Dust of Dreams

In Dust of the Dreams, the story of the Bonehunters continue. Tavore and her army march across the Wastelands to Kolanse after staying in King Tehol's Letheras. Their allies, the Perish and the Khundryl, will join them along the way.

At first it was not clear what Tavore's intentions were but after the reading, done by Fiddler at the beginning of the book, they found out that they were marching to the lands occupied by the Forkrul Assail.

For the first time too, the readers will be given a chance to experience the events through the K'Chain Che'malle's point-of-view.

When the Errant heard about the unleashing the Deck of Dragons, he decided that the Elder gods should take action. The Errant, threatened by the upstart gods and the Master of the Deck, wanted to take everything he has lost. And so he gathered the Elders and discussed his plans.

Somewhere within the same continent, the Barghast were having problems of their own. Beset by internal strife, some clans have decided to separate from the larger group. They still haven't found the enemy they were destined to fight and it seemed that their dissatisfaction for Warchief Onos Toolan's lack of action has reached an end.

At the same time, a horde of children, survivors of a war, travel across a barren land beset by diseases and pursued by unknown forces. Their destination is unknown as well as their purpose.

Meanwhile, an odd company of strangers trailed by a ghost travel together and explore a strange 'city'.

Like the previous book, Dust of Dreams contains a lot of character introspection but to a lesser degree than Toll the Hounds. The overall mood too is dark, forewarning the reader that dark events are about to come.

Several themes have been explored in this book. Some of the characters who experienced similar situations showed different ways of coping with the problems. One such example is the difference between Torrent and Kalyth, who are both the last survivors of their tribes. Although plagued by regrets, they each tried to cope differently. Torrent was adopted into the Barghast and Kalyth by the K'Chain Che'malle. Kalyth was more determined to keep her memories alive by accepting her new role, but Torrent was content to see the Awl'dan children being integrated into the Barghast tribe.

Memories either served to strengthen the characters in this book or weaken their resolve. Memories too caused long-time friends Fiddler and Hedge to go separate ways. The Errant, remembering all his days of glory, sought to gain what he had. But for Sechul Lath, the past is past and it should just stay that way.

The memories within the Refugium was what its denizens also wanted to preserve. Now that it's dying, Silchas and Rud set out together to find a way to save everything - the Imass residing in that place, the culture and the glory of the past.

The legacy of the past was what kept Yan Tovis going on. Relying on the words of a blind man, she led the Shake to the Shore.

Some of the characters, recalling some events tried to weigh the past by looking at what-if scenarios. Some of them just dwelt on regrets. There are also plenty of passages in the book that tried to summarize the events that took place in the previous books. Cuttle told the story of the Bridgeburners and Olar Ethil revealed a lot of information as well. Yan Tovis and Yedan Derryg also pieced together information about their people's past.

For Cuttle however, history is "...just what's survived. But they're not the whole story...". An army, no matter how successful and no matter how many battles a commander has won, individual stories can't be found in the pages of history or in songs sung to heroes. I guess what Cuttle wanted to tell the young soldiers listening to him is that glory alone is not worth fighting for. He said that the Bridgeburners despite all their success, had to pay a price in the end.

Tanakalian will probably disagree with that statement because for him even when the exploits of an army is unwitnessed, the undertaking of an impossible mission is a glorious act in itself. He was referring to Tavore's plan to march to Kolanse where there is a possibility that they will be opposed by everyone and even isolated.

I also commend Erikson about his insights on women. There was a scene where Bakal asked Estaral why women were so willing to see another woman get hobbled. Kisswhere also commented on her fellow women and how they relate to each other. Not all men are familiar with how women build and destroy their relationships with other women.

Erikson brought up the idea of binary opposition as well. According to a K'Chain Che'Malle, tension is needed and that one god alone cannot exist for long. One force cannot exist without the other.

This book is full of revelations. It's important to read the previous books and to remember some of the past events that are mentioned here.

The battle scenes were okay but I admit I really can't see them play out in my head (but I'm not gonna dwell on those details).

What happened to Hetan greatly disturbed me. I'm not saying that it shouldn't have happened to her but it just seemed so out of character for Tool to act and think like the way he did in this book. I understand that he was having difficulties in dealing with the problems among the Barghast but he looked really weak. Although this isn't as good as Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice, the last two battles were unforgettable. After reading this, you will definitely want to start reading The Crippled God right away.