Return Of The Crimson Guard
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The return of the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard, could not have come at a worse time for a Malazan Empire exhausted by warfare and weakened by betrayals and rivalries. Indeed, there are those who wonder whether the Empress Laseen might not be losing her grip on power as she faces increasing unrest as conquered kingdoms and principalities sense freedom once more.
Into the seething cauldron of Quon Tali--the Empire's heartland--marches the Guard. With their return comes the memory of the Empire--and yet all is not well with the Guard itself. Elements within its elite, the Avowed, have set their sights on far greater power. There are ancient entities who also seek to further their own arcane ends. And what of the swordsman called Traveller who, with his companion Ereko, has gone in search of a confrontation from which none have ever returned?
For a year the Second Company of the Crimson Guard have been besieging the Spur, a tower in plains of the Bael subcontinent of Assail. Kyle is a fairly recent recruit; he came from a plains tribe and is a worshipper of their god Father Wind. Some of the guard, Kyle included, are trying to enter the tower from beneath, through a passage that they have discovered. They are led by Greymane, a renegade Malazan Fist. They start climbing the tower, and are attacked by its occupant, the warlock Shen. Greymane somehow acquires a two-handed sword and stabs Shen, who retreats and later dies.
At the top of the tower Kyle is sent to scout the rooms; but the company mage, Smoky, first marks his sword with a token of the Wind god. After a while the guard meet a powerful Ascendant; they attack and manage to repel him. Afterwards Kyles notices that his sword is now doubly marked with the Wind token.
Unknown to herself, Ghelel is the last surviving member of an old Talian ruling family, the Tayliin. Malazan troops come to the estate where she has been raised, but she is saved from capture by her fencing-master and secret guardian, Quinn.
Ghelel is frustrated. Though nominally in charge, in reality she is a figurehead for Choss and Amaron, who cause her to parade around the army camp dressed like nobility with a retinue of ten guards. They finally explain: they want any spies to observe her like this; soon she will slip away in disguise to become a cavalry leader in an elite group, the Marchland Sentries.
In the Pit the new arrivals have been caught spying by Yathengar, who takes them to the centre of their excavations where they have uncovered an enormous Jade figure. Yath causes it to exhale, and the resulting wind blows one of them, Grief, across the cavern. To everyone's surprise he isn't killed, and quickly recovers.The newcomers then say they are there to rescue everyone. They climb the unclimbable cavern walls, overcome the guards, and lower a platform for the others to use.
Outside Li Heng Ghelel and the other commanders are aware of 'pirates' moving inland towards them. Then they learn that they are the Crimson Guard. Ghelel's troop travel to investigate and find their way blocked by the Guard, who have occupied a key bridge and the impregnable ruins of the Sanctuary of Burn. They are permitted to cross the bridge as they travel south, but are warned that they will not be allowed to return.
Kyle's party approach the Dolmens of Tien, where Duke K'azz, the original leader of the Crimson Guard, is believed to be trapped. Ereko leads them to the correct location. They dig, and find what appears to be a desiccated corpse. Then a warren opens and Kallor arrives. He has a longstanding grievance against Ereko and intends to kill him. Traveller declines to prevent this as Ereko has made him promise not to. Kallor mortally wounds Ereko, so fulfilling the terms of Traveller's promise. He attacks and wounds Kallor, who retreats into his warren. They return to their ship, Kyle having taken a smooth stone from Ereko as a keepsake.At the ship they encounter an old man, Jan; he was shipwrecked there long ago and wishes to leave. Kyle agrees to take him to their next destination, Quon Tali.
Marquis Jhardin hears of the defeat and tells Ghelel. He intends to return to his province and informs Ghelel that she is to accompany him and become his wife. With Molk's help she escapes from the camp, but they are attacked by two Mages. Molk defeats them but is himself killed.
On the Wickan Plains Nil and Nether have become aware of the confrontation in Quon. They decide to intervene on the Malazan side. The Malazans would then be indebted to them, and the price will be their sovereignty. They take 1000 veteran riders, and Rillish; and as the normal Warrens have guardians who might intervene, they intend to travel through the Abyss itself.
The Crimson Guard divides into two parties: those loyal to K'azz, and Skinner's followers. The latter continue to attack the Malazan remaining position, but are routed by the Wickan cavalry who suddenly arrive on the field. Skinner remains and is attacked by two previous members of Dassem Ultor's bodyguard. They are suddenly joined by someone who appears to be Dassem Ultor himself; he eventually wounds Skinner and forces him to withdraw. The mysterious swordsman then disappears again.
