The God is Not Willing

The God is Not Willing is the first book in the Witness Trilogy, Steven Erikson's sequel to the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. 
The story takes place 10 years after the events of The Crippled God, and while telling the story of a new group of characters, features the legacy of Karsa Orlong and others.Ten Very Big Books podcast - GotM's 20th Anniversary (See 1:13:10)Author Chat - Steven Erikson - FanFiAddict - See 48:45
Erikson hopes the book will provide an entry point into the Malazan world for new readers who have not read any of the previous Malazan books.
==Publisher's summary==
Many years have passed since three Teblor warriors brought carnage and chaos to the small lakeside settlement of Silver Lake. While the town has recovered, the legacy of that past horror remains, even if the Teblor tribes of the north no longer venture into the southlands. One of those three, Karsa Orlong, is now deemed to be a god, albeit an indifferent one. In truth, many new cults and religions have emerged across the Malazan world, including those who worship Coltaine, the Black-Winged God, and -- popular among the Empire's soldiery -- followers of the cult of Iskar Jarak, Guardian of the Dead.
A legion of Malazan marines is on the march towards Silver Lake, responding to intelligence that indicates the tribes beyond the border are stirring. The marines aren't quite sure what they're going to be facing but, while the Malazan military has evolved and these are not the marines of old, one thing hasn't changed: they'll handle whatever comes at them. Or die trying.
Meanwhile, in the high mountains, where dwell the tribes of the Teblor, a new warleader has risen. Scarred by the deeds of Karsa Orlong, he intends to confront his god, even if he has to cut a bloody path through the Malazan Empire to do it. Higher in the mountains, a new threat has emerged, and now the Teblor are running out of time.
The long feared invasion is about to begin. And this time it won't be three simple warriors. This time thousands are poised to flood the lands of the south. And in their way, a single legion of Malazan marines...
It seems the past is about to revisit Silver Lake, and that is never a good thing...
==Front matter==
===Dedication===
For dragging me online, and for the friendship, this novel is dedicated to Lenore Kennedy
===Acknowledgements===
Many thanks to my advance readers, Dr A. P. Canavan, Baria Ahmed, and Mark Paxton-MacRae; and to my agent, Howard Morhaim, and my editor, Simon Taylor. Special appreciation goes to my fans frequenting the Steven Erikson Facebook page, and to all the YouTubers now discussing all things Malazan: you delivered the shot in the arm when it was needed the most.
===Maps===
File:NW_Genabackis_GNW.jpg|Northwest Genabackis - Late Empire
File:The_God_is_Not_Willing_Erikson_Map.jpg|Steven Erikson's hand drawn map
==Editions==
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Publisher 	Format/Edition 	First published 	Pages 	ISBN-10 	ISBN-13 	Notes
United Kingdom — The God is Not Willing	United Kingdom — The God is Not Willing	United Kingdom — The God is Not Willing	United Kingdom — The God is Not Willing	United Kingdom — The God is Not Willing	United Kingdom — The God is Not Willing	United Kingdom — The God is Not Willing
Bantam 	Hard cover 	July 2021 	496 	1787632865 	978-1787632868 	First edition
Bantam 	Trade paperback 	July 2021 	496 	1787632873 	978-1787632875 	
Bantam 	Mass market paperback 	xxx 	xxx 	xxx 	xxx 	
United States — The God is Not Willing 	United States — The God is Not Willing 	United States — The God is Not Willing 	United States — The God is Not Willing 	United States — The God is Not Willing 	United States — The God is Not Willing 	United States — The God is Not Willing
Tor 	Hard cover 	November 2021 	496 	0765323591 	978-0765323590 	
Tor 	Trade paperback 	November 2023 	496 	‎0765323664 	978-0765323668 	
Tor 	Mass market paperback 	September 2022 	640 	0765363445 	978-0765363442 	
==Plot Summary==
::The following summaries contain spoilersPlease access individual chapter summaries via the Chapter infobox
===Prologue===
===Book One: Knuckles===
===Book Two: Starwheel===
===Book Three: Roots of Stone===
===Epilogue===
==Trivia==
*In October 2017, Erikson announced on his Facebook pageSteven Erikson Facebook post 25 October 2017 that this book would be his next published Malazan work. In order to work on the book, he announced he was temporarily putting aside his work on Walk in Shadow, the concluding volume of the Kharkanas Trilogy.
*Erikson discussed his work on the book in an essay called Life on Thin Ice: Updating my Progress on The Witness Trilogy.
