Ha ha! My collaboration with A.P. is destined to generate a lot less buzz than your read along (I have no desire to start a Discord -- I don't even know how you do it!). However, one goal is that the two of us will contribute some food for thought for any of your viewers who wander over during the course of the two years. Since we're going at a faster pace, the content will be there waiting. In the meantime, January 1 can't some soon enough!
Wow, Philip-what an incredible series you have planned. I am so excited to be able to consume this content-you are making an incredible contribution to the community! Thank you for shining a spotlight on this amazing series!
My pleasure! Honestly, I could listen to A.P. talk Malazan for hours and hours. He’s got fantastic insights and knowledge. I feel very lucky to be able to chat with him.
This was great, I just finished the whole interview and now I’m even more excited. First, you both bring such a beautiful literary background to these questions and second, AP’s uniquely keyed in perspective is such a treat to be able to get to hear! He also keyed in on one aspect of the Path to Ascendancy that I really loved and beat to death in the ten very big books podcast, which is how the mythos of these legendary characters is pretty far removed from the actuality of how the events transpired and how that is an actual theme! Great stuff, thanks again to you both! 💪🙏❤️
@@IskarJarak Thanks, Iskar! Yes, I'm noticing the disparities now that I've read Path to Ascendancy and am starting Gardens of the Moon. It's a very cool insight that really fits with the way both authors portray historians and history. I've got to listen to that podcast!
This was gold Philip. Canavan seems deeply knowledgeable and insightful, would love to read/watch more of him, good thing you will integrate him to your Malazan reread... imagine that, two doctors in literature discussing my favorite fantasy series!
I'm very much looking forward to learning from A.P. as we go through the reread month by month. I hope to emerge with both a greater understanding of the books and a deeper enjoyment of them. Thanks for watching, and I'm glad you found the discussion enjoyable!
Thank you! And I see you also have a channel that I can add to the list. I’ll do that right away. You’re so right that it’s an amazing time for Malazan fans on BookTube!
It’s worth watching every second just for A.P.’s stories and his insights. I’m the lucky guy who got to ask questions. Best of all, he’s coming back every month to discuss each of the ten books with me. I have a feeling I’ll be learning a lot!
This was an absolutely fantastic conversation, and from this point on i'm going to reference A.P.s advice for new readers to anyone who has the jitters about Malazan. Fantastic work.
I’ll refer to his advice as well! In fact, I anticipate that I’ll be referring to a lot of things he says in the course of our Malazan discussions. Thanks so much for watching and commenting!
Thank you, Johan! Literature is a seriously wonderful thing, and it’s a joy to hear thoughts on such an amazing series from a scholar and fan like A.P. It’s going to be a fun adventure!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy I mentioned him and his book earlier: Lin Carter, in 'Imaginary Worlds', says exactly the same thing about fantasy - that it is the bedrock of all literature. Because of this statement I have never had a snobbish disregard of it, whilst loving my James and my Joyce just as much. And - because of Lin Carter I got tickled to (try to) read 'Paradise Lost', age 14, a Dutch youngster in the 1970s, seeing it as religious fantasy!
@@JohanHerrenberg What a wonderful way to approach Paradise Lost! That's a text I teach every semester in my English Classics course, and some people might be surprised at just how energized the reactions from my students can be. Lin Carter is right, and I need to read his book!
A.P. really is a delightful person, and the depth of his knowledge about Malazan is tremendous. I feel very fortunate to be able to chat with him about these books!
This was a 10/10 video; super interesting topics covered and it gets me hyped as I'm working through Malazan for the first times. Thanks for the great content!
Thank you! A.P. (A Critical Dragon) and I have a lot more content on both of our channels (he started his channel after our discussions on Gardens of the Moon). My very best to you for your Malazan read!
😮 This already was a great talk.. and we're going to get ten more! Completely understand why you were so enthusiastic about this collaboration Philip. What will be the best place to post questions for the both of you on this journey? So hyped for this!
Thanks, Rob! Yes, I'm incredibly excited to be discussing the entire series with A.P. month by month. Any questions you have that you'd like A.P. to answer or the two of us to discuss you can leave in the comments, and I'll read them to A.P. the next time we film a video. In fact, I'm counting on viewers like you to come up with some good ones that I wouldn't have thought of. A.P. has a real wealth of knowledge, so we need to tap into it!
Wonderful conversation! Hilarious story of how he met Erikson! What a funny way to stumble into an advanced reader career for one of the most beloved fantasy series. Fascinating to learn A.P. Canavan's experience as an advanced reader and what that entails. I also thoroughly enjoyed listening to him discuss his dissertation topic as well as his answers to the Malazan tag questions. It shouldn't have surprised me, but I had no idea scholarly fantasy conferences existed!
I love the story of how A.P. met Steven Erikson. You never know what life has in store. Yes, perhaps one day, when conferences can happen again, many of us academic fantasy fans can meet at one. The conference that A.P. takes part in is near Orlando, I think, so side trips to Disney and Universal Studios could be a perk!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy That will be here before you know it! I'm certainly itching to travel again and what a great opportunity. I'll look into it.
