Hah, just when I think there’s not a grand narrative, a grand narrative of sorts emerges…this world is constant conflict between enormously powerful forces, of which humans are just another part…the Malazan Empire is an attempt at ordering this world in a way that allows humans to not destroy each other…it (the series) is not concerned with the planet, necessarily, but it is very concerned with how humans find power in a world in which they are not the most powerful entities unless working together…
I am not sure what to do with this, or its accuracy, but these insights came to me with Erikson’s introduction of the motives behind the Forkrul Assail. The FA seek to cleanse the planet of humans because we are so destructive, and they are formidable as well but seem to be not very self-aware of their limits. This portrayal could be read as a critique of Gaia theory, I guess, but I think it’s not very productive or accurate to read anything in this series as a critique of any specific ideology. In my mind this series works subtly as a general look at how fantasy works, and thus larger cultural critiques fit as critiques of how fantasy does those sorts of critiques.
So the grand narrative that I believe is being proposed is that grand narratives are useless? Needs some work…