The battle over and the Rent no longer a threat, the troops relax. Among them, now visible, walks Laseen in her Claw role: she had killed several Avowed. Her bodyguard, Possum, lurks concealed by his warren; he realises that Laseen is presenting herself as bait to attract Cowl. Suddenly Cowl strikes Possum from behind, then attacks Laseen. When Possum recovers he sees them fighting and joins in. Then another arrives: the unnamed assassin from the Imperial Warren, now identified as Topper. He attacks Cowl, and as they fight they disappear into a Warren. Taya Radok, Mallick Rel's assassin, then appears behind Laseen and fatally stabs her.
ISFDB BibliographySF Site Review: Night of KnivesA review by Dominic Cilli Advertisement As Stephen Erikson's masterpiece comes closer and closer to completion it has left in its wake a host ofpeople and places open for expansion and further exploration. Among the multitudes, few are more intriguingthan the Crimson Guard and their avowed. We have caught glimpses of them throughout The Malazan Bookof the Fallen, most prominently in Midnight Tides, but they were never fully fleshed outby Erikson. In Ian C. Esslemont's second novel Return of the Crimson Guard, he grabs the baton and runs with it.While Ian C. Esslemont's first novel Night of Knives was an enriching and entertaining supplementto The Malazan Book of the Fallen, it did not absolutely have to be read by people trying tokeep pace with the series. I still highly recommend you read Night of Knives, but in the overallscope of things its contents do not necessitate its reading. On the other hand, Return of theCrimson Guard contains plot elements so crucial to the Malazan Empire that followers ofThe Malazan Book of the Fallen have to read it. Furthermore, Return of the Crimson Guardis also significant as it represents the first attempt at synchronizing the writings of Esslemont with Erikson.The timeline in Return of the Crimson Guard is just after the events in The Bonehunters. Inthis story, the action shifts to the continent of Quan Tali, the home continent of the Malazan Empire. Theempire is in bad shape. It is stretched thin and insurrection threatens to rip the empire apart fromthe inside out. To make matters worse, it appears that the rumors that the Crimson Guard, a mortalenemy of the Malazan Empire, is returning are finally coming to fruition.Esslemont gives his readers plenty to chew on that's for sure. He tells a great story. It's complicated,but, in the end, satisfying. Return of the Crimson Guard, like all of Erikson's books juggles multiplestorylines throughout and features a massive convergence in the end. Among those various threads,we get up close and personal insight into the Crimson Guard and the avowed, as seen by a new recruitnamed Kyle. We are also given a story of convicted mages within an otatoral mine and my favorite,the story of Traveller and Ereko. Esslemont also uses several different Malazan squads to tell thestory of their army's activity. Readers are also treated to more insight into many characters weonly really hear about secondhand with Erikson. Readers will delight when being introduced toSkinner, Toc the Elder, Cartharon Crust and Braven Tooth just to name a few.Return of the Crimson Guard is not without its problems. The main drawback to this novel,and it's one that plagues the entire Malazan Book of the Fallen, is the sheer scopeand size of the stories make it extremely complex. At times this complexity can be exhilarating,but it can also be extremely frustrating and make for difficult reading. Multiple storylinesin Return of the Crimson Guard produce dozens of new characters and trying to remembereveryone let alone learning and caring about them, is challenging. I hate to criticize someoneelse's writing based on my own limitations as a reader, but I have no other frame ofreference. Furthermore, Esslemont and Erikson both seem to do a lot of withholding in theirwriting. We all know this tactic of delayed resolution quite well, but leaving so much for thereader to piece together can at times prove counter-productive to a reader's interest.Overall, Ian C Esslemont's first work, Night of Knives, had the feel of an authorjust getting his feet wet, Return of the Crimson Guard had the feel of an author thathas just leaped headlong into a raging current known as the Malazan Empire. It's a bumpy rideone filled with crests and troughs, but in the end it's well worth it. (If Esslemont or Eriksonis looking for suggestions for future writing, I for one would like to recommend a couplethousand pages on the Segulah.)Copyright © 2009 Dominic CilliWhen asked to write a third-person tag line for his reviews, Dominic Cilli farmed the work outto an actual 3rd person, his friend Neal, who in turn turned it over to a second person who thenasked his third cousin to help out and this person whom Dom doesn't even know then wrote in 8thperson Omniscient mode "Dom's breadth of knowledge in literature runs the gamut and is certainlynot bounded by the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. One thing I can say with certainty is that of allthe people I don't know who've ever recommended books to read, Dom's recommendations are the best."If you find any errors, typos or anything else worth mentioning,please send it to editor@sfsite.com.Copyright © 1996-2014 SF Site All Rights Reserved Worldwide 2b1af7f3a8