Interview with Ian C. Esslemont

Myself and a handful of other bloggers helped Pat come up with some questions for an interview with Ian Cameron Esslemont that is posted at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. It mostly regards his lates book, Return of the Crimson Guard (review). One rather large spoiler is contained in the question - Can you give us a bit of a synopsis regarding STONEWIELDER? - so beware.

Review: Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian C. Esslemont

Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen is arguably the most exciting on-going series in epic fantasy. Less known is that Erikson had help when creating the Malazan world from his long-time friend Ian C. Esslemont. As co-creator, Esslemont has his own tales to tell, related to yet somewhat apart from Erikson’s main series. His first entry in the Malazan world was Night of Knives (US, UK, Canada), the tale of one night in Malaz and one of the most exciting convergences of power we’ve seen yet. Return of the Crimson Guard (US, UK, Canada) is Esslemont’s second entry, falling in the time between Erikson’s seventh and eighth books – Reaper’s Gale (US, UK, Canada) and Toll the Hounds (US, UK, Canada), respectively.

Due in part to overextension, the Malazan Empire fades from the glory of its founders in the hands of the current empress, Laseen. The continent of its governmental seat and one the empire’s earliest conquests, Quon Tali, rises in rebellion, largely led by surviving ‘Old Guard’, long-lived, legendary leaders from the empire prior to Laseen’s rule. At the same time, the empire’s sworn enemy, the Crimson Guard, returns with visions of complete and total destruction of the empire while suffering internal conflict about the true goals of the invasion.

As readers have come to expect in the world of Malazan, Return of the Crimson Guard weighs in with a hefty page count and numerous plot lines that converge in a final battle. New characters are introduced, old characters revisited, and some of the whispered and rumored come to life.

Comparison to Erikson is inevitable for Esslemont, and the simple truth is that Esslemont still has a long way to go. Night of Knives was clearly the work of a first-time author and Return of the Crimson Guard is only an adequate sophomore effort. The brilliance of Erikson is his ability to tell a kick-ass story while interweaving powerful thematic elements. His use of the soldier and their equivalents as an everyman/everywoman entwined with dark, gallows humor makes equally entertains and inspires. Esslemont has gotten quite good at the story telling part, but lacks the depth that makes for great writing. Essentially lacking thematic elements, the feel of an everyman/everywoman, and that wonderful gallows humor of Erikson is nowhere to be found. On top of this, Esslemont often suffers with trying too hard, particularly with vocabulary. Especially early on, he utilizes unnecessarily big and obscure wording, often at odds with the point of view of the character at hand. Whether the attempt was to create the all important atmosphere of a fantasy world separate from our own or if he was just showing off a bit, it was an annoyance.

In the Malazan world, characterization ranges widely and inspires much discussion. I have always felt Erikson can do wonders for characterization with just a few words while Esslemont is still a bit awkward. He clearly knows the relevant facts about his characters, but only rarely does more come out – I’m left feeling that most of his characters are little more than note cards – a face, name, nationality, general age, with important actions. Unfortunately only a few really stand out as fully realized characters.

Another aspect of Return of the Crimson Guard that annoyed at times happens when Esslemont crosses the line of mysteriousness to a seemingly obtuse refusal to provide the relevant information – of course Erikson is equally guilty of this at times, but generally handles it better. I know that this is par for the course in the Malazan world, but really now it’s just become annoying (I was tempted to use the word infuriating, but backed off).

Return of the Crimson Guard is Esslemont’s second entry in the Malazan canon, bringing the total to 10 books and 3 novellas between Erikson and Esslemont, with many more to come. In spite of all the issues I mention above, the story that Esslemont tells is an excellent addition that becomes completely enthralling by the end – I read the final 300 pages in one sitting. Esslemont still has some growing ahead to become a polished writer and is not yet in the same field as Erikson, but I suspect fans of Malazan won’t be disappointed by Return of the Crimson Guard. Remember, I’m an affirmed fanboy when it comes to these books, so my ultimate enjoyment of this book exceeds its overall quality. 7/10

Related Posts: Interview with Steven Erikson, Toll the Hounds Review, Reaper's Gale review, The Bonehunters review, The Lees of Laughter's End review

Reaper’s Gale Release Date

Ok, so I’m going to bow to reader demand here – every day I get quite a few search hits looking for the release of Reaper’s Gale by Steven Erikson. So, here are the dates you need to know.

• May 7, 2007 in the UK – link to Amazon.uk
• June 26, 2007 in Canada – link to Amazon.ca
  

No word (that I know of) for a US release (or other languages) – I would suspect it’ll be sometime in 2008 or early 2009.

Now wait, another very common search is for the release of Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian Cameron Esslemont. To my knowledge, there is no firm date on this one yet, but it is slated for some time in 2008. However, Night of Knives is about to have a wide release:

• June 7, 2007 in the UK – link to Amazon.uk
• July 24, 2007 in the US – link to Amazon.com
• July 24, 2007 in Canada – link to Amazon.ca

Erikson and Esslemont Release Dates!

Good news about release dates from Transworld via Pat over at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist.

At the moment we’re due to publish NIGHT OF KNIVES and RETURN OF THE CRIMSON GUARD in May 2007 following the publication of Steven Erikson’s REAPER’S GALE (Malazan Book of the Fallen 7) in March.

I can hardly wait.

On my own reading progress - well it's been busy. I should finish up The Once and Future King later this week. I haven't decided what to read next, but it will probably be something set in the UK. In the fall I'm traveling to England/Scotland/Wales and in preparation of that trip, I'm reading a bunch of books set over there - mostly with a SF slant.

Ian Cameron Esslemont Scores one for Malazan

Excellent news for fans of Steven Erikson’s Malazan Tale of the Fallen series, the co-creator, Ian Cameron Esslemont, has just gotten a two book deal from Bantam. The book deal includes a full release for Night of Knives, which has been previously published by PS Publishing, and The Return of the Crimson Guard, which begins shortly after events in The Bonehunters by Erikson.

I enjoyed the short novel, Night of Knives, quite a bit. It takes place in the course of just one night in Malaz City – the night that the Emperor Kellenved and Dancer are assassinated by Surly (or as we now know her, Empress Lasseen). Through flashbacks, we also see the ‘death’ of the Empire’s First Sword, Dassem Ultor. It was a great novel, with the same caliber of characters that Erikson has created for this world (a few cameos are found in The Bonehunters). The convergence that takes place in Night of Knives has yet to be surpassed in the Malazan world. The novel could have benefited from another good round of editing, which it will hopefully get before upcoming publishing runs by PS Publishing and Bantam.

Pat over at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist should have a new interview with Esslemont soon – hopefully we’ll get more details.