The Crippled God
Chapters - Steven Erikson
Book 1: He was a soldier
Chapter 1
Cotillion and Edgewalker meet at the edge of the wastes, the patron of assassins laying out the shape of what must be done and what will be paid for it. Inside his broken cage, the Crippled God turns over a bitter monologue: they want his pity, and pity is the one thing he can no longer afford to give. Far away, Calm of the Forkrul Assail walks the wastes alone, trailing chains of bone behind her as she sets her course toward Icarium. Beneath the deep ocean, K'rul and Mael hold a slow council on the warrens, the sickness in the world's blood, and what gods can still choose to do. The pieces of the long endgame settle into place, none of them yet touching the others.
On page: Icarium, Cotillion, Kilava, Ganoes Paran, The Crippled God, K'rul, Mael, Edgewalker, Calm, Kadagar Fant, Aparal Forge, Iparth Erule·Mentioned: Errastas, Quick Ben, Kessobahn
Chapter 2
Draconus, Ralata and Ublala share a strange, uneasy camp in the wastelands, the Elder god walking among mortals he barely understands. Olar Ethil, bonecaster and bone hag, seizes Hetan's surviving children and drags them across the plain on a march of her own choosing. Tulas Shorn wakes far underground and meets the skull of Skan Ahl of the Bentract Imass, a conversation between two long-dead things about what is owed to the living. Quick Ben stands at the Spar of Andii, weighing routes through the warrens that no sane mage would take. Mappo and Gruntle part ways at last, the Trell turning toward the desert while Gruntle sets out to find Setoc and the crystal city he has been told of.
On page: Draconus, Olar Ethil, Setoc, Quick Ben, Tulas Shorn, Ublala Pung, Gruntle, Telorast, Curdle, Ralata, Cartographer·Mentioned: Onos T'oolan, Anomander Rake, Absi
Chapter 3
Shurq Elalle's undead ship rides out a savage storm at sea, her crew cursing and laughing in equal measure as the weather refuses to kill what is already dead. In Letheras, Aranict brings Brys a warning shaped from her own quiet dread, and the two of them find the edges of something more than duty between them. Out on the Wastelands, Captain Ruthan Gudd rides beside Bottle, the two of them cutting back toward the Bonehunter column with news the army needs. The last of the Khundryl, led by Hanavat heavy with child, walk their broken horses into the camp, all that is left of a once-mighty Burned Tear. Each thread carries the same quiet truth: the world is narrowing toward one point, and everyone can feel it.
On page: Brys Beddict, Aranict, Gall, Hanavat, Abrastal, Felash, Shurq Elalle, Ruthan Gudd, Skorgen Kaban·Mentioned: Tavore Paran
Chapter 4
Deadsmell kneels over the Adjunct with Omtose Phellack laid careful as a blanket, drawing the worst of her sickness out and holding it until it fades. Blistig sits apart from the healing, his POV all grit and salt: he will follow Tavore to the end, but he will never forgive her for asking it. Hedge moves through the camp gathering what he calls his Bridgeburners around him, Sweetlard and Bavedict slotted in beside the old hands. The five Khundryl who rode in with Hanavat ask, plainly, to be counted among the marines, and Fiddler does not refuse them. Kindly and Faradan Sort work alongside the Sergeant to fold the survivors into squads, naming the army into a shape it can still fight in.
On page: Tavore Paran, Brys Beddict, Fiddler, Banaschar, Blistig, Kindly, Faradan Sort, Tarr, Koryk, Smiles, Cuttle, Corabb Bhilan Thenu'alas, Deadsmell, Throatslitter, Balm, Hellian, Gall, Hanavat, Jastara, Hood, Sweetlard, Bavedict, Sinter, Kisswhere
Book 2: All the takers of my days
Chapter 5
Two queens in Kharkanas both refuse the throne until Yan Tovis persuades Sandalath Drukorlat to take it, while she herself goes to the First Shore. Both Yan Tovis and Yedan Derryg can see Tiste Liosan trying to break through the barrier. In Kolanse City, five Forkrul Assail Pures ascend the Spire where the Crippled God's heart is encased in an altar, intending to drain its power to cleanse the world. Errastas and Sechul Lath watch as Kilmandaros labours to free the Otataral Dragon. The children of the Snake sense the Crystal City is stealing their souls; they reform and head westward.
