[Salt-Man Z]

Saw this linked on the Facebook page: http://archeddoorway...steven-erikson/

Some quotes of interest:

SE said:

Three books, picking up where we left off with Karsa, more or less. And of course, Cam has signed for (I think) three books to do the early empire stuff.

SE said:

I’m presently writing the second book of the Kharkanas trilogy, and it is just taking longer than any of the other books I’ve ever written. ... I’m hoping to get it done by the end of this summer though.

[HiddenOne]

yeah, I saw this - it's actually a good interview IMO

[Overactive Imagination]

excellent morning coffee reading material. thx

[Deck of Dragons]

SE said:

And of course, Cam has signed for (I think) three books to do the early empire stuff.

This is great news! I was hoping he could land a contract for this! He mentioned possibly doing this a year or two ago!

[Cedz]

Deck of Dragons, on 28 April 2014 - 07:45 PM, said:

SE said:

And of course, Cam has signed for (I think) three books to do the early empire stuff.

This is great news! I was hoping he could land a contract for this! He mentioned possibly doing this a year or two ago!

Unfortunately I'm having the opposite reaction to this as although I think Cam is an ok writer, I just don't think he can do justice to writing about such an iconic period in the Malazan universe such as the Early Empire. This period has been one of my favorite aspects of Steven's world building since the beginning, and the thought of it being written without Steven's brilliance is a bit depressing. So much potential for a trilogy of Deadhouse Gates/Memories of Ice level books focusing on the awesome characters and wars of the Early Empire and we won't ever be able to receive the quality of story that we might have if the Malazan material wasn't split between two unequal authors.

I would rather the Early Empire story stay untold rather than have it done sub par to what Steven has already give us to be honest.

This post has been edited by Cedz: 29 May 2014 - 01:34 AM

[Gothos]

Cedz, on 29 May 2014 - 01:33 AM, said:

Deck of Dragons, on 28 April 2014 - 07:45 PM, said:

SE said:

And of course, Cam has signed for (I think) three books to do the early empire stuff.

This is great news! I was hoping he could land a contract for this! He mentioned possibly doing this a year or two ago!

Unfortunately I'm having the opposite reaction to this as although I think Cam is an ok writer, I just don't think he can do justice to writing about such an iconic period in the Malazan universe such as the Early Empire. This period has been one of my favorite aspects of Steven's world building since the beginning, and the thought of it being written without Steven's brilliance is a bit depressing. So much potential for a trilogy of Deadhouse Gates/Memories of Ice level books focusing on the awesome characters and wars of the Early Empire and we won't ever be able to receive the quality of story that we might have if the Malazan material wasn't split between two unequal authors.

I would rather the Early Empire story stay untold rather than have it done sub par to what Steven has already give us to be honest.

Everyone's a critic, eh? You're a monster. Do you go around telling other people's kids there's no santa too?
Mr Ian is, I'm sure, up to the task. You go away.

[Inane Babble]

Gothos, on 29 May 2014 - 06:03 AM, said:

Cedz, on 29 May 2014 - 01:33 AM, said:

Deck of Dragons, on 28 April 2014 - 07:45 PM, said:

SE said:

And of course, Cam has signed for (I think) three books to do the early empire stuff.

This is great news! I was hoping he could land a contract for this! He mentioned possibly doing this a year or two ago!

Unfortunately I'm having the opposite reaction to this as although I think Cam is an ok writer, I just don't think he can do justice to writing about such an iconic period in the Malazan universe such as the Early Empire. This period has been one of my favorite aspects of Steven's world building since the beginning, and the thought of it being written without Steven's brilliance is a bit depressing. So much potential for a trilogy of Deadhouse Gates/Memories of Ice level books focusing on the awesome characters and wars of the Early Empire and we won't ever be able to receive the quality of story that we might have if the Malazan material wasn't split between two unequal authors.

I would rather the Early Empire story stay untold rather than have it done sub par to what Steven has already give us to be honest.

Everyone's a critic, eh? You're a monster. Do you go around telling other people's kids there's no santa too?
Mr Ian is, I'm sure, up to the task. You go away.

