Games

On the Westeros forums, Luke Scull, author of The Grim Company and a full-time video game designer, reports that he once wrote out a proposal for a game adaptation of The Malazan Book of the Fallen . I also wrote a proposal for a Malazan videogame. Our producer went to Steven Erikson's house to discuss it with him. I think Ian Camerson Esslemont liked it but Erikson wasn't so keen - my design for the game strongly resembled my current project, The Shadow Sun , while Erikson wanted something more akin to a first-person shooter. As you can imagine, it didn't work out, though I did receive a nice signed and personalised Subterranean Press edition of Gardens of the Moon . Scull states that the head of his company spoke to both Ian Esslemont and Steven Erikson about the game, which would have been an RPG. However, whilst Esslemeont was keen Erikson was not, and apparently preferred a first-person shooter type of approach. Later on, Scull talks about how he envisages a Ma...

Jacuruku: an island-continent located south-west of Quon Tali and west of Stratem. Separated from the rest of the world by large ice floes, Jacuruku has long existed in isolation. The peoples of western Jacuruku lie under the dominion of the Thaumaturgs, mages of tremendous power, whilst the eastern half of the continent is dominated by the jungle of Himatan, domain of the goddess Ardata. Now the Thaumaturgs have launched an invasion of Himatan, determined to find the fabled city of Jakal Viharn. But even as their army drives deep into the jungle, so their homelands come under threat from the desert tribes of the far south, now united into a formidable army by an invading foreigner...who may not be as foreign as he first appears. Also newly arrived in Jacuruku are the Crimson Guard, summoned to bring to justice their renegade warrior Skinner and those sworn to his service. For K'azz D'Avore and his Avowed, this is an opportunity to heal a painful schism...but at a cost. Blood a...

Updated with info from Orb Sceptre Throne and Blood and Bone : Following the publication of Blood and Bone , it's now possible to work out a new reading order for the books to best account for the information given by both authors. This list is not the chronological order of the novels, which would likely be very confusing, but a 'best' reading list accounting for publication and chronological orders: Gardens of the Moon Deadhouse Gates Memories of Ice House of Chains Midnight Tides Night of Knives * The Bonehunters Return of the Crimson Guard ** Reaper's Gale Toll the Hounds *** Stonewielder**** Orb Sceptre Throne ***** Dust of Dreams The Crippled God Blood and Bone *** *** Assail (forthcoming) The placement of Forge of Darkness remains difficult. It is so full of references to things already-established in the Malazan series that reading it first is hard to recommend, but it does clarify some elements of the world and terminologies that may be much more helpfu...

It is more than a quarter of a million years before the time of the Malazan Empire. In this ancient age, the Tiste race is divided between noble families and bickering militias, trying to find their place in the world following the devastating wars against the Forulkan and the Jheleck. When the Tiste ruler, Mother Dark, takes the obscure Draconus as lover and consort, the noble houses are incensed and the seeds are sowed for civil war and religious conflict. Forge of Darkness is the first novel in The Kharkanas Trilogy , a prequel series to Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen . This trilogy will chart the splintering of the Tiste race into the three sub-races seen in the main series book (the Andii, the Liosan and the Edur) and explain much of the ancient backstory to the series. Some characters from the main series - such as Anomander Rake, Silchas Ruin, Hood and Gothos - appear here as much younger, far less experienced figures. However, those hoping for I, Anomander Rak...

Here's the UK cover art for Ian Cameron Esslemont's Blood and Bone , his forthcoming fifth Malazan novel. The novel is due for release in November this year. Barring last minute delays, that will make for three Malazan novels in one year (following Esslemont's Orb, Sceptre, Throne in January and Erikson's Forge of Darkness this month).

Via Pat's Fantasy Hotlist , Bantam UK have revised their cover art for Forge of Darkness , the first book in Steven Erikson's Kharkanas Trilogy (a prequel to the Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence). The new artwork has added blueness. The book will be published on 31 July in the UK and 18 September in the USA.

Ian Cameron Esslemont's new Malazan novel, Blood and Bone (formerly City in the Jungle ) will apparently be published in December 2012. Tor USA have issued a cover blurb for the novel: In the western sky the bright emerald banner of the Visitor descends like a portent of annihilation. On the continent of Jacuruku, the Thaumaturgs have mounted yet another expedition to tame the neighboring wild jungle. Yet this is no normal wilderness. It is called Himatan, and it is said to be half of the spirit-realm and half of the earth. And it is said to be ruled by a powerful entity whom some name the Queen of Witches, and some a goddess: the ancient Ardata. Saeng grew up knowing only the rule of the magus Thaumaturgs -- but it was the voices out of that land's forgotten past that she listened to. And when her rulers mount an invasion of the neighboring jungle, those voices send her and her brother on a desperate mission. To the south, the desert tribes are united by the arri...

