History Literature / MidnightTides

---> Of all the gifts Father Shadow has given his children, this one talent stands tallest. [[{{Irony}} Look away to see]]. Trust in it, and you will be led to Shadow. [[GoBackToTheSource Where all truths hide]].
--->Look away to see.
--->[[OpeningNarration Now, look away]].

Several years prior to ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'', the Tiste Edur have united under Hannan Mosag, their first high king in memory. Tensions are running high in the region, however, as the Letherii Empire to the south is becoming increasingly aggressive with its diplomacy with the approach of a sacred event known as the Seventh Closure. These tensions are only exacerbated when Trull Sengar arrives with the news that Letherii poachers have gone after the seals vital to the Edur populations in the area. Before a major incident can be made of this, though, Hannan Mosag announces he has had a dream of a gift from a god buried in the ice far to the north. In the dream, the Sengar brothers were shown to be part of the group to retrieve it, and so Fear, Trull, Binadas, Rhulad and their friends set out to find it.

To the south, in the Letherii capital of Letheras, the impoverished Tehol Beddict -- middle brother of the Beddicts -- wakes up on his roof for another day of doing nothing, accidentally exposing himself in public and bickering with his manservant, Bugg. Though once the wealthiest man in Letheras, his possessions now number only a blanket, a bed and some cooking pots, and he does not care much about changing this -- at least not on the surface. When a trio of businesswomen approach him with an offer, however, he realises that the time might be right to set certain plans into motion again.

In the imperial palace of Letheras, Brys Beddict -- youngest of the Beddict brothers -- has proven himself as the foremost swordsman in the Empire, and has thus earned the rank of Royal Champion, the King's closest bodyguard. Brys is an idealistic young man who only wishes to do his duty as a soldier of the Empire, but the court intrigues of Lether leave little room for a neutral party in their midst, and with the Seventh Closure approaching, things start to spiral out of control.

The undead burglar known as Shurq Elalle finds herself suddenly motivated to live again when Tehol offers her a deal; an undead girl named Kettle tries to warn people that the Azath House of Letheras is dying; and in the Sengar household, Udinaas, a slave of the Tiste Edur and a former Indebted of the capitalistic Letherii Empire, finds himself at the center of attention after a Casting of the Tiles -- a divination -- by the seer Feather Witch draws unwanted visitors.

* AndIMustScream: {{Invoked}} by Brys Beddict during the climax. [[spoiler:Brys realises that the only way to ensure that Rhulad Sengar can be removed as Emperor of the Tiste Edur is if he is incapacitated in such a way that he can't act, but also doesn't die to be resurrected and healed by the sword he carries. To that end, he cuts off every motive muscle and tendon in Rhulad's body.]]
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: ''Midnight Tides'' takes place in a part of the setting that is completely unexplored at this point in the series, with only one character being immediately recognizable. Even in a books series infamous for constantly changing viewpoint characters, ''Midnight Tides'' stands out.
* AntiClimax: [[spoiler: Inside the dying Azath House lie a band of [[ChaoticEvil Toblakai]] gods as well as Silchas Ruin, a Tiste Andii demigod, and the entire book builds up to an epic showdown between them upon their escape. What happens instead is that the Toblakai face off against BadassAbnormal Iron Bars in a LastDance and Ruin escapes JustInTime to take them down in a brief CurbStompBattle that isn't even described.]]
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:The scheming Queen Janall and Prince Quillas are used as conduits for the Crippled God's magic, twisting their bodies into unrecognisable shapes without killing them.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:Rhulad Sengar is involuntary made TheDragon of The Crippled God and is [[BlessedWithSuck granted immortality]]. Quickly realizing he got the short end of the stick in a DealWithTheDevil he is slowly driven to madness by repeated incidents of dying and coming BackFromTheDead and the knowledge that he no longer has control over his life and fate.]]
* ChickMagnet: Turudal Brizard is constantly being defined by his good looks, to the point where even Queen Janall takes him as a consort (unexpectedly granting him a bit of a foothold in the games of deception in the Letherii court).

* Expy: Tehol and Bugg are ones of Blackadder and Baldrick, at least on the surface.

