Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1) by Steven Erikson

Feb 08, 2013 Seak (Bryce L.) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Seak (Bryce L.) by: <a href="http://www.sffworld.com">sffworld.com</a>

Shelves: 650-800-pagers, fantasy, 2013

UPDATE: I've just reread this book so I've updated my review, which you can find at the end of my little lovenote here. :)

Why Read The Malazan Book of the Fallen, or A Love Note to Steven Erikson (Okay, not really the latter)

If you've even attempted to read Gardens of the Moon, the first book in the 10 book epic that is the Malazan Book of the Fallen, you'll see very quickly that you're not given much as a reader. It's confusing, it's complicated, it's full of mysteries and myriad of characters...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Jon added it · review of another edition

Recommended to Jon by: Fantasy Book Club May 2010 Selection

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, epic-fantasy, moochable, read-in-my-40s, ebooks, meh

3.5 stars

Due to the acquisition of GoodReads by Amazon on March 28, 2013 and my existing and continuing boycott of all things Amazon, the review I wrote after reading this book has been relocated to my blog and can be found in its entirety by following this link: http://bit.ly/Z8GFJ8

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Jan 01, 2013 Traci rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

Update 10/19/11. After my second reading I love this book even more. Any confusion I had before was cleared up. And I cannot believe how much more I got out of it. I love the style. The world. The characters. I think this could end up as my favorite fantasy series. Period.

First I have a confession to make. I was a pre teen reading high school melodrama when I picked up my first fantasy book. It was a Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman Dragonlance book. And I quickly fell in love with the world of e...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Terence rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of epic fantasy; Malazan groupies

Recommended to Terence by: SFBC random pick

Shelves: sf-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Well, I finished my third go-around with this book this week. After four+ years it still stands the "test of time" and I don't regret the 5-star rating. After 9 books averaging 500-700+ pages per, it's impossible to explain the story-so-far in anything less than a novella-length review but for the uninitiated the overall plot revolves around the Crippled God's plans to end to his pain in an apocalyptic denouement that will bring down gods, Ascendants and mortals. Twirling around that common them...more

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Feb 07, 2013 David Sven rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favourites

This is my second reading of Gardens of the Moon. I’ve long suspected that the best way to read Erikson’s Malazan series is to read it again. I can now confirm that suspicion has been proved correct as far as this book goes. I loved rereading this book. There were so many times reading the series initially that I felt certain information and story arcs and characters just came out of left field. But having read this first book again I am astounded at the sheer level and volume of foreshadowing c...more

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Mar 15, 2011 mark monday rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantastickal

i feel like i'm being pretty generous in giving this 3 stars. okay, it is my good deed for 2011. now don't say i never did nuthin' for you, steven erikson!

the cons: so much, where do i even start. (1) the dialogue is a joke, a sad flailing uncomfortable joke, the kind that just goes on and on and i start to look away from the joke teller in embarrassment. corny corn, beyond belief. (2) and the characterizations - so flat! so trite. and when they weren't trite - just entirely unrealistic. there a...more i feel like i'm being pretty generous in giving this 3 stars. okay, it is my good deed for 2011. now don't say i never did nuthin' for you, steven erikson!

the cons: so much, where do i even start. (1) the dialogue is a joke, a sad flailing uncomfortable joke, the kind that just goes on and on and i start to look away from the joke teller in embarrassment. corny corn, beyond belief. (2) and the characterizations - so flat! so trite. and when they weren't trite - just entirely unrealistic. there are literally no stakes to the character of paran because he literally has no character. the attempt to establish him as a speaks-his-mind kinda guy fall totally flat when you see him act like a jackass to the number 2 most powerful person in the land and then to some kind of Master of the Assassins. he also acts like a jackass to, um, GODS. there is a difference between admirable pluckiness and the kind of bizarre behavior that is a sign of mental unbalance. (3) i hate when alien, non-human species act like humans in costume. that is lazy writing. or unimaginative writing, take your pick. this happens with at least a couple non-human species.

the pros: the imagination on display. except for characterization, erikson's imagination is actually a little breath-taking. this is a fascinating and incredibly complex world. so many fertile concepts, just one after another, almost overwhelming at times. for example: an insane wizard trapped in the body of a puppet, running around various dimensions...about a half dozen non-human species, many of whom seem genuinely alien (the two i mentioned above being the notable exceptions)....a great sense of scope, of so many larger things happening throughout so many places....a floating moon palace! the world took a while to understand, but slowly but surely i was taken in and reading the novel turned from a frustrating experience to, in the last third, a truly pleasurable one. the last part of the novel was read in a big rush - i felt like i read my eyes out that night. in the end, despite my issues, i am now really looking forward to reading more of this series. besides, depth of character & excellence of dialogue are not absolutely necessary for my own enjoyment.

also, the author clearly favors larger women. two big ladies are represented as very attractive, enticing even. that was unusual to read and i loved it. as far as the ladies go, i think erikson must have great taste!(less)

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Jan 28, 2013 Hanne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-challenge, fantasy, fantasy-aficionados-100, shelf-a-ton-14

So I finally got around reading the infamous Erikson - finally got around reading the first book that is. This book is definitely not a standalone, but the start of a massive series and, honestly, every paragraph oozes its epicness. You can't miss it!

