List Of Steven Erikson Books in Order

Willful Child Series

1. Willful Child, 2012
2. Wrath of Betty, 2016
3. The Search for Spark, 2018

First Contact Series

1. Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart, 2018

Witness Series

1. The God Is Not Willing, 2021

Standalone Steven Erikson Books

• Ruin of Feathers, 1992
• This River Awakens, 1998 (written as Steve Lundin)
• Fishin’ with Grandma Matchie, 2004 (novella)
• The Devil Delivered, 2004 (novella)
• When She’s Gone, 2004 (written as Steve Lundin)
• Revolvo, 2008 (novella)

The Malazan Books Synopsis

Gardens of the Moon – The Malazan series begins with this book, which was published in 1999. We are introduced to the Malazan Empire which is in the middle of heavy discontent and turmoil. The reader is thrown in the middle of battles without any actual explanation, and it’s up to the reader to figure it all out. In fact, this is one of the traits of this author, to avoid spoonfeeding us while reading. In fact, even the many characters have not a big idea on what exactly is going on, why they are fighting and whom. We learn about Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, Tattersail, surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, and of course, Empress Laseen, who rules her Malazan Empire with an iron fist. The empress has just finished a successful siege on Pale, and now her eyes are on Darujhistan, which is the last bastion of freedom, the last Free Cities of Genebackis.

Deadhouse Gates – While this is the sequel to the first book in the series, it actually stands on its own, it can be read as a standalone novel. While the story continues right after the end of the one in the first novel, the characters are new, never seen before, and the continent is different from the first one as well. In this story, we follow the rebellion in the Seven Cities of the same Malazan Empire, started by an uprising called Whirlwind, which claims to free the Seven Cities. Whirlwind is led by the prophetess Sha’ik from the Holy Desert of Raraku.

Memories of Ice – This is the third book in the Malazan series, however, it is the actual sequel to Gardens of the Moon. It takes place around the time with the story in Deadhouse Gates, but it goes back to Genabackis, focusing on the Pannion War. We meet again most of the characters from book 1, Dujek Onearm’s Host, Captain Paran with the Bridgeburners, and Sergeant Whiskeyjack. I found the story quite dark, looking at how much destruction humanity can actually do. Still, I did find Gardens of the Moon somewhat darker in tone.

House of Chains – In the fourth book of the series, we meet Karsa Orlong, a new character added that seems initially quite primitive. The first quarter of the book was following this character’s point of view, which is quite unusual to this author’s style for Malazan. The novel is a direct sequel to Deadhouse Gates, which goes back to Whirlwind, although it also goes back to Memories of Ice.

Midnight Tides – The fifth book takes us again to a new continent and, bar one, entire new characters. The story takes place before the events in Gardens of the Moon, which makes this novel a prequel of sorts. This time the conflict focuses on the Tiste Edur race and the Letherii Empire. While we encountered Tiste Edur so far in the previous stories, this is the first time it is examined in more detail. The story of two families (with the brothers, Sengar and Beddict is explored.

The Bonehunters – We’re continuing our journey several months after the previous book, and this time we get a larger picture of the whole empire and its conflicts. We are in Seven Cities with the Malazan Fourteenth Army going after what remained from the Whirlwind rebellion, and we finally meet almost all previous characters in one book, which is unprecedented for this series so far. Here we get several POVs throughout the novel, which helps with the overview picture of what is actually going on. There are also new characters introduced, but the author doesn’t forget to do proper character development for every important one. Many story arcs converge, and we meet them all:  Seven Cities, Malaz City and the Letherii Empire,  the former Bridgeburners, Whirlwind, and the Fourteenth Army.

Reaper’s Gale – We are finally back to Letherii, which we first saw in Midnight Tides (although now we are several years in the future in this novel), however, once again we have a ton of new characters, including the Awl and the Shake, which are all explored in almost the first half of the book. As usual, there are many threads and story arcs to follow, which is one of the hallmarks of high fantasy.

Toll the Hounds – And we’re back in Darujhistan, following the story of the Tiste Andii race and its leader, The Son of Darkness, Anomander Rake, which hasn’t been much explored in the previous tales. This is another epic story that began with Gardens of the Moon. Here the pace is slower than in the previous novels, and there is a lot of philosophical musing throughout the chapters. We still have several subplots that are all craftily intertwined and closed at the end.

Dust of Dreams – This novel begins the end of the Malazan story. It is so big, so epic, that it had to be told in two volumes. Even at this very late point in the series, we get a whole new cast of characters introduced, which also includes a race of lizards. We get to experience again the atrocities of war brought mostly forward due to the Wasteland battles with its quite graphic depiction of violence. We meet again the Bonehunters, who have by now settled into the city of Letheras, and Adjunct Tavore Paran wants to drive the Bonehunters to the Wasteland.

