Elsewhere, I am informed that Steven Erikson is two and a half chapters from completing The Crippled God, the quasi-final Malazan novel. Erikson writes pretty big chapters, so that's not a trivial amount left to write, but the end is definitely within sight. The novel is currently slated for publication in January 2011 in the UK and possibly a little later in the USA.
23 comments:
Good news on The Crippled God. Do you happen to know if the Canadian release coincides with the UK release?
The Canadian date may be later, as with DUST OF DREAMS (where Canada had to wait an extra month, which was odd), although Canadians should be able to get import copies via the Book Depository. Same for Americans, who otherwise might have to wait a while longer for the Tor edition.
Good news all around. I've never read anything by Sanderson, do you think Way of Kings is a good jumping off point, or should I look elsewhere?
THE WAY OF KINGS takes place in the same universe as ELANTRIS, MISTBORN and WARBREAKER, but so far the links between the books have barely been noticeable. WAY OF KINGS and its sequels are definitely supposed to stand on their own without any foreknowledge of anything else he's written.
I thought Crippled God was the conclusion of Erikson's Malazon series. Could you elaborate a little on "quasi-final?"
Mike
Quasi-final in that Esslemont is still writing books in the Malazan world and Erikson is contracted to write another 6 or so, just not in the Book of the Fallen "timeline".
adam,no offense man but you are way off track. WAY OF KINGS has absoulutly NOTHING to do with his other works. its funny how you do a blog post on misconceptions in the fantasy\sci-fi field and yet you step into that role of getting things mixed up. maybe you should read his books more carefully.
not that im into sanderson and his over-hyped piece of SHITE wheel of time ripoff anyway.complete hogwash.rather wait for brent weeks's new trilogy [as well as anything else from erikson, abercrombie, novik or even martin!] better writers than him.
THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE series, THE MISTBORN TRILOGY, ELANTRIS and WARBREAKER, along with several as-yet unreleased series and novels, all take place in the 'Shards of Andonalsium' universe. Andonalisum was some kind of deity or energy that was destroyed at the dawn of the universe, and its shards ended up on many different planets where they had different impacts, resulting in the creation of the various deities (Ruin and Preservation from MISTBORN are two such Shards) and the different magic systems. A powerful magic-user named 'Hoid' has been following the Shards to their various worlds, using time and dimension-hopping magic to travel between the various planets. He has appeared in every single one of Sanderson's solo adult fantasy novels to date, and is expected to cameo in THE WAY OF KINGS (unless Sanderson decides to break the pattern).
According to Sanderson, an 'evil' Shard is in WAY OF KINGS, setting that book and its series firmly in his established cosmology. In fact, he has said that all of his adult fantasy work (excluding WHEEL OF TIME, which is someone else's playground, and his YA work like ALCATRAZ) will be set in this shared universe, culminating in a DARK TOWER-style story that collects all of these background elements together.
The full information on this backdrop, including how it impacts on WAY OF KINGS, is contained in this thread:
http://www.timewastersguide.com/forum/index.php?topic=5475.0
Many thanks, Adam, for the info on the Canuckian release of the Crippled God. I think I might actually pick up the hardcover. Up until now I have only purchased remaindered or mmpb copies. I would like to have at least one first edition hard cover volume.
Thanks again (from the first anonymous poster).
okay adam. even if im going to accept that, cant they be thought of as just being seperate worlds still?
buy still, i cant STAND sanderson and his "lets take fantasy back to the days where good guys and farmboys always prevailed YAYYY!!!" attitude. oh and his DAMN MAGIC SYSTEMS. apparently he's been dubbed the magic guy [not suprising]. magic, in my opinion, can be used only when APPROPRIATE TO THE STORY [brent weeks and his night angel trilogy is a good example]. but of course, try telling sanderson that. Cant he go two EFFING books without going "hmm,this sounds a bit dull. i know what it needs:MAGIC".
as much as i hate to say this, i will check out his new book and see if he does not stir me wrong [and if he does, i,ll either burn it in a bonfire with that alcatraz book or just turn it in for a refund and wait for abrahams dagger and coin series instead].
apollogies if i sound too much of a jackass. my comment might get deleted [for being too long anyway]. just wanted to get my two cents out there
Anon, you don't sound like a jackass for not liking 'nice' Fantasy. But there's a obviously pretty big readership who still wants to see the good guys win, or who - like me - wants a variation of stories, depending on my mood.
