In the earlier parts of the book dealing with the Barghast (a tribal warrior nation), various mentions are made of the "hobbling" custom. It consists of hacking off the toes, or even close to half the foot, from both feet of a woman, and then cauterizing the wounds. The victim is then obviously barely able to walk anymore, and after this process is considered the lowest of the low in the camp. She is gang raped and thereafter expected to have sex with any "man, woman or campdog" (one would hope the last part isn't meant literally) who wants to - which evidently isn't considered adultery or anything of the sort.

True to the old Chekhov adage of having to fire the gun in the third act if you've shown it in the first, Erikson then proceeds to have this happen to one of his characters, Hetan. Who wasn't exactly a major character, but among the better and more interesting characters at least. After the hobbling itself and the gang rape, she is depicted as dead inside and barely worth saving anymore (as her brother is trying to do), which only adds insult to injury. As it happens, the saving fails in any case, and she dies. Exit Hetan.

So yeah, one can see why people would give up the series in disgust... even by Erikson's standards, Hetan's end is particularly brutal.