Salon.com article about Gardens of the Moon

[theburningman]

Check out this article about Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen on Salon.com.

Archaeologist of Lost Worlds

 

[barsoomcore]

I like. It sums up a lot of the reasons I like Erikson so much. But it misses the primary one:

Erikson is writing fantasy novels because the stories he's telling REQUIRE this genre. There is no other way for him to talk about the things he's trying to talk about -- the scope of history and the sweep of evolution and continental changes. He's getting at myth and how the far, far distant past affects us here and now in ways we can't even comprehend. Without fantasy he's got no way to tell this story.

Which is a welcome thing in an industry of what are mostly pot-boiler romances with swords.

And extra points for "Extruded Fantasy Product" -- that's BRILLIANT.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Thanks, Barsoomcore. I'll share this with my friends to continue to try to make some converts. Interesting article... One thing I wasn't sure about though was that he seems to say there is a lot of internal inconsistency -- he does go on to say it's realistic and a good thing, but that wasn't something I've really noticed at all. You?

I'm still reading Midnight Tides. Have gotten sidetracked by a few things and busy with work. Let me know when you finish.

 

[barsoomcore]

I think he's talking about how different groups or individuals have differing notions of what's true or not. So that various mythologies are inconsistent with each other.