I am rewatching this video a year after it has come out, and it's so crazy to think that this was where you two started working together. Who knew what was in store? Also, I'm really glad the Malazan reread has gone on longer than the 10 months you both planned for. It's been so fun and insightful to watch you guys this past year. Thanks to you both for doing what you do!
Thanks, Jon! It’s surreal to me that it’s been a year, and what a year it’s been! Getting to know wonderful people on BookTube has been the best part of it, and A.P. is at the top of the list for me. But don’t tell the Nemesis I said that!
Wow, really great stuff! That WW2 analogy really blew my mind, fantastic way of thinking about the series. Looking forward to the coming conversations the two of you have planned.
The WWII analogy blew my mind too, Ryan! Yes, I’m really excited to keep learning from A.P. I’ve begun my reread of Gardens of the Moon, and, as much as I liked it before, I’m feeling so much more relaxed and inspired this time. It’s going to be fun to chat about it!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy i think that having people of your education level (and love for the genre) talking about the series will raise the bar immensely not just for malazan discourse but fantasy on youtube in general. couldn't be more excited!! thank you so so much!!!
@@profesortrip Thanks so much! There's really a goldmine to dig into when it comes to Malazan and a lot of other fantasy. As A.P. said, there's a place for discourse on genre fiction, and that is a fact that is increasingly recognized even within academia. In the meantime, though, I've found BookTube to be an amazingly receptive place for in depth discussion. There's vast potential here waiting to be tapped. Thanks so much for watching!
A brilliant discussion with A.P. Canavan. Even more so as he is fellow Northern Irishman! Great insight into Malazan and fantasy in general. Looking forward to all future discussions as you go through the re-read. Fantastic channel by the way.
Thanks so much! A.P. is brilliant, and I feel fortunate to be in these discussions with him and, on occasion, Steven Erikson. In case you don’t know yet, A.P. has started his own channel called A Critical Dragon. Cheers!
Great conversation! I really enjoyed the look into the advanced reader system and the thought process behind that. The thought that the AR saying "hey he made this change because of me" is a false claim of ownership was a fascinating idea (that I wholeheartedly agree with). I'm not even done with the main 10 and I'm looking forward to rereading it soon.
Talking with A.P., now known as Professor Fireballs (for reasons you will discover if you keep watching our collaborations) about the Malazan books has been both a joy and an education for me. He’s one of the main reasons why collaborations are my favorite part of BookTube. Very cool to hear from you, Pete!
This is great! There are so many channels devoted to reviewing books, I'm glad to have found one that is taking on this level of analyzing books. Especially with the endlessly analyzable Malazan series. I look forward to it. Thanks to you two gentlemen for doing this.
Sir, your channel is quickly becoming my favorite among all booktubers I follow on youtube. I love your passion, your politeness and respect towards the people you invite in your videos, I love that you take the time to go deep and let people develop their thoughts... This particular video was great and I am really looking forward to watching your future discussions on Malazan! (Also not related but I watched a great video with Rob Wilkins today, PA to the greatly missed Terry Pratchett, and it got me daydreaming about you doing a Discworld read with him as a guest!)
Thank you, Franck! You made my day and put a big smile on my face with your kind words. The best part about this adventure of creating a channel about fantasy has been the people I’ve been privileged to meet and interact with. I’ve read some of Pratchett’s books and loved them, so perhaps next year it will be time to return to Discworld.
I am planning on starting the series during the holidays, I love the concept and it will really help elevate my experience and thoughts about it. Thanks a lot!
Thank you! The vast majority of the credit goes to A.P., but I'm happy to play host, and I'll be even happier to learn from him as we do our reread of the series. Thanks for watching!
Thank you! I’m excited for it too, and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to discuss such a masterpiece of fantasy with someone as knowledgeable as A.P.
This was fantastic, Philip! The series you have planned already sound amazing, looking forward to that! Thank you, as always, and keep up the good work :)
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Will do. Have you decided if you'll be doing one big discussion or several for each book and/or the timeframe for Gardens? I'd like to plan my reading schedule to match.
@@josephk5654 We’re doing one discussion for each book, and we’re spacing them out monthly. The Gardens of the Moon chat should be out this coming Wednesday. About one month later, in late January, we’ll do Deadhouse Gates. Memories of Ice in late February, etc. That’s the plan!
A.P. with the subterranean press on display. Seriously jealous right now, those editions are gorgeous. Absolutley great video. |'m about to start my first re-read and will be following along closely.
Fantastic! I’m happy you’ll be reading along, and I hope to read your thoughts on the books and discussions in the comments of future videos if you feel inspired to leave comments. I’m envious of A.P.’s books too!
