Tag: Third Alienist Book

Celebrating 30 Years of The Alienist – Part Five

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View Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five of The Alienist 30th anniversary series.

With the year nearing its end, the time has come for the last post in our celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Alienist’s publication. To honor the novel and its author, we have so far discussed its origins and first/special editions (Parts One and Two), explored early attempts to adapt it to the screen (Part Three), and summarized the publication history of its sequel, The Angel of Darkness (Part Four). In order to complete our homage today, we now turn our attention to the novel’s many translations and consider its enduring legacy.

Translations

Perhaps one of the best markers of a novel’s success is how widely translated it has been, and The Alienist is no exception. Although our celebration so far has primarily focused on the novel’s reception in the United States, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to its status as a bestseller. As described in Part Two, The Alienist was a worldwide phenomenon upon its release. Since that time, millions of copies have been sold, and it has been translated into over two dozen languages.

While it is beyond the scope of this blog series to provide details about each and every translation, a very small subset of covers for translated editions can be viewed below. These include editions in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Czech, and Russian.

Continuation of the series

Over the past 20 years, perhaps the most frequently asked question I’ve received as the owner of 17th Street relates to whether the series will ever be continued. Although the idea of a third novel was floated on and off in interviews with Caleb Carr following The Angel of Darkness’ publication (see Part Four), it wasn’t until 2016 that the long-awaited announcement was made: Mulholland Books would be publishing two new Alienist novels intended to ‘bookend’ the series. More exciting still, the books would shed light on the two most enigmatic characters in the series: Miss Sara Howard and Dr. Kreizler himself.

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An Important Update

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For those who are finding the website through this post, please note that Caleb Carr passed away in May, 2024. See Remembering Caleb Carr (1955-2024) for 17th Street’s memorial to a beloved author.

There is no denying that it has been quite some time since my last update. Unfortunately, 17th Street simply became a casualty of trying to fit too much into too little time. Rest assured that I never had any plans to permanently walk away from something that has given me so much over the years, so I am back to share an important update with those of you who, like me, continue to appreciate these wonderful books.

Let’s begin with the news that I’m sure you are all most interested in. Loyal readers would be aware that several years ago Mulholland Books announced that they would be publishing the long-awaited third Alienist novel in late 2019. When this did not come to pass, it prompted a number of readers to wonder what had happened. I have now had it confirmed that the book suffered a significant delay due to a necessary change in its concept and plot from what had originally been announced. Fortunately, the resulting change has been well-received by everyone involved, and I’m sure we are all looking forward to learning more about the new book’s premise once it is announced.

Even though this is good news for the series, I am sorry to report that this third instalment is also facing an additional challenge. Unfortunately, it has been confirmed that Caleb Carr is currently waging a formidable health battle that is slowing his progress on the book. Despite this, I can confirm that Caleb still has every intention of moving forward with the novel in the future and is looking forward to doing so. First and foremost, however, he needs to continue to focus his energy on his ongoing treatment. I hope you will join me in wishing Caleb the very best as he fights this important battle.

Finally, regular visitors to the website will be aware that this update also brings change to the air. After many years with the old site layout, I decided it was time to finally be refreshed. So, in honour of Caleb’s birthday today, I am pleased to share 17th Street’s new look with you all. I hope that you like the layout and find it easy to navigate. You may also notice some small updates to the formatting throughout the site over the coming weeks.

The State of the Sequels

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As I reported on the third Alienist book page, in April of 2016 it was announced that Mulholland Books would be publishing two new Alienist novels that will act as ‘bookends’ for the two current novels in the series, The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness. It has since been announced that the first of the two new novels will be titled The Alienist at Armageddon and the blurb for the book can be found on the novel’s Amazon page:

When The Alienist was first published in 1994, it became a literary phenomenon, sold millions of copies and was a worldwide sensation. It became a modern classic, and a cornerstone of the historical suspense genre.