I had been warned about getting confused and this series being very complicated, but I actually thought it was all right. It's not a fast read, that's true, and you can't skim anything at all. I've also realized that I needed to get my chapters in e...more So I finally got around reading the infamous Erikson - finally got around reading the first book that is. This book is definitely not a standalone, but the start of a massive series and, honestly, every paragraph oozes its epicness. You can't miss it!

I had been warned about getting confused and this series being very complicated, but I actually thought it was all right. It's not a fast read, that's true, and you can't skim anything at all. I've also realized that I needed to get my chapters in early evening (or even better: Sunday early afternoon) to make sure I could pay attention. Whenever I tried to read this as 'bedtime-literature' - it just wasn't working. Especially the end is a blur of action that made me go "Wait, what happened just now?!"
But apart from that, I did not get all that confused, but I guess I'm just not the kind of super-analyzing-reader. I just soak it all in and trust that the pieces are going to fit eventually and that everything will 'click' inside my head. And of course - this being the first book not everything is explained, but Erikson's writing style makes me very confident that will happen eventually.

His writing is definitely very good. Sometimes a bit showing off. After reading the prologue I got a bit scared of the amount of words I had to look up in a dictionary after just 5 pages (here's the list: merlon, tithe, vambrace, accoutrement, sappers, shoal, seditious, gauging and conflagration), but it definitely gets better as of chapter 1.
I also like that there isn't going to be any Deus-Ex-Machina here. Just from this one book the amount of foreshadowing has been perplexing - and I'm sure I can only tell about 1% of it right now. It must have been massive work to create the world and all the events before writing the first book!

This is also the kind of 'real' book, where it's hard to take sides. I found myself cheering for so many different people! But my favorite, by a long shot, was Kruppe; he made me chuckle from the very first time we meet him. I couldn't help but adore the little fool who talks about himself in the third person.

"Weren't we supposed to report to Baruk?" Murillio asked, his eyes on his friend.
"All in due time," Kruppe said. "First, we must recover from our ordeals. What if Kruppe were to lose his voice in very mid-sentence of said report? What would avail Baruk of that?" He raised his tankard and drank deep.

Or another one:

"Kruppe admits to his own weariness. Indeed, a camp should be found, and Murillio can construct a small fire, perhaps, and so prepare dinner while Kruppe ponders vital thoughts and such."

Despite it being an epic read, there is a enough humour to lighten it all up. One of my favourite scenes is about Tattersail, one of the mages of the 2nd army:

"I am Toc the Younger," he said smiling, "and you need a drink." He poured the glass full and handed it to her. "Often, when we camped on the march, I'd see you lugging that traveling wardrobe of yours around. Now I finally see what was in it. Sorceress, you're a sight for a sore eye."
A look of gratitude entered Tattersail's gaze. She raised an eyebrow. "I hadn't realized my traveling wardrobe garnered such attention."
Toc grinned. "I'm afraid you've provided a standing joke in the Second. Anything surprising, be it an ambush or an unplanned skirmish - the enemy invariably came from your traveling wardrobe, Sorceress"

I wish I had a traveling wardrobe like that to ponder about while Muriollio constructs a fire and prepares dinner. Dragon fruit scales with moon tear sauce and potatoes shaped like little houses, bon appetit!(less)

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Feb 04, 2013 Kat rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: brainsqueezers, escapes-into-other-worlds, exceptional-innovative, novels-you-shouldve-read

I have to say, I was prepared for what was coming with Gardens of the Moon - although, still, not quite. A dear friend of mine has chattered about Malazan Book of the Fallen for ages (years) and told me over and over again how great a novelist Steven Erikson is. I have always listened eagerly, and sure, been intent on reading his novels. At some point.

I should have read them sooner!

I was quite blown away by this book. It is a fantastic read in so many ways I hardly know where to start. Steven Er...more I have to say, I was prepared for what was coming with Gardens of the Moon - although, still, not quite. A dear friend of mine has chattered about Malazan Book of the Fallen for ages (years) and told me over and over again how great a novelist Steven Erikson is. I have always listened eagerly, and sure, been intent on reading his novels. At some point.

I should have read them sooner!

