Just a few things from the Boatman's song:

"Let us aim our children as spears!" - a pretty Dunyain thing for nonmen to do.  Maybe the nonmen are nothing more than an earlier dunyain experiment carried out on a much longer timeline?

"And the ground gave forth many sons, Ninety-nine who were as Gods..." - are the gods nothing more than ascendent nonmen/nonwomen?  The nonmen on Earwa might be nothing more than the weaker, rebellious sect; not so much avoiding damnation as avoiding the tyranny of submitting to stronger brethren who would punish the rebels for refusing to bow.

That might explain why Earwa is the 'promised world' for the Inchoroi.  Let's say in time long long ago, nonpersons ascended to a higher plane of reality/power and thus exercised dominion over the entire physical realm and all of the planets.  These 'gods' established hells where they would eat but not for any particular sins--just the stronger consuming the weaker.  The inchoroi are displeased with the arrangement and so send out a bunch of Arks in search of the one place that made hell possible. 

Anybody have thoughts on the significance of the Boatman singing a 'new' song right where he does on page 327?

The impact of the number 99 intrigues me. That number, as well as 100 is found in more than one context.
Also the whole song about the 99 who lived like gods, fathers be as your sons, etc. had me thinking. Most of the words used to phrase the song can be read in more than one way.

Rage--Goddess! Sing of your flight,
From our fathers and our sons.
Away, Goddess! Secret your divinity!
From the conceit that makes kings of fools
From the scrutiny that makes corpses of souls.
Mouths open, arms thrown wide, we beseech thee:
Sing us the end of your song.

They did hoist Anarlû’s head high,
And poured down its blood as fire.
And the ground gave forth many sons,
Ninety nine who were as Gods,
And so bid their fathers
Be as sons…

For example:
"Rage--Goddess" can be read as: "Godess of rage" and/or "Godess, be angry"
"Sing of your flight" as "let us chase you while you run away" or "tell us about your journey"
"Goddess, secret your divinity" can both be read as "give us your power" and "die already"

I'm as native a speaker as it gets for a non-native speaker, but I'm sure there's more dimensions I'm not seeing.

Also, wasn't the Ark compared to a womb (= as female)?

There's also the matter of the 99 stones combined with the 100th stone of Korringhus. Still wondering how this ties into it all.

I think that I am in the minority for not liking Mimara, but she strikes me as shallow, petty, bitter, spiteful, and the fact that SHE has the JE and sees herself as saved and everyone else around her as damned just kinda rubbed me the wrong way.  While TGO expounded on that in a satisfying way, I just have that bad first taste that tarnishes her sections somewhat for me.

I have something similar about Mimara: I liked her POV in TJE and WLW. But in TGO, one passage after the other made me dislike her more and more. When I finally came to the conclusion as to the why, it was because of the self-righteousness radiating in her. By the time I got to that, I realized it had been there all along, but the more she "gives into" the Judging Eye (and/or the Qirri), the more intense the tone of self-righteousness gets. Comparable in a way to the way I felt Titirga is described/talks in TFS.

Favored passages:
Akka (all books)
Kellhus (all books)
Sorweel (starting from the Ten-yoke Legion)
Cnaiür
Saubon and/or Proyas (all books)

Least favored:
Meppa (except the showdown with Kellhus)
Kelmomas
Mimara

Quote from: gtownwr on September 12, 2016, 09:01:39 pm

Quote from: Dont Skald Me Bro on August 10, 2016, 11:56:54 pm

What was the deal with the little Nonmen statue things that were running around the Boatman's legs on and all that on the descent?

I read this as a dream or vision that Sorweel had and not reality.

Didn't seem a vision to me, it seemed like Orinaral noticed them too.

I interpreted it as the weird perspective of Nonman statues (as described outside of Ishterebinth, and in Cil-Aujas) dancing in the light of a torch or Cant.

I'm inclined to believe he came for Kelmomas and has been conditioning him this entire time.

Maybe. I'm inclined to believe Kellhus has known about Kelmomas all along.
But the main thing is possibly the battle vs Yatwer and Ajokli. After leaving Proyas in charge, I think he popped to the Outside and confronted the deities, ultimately leading him back to Momemn, where their avatars supposedly are.

While reading the Ishterebinth chapters I tried to construct a map of the city. I found it gave a better idea of the scale you're looking at.
Also, I quickly adopted the idea that by going deeper into the city, you're delving not only into the into the memory of the soul within the Amiolas, an Era-old Cunnuroi (Epic), but also into the collective attempt to fight off the memory loss of the entire Cunuroi race (even more Epic). Given the big fuss that is given about Memory in general since TDTCB (ex. The Mandate Dreams), I find this quite a big deal.

Edit: Also the end is quite epic, with a Cunnuroi remembering .

I agree with you Titan. My choice of words in the previous post may habe been poor: I do not assume Wards block everything continually. The easiest way to try and explain this is by using the Anagogic wards used during the famed Battle of Shimeh:
The wards are being described as Bulwark of this, Carapace of that, etc. That's because that is what it is. The bulwark and carapace can only take so much damage before being pierced/destroyed.
This is mentioned more than once in the books: The way to defeat a fellow mage isby overwhelming the opponents defences faster than that he can "repair" or "reinforce" them. This goes for mundane attacks as well: If my memory serves, in TJE, when Sorweel saves Eskeles, the cracking and breaking of his wards is being described as the Sranc attempt to break through.

In addition, Akka is described as only being able to chant his most simple wards because he is overwhelmed by Cleric's onslaught in WLW, or by the concerted effort of multiple Scarlet Spires in TWP.
Every attack batters an opponent's ward. Magic, or a charge by a dragon will go faster than a lone guy with a sword.

A nuke will probably blast his wards in an instant and kill him stone-dead.

This is true. Which suggests their weapons of light weren't enough to overcome the Quyan wards.

I don't remember dragons being specifically immune to magic, either Quyan or Gnostic. But the sheer mass of iron would give them  both enough resistance, momentum and impact-strength to crush any sorcerer.
I expect it's more like the difference between using a saw (but then an Abstraction of light) on flesh or on iron. It may work in the end, but the spells used are not developed for this.

True as well. The curse of the seventh son of Coithus Eryeat.

I find the nickname The Blonde Beast interesting as well. Was it in one of the Kianene passages in TPON that he was called thus?