[kcf]

Hello all, I'm looking through Transworld's catalog for the rest of 2011 and they have Orb Sceptre Throne by ICE slated for a December 8th, 2011 release. They list the title as Orb Sceptre Throne (which surprises me because I find it kind of a silly and awkward title and expected it to change). There is no cover art yet but they do have a synopsis (that is full of typos). I can't copy it, so I've transcribed it below (I try to preserve the typos in the transcription - there are lots):

Quote

The epic new chapter in the history of Malaz - the new epic fantasy from Steven Erikson's friend and co-creator of this extraordinary imagined world...

The tumult of great powers colliding has passed, leaving the city of Darujhistan and its good citizens to get one of their lives of politcking, bickering, trading and above all enjoying the good things it has to offer. However, this peace is illusory because of a treasure hunter, digging amongst the ancient burial grounds that surround the city, is about to uncover a hidden crypt, full of sealed vaults. Armed with magic-deadening otataral, he will open the last vault - the one no other dared touch - and in so doing will set free the most powerful and destructive of the Jaghut tyrant kings...

And fortune hunters are also at work far to the south of the Malaz. A fragment of Moon's Spawn, once the home of Aonmander Rake, Son of Darkness, crashed into the Rivan Sea and created a chain of small islands. Legends have already arisen around them, the most potent of which is that here is hidden the Throne of Night - claimed by some to be the seat of Dracoinus, ruler of Eternal Night, and by others to be the throne of Mother Dark herself. Either way, all who seek this ancient artifact - from magic-weilding mages and battle-scarred warriors to a Malazan army deserter called Grift - believe it will bestow unlimited power upon the eventual possessor. The stakes are high, greed is rife, betrayal inevitable and murder and chaos lie in wait...

[Jonny]

So it's confirmed that the tyrants are Jaghut, I've been pretty inactive on the site recently, but is that the first time we've been told that they're not human or otherwise?

[Midnight]

Yeah this seems like the first time any kind of definitive evidence has been offered that the tyrants were Jaghut (though it's been speculated). They might not be of course, book covers are often misleading. The first paragraph sounds suspiciously like the plot of gardens of the moon....

Chapters.com and Amazon.ca also title the book "Orb Sceptre Throne" but they have no synopsis and, unfortunately, list the release date as January 24th 2012.

Amazon UK on the other hand also lists it as December 8th....so it looks like those of us in Canada will be waiting a little longer!

On a side note, perhaps the tyrants are the descendants of Raest?

This post has been edited by Midnight: 19 July 2011 - 05:16 PM

[Salt-Man Z]

I was going to decry this as month-old news, but that final paragraph is all-new info. Sounds cool, actually, but when would those fragments have fallen? Actually, "Where is the Rivan Sea?" might be the better question to ask.

[POOPOO MCBUMFACE]

Isn't the Throne of Night in Kharkanas?

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

Firstly, it sounds like a strange synopsis to me -- it seems to give away far too much of the plot and I think it reads funny. Oh well, whatever.

We've also known about the Jaghut Tyrants since GotM so I'm not exactly sure how much of a confirmation it really is.

[kcf]

Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast, on 19 July 2011 - 07:22 PM, said:

Firstly, it sounds like a strange synopsis to me -- it seems to give away far too much of the plot and I think it reads funny. Oh well, whatever.

I agree - it is a strange sounding synopsis. I thint that it's something that was put together at the last minute to include in the catalog. That it hasn't been reviewed/edited/vetted yet. But I imagine that it is pretty close to whatever the final synopsis will be.

[D'rek]

POOPOO MCBUMFACE, on 19 July 2011 - 07:09 PM, said:

Isn't the Throne of Night in Kharkanas?

There is a Throne in Kharkanas. It might be the Throne of Dark. Night seems to more commonly be associated with Draconus (and would not surprise me at all considering Night and Draconus in RotCG).

Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast, on 19 July 2011 - 07:22 PM, said:

Firstly, it sounds like a strange synopsis to me -- it seems to give away far too much of the plot and I think it reads funny. Oh well, whatever.

We've also known about the Jaghut Tyrants since GotM so I'm not exactly sure how much of a confirmation it really is.

We've known about Jaghut Tyrants since GotM. We've known that there were Tyrant Kings of Darujhistan since GotM. There's never been any evidence that the Tyrant Kings of Darujhistan were Jaghut.

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

Not sure whether you were backing me up or disagreeing with me there but that's basically what I meant, just far better said, so...aye.

This post has been edited by Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast: 19 July 2011 - 07:56 PM

[WhiskeyJackDaniels]

I've gotta say I'm shocked to find out the Tyrant kings were Jaghut. But then again...the only thing that was standing in the way of it making sense to me was the timeline. Sooo I guess I'm not THAT shocked.

I know we are assuming that Humble Measure is the treasure hunter based on TtH, but the comment about otataral makes me wonder if Rallick is going to be the one that somehow spring the Tyrant. Either by accident, or manipulation, or maybe Vorcan wanting to cut that deal with the Tyrant against the rest of the T'orrud Cabal like Baruk hinted at in TtH.

Idk what to make of the Throne of Dark stuff...I don't remember any references to the Rivan Sea. I wonder if the island chain is somewhere near Drift Avalii? The summary says south of Malaz.

