Published on: Thu May 22
Welcome to my first rendition of ranting about my obsessions
Holy shit. Karsa. Karsa Orlong!!
This giant may be up there with the Pannion Seer in being one of the most despicable characters Erikson has ever written. I should not like this guy at all, but the way Erikson has written this barbarian is so damn interesting.
Karsa treats everyone around him poorly, he thinks heโs owed everything in life, and has this whole idea of โhonorโ that even upsets other Toblai in his clan, an already brutal society that encourages these pillages. I canโt help but get excited about his action scenes, or the way he calls humans โchildrenโ because of how much smaller they are comapred to him. His blood wood is awesome and I love the concept of blood oil sharpening the blades to the point they can shred through metals.
The little tidbits of Toblai past weโve been hearing have really struck out to me. From what I could gather, the Toblai had eventually become more a more nomadic tribe, having settled down and lost their past of barbarianism. Then they had some sort of conflict with the Tโlan Imass around 900 years before the current Karsa story line, where Icarium and Calm (the Forkul Assail) essentially told the Toblai to go back to the old ways of pillaging. Here is where I believe the seven faces of rock were created as symbols of worship.
Karsa post the Silver Lake massacre has been a lot more interesting to me. Heโs started question his peoples entire past with the above information and learning of his grandfathers lies. There was a bit where he almost respected his pacifist father, but he chased that thought away. The Faces of Rock investment in Karsa as a harbinger of their will maybe led to the warren that him and Tarvold Nom are in? I do want to preface this all by saying that the storm of chains might be the coolest visual ever. Super excited to learn more about the Warren as I read :).
Thatโs it for now! More Tal Malazan rants in the future!
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