[Dutch]

Not sure if this is mentioned already, but after putting the book title through the search function it came up empty.

I was just browsing different shops on internet trying to find out if it was possible to replace some of my Bantam Press paperbacks with Bantam Press Hardcovers (I know, there aren't many available now) when I encountered This River Awakens by Steven Erikson with a release date somewhere in January 2012.

Because there was no additional information I was like, erm title change for the first book of the Kharkanas Trilogy? Nah, January 2012 would probably be to soon and decided to see if there was more information on this book on amazon.co.uk and this is what came up.


Product Description

Book Description
Re-published in a revised hardback edition for the first time, the first-ever novel by the acclaimed author of the million-selling Malazan Book of the Fallen series...
Product Description
In the spring of 1971, Owen Brand and his family move to the riverside town of Middlecross in a renewed attempt to escape poverty. For twelve-year-old Owen, it's the opportunity for a new life and an end to his family's isolation and he quickly falls in with a gang of three local boys and forms a strong bond with Jennifer, the rebellious daughter of a violent, alcoholic father. As summer brings release from school, two figures preside over the boys' activities: Walter Gribbs, a benign old watchman at the yacht club, and Hogdson Fisk, a vindictive farmer tormented by his past. Then the boys stumble on a body washed up on the riverbank - a discovery whose reverberations will result, as the year comes full circle, in a cataclysm that envelops them all...

Steven Erikson first novel, This River Awakens, is a lyrical, tender and disturbing portrayal of a rite of passage that is both harsh and revelatory.


About the Author
Archaeologist and anthropologist Steven Erikson's debut fantasy novel, Gardens of the Moon, was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award and introduced fantasy readers to his epic 'The Malazan Book of the Fallen' sequence, which has been hailed 'a masterwork of the imagination'. This River Awakens was hist first novel, and originally published under the name Steve Lundin.

He lives in Cornwall. To find out more, visit www.malazanempire.com and www.stevenerikson.com

----
Also not sure if it is allowed to copy this part from Amazon here, so if not tell me and I will delete this part or let a mod edit it.

The link is here



Edit, ok found out that it was already mentioned on a different part of the forum (I forgot to check Other works by Steven Lundin/Erikson) My eyes fell on it when I wanted to check if there was mentioned that there is a new release of Crack'D Pot Trail (This time by Tor Books).Bookdepository link for the hardcover edition, of course it's also on Amazon, but I was checking Bookdepository since they have the hardcover edition for Toll the Hounds and I can pay with Paypal there (last time I checked Amazon still doesn't offer it)

This post has been edited by Dutch: 17 September 2011 - 08:06 AM

[wade]

I think there may already be a thread about this, but I can't find it. I recall people hating on the cheap digital cover.

[Dutch]

Yup, I had edited it already.

[wade]

Ah. As for the actual book, I've never read it. Is it incorrect to assume you have? I'd like to know if it's worth reading.

[Dutch]

I haven't yet, but according to Maclypse a must have for the serious Erikson fan, see http://forum.malazan...showtopic=16740

and the link about the new cover where you were talking about http://forum.malazan...showtopic=22539

It's going on my wish list for now, might put up an order for it later this week, but it won't be fair that it ends up somewhere in the rather large pile of still to read non Malazan books.

[wade]

Thanks for the links I have such a backlog of books to go through, but it's definitely going on my to-read as well.

Strangely, the Amazon reviewer who gave the book only 2/5 made me want to read it so much more. Here's an excerpt from their 'review':

Quote

On the back cover of this book a reviewer describes the work as "powerful." It's certainly powerful all right, if you like to read repulsive, graphic descriptions of sick human behavior: a father [malesting] his 13-year old daughter, a man torturing an animal until it dies, a woman being violently beat up by her husband and hospitalized--and we won't even mention the leper trying to burn her hands off.

That sounds pretty awesome if you're a fan of dark literature

[Puck]

SE certainly likes this kind of stuff. Thing is, since it's SE, you can almost always assume there's more behind it than meets the eyes.

I hunted down This River Awakens on ebay last week and am anticipating its arrival (because I ain't buying the new release with the shitty cover) and I've read a couple of other early books of SE and all were worth it.

This post has been edited by Puck: 17 September 2011 - 09:34 AM

[sappers rule]

quick question is stevens second name erikson or lundin and anyone know why he changed his name just curiose

plus the bad review does make you want to read it even more as he does have a darker writing style than other authors

[Dutch]

sappers rule, on 17 September 2011 - 11:57 AM, said:

quick question is stevens second name erikson or lundin and anyone know why he changed his name just curiose

plus the bad review does make you want to read it even more as he does have a darker writing style than other authors

Lundin is his real last name, Toll the Hounds is dedicated to the memory of his father R.S. Lundin (the latter part is just as extra info)

The why for Erikson as name for the Malazan Books, I don't know. Perhaps as an alias, like so many other writers do.