I am new to your channel. I adm a group of Brazilian Malazan fans in Facebook I've just shared this one there, because I loved this video! Now I am eager to see all your other videos. Unfortunatelly for us, Brazilians, the publishers will no longer publish the Malazan books here (there were two: one with the main series, another one with Night of Knives and Dancer's Lament). I wished I have the means ($) to buy the rights and complete at least the main series here. :/
Welcome to the channel! That’s a shame about the lack of availability of the Malazan books in Brazil. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m assuming you would be reading them in English. Have they been translated into Portuguese? Wider availability of the books would be a good thing. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy ^^ The Portuguese publisher also quited Malazan books. The have splited some books in two... The have: Gardens of the Moon, Dead House Gates, The Path of Hands (DHG pt 2), Memories of Ice and Capustan (MoI pt 2). Unfortunatelly. I've read the Malazan book of the Fallen twice. Now I will delve in the other books, together with the main series. I am fortunate to have some skill in English, but am so sad that with the withdraw by the Brazilians publishers: a lot of people started and hooked on the first two books of the 10-book series and also liked the other 2, but will not be able to finish them series... I've heard that the International rights owner will only sell the 10 books together, what means that, considering the crisis that took over publishers and bookstores in Brazil, Brazilian readers will have to wait until they learn English... I am Intellectual Property lawyer, had a couple of publishers-clients interested, but one broke and the other was bought and is no longer working with fantasy genre... :'(
@@FranzBrehme Thank you for explaining. That is unfortunate, indeed, and I’m sure the consequences of the publishing crisis are widespread. I hope there will be some improvement!
This was amazing! I loved all the stories, the details, the history, the world war two analogy. And I loved that I can finally stop feeling like the typical fan girl because I think these are the best books in the genre. If someone like A.P., who has read a lo tmore than me can say with with certainty, it means I am not just "fan girling". I was told to stop being such a fan girl about two years ago when I engaged in a discussion and I claimed that the Malazan world and story are better than Tolkien's world where the principle of the comparison was supposed to be complexity and it stayed with me :))) . Oh, and I do the same thing, go a few lines lower until I find the name of the character in the scene and then begin the reading. It's nice to see I am not alone in this either :))
I’m so glad you enjoyed the discussion, not least because I have been enjoying the discussions between you and Steven Erikson very much. Anyone who accuses you of “fan girling” because you consider The Malazan Book of the Fallen the greatest fantasy of all time is, first of all, behaving in a patronizing and closed-minded manner. It sounds like a mean and petty way of trying to shut down someone else’s legitimate viewpoint. Second, there are plenty of excellent reasons to support your view, and I hope that A.P. and I will be able to touch on them in our future discussions. Thanks so much for watching, and thank you as well for your wonderful conversations with Steven Erikson- I’m still watching part two of your Gardens of the Moon chat!
Amazing view on RPGs! On Malazan point of view... Recently I was introduced to the application of the concept of "Diegesis" on role-playing studies: some people are using it to analazy on the relations of "character-mechanics-narrative" AND "player-narrative" (this last one is kind of new). And, to me, this "Gene Wolfean" characteristic may be applied to Malazan in so many ways... from the fact that Steve and Ian played RPG, passing in the view that Malazan world was build in game (kind of), and including the fact that SE and IE are such skilled writers and their POVs put us there, believing in the character, even if the character is wrong or has a raw belief on the lie he is telling himself. Once again, tks for the video.
Yes, the RPG influence on the genre is vast. Before I met A.P., I hadn’t thought about it too much, but there are so many implications for modern fantasy and how we think of it.
Just starting these. As touched on the fact the world was gamed for so long it was already built before it even started while a lot of other authors seem to just have an outline and make it up as they go along. And loved the gaming need talk. Wait, the wizard has a sword? Who gave him that? The WWII documentary is very apt. Then it contracts and the different parts start converging.
Yes, I love the WWII analogy! Lots of things click into place while A.P. is talking. And he’s funny too. I was laughing almost the entire second half of my discussion with him and Steven Erikson. A happy and fulfilling new year to you, Eric!
He’s from Northern Ireland. Good guesses! Yes, I’m beyond thrilled that he’s agreed to discuss each of the ten books of The Malazan Book of the Fallen with me. Lots to look forward to!
Awesome interview! I went to a great books college for undergrad and really didn’t enjoy all the non-reading parts of the program. Listening to the two of you talk about genre fantasy and its place in the development of literature may be the first time I’ve felt nostalgic for discussing books so I can’t wait to follow along with your re-read. Roughly how long do I have to reread GoTM before your new series starts?
It would be excellent to have you along! A.P. and I just recorded our discussion of Gardens of the Moon today. The spoiler free part should be coming out tomorrow, and the spoiler filled part a day later. The discussion of book 2 will be in late January, book 3 in late February, and so forth until we finish with book 10 and then a wrap up discussion. I hope that leaves sufficient time for you to catch up, but you could still watch the spoiler free video if you want. The good news is that Gardens of the Moon is the shortest book. I hope to read your comments if you feel inspired to leave some!
All 450? Haha! He might have them listed in the dissertation’s bibliography, which could be fifty pages itself. You have to be a little crazy and really stubborn to write a dissertation!
Unfortunately, that list, along with a lot of thesis notes, was on a computer that passed away some time ago and now resides in silicon heaven. All I have left are the various works cited in the actual bibliography of the thesis... which is a lot shorter... but still far too long to paste into a comment.