I was quite blown away by this book. It is a fantastic read in so many ways I hardly know where to start. Steven Erikson wrote a novel and handed it over to us. To begin with, he doesn't provide a proper backstory. You are more or less thrown into the midst of a war without anything to lean on. Neither does he explain why people do the things they do. They simply do them. While that was very frustrating at first, since I had no proper idea about what was going on, that riddle also was what hooked me in the first place.

You see, he does provide the backstory, and he does explain why people do the things they do. It's just that he feeds you the information piece by piece as you move along with the novel. The more you read, the more you learn. He explains it all - but he does it very subtly. You have to stay awake. Not a word is wasted. The key is to hang in there despite being lost and confused. Make it through the fuzzy first half of the novel and things get a little less fuzzy. And then, all of sudden things will be clear as crystal and it will be hard to lay the novel, which previously was interesting but not captivating, down.

Reading Gardens of the Moon was a great experience, and I can't wait to start reading the second in the series, Deadhouse Gates in a week's time. I would recommend other readers to join The Malazan Fallen when reading this book. There are great chapter discussions there, which were helpful to me. Even if you should read this after the group read has ended, the discussions most likely will remain readable to anyone at a later time. A lot of questions that rose in me during my read were easily explained with the help from others - and that without spoiling what would happen in the future.

I would also like to praise Erikson for his writing style, in particular his extensive use of his wide vocabulary. He describes sceneries and actions so vividly and with such tenderness that it occasionally leaves you breathless, and he writes action with such suspense you even forget to breathe.

I recommend reading Erikson to anyone who likes a challenge and to think for him- or herself. I had expected a great novel, but not quite this brilliant. He certainly had my brain doing some heavy lifiting, and I loved it.(less)

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Feb 01, 2013 Maggie K rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I truly can not recommend this book enough. Though Erikson's style of plopping down right in the middle of the story might throw some people off, I appreciated the lack of obvious exposition as we switched from view point to viewpoint and patiently wait for the pieces to 'click' together. Yes, there is a large cast of characters, and yes, you will have to refer to the list of them at the beginning of the book, but when it all clicks into place it is a truly wondrous world.
It's also important to...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Kate rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Somewhere between 2-3 stars, shading to the lower end because it was initially pretty good with an innovative structure and a lot of possibilities, but failed to capitalize on that and read like the author was just making new stuff up every few pages by the end.

Random thoughts:

1. The story starts in media res and the reader isn't given many clues about what is going on, who the players are, what is important, what isn't. This left me completely clueless about how the story was "supposed" to play...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Candace rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Candace by: The Malazan Fallen

Shelves: fantasy

WHY THE LACK OF A PLOT SUMMARY -

One of the things I loved about this book was that the plot and its many sub-plots are a continuous mystery. You the reader are solving this "mystery of the plots" throughout the book. Who did what when and where. Erikson does not spoon-feed you a story with a nice begining, middle, and end. You must work for the details of the plot. I like this challenge. I found it refreshing and would not spoil it for anyone. However, when people saw that I was reading Gardens ...more WHY THE LACK OF A PLOT SUMMARY -

One of the things I loved about this book was that the plot and its many sub-plots are a continuous mystery. You the reader are solving this "mystery of the plots" throughout the book. Who did what when and where. Erikson does not spoon-feed you a story with a nice begining, middle, and end. You must work for the details of the plot. I like this challenge. I found it refreshing and would not spoil it for anyone. However, when people saw that I was reading Gardens of the Moon, people didn't ask me what it was about or even if I liked it. They asked me the following:

IS IT AS DIFFICULT AS EVERYONE SAYS IT IS? -

I don't believe it's difficult. I believe it's challenging and intense. You have to be ready to immerse yourself in the world of Malazan because since you are solving the "mystery of the plots", you need to be looking for the clues. Did I mention you don't always know what the clues are?? And they are hidden in plain sight somewhere on the 487+ pages!! The first half of the book was much more slower of a read, but as I gathered my clues and began to remember the MANY proper names and places, the reading sped up. But I could never have read this book as fast as I could my other books on a first reading.

WAS ALL OF THIS DEDICATED READING WORTH IT? -

YES, Erikson drops you off in the middle of place called Pale that has just been devastated by a sorcerous battle and you must start figuring out what is going on. BUT Erikson's world is magical; magical in that he describes it as if he has lived there all his life. He gives you histories, and founding peoples, and City councils and much more.
YES, I was still looking at my list of humans and non-humans and gods, etc up until the time I finished the book. BUT these characters are all so fully developed, I felt like I knew them and there is not one that I could not imagine myself meeting because I can see them so clearly in my head.
I couldn't rate the book less than a 4 just on the strength of his world and characters alone. And there are thieves, assassins, and spies, oh,my!

