Ian C. Esslemont

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-08-06

Ian Cameron Esslemont is a Canadian writer born in 1962 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, who trained as an archaeologist and has lived and worked extensively in Southeast Asia, including four years in Thailand and Japan; he now resides in Alaska. He co-created the Malazan world with Steven Erikson in 1982 as a tabletop role-playing setting, and the two collaborated on a feature film script in 1991 before pursuing separate novels within their shared universe; Esslemont began publishing novels in it in 2004 with Night of Knives. His work comprises two series: the six-book Novels of the Malazan Empire (2004-2014), covering events roughly simultaneous with Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen across more than a million words, and the four-book prequel series Path to Ascendancy (2016-2023), detailing the early adventures of Dancer and Kellanved and their rise to power on Quon Tali. He is married to novelist Gerri Brightwell and has three sons.

Universe(s)

Books

• Night of Knives (2004) · Malazan Core Canon
• Return of the Crimson Guard (2008) · Malazan Core Canon
• Stonewielder (2010) · Malazan Core Canon
• Blood and Bone (2012) · Malazan Core Canon
• Orb Sceptre Throne (2012) · Malazan Core Canon
• Assail (2014) · Malazan Core Canon
• Dancer's Lament (2016) · Malazan Core Canon
• Deadhouse Landing (2017) · Malazan Core Canon
• Kellanved's Reach (2019) · Malazan Core Canon
• Forge of the High Mage (2023) · Malazan Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 24 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 1 (1 nomination)

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