Ian Cameron Esslemont (born 1962) is a Canadian writer. He was trained and has worked as an

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. He is best known for his series ''Novels of the Malazan Empire'', which is set in the same world as the ''

Malazan Book of the Fallen The ''Malazan Book of the Fallen'' () is a series of epic fantasy novels written by the Canadian author Steven Erikson. The series, published by Bantam Books in the U.K. and Tor Books in the U.S., consists of ten volumes, beginning with '' Garde ...

epic fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Pres ...

series written by his friend and collaborator,

Steven Erikson Steve Rune Lundin (born October 7, 1959), known by his pseudonym Steven Erikson, is a Canadian author, novelist who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist. He is best known for his ten-volume spanning epic fantasy s ...

. Esslemont is the co-creator of the Malazan world.

Biography

Esslemont was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He has lived and worked in Southeast Asia, including four years spent in Thailand and Japan. He is currently working on a new trilogy set in the Malaz world. He lives in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

with his wife, novelist Gerri Brightwell, and their three sons.

Works

Esslemont and Erikson co-created the Malazan world in 1982 as a setting for a

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

campaign. In 1991 they collaborated on a feature film script set in the same world entitled ''

Gardens of the Moon ''Gardens of the Moon'' is a high fantasy novel by Canadians, Canadian author Steven Erikson. Published on April 1, 1999, it is the first of ten novels in the series the ''Malazan Book of the Fallen''. The novel details the various struggles fo ...

''. When the script did not sell, Erikson expanded the story and turned it into a novel. The two writers agreed to then both write books set in the same world. Eight years later, ''Gardens of the Moon'' was published by Bantam UK and Erikson agreed to continue the story. Life and work commitments delayed Esslemont's own entries to the series until 2004, when his first novel, ''

Night of Knives ''Night of Knives'' is the first novel of the Novels of the Malazan Empire series by Canadian author Ian Esslemont, set after the prologue, but before the main body of ''Gardens of the Moon'', the first novel in the ''Malazan Book of the Fallen ...

'', was published as a limited edition by PS Publishing (a mass-market release by Bantam UK followed in 2007). This book was a prequel to the main Malazan sequence. His second novel, '' Return of the Crimson Guard'', takes place within the main Malazan sequence, shortly after the events of the sixth book, '' The Bonehunters''. It was published by PS Publishing in May 2008 and by Bantam UK later that year. Both ''

'' and '' Return of the Crimson Guard'' have now been bought by Tor for publication in the United States. His third novel, '' Stonewielder'', was published by Bantam UK in 2010 and Tor in the US. His fourth novel, '' Orb Sceptre Throne'' was published in 2012. In spring 2014 he signed a contract with Bantam for three more novels set in the Malazan world.

Books

Novels of the Malazan Empire

This six-part series covers events roughly simultaneous with

's Malazan Book of the Fallen, and features the Crimson Guard, the succession of the Malazan Empire, events in Korel and Jacuruku and the mystery of Assail. A number of these events are hinted at during the course of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Characters include Kyle, Greymane and such members of the Crimson Guard like Shimmer, Blues, K'azz, Skinner and Cowl.

Path to Ascendancy

The Path to Ascendancy is a prequel series set in the world of Malazan, written by Ian Cameron Esslemont. The stories deal with the early adventures of Dancer and Kellanved (Dorin and Wu, in this series) and their eventual rise to power on Quon Tali.

Footnotes

External links

Ian C. Esslemont's official website

Interview
with Jay Tomio, May 2008

Interview
at Clarkesworld Magazine, August 2009
Interview
April 2016 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esslemont, Ian Cameron 1962 births Writers from Winnipeg Malazan Book of the Fallen Novels of the Malazan Empire Canadian fantasy writers Canadian male novelists Living people