The Crippled God – We continue the story started in Dust of Dreams, with the Bonehunters marching toward Kolanse, who are led by Adjunct Tavore Paran. In this last book in the Malazan series, most of the plotlines in the other books come together in the end.

Steven Erikson Biography

Steven Erikson, was born in 1959 in Toronto, Canada, under the real name  Steve Rune Lundin. The Canadian novelist is best known for his Malazan Book of the Fallen series, which has taken the world by the storm. By 2012, the this fantasy series has sold more than one million copies of the books all over the world.

Steven grew up in Winnipeg, where he would spend his weekends with his family on trips to the various nearby lakes fishing. These very trips sparked Steve’s imagination which would later prove a great help in him writing fantasy books.

Later on he briefly moved to the UK with his wife (whom he initially met at an archaeological dig) and his son. Eventually, however, he moved back to Winnipeg. Currently, he lives in  Victoria, British Columbia with his family. He is  graduate of the University of Victoria undergraduate Creative Writing program.

In his early twenties, he wrote a fantasy novel which he decided was bad. So next he trained in archaeology and anthropology, with double minors in history and the Classics, as well as finishing two writing courses, being a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. By then he was unemployed and had a pregnant wife. So he decided to start writing to get some income. This is when he completed the first draft of Gardens of the Moon.

Sadly, it took almost ten additional years until the book got published. In the meantime, while living in the UK, he would be trying to get archaeological jobs, which would never appear, so Steven would work for a few years at various office desk jobs, which bored him to death. As he started writing books and his reputation as a great author of fantasy novels got established, after his book This River Awakens, in 1998 he got his pseudonym Steven Erikson, by which name he is known even today.

When he first started his Malazan series, he was working with co-author Ian Cameron Esslemont on a role-playing game which they played together during their student years. The two authors initially met at an archeological dig at the site of Mud Portage, Ontario, Canada.  The first Steven Erikson book in the series, Gardens of the Moon, was initially created as a movie script which eventually was changed into a book when the script didn’t sell.

When in the 1990s the publishing house Transworld (a division of RandomHouse) bought the book’s copyrights, they also asked for additional novels in the series, which Steven Erikson was happy to oblige writing. Since then, the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson includes 10 full-length books, which were followed by additional prequel books that comprised the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach series and some short novellas.

The first book, once published in 1999, was received extremely well by the readers of fantasy novels, and it was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award. In fact, the author’s first book under Steven Erikson propelled him to the status of a great fantasy writer. After writing the 10th book and the series being seemingly over, the fans wanted more, so the new trilogy and prequel books were born. In addition, there are several other books in the Malazan series by Ian Cameron Esslemont that are worth reading as well.

Reading the Steven Erikson books in order for his Malazan series is well worth it for every epic-fantasy lover who doesn’t shy away from some massive books that are not as easy to read as the mainstream fantasy stories they’re accustomed to. The series spans several continents, includes numerous characters, and it all ended with the tenth book, The Crippled God, in 2011.

In his writing, Erikson has been called by his book critics both a poststructuralist and postmodernist. His books don’t follow the traditional epic fantasy construct and conventions, and his characters and not inherently good or evil. They are, in fact, multi-dimensional and are often both good and bad, just like real people are. Also, not all main characters survive to save the world (no further spoilers here).

Often he starts his Malazan books by placing the reader in the middle of a story rather than giving initial background, which is what other authors do. This turns traditional convention on its head as well. The latest Steven Erikson books are mostly focusing on sci-fi with the two sci-fi series he’s recently started, First Contact and Willful Child.

When he’s not writing fantasy or sci-fi books, Steven Erikson enjoys fencing, something that he’s been doing for a long time.

Praise for Steve Erikson

Steven Erikson is an extraordinary writer … His work does something that only the rarest of books can manage: it alters the reader’s perception of reality. (Stephen R. Donaldson)

I stand slack-jawed in awe of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. This masterwork of imagination may be the high water mark of epic fantasy—accomplished with none of the customary rifs on Tolkien. This marathon of ambition has a depth and breadth and sense of vast reaches of inimical time unlike anything else available today.  (Glen Cook)

Rare is the writer who so fluidly combines a sense of mythic power and depth of world with fully realized characters and thrilling action, but Steven Erikson manages it spectacularly. (Michael A. Stackpole)

Gripping, fast-moving, delightfully dark, with a masterful and unapologetic brutality reminiscent of George R. R. Martin. Steven Erikson brings a punchy, mesmerizing writing style into the genre of epic fantasy, making an indelible impression. Utterly engrossing. (Elizabeth Haydon)

Easily the best fantasy series to appear in the past decade (SF Site)

This is true myth in the making, a drawing upon fantasy to recreate histories and legends as rich as any found within our culture. (Interzone)

References

• Steven Erikson author website
• Owen Williams author interview

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