RECOMMENDED TO -

People who enjoy military, heroic, epic fantasy. People who enjoy a fantasy where they are not spoon-fed every piece of the story and don't mind mindfully reading. Not recommended to people who don't like books with violence, unless you don't mind skipping over parts (which I've mentioned is difficult to do in this book!)The violence is offset by an understated humor that Erikson has that was just my style and I found worth reading through the violent parts for.

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Jan 28, 2013 Christopher H. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, canadian-authors-translators, fantasy-scifi, modern-literature, favorites, read-in-2011, malazan-book-of-the-fallen, favorite-rereads, read-in-2013

For those of you that follow my reviews please bear with me, as I will be re-reviewing a book in this posting that I reviewed here over two years ago. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson is an amazing novel on so many levels, and I guess part of my rationale in providing another look at it is to encourage more readers to discover the incredible world and story that Erikson has created in his ten-volume series known as "The Malazan Book of the Fallen". So, the following review will largely focu...more

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Dec 02, 2007 Ben rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fantasy buffs

Technically speaking I read this book and the Ice and Fire series as work-related research. I think that the cover alone might have been enough to scare me off otherwise. This book is quality, though not *great* fantasy fare. By and large I enjoyed it in the role of fantasy geek; my more literary aspect was full of frowns as smiles throughout the course of it.

The book is not well written; specifically, it is bad prose written by someone who is very intelligent, but lacks an ear for poetry, or in...more Technically speaking I read this book and the Ice and Fire series as work-related research. I think that the cover alone might have been enough to scare me off otherwise. This book is quality, though not *great* fantasy fare. By and large I enjoyed it in the role of fantasy geek; my more literary aspect was full of frowns as smiles throughout the course of it.

The book is not well written; specifically, it is bad prose written by someone who is very intelligent, but lacks an ear for poetry, or in fact, language in general. The names are atrocious (and to think I complained about G.R.R. Martin's names!), and the sentences are disjointed in a kind of technical way that often left me rereading them because I had somehow missed the sense in them as I grappled with their structure. There is a good deal of poetry prefacing the book and every chapter, and it is quite bad. Not just because it doesn't rhyme, but because it too is disjointed, and all too often it seems to be making a smug in-joke for the author, rather than informing the reader's understanding of the book.

To complement the actual prose style, the story to be told is not an easy one to jump into. For the first fifty pages I had no idea what was going on, and seventy-five pages after that I had just the beginning of an inkling. Granted, The Sound and the Fury presents a similar level of disorientation, but I won't belabor this review with a list of reasons why Erikson is not William Faulkner.

All of that said, the story is a good one. Ultimately, it feels a bit like historical fiction, except set in a fantasy version of history. The characters don't have the depth, or interest, or, well, *character* you'd get from the greats of fantasy, or of literature in general. But the history feels real, and the way that individuals are played upon by such greater forces has enough of a grain of truth to it to be compelling. Erikson does not create the immersively accurate-feeling world that George R.R. Martin does, but he often alights on a writerly detail or artifact that gives his world considerably more depth than it would otherwise have.

Lastly, the fantasy geek in me was entirely satisfied by the fantasy part of the book. Erikson's model for magic is intriguing (and feels slightly video-gamish to my eyes, actually). He has done the courageous thing and largely departed from the old Orks'n'Elves pabulum. Although he has analogs to some of these things, he has created his mages, monsters, and non-humans afresh. Of course, their names are over complex, unpronounceable, and generally intractible. But still.

By the books end, you get the feeling that Erikson has made the opening move in a game of chess; or, to try another metaphor, that he has presented us with a prelude, chosen his instrumentation, a key, and the major themes of movements to come.(less)

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Feb 07, 2013 Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: epic-fantasy, re-read

This was my second read of Gardens of the Moon, I had read the book in June 11 so it was relatively fresh in my memory. I remember when I was half way through this series thinking to myself, i cannot wait to start this again. I was less than 5 pages into this re-read when i realised just how much I was going to enjoy the story with the knowledge I had.

Erikson is a brilliant story teller, There are a number of 'Epics' out there, to be honest, there probably needs to be another honorific that tra...more This was my second read of Gardens of the Moon, I had read the book in June 11 so it was relatively fresh in my memory. I remember when I was half way through this series thinking to myself, i cannot wait to start this again. I was less than 5 pages into this re-read when i realised just how much I was going to enjoy the story with the knowledge I had.

Erikson is a brilliant story teller, There are a number of 'Epics' out there, to be honest, there probably needs to be another honorific that transcends Epic. This story, you have to factor the whole story when discussing the Epicness of this, is unlike any other i have read. You'll read much about how hard it is, how lots have tried and given up, how Erikson loves his descriptive prose etc etc But at the end of the day, what Erikson does is create a world with lots of shit happening in it. He then opens a portal and drops you in it. There is no backstory, there is no slow introduction of characters, it is here and now and you'd better start concentrating.

