Interview with Ian Cameron Esslemont

Q: In terms of timeline, will the events chronicled in RETURN OF THE CRIMSON GUARD coincide with the events of MEMORIES OF ICE? Will we see Iron Bars and the other characters introduced in MIDNIGHT TIDES?

Q: Speaking of characters, will we finally see Prince K'azz D'Avore, Skinner, and others we met in GARDENS OF THE MOON, like Fingers, Cowl and Corporal Blues?

I’ll answer these two questions together. In terms of timeline, RETURN follows BONEHUNTERS relatively closely. Neither Steve nor I are precise in dates and years and such as, thematically, such definitive absolute views of time are actually an artifact of our modern world. Time and dates and such were, and are, interpreted differently in other cultures and in the past. Anyway, so much for that anthropological hobbyhorse. Iron Bars and other characters introduced in earlier works will all be in RETURN – that’s why they were introduced in the first place! Blues and Cowl (and others) were mentioned in GARDENS because Steve and I hoped that, eventually, we would have the opportunity to tell the whole story.

Q: M. John Harrison recently wrote this post on his blog:

"Every moment of a science fiction story must represent the triumph of writing over worldbuilding.

Worldbuilding is dull. Worldbuilding literalises the urge to invent. Worldbuilding gives an unneccessary permission for acts of writing (indeed, for acts of reading). Worldbuilding numbs the reader’s ability to fulfil their part of the bargain, because it believes that it has to do everything around here if anything is going to get done.

Above all, worldbuilding is not technically neccessary. It is the great clomping foot of nerdism. It is the attempt to exhaustively survey a place that isn’t there. A good writer would never try to do that, even with a place that is there. It isn’t possible, & if it was the results wouldn’t be readable: they would constitute not a book but the biggest library ever built, a hallowed place of dedication & lifelong study. This gives us a clue to the psychological type of the worldbuilder & the worldbuilder’s victim, & makes us very afraid."

Needless to say, a multitude of people disagree with Harrison's postulation. What's your take on Harrison's post and the concept of worldbuilding in general?

Wow, Harrison really gives it to the anvil on that one. My approach would be to define terms here. By "worldbuilding" Harrison seems to mean the lumpish dumping of details in novels, such as when an author spends an entire page listing the agricultural and industrial products of the valley the characters are entering. If this is what he is criticizing (and I think he is) then I am in full agreement.

Character, tension, and intrigue must be foremost to capture the interest of any reader, ie: narrative. The worldbuilding ought to remain in the background. Ideally, the two can be dealt with hand-in-hand and therein lies the art of what good writers do. But then who am I to talk? I’m as guilty as anyone. It’s a bad habit I’m still working on shaking – like a small determined dog that has hold of the cuff of my pants.

For those interested in an example of the impetus of worldbuilding taken to is logical conclusion I refer you to the wonderful parable by Jorge Luis Borges, "Of Exactitude in Science", in which an empire fixated on exactitude has a gigantic map commissioned whose scale is 1:1.

Q: We know that the next book in your Malazan sequence will have to do with the Korelri campaign. Greymane, although we've never seen the character yet, has already intrigued a multitude of fans. Are you eager to tackle that next project? Does the book have a tentative working title?

I am very eager. If it proves to be as much fun as RETURN then I’ll certainly get my entertainment dollar out of it. For this one I’m having difficulty in settling on a title. So far I know the world has a style of using "of" or a possessive "’s" in the title and I may be obliged to follow along with that but right now I’m thinking of perhaps STONEWIELDER as a working title – it doesn’t show up on Amazon as a title yet. But it maybe too out of style for the world. I may have to go with a phrase. Anyway, yes, it would deal with the Malazan Korel campaign and, yes, Greymane (who we see in RETURN) will feature prominently.

Q: Anything else you wish to share with the Malazan fans?

That’s about it except to thank all Malazan fans for their open welcoming reception.

Many thanks to all.

Yours, Ian Cameron Esslemont.

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Interview by Patrick
fantasyhotlist.blogspot