Plus one on Toll the Hounds. By far my favorite, in my favorite series. It’s a shame that your timing is so much faster than Mike’s. My guess is that you will be picking up a lot of delayed views. This was a great conversation. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you could get Erikson in on one or more of your chats, if you were so inclined.
It would be a dream come true to have Steven Erikson take part in one of our chats. Definitely something to look into! About the timing, you’re right that it’s going to be more and more out of sync with Mike’s read along as time passes. However, that won’t stop me from participating fully in Mike’s Discord, and, as you say, the conversations on my channel will be here if and when viewers are ready. It’s actually even a happy coincidence that we’re starting around the same time. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy He participated in a few hour long sessions on Ten Very Big books. There are few authors more generous, so I think it’s possible and would be awesome.
I would like to know how that conference was called (the one where Mr. Canavan meets both Stevens). Does it have some kind of booklet/proceedings publication?
Hello, Franz. The organization is called The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts. The conference they run is called The International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts. Here is a link to the conference website: www.fantastic-arts.org/
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy I just saw you replied! I'll absolutely go subscribe to him. It's refreshing to hear from such highly educated fans of Malazan/Erikson. BTW, your interview with Erikson and A.P. Canavan was among the best on YT. Hearing their stories was a really amazing experience; it felt like sitting down with 2 old friends.
Sorry about that! I’m not sure why, but what I can tell you is that, once a channel monetizes, the creator has no control over how many ads there will be on a video. I’m guessing it’s based on the video’s popularity and possibly length, but that’s a guess. I wasn’t going to monetize the channel, but UA-cam recently announced a policy change to the effect that it will be running ads even on channels that aren’t monetized, so I figured I might as well get some of those pennies to help me pay for all the books I’m reviewing.
Hello, Jean! An advance reader is a person that an author sends the book to before the book goes to the publisher. In other words, the advance reader gives the author feedback, and the author can make changes based on the advance reader's suggestions before sending the book to the editor at the publishing house. So, an advance reader is not quite an editor, but is something more than an alpha or beta reader. Obviously, the author would have to put a lot of trust in the judgment of the advance reader.
Me: I’m going to put together this ambitious read along of Malazan.
Philip: Oh yeah? Check this out.
Ha ha! My collaboration with A.P. is destined to generate a lot less buzz than your read along (I have no desire to start a Discord -- I don't even know how you do it!). However, one goal is that the two of us will contribute some food for thought for any of your viewers who wander over during the course of the two years. Since we're going at a faster pace, the content will be there waiting. In the meantime, January 1 can't some soon enough!
Wow, Philip-what an incredible series you have planned. I am so excited to be able to consume this content-you are making an incredible contribution to the community! Thank you for shining a spotlight on this amazing series!
My pleasure! Honestly, I could listen to A.P. talk Malazan for hours and hours. He’s got fantastic insights and knowledge. I feel very lucky to be able to chat with him.
This was great, I just finished the whole interview and now I’m even more excited. First, you both bring such a beautiful literary background to these questions and second, AP’s uniquely keyed in perspective is such a treat to be able to get to hear! He also keyed in on one aspect of the Path to Ascendancy that I really loved and beat to death in the ten very big books podcast, which is how the mythos of these legendary characters is pretty far removed from the actuality of how the events transpired and how that is an actual theme! Great stuff, thanks again to you both! 💪🙏❤️
@@IskarJarak Thanks, Iskar! Yes, I'm noticing the disparities now that I've read Path to Ascendancy and am starting Gardens of the Moon. It's a very cool insight that really fits with the way both authors portray historians and history. I've got to listen to that podcast!
This was gold Philip.
Canavan seems deeply knowledgeable and insightful, would love to read/watch more of him, good thing you will integrate him to your Malazan reread... imagine that, two doctors in literature discussing my favorite fantasy series!
I'm very much looking forward to learning from A.P. as we go through the reread month by month. I hope to emerge with both a greater understanding of the books and a deeper enjoyment of them. Thanks for watching, and I'm glad you found the discussion enjoyable!
Really cool collab, Philip! Was awesome to hear his insider perspective! Also, thanks for the shout!
Always a pleasure, Allen. People need to know you’re out of the closet now as a Malazan fan!
This was fantastic! What an amazing time to be a Malazan fan or to get into this world! Thank you!
Thank you! And I see you also have a channel that I can add to the list. I’ll do that right away. You’re so right that it’s an amazing time for Malazan fans on BookTube!
Wow! This is super cool. And thanks for the shoutout, Philip. You're so dedicated to Malazan universe!!
My pleasure, Petrik! It’s a great time for Malazan fans on BookTube, and I know people will want to hear your insights on the series.
No way! Epic collaboration! I will save to watch it for later.
It’s worth watching every second just for A.P.’s stories and his insights. I’m the lucky guy who got to ask questions. Best of all, he’s coming back every month to discuss each of the ten books with me. I have a feeling I’ll be learning a lot!
The Malazan Fanbase needed this fr, this community is making me so proud right now 🙏🙏🙏
The Malazan presence on BookTube has really blossomed in the last year or so. It’s awesome to behold!
