Steven Erikson news


Just learned that Steven Erikson's The Crippled God (Canada, USA, Europe) has been pushed back to February 21st. Weighing in at about 370,000 words, the manuscript is a beast, and the folks at Bantam Press don't want to rush this one.

Here's the blurb, just to whet your appetite even more!:

Savaged by the K’Chain Nah’Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods – if her own troops don’t kill her first.

Awaiting Tavore and her allies are the Forkrul Assail, the final arbiters of humanity. Drawing upon an alien power terrible in its magnitude, they seek to cleanse the world, to annihilate every human, every civilization, in order to begin anew. They welcome the coming conflagration of slaughter, for it shall be of their own devising, and it pleases them to know that, in the midst of the enemies gathering against them, there shall be betrayal.

In the realm of Kurald Galain, home to the long lost city of Kharkanas, a mass of refugees stand upon the First Shore. Commanded by Yedan Derryg, the Watch, they await the breaching of Lightfall, and the coming of the Tiste Liosan. This is a war they cannot win, and they will die in the name of an empty city and a queen with no subjects.

Elsewhere, the three Elder Gods, Kilmandaros, Errastas and Sechul Lath, work to shatter the chains binding Korabas, the Otataral Dragon, from her eternal prison. Once freed, she will rise as a force of devastation, and against her no mortal can stand. At the Gates of Starvald Demelain, the Azath House sealing the portal is dying. Soon will come the Eleint, and once more, there will be dragons in the world.

8 commentaires:

Anonymous said...

thats alright a month or two is competly acceptable in my opinion.
and oh shit is it about to go down or what?

Heath said...

Looks like Amazon says the UK version is out on Jan 20 - is that Feb 21 date for the US and Canada or all 3? I will probably import this one since I'm very excited to read it.

Anonymous said...

Anyone know how many words long the other books are? 370 000 words sounds like a lot, but it doesn’t have much meaning unless I can compare it to some of the others.

Cecrow said...

Just so long as it doesn't devolve into volume-splitting ...

Adam Whitehead said...

I believe that's slightly shorter than the last few, which weighed in at around 380-385,000 words.

And yes, it is odd that the MALAZAN paperbacks are longer than the one-volume mmpb edition of A STORM OF SWORDS or Books 4 and 6 of THE WHEEL OF TIME, despite those volumes being longer in word-count than any of Erikson's novels. Must be down to some pretty inventive formatting.

Anonymous said...

Word count for the books for comparison:

Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson

Gardens of the Moon: 209k
Deadhouse Gates: 270k
Memories of Ice: 351k
House of Chains: 306k
Midnight Tides: 271k
The Bonehunters: 365k
Reaper's Gale: 386k
Toll the Hounds: 392k
Dust of Dreams: 382k
The Crippled God: 378k (tentative)

Total: 3M 310k

Esslemont:

Night of Knives: 88k
Return of the Crimson Guard: 278k

(source: http://www.cesspit.net/drupal/node/1869 )

Anonymous said...

Thank you both for the answers

Unknown said...

This far out, a delay like that doesn't bother me. Now, if they had announced the delay 2 weeks before it was suppose to be release, then I would be irate.