Ian C. Esslemont

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Ian Cameron Esslemont (born 1962) is a Canadian writer and archaeologist who co-created the Malazan world. He is best known for his novels set in the Malazan universe, written in parallel with his friend Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Esslemont has also lived and worked in Southeast Asia, including four years in Thailand and Japan. He currently lives in Alaska with his wife, novelist Gerri Brightwell, and their three sons.

Career
- Esslemont helped create the Malazan world in 1982 for a tabletop role-playing game. In 1991, he and Erikson worked on a Gardens of the Moon film script; Erikson later turned the story into a novel and the two writers agreed to publish books in the same world.
- His first novel, Night of Knives (2004; mass-market edition by Bantam UK in 2007), was followed by Return of the Crimson Guard (2008), Stonewielder (2010), Orb Sceptre Throne (2012), Blood and Bone (2012), and Assail (2014). In 2014 Bantam agreed to publish three more Malazan novels.

Notable works
- Novels of the Malazan Empire: Night of Knives (2004), Return of the Crimson Guard (2008), Stonewielder (2010), Orb Sceptre Throne (2012), Blood and Bone (2012), Assail (2014).
- Path to Ascendancy (prequel): Dancer’s Lament (2016), Deadhouse Landing (2017), Kellanved’s Reach (2019), Forge of the High Mage (2023).