pat5150 Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Just received a press release from SE's publicist. And it sure looks like this year is the year that Transworld is truly giving The Malazan Book of the Fallen a marketing push. - The reissue of Gardens of the Moon - Toll the Hounds will be a hardback release, with the trade paperback only available in the fall - They're flying Erikson to the UK to attend readings, signings, and other events. It's nice to see that they are really getting behind him as the series gains momentum! Check the blog for all the details! Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriele Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 I had no books in hand, but there was a used book store in the area. I was annoyed to find they had no Erickson. They had Tolkien, Hebert, Martin, Tairy in spades, Jordan, Stephenson, Eddings, Rand, le Guin, Rice, they had everyone. But no Stephen Erickson. Ok, that's OT, but they didn't have a copy of Katherine Kurtz' The Bastard Prince by chance? Because I'm looking for one that doesn't cost a fortune to buy, and then another fortune to get shipped to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 It's nice to see that they are really getting behind him as the series gains momentum! Gains momentum? The series has been treading water for the last four books. I guess you mean in terms of popularity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrence Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Just received a press release from SE's publicist. And it sure looks like this year is the year that Transworld is truly giving The Malazan Book of the Fallen a marketing push. - The reissue of Gardens of the Moon - Toll the Hounds will be a hardback release, with the trade paperback only available in the fall - They're flying Erikson to the UK to attend readings, signings, and other events. Reissue in PB editions, I presume? Because it is frustrating in a way, realising the series is worthy of a reread, yet unable to find good hardcover editions. I was hoping for a reissue in both formats, I guess that's too much to ask for. But I really got to get my hands on some hardcovers, if I want to reread the series multiple times over the next few years (and I imagine I will). I got off work today and I was headed for this specific bar where I wanted to have 6 glasses of red wine and do some reading. I had no books in hand, but there was a used book store in the area. I was annoyed to find they had no Erickson. They had Tolkien, Hebert, Martin, Tairy in spades, Jordan, Stephenson, Eddings, Rand, le Guin, Rice, they had everyone. But no Stephen Erickson. I was going to give it a shot. Perhaps now I never will....that's OK. Gars are so interesting. Stephen (Steve) Erickson or Steven Erikson? A lot of people confuse the two authors with eachother. They're worlds apart in terms of subject and novels though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Amazon UK has now changed the release date as well to June 30. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toll-Hounds-Malaza...3539&sr=1-2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrence Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Amazon UK has now changed the release date as well to June 30. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toll-Hounds-Malaza...3539&sr=1-2 And the PB will be released on 6 Oct 2008. Interesting indeed. Anyone noticed the big difference in page counts? The hardcover spans almost 900 pages where the PB is a "mere" 509 pages. I know it has to do with the typeface etc. but still.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horza Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 I liked everything up til GotM, I just recently got halfway through HoC and stopped, and now can't pick up the threads again. I think I'm going to have to restart the whole series and take notes this time, but it's such a demanding series that I don't know if I cbf in the near future. Several elements are definately starting to grate, from minor dischordancies like the character names (Whiskeyjack, but where's the whiskey? Does anyone even drink in the series apart from Anomander Rake's viticulture sessions? And enough with the Krukrags and the Tulks hanging out with the Felisins and the Bauchelains, where's the consistency?) to the general obscure prose and parsimonious exposition - I understand not wanting to cram the dialogue with "As you know, Bob" and infodumps but there's been a number of points where I'll turn page after page trying to work out what in Hades is actually happening and end up none the wiser. When stuff actually happens and you can understand what people are up to, its usually several kinds of awesome, but for Erickson baffling the reader with opaque dialogue and blurry inscrutable events seem to constitute 90% of his craft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gormenghast Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 And the PB will be released on 6 Oct 2008. Interesting indeed. Anyone noticed the big difference in page counts? The hardcover spans almost 900 pages where the PB is a "mere" 509 pages. I know it has to do with the typeface etc. but still.. It means nothing at all. Page count on Amazon is usually very wrong. I remember when Reaper's Gale was given at 500 or so pages for the hardcover edition, when it had 928. Usually Hardcover and Trade Paperback have the exact number of pages. Then the paperback or MM edition will have a lot more. So the HC version is the one with the smaller page count. Anyone knows the REAL number of pages for Toll the Hounds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gormenghast Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Several elements are definately starting to grate, from minor dischordancies like the character names (Whiskeyjack, but where's the whiskey? Lol. I think it should be a kind of crow. Bird, not booze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Yep, whiskeyjack is a species of bird: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horza Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Thanks Gormengast and BoG, but for me this just raises the question of why is he named after an Earth-bird. Erickson can wriggle out of this by saying 'oh they have this bird to, and his name is just being translated and really in his local dialect it's "Kwyjibo". But it's still incongruous with the distinct, otherworldly setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Thanks Gormengast and BoG, but for me this just raises the question of why is he named after an Earth-bird. Erickson can wriggle out of this by saying 'oh they have this bird to, and his name is just being translated and really in his local dialect it's "Kwyjibo". But it's still incongruous with the distinct, otherworldly setting. They have horses, and dogs, and other earthly animals. Why would there not be whiskeyjacks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloanzilla Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Dismissing anyone who doesn't think Felisin is an effective character with "Oh, that's just because you are male" is unreasonable and just plain silly. Well written characters grow or regress through a book. They somehow respond to their surroundings and situation. Felisin basically cycled through the same three "biting" comments for 400 pages in Book 2. Yes, I get it, self loathing, but self loathing characters don't seem likely to go into cruise control bitchyness, especially when in such a survival based situation. A more realistic character in her situation would have made overtures toward kindness, hit perceived roadblocks, and then gone back into their shell. One step forward and then two back might have been an interesting story, but Felisin never really took steps in either direction. What was especially confusing is that her own internal monologue often did seem to follow the cycle I mentioned, but the character itself did not. Instead, the reader is given 400 pages of illusion that, at any moment, Felisin might stop being a raving bitch. There's little payout in terms of growth, except for one slight admission that she kept handless guy around to honor the dead Claw guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Dismissing anyone who doesn't think Felisin is an effective character with "Oh, that's just because you are male" is unreasonable and just plain silly. Well written characters grow or regress through a book. They somehow respond to their surroundings and situation. Felisin basically cycled through the same three "biting" comments for 400 pages in Book 2. Yes, I get it, self loathing, but self loathing characters don't seem likely to go into cruise control bitchyness, especially when in such a survival based situation. A more realistic character in her situation would have made overtures toward kindness, hit perceived roadblocks, and then gone back into their shell. One step forward and then two back might have been an interesting story, but Felisin never really took steps in either direction. What was especially confusing is that her own internal monologue often did seem to follow the cycle I mentioned, but the character itself did not. Instead, the reader is given 400 pages of illusion that, at any moment, Felisin might stop being a raving bitch. There's little payout in terms of growth, except for one slight admission that she kept handless guy around to honor the dead Claw guy. Um, what? She starts off as young and naive. Her trip on the boat, selling her body to help them survive, starts the process of hardening her. By the time she leaves the mines, she's pounding back the drugs and screwing anything that moves really. She hates herself and while she WANTS to reach out to others (like we see in her internal monologues), she can't bring herself too. By the end, she's softened a bit towards Heboric and may be even close to admitting she needs him around. Really, I can't understand what your problem is at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Sloanzilla, we've already been there at length somewhere in one of the other big Malazan threads, and it really did appear that all the female boarders loved Felisin and found her character realistic and evocative, while (most) males... did not interpret it the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Sloanzilla, we've already been there at length somewhere in one of the other big Malazan threads, and it really did appear that all the female boarders loved Felisin and found her character realistic and evocative, while (most) males... did not interpret it the same way. Really? It seemed a large portion of the males got her character too. I wouldn't go so far as to say "most", it just seems like the majority of those who don't get the character are men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriele Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Sloanzilla, we've already been there at length somewhere in one of the other big Malazan threads, and it really did appear that all the female boarders loved Felisin and found her character realistic and evocative, while (most) males... did not interpret it the same way. That's interesting. I haven't read the books yet, but if the description in the post above is accurate, I'm not going to like her one bit. A vengeful bitch is one thing, an emo vengeful bitch is just eww. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 @Shrike: yes, as you say. Either way there is a trend. @Gabriele: She is neither vengeful nor emo, actually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Yeah, she's more bitter and angry. She hates herself, but can't even bring herself to admit it. So she lashes out at everyone, especially those she sees as trying to be nice to her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloanzilla Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Um, what? She starts off as young and naive. Her trip on the boat, selling her body to help them survive, starts the process of hardening her. By the time she leaves the mines, she's pounding back the drugs and screwing anything that moves really. She hates herself and while she WANTS to reach out to others (like we see in her internal monologues), she can't bring herself too. By the end, she's softened a bit towards Heboric and may be even close to admitting she needs him around. Really, I can't understand what your problem is at all. 2 pages of young and naive. 298 pages of more or less the same level of bitterness. It's not the change from page 2 to page 3 I have a problem with, it's her staying exactly the same for the middle 96 percent of the story. Her growth, for good or bad, felt stalled. You could have switched her actions and even thoughts on page 100 with page 600 and not noticed the difference. The "can't bring herself to reach out to others" is part of what I had a problem with. The slight softening torwards Heboric was too little, too late. You were a crackwhore for a few weeks. Get over it, and quit trying to knife the guy who keeps saving your life. Anyhow, I felt she was a poorly presented character, in addition to not being likeable. I certainly understand differences of opinion, but attempting to dismiss differences of opinion based on gender lines (which several people did in this thread) is insipid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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