Amph Steven Erikson - The Malazan Book of the Fallen

There's fanmade world maps that are semi-helpful, although there's debate over the placement of an entire continent (!). There should be a map of Genabackis in GotM; if not, I can try to find one when I get home from class.

Honestly Night of Knives is underwhelming. Esselmont's spin-off novels improve as he writes more of them, but his earlier stuff is nothing compared to Erikson. Then again, I place Erikson above Martin, so my opinion might be skewed.

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Esslemont's work gets progressively better...though I didn't care for Blood and Bone; with the exception of certain scenes.

I also prefer Erikson to Martin...although a bit different. Erikson's novels in the Malazan Series are superior to Esslemont's , but some storylines in Esslemont's books are really good.

 

Really looking forward to Assail.

Everyone here does know of Willful Child, don't they? Just in case....

GO READ THIS: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/11/steven-erikson-willful-child-preview

 

I am looking forward to Assail as well. Hoping some loose threads get tied up...or at least some more questions answered...

 

yeah i can already tell im going to like erikson better than martin. probably aspect for why i love this book so much instantly is because erikson and i share a way of looking at the world. as far as i know this is the first fantasy or sci-fi novel ive read by someone trained in anthropology and it really shows

 

That and Erikson tends to be able to actually keep to a timetable!

 

Right!

Erikson produces 700 to 1000 page novels every 1-2 years...

We might get Winds of Winter ...when...2-3 years from now?

 

is that martin's current estimate? or is he still refusing to make an estimate? lol. yeah didnt this series start in the 2000s?

 

Thats cuz Erikson is, you know, a professional.

 

i think this is another thing i feel comfortable attributing to his background in anthropology. we write a LOT of papers

 

You're an anthropologist, Rogue?

I'm pretty sure somebody's already named all the spiders.

 

Have you guys read Forge of Darkness yet?

 

is that even available stateside? i never see it in stores in the malazan section lol

 

Lol...yeah it's been out for awhile.

 

Hooo boy, if you think his anthropologist training shows through in Gardens of the Moon, wait til you hit House of Chains. If you continue to enjoy it, you should read the interviews that TOR does with him after they finish a book in the ongoing reread. He explains exactly why he made a lot of the choices he did in writing it, and it's fascinating. The aforementioned House of Chains is a deconstruction of the barbarian in fantasy, from an anthropological perspective.

Forge of Darkness is good, if very slow at first. I'd recommend reading the whole series beforehand- Erikson has said that it might work better if you've never read Malazan apparently, but there's a lot in it that seems superfluous if you haven't read the Book of the Fallen. There's also some stuff in it that makes the timeline even more confusing, but Erikson has never been too attached to timeline details. This isn't the EU, after all.

 

I enjoyed FOD...it is interesting learning about past events that later come to a head in the MBOTF.

 

Nope, got the hardback of Forge of Darkness but finding it harder to remember stories 2-3 years later so am being extra-patient!

So, Winds of Winter is Book 3? Nice title, when I've got that, I'll work my way through the trilogy!

And yeah, 2-3 years is him being leisurely!

 

Winds of Winter is the next Martin novel. The joke is that Martin takes longer to write each successive novel.

Unlike Erikson, who can maintain a steady level of quality at a 1000-page-per-year pace.

 

Ah, thanks.

 

I read Forge of Darkness after reading The Crippled God...so the Tiste Andii were fresh in my mind...

The MBOTF is a good reference for the Kharkanas trilogy...but I found that I assumed too much...Erikson surprised me with some of the reveals.

 

The biggest surprise I had with FoD was how Scara Bandaris was characterized. Though the identities of several of the Azathanai were also interesting.

 

I want to see how the eventual showdown with Rake and Draconus plays out.

 

I think I was on the fourth book before I stopped for a bit. I loved Chain of Dogs and the march, that was fantastic. And Memories of Ice was superb and my favourite, but the next one I couldn't get into.

 

I think a lot of people have the same reaction to HOC...but stick with it, Karsa has one of the most interesting character arcs.

 

HOC put me off continuing the series for a number of years. It was only last year that I borrowed Midnight Tides, which was surprisingly entertaining. That's another book where Eriksson's anthropological knowledge shines through.