Saturday, August 18, 2012

Steven Erikson Quote

"Authors will subvert that, and many do, and we are left (usually) with unease, with dissatisfaction: we are also left wondering, what was the author’s point here? That we’re all fucked: that life is shit; that the bad guys win; that we exist in a nihilistic nightmare? At which point, isn’t it fair to ask: ”why did you bother telling me that? I mean, what’s the fucking point, asshole?“ And you know what, you’d have a point..." - Steven Erikson

This is a great example of an author of books, which some classify in the "Grimdark" sub genre.. explaining how he feels about those sorts of attitudes. I've maintained since first cracking open "Gardens of the Moon" back in January.. that there is no way that the Malazan series, despite it's huge death toll and sometimes lurid and disturbing imagery.. fits into that sub genre classification.. The cast of characters is simply to varied and there are to many good people, who are often just as successful as the bad people.. for it to be compared to the likes of Abercrombie, Morgan and Bakker. I'd even argue that the Malazan series is marginally less hopeless feeling than Game of Thrones is.

2 comments:

nephite blood spartan heart said...

I've been collecting the series whenever I run across them (bargain bins) but have yet to start.

Lagomorph Rex said...

It's not an easy series to get into David, but I've found it to be quite rewarding so far.. though I'm dreadfully off schedule to finish the series by the end of the year like I had hoped.. I'm about 5 books shy of finishing..