[TaxManATX]

Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast, on 19 July 2011 - 07:55 PM, said:

Not sure whether you were backing me up or disagreeing with me there but that's basically what I meant, just far better said, so...aye.

The Tyrant Kings weren't confirmed to be Jaghut until this blip. That was the 'new confirmation'.

[MTS]

WhiskeyJackDaniels, on 20 July 2011 - 02:20 AM, said:

Idk what to make of the Throne of Dark stuff...I don't remember any references to the Rivan Sea. I wonder if the island chain is somewhere near Drift Avalii? The summary says south of Malaz.

I'm thinking it's talking about the empire and it's a typo, since it says far to the south of the Malaz(an Empire), which would be whereabouts this story is taking place.

TaxManATX, on 20 July 2011 - 02:57 AM, said:

Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast, on 19 July 2011 - 07:55 PM, said:

Not sure whether you were backing me up or disagreeing with me there but that's basically what I meant, just far better said, so...aye.

The Tyrant Kings weren't confirmed to be Jaghut until this blip. That was the 'new confirmation'.

Doesn't say king of what though, so don't go counting it as confirmed yet. I'll be disappointed if they are Jaghut, to be honest. We don't need another badass Jaghut, we need something different, like a more Dessimbelackis-esque character.

[D'rek]

There are seas/lakes on the map near Bastion, Sarn and the Vision Mountains, all unnamed on the map (but not necessarily in the books). One of those could be the Rivan Sea, but imagine how cool it would be if it was much further south an we got exposure to the areas around Elingarth!

[Use Of Weapons]

He's clearly doing an Eddings mash-up -- the Rivan Sea is off the coast of Riva. Orb is the Orb of Aldur.

[tiam]

There shouldnt be another Jaghut Tyrant just down the road from where the other 'worst Jaghut Tyrant' was in GOTM. I hope the synopisis is wrong.

Also Moons Spawn was a KCCM skykeep nothing to do with the founding principles of the Andii so why would Draconus have a throne there?

All in all the more I hear of this book the worse it sounds. I really hope these synopsis we keep getting are wrong.

Edit- We didnt know the Tyrants were Jaghut because the Tyrant kings are associated with Dstan and they appear to be human atleast on their coinage.

This post has been edited by tiam: 23 July 2011 - 11:05 AM

[MTS]

tiam, on 23 July 2011 - 11:02 AM, said:

There shouldnt be another Jaghut Tyrant just down the road from where the other 'worst Jaghut Tyrant' was in GOTM. I hope the synopisis is wrong.

Also Moons Spawn was a KCCM skykeep nothing to do with the founding principles of the Andii so why would Draconus have a throne there?

All in all the more I hear of this book the worse it sounds. I really hope these synopsis we keep getting are wrong.

Edit- We didnt know the Tyrants were Jaghut because the Tyrant kings are associated with Dstan and they appear to be human atleast on their coinage.

He doesn't, from what I can tell a legend has just arisen that there is one there because of Rake's occupation, and is just that - a legend.

As for the rest, have a little faith man!

[tiam]

I cant. ICE has had a free reign with all his books. There was very little SE action on Quon Tali and Korelri but this time he has to come up with his own stuff. Another 'worst Jaghut Tyrant' and some vague mentions of a Andii throne thats powerful. Theres far too many treasure hunting searching for artefacts in that synopsis. Like a dumb farm boy stopping an evil treasure hunting conglomeration who wants to use it for their own ends.

Also how is otateral going to help them get a jaghut out when it has no effect on Elder warrens.

Colour me pessimistic.

[MTS]

tiam, on 23 July 2011 - 12:39 PM, said:

I cant. ICE has had a free reign with all his books. There was very little SE action on Quon Tali and Korelri but this time he has to come up with his own stuff. Another 'worst Jaghut Tyrant' and some vague mentions of a Andii throne thats powerful. Theres far too many treasure hunting searching for artefacts in that synopsis. Like a dumb farm boy stopping an evil treasure hunting conglomeration who wants to use it for their own ends.

Also how is otateral going to help them get a jaghut out when it has no effect on Elder warrens.

Colour me pessimistic.

Whatever, I think you're judging it too harshly and jumping to the worst possible conclusions when it's not really warranted. SE and ICE are in the business of turning fantasy tropes on their head, I highly doubt this will be as gut-wrenchingly cliche as you seem to fear it is off a tiny blurb that's riddled with inconsistencies and spelling errors and likely was not even written by ICE. I think the Jaghut Tyrant mention has to be talking about Raest, and the 'throne-hunting' story is likely a lot more intricate than what is presented.

So like I said, have a little faith. It's early days yet.

This post has been edited by MTS: 23 July 2011 - 06:52 PM

[Solidsnape]

I'm sure the synopsis won't do the book justice.
Based solely on past work, I've got nothing but high hopes for this upcoming title.

Colour me optimistic!!

[worry]

So would you guys consider this a direct sequel to TTH? It seems like it, more than any other work ICE has done (or apparently will do, given his continent hopping agenda). In that way it's kinda the highest stakes book he's gonna do, or at least tied with Assail, but different reasons.