Community Malazan Questions with Esslemont and Erikson

I promised that I would do Malazan questions in the next video... I lied... I got Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont to answer some of them instead.
I hope you enjoy.
If you would like to buy me a coffee or a book, Support me on Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/crit...
Intro and Music by Professor Trip.

[@CatastrophicDisease]

This channel is a goldmine for Malazan fans.

[@FranzBinder20]

More like an otataral mine... Am I right?

[@ACriticalDragon]

Ah, so it is either a channel that is a wealth of information, or it sucks the magic right out of things... I think both are accurate 😂😂😂

[@FranzBinder20]

@@ACriticalDragon and also once you land there, you are trapped for years.

[@ACriticalDragon]

@@FranzBinder20 I am not trapped here with you... you are trapped here with me 👿👿

[@mezla_]

Once again AP delivers with a video out of dreams. This is unreal. Thanks so much AP for the contributions you’ve made to the community. When I first read Malazan, I would have never dreamed we’d get a creator like yourself. Thank you!

[@RoxanaMagdaD]

Lovely conversation, thank youuuu! Seeing SE & Cam laugh together is priceless!

[@ACriticalDragon]

They do tend to laugh at me rather than with me... the rotters.

[@KakashiHatake-ou7mp]

01:45 You ask a question on magic and he teleports! Nice timing 😂

[@eugenemurphy6037]

Great conversation, was glad to have you three virtually over for this mornings coffee. Also, this felt very much spoiler free which was great.

[@ACriticalDragon]

Thanks Eugene, glad that you enjoyed it. I genuinely enjoy chatting and hanging out with Erikson and Esslemont. So I am glad that we can record stuff every once in a while to let people see how mean they are to me. 😁

[@graemew2600]

Thanks for this, AP and Messrs Erikson and Eesslemont. 60% through my fifth reread of Malazan, and still getting new stuff.

[@christianshobbiblog1816]

Just finished the video and I had so much fun listening along with having a few of my “I wonder if” questions like what was the origin of the Malazan races. Blew my mind that Trell is close to Troll I somehow never even thought of it but it makes so much more sense now. Thanks for the great video, AP!

[@thefantasythinker]

D&D, religion, and history. Yup, that about covers all my talking points!

[@ACriticalDragon]

I am glad that you enjoyed this one.

[@Gascon12]

Fantastic Q&A! thank you AP!

[@ACriticalDragon]

You are very welcome. But the Community provided the Questions, and the authors provided the Answers... so I did very little... jus the way I like it.

[@iCocaColaZombieGod]

Awesome!!! Big Malazan fan boy here with a complete sub press collection including forge. Love this channel and it’s always a pleasure to listen to these conversations. I always learn something new about the series which is amazing

[@ACriticalDragon]

Thank you. It was a lot of fun to get Erikson and Esslemont to answer the Community questions.

[@Wordsalad69420]

Damn, Tehol sitting on almost gold over here!

[@SouravUldyssian]

Loved seeing the interplay between the two.

[@ACriticalDragon]

At times they are less 'Best Selling Professional Authors' and more 'Giggling School Boys Who Are Amazed That Other People Like The Things They Do For Fun.' They are both very genuine, generous, nice human beings, who I am very glad to have met.

[@rknowling]

Always so many profound insights from all three of these remarkably talented individuals. Thankyou so much for the pleasure and privilege of this encounter!

[@ACriticalDragon]

3? Erikson and Esslemont have all the talent, I am just a parasitical critic feeding off their work. 😂😂

[@maclir9]

Great to hear about the influences, beyond D&D. Singing Detective!!!

[@stevenmuise9285]

It's not an Esslemont video without the bad connection lol

[@ACriticalDragon]

I think he deliberately loosens wires just before we record so it messes up. 😂😂

[@Ritesh-Patel]

Hi A.P. Hi Steven, Hello I.C.E. If K'rul gave magic to the masses, then did Icarium give the gift of time travel? The Azath house also has time traveling ability and I think Icarium got the idea when he was going against an Azath house. Anyways, Best books. ever. Steven is the best writer. Ever. _Ritesh

[@Paul_van_Doleweerd]

I think there is a Warren of Time, but that's probably even more troublesome than illusion magic.

[@sirgarrote]

I'd never made the connection between Trell and Troll....

[@eugenemurphy6037]

oh hell ya

[@jeremyfee]

This was a fun discussion. Great questions/topics and interesting to hear the different answers from the authors. As for the illusory bridges and such, there's a reason old school RPGers always bring a 10-foot pole with them. :)

[@ACriticalDragon]

The 10ft pole 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I completely forgot about that.

