![]() ![]() I have some strong feels about photo hosting online, my friends. Another version of this interview appears in SFX 157, on sale from Wednesday 9 May.I’m aware of the layers of irony in this image. Except here, on a good day, we can see the mountains of the Alaska Range and Denali itself (Mt. I have to say it reminds me of my youth in Winnipeg. I think there’s a beauty to the cobalt moonlight on snow. And, other than the dog-teams running through the woods nearby and moose ambling down the streets, it’s like any other North American urban experience. Now, though, with kids, we’ve sold out and have indoor plumbing and a furnace to heat the house. Running to the outhouse all winter long imposes a certain kind of discipline, I tell you. Back then we lived the cabin life of no piped water or indoor plumbing. My wife and I first met here in Fairbanks. ![]() Sure, 40 degrees below is cold, but I used to walk to school in a corduroy jacket all winter! (man, I can’t believe I used to be that stupid). ICE: “Well, firstly, I’m from Winnipeg so the weather isn’t all that much of a problem. SFX: Tell us a bit about living in Alaska. Here, the opportunity arises to play kingmakers – but to whom?” “Briefly, I can say that the mercenary company the Crimson Guard returns the home of the Empire, Quon Tali, where they find the continent torn by a civil war precipitated both by Empress Laseen’s policies and cruel political calculation. I am pleased that many fans of the world have expressed interest in these characters, ones Steve and I marked out long ago for development. The original manuscript for this second novel, like Knives, was actually completed long ago and spends time with characters such as Greymane, Traveller, Blues, and Skinner. Its working title is Return of the Crimson Guard, and while it deals with the obvious return of this mercenary company dedicated to the destruction of the Malazan Empire, it also documents much more (of course). I’ve just handed a first run-through to Bantam. It’s the second in my sequence of five (possibly six) Malazan novels. ICE: “Firstly, it’s not a sequel in any sense of the word. SFX: Can you tell us about the sequel to the book? The manuscript sat with me for a long time until Steve’s encouragement brought it out to be circulated for consideration.” I think that even back then Steve and I understood that this particular night was worth documenting. Yet, the novel was first completed very long ago, perhaps the second Malazan project finished after our co-authored Gardens of the Moon screenplay (if I remember correctly). “It is short but dense, answering a great many questions about the world that readers of Steve’s novels often ask: how Surly/Laseen came to the throne, the fall of Dassem ‘Sword of the Empire’. It is the night of the Ascension of potential new gods – gods of Shadow – but also a night in which small personal choices of all too human characters change the direction of their lives, and ripple out to shape much more. ICE: “Night of Knives tells the story of an important night for the history of the Malazan Empire and for the world in general. ![]() ![]() SFX: Can you tell us a little about the book? Each of us was perhaps trying to outdo the other in invention and in the realisation, or reification, of the themes and the ‘feel’ or grittiness of a depth of grim realism we felt lacking from the genre – an oxymoron, I suppose, realism in fantasy. “For each continent or sub-continent we took turns fleshing out the setting for the other to come to. They were games, yes, but only in the broadest sense as we had long left behind any formal structures of rules: the emphasis was on theme and mythic depth as played out by characters, some ancient and some just setting out. Ian Cameron Esslemont: “Steve and I co-created the world a piece at a time as a backdrop for our narrative dialogues in the fantasy genre. SFX: Tell us a little about yourself and Steven co-creating the Malazan world. ![]()
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