* HannibalLecture: [[spoiler:Everything Hannan Mosag says in the climax]]

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[spoiler:Seren Pedac is raped in Trate just before it falls to the Edur, bringing a drastic change to the direction of her character arc.]]

* SealedBadassInACan: [[spoiler:Ancient Tiste Andii ascendant Silchas Ruin trapped inside a dying Azath House. His slow escape is one of the more subliminal plotlines of the book.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Kuru Qan and Bugg have been working together all along in a BatmanGamit to subdue Hannan Mosag's demon. And by Bugg we of course mean [[SecretIdentity Elder God Mael]]]].

* AntiClimax: [[spoiler: Inside the dying Azath House lie a band of [[ChaoticEvil Toblakai]] gods as well as Silchas Ruin, a Tiste Andii demigod, and the entire book builds up to an epic showdown between them upon their escape. What happens instead is that the Toblakai face off against BaddassAbnormal Iron Bars in a LastDance and Ruin escapes JustInTime to take them down in a brief CurbStompBattle that isn't even described.]]

%%* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:Rhulad Sengar is thrown on the TraumaCongaLine.]]
%%* ChickMagnet: Turudal Brizard.

%%* {{Jerkass}}: Feather Witch.

%%* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Bugg and Kuru Qan]].

---> Of all the gifts Father Shadow has given his children, this one talent stands tallest. [[{{Irony}} Look away to see]]. Trust in it, and you will be led to Shadow. Where all truths hide.

---> Of all the gifts Father Shadow has given his children, this one talent stands tallest. Look away to see. Trust in it, and you will be led to Shadow. Where all truths hide.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Subverted with Queen Janall and Prince Quillas. Despite being selfish and greedy, their fates are still horrifying.

* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:Rhulad Sengar is thrown on the TraumaCongaLine.]]
* ChickMagnet: Turudal Brizard

* {{Jerkass}}: Feather Witch.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Bugg and Kuru Qan]].

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: ''Midnight Tides'' takes place in a part of the setting that is completely unexplored at this point in the series, with only one character being immediately recognizable. Even in a books series infamous for constantly changing viewpoint characters, ''Midnight Tides'' stands out.

* BreakTheHaughty: The Witch-King, once powerful, respected and handsome, is deformed into a hideous, barely mobile wreck by the chaos magic he uses.

* ImpoverishedPatrician: Tehol Beddict once owned about a quarter of he Letherii economy before an economic crash cost his investors most of their money and left him on the street. [[Spoiler:Tehol engineered the entire chain of events as proof-of-concept that the economy could be brought down, and actually hid most of the cash safely; technically, he still owns most of the city. He publicly lives in squalor to avoid suspicion and because it amuses him to confuse people.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: the Witch-King, once powerful, respected and handsome, is deformed into a ideous, barely mobile wreck by the chaos magic he uses.
** made even worse with the Letherii queen, once a beautiful SmugSnake plotter, who is mutated into a hideous, twisted thing by the same. To cap off her humiliation conga, she's kept alive for some reason by the Tiste and gets fat off prison food.

* GodWasMyCo-Pilot: [[Bugg is Mael, the Elder God of the Sea]]
* GuileHero: Tehol made his first fortune hiring homeless people to fish gems from the nobilities sewers. He was 7.
* ImpoverishedPatrician: Tehol Beddict once owned about a quarter of he Letherii economy before an economic crash cost his investors most of their money and left him on the street. [[Spoiler: however, Tehol engineered the crash to rob his asshole investors and hid most of the cash. He public ally lives in squalor to avoid suspicion and partly for the lulls.]]

* LethalChef: inverted with Bugg, who is some how able to keep himself and Tehol alive on a diet consisting of boiled sandals. [[spoiler: a hint of his true powers]]

* [[StrawCharacter Straw Political]]: The Letherii Empire takes capitalism to absurd levels, with large swaths of its population Indebted (forced into indentured servitude) as a result.

* StrawPolitical: The Letherii Empire takes capitalism to absurd levels, with large swaths of its population Indebted (forced into indentured servitude) as a result.