On page: Yan Tovis, Yedan Derryg, Errastas, Saddic, Sandalath Drukorlat, Withal, Pithy, Brevity, Pully, Skwish, Kilmandaros, Sechul Lath, Reverence, Diligence, Equity, Abide·Mentioned: The Crippled God, Korabas, Badalle, Brayderal, Freedom, Brother Grave, Aloft
Chapter 6
Tool walks at the head of his summoned T'lan Imass, the bonecasters falling in around him in numbers that should not be possible. Precious Thimble rides with the host, half student and half hostage, learning more of magic and grief than she ever wanted to know. Silchas Ruin breaks away on an errand of his own, setting out to recover a sword whose name he will not yet speak. Hetan's surviving daughter Stayandi clings close to Tool, the only living warmth in a column of dust and bone. Among the Perish, Mortal Sword Krughava feels her unease with Tanakalian harden into something colder, a doubt she does not yet have words for.
On page: Onos T'oolan, Draconus, Silchas Ruin, Tanakalian, Sandalath Drukorlat, Withal, Rud Elalle, Stayandi, Precious Thimble, Sweetest Sufferance·Mentioned: Mappo Runt
Chapter 7
The allies finally meet in conclave, and Tavore sets out what no one wants to hear: the Bonehunters will cross the Glass Desert on foot. Bottle and Ruthan Gudd arrive in time to confirm what scouts have brought back, the captain quietly steady beside the Adjunct. The K'Chain Che'Malle come in under Kalyth's hand, Gunth Mach and Sag'Churok at her flanks and Gu'Rull circling above, an alliance no one quite knows how to read. Brys and Aranict, Krughava and Tanakalian, Queen Abrastal with Felash and Spax all crowd the command tent, each calculating their own road. Abrastal speaks pragmatism, hard and clear, while Tanakalian's silences grow more fixed, his refusals dressed as piety.
On page: Tavore Paran, Bottle, Brys Beddict, Fiddler, Banaschar, Krughava, Gesler, Stormy, Aranict, Blistig, Kindly, Faradan Sort, Tarr, Koryk, Smiles, Cuttle, Corabb Bhilan Thenu'alas, Gall, Hanavat, Tanakalian, Abrastal, Felash, Shurq Elalle, Gunth Mach, Sag'Churok, Gu'Rull, Ruthan Gudd, Spax·Mentioned: The Crippled God
Book 3: To charge the spear
Chapter 8
Princess Felash works her quiet magics until a replacement ship answers the call, a vessel summoned out of need and the Shake's old debts. Silchas Ruin walks into a meeting with Shadowthrone in a shaded place, the two of them circling each other with the manners of men who have buried allies together. On the First Shore, the breach widens and the first banners of the Liosan come into sight beyond it, Kadagar Fant, Iparth Erule and Aparal Forge named among them. Withal moves through his days at Sandalath's side, watching his wife's grip on the present loosen day by day. Brevity rounds up the Letherii refugees into something like companies, while Yedan Derryg walks the line ahead of the first wave, sword loose, counting his dead in advance.
On page: Silchas Ruin, Shadowthrone, Yedan Derryg, Tanakalian, Abrastal, Felash, Shurq Elalle, Sandalath Drukorlat, Withal, Pithy, Brevity, Pully, Skwish, Gunth Mach, Sag'Churok, Kadagar Fant, Aparal Forge, Iparth Erule, Skorgen Kaban·Mentioned: Yan Tovis
Chapter 9
Olar Ethil reaches for Tool through bone and dust and finds the door shut against her, her fury rising at a betrayal she half engineered. The Pure Equity of the Forkrul Assail confronts Felash's handmaiden in a duel of will that turns on a single beat of nerve. Hood, walking once more, kills Equity without ceremony, an old god remembering what his hands were for. Quick Ben pushes on by warren, choosing each step the way a man crosses thin ice. Out on the plain, the Snake of the children resumes its westward march, Badalle's verses keeping them upright. In the keep, Sandalath spirals further inward, and Withal can only watch.
On page: Olar Ethil, Onos T'oolan, Ganoes Paran, Saddic, Sandalath Drukorlat, Withal, Hood, Whiskeyjack, Edgewalker, Equity, Stayandi·Mentioned: Absi
Chapter 10
Tavore and the Bonehunters begin their march across the Glass Desert. The allied armies pass to the south where Brys and the Letherii meet the K'Chain Che'Malle. Tavore intends for Gesler and Stormy, the Che'Malle leaders, to command all the allies. Shield Anvil Tanakalian confronts Krughava, the Perish Mortal Sword, accusing her of betraying their oath to the Wolves of War by vowing to follow Tavore. He convinces the Grey Helms, and Krughava resigns her position.
