So…..I am a huge fan of both Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont. They’ve created one of the richest worlds I’ve ever had the pleasure of living. I’m pretty sure I own every single word these two gentleman have published and I have it all in hard cover. I’ve also had an interesting history with them. I first stumbled upon S.E.’s work at a bookstore in Heathrow Airport during a flight from Malaysia to Indianapolis. I found softcover editions of both Deadhouse Gates and Memories Of Ice, the blurbs were intriguing and the cover art was pretty compelling. I bought both, stuck them in my bag and spent the London to Indy leg of my trip digging into Deadhouse Gates. I loved it – truly loved it – and went straight on to Memories Of Ice – but in all honesty – I struggled. These two guys created an incredibly complex universe – it was initially conceived as a D&D type role playing game – but they don’t waste much time in their books providing back story. While I enjoyed every word, there were few pages that didn’t leave me with huge questions about what was really going on. I nevertheless persisted – buying and reading every subsequent book written by S.E. – up to and including Reaper’s Gale.
At that point, I think I just ran out of steam. The bits and pieces of lore and back story that I never really understood reached critical mass and I started getting a little frustrated. I continued to buy S.E.’s books as they were published but let them sit on the shelf for a number of years. That could have turned into a permanently tragic case of series interruptus until several recent and fortuitous discoveries brought me back to the work. First and foremost, I found the Malazan Wiki, a key that unlocked almost every bit of unexplained history and lore from every book these two had ever written. This is a little embarrassing to admit but I also came to the realization that Ian C. Esslement was Steve’s partner, that this was actually a shared endeavor and that you can’t truly appreciate and understand the world they’d created without reading both authors. Finally, after concluding his anchor series, “A Tale Of The Malazan Book Of The Fallen” with the publication of Book 10, “The Crippled God”, S.E went back and started building out the early history of his universe by launching “The Kharkanas Trilogy” with “Forge Of Darkness”. Similarly, once I.E. had finished his primary story arc, he did some work on the backstory, first with “Night Of Knives” and then with his “Path To Ascendency” series.. I bought all of those books, read them and – with the help of the Malazan Wiki – I actually, really, finally understood EVERYTHING that was happening.
**One correction here – I.E. actually authored “Night Of Knives” as the first volume in his primary story arc – followed by “Return Of The Crimson Guard”. When I first started reading these novels – I began with S.E. and wasn’t even aware of I.E. as a collaborator / partner – wish I had so that I could have started with his “Night Of Knives” and S.E.’s “Gardens Of The Moon” – that might have helped a bit with some of the content involving the Malazan Empire that I’d initially struggled with. Having said that, the discovery of the Malazan Wiki was the thing that really helped me get my arms around this huge universe.**
All those wonderful little word-building epiphanies led inevitably to the decision to return to S.E’s anchor series. I started at the very beginning with “Gardens Of The Moon” and read up to and through “Memories Of Ice”. I’ve just started “House Of Chains” and I’m very happy to say that I’m enjoying even more than I did the first time through.
For anyone just starting down this road, I’d recommend that you start with S.E.’s Kharkanas Trilogy. “Forge Of Darkness” and “Fall Of Light” are currently available and “Walk In Shadow” will eventually be available. They provide some very valuable history touching on the Tiste peoples, the Jaghut, the Azathanai and the formation of the Warrens. Once done with these, transition to the Paths To Ascendency novels by I.E – “Dancer’s Lament” and “Deadhouse Landing” are currently availabe with – I have to assume – more on the way. Those novels chronicle the emergence of the Malazan Empire as it exists in all the later novels and introduces Kellanved, Dancer, Dassem, Tayschrenn, Surly and all the other principal Malazan characters that you run into later on down the line.
If you start here and don’t hesitate to use the Wiki, you’re going to have a much smoother introduction to this world than I did.
Here are a few links that might be valuable for anyone just starting out:
Malazan Wiki: http://malazan.wikia.com/wiki/Malazan_Wiki
Overview Wiki Entry On The Full Body of S.E. / I.E.’s work: http://malazan.wikia.com/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen
One final note – just today, I found a new title released in this series – “The Fiends Of Nightmaria” by S.E. It’s the newest novella about two really fascinating but tangential characters – necromancers named Bauchelain and Korbal Broach. Just oredered it on Amazon. These stories are fascinating and disturbing and funny – all in one. I’ve enjoyed every word of them.
That’s what’s On The Nightstand this week.
Cheers