Kevin's Watch

thanks for the interview!! Erikson is, in my estimation, (and i may DIE for saying this!) the one and only true heir to Tolkien. and here is why i think this...

Erikson wrote:The second question: oh the sparks were all negative things, frustrations at the genre's confounding predictability. Wanting to write something in fantasy I myself would like to read (and not just me, but Cam as well -- the one reader who stays in my head as I write). Wanting to kick the tropes around, wanting to get rid of that endless quasi-medieval class-conscious blueblood crap. Wanting a fantasy world as multicultural as this one (the preponderance of white-skinned heroes and blonde princesses ... man, what century is this?). Wanting a fantasy world with a history beyond the Dark Lord of three hundred years ago who's found a rock that will help him rise again and do, oh, bad things; a world with geology and geography, etc.

Sure, there's some good stuff out there, but it wasn't enough. Maybe still isn't.

Erikson PROGRESSES the genre...goes BEYOND Tolkien (and all his "progeny")
like Jimi Hendrix went beyond all HIS contemporaries and "progressed" the blue-derivitive rock and roll.
Steven Erikson is the Jimi Hendrix of Fantasy.

Well, I'm obviously going to have to read beyond Gardens of the Moon and wait for the finale of The Last Chronicles before I agree with that distinction Luci. SRD rules!!!

danlo wrote:Well, I'm obviously going to have to read beyond Gardens of the Moon and wait for the finale of The Last Chronicles before I agree with that distinction Luci. SRD rules!!!

see danlo, i TOO think SRD rules...i just think that because of THE GAP CYCLE!!! heh. don't get me wrong, prior to reading Erikson, the Chronicles were my next favorite fantasy to Tolkien. although many elements of the Chronicles were similar to Tolkien, the depth of the character conflicts went beyond Tolkien and i appreciated that. but the Gap Cycle conVINced me that Donaldson is, indeed, a great writer.
Erikson just SPEAKS to me in a way that the Chronicles don't. (with the exception of Mhoram and Saltheart Foamfollower and indeed all the Giants, who i love and who kept me reading and rereading the Chronicles all these years)
and you definitely SHOULD read the rest of the Malazan books, they just keep getting better and better with each successive story! just brilliant and vivid.

and, ps, to each his own, yes?

Lucimay wrote:Steven Erikson is the Jimi Hendrix of Fantasy.

Ugh!
And I was just starting to enjoy the book.

drew wrote:

Lucimay wrote:Steven Erikson is the Jimi Hendrix of Fantasy.

Ugh!
And I was just starting to enjoy the book.

i really really really hope you're not insinuating anything BAD about Hendrix, driver. you COULD be summarily SHOT.

Listen, I'm sure he was an alright person....

Glad you enjoyed the interview, guys!

Word has spread rather quickly, and the response has been overwhelming!

By the way, I have 3 copies of Elizabeth Kostova's THE HISTORIAN up for grabs on the blog!

Have a good one,

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Finally got it the second interview!;)

Again, he is brutally honest, which is so refreshing these days.

And he even takes a jab at Ayn Rand and a certain author. . .

Check it out!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

thanks again, pat, for posting and keeping us up on Erikson!!! i had there was a possibility that Bakker would be in Vancouver in March and was thinking of trying to get up there for that, but if ERIKSON is going to be with him....i'm DEFINITELY goin!!! (since i MISSED Erikson's stop here in San Francisco this past November!!)

anyway...thanks again.

No problem! It's always nice to interview SE!

Just posted my book review of GARDENS OF THE MOON, if anyone is interested! In my humble opinion, it could well be the best damn debut ever! Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Been avoiding this thread for fear of encountering spoilers, but I just finished Deadhouse Gates. What a journey.

Started Memories of Ice, just finished the part where the origin of the Bridgeburners is explained. And I am quite intrigued by the title of the next book. Awesome, awesome series.

Thank you, Luci, for recommending it to me.

OH!!!! i'm so HAPPY you like it!!!!!

i love the whole Bridgeburners thing!!!! did you see that song that sarge or cail posted in the lyrics thread??? i could SWEAR it's about Anomander Rake and his hideous sword!!! (it's a BOC song!!)

Heh, I just posted a reply to that. It's actually about Elric, but I can see the parallel. Dagnipur/Stormbringer as well.

Sorus wrote:Heh, I just posted a reply to that. It's actually about Elric, but I can see the parallel. Dagnipur/Stormbringer as well.

ha! Elric! of course...should have guessed.

I've read about 100 pages of Gardens of the Moon. So far, I haven't found one single redeeming quality about this book. What am I missing? Not one character stands out, much less wins me over. I can't detect anything resembling a plot. I respect everyone's opinion here--obviously, since we're on a SRD forum. Hell, SRD himself endorses the book. I'm just stunned that after 100 pages I'm still struggling to find something enjoyable about it.

Malik23 wrote:I've read about 100 pages of Gardens of the Moon. So far, I haven't found one single redeeming quality about this book. What am I missing? Not one character stands out, much less wins me over. I can't detect anything resembling a plot. I respect everyone's opinion here--obviously, since we're on a SRD forum. Hell, SRD himself endorses the book. I'm just stunned that after 100 pages I'm still struggling to find something enjoyable about it.

just keep reading...Gardens of the Moon is a serious bit of exposition. these books and the idea for this world was created by Erikson and his friend Ian Cameron Esselmont as a concept for an RPG...so this first book is mostly just scene setting. slog on, i promise you the books, as they progress, just get better and better. finish GotM if for no other reason than to get to Deadhouse Gates in which Erikson's writing gets infinitely better and the story is gripping!!! i promise i promise i promise!!!!

can you tell i love these books???

Also, the start of Gardens of the Moon is odd - kinda like a flashback - the plot comes in soon. Also, you get to meet Paran and Tattersail. And Whiskeyjack.

variol son wrote:Also, the start of Gardens of the Moon is odd - kinda like a flashback - the plot comes in soon. Also, you get to meet Paran and Tattersail. And Whiskeyjack.

ah! Whiskeyjack. i'm enamoured of Whiskeyjack. i can't wait to read these books through again when time comes to read BONEHUNTERS!!!!

I thought Gardens of the Moon was merely okay, and certainly not an easy, flowing read. But Deadhouse Gates was a quantum leap forward, both in plot and execution.

Memories of Ice is near the top of my TBR pile now, and I'm told it's the best of the series, so I'm looking forward to it.

Memories of Ice is, I would say, the most 'epic' of the books in the series, in terms of the scale of the conflict. It has the best climaxes, the biggest emotional highs - basically, the drama is executed perfectly. House of Chains lacks much of the scale, but Erikson's really hitting his stride writing-wise, and his characters are brilliant - I think the best part of the series so far is the first quarter of HoC, which focuses entirely on a single new character. The finale comes close to some of the best parts of MoI, as well.
Midnight Tides is funny as hell. Two converging storylines, one serious and tragic, the other light and comic. Okay, so the penis jokes get a little old after a while, but the rest of the book is great, and the new cast and setting are just as good as the rest.
Bonehunters lacks some of the payoff of earlier novels in the series, but the drawing together of all the disparate plot strings, the tangible advance of the overall plot into the next stage, and the unveiling of the scale of what is to come, makes the book completely worth it.

In all, I'd actually rate House of Chains as the best book in the series so far, balancing the impact of MoI with the characterisation and structure of MT and tBH, but it's a very close contest.