I remember when Twin Peaks first came out, I remember half of my friends thinking it was the best thing they had ever seen, there was bizarre stuff, mysteries, weird clues and it didn't get resolved at the end of the hour, hell there was a possibility it might not get resolved. The other half of my friends hated it, absolutely hated it with a passion. There was not many fence sitters. The haters did not like the fact that, sitting on their couch, relaxing with a glass of wine and then having to work hard to gain enjoyment/ nah! not their idea of entertainment. Malazan Book of Fallen is a lot like that.

Erikson will not give you any free passes with this book, he will tell you what is going on and start to slip in clues about why it is happening. As the characters unveil plots and gain information, you gain it too. There is no God view here. So why does this make a brilliant book? Why does this become more than an epic? i'll tell you why, because you feel a sense of achievement as you read this book, your mind is being forced to work and not just process words flowing across a page, having the story spoon fed to you. Why the hell did an Elder God just suddenly appear after hundreds of years of inactivity? Did you not remember the discussion about sanctifying temples? Yeah, neither did I at first.

Erikson has the ability to create a world that seems very much real. Characters who develop personalities that you can identify, he needs to be able to do this because by the end of the story you know 500 characters and be able to describe each one. There is a downside to this realism. The book can be very violent, if you want descriptive world building you get descriptive battle and gore. It can be grim at times, but this is a shitty grim world. You have a army marching across the world conquering. Hundred thousand troops marching from one place to another is not a Contiki tour of Europe, this is a nasty world where the population live in fear of war and death. Being in a conquering army is a awful life most of the time, there are moments of brightness, but Erikson doesn't hide the badness of it all.

I always recommend this series to people, I know most won't stick with it, that's ok, I understand not everyone wants to invest in the story like you have to do with this. But when I meet people who have read the books....happy times, you will NEVER have a moment where you have nothing to say to each other. You'll find you can talk for hours on the subject that is Malazan.

If you are planning on reading this book and would like help in understanding the story. The group The Fallen, has a discussion thread chapter by chapter, in fact some of the threads are longer than the bloody chapters themselves. it is likely that if you have a question, it has been asked and debated to death here. The group is VERY strict on spoilers, so each thread is chapter specific.

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Apr 09, 2013 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fan-fucking-tastic

To say this book pushes the envelope of Epic Fantasy is an understatement. It would be best to go ahead and just simply state this collection redefines the genre.

Story telling on the grandest of levels.

World building so vivid and colorful it is unparalleled

Characters that will remain with you long Long LONG after you put the book down

Dialog that somehow vibrates the inner ear

I am only into my 4th book of this series, and I cherish the time I spend with each one. Note these are not works that ca...more

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May 22, 2008 Guy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-and-fantasy, have-read-more-than-once

Excellent book. Erikson may not be quite as good a writer as George R. R. Martin, but he's plenty good enough to hold the rapt attention of this reader. I have just Amazoned the other seven novels in the series that have been published thus far, and I look forward to many (many!) hours of deaf-to-the-world reading.

Concerning some of the comments of other reviewers: "Gardens of the Moon" is complex and is definitely sink or swim at the outset (but who wants to be spoon-fed anyway?). The beginning...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: malazan-fallen

Executive Summary: This is not a book for the feint of heart, or the first time fantasy reader. Mr. Erikson makes you think, and READ. No skimming allowed. Every word can be important. It's certainly not for everybody, but if you stick with it, I think most people will find their efforts greatly rewarded.

Full Review
This is a case of, you were right Good Reads recommendation engine. Why didn't I listen to you?

Shortly after joining good reads last year and putting all my books in, I checked out t...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-challenge, fantasy, fantasy-sci-fi-challenge, gritty-reads, personal-favourites, action-challenge

4.5-Stars

Steven Erikson's first entry in the ten book series The Malazan Book of the Fallen is a brilliant opening entry for any series. It is also a masterclass in how to create entertaining gritty fantasy fiction. There were visible flaws in dialogue and it took a brief time to adjust to the novel's unique method of showing events but once I did it was very much worth it. I feel that over the next nine novels everything will improve even more and have some sense of wrapping up in a conclusion....more
4.5-Stars

Steven Erikson's first entry in the ten book series The Malazan Book of the Fallen is a brilliant opening entry for any series. It is also a masterclass in how to create entertaining gritty fantasy fiction. There were visible flaws in dialogue and it took a brief time to adjust to the novel's unique method of showing events but once I did it was very much worth it. I feel that over the next nine novels everything will improve even more and have some sense of wrapping up in a conclusion. That said I am not sure that Gardens of the Moon is for any reader, but if you like fantasy try this book. If you particularly want something a little different from the standard Tolkienesque fantasy and liked Martin's Game of Thrones then try this for something a little between the two.

