Some pretty books arrived today. Hooray.

The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss.
If you look back at the blog you can see I already purchased a copy of the book. The luscious and huge UK trade paperback with a pretty cover. But then I actually prefer reading the smaller, tightly written editions, so decided to get the mass market US version as well. The fact that the huge UK version was written so big was tricky and made me believe the book wasn’t so long. The US version is really tightly written, with a small typeset, and still takes 720 pages. It is indeed one huge book.

I like this US MM version too. The map, though, is rather ugly and much worse than the classic-looking ink version that I have on the UK one. The rest is good. The new, darker cover is surely much, much better than the old US ones, and I like the plastic material they used for the cover: you can open the book easily without creasing it.

I’m in no rush to read it. The next has been delayed to next year, so I can give priority to others.

A Feast for Crows – George RR Martin.
I skimmed a lot through the books but still need to read one from back to back. Will do it later. Since I have already the other three books, I got this one too. For “Dance” I’ll wait for the MM edition to come out. No rush. I’m a bit skeptic about the writer’s true will to end the series (lack of self-discipline, some would say. He should meet Erikson). The fourth book wasn’t so warmly received as the others and the fifth was supposed to be ready years ago. Without a change of pacing I fear not much can be saved and I already read that some prefer to consider it a trilogy. It will be interesting to observe the reaction to the fifth book.

There’s an interesting thread here. But really, the more he gets swamped in the minutiae and perfectionism the worse the books will actually be. I’m pretty sure of this. He needs to find the momentum, not to revise the same page 100 times.

Memories of Ice – Steven Erikson.
Well, this is pure Erikson fetish. I already have the book, and still wanted the US, ugly, MM edition. I don’t think the artist who made the cover(s) is a bad one, but he’s really out of style with Erikson. Looks like a spin-off of Forgotten Realms and it can’t give a wronger impression (and despite the US cover is actually more pertinent to the story). 900 pages, one of the longer books in the series, the best for most of the readers. Those 900 pages are actually on the short side as the typeset used is as tiny as possible and there’s not even spacing between chapters. So, outside the fetish, the UK editions are much, much superior.

Legend – David Gemmell.
Going back in the years. I never read Gemmell and I’m more interested in this long series than semi historical fiction he wrote. 350 pages, this should be quick to read compared to the epic sized things I’m reading lately.

A Cavern of Black Ice – J. V. Jones.
If it wasn’t clear, I prefer to get into living writers who are productive and that I can look forward in an ongoing way. I actually enjoy the wait and hype in the sense of the community, frequenting forums, discovering new authors and so on. Much more than digging on the past, on which there are less interesting things to say.

I think this series started as a trilogy then blended into a “pentalogy”. Third book came out last October after a long wait. I think she’s trying to rival Martin (in time elapsed between books). On the other side I read the series is good, rather complex, with lots of characters and multiple POV. Yeah, I don’t know a whole lot, but between all the books I have on the to-read list, this one makes me curious and the one I’m the most eager to read. 770 pages, this also a rather big book.

And, drumroll….

Wizard’s First Rule – Terry Goodkind.
I said I was going to buy it, and I did. Got the new Tor edition with the stone bridge on the cover. 820 pages, surprisingly thin on quotes and praises ;)

Oh, and I actually plan to read it, probably soon.

I’m 300 pages from the end of Deadhouse Gates and while I expect to follow with Memories of Ice, I’d still put some other book in between. I definitely need a break or risk exhaustion, so I need something lighter and easier to read while I recover. I’m wondering what. It could be either J. V. Jones or Goodkind, but both are big books and I may decide for book 3 of the Black Company (Glen Cook) or Gemmell as they are shorter. On the other hand I prefer to read something entirely new so it could really be Goodkind or J. V. Jones. Or even go back to Jordan and read the third book. Undecided.

And there are also Scott Bakker and Abercrombie to consider. And Donaldson Gap series. And Keyes.

(I’ll probably read a bunch of prologues and then decide for the stickier)

I’m past halfway through “Deadhouse Gates” and it’s really buckets of awesome.

In the meantime I hunt restlessly for non-spoiler comments on the later books. Since I’m stuck with Erikson for a very long time, I also crave some perspective on what comes later. One can only hope the best is yet to come.

So lately I read a review of book 6, “The Bonehunters”, repeating again that the book is overlong. A common theme among forumers and reviewers that I’ve yet to experience. Book 1 for me needed about 200 more pages to feel less confused and better paced, especially toward the end. Book 2 instead has a truly perfect structure. Perfectly balanced, paced and executed. But then I’m only past page 500 and I need to see how it works toward the end.

“Toll the Hounds” should have a review next week from Pat. Longest book in the series, so far, and Pat doesn’t seem to like it too much this time, especially the pacing:

Okay, 412 pages into it and I must say that TtH is the slowest Malazan book to “get going” yet. You can see that SE is setting quite a few pieces on the board and there are a number of pleasant surprises, but I think that some readers might have issues with the pace.

—
Oh there’s a convergence coming, have no fear. . .

And there are many, many guests invited to this dance!

572 pages into TtH, and the book still hasn’t kicked into gear, though. . .