The cover art and blurb for Steven Erikson's The Forge of Darkness has been released: Enter the New York Times bestselling Malazan universe... at a time that sets the stage for all the tales already told . Steven Erikson entered the pantheon of great fantasy writers with his debut Gardens of the Moon . Now Erikson returns with a trilogy that takes place before the events of the Malazan Book of the Fallen . The Forge of Darkness takes readers to Kurald Galain, the warren of Darkness, and tells an epic tale of a realm whose fate plays a crucial role in the fall of the Malazan Empire. It’s a conflicted time in Kurald Galain, the warren of Darkness, where Mother Dark reigns. But this ancient land was once home to many a power… and even death is not quite eternal. The commoners’ great hero, Vatha Urusander, longs for ascendency and Mother Dark’s hand in marriage, but she has taken another Consort, Lord Draconus, from the faraway Dracon Hold. The idea of this union sends fissur...

In an extensive (and highly intriguing) interview on Reddit, Steven Erikson reveals that the working titles for Books 2 and 3 of the Kharkanas Trilogy will be Fall of Light and Walk in Shadow . The first book, Forge of Darkness , will be released this August.

Following the publication of Orb Sceptre Throne, it's now possible to work out a new reading order for the books to best account for the information given by both authors. This list is not the chronological order of the novels, which would likely be very confusing, but a 'best' reading list accounting for publication and chronological orders: Gardens of the Moon Deadhouse Gates Memories of Ice House of Chains Midnight Tides Night of Knives * The Bonehunters Return of the Crimson Guard ** Reaper's Gale Toll the Hounds *** Stonewielder Orb Sceptre Throne **** Dust of Dreams The Crippled God * Night of Knives introduces several characters who play a role in The Bonehunters . ** Return of the Crimson Guard picks up shortly after The Bonehunters , whilst Reaper's Gale tells us explicitly that a year has passed since the events of TBH. *** According to dialogue, Toll the Hounds takes place six years after Memories of Ice . According to every other piece of information i...

With the Pannion Seer defeated, the Jaghut Tyrant Raest imprisoned and peace declared with the Malazans, the beleaguered citizens of Darujhistan are finally hoping for a time of peace and prosperity. Of course, this is the perfect time for an ancient force of unspeakable evil to escape from the barrows outside the city and unleash a new age of chaos and war across most of Genabackis. This war will draw in the Moranth and the Seguleh, the Rhivi and the remnants of the Malazan armies still stationed on the continent. Far to the south, treasure hunters are looting the crashed ruins of Moon's Spawn, searching for the storied Throne of Night, whilst in another realm hunters are searching for the missing High Mage Tayschrenn at the very Shores of Creation. But the fate of Darujhistan, Genabackis and maybe the world will rest in the hands of one fat thief and a bunch of Malazan deserters who want nothing more than to run their pub in peace. Orb Sceptre Throne is Ian Cameron Esslemont'...

The paperback edition of The Crippled God has been released in the UK. The cover blurb includes a nice factoid: worldwide sales of The Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence have now passed 1 million copies. Splendid news! The Malazan series has been a bit of a slow-burn, taking seven years to sell 250,000 copies (as revealed in a press release when The Bonehunters came out). Selling an additional 750,000 copies in the next five years clearly shows the acceleration in sales (coinciding with the books coming out in the USA as well). Whilst it's not on the level of sales of some of the genre-leaders, it's still an impressive figure for such an allegedly 'difficult' series. Congratulations to Steven Erikson and his publishers.

As an early Christmas present, Bantam Transworld have released an excerpt from Ian Cameron Esslemont's Orb, Sceptre, Throne , his fourth Malazan novel. This excerpt includes a new map of the continent of Genabackis, showing the hitherto-unseen southern edge of the continent, including the oft-mentioned Seguleh islands. This also means we can assemble a complete map of the continent for the first time: Interesting stuff. The novel is published in the UK on 19 January 2012.

Steven Erikson has reported that he has completed The Forge of Darkness , the first novel of the Kharkanas Trilogy . Erikson's new book is set several hundred thousand years before the events of the main Malazan sequence and expands on the Tiste Andii and events in the city of Kharkanas (which appears, in a deserted state, in the main series novels). Anomander Rake is expected to feature heavily. Erikson reports that the novel has come in at 292,000 words, noting that (ironically) this is 'short' by his standards. It falls between the length of Deadhouse Gates (272,000 words or over 900 pages in paperback) and House of Chains (306,000, or over 1,000 pages). No publication date has been set for the novel, but it is likely to appear before the end of 2012. Meanwhile, Erikson's collaborator Ian Cameron Esslemont's latest Malazan novel, Orb, Sceptre, Throne , is due for publication in January 2012.