This was an absolutely fantastic conversation, and from this point on i'm going to reference A.P.s advice for new readers to anyone who has the jitters about Malazan. Fantastic work.
I’ll refer to his advice as well! In fact, I anticipate that I’ll be referring to a lot of things he says in the course of our Malazan discussions. Thanks so much for watching and commenting!
Tremendous news! This moves me - people taking literature so seriously. Very excited!
Thank you, Johan! Literature is a seriously wonderful thing, and it’s a joy to hear thoughts on such an amazing series from a scholar and fan like A.P. It’s going to be a fun adventure!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy I mentioned him and his book earlier: Lin Carter, in 'Imaginary Worlds', says exactly the same thing about fantasy - that it is the bedrock of all literature. Because of this statement I have never had a snobbish disregard of it, whilst loving my James and my Joyce just as much. And - because of Lin Carter I got tickled to (try to) read 'Paradise Lost', age 14, a Dutch youngster in the 1970s, seeing it as religious fantasy!
@@JohanHerrenberg What a wonderful way to approach Paradise Lost! That's a text I teach every semester in my English Classics course, and some people might be surprised at just how energized the reactions from my students can be. Lin Carter is right, and I need to read his book!
What an *amazing* collab, just a delight to meet him, and I can't wait to see more in this series. Wow!
A.P. really is a delightful person, and the depth of his knowledge about Malazan is tremendous. I feel very fortunate to be able to chat with him about these books!
This was a 10/10 video; super interesting topics covered and it gets me hyped as I'm working through Malazan for the first times. Thanks for the great content!
Thank you! A.P. (A Critical Dragon) and I have a lot more content on both of our channels (he started his channel after our discussions on Gardens of the Moon). My very best to you for your Malazan read!
😮
This already was a great talk.. and we're going to get ten more!
Completely understand why you were so enthusiastic about this collaboration Philip.
What will be the best place to post questions for the both of you on this journey?
So hyped for this!
Thanks, Rob! Yes, I'm incredibly excited to be discussing the entire series with A.P. month by month. Any questions you have that you'd like A.P. to answer or the two of us to discuss you can leave in the comments, and I'll read them to A.P. the next time we film a video. In fact, I'm counting on viewers like you to come up with some good ones that I wouldn't have thought of. A.P. has a real wealth of knowledge, so we need to tap into it!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy
I'll do my best to come up with some beauts, this is a rare opportunity indeed 👌
@@robpaul7544 If and when the inspiration takes you, your thoughts and questions are always more than welcome!
Wonderful conversation! Hilarious story of how he met Erikson! What a funny way to stumble into an advanced reader career for one of the most beloved fantasy series. Fascinating to learn A.P. Canavan's experience as an advanced reader and what that entails. I also thoroughly enjoyed listening to him discuss his dissertation topic as well as his answers to the Malazan tag questions. It shouldn't have surprised me, but I had no idea scholarly fantasy conferences existed!
I love the story of how A.P. met Steven Erikson. You never know what life has in store. Yes, perhaps one day, when conferences can happen again, many of us academic fantasy fans can meet at one. The conference that A.P. takes part in is near Orlando, I think, so side trips to Disney and Universal Studios could be a perk!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy That would be so fun! I live in GA, so I'm not too far for me!
@@Johanna_reads 2022? I'm already hoping to go with my family (Reshma loves Universal Studios). I think it happens in March.
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy That will be here before you know it! I'm certainly itching to travel again and what a great opportunity. I'll look into it.
@@Johanna_reads Perhaps even write a paper to present there?
I am rewatching this video a year after it has come out, and it's so crazy to think that this was where you two started working together. Who knew what was in store? Also, I'm really glad the Malazan reread has gone on longer than the 10 months you both planned for. It's been so fun and insightful to watch you guys this past year. Thanks to you both for doing what you do!
Thanks, Jon! It’s surreal to me that it’s been a year, and what a year it’s been! Getting to know wonderful people on BookTube has been the best part of it, and A.P. is at the top of the list for me. But don’t tell the Nemesis I said that!
Thank you for this. Looking forward to future videos. I too am doing a reread next year.
Awesome! I hope to hear your thoughts as we go through our rereads!
This was almost exactly a year ago. AP's beard has come a long way! :-)
Ha ha! It has indeed! I fear we’ve all got a few more silver whiskers since the pre-Professor Fireballs days.
This is such an amazing interview Philip! Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this, thanks so much for this!
Thank you! I hope people will enjoy our discussions. Malazan is a series I find enjoyable to discuss!
This was so great and entertaining! That story about how they met is gold!
And it's great to see the tag questions making the round!
Yes! Your tag proved to be the perfect way to introduce A.P. to the community, so thanks again for creating it!
Wow, really great stuff!
That WW2 analogy really blew my mind, fantastic way of thinking about the series. Looking forward to the coming conversations the two of you have planned.
The WWII analogy blew my mind too, Ryan! Yes, I’m really excited to keep learning from A.P. I’ve begun my reread of Gardens of the Moon, and, as much as I liked it before, I’m feeling so much more relaxed and inspired this time. It’s going to be fun to chat about it!