'''''Midnight Tides''''' is the fifth book of ten in ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', and the first in the Letherii arc. It was released in 2004, and is preceded by ''Literature/HouseOfChains''. This volume is notable for employing a loose version of the LiteraryAgentHypothesis -- events are ostensibly narrated by Trull Sengar, a character from the last book -- and for its use of AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent, as it introduces the last of the [[RotatingArcs three major arcs]]. Despite this, it does not employ significant use of LostInMediasRes -- one of the hallmarks of the series -- as it largely follows a more traditional storytelling structure than usual, and, as such, is a somewhat different read from the rest of the series.

* AndIMustScream: {{Invoked}} by Brys Beddict at one point. [[spoiler:During the climax, Brys realises that the only way to ensure that Rhulad Sengar can be removed as Emperor of the Tiste Edur is if he is incapacitated in such a way that he can't act, but also doesn't die to be resurrected and healed by the sword he carries. To that end, he cuts off every motive muscle and tendon in Rhulad's body.]]

* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:The nameless, forgotten water god bound by Hannan Mosag.]]

* PlanetOfHats: The Letherii Empire's hat is ruthless capitalism -- everything revolves around wealth, with expansionism being a means to acquiring more of it. Conquered cultures are forcibly assimilated, with no attempts at integration being made. Despite being a mixing pot of ethnicities, Lether is a very culturally homogeneous nation.

'''''Midnight Tides''''' is the fifth book of ten in ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', and the first in the Letherii arc. It was released in 2004, and is preceded by ''Literature/HouseOfChains''. This volume is notable for employing a loose version of the LiteraryAgentHypothesis--events are ostensibly narrated by Trull Sengar, a character from the last book--and for its use of AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent, as it introduces the last of the [[RotatingArcs three major arcs]]. Despite this, it does not employ significant use of LostInMediasRes, one of the hallmarks of the series, and as such is a somewhat different read from the rest of the books.

To the south, in the Letherii capital of Letheras, the impoverished Tehol Beddict--middle brother of the Beddicts--wakes up on his roof for another day of doing nothing, accidentally exposing himself in public and bickering with his manservant, Bugg. Though once the wealthiest man in Letheras, his possessions now number only a blanket, a bed and some cooking pots, and he does not care much about changing this--at least not on the surface. When a trio of businesswomen approach him with an offer, however, he realises that the time might be right to set certain plans into motion again.

In the imperial palace of Letheras, Brys Beddict--youngest of the Beddict brothers--has proven himself as the foremost swordsman in the Empire, and has thus earned the rank of Royal Champion, the King's closest bodyguard. Brys is an idealistic young man who only wishes to do his duty as a soldier of the Empire, but the court intrigues of Lether leave little room for a neutral party in their midst, and with the Seventh Closure approaching, things start to spiral out of control.

The undead burglar known as Shurq Elalle finds herself suddenly motivated to live again when Tehol offers her a deal; an undead girl named Kettle tries to warn people that the Azath House of Letheras is dying; and back in the Sengar household, the former Indebted of the capitalistic Letherii Empire and now slave of the Tiste Edur called Udinaas finds himself at the center of attention after a Casting of the Tiles--a divination--by the seer Feather Witch draws unwanted visitors.

!!This book contains examples of the following tropes:

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The most infamous case in the series, as only one character is immediately recognizable, and the setting is completely unexplored.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Tusked Milk, a popular drink at some of the richer Letheras winehouses; it is an alcoholic drink made from orange rinds, honey and Tusked Seal sperm.

* PlanetOfHats: The Letherii Empire's hat is ruthless capitalism--everything revolves around wealth, with expansionism being a means to acquiring more of it. Conquered cultures are forcibly assimilated, with no attempts at integration being made. Despite being a mixing pot of ethnicities, Lether is a very culturally homogeneous nation.

* AndIMustScream: {{Invoked}} by Brys Sengar at one point. [[spoiler:During the climax, Brys realises that the only way to ensure that Rhulad Sengar can be removed as Emperor of the Tiste Edur is if he is incapacitated in such a way that he can't act, but also doesn't die to be resurrected and healed by the sword he carries. To that end, he cuts off every motive muscle and tendon in Rhulad's body.]]

* IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream: {{Invoked}} by Brys Sengar at one point. [[spoiler:During the climax, Brys realises that the only way to ensure that Rhulad Sengar can be removed as Emperor of the Tiste Edur is if he is incapacitated in such a way that he can't act, but also doesn't die to be resurrected and healed by the sword he carries. To that end, he cuts off every motive muscle and tendon in Rhulad's body.]]

'''''Midnight Tides''''' is the fifth book of ten in ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', and the first in the Tiste Edur arc. It was released in 2004, and is preceded by ''Literature/HouseOfChains''. This volume is notable for employing a loose version of the LiteraryAgentHypothesis--events are ostensibly narrated by Trull Sengar, a character from the last book--and for its use of AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent, as it introduces the last of the [[RotatingArcs three major arcs]]. Despite this, it does not employ significant use of LostInMediasRes, one of the hallmarks of the series, and as such is a somewhat different read from the rest of the books.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Tusked Milk, a popular drink at some of the richer Letheras winehouses, is an alcoholic drink made from orange rinds, honey and Tusked Seal sperm.

* PlanetOfHats: The Letherii Empire's hat is ruthless capitalism--everything revolves around money, with expansionism being a means to acquiring more money. Conquered cultures are forcibly assimilated, with no attempts at integration being made. Despite being a mixing pot of ethnicities, Lether is a very culturally homogeneous nation.

* Generally, because a Jaghut Tyrant long ago decided to use a magical ice age to keep the region in a metaphysical stasis, the Warren of Death hasn't developed fully, causing havoc with the afterlife and making necromancy quite easy as souls have nowhere to go.
** Shurq Elalle, the best burglar in Lether, died during a Drowning--a trial by ordeal--and found out that one of her victims had cast a curse on her. After spending a few months stuck in a net on the bottom of the canals, she re-emerged, completely apathetic as her primary pleasure in life, sex, had been taken from her. Although rare, the ritual used here is not unique.

'''''Midnight Tides''''' is the fifth book of ten in ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', and the first in the Tiste Edur arc. It was released in 2004, and is preceded by ''Literature/HouseOfChains''. This volume is notable for employing a loose version of the LiteraryAgentHypothesis--events are ostensibly narrated by Trull Sengar, a character from the last book--and for its use of NowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent, as it introduces the last of the [[RotatingArcs three major arcs]]. Despite this, it does not employ significant use of LostInMediasRes, one of the hallmarks of the series, and as such is a somewhat different read from the rest of the books.

Several years prior to ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'', the Tiste Edur have united under Hannan Mosag, their first high king in memory. Tensions are running high in the region, however, as the Letherii Empire to the south is becoming increasingly aggressive with its diplomacy with the approach of a sacred event known as the Seventh Closure. These tensions are only exacerbated when Trull Sengar arrives with the news that Letherii poachers have gone after the seals vital to the Edur populations in the area. Before a major incident can be made of this, though, Hannan Mosag announces he has had a dream of a gift from a god buried in the ice far to the north. In the dream, the Sengar brothers were shown to be part of the group to retrieve it, and so Fear, Trull, Binadas, Rhulad and a few allies set out to find it.

To the south, in the Letherii capital of Letheras, the impoverished Tehol Beddict--middle brother of the Beddicts--wakes up on his roof for another day of doing nothing, accidentally exposing himself in public and bickering with his manservant, Bugg. Though once the wealthiest man in Letheras, his possessions now number only a blanket, a bed and some pots, and he does not care much about changing this--at least not on the surface. When a trio of businesswomen approach him with an offer, however, he realises that the time might be right to set certain plans into motion again.

In the imperial palace of Letheras, Brys Beddict--youngest of the Beddict brothers--has proven himself as the foremost swordsman of the empire, and has thus earned the rank of Royal Champion, the King's closest bodyguard. Brys is an idealistic young man who only wishes to do his duties as a soldier of the empire, but the court intrigues of Lether leave little room for a neutral party in their midst, and with the Seventh Closure approaching, things start to spiral out of control.

Back in the Sengar household, a former indebted of the