—
I particularly enjoy the two Tiste Andii POVs, which gives us some insight into Anomander Rake’s past, the clash with Mother Dark, the civil war in Kurald Galain, etc. The Tiste Andii have always been very intriguing, and even though these two characters are new to the series, they are very interesting…

On the other hand an advance reader keeps the hopes very high:

This is his best, most mature book, imo – including his efforts outside the genre. If this book doesn’t reach you emotionally then there’s something deply wrong with you IMO. Until I read that he’s a fan of Robin Hobb, I was tentative about what I am about to say (haven’t even said it to him) but one of the impressions that stuck in my mind after finishing this manuscript was that he had out-Hobbed Robin Hobb. It’s weird because I don’t like Robin Hobb all that much but the emotional content makes it worthwhile for me. Her worldbuilding is shite, the plot is generally lame and predictable, but certain chracters I genuinely care about and want to see come through the other side, happier and healthier amidst the tragedies of their respective lives. And some don’t make it.

That’s all for now.

One downside of reading Steven Erikson is that I don’t have anymore the excitement and curiosity of what to read next, as I have a (growing) pile of books still to read and I know it’s better that I don’t let pass time between each to not risk getting lost and enjoy all the details and layers.

This means that I wait eagerly for all new Malazan things. I wish a review for “Toll the Hounds” would come soon to give me at least an idea about where it sits in the series (from quality point of view), but no review on the horizon. In the meantime we got more infos about Esslemont’s second book, whose wonderful cover is on the left, but just for the expensive collector edition.

There’s an interview with the author discussing some interesting things, but that I had to skip here and there to avoid spoilers. It also gives more details about the correct reading order:

The events occur just before Steve’s Toll the Hounds and relatively soon after The Bonhunters. Unforunately, due to timing, Steve’s Toll comes out just before Return – rather than the reverse. It would be better had Return preceeded Toll, but that’s just how things turned out given my coming into all this later than we both had wanted originally.

And something about the next book planned:

The third novel deals with the over-reach of the Malazan occupation of Korel lands to the south of Quon. After internal reordering the empire turns its attention, and resources, to this drain on its treasure and blood. Currently I’m just getting into it – the writing is slow in that I’m trying to learn from my experiences with both prior novels and adjust accordingly (fan feedback helps here!).

This left me doubtful. He wrote ROTCG for at least two years, and it was already completed in an early form even before “Gardens of the Moon” was published (so very long ago). So the next book will likely arrive for 2010 or later. And by that year Erikson should be done on his own side. In previous interviews Esslemont said he had a plan of five novels in the Malazan world:

1) Night of Kinves – About Dancer and Kallanved’s assassination
2) Return of The Crimson Guard – About the invasion of the Crimson Guard to Quon Tali
3) Stonewielder (working title) – About the Korel campaigns
4) ? – About a return to Darujhistan
5) ? – The epilogue to Erikson’s last book

And he also said that the fifth book may even split in two… In order for this to work Esslemont should start working on the fifth volume as close as possible to Erikson’s last. So what will happen to everything in between? Maybe the return to Darujhistan was integrated with “Toll the Hounds”?

Sure is that the Malazan project is truly massive. With the downside that the authors may feel bored or demotivated and not complete it. Let’s hope the enthusiasm sticks.

Finally, about ROTCG we’ve got two reviews. One from Pat, the other from Dancer on the forums.

Transword just put up the page for “Toll The Hounds”. Eighth book in the Malazan series, for a total of ten planned.

Official page count for this one (hardcover) is… 944 pages.

Wow. It means that if they stick to the same typeset it’s the biggest book in the whole series. They keep growing and growing…

Bonehunters was 912 (1232 massmarket), Reaper’s Gale 928 (1280 massmarket).

This one risks to break the 1300 pages in mass market.

Can only be good. More to read for me for something that I like more and more (300 pages into Deadhouse Gates, the more I like it, the slower I go). With the hope that the quality stays up and the writing doesn’t become “perfunctory”. For sure the writing in the second book isn’t. Topmost quality.

One wonders if Steven Erikson is human. 1300 pages again written in about ten months. He keeps the pace and never delays. At this point of the year it’s fair to guess he is already 2/3 into the ninth book. And that means he’s almost done. Not only he is one of the few who’s going to actually complete what he planned. But he also planned it so large that he’ll probably stays in history unsurpassed.

In the meantime we also got a first version of another of those illustrations that will go into “Gardens of the Moon” collector edition:

A few imprecisions. If I remember correctly there were absolutely no trees in the area, and Quick Ben is a black man.

You can see Hairlock in the ground, missing his lower body. Quick Ben, the mage, in the center, with the puppet wrapped up in his hands, Wiskeyjack on the right, Kalam on the left, and Sorry in the background. Pat should put a bigger version on his blog later.

Not just a book, THE book:

It arrived here in very good condition and I’m happy of the purchase. Soooo pretty. And the best edition ever made.

I decided to get it as I didn’t have an original copy of the book and because I found out it was available on Amazon relatively for cheap. Now that I have it in my hands I’m not worried anymore to publicize you can have it too for just $53.55 ;)

It IS cheap if you consider it launched at $100-120 and now sold at $85. There’s also another 50 Anniversary edition in UK but it isn’t as pretty ‘n awesome.