When I say between the two this is what Gardens of the Moon is: a precisely calibrated and well balanced novel with a lot of potential in terms of vision and scope. Erikson creates a world with history, magic and mythology that runs according to its own laws and precepts, and he does a brilliant job of writing such a world.

The premise for this initial is that the Malazan Empire holds control of most of the known world save for one area which resists. A long and brutal war is being fought to overthrow this final bastion against the Empire: the city of Darujhistan. The Empress sends her Adjunct to see that this final city falls. And so the Adjunct plans to unleash ancient and uncontrollable sorcery to see that this occurs. But of course the old gods have different ideas and so they pick characters to perform roles for them. Think of the political scheming of Game of Thrones but on the level of deities rather than kings.

The writing style of this book was interesting. For the most part Erikson writes like many other fantasy authors, at times reminding me of Martin or Sanderson but certainly writing in his own way. Every so often a more fanciful piece of prose would enter the story and I would notice with interest (particularly after just having read How Fiction Works which mentions how prose sometimes slips in which does not adhere to the rules of the narrative). In many ways this revealed that the book was certainly a first novel by a talented author; minor flaws existed but the story idea was strong and so I look forward to seeing the improvement. I quite liked the poetry that begun each new chapter I must admit also, this fascinated me and added to the legend or epic feel of the book.

Why read fantasy if not for the fantastical elements? This is a question that I would ask of any fantasy reader. Erikson's world certainly has many fantastical elements whether it be the various human and non-human races, the assassins, the magic weapons and the magic system with warrens. Or more fascinatingly the list of gods and heroes. I loved the fact that this work made the gods such a physical and intangible presence at the same time.

If you want to read epic fantasy reminiscent of ancient mythology but with a definite contemporary feel then Malazan's opening chapter is the way to go. I for one will be reading the following books and enjoying every chapter.(less)

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Mar 15, 2010 Ryan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've been trying to find a new fantasy series to read. Most of the ones that I've been reading since high school are winding down (Wheel of Time), unbearable (Sword of Truth), or else being written once every four years (A Song of Ice and Fire). So I thought I'd give this a go.

Frankly, Steven Erikson's writing is worse than most fantasy writers, but his plotting is unusual. Unwilling to tell a slack-jawed yokel story, the text starts in media res and readers have to start the book determined to...more

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Aug 01, 2008 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gardens of the Moon is the first in Steven Erikson's gargantuan and oddly named fantasy series, Malazan Book of the Fallen. What's odd about it is that it took me THREE tries to get through this first volume. The first two times I tried, I got one or two hundred pages in and just lost interest, mainly because I was confused and didn't know what was going on. But the third time I tried it just clicked and I enjoyed it. Figuring out why this is the case took some thought, and I believe it boils do...more Gardens of the Moon is the first in Steven Erikson's gargantuan and oddly named fantasy series, Malazan Book of the Fallen. What's odd about it is that it took me THREE tries to get through this first volume. The first two times I tried, I got one or two hundred pages in and just lost interest, mainly because I was confused and didn't know what was going on. But the third time I tried it just clicked and I enjoyed it. Figuring out why this is the case took some thought, and I believe it boils down to two basic and interconnected reasons.

First, Erikson has an extreme "show, don't tell" kind of style. The very first chapter dumps you head over heels into the middle of an epic storyline full of action, with hardly any exposition at all. There's no narrator saying "Okay, there's this nation called the Malazan Empire, and they've been engaging in a protracted military campaign against a group of allied Free Cities. We're going to enter the story as the Malazan forces prepare to attack one of these cities, which has formed an alliance with this one badass dude who controls a flying fortress. Now, let's talk about the structure of the Malazan military..."

No, none of that. Instead, after a brief prologue where you eavesdrop on a few characters, you get action action action and you're left to yourself to figure it all out by paying close attention and making your own inferences based on what's said and done. This is mainly what put me way off balance on my first two attempts at reading this tome.

The offsetting effects of show-don't-tell style are exacerbated by something else Erikson does: he eschews many of the typical fantasy staples that usually act as guideposts to new readers. There's a reason why not many books stray from the formula of a hapless youngster being apprenticed to an elder wizard or military veteran or adventurer or whatever who guides him through the world that has been opened up to both him and the reader. It allows the author to slyly provide exposition about the world by having the master explain things to the apprentice while the reader just sort of listens in. And going along with all that, other fantasy staples act as familiar sign posts and landmarks so that you don't get lost.

Not so much with Erikson. Sure, his books have wizards and dragons and dudes on horseback slinging swords around, but in general Erikson's world is different enough that you don't necessarily know what's going on, and his staunch adherence to the show-don't-tell method means you gotta figure things out on your own. What's a "warren" and what does it mean when a wizard "enters" one to perform his hocus pocus? That's not explained. Figure it out. Or don't. It's all on you, hapless reader.

