Ooooohhhhh.....

[prince_eric]

Looks like Esselmont's got another book out.

I should just order this now -- I have never been a good one with the old 'saving-throw-versus-shiny' in this regard.

The fact that I'm currently working my way through the latest Malazan book isn't helping this either, methinks.....

Comments

[buddhacat.livejournal.com]

Throw! Throw! I threw waay too much at the limited edition that first came out and regretted it - it wasn't even proofed!

But the "real" published book has been proofed, so should be much better. As for the story itself, well it's a Malazan book - lives up to those general expectations. I liked it. Esselmont is not Erikson, certainly, but he is also still finding himself.

I loved Toll the Hounds - I'd rank that right behind Memories of Ice, and alongside Midnight Tides and Deadhouse Gates.

[montoya.livejournal.com]

Wait, Erikson is farming Malazan out to other writers?

[prince-corwin.livejournal.com]

Esselmont is co-creator of that background. I haven't bothered to read any of the Esselmont books, though. No particular reason except not wanting to bother until I get a review from a reviewer I've calibrated.

[buddhacat.livejournal.com]

Esselmont is definitely several steps below Erikson. Return of the Crimson Guard (which is his 2nd book) is a distinct large step below Gardens, I'd say.

[prince-corwin.livejournal.com]

Are those Esselmont books actually any good?

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

BTW, have you reviewed Reaper's Gale anywhere ? I've only just got round to reading it, and would be interested to see what you thought.

[prince-corwin.livejournal.com]

I haev not. My affection for that series is waning somewhat, but I recall a certain sense of disatisfaction over not seeing the fight I wanted to see.

[prince-eric.livejournal.com]

The first one was....okay.

The writing was definitely Not Erikson, though it wasn't awful. It was interesting in that it went through the events the night that Khellanved and Dancer disappeared from the Empire, and also went through the backstory of Dasseem Ultor. Interesting from a backstory perspective, but didn't really mess much with continuity. As it was also pretty short as well (latest TPB release from Erikson clocks in at over 800 pages), I figured that it was worth seeing the next one, and if it covered some interesting bit of backstory then I'd pick it up and give it a read as well.

This book, however, appears to cover the events on the Malazan continent between Reaper's Gale and Toll the Hounds, and touches on some characters that appear in the latest release (the aforementioned Toll), so while I'll probably get it and check it out, it'll be a lot more interesting to see how Esslemont's stuff interacts with Erikson's, especially from character PoV things.