DLC Bookclub Special: Interview with Steven Erikson, author of The Bonehunters

[@salomealhusami594]

The explanation of the E'resal's caress of Icarium to diffuse his fury and violence took my breath away! Just the masterful weaving between his knowledge as an archaeologist, his knowledge and love of mythology, and his writing and creation skills...!!!!! I mean, I was wide-eyed and breathless listening to his careful thought process in creating the E'resal! I'm AMAZED! And I'm thankful that he explained it here because I've read the series twice and watched every interview with him I could find and never knew this! Thank you Mr. Steven for being the amazing human being and author that you are! Your contributions to literature in general and to the genre in particular are priceless and irreplaceable! ❤ Also, my thanks to Jeff and Lana for providing us with these new interviews with our beloved author! 😊❤ Gonna be waiting on pins and needles for your reactions to Reaper's Gale! 😍

[@slidenaway]

Bro I had the same reaction. I can’t count the interviews I’ve watched and this has NEVER been explained. Did he forget for 20 years then suddenly remember last week??? 😂😂😂😂

[@salomealhusami594]

@@slidenaway Yeah, right??? 😅😂 I'm glad he finally did though, no small thanks to Jeff and Lana's reaction that triggered his memory! I guess he might have been offended by them saying that the E'resal's appearance was a deus ex machina, just as he was by their reaction to the sudden TTG appearance in Deadhouse Gates. "Offended" might be the wrong word for it though. I don't know.

[@slidenaway]

@@salomealhusami594 yeah, I’m not sure what to call it either - offended is close, defensive is close, but he probably wouldn’t like it lol. Reminds me of when he got spicy with the TVBB podcast, particularly after HoC and TtH. I guess I would say he “got his back up” to use a very idiomatic expression lol But either way - I think his pushback is always justifiable, he’s never disrespectful about it, and he always explains stuff super clearly so - I have no issue and I’m just glad we get to listen to his brilliance 🙏 😍

[@AncalagonTheBlackMetalHead]

Been in the fandom forever and I don’t think anyone has ever realized or even considered it had to be the eresal every time

[@slidenaway]

@@AncalagonTheBlackMetalHead absolutely never has anyone thought of it. I just said the same thing in a stand-alone comment lmao. Pretty crazy

[@josevitorschmitz4115]

The explanation about the E'resal just blew my mind. Great interview as always!

[@Jabberwhorl_Cronstadt]

I've listened to just about every interview with him and don't remember hearing this explanation before. So awesome! She makes so much more sense to me now.

[@josevitorschmitz4115]

@@Jabberwhorl_Cronstadt Yeah! I also have watched a bunch and never heard it either

[@EricMcLuen]

Am always amazed at his openness to talk about the books and how the hosts always bring something new.

[@Gascon12]

Great interview! I haven't seen your questions in any other video, with some few exceptions. It is very refreshing to watch! Thank you very much!

[@tightyellowshorts]

MAKE STEVE DANCE!

[@lucianaetrigan]

😂

[@BetheQuail]

I’m putting on my CV that I taught Lana and Jeff about epigraphs. Finally the MFA pays off!

[@slidenaway]

The multi factor authentication pays off? 🤔 😂

[@225jwlanglois]

Thank you for everything Mr. Erickson.

[@Ad4msI]

36:39 this discussion reminds me so much of an incident with my brother years ago where he was feeling angry and got violent and instead of responding in kind, I just told him how much we all loved him. His anger in that moment just kind of melted away and the situation was completely defused. It was a powerful personal moment that I will now connect with a powerful moment in my favorite books.

[@bobbob-cd9yl]

100% man

[@overnightgrowth]

I just want to know, how did someone get so good at writing like seriously what do I need to do?

[@dlasis]

When the man says pay attention to Yedan Derryg, you better.

[@thetheking]

THA GOAT 😤😤😤

[@dlasis]

What a wonderful surprise! MIND. BLOWN. again

[@dizetoot]

I love these interviews with SE so much, he seems so comfortable with you both and is as much a fan of you both, as you are of him. Great job 😁

[@StarUnreal]

"Have fun with Nep." - Steven Erikson

[@EricMcLuen]

Can they do subtitles in novels?

[@DrHiplop1]

absolutely loved listening to this

[@slidenaway]

Holy cow y’all bring out the best in Steve. Every time. It’s not surprising, because you’re beautiful people, and game recognizes game. But it’s really worth noting that as good as Steve’s interviews always are - these are somehow always a notch better That explanation of the Eres’al is mind-blowing. I can’t believe he’s never explained the bonobo inspiration/connection before, OR the idea that she’s ALWAYS been the one to stop Icarium. That’s insane. I wish it was clearer in the text 😞 (by which I mean, it’s so unclear that no one has ever figured it out 😂 ) That said - I love the explanation and I buy it 100%. I’m sold. It fits perfectly and it’s brilliant !!! Also really appreciate the Witness update - I’m super hopefully we’ll get book 2 next year and book 3 the following year, and I’m PUMPED for that!!!

[@salomealhusami594]

Yaaaaay! Another interview with the MAN himself! 😍😍😍😍😍 So excited! 😊😊

[@AmyTalksAni]

Love the call to pay attention to Yedan Derryg, but won't say anything on the subject, gotta pay extra attention when I eventually reread the books myself.

[@EricMcLuen]

So watch the Watch?

[@AmyTalksAni]

@@EricMcLuen And don't forget to munch

[@slidenaway]

@@EricMcLuenboo. Boo this man 😂

[@salomealhusami594]

@@EricMcLuen Oh, noooo Erick! 🤣

[@billyalarie929]

OH MY GOD HOW DID I MISS THIS FOR 3 DAYS??

[@dreddiknight]

Personally i don't mind a bit of godly intervention every now and then but the eres'al explanation is beautiful, elegant and fits perfectly... Wow!

[@slidenaway]

Surprise!!!!! Let’s. Go.

[@andreamiller3578]

Good art really can be timeless. It can speak to every generation about something happening. It's one reason why the writing on Babylon 5 is so good.

[@Plaeya01]

Omg yes wasn't expecting this today!!!

[@philipmarsh2172]

Ooo so is it now possible to get a full set all of the same size in paperback?

[@velcrocee7886]

Another interview with one of my favorite authors. Giddy up!!!

[@feral7523]

Delightfully witty interviewee, Thanks Steve for being so creative and prolific.

[@josephprice9739]

Just finished Bonehunters. I love where the discussion went

[@Tremain]

Man, i learned some WILD shit in this interview. Not even Malazan related.

[@bobbob-cd9yl]

I love you mr Erickson hope you are doing well

[@Margo0000]

Yay! I was a tiny bit close with my Eres'al vs deus ex machina thoughts on the Discord. There's no way I would've connected the chimp reference though, haha

[@stevelundin5705]

steve knows his bonobos ... which sounds, you know, almost obscene. That said, I was always a huge fan of the Verhofen classic film, Bonobocop. Hmm, it's late. I should sign off now, I think. SE

[@Margo0000]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@CorprealFale]

On Helian and alcoholism. I love her because she's extremely tragic. As I believe Erikson mentioned? She's extremely tragic. She's also fucking hilarious.

[@AaronMadeULaugh]

I get all the character names pronouncements from the audio books . I’m assuming they are all correct

[@Margo0000]

YEDAN!!!

[@marsrock316]

Sam-ahr is the Canadian pronunciation. For some reason, Canadians can't say two flat As in a row. The word "saga" (sah-gah) becomes sag-ah, for example. There was a Canadian show about a succubus some years back (I forget the title), and a character on it could not say Baba Yaga, four flat As in a row. She pronounced it like Bab-ah Yee-gah. It's also rumored that many Canadians say new-cue-lahr.

[@waldo8791]

❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤

[@LocallyConstantDuck]

On the topic of media that is Malazan-like, I would recommend y'all (and Steve!) listen to To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. It has a lot of the same narrative devices operating under the hood, and is just a fantastic piece of music with all-time lyrics.

[@dookieshoe2905]

I hate to even bring it up but as much as it bothers some to the point that they honestly believe a pogrom on Haitians is even a possibility and it really upsets them, it upsets me just as much that there is such a misunderstanding that would lead to that worry in the first place. Our media has done our society a monumental disservice in their portrayal of one side of this issue. I think he made a major error in singling out the Haitians specifically, in that debate but the message he was trying to convey is that there are very nefarious actors from within and without our government that are clearly seeking to create hate and division where none was previously, and its not the big bad guy everyone like to scapegoat. Im just saying, take a step back and look at everything without such knee-jerk emotion and see it rationally. We are a country, just like all others and we have a government made of OUR people FOR our people. Why then is it wrong for the people of any country to expect their government to put their needs first? Is this really such a radical notion?? Would it be ok to go to some small city in an African nation or Japan and transplant 20,000 people from a completely different culture into it? thats what the whole Haitian issue stems from. Its not from a place of hate but everyone is so quick to assume that it is because Trump saying it. This is going on across our country as we speak and its not fair to anyone involved to just flood our towns and cities in this manner. Its not about hate, its about upending 10s of thousands of lives for NO REASON. I just wish people would stop being so polarized and really consider these things with a sober mind.

[@CannataJeff]

Let’s not even talk about the real world for a sec. That’s what’s so special about genre storytelling, it can do a great job revealing the underlying issues of something without using hot button knee jerk real life details. So let’s just talk about Malazan. Because it is REALLY APPLICABLE to the real world. So you have this group - the Wickans - who have come in and done the jobs “real” Malazan can’t do. They sacrificed, they contributed, they proved themselves extremely valuable to the Malazans. But then, when they wanted to actually be integrated into society, they became the enemy. They were too “other”, too different. Easy to blame for whatever ails ya. Especially when one of the major political leaders (Korbolo Dom) has tried to turn an attack on freedom into something where HE was actually the victim. Somehow people are believing those lies and now they want blood. So, of course the powers that be decided to propagate vicious rumors, completely invented out of thin air, to make the Wickans into something sub-human. A poison. Something that should be eradicated. Any of this sound familiar? The very worst part of your post is the suggestion that “the guy” who is bringing up the Hatians (and lying about them, and calling them sub-human) is just introducing good points. NO. Please educate yourself about the situation. He is inciting racism. Pure and simple. For his own gain. He doesn’t give a shit about anything else. Don’t be stupid.

[@BABYSTARZ]

@@CannataJeff i cant believe you defend these animals that are eating neighborhood pets go educate YOURSELF holy fk

[@jameswitts3793]

Lana is absolutely gorgeous

[@feral7523]

Idea for next interview play the music and see if ye can get Steve to boogie out too..

[@billyalarie929]

46:31 one of the greatest scenes in the history of film. Let’s just say I can’t hear the words “cease fire” without wanting to absolutely bawl my eyes out. EDIT: just realized, I’m pretty sure that might be a different scene. I do know the scene in question. Point still stands.

[@mathiasf.8749]

Time stamp: 17:32