I don't think it's news to anyone that SE and ICE books have a very different feel to them. Is it truly such a bad thing to want the author he prefers to write the books regarding an incredibly important time in the series? Seems like until now they have both dealt primarily with seperate groups of characters, and I'm not sure how well ICE can portray them.

Full disclosure; stopped reading RotCG after about 150 pages and never went back to another ICE book.

[Studlock]

That's great for you, but seeing as you don't have to buy the books (as you clearly haven't) and as ICE created the world with SE, I feel ICE probably has better handling of the world than both yourself and Cedz no?

[Inane Babble]

Studlock, on 29 May 2014 - 01:16 PM, said:

That's great for you, but seeing as you don't have to buy the books (as you clearly haven't) and as ICE created the world with SE, I feel ICE probably has better handling of the world than both yourself and Cedz no?

Agreed, but then I never even impled that either us would be a better choice.

[D'rek]

If you think ICE-written early empire books are somehow going to "ruin" that time period of this fictional universe for you, just don't buy and don't read them. The other, similar fictional universe where they are never written can continue to exist in your head while the rest of us enjoy the new fictional universe where ICE did write them (and I'll bet they will be awesome).

[Cedz]

Gothos, on 29 May 2014 - 06:03 AM, said:

Cedz, on 29 May 2014 - 01:33 AM, said:

Deck of Dragons, on 28 April 2014 - 07:45 PM, said:

SE said:

And of course, Cam has signed for (I think) three books to do the early empire stuff.

This is great news! I was hoping he could land a contract for this! He mentioned possibly doing this a year or two ago!

Unfortunately I'm having the opposite reaction to this as although I think Cam is an ok writer, I just don't think he can do justice to writing about such an iconic period in the Malazan universe such as the Early Empire. This period has been one of my favorite aspects of Steven's world building since the beginning, and the thought of it being written without Steven's brilliance is a bit depressing. So much potential for a trilogy of Deadhouse Gates/Memories of Ice level books focusing on the awesome characters and wars of the Early Empire and we won't ever be able to receive the quality of story that we might have if the Malazan material wasn't split between two unequal authors.

I would rather the Early Empire story stay untold rather than have it done sub par to what Steven has already give us to be honest.

Everyone's a critic, eh? You're a monster. Do you go around telling other people's kids there's no santa too?
Mr Ian is, I'm sure, up to the task. You go away.

Yup I'm a monster, I'm a bad bad man. Heaven forbid someone actually calls writing and storytelling ability of an author who has decided to jump into an existing world that has already been created by another author with painstaking detail. Of course we can't compare the two! That's just wrong!

I love that your rebuttal to my opinion is to tell me to just 'go away'. I must have forgotten that we aren't on a forum that is specifically for discussing our opinions on this fictional universe.

Studlock, on 29 May 2014 - 01:16 PM, said:

That's great for you, but seeing as you don't have to buy the books (as you clearly haven't) and as ICE created the world with SE, I feel ICE probably has better handling of the world than both yourself and Cedz no?

Firstly, I have all of the books currently released from both authors in this universe which is why I offered my opinion. Secondly, helping to create a world via role playing is no where near the same thing as being able to construct a cohesive story that is congruent with the existing material by Erikson and with a professional level of prose.

Look, I don't think Cam's books are bad, they just aren't anywhere near the level of Erikson's in my opinion. I'm just disappointed that Erikson himself isn't going to write the Early Empire period as he is the one that truly brought the Malazan universe to life.

D, on 29 May 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

If you think ICE-written early empire books are somehow going to "ruin" that time period of this fictional universe for you, just don't buy and don't read them. The other, similar fictional universe where they are never written can continue to exist in your head while the rest of us enjoy the new fictional universe where ICE did write them (and I'll bet they will be awesome).

Ruin? Probably not, but they sure aren't going to be the same quality as what Erikson could write. Cam's handling of OST and Blood & Bone hasn't given me confidence that he can do justice to this pivotal period of Malazan history. If Cam writes them then so be it, but I'm not going to sit here and pretend it would be the same than if Steven wrote them.

Look this is just my opinion anyway so if you feel Cam will do a great job then that's great. I however have a different opinion.

