

As for the assail, i was fairly dissapointed in them really.
They have went from nearly unkillable mysterious being (Karsa with help lost easily, Icarium couldn't finish her off) to beings who basically reduce everything to death out of twisted logic copied from psychopaths whom can be defeated by the yedan derryg (whats his name). No doubt there is more to him then meets the eye, and no doubt there are variations in strenght and manners very much like with any other race, even so...

Also my mind is a bit blurry, but those children where being assailed by forkrul right. They particluarly looked pathetic in comparison to their previous encunters in that part of the book. Mind you, i never quite competely understood those parts. While i did get the gist of it's all still pretty much confusing. What's more i can help but to wonder who's more powerful, Sinn who uses the new paths, or QuickBen who overlapped the old paths so as to make them work. It's proably Sinn but i want it to be QuickBen, for the love of his character. Then again, he need not be more powerful, as long as he hoodwinks everybody, and makes them eat dirt that way.

I actually agree with pretty much everything you said. It was odd the way Twighlight's bro was able to just rip through them. I appreciate Eriksons way of leveling the playing field for a plethora of different beings, but sometimes it goes from semi-practical and fun to just convenient. It's hard to knock him really, everything he writes seems to come out beautiful and mysterious but sometimes that doesnt quite do it for me. It would be nice to see more continuity in terms of that. Don't get me wrong, I respect that fact that he seems to be antithesis to any kind of base linear power structure- it keeps things interesting and initially I assumed it would be what saved him from falling into the common fantasy trap of some little plot twist allowing a supposedly weaker character to overcome a much stronger one and thus save the day. But after a while even his style can begin to feel a little too convenient.

Definitely rooting for Quick Ben. It would also be nice to see Kalam reappear in a sizable way before the end of the series- not placing any bets on that one though.