Order of Book Series
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Ian C. Esslemont Books in Order

Ian C. Esslemont has written 11 books, published between 2004 and 2024. The first book is Night of Knives (2004) and the newest is Forge of the High Mage (2024). Publication order is the reading order below. 7 of the 11 books listed here are in the Malazan Empire series, which has its own page: Malazan Empire books in order.

Books
11
Published
2004–2024
Confirmed
5 of 11 titles
Pages on record
2,625 in 6 of 11 books
Reading time
44–66 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,625 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 6 of 11 titles with a page count on record.

See all 11 books in order Printable Ian C. Esslemont checklist

Ian C. Esslemont is a Canadian writer, born in 1962, trained and employed as an archaeologist. Esslemont co-created the Malazan world with Steven Erikson and writes Novels of the Malazan Empire, set in the world of Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. Eleven books are catalogued, from Night of Knives (2004) through Return of the Crimson Guard, Stonewielder and Assail to the Path to Ascendancy sequence, which reaches Forge of the High Mage in 2024.

How many Ian C. Esslemont books are there?

Ian C. Esslemont has 11 books, released between 2004 and 2024. They include 2 series and 1 title listed outside any series.

Ian C. Esslemont Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 11 Ian C. Esslemont books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Night of Knives by Ian C. Esslemont, book 1 of the Malazan Empire series (2004)
  2. Cover of Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian C. Esslemont, book 2 of the Malazan Empire series (2008)
  3. Cover of Stonewielder by Ian C. Esslemont, book 3 of the Malazan Empire series (2010)
  4. Cover of Blood and Bone by Ian C. Esslemont, book 5 of the Malazan Empire series (2012)
  5. Cover of Assail by Ian C. Esslemont, book 6 of the Malazan Empire series (2013)
  6. Cover of Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont, book 1 of the Path to Ascendancy series (2016)
  7. Cover of Deadhouse Landing by Ian C. Esslemont, book 2 of the Path to Ascendancy series (2017)
  8. Cover of Kellanved's Reach by Ian C. Esslemont, book 3 of the Path to Ascendancy series (2019)
  1. 1
    Night of KnivesMalazan Empire #12004 · 336 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2004336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Return of the Crimson GuardMalazan Empire #22008 · confirmed 2/4
    2008–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    StonewielderMalazan Empire #32010 · confirmed 3/4
    2010–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Orb Sceptre ThroneMalazan Empire #42012 · confirmed 3/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Blood and BoneMalazan Empire #52012 · 592 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2012592
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    AssailMalazan Empire #62013 · 544 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2013544
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Dancer's LamentPath to Ascendancy #12016 · 401 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2016401
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Deadhouse LandingPath to Ascendancy #22017 · 400 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2017400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Kellanved's ReachPath to Ascendancy #32019 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2019352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Forge of the High MageMalazan Empire #72023 · confirmed 2/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Forge of the High Mage2024 · confirmed 1/4
    2024–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Ian C. Esslemont series and characters in order

The character linked below has its own reading-order page.

Ian C. Esslemont books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.

Malazan Empire books in order

7 books by Ian C. Esslemont
  1. 1. Night of Knives
  2. 2. Return of the Crimson Guard
  3. 3. Stonewielder
  4. 4. Orb Sceptre Throne
  5. 5. Blood and Bone
  6. 6. Assail
  7. 7. Forge of the High Mage

Path to Ascendancy in order

3 books
  1. 1. Dancer's Lament
  2. 2. Deadhouse Landing
  3. 3. Kellanved's Reach

Standalone books

1 book

1 Ian C. Esslemont title here is not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Ian C. Esslemont books in order?

You only need to read Ian C. Esslemont books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Ian C. Esslemont

Start with Night of Knives (2004), the first Malazan Empire book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.

What is the newest Ian C. Esslemont book?

Forge of the High Mage (2024) is the newest Ian C. Esslemont book released so far.

Is there a new Ian C. Esslemont book coming?

No next Ian C. Esslemont book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Ian C. Esslemont at a glance

Still publishing
Ian C. Esslemont published a book as recently as 2024.
Release pace
Ian C. Esslemont books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
2,625 pages across the 6 of 11 books with a recorded length, a median of 400 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Ian C. Esslemont books, 7 of 11, were published in the 2010s.

What the Ian C. Esslemont books are about

9 of the 11 Ian C. Esslemont books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: fantasy is tagged on 9 of 9. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

Other Fantasy authors

Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.