[@slidenaway]

Fantastic discussion as always. As much as we get to see each of them on their own, the mix together is really magical

[@iksanibryamov5343]

Hi, AP! Long time listener, first time commenting... I am in the last chapters of Blood and Bone and about to start the Crippled God, but can't find the non spoiler video on Philip's channel nor do I find the spoiler videos for the Crippled God on your channel. Did you guys decide to skip the last book? Anyway, thank you for your amazing insights and for bringing Mr. Erikson and Mr. Esslemont to KZbin. My reading experience of the Malazan series was greatly enriched due to all of you!

[@ACriticalDragon]

The Crippled God stuff will appear eventually. My books still haven't arrived from the UK, so I can't even do my re-read until they arrive.

[@iksanibryamov5343]

​@ACriticalDragon Thank you! No rush, I was just wondering if I am missing something. I am looking forward to finishing the main series and diving into some of the full spoiler discussions, so I still have lots of videos to watch before I catch up 😊

[@JD-td8kl]

Is that one of Steven's paintings in the background? Brilliant.

[@ACriticalDragon]

Probably. Erikson enjoys painting.

[@liamcarragher7459]

Thanks AP for pulling this together. And thanks so much to Steven and Cam for sharing so much as always. I can't think of any other aspects of entertainment, be it books films games where the creators, where the authors interact and discuss so directly with their audience. Just adds to my love of these works even more! Forever grateful

[@ACriticalDragon]

They are both incredibly generous with their time, plus they are genuinely nice people, so I am glad that people like you can enjoy and appreciate this. Thanks for watching.

[@englebertmagentaschweiger1447]

Trell -Troll I feel so stupid for never figuring this out.

[@EricMcLuen]

The K'Chain Ch'Malle reminded me of a cross between the Sleestack on Land of the Lost and something out of West of Eden. Although Harry Harrison is rarely mentioned unfortunately.

[@ACriticalDragon]

I was a big fan of the Stainless Steel Rat books.

[@moesypittounikos]

I like the way the Man doesnt need the backdrop of a bookshelf behind him. He who needs a library shouldnt call himself a writer 😅

[@Paul_van_Doleweerd]

And here I thought the Jaghut were more orcish derived. Huh. And given that Steve just makes up names that sound cool, is there anything in K'chain Che'Malle deriving from Kaschan Che'Malle? And the Forulkan becoming the Forkrul Assail? (maybe that's a Cam question 😂)

[@ACriticalDragon]

I can always ask them next time.

[@bryanjturner21]

Hope you asked about Walk In Shadow, we only have 3 full months left in 2023.

[@Magic-zg4ok]

just taught a fly how to eat burnt stuff

[@amiirezashojaee5291]

so, when will we WITNESS the next book, king?

[@christianshobbiblog1816]

Just finished book 4 of Malazan last week and I’m so happy I’ve been able to listen to some of the spoiler free videos on here like the author interviews that you’ve done. They’ve helped me so much! I didn’t hear a spoiler warning so is this full spoilers or up to a certain point or perhaps no spoilers? Thanks for all you post and looking forward to more!

[@ACriticalDragon]

I am fairly sure this is spoiler free.

[@christianshobbiblog1816]

@@ACriticalDragon Hell yeah, I’ll listen to this when I get home tonight. Thanks!

[@Vinnie2501]

Steve did you see that report that our earlier ancestors may have been reduced to a population of about 1200?

[@bookswithbanks8943]

But history is objective, rational, scientific - not rubbish at all. All historians always agree on THE ONE version of the past that is accurate...right? 😢... right? (All kidding aside, this was another great discussion video. Thanks! 😂)

[@ACriticalDragon]

I know. The Big Book of History is that text that all Historians use. They just pretend to have different versions.

[@gracelesspassion1750]

AP is it possible to get a list of the authors and books reference by Cam and Steve? Some I recognize immediately but then sometimes lag got in the way of hearing. I heard Howard, but not sure which one that was referring to lol

[@ACriticalDragon]

I don't think there has ever been a definitive list anywhere, but off the top of my head a lot of 'pulp' and 'adventure' writers, as well as early fantasy and early SF would be a good start: Burroughs, Leiber, Howard, Moorcock, Anthony, Herbert, and Pohl. In this discussion I would have to relisten to it and try to decipher it just like you would.

[@gracelesspassion1750]

@@ACriticalDragon Totally fair! I'll go through those, thank you :) Read some Burroughs last week at work, was definitely a fun romp!

[@ACriticalDragon]

@@gracelesspassion1750 When I have a chance I will go back through it and see if I can make a list of what they said. But Cam's internet is always a tricky beast and it is just as hard for us to hear him sometimes as it is on the recording.

[@gracelesspassion1750]

@@ACriticalDragon That was exactly my problem :) Just your first reply is more than enough to get my started at least! I'll be keeping an eye out for them

[@arcaneire]

Full series spoilers?

[@ACriticalDragon]

No spoilers, I think.

[@arcaneire]

@@ACriticalDragon Awesome, can't wait to watch then!

[@cabrademora1]

:D

[@ACriticalDragon]

:)