Blues, K'azz, Skinner and Cowl. The Witness Trilogy Planned trilogy written by Steven Erikson. It will be a sequel to the main series featuring Karsa Orlong and his quest to destroy civilization. The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach (novellas) The first three novellas were published together as The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Volume 1. The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Volume 2 includes the second three novellas. Blood Follows (2002) The Healthy Dead (2004) The Lees of Laughter's End (2007) Crack'd Pot Trail (2009) The Wurms of Blearmouth (2012) The Fiends of Nightmaria (2016) Upon a Dark of Evil Overlords (2020) Reading order Erikson and Esslemont recommend reading the books in order of publication. Tor.com published a reading order based on the approximate chronological order of events in the series, which the authors did not consider suitable as a reading order for a first-time reader. The publication order of the series is as follows: Authorship Conception The Malazan world was originally created by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont in 1982 as a backdrop for role-playing games using a modified version of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. By 1986, when the GURPS system had been adopted by Erikson and Esslemont, the world had become much larger and more complex, approaching its current scope. It was then developed into a movie script entitled Gardens of the Moon. When this was not successful in finding interest, the two writers agreed to each write a series set in their shared world. Steven Erikson wrote Gardens of the Moon as a novel in the period 1991-92 but it was not published until 1999. In the meantime, he wrote several non-fantasy novels. When he sold Gardens of the Moon, he agreed to a contract for an additional nine volumes in the series. The contract with Bantam UK was worth £675,000 making it "among the largest fees ever paid for a fantasy series". Ian Cameron Esslemont's first published Malazan story, the novella Night of Knives, was released as a limited edition by PS Publishing in 2004 and as a mass-market hardcover by Bantam UK in 2007. The second novel, Return of the Crimson Guard, was published in 2008, with a limited PS Publishing edition preceding the larger-scale Bantam UK release. The third novel, Stonewielder, was released on 11 December 2010 in the UK by Bantam, and 11 May 2011 in the US by