Like Fantasy novels? I got one for you.....

[neg]

I am HUGE fan of Steven Erikson and I wanted to make a post to the good people of EN World about him.

His first book in The Malazan Book of the Fallen series is now in mass market. It should be hitting stores this weekend.

Gardens of the Moon ISBN 0765348780 $7.99.

Some of us are actually discussing the series here:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?p=1916228#post1916228

He is a writer on par with George R.R. Martin I believe. Some say he is slightly below, some saw he is slightly above. Read and decide for yourself.

Anyway, this is a ten book series. The first five have been written and published in Britain, and they have now been bought and published in the U.S. by Tor books.

Here is a Q & A with Erikson so you can get a feel for the guy:

http://www.tor.com/erikson/meet.html

He mentions and seems to have a lot of respect for Glen Cook and his Black Company series which is one of my all time favorite fantasy series.

The second book in the series, Deadhouse Gates, is due for release in tradepaper in February 2005.

Here is the official website for Steven and his books:

http://malazanempire.com/

The forums there are quite active with fans.

So if you are looking for some good reading and a fantasy with a lot of depth and potential, pick up Gardens of the Moon, I don't think you will be disappointed.

It makes a great, late, stocking stuffer for the fantasy junkie on your holiday list.

Lastly it would be a good consideration for a fantasy book club, especially one that is run on this website perhaps? Just thinking online...!

Hope you take a chance on this guy, he is really a talented author who could make his name writing good quality fiction if he so chose. Luckily for the fantasy genre he isn't!

Thanks for reading.

-neg

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Anyway, this is a ten book series.

Ugh, no thank you.

Anyone else nostalgic for the days when publishers merely wanted pre-planned trilogies out of their writers, locking you into three mediocre books instead of just one?

I call the new paradigm Creeping Jordanization.

 

[CCamfield]

Unlike something like The Wheel of Time, though, each book has a conclusion to it.

 

[neg]

Unlike something like The Wheel of Time, though, each book has a conclusion to it.

Note only that, but the overall plot moves forward at each book as well, unlike Wheel of Time which appears to have no end in sight.

Yes ten books is a long haul, that doesn't mean it is bad in and of itself.

Wouldn't you like to find a series that held your interest that long?

Heck, Wrangler, I will send you a book if you drop me your address in an email.

-neg

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

No ten-book series scares me since I made myself read all of L.Ron Hubbard's Assignment: Earth which I recieved as a gag gift.

 

[Lazybones]

I tried the first book based on the recommendations here; I just couldn't get into it. I managed about 1/2 of the way through before I returned it to the library. Maybe I've read too many overarching epics with ungodly amounts of detail. I find myself gravitating now more to single-volume stories that have a simple beginning, middle, and end, and a few characters we get to know real well, instead of a cast of thousands.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Something to not forget is that this author is Canadian, and already, I believe four of the books are already available in Canada. The US printings are only recently being picked up by a publisher.

At the Canadian Amazon.com you can already by volume 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Volume 6 is due in August 2005 in Canada.

And yes, the series is worth it. Jordan gave massive epics a bad name. Erickson is revitalizing it.

 

[Dakkareth]

It's the complexity and the layers of significance that attract me to Erikson's work. After reading one book once you might be lost, but the more you read the more connections you make, the more you learn about the past events, that still drive present developments. Of course this is personal preference.

 

[barsoomcore]

To all potential readers: be warned that the first book is famously difficult to get through, but that pretty much everyone who's stuck through that and gone on to the second book has been hooked. The first book IS a tough read, especially if you're not into keeping track of dozens of characters, locations, plots and schemes. But after that this guy really opens up all the throttles. These books are AMAZING.

Erickson is, for my money, second only to Steven Brust in fantasy these days. And I consider Brust one of the great writers of ANY genre.

And Erickson's scope, and the sweep of his imagination, are awesome. This is a story that could only be told in the fantasy genre. It's about ideas that could not possibly be expressed in any other milieu. Halfway through and I'm blown away by what he's accomplished. It remains to be seen if he'll be able to close things off, but right now I'm full of confidence.

Do make a special effort on that first book, though. I promise you it's worth it.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Something to not forget is that this author is Canadian, and already, I believe four of the books are already available in Canada.

The fifth book has been on the shelves here since March or April.

These books are absolutely mind-blowing. The depth of the world, the gray morality and complex machinations of the extremely imaginative characters.. wow.

In the words of one of the more memorable characters from the novels: "Witness!".