But eventually I did figure enough of it out, and in time I began to see both Erikson's style and his kicking of conventions to the curb as good things. I enjoyed the story and the richness of the world that he was building. If I've got one complaint it's that at least in this book Erikson can't seem to help upping the ante with how powerful each character or threat gets. Okay, here's these really frightening and legendarily powerful Hound things and --oh, okay, this even tougher dude with a big black sword just killed three of them. Guess they weren't that tough. But this wizard is really powerful oh, no he just got stabbed in the neck by an assassin chick who's apparently even further to the right on the badassedness curve. Now here's a demon king fighting a dragon while a pissed off demigod is kicking over mountains like they were sandcastles RRRAAAWWWWOOOOEERRAAHH PEW! PEW! PEW!

After a point it borders on ridiculous, but fortunately there are a number of more mundane (and more interesting) characters to tether things down a bit. I look forward to seeing where he goes with it all in the subsequent books.(less)

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Oct 14, 2012 Evgeny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I like this book. A lot. The author says he was inspired by Glen Cook's Black Company, and it shows. This is not an easy read. There are a lot of names to keep track of, places, races, etc. The glossary of major players in the beginning helps a lot; my advice for new readers: use it every time you encounter a new name, or forgot who this once mentioned person is. It does not help that as soon as a subplot gets really exciting (fortunately, this happens a lot), the author switches to another, muc...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Kris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I started this book because I heard the author had completed the series and it has been on my TBR list for awhile. Wow was I blown away by this story! I am a huge fan of Glen Cook Black Company books and I never thought I would find anything similar but based on this one book if the rest of the series is the same then I have a second series that is as good as Cooks work. The first book introduces the world of the Malazan Empire and all the intrigue, magic , and battles that go on with in this wo...more

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Nov 02, 2007 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first novel in a now-completed 10-novel epic fantasy by Canadian writer Steven Erikson. It's an impressive enough first novel that I look forward to reading future installments. I wouldn't have to, though: unlike many epic fantasy series, this novel looks like it could stand alone, with all of its major plot threads pretty well wrapped up; there are certainly things for each character and for the world as a whole which could be explored in future volumes, but there's no real cliff-ha...more This is the first novel in a now-completed 10-novel epic fantasy by Canadian writer Steven Erikson. It's an impressive enough first novel that I look forward to reading future installments. I wouldn't have to, though: unlike many epic fantasy series, this novel looks like it could stand alone, with all of its major plot threads pretty well wrapped up; there are certainly things for each character and for the world as a whole which could be explored in future volumes, but there's no real cliff-hanger here. In a genre dominated by plot lines that don't get resolved for thousands and thousands of pages, this is refreshing.

Even as I type that, though, a part of me feels like the ending is just a bit too pat. Let me explain, by talking about the things that I think Erikson does well and the elements that seem weaker to me. First and foremost, he has created here a fully realized world that is quite original in its conception. Here are no elves or dwarves or hobbits, though we have alien races aplenty. Here is magic, but with its own unique system which we're only beginning to discover. Here, too, is a world as a whole to discover, with all its history and politics, its poetry and philosophy. Erikson gives us, from page one, a world vast and real; at first, it is hard to settle in, because strange things are referred to so matter-of-factly, but gradually it all comes into focus, and his achievement is revealed in its real genius. Erikson is also particularly talented at drawing rounded characters quickly and deftly. The grand scope of the plot and its action doesn't always allow for extremely deep characterization, but he makes the most of his materials--it's inevitable that some of the characters will appear somewhat flat, but he gives us enough sense of depth to let us believe in the reality of his characters.

These rounded folks are, I should add, not all on the same side, and another part of Erikson's excellence is the way that he confuses our sympathies (in a good way)--it's clear that certain characters are at odds with each other, even when they don't know it, and he's drawn the characters well enough that we want both sides to succeed. By the end, Erikson has worked things out such that most of the characters for whom we've been cheering end up in a good place. He kills off some characters we might have liked, but ultimately the ones who die tend to be bit parts or less sympathetic characters--which brings us back to my concern that ultimately the ending may be just a bit too facile. While there's too much still hanging in the balance to call the ending "happily ever after," there's still something about the ending that seemed too easy. Perhaps I'm just being too hard on Erikson here--the fact is that he wrote a story that was engaging enough that I can't wait to dig into later volumes in the series, and that's a pretty good mark of success in and of itself, isn't it?(less)

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Mar 23, 2009 Lori (Hellian) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a hard beginning, or maybe even first third! So many names, too many to keep track of. But I had nothing else to read on my vacation, and I found the world intriguing, so whereas at home I might have tossed away, I plugged away, and oh what a world what a world. Everything started to come together, I stopped having to keep track of all the strange who what when and wheres in the index and appendix, and completely dug in. Great reading experience. I'll be reading the next in the series for s...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Lucinda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An outstanding, remarkable debut by an extraordinary writer whose creative vision and world-building is astonishing!!