Erikson does have a nicer ring than Lundin, but that is just my impression

[Dutch]

wade-newb, on 17 September 2011 - 08:59 AM, said:

Thanks for the links I have such a backlog of books to go through, but it's definitely going on my to-read as well.

Strangely, the Amazon reviewer who gave the book only 2/5 made me want to read it so much more. Here's an excerpt from their 'review':

Quote

On the back cover of this book a reviewer describes the work as "powerful." It's certainly powerful all right, if you like to read repulsive, graphic descriptions of sick human behavior: a father [malesting] his 13-year old daughter, a man torturing an animal until it dies, a woman being violently beat up by her husband and hospitalized--and we won't even mention the leper trying to burn her hands off.

That sounds pretty awesome if you're a fan of dark literature

Your welcome

[wade]

sappers rule, on 17 September 2011 - 11:57 AM, said:

quick question is stevens second name erikson or lundin and anyone know why he changed his name just curiose

plus the bad review does make you want to read it even more as he does have a darker writing style than other authors

I remember very very vaguely something about his mother having something to do with his choice of 'Erikson'. I think that may have been her maiden name, but I'm really not sure.

[Abalieno]

Repeating my post in the appropriate thread:

I have the book in my hands. Since the new one was going to have an abysmal cover I simply went to amazon.co.uk and ordered an used copy of the old one for 1 cent.

It's not even a short book, 360 pages but they are packed with text. The beginning is reminiscent of MoI, but what impresses me is that this book was published one year before GotM and it seems to me written even better than usual.

Quote

Memory begins with a stirring. Spring had arrived. There was life in the air, in the wind that turned the cold into currents of muddy warmth. And life in the ground as well - a loosening of the earth and its secrets, a rustling of spirits and the awakening of the dead.

Like remembrance itself, it was a time when things rose to the surface. Forces pushed up from the tomb of wintry darkness, shattering the river's ice and spreading the fissures wide. Sunlight seeped down, softening the river bottom's gelid grip. And things were let go.

What I look on now, after all these years, is a place of myth. For this was a place that told us that there was more than just one world.

[Jussi]

Interesting information from Tor:

Quote

We will continue publishing Steven Erikson with novellas set in the Malazan World, an upcoming omnibus set outside the Malazan World, as well as prequels and sequels to the Malazan series.

A non-Malazan omnibus? Maybe it will include Erikson's The Devil Delivered, Revolvo and Quashie Trapp Blacklight. Or perhaps Steve Lundin's stories.

Link in PDF format.

[RolandDeschain]

sappers rule, on 17 September 2011 - 11:57 AM, said:

quick question is stevens second name erikson or lundin and anyone know why he changed his name just curiose

plus the bad review does make you want to read it even more as he does have a darker writing style than other authors

There's a Youtube video interview with SE where he explains why he choose the pen name Erikson. His real name is in fact Steven Lundin. His mother's maiden name was Erikson and she was a big book reader, so he wanted to use her name as an author because of her love of books.

[Leanoric]

RolandDeschain, on 09 November 2011 - 12:20 PM, said:

There's a Youtube video interview with SE where he explains why he choose the pen name Erikson. His real name is in fact Steven Lundin. His mother's maiden name was Erikson and she was a big book reader, so he wanted to use her name as an author because of her love of books.

And the fact that his name change means that his books are stored next to Esslemont's on the shelf is just a happy coincidence. I asked him

I took my copy of the old edition of River Awakens to the CG book signing earlier this year, and he seemed quite surprised to see it. He mentioned it was being re-released sometime soon.

[RolandDeschain]

Leanoric, on 09 November 2011 - 12:34 PM, said:

RolandDeschain, on 09 November 2011 - 12:20 PM, said:

There's a Youtube video interview with SE where he explains why he choose the pen name Erikson. His real name is in fact Steven Lundin. His mother's maiden name was Erikson and she was a big book reader, so he wanted to use her name as an author because of her love of books.

And the fact that his name change means that his books are stored next to Esslemont's on the shelf is just a happy coincidence. I asked him

I took my copy of the old edition of River Awakens to the CG book signing earlier this year, and he seemed quite surprised to see it. He mentioned it was being re-released sometime soon.

I noticed that before too, good coincidence. I allays wondered if some writers choose names that starts with a letter close to E, M or T to have their books close to Erikson, George Martin or Tolkein.

[Jussi]

The Devil Delivered and Other Tales will be published by Tor in June 2012. It will include The Devil Delivered, Revolvo and Fishing with Grandma Matchie.

Here it the cover art: