The Kharkanas Trilogy
 
Tor covers for the first two novels.
|
|
|
|
| Author | Steven Erikson |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Epic fantasy |
| Publisher |
|
| Published | July 2012–present |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) Digital (audiobook & e-book) |
| No. of books | 2 |
| Followed by | |
The Kharkanas Trilogy is an epic fantasy series written by author Steven Erikson. The series consists of three novels, two of which—Forge of Darkness and Fall of Light—have been published as of 2017. The series serves as a prequel to Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and tells the story of the Tiste, Jaghut and Azathanai, three hundred thousand years before the Malazan Empire began its conquest on Genabackis, with a focus on characters such as Anomander Rake, Draconus, Hood, Gothos and K'rul. The series draws inspiration from the Shakespearean declamation style, and is framed as being told by one poet to another. It was received positively by critics as well as readers.
Set 300,000 years before the events of Malazan Book of the Fallen, the story is divided into three main narratives. The first revolves around the Tiste and the events leading up to their divide into the Andii, Liosan and Edur. The second revolves around the Jaghut and the events leading up to the declaration of war on Death. And the third around the Azathanai, some of whom are generous, while others who would only take advantage.
Much like in the case of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, the Kharkanas Trilogy draws inspiration from Erikson's background as an anthropologist and archaeologist. The fact that many of the revelations from the Malazan series seem to be discredited as the story in the two published novels progress, gives credence to the fact that depending on the interpreter, historic events get distorted or forgotten and reinvented all the time. This is especially the case with long-lived characters. That's not to say that the styles of the two series are similar; the author made an intentional choice to the contrary. Where the Malazan series sprawled outward, the Kharkanas trilogy sprawls inward; down scaled and as close to claustrophobic as possible. The reason behind this was already alluded to in the Malazan series, where the author spoke of ambition and railing against the notion of the word being a pejorative. So since he'd already drawn inspiration from Iliad for the Malazan series, he went in an other direction — Shakespearean direction. He noted that Shakespeare was all about declamations, and sentence structures dictated by breath-length, and that he'd fallen in love with it.
...
Wikipedia