On page: Tavore Paran, Brys Beddict, Gesler, Stormy, Krughava, Fiddler, Aranict, Blistig, Kindly, Faradan Sort, Gall, Tanakalian, Abrastal, Felash, Shurq Elalle, Sandalath Drukorlat, Withal, Pithy, Brevity, Gunth Mach, Sag'Churok, Kadagar Fant
Book 4: The fists of the world
Chapter 11
At Black Coral, Spindle works pick and shovel against Itkovian's barrow, sweating through the kind of grief that has nowhere else to go. The Tiste Andii prepare to leave the city, Kurald Galain folding itself out of the world behind them, and Korlat and Spinnock Durav linger over what they cannot save. The Great Ravens lift in a vast dark flight, a sign the old powers are moving toward an end. On the Glass Desert, Tavore's Bonehunters march into white nothing, Ruthan Gudd at her side carrying something cold under his skin that he has not yet named. The Khundryl ride at the army's flank, refusing to be left behind, while the desert begins to take its price one soldier at a time.
On page: Tavore Paran, Fiddler, Banaschar, Blistig, Kindly, Faradan Sort, Tarr, Koryk, Smiles, Cuttle, Corabb Bhilan Thenu'alas, Deadsmell, Throatslitter, Balm, Hellian, Sandalath Drukorlat, Withal, Pully, Skwish, Korlat, Spinnock Durav, Spindle, Ruthan Gudd, Sinter, Kisswhere, Stayandi·Mentioned: The Crippled God
Chapter 12
The first wave breaks on the First Shore and Yedan Derryg meets it sword in hand, the Letherii refugees holding the line at his back. Four of the Liosan host veer into dragon form mid-charge, and the Shake answer with everything they have, line buckling and holding and buckling again. In the keep above, Withal sits with Sandalath as her grip on the present finally fails, his wife slipping into a place he cannot follow. Brevity and Pithy walk their companies up and down the wall, swearing and steady, keeping frightened civilians in the shape of a fighting line. Twilight, Yan Tovis, comes down at last onto the Shore, queen at the head of her people, and the second wave gathers beyond the breach.
On page: Yedan Derryg, Yan Tovis, Sandalath Drukorlat, Withal, Pithy, Brevity, Kadagar Fant, Aparal Forge, Iparth Erule
Chapter 13
The Trygalle shareholders make their bruised, glittering arrival, carriages skidding into the Letherii court with news, contracts and a smell of warren burn. Aranict takes Precious Thimble aside and begins, gently, to teach her the small disciplines a mage needs to keep her head. Princess Felash spends her strength to open a Gate, the kind of working that leaves her grey for days afterward. Krughava saddles up and rides out herself, refusing intermediaries, intent on warning Tavore in person of what she fears. Hood's voyage continues with Shurq Elalle's ship as his strange ferry, the old god a passenger no captain ever expected. In Letheras, Brys and Aranict find each other in the quiet between councils, intimacy growing out of long days of trust.
On page: Krughava, Fiddler, Aranict, Gall, Tanakalian, Abrastal, Felash, Shurq Elalle, Sandalath Drukorlat, Withal, Mael, Tulas Shorn, Spax, Skorgen Kaban, Precious Thimble·Mentioned: Brys Beddict, Tavore Paran
Book 5: A hand upon the fates
Chapter 14
Mappo paces the edge of the Glass Desert, knowing Icarium is close and not yet ready for what that nearness will demand of him. Silchas Ruin returns with a Hust sword across his back, the iron singing low and constant in a language only the dead truly hear. Tool's column swells as more T'lan Imass rise from the dust and fall into step behind him, a slow tide of bone. Inside his cage of pain, the Crippled God turns his thoughts to Tavore, an interior apology offered to a woman he has never met, for the burden he and the gods together have set on her shoulders. The pieces draw closer; the apology cannot be heard, but it is meant.
On page: Mappo Runt, Silchas Ruin, Fiddler, Tarr, Koryk, Smiles, Cuttle, Ublala Pung, Gruntle, Rud Elalle, Calm, Stayandi, Ralata, Precious Thimble, Cartographer·Mentioned: Badalle, Onos T'oolan, Icarium
Chapter 15
On the First Shore, Yedan Derryg cuts down Soletaken Liosan one after another, the Watch carving a private legend into the sand. The cost rides behind the killing: hundreds of Letherii refugees and Shake lie dead along the line, faces Brevity knows and will not let herself stop knowing. Brevity walks the survivors back from the edge of breaking, voice rough and steady, while Pithy counts the gaps in the wall and starts plugging them. In the keep, Sandalath descends fully into madness, and Withal kneels at her side and pleads with his wife to come back, knowing she cannot. The shore holds, barely, and the next wave is already forming beyond the light.
On page: Yedan Derryg, Aranict, Sandalath Drukorlat, Withal, Pithy, Brevity, Kadagar Fant, Aparal Forge·Mentioned: Yan Tovis