Eyyyyyy thanks for the shout out
Definitely my pleasure!
absolutely love the videos you've put out dude.
@@billyalarie929 I’ll second that! I never knew Terry Goodkind had so many insights into Malazan!
great interview! i couldn't imagine a better read along partner!!
I agree exactly! I'm going to be even more inspired to read each book because I know I'll get to discuss it with A.P. when I'm done.
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy i think that having people of your education level (and love for the genre) talking about the series will raise the bar immensely not just for malazan discourse but fantasy on youtube in general. couldn't be more excited!! thank you so so much!!!
@@profesortrip Thanks so much! There's really a goldmine to dig into when it comes to Malazan and a lot of other fantasy. As A.P. said, there's a place for discourse on genre fiction, and that is a fact that is increasingly recognized even within academia. In the meantime, though, I've found BookTube to be an amazingly receptive place for in depth discussion. There's vast potential here waiting to be tapped. Thanks so much for watching!
A brilliant discussion with A.P. Canavan. Even more so as he is fellow Northern Irishman! Great insight into Malazan and fantasy in general. Looking forward to all future discussions as you go through the re-read. Fantastic channel by the way.
Thanks so much! A.P. is brilliant, and I feel fortunate to be in these discussions with him and, on occasion, Steven Erikson. In case you don’t know yet, A.P. has started his own channel called A Critical Dragon. Cheers!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Excellent! I will check that out.
Great conversation! I really enjoyed the look into the advanced reader system and the thought process behind that. The thought that the AR saying "hey he made this change because of me" is a false claim of ownership was a fascinating idea (that I wholeheartedly agree with).
I'm not even done with the main 10 and I'm looking forward to rereading it soon.
Talking with A.P., now known as Professor Fireballs (for reasons you will discover if you keep watching our collaborations) about the Malazan books has been both a joy and an education for me. He’s one of the main reasons why collaborations are my favorite part of BookTube. Very cool to hear from you, Pete!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy I am indeed making my way through your Malazan collaborations, so I am looking forward to the rest
This is great! There are so many channels devoted to reviewing books, I'm glad to have found one that is taking on this level of analyzing books. Especially with the endlessly analyzable Malazan series. I look forward to it. Thanks to you two gentlemen for doing this.
Definitely a pleasure! You're absolutely right about Malazan having the depth to support plenty of analysis. It's going to be fun!
This was absolutely brilliant. Thank you so much.
My pleasure! Thanks so much for watching, and I’m glad you enjoyed the discussion!
Sir, your channel is quickly becoming my favorite among all booktubers I follow on youtube. I love your passion, your politeness and respect towards the people you invite in your videos, I love that you take the time to go deep and let people develop their thoughts... This particular video was great and I am really looking forward to watching your future discussions on Malazan!
(Also not related but I watched a great video with Rob Wilkins today, PA to the greatly missed Terry Pratchett, and it got me daydreaming about you doing a Discworld read with him as a guest!)
Thank you, Franck! You made my day and put a big smile on my face with your kind words. The best part about this adventure of creating a channel about fantasy has been the people I’ve been privileged to meet and interact with. I’ve read some of Pratchett’s books and loved them, so perhaps next year it will be time to return to Discworld.
Incredible news...wonderful video. I am greatly looking forward to your series collaboration videos.
Thanks! I’m incredibly excited for it myself!
I am planning on starting the series during the holidays, I love the concept and it will really help elevate my experience and thoughts about it. Thanks a lot!
Best wishes for the read!
Excellent conversation, enjoyed the insight from an advanced reader.
Look forward to you guys starting the re-read. I will be joining!
Awesome! It’s exciting to be reading Malazan again. I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments as we discuss each book!
Great video! such a highly interesting conversation. Thanks a lot!
Thank you! The vast majority of the credit goes to A.P., but I'm happy to play host, and I'll be even happier to learn from him as we do our reread of the series. Thanks for watching!
I'm only halfway into the video but I tremendously enjoy your insightful and funny chat.
Thank you! It was a lot of fun to speak with A.P., and he has a wealth of great stories and insights related to Malazan. He's also a very kind person!
This was a joy to listen to. I am extremely excited for you two to cover the series in what is sure be an thought provoking discussion
Thank you! I’m excited for it too, and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to discuss such a masterpiece of fantasy with someone as knowledgeable as A.P.
This was fantastic, Philip! The series you have planned already sound amazing, looking forward to that! Thank you, as always, and keep up the good work :)
Thanks so much! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the discussions if you feel inspired to leave comments!
Absolutely looking forward to this series. I'm planning to read along as well. Always a good time to read the series again.
Awesome! We’ll be glad to have you along, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments if you feel inspired to leave some.
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Will do. Have you decided if you'll be doing one big discussion or several for each book and/or the timeframe for Gardens? I'd like to plan my reading schedule to match.
@@josephk5654 We’re doing one discussion for each book, and we’re spacing them out monthly. The Gardens of the Moon chat should be out this coming Wednesday. About one month later, in late January, we’ll do Deadhouse Gates. Memories of Ice in late February, etc. That’s the plan!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Excellent. Perfect, thank you.