After more than twenty years, the Alienist is back! The Alienist at Armageddon begins in the winter of 1915, soon after the start of the First World War. Reuniting the original’s beloved characters, the story is told from the perspective of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler–the famous psychologist, or “alienist,” and his friend and comrade, John Moore, crime reporter for the New York Times. A massive explosive detonates mere feet from Kreizler’s home, marking the fourth in New York City in as many months.

With his friends at his heels, Kreizler takes up his own case, and the cases of the other explosions. Amid the turmoil in New York City, they receive a news report: the RMS Luisitania, a British passenger ship bound for Liverpool from New York with Americans on board, has sunk mysteriously just eleven miles off the Irish coast. With international tensions high at the onset of the Great War, and many in Europe clamoring for American intervention, Kreizler’s case threatens to embroil not only his own life, but the lives of his countrymen, in the greatest and most deadly conflict modern civilization had ever seen.

According to the Mulholland Books website, the novel is scheduled for release on September 1st, 2019 — this year! I, for one, am very excited to see Mr. Carr move the series forward after a long break (over 20 years) by moving the time period during the novels forward in a similar way; we last saw Kreizler and the team in their 30s and 40s in 1897, and we will now be meeting them again 18 years later. It will be wonderful to reacquaint ourselves with the team and to learn what has transpired in their lives during the intervening time. Taking our characters into the murky waters (pun very much intended) of international tensions surrounding the First World War will be a fascinating way to return to the series.

According to the original book deal announcement, a second novel, The Strange Case of Miss Sara X, will also be published by Mulholland Books. This one, however, will take us back in time again, presumably to the late 1870s or early 1880s, assuming the events in the summary from the publisher’s press release matches the timeline already established in the series so far. In this novel, “a youthful Kreizler, after finishing his psychology training at Harvard, falls under the spell of William James, has his first run-in with Roosevelt, and delves into the secret life of Sara Howard, heroine of the first books.”

Alienist Book News, Plus a Casting Change for The Alienist TV Series

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My apologies for the delay in news here on 17th Street, but life away from the internet has been incredibly busy with a big interstate move and illness taking me out of action for the past few weeks. That said, there have been a number of news items from the past couple of months that I have neglected to post here due to lack of time.

First, there was some excellent news for Alienist readers outside of the United States last month with Mulholland Books UK announcing that they will be publishing The Alienist, The Angel of Darkness, Surrender, New York, and Caleb Carr’s two upcoming Alienist novels in e-book form in the UK and Commonwealth countries. As an Australian who has not been able to access the Alienist books in e-book form due to rights restrictions, I would like to personally say hallelujah! This is excellent news for those of us outside the United States. The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness will be available in July 2017, while Surrender, New York will be available in 2018. This news also confirmed that the third book in the Alienist series, The Alienist at Armageddon, is due out in 2019; exciting news for those of us who have been waiting for a continuation in the series for so many years.

Second, Caleb Carr wrote an interesting review of Kevin Davis’ recently released nonfiction book, “The Brain Defense,” for The New York Times in early March. This is an interesting article for anyone who is interested in the type of arguments that were posited in Surrender, New York — and if you haven’t read Surrender yet, it may provide you with some incentive to do so.

Finally, although I am not posting all the latest news regarding The Alienist TV series at present (for my reasons, please see my previous blog post), one noteworthy piece of news surfaced today. Deadline has reported that Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker) will be replacing Sean Astin as Theodore Roosevelt in the upcoming adaptation. In a statement, TNT indicated that Astin will no longer play the role “because of scheduling difficulties.” In addition, Martin McCreadie has been cast as Sergeant Doyle, a character who does not appear in the books but has been listed on IMDb for 10 episodes of the series.

Once again, my apologies for the delay with these news items. Unfortunately things will continue to be slow here for at least one more month, but hopefully things will start to turn around after that. If there is anything you feel is noteworthy and should be reported on 17th Street that you don’t see here, please feel free to contact me through the comments on the blog or using the contact form. Thanks for your patience.