Midnight Tides

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Midnight Tides is the fifth volume of Canadian author Steven Erikson's epic fantasy series, the Malazan Book of the Fallen. There are ten books planned for the sequence. Although it is part of the larger series, it has only limited references to the other books and can be read as a stand-alone volume.

The novel was first published in the United Kingdom as a hardcover on 1 March 2004, with a mass-market paperback following on 1 March 2005. The first American edition is currently scheduled for 17 April 2007.

[edit] Plot summary

[edit] Prologue

Midnight Tides takes place on a continent located on the far side of the world to the Malazan Empire and unknown to it. The book also takes place early in the series, before even Gardens of the Moon. In the prologue we see the aftermath of a massive battle between an alliance of the Tiste Edur and Tiste Andii peoples, led by Scabandari (who earns the epithet Bloodeye) and Silchas Ruin, and a large contingent of K'Chain Che'Malle. The Tiste Andii have suffered much higher casualties than the Tiste Edur, and the scheming Scabandari promptly turns on his former allies and massacres them so as to have the land for his own people.

Later, A blacksmith named Withal finds himself washed up on a beach, where in order to survive, he enters the service of the Crippled God and forges a sword.

[edit] Exposition

Many years after this, the Tiste Edur tribes, recently unified under the Warlock King, are soon to meet with a delegation of the Letherii Empire to discuss a treaty. The Letherii are an expansionist society with a history of treachery. This reputation is shown to be well-earned when ships begin an illegal seal harvest on Edur territory. Trull Sengar witnesses this and carries word to the Warlock King, who with the aid of his apprentices, destroys the ships.The Edur have acquired many slaves over the years, including many Letherii. One evening, while the Edur are at a council meeting, a seer slave called Feather Witch holds a 'casting,' where a Sengar family slave named Udinaas is injured by a Wyval.

In the meantime, in the capital city of the Letherii (Lether), a man called Tehol Beddict lives in a house with his manservant, Bugg. Tehol once made a fortune on the Letherii equivalent of the stock exchange, but then mysteriously lost it. Now sleeps on the roof of this house, with his possessions gradually dwindling. What no one else in Lether knows is that Tehol lost all his money on purpose, and still controls numerous businesses in Lether. He is enlisted in a plot to bring down Lether's economy more completely by a number of Tarthenal and Nerek half-breeds. Tehol's brother Brys is the King's personal bodyguard. The city of Lether is preparing for the fulfillment of a prophecy which states that at the Seventh Closure the King shall become Emperor.

[edit] Rise of the Emperor

To increase his power, the Warlock King sends Trull Sengar and his brothers - Fear, Binadas and Rhulad - on a quest to the icefields to the east. They are to recover a sword that they will find there without letting it make contact with the skin and bring it back to him. They eventually reach the spar of ice holding the sword, where they are attacked by a tribe of Soletaken known as Jheck. Rhulad takes up the sword in combat and is killed while bearing it.

The Sengar brothers return bearing Rhulad's corpse. The corpse will not relinquish the sword, causing a feud between the Warlock King and the Sengars. While his body is being prepared for its funeral, Rhulad returns from the dead through the machinations of the Crippled God. With the aid of the slave Udinaas, Rhulad regains his sanity and seizes power over the Edur. He expells the Letherii delegation and begins preparations for war. Hull Beddict, however, stays and swears his allegiance to Rhulad, giving the Edur valuable information that allows them to defeat the Letherii. Rhulad dies in combat against Iron Bars, a soldier of the Crimson Guard, and returns more powerful thanks to the Crippled God.

[edit] Meanwhile in Lether

Meanwhile, Tehol Beddict's plans begin to come into fruition. He successfully manages to evacuate non-Letherii citizens, out-maneuver Gerun Eberict, and keep his partners outwitted. His liege, King Diskenar crowns himself Emperor whilst the Letherii forces under the Queen and Prince are routed and destroyed in battle.

Unknown to most of the city, trouble is brewing in the Azath House there. The house, which contains Silchas Ruin along with many other powerful individuals, is dying, and entrusts an undead child containing the dormant soul of a Forkrul Assail to feed it blood to keep it alive. She is contacted by Bugg, who is possesses more knowledge than one would suspect for a lowly manservant. He gives her advice. Later, a number of beings escape, only to be dealt with by the mysterious Bugg.

[edit] Conquest

Simultaneously, the Edur enter the city and march on the Eternal Domicile (the palace). On their way there, the Wyval that inhabits Udinaas takes control of him and forces him to leave the Edur party. Rhulad is later killed in combat and returned to life. Abandoned by Udinaas, he falls into a state of insanity. The Edur successfully take the Eternal Domicile, despite resistance by the Ceda and Brys Beddict. Trull Sengar kills the Ceda and Brys challenges Rhulad. Brys incapacitates Rhulad without killing him. The rest of the Edur cannot bring themselves to kill their emperor, so he lies on the ground screaming. Newly crowned Emperor Diskanar committed suicide using poisoned wine, as he expected to lose. Upon maiming Rhulad, Brys is pushed by the Errant, an Ascendant, to drink from the poisoned chalice, and thus dies. During the course of his life, Brys had once saved a guardian of dead souls who lived beneath the sea. Upon his death, the guardian came to take him away, and while doing so killed Rhulad out of mercy. Trull and Fear flee, though not together.

Back in the Azath house, in the midst of a fierce battle, Udinaas arrives and frees Silchas Ruin. Ruin helps destroy the other creatures. Trull decides to return to Rhulad to aid him in finding his sanity. Tehol, meanwhile, is attacked and nearly killed. His brother Hull is murdered for betraying the Letherii, leaving only lowly Bugg to protect him. Bugg, revealing himself as the Elder God Mael, saves Tehol. Bugg/Mael later leaves to confront the Crippled God as the book ends.