Crack'd Pot Trail is the fourth published novella in the Bauchelain & Korbal Broach series by Steven Erikson. Chronologically, it is set after The Healthy Dead.
The novella is also included in The Second Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach.
Publisher's Summary[]
The intrepid necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, scourges of civilization, raisers of the dead, reapers of the souls of the living, devourers of hope, betrayers of faith, slayers of the innocent and modest personifications of evil, have a lot to answer for and answer they will. Known as the Nehemoth, they are pursued by countless self-professed defenders of decency, sanity and civilization. After all, since when does evil thrive unchallenged? Well, often: but not this time.
Hot on their heels are the Nehemothanai, avowed hunters of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. In the company of a gaggle of artists and pilgrims, stalwart Mortal Sword Tulgord Vise, pious Well Knight Arpo Relent, stern Huntsman Steck Marynd, and three of the redoubtable Chanter brothers (and their lone sister) find themselves faced with the cruelest of choices. The legendary Crack'd Pot Trail, a stretch of harsh wasteland between the Gates of Nowhere and the Shrine of the Indifferent God, has become a tortured path of deprivation.
Will honour, moral probity and virtue prove champions in the face of brutal necessity? No, of course not. Don't be silly.
Dramatis Personae[]
A
- Anomander Rake, First Son of Darkness (Mentioned only)[1]
- Apto Canavalian, judge for The Century's Greatest Artist (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Arpo Relent, Well Knight, one of the Nehemothanai (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Aurpan, poet and traveler (Mentioned only)[3]
- Avas Didion Flicker, poet and adventurer[4]
B
- Bauchelain, necromancer and partner of Korbal Broach, one of the Nehemoth (First mentioned)[1] (First appearance)[5]
- Brash Phluster, young poet and singer (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
C
- Calap Roud, writer at the end of his career (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Dantoc Calmpositis, matriarch of Reliant City (Mentioned only)[2]
- Draconus, consort of Mother Dark (Mentioned only)[1]
E
- Emancipor Reese, manservant to Bauchelain and Korbal Broach[5]
F
- The Fenn, character from an old tale (Mentioned only)[3]
- Ferryman, hooded man with an agenda[5]
- Fisher kel Tath, well known bard (Mentioned only)[1]
- Flea Chanter, twin Chanter brother (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
G
- Gormle Ess of Ivant, poet (Mentioned only)[1]
I
- Imass woman, character from an old tale (Mentioned only)[3]
K
- Kalam Mekhar, assassin (Mentioned only)[1]
- Korbal Broach, necromancer and partner of Bauchelain, one of the Nehemoth (Mentioned only)[1]
L
M
- Mendic Hellup, healer (Mentioned only)[1]
- Midge Chanter, twin Chanter brother (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Mister Must Ambertroshin, manservant to Dantoc Calmpositis (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
N
- Nifty Gum, three time winner of the Mantle of The Century's Greatest Artist (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
O
- Oggle Gush, member of Nifty Gum's entourage (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Ordig, poet and traveler (Mentioned only)[3]
P
- Pampera, member of Nifty Gum's entourage (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Purse Snippet, famed dancer (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
R
- Relish Chanter, Chanter sister (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
S
- Sandroc of Blight, poet (Mentioned only)[1]
- Sardic Thew, self proclaimed caravan host (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Sellup, member of Nifty Gum's entourage (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Sensible poet, ill-fated caravan member[3]
- Steck Marynd, taciturn woodsman, one of the Nehemothanai (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Stenla Tebur of Aren, poet (Mentioned only)[3]
T
- Tiny Chanter, eldest member of the Chanter family (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
- Tulgord Vise, Mortal Sword of the Sisters, one of the Nehemothanai (First mentioned)[2] (First appearance)[3]
Plot Summary[]
Trivia[]
- Author Steven Erikson cited British explorer Richard Francis Burton as the inspiration for the voice of Crack'd Pot Trail.[6] Specifically, Burton's introduction to his translation of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night was where Erikson found the voice of Flicker.[7]
- Erikson also found inspiration in Walter Scott's Ivanhoe and Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.[8] He describes the novella as The Canterbury Tales meets the Donner Party.[9]
- Erikson credits the novella as "possibly the most enjoyable writing experience I've ever had",[10] although he says "it's actually not easy to write really bad poetry. It's quite challenging...You've got to deliberately break a whole bunch of rules...[and be] deliberately awkward."[11]
External links[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Crack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 4
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 Crack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 2
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 Crack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 3
- ↑ Crack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Crack'd Pot Trail, Chapter 6
- ↑ Steven Erikson Facebook post - 5 May 2020
- ↑ Novellas (and more) with Steven Erikson - Smiley's Podcast - See 8:40
- ↑ Novellas (and more) with Steven Erikson - Smiley's Podcast - See 10:00
- ↑ Not A TSACast: Fireside Conversations with Steven Erikson Ep#3 podcast - See 46:30
- ↑ Steven Erikson Facebook post 25 June 2021
- ↑ A Conversation with Steven Erikson - Malazan Mid-Series Reflection - Green Team of the Legendarium - See 17:25