He concluded work on The God is Not Willing several months ago but due to delays at the publisher, learned that the book will not be published until late 2021 or early 2022. After debating the issue, Erikson has now committed to finishing Walk in Shadow as soon as possible, for likely publication in 2022 or 2023, before resuming work on the second Witness book.
In his lengthy Facebook post, Erikson debates why the Kharkanas Trilogy has done more poorly than the main Malazan sequence, pondering his choice of prose style (which is even more ornate in Kharkanas and somewhat different to the main series), subject matter (a long-unfolding, gruelling tragedy) and the issue of "Malazan fatigue," noting that he perhaps should have delayed Forge of Darkness by a year or two.
From my position, I suspect Erikson mainly suffered from the four-year gap between the two books. That's really unremarkable by some standards, of course, but considering his previous pace of publishing (although not writing) ten huge novels in eleven years, it was relatively a huge gap in publication. There's also the issue of "completion syndrome," with some readers waiting for a whole series to be finished before starting it. There's also the issue that Fall of Light was published with relatively little fanfare and marketing, and fan reaction to the two books has been mixed.
Still, completing the trilogy will be a major achievement and hopefully Erikson can conclude the story in a way that satisfies his goals and his fans.
Malazan fans won't have to wait quite so long for their next fix, though. Ian Cameron Esslemont's next novel in the same world, The Jhistal, will be published on 17 November this year.
8 comments:
Loved Malazan book of fallen, but i thought the pacing in the Kharkanas books were horrible. Probably one of the most boring reading experiences i have ever had.
Personally I found the 1st book hard work to read.
Possibly more so than Gardens of the Moon, which I found just threw the reader into the deep end, but had more of a reward.
The Witness trilogy will be interesting.
I have found the Path to Ascendancy series enjoyable as well.
I think the decision to reflect a stagnant society by using moribund prose at a turgid pace has backfired somewhat!
I loved all the Malazan books and their accompanying series. Very inspiring, particularly the characters of color who are not subjugated to the background but roles of leadership and vibrancy.
Main characters of colour are not that hard to find these days. They're actually all over the place, especially in YA fantasy and science fiction - and of course the romance genres.
Walk in Shadow is incredible, inspired, and a truly Shakespearian experience that Steven should not only be proud about, but should also be seen as a master of prose who has reached a new level of mastery few if any fantasy writers will ever achieve. All you naysayers need to read it again after reading some Shakespeare, and quit getting hung up on its literary complexity and superb vocabulary, which I can only say does great justice to it's fully realized origin status in a way The Silmarillion didn't even scratch. This need for it to read like far more basic voice of his first ten books is puzzling, and all I can say is it comes off as Steven Erikson's penultimate destination that his first few novice books certainly hinted at, but didn't come close to reaching in the prose department. And I cannot begin to say how appropriate utilizing Shakespearian high drama to address the beginning of the Tiste's origin within the Pantheon of original gods was inspired. After this crap with Martin and Rothfuss all I gotta say is you lousy complainers don't deserve Steven Erikson, nor can you appreciate the kind of skill he's applied here, let alone how that has elevated these Kharkanas books above all else he's done before. Love your work Steven, so sorry so many of your fans could be such vapid little curmudgeon
Totally agree with Juan Turkey here. Steven is delivering and one if not the best fantasy writer nowadays. I loved TMBotF, and The Karkhanas Trilogy. Anomander Rake is the most interesting character alongside quick ben and I expect an adequate ending, for he rekeased mother dark and faded.I want to know what all was about!
I couldn’t agree more. Both Kharkanas books have been amazing
Post a Comment