This post has been edited by Cedz: 02 June 2014 - 05:36 AM

[amphibian]

The ICE of Blood & Bone is way, way better than the ICE of Return of the Crimson Guard.

But he's still stunting his own development of a writer by leaving in lazy passages/not assembling a more critical team of alpha/beta readers/has had his editor let him down severely over the years.

[Cedz]

amphibian, on 02 June 2014 - 06:33 AM, said:

The ICE of Blood & Bone is way, way better than the ICE of Return of the Crimson Guard.

But he's still stunting his own development of a writer by leaving in lazy passages/not assembling a more critical team of alpha/beta readers/has had his editor let him down severely over the years.

Funny enough I actually thought Return of the Crimson Guard was a much better book in terms of pacing and plot cohesion than Blood & Bone. Even though I thought B&B had for the most part better prose, I thought it was meandering and lacking in any kind of pay off plot wise. The book I feel was his best effort was Stonewielder as he had grown in terms of his technical skill and the plot had decent build up and a for the most part satisfying pay off at the end.

My main problem with Cam is that I find the voice of his characters (especially ones Erikson has used) just fall flat and that his descriptions of the world and systems within it just come across as jarring as compared with what has already been established by SE.

Think of all the rich history that Erikson has layed out regarding the early empire period in the course of his 10 books. Think of all of the old guard characters he has given us glimpses of or referenced throughout the series. Think of all of the awesome conflicts and battles that have been mentioned such as the Seven Cities Campaign, the Wickan Plains, the Siege of Li Heng, the Naval battle off of Malaz Island, the Mage Conflagration outside the walls of Aren, and the Conquest of the D'Avore Valley to name a few.

Now do you really think Cam can do justice to those events the same way that SE has with such things as the Chain of Dogs, Capustan or the invasions of Lether?

[worry]

YOU SPEAK OF JUSTICE?!?!?!

[Defiance]

I think a more valid comparison would be Erikson doing justice to the world's past in Forge of Darkness. The invasion of Lether, Capustan, the Chain of Dogs - none of this was built up by references across several books. We didn't spend several books with Gruntle reminiscing about the siege of Capustan - we simply lived through it with him. As a result, these events had a different form of anticipation and expectation than things that have only been vaguely referenced.

[Cedz]

Defiance, on 03 June 2014 - 01:02 AM, said:

I think a more valid comparison would be Erikson doing justice to the world's past in Forge of Darkness. The invasion of Lether, Capustan, the Chain of Dogs - none of this was built up by references across several books. We didn't spend several books with Gruntle reminiscing about the siege of Capustan - we simply lived through it with him. As a result, these events had a different form of anticipation and expectation than things that have only been vaguely referenced.

I can see where you are coming from with that comparison, and to some extent I agree with you.

However I'm looking at this from the perspective of two different bodies of authorial work and which one in my opinion would better tell the story of that period.

Anyway, just my opinion.

[blackzoid]

Defiance, on 03 June 2014 - 01:02 AM, said:

I think a more valid comparison would be Erikson doing justice to the world's past in Forge of Darkness. The invasion of Lether, Capustan, the Chain of Dogs - none of this was built up by references across several books. We didn't spend several books with Gruntle reminiscing about the siege of Capustan - we simply lived through it with him. As a result, these events had a different form of anticipation and expectation than things that have only been vaguely referenced.

A great comparison. I think that the Tiste Andii past has lost a lot of its epicness just because of Forge Of Darkness. Its inevitable really. The same will happen when SE outlines the Jaghut war on Death. It will lose its awesomeness and become ordinary. Any time you have to lift the lid on past dramatic occurances, it will happen.
Whereas Capustan was in the moment, same as the Chain of Dogs.

Off-topic but as for Assail, of course it will be a let-down. Not even if GRRM/SE/ICE/Abercombe/GOD wrote that book in collaboration will it live up to the expectations placed upon its shoulders.

[Abalieno]

The Tor edition even gives Assail at 540 pages. That's 50 pages shorter shorter than Blood & Bone. Page count shouldn't mean a lot, but when you close a so huge project I kind of doubt you can do it justice when the last book is shorter than all preceding ones. Minus Night of Knives.

This post has been edited by Abalieno: 09 June 2014 - 12:27 AM