*Erikson expected to write the majority of the novel on a newly purchased Gemini PDA similar to one he had used to write several earlier Malazan books.Steven Erikson Facebook post 31 May 2018 Ultimately the ergonomics of the new device did not work out and the author completed the book on a laptop.Steven Erikson Facebook post 31 December 2019
*At least some of the book was written at the Little June coffee shop in Victoria, B.C., Canada.
*It was not until after writing the first 80 or 90 pages of the novel that he realised he had actually written the opening of the second book in the series. "I realised I was leaving too much backstory" and had to start over. Getting started on the book "took a little longer than expected, but at the same time, once it's done, I've got 80 pages of the second novel already done."Ten Very Big Books podcast - Deadhouse Gates (See 39:50)
*Erikson completed the first draft of the novel on 28 February 2020.Steven Erikson Facebook post 28 February 2020 After the copy editing process was completed at the publisher, the manuscript was returned to Erikson by 21 December 2020Steven Erikson Facebook post 21 December 2020 so he could begun his own review of the document on 29 December 2020.Steven Erikson Facebook post 30 December 2020 Since Erikson's writing process incorporates the primary editing into the preparation of the initial manuscript, he was able to quickly complete his review and return it to the publisher on 3 January 2021.Steven Erikson Facebook post 3 January 2021
*Regarding the themes of the novel, Erikson says, "I asked myself before I started the novel: What is the role of a soldier? And then I set about exploring that. And, of course, the immediate answer would be, you know, protect your nation, fight wars, etc., etc. But I wanted to go a little bit past that and explore the notion of acting in service to something greater than oneself. And so that is what this first novel is certainly exploring."Interview with Steven Erikson, Best-Selling Author and Archaeologist - Systems Change Alliance - See 24:30 He says another sub-theme is "cultural appropriation because...all kinds of new religions are springing up ten years after the events of the ten books, and they're being plucked from everywhere, and they're just being adopted all over the place, because that is what cultures do. If they don't, they're dead. They are a dead culture. They need to appropriate, to adapt, and absorb aspects and change...Which is not to actually denigrate the complaints of cultural appropriation, because there are some very, very valid complaints with that respect."Chatting With Nutts - Episode #18 ft Steven Erikson - The Fantasy Nuttwork - See 1:44:00
*Regarding the audiobook version of his novels, Steven Erikson says, "Mostly, I'm not consulted on pronunciations, etc. That said, I did work with the reader for The God is Not Willing and by all accounts she was terrific."Reddit Ask Me Anything session - September 2021
*In preparation for writing The God is Not Willing, Erikson says he "had to go back to some of the books and read some stuff, like the opening to House of Chains and things like that. And, it was a strange feeling, because I looked at it and said, 'I think I was a better writer then than I was now. And that's a hard thing to deal with...'"Chatting With Nutts - Episode #18 ft Steven Erikson - The Fantasy Nuttwork - See 1:34:30
*Erikson says the title of the book "is a weird one, isn't it?...is it even grammatical?" but says it just "insisted that it be there." As of November 2021, he had not yet decided on the titles for the second and third books in the Witness series. This is different from the Malazan Book of the Fallen series and the Kharkanas Trilogy where he had decided on all the titles in both series even before he began writing.Chatting With Nutts - Episode #18 ft Steven Erikson - The Fantasy Nuttwork - See 1:39:50
*Erikson created a mock up cover for the book that became the basis for the final cover illustration by artist Steve Stone. In the process, Erikson kept sending notes to Stone asking him to "beef up" the central female figure on the cover. "She's got to be bigger. And I don't mean just tall, she's got to be a substantial figure up there. And I almost sense I was really twisting his arm on that one," he laughs, "because he kept coming [back where] she was maybe gaining half an inch each version."Chatting With Nutts - Episode #18 ft Steven Erikson - The Fantasy Nuttwork - See 1:41:55
== Cover gallery ==
TGiNW-ESPcover.jpg|Spanish cover
TGiNW-ITcover.jpg|Italian cover
The God Is Not Willing Czech Cover.png|Czech cover
==External links==
*Ten Very Big Books podcast - The God is Not Willing - A Conversation with Steven Erikson 
* Chat with Steven Erikson on The God is Not Willing - Green Team of the Legendarium
* Spoiler Chat: The God is Not Willing with Steven Erikson and Philip Chase - A Critical Dragon
==Notes and references==
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Category:The God is Not Willing
es:Un Dios Inclemente
it:Il dio indifferente