This is the book exactly like Tolkien wanted it, one volume and with all the revisions to the text. Researched with extreme meticulosity.

The feature list says:
* Finest edition ever offered, complete in one volume
* Fully corrected, all new text setting
* Color insert showing leaves from the Book of Mazarbul (Tolkien’s own painting, three pages)
* Deluxe leather binding with two-color foil stamping
* Gilded edges, ribbon bookmark
* Two foldout two-color maps (standard and Gondor)

To this I add there’s a third map at the beginning of the book showing The Shire and the book has an index at the end with names and places similar to the one Tolkien wanted to add. There are also three different introductions, two explaining the various revisions to the text and the different editions, and one of Tolkien himself extremely interesting and explaining how the novel was conceived and its purpose.

Th prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, or deeply move them.

The most critical reader of all, myself, now finds many defects, minor and major, but being fortunately under no obligation either to review the book or to write it again, he will pass over these in silence, except oner that has been noted by others: the book is too short.

Other arrangements could be devised according to the tastes or views of those who like allegory or topical reference. But I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of the readers. I think that many confuse ‘applicability’ with ‘allegory’; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author.

A few days before I also received a completely different book:

This came out a couple of weeks ago in the UK mass market edition, the one I got.

Can’t read it yet since I’ve read it spoils some plots in Erikson’s later novels I still have to read. 470 pages but it has just around 200 real ones as it’s written huge like a book for kids. I would have liked it more in a smaller edition, odd choice they made. It also contains two maps, one of the Malaz city (already appeared in one of Erikson’s books) and another I haven’t seen before of the Malaz island.

While I can’t read it yet I’ve skimmed it, especially because at the end there’s the prologue and first chapter of “Return of the Crimson Guard”, the first “serious” book written by Esslemont and with the ambition to rival Erikson in depth and complexity. I’m not sure I like the style, it’s more plain compared to Erikson and with short phrases. But it seems evocative.

Next week Pat should write down the first review, so we’ll have more clues about whether it is good or not. I really hope it is valid so I’ll have more and more and more to read about a world that I truly like.

For now we are left with one liners:

I’m about 100 pages into it and I have to agree that ICE has matured as a writer. This one reads more easily than NoK.

For those who were disappointed by NoK, know that RofCG is as convoluted (so far) as any of SE’s Malazan offerings.

220 pages into it, and it’s pretty damn good so far!

Storywise, RotCG is on par with most Malazan books by SE. But though his writing style has improved, ICE’s prose is not as fluid as SE.

Nevertheless, in terms of plotlines and such, this is a terrific book so far!

336 pages into it, and things have definitely started to heat up!

430 pages into it, and let me just tell you that TtH will have to be quite something to be the top Malazan…

The book will be published in UK in August.

I’m also eager to read the first impression of Toll the Hounds. Really, really hope it will be good.

The quarrel struck her forehead an inch above her left eye. The iron head shattered the bone, plunging inward a moment before the spring-driven barbs opened like a deadly flower inside her brain.

Maybe we didn’t listen because none of us believed we would ever reach the coast. Maybe Heboric decided the same after that first meal. Only I wasn’t thinking that far ahead, was I? No wise acceptance of the futility of all this. I mocked and ignored the advice out of spite, nothing more.

‘Why did you leave the priesthood, Heboric? Skimmed the coffers, I suppose. So they cut your hands off, then tossed you onto the rubbish heap behind the temple. That’s certainly enough to make anyone take up writing history as a profession.’

This book is wonderful.

Felisin is an incredible character, I’m amazed at what Erikson can do. He went deep and with a kind of realism that other fantasy writers not only can’t do, but aren’t even willingly to do.

While the first book lacked in characterization, this second improves and then goes beyond.

Oooooommmmph!

I was impatiently waiting this package from amazon.co.uk. I’m still in the earliest pages of the second book of Erikson, but I wanted to pile all seven of them, in the same edition, and just gawk for a while. That seventh book is fresh of print, as it came out just now in its UK paperback/MM edition.

When you hold it in your hands, Reaper’s Gale, with its 1260 pages, you wonder how Erikson could write it in less than 10 months. And write it with a 1000+ pages book one after the other. At the expense of quality? We’ll see.

There’s also a new map with the whole empire of Lether.

So I made this HUGE pile of the seven books, and it’s really spectacular. When it will have the three missing volumes it will be undoubtedly one of the biggest achievements in the genre, even if you aren’t an Erikson supporter. It’s not books, it’s treasure!

Then there’s also the trade paperback edition of “Last Arguments of Kings”. HUGE, massive. About 80 pages fatter than the second. Had to skim again through the book to understand the title (which is a quote from an inscription on a cannon, so you understand the humor behind it).

I know I’ll love that book, and I’ll have to force myself to read it soon (I have an habit to delay the best things, to keep them last).

In the meantime a third book joins my daily reads: The Road by Cormac McCarthy. But it is a 200 pages book, written big. I’m already at page 80 and expect to finish it in a few more days.