Sure, there's a good guess the slave guy in chapter 2 will get out and probably save the day at some point, but we can make such guesses for other writers, too. Let's see: in case of Martin's he'a going to die, in an Abercrombie book he'd remain a slave, in Eriksons's world he'll get access to a Warren, kick a lot of asses really bad and then die. :)
BTW, I'm looking forward to the new Daniel Abraham as well.
Tastes differ, nothing wrong with that.
But why would anyone keep buying & reading books by someone they can't stand is beyond me. Stop reading Sanderson, anon: Problem solved! ;-)
gabriele, i get what your saying. it is easy to make guesses about other authors, but if there one distinctive trait that seperates sanderson from say abercrombie of erikson is that those authors make them [even if they are super-badasses in erikson's case] bleed, sweat and suffer through their battles and hardships. plus the characters are more conflicted in their sense of morality [shades of grey, to be more specific]. magic is less abundant too, which means that characters have to rely on combat skill\talent or luck to survive [where for sanderson's characters, a few fireballs is all they need to solve their problems]. this and the fact that he too often features the goody two-shoes type of character [this is a problem in YA fantasy too but thats a different argument altogether], just didnt work out for me. oh yeah, im also looking forward to that too. I never read his long price series nor had interest [im more into gritty fantsy, hince my dislike of sanderson]. but from what ive heard from interviews it sounds intresting
:)
juns: i did stop reading sanderson. but with his new series i couldnt help but become curious. not to be mean but please tell me, how is way of kings going to be DIFFERENT from his other works [seriously, how is it really]?
sorry. mispelled 'fantasy' there
[brent weeks and his night angel trilogy is a good example]
FAIL.
If you think that Brent Weeks could be a good example of anything positive, than your scale of judgment is seriously wrong.
Brandon Sanderson isn't a genius, I can agree, but Brent Weeks, come on!
oh sure. brent weeks isnt the BEST writer on the planet. but at least he dosent use MAGIC as a driving force for the plot than the charactors.
and how about the rest of the crowd,eh. what about abercrombie, lynch and maybe even erikson [you might not think that weeks is up there with them, but he writes fantasy just as well].
i know you dont like him and i respect your opinion but still.
The DARK TOWER comparison? Yours or Sanderson's? I'm just curious as to whether or not it was Sanderson himself who used King's opus as a means to describe his own ambitions.
im with you.
even with adam's explenation, i still dont get it.
I'm pretty sure the Dark Tower comparison is Adam's, not that it matters IMO. It's a good comparison. I think each of Sanderson's worlds are in a different planet in the same universe, but one character we know of somehow has the ability to transport to the different planets.
The DARK TOWER reference is because the DARK TOWER books bring together elements established in Stephen King's totally stand-alone novels (such as Randall Flagg and the virus-ravaged alternate-history Earth in THE STAND, elements of SALEM'S LOT and EYE OF THE DRAGON) which are then brought front-and-centre in the DARK TOWER. Reading, or even knowledge of the existence of, THE DARK TOWER is series is absolutely not required for enjoyment of the earler novels.
In a similar manner, Sanderson has said that at some point we will get Andonalsium and Hoid's full story (possibly in a book called HOID, possibly in a series), knowledge of which will enhance enjoyment of his other books but is not necessary to enjoy them on their own merits.
I understand how King's works relate to his opus. My question was did Sanderson himself compare his ambitious project to King's DARK TOWER? The tone of your last reply leads me to believe this isn't the case, and that it was a comparison you've made yourself. And that's cool. As I said, I was simply curious.
-Alrin
(also responsible for comment #17)
now adam, do answer me this.
when and where did brandon personally say [be it an interview or on his own website] that his worlds were related. it seems that I cant find where the topic is that discussed it.
The comparison came from earlier fan discussions of the situation on various forums.
I linked the primary discussion thread on Sanderson's forum in an earlier comment. Sanderson himself (his handle there is EUOL) and his assistant Peter Ahlstrom both comment on it there.
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