@@josephk5654 My pleasure!
Really enjoyed this perspective!
Thanks! It’s going to be great to hear A.P.’s thoughts on each of the ten books over the next ten months.
A.P. with the subterranean press on display. Seriously jealous right now, those editions are gorgeous. Absolutley great video. |'m about to start my first re-read and will be following along closely.
Fantastic! I’m happy you’ll be reading along, and I hope to read your thoughts on the books and discussions in the comments of future videos if you feel inspired to leave comments. I’m envious of A.P.’s books too!
Great discussion! AP was a great guest and it was very entertaining to listen to
Thank you! It was really a great pleasure to speak with him, and I'm excited for what's to come.
I am new to your channel. I adm a group of Brazilian Malazan fans in Facebook I've just shared this one there, because I loved this video! Now I am eager to see all your other videos.
Unfortunatelly for us, Brazilians, the publishers will no longer publish the Malazan books here (there were two: one with the main series, another one with Night of Knives and Dancer's Lament). I wished I have the means ($) to buy the rights and complete at least the main series here. :/
Welcome to the channel! That’s a shame about the lack of availability of the Malazan books in Brazil. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m assuming you would be reading them in English. Have they been translated into Portuguese? Wider availability of the books would be a good thing. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy ^^ The Portuguese publisher also quited Malazan books. The have splited some books in two... The have: Gardens of the Moon, Dead House Gates, The Path of Hands (DHG pt 2), Memories of Ice and Capustan (MoI pt 2). Unfortunatelly.
I've read the Malazan book of the Fallen twice. Now I will delve in the other books, together with the main series. I am fortunate to have some skill in English, but am so sad that with the withdraw by the Brazilians publishers: a lot of people started and hooked on the first two books of the 10-book series and also liked the other 2, but will not be able to finish them series...
I've heard that the International rights owner will only sell the 10 books together, what means that, considering the crisis that took over publishers and bookstores in Brazil, Brazilian readers will have to wait until they learn English...
I am Intellectual Property lawyer, had a couple of publishers-clients interested, but one broke and the other was bought and is no longer working with fantasy genre...
:'(
@@FranzBrehme Thank you for explaining. That is unfortunate, indeed, and I’m sure the consequences of the publishing crisis are widespread. I hope there will be some improvement!
This was amazing! I loved all the stories, the details, the history, the world war two analogy. And I loved that I can finally stop feeling like the typical fan girl because I think these are the best books in the genre. If someone like A.P., who has read a lo tmore than me can say with with certainty, it means I am not just "fan girling". I was told to stop being such a fan girl about two years ago when I engaged in a discussion and I claimed that the Malazan world and story are better than Tolkien's world where the principle of the comparison was supposed to be complexity and it stayed with me :))) . Oh, and I do the same thing, go a few lines lower until I find the name of the character in the scene and then begin the reading. It's nice to see I am not alone in this either :))
I’m so glad you enjoyed the discussion, not least because I have been enjoying the discussions between you and Steven Erikson very much. Anyone who accuses you of “fan girling” because you consider The Malazan Book of the Fallen the greatest fantasy of all time is, first of all, behaving in a patronizing and closed-minded manner. It sounds like a mean and petty way of trying to shut down someone else’s legitimate viewpoint. Second, there are plenty of excellent reasons to support your view, and I hope that A.P. and I will be able to touch on them in our future discussions. Thanks so much for watching, and thank you as well for your wonderful conversations with Steven Erikson- I’m still watching part two of your Gardens of the Moon chat!
Amazing view on RPGs! On Malazan point of view... Recently I was introduced to the application of the concept of "Diegesis" on role-playing studies: some people are using it to analazy on the relations of "character-mechanics-narrative" AND "player-narrative" (this last one is kind of new). And, to me, this "Gene Wolfean" characteristic may be applied to Malazan in so many ways... from the fact that Steve and Ian played RPG, passing in the view that Malazan world was build in game (kind of), and including the fact that SE and IE are such skilled writers and their POVs put us there, believing in the character, even if the character is wrong or has a raw belief on the lie he is telling himself. Once again, tks for the video.
Yes, the RPG influence on the genre is vast. Before I met A.P., I hadn’t thought about it too much, but there are so many implications for modern fantasy and how we think of it.
Great and informative. I'm gonna stick around for awhile.
Thank you! It’s great to have you around!
Would love a good snoop around A.P's bookshelf!
Same here! I bet you there are some signed copies of Malazan books too!
I'm reading Blood & Bone right now and can confirm that The Jungle is very much a character.
Loved the WWII analogy! So precise!
Same here! I thought A.P. made that analogy very well.
Just starting these. As touched on the fact the world was gamed for so long it was already built before it even started while a lot of other authors seem to just have an outline and make it up as they go along.
And loved the gaming need talk. Wait, the wizard has a sword? Who gave him that?
The WWII documentary is very apt. Then it contracts and the different parts start converging.
Yes, I love the WWII analogy! Lots of things click into place while A.P. is talking. And he’s funny too. I was laughing almost the entire second half of my discussion with him and Steven Erikson. A happy and fulfilling new year to you, Eric!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy minor spoiler
Then the Martians show up in Berlin...
@@EricMcLuen Ha ha! Something rather like that!
Great vid, exciting that you brought AP into your reread. Out of interest is AP Scottish or Northern Irish? Trying to place his accent
He’s from Northern Ireland. Good guesses! Yes, I’m beyond thrilled that he’s agreed to discuss each of the ten books of The Malazan Book of the Fallen with me. Lots to look forward to!
Awesome interview! I went to a great books college for undergrad and really didn’t enjoy all the non-reading parts of the program. Listening to the two of you talk about genre fantasy and its place in the development of literature may be the first time I’ve felt nostalgic for discussing books so I can’t wait to follow along with your re-read. Roughly how long do I have to reread GoTM before your new series starts?
It would be excellent to have you along! A.P. and I just recorded our discussion of Gardens of the Moon today. The spoiler free part should be coming out tomorrow, and the spoiler filled part a day later. The discussion of book 2 will be in late January, book 3 in late February, and so forth until we finish with book 10 and then a wrap up discussion. I hope that leaves sufficient time for you to catch up, but you could still watch the spoiler free video if you want. The good news is that Gardens of the Moon is the shortest book. I hope to read your comments if you feel inspired to leave some!
i would honestly love that list of fantasy books dude had read for his Ph. D. thesis
All 450? Haha! He might have them listed in the dissertation’s bibliography, which could be fifty pages itself. You have to be a little crazy and really stubborn to write a dissertation!
Unfortunately, that list, along with a lot of thesis notes, was on a computer that passed away some time ago and now resides in silicon heaven. All I have left are the various works cited in the actual bibliography of the thesis... which is a lot shorter... but still far too long to paste into a comment.
@@ACriticalDragon goodbye friend, gone but not forgotten.. 😔
@@ACriticalDragon That would set a record for longest comment ever on UA-cam!
Plus one on Toll the Hounds. By far my favorite, in my favorite series. It’s a shame that your timing is so much faster than Mike’s. My guess is that you will be picking up a lot of delayed views. This was a great conversation. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you could get Erikson in on one or more of your chats, if you were so inclined.
It would be a dream come true to have Steven Erikson take part in one of our chats. Definitely something to look into! About the timing, you’re right that it’s going to be more and more out of sync with Mike’s read along as time passes. However, that won’t stop me from participating fully in Mike’s Discord, and, as you say, the conversations on my channel will be here if and when viewers are ready. It’s actually even a happy coincidence that we’re starting around the same time. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy He participated in a few hour long sessions on Ten Very Big books. There are few authors more generous, so I think it’s possible and would be awesome.
@@duffypratt I’ll do my best to make it happen!
I would like to know how that conference was called (the one where Mr. Canavan meets both Stevens). Does it have some kind of booklet/proceedings publication?
I’ll find out for you!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Thank you very much! In love with your channel.
Hello, Franz. The organization is called The International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts. The conference they run is called The International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts. Here is a link to the conference website: www.fantastic-arts.org/
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Oh my! Don't know the right words to thank you... so... Thank you very much!
@@FranzBrehme My pleasure!
Any relation to Trudi Canavan?
Good question! You could ask A.P., who now has his own channel, which I highly recommend. It’s called A Critical Dragon.
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy I just saw you replied! I'll absolutely go subscribe to him. It's refreshing to hear from such highly educated fans of Malazan/Erikson.
BTW, your interview with Erikson and A.P. Canavan was among the best on YT. Hearing their stories was a really amazing experience; it felt like sitting down with 2 old friends.
@@tragikk03 I felt the same way during that conversation, which was a huge pleasure to take part in. I hope you’ll enjoy A Critical Dragon!
Nice to hear praise for Thomas Covenant.
A classic is worthy of praise!
2021.... the year of Malazan
So it seems! One of many ways in which 2021 could possibly improve on 2020.
Hopefully that means it's the year of compassion too
@@colinjones5379 Now that’s something I could embrace!
Jesus why so many ads
Sorry about that! I’m not sure why, but what I can tell you is that, once a channel monetizes, the creator has no control over how many ads there will be on a video. I’m guessing it’s based on the video’s popularity and possibly length, but that’s a guess. I wasn’t going to monetize the channel, but UA-cam recently announced a policy change to the effect that it will be running ads even on channels that aren’t monetized, so I figured I might as well get some of those pennies to help me pay for all the books I’m reviewing.
First rule about advance reading is you don’t talk about advance reading..
Ha ha! I wonder if advance readers have a secret club where they fight with words.
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy I bet AP wouldn’t be in Erikson‘s club if he wasn’t capable to metaphorically bloody some noses.. 😉
@@thomasley4006 Definitely!
Wth is an advance reader lmao
Hello, Jean! An advance reader is a person that an author sends the book to before the book goes to the publisher. In other words, the advance reader gives the author feedback, and the author can make changes based on the advance reader's suggestions before sending the book to the editor at the publishing house. So, an advance reader is not quite an editor, but is something more than an alpha or beta reader. Obviously, the author would have to put a lot of trust in the judgment of the advance reader.