The first book in the series ‘the Malazan book of the fallen’ is truly breathtaking, as Steven Erikson’s creation is nothing short of fantasy at its very best. Inspired, original and so imaginative, the Malazan Empire is so vast and interesting that I was glued to the pages lost within the most amazing world. This fantasy masterpiece is beautifully rich, cleverly complex and exqu...more An outstanding, remarkable debut by an extraordinary writer whose creative vision and world-building is astonishing!!

The first book in the series ‘the Malazan book of the fallen’ is truly breathtaking, as Steven Erikson’s creation is nothing short of fantasy at its very best. Inspired, original and so imaginative, the Malazan Empire is so vast and interesting that I was glued to the pages lost within the most amazing world. This fantasy masterpiece is beautifully rich, cleverly complex and exquisitely detailed wherein a world is brought to ‘life’ before your very eyes. The intricate history, (mythology and law) of this creation makes it even more believable and compelling akin to other ‘great’ writers within this genre. A master of lost and forgotten epochs and a weaver of ancient epics, this awe-inspiring writer has produced something of such exceptional caliber as to amaze.

Bled dry by interminable warfare, infighting and bloody confrontations with Lord Anomander Rake, the Malazan Empire simmers with discontent. Its legions yearn for some respite. For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his bridgeburners, and Tattersail, surviving sorceress of the second legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the dead. But Empress Laseen’s gaze has fallen upon Darujhistan. For this ancient Citadel, last of the free cities of Genabackis, still holds out against her. However, the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand…

This is a tale of archaic cities and ancient people, of mighty stone fortresses and powerful citadels. It is a tale of bitter conflict and bloodshed, of rivalry and fighting for justice and supremacy over all. This spellbinding, magical tale is a thrilling adventure and greatly ambitious work. Steven Erikson fluidly combines a sense of mythic power and depth of world with fully realized characters, and thrilling action so as to join the ranks of Tolkien and Donaldson! Gripping, fast-moving and delightfully dark this utterly engrossing read is hard-edged fantasy, which is absolutely stunning.

Huge in scope, vast in implication and immensely, profoundly affecting this is a supremely sublime piece of fantasy fiction. A multi-layered and intricately interwoven magical tale that professes such rich detail and immense plot, panoramic saga! I look forward to reading the next installment within this noteworthy series (Deadhouse Gates).

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May 23, 2011 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-and-scifi, fiction, 20th-century-postwar-to-late

If only I hadn’t put on that little black dress. Perhaps that would’ve saved this one for me. I mean, not only did I put on the little black dress, the one cutjusttothere. I did the hair. I put on the heels too. Everyone who has that little black dress or is dating someone who does knows what heels I mean. You guys have been in that mood where you really just want to go out- paint the town red like you’re Sinatra and are just, as they used to say of kings, in the mood to be pleased, right? Whoev...more If only I hadn’t put on that little black dress. Perhaps that would’ve saved this one for me. I mean, not only did I put on the little black dress, the one cutjusttothere. I did the hair. I put on the heels too. Everyone who has that little black dress or is dating someone who does knows what heels I mean. You guys have been in that mood where you really just want to go out- paint the town red like you’re Sinatra and are just, as they used to say of kings, in the mood to be pleased, right? Whoever your date is that evening will probably have to make very little effort for you to have a good time, and indeed you’re just fine with being the entertainment. I would like to state here and now that I showed up for my date with Steve Erikson with the hair and the dress and the heels in this mood. And it turns out he’s that guy. The one who will manage to irritate you no matter how many times you try to grin and change the subject, no matter how many broad hints you might help him out with. As with most dates you’ve gathered information on solely from the internet and well-meaning friends, he turns up late, it turns out he has lied about his height, is awkwardly insistent on telling you excruciatingly uninteresting stories the entire night while not asking you a single question about yourself, and then is confused when you do not want to see him again.

Seriously, I PUT ON HEELS FOR THIS, ERIKSON. (Somehow that’s always the most insulting part, isn’t it?)

Everyone told me you were great! This was supposed to be my happy fun vacation time with a happy fun book that I could geek out with my friends about and finally have something to talk about with them that did not involve Foucauldian analysis, Marxist delusions, academic drama or a thesis of any kind! But nooooo. Instead someone’s evil twin shows up and now I have to awkwardly tell all these people I like that I do not like their favorite book.

It’s just that this isn’t a good book! And not even that it's not “good” in some literary way. It is clearly not “good” in that way, and it isn’t meant to be. I don’t hold it to that standard. It does seem to me to be trying to be good in a more old fashioned way more typical for fantasy- it just wants to tell a rollicking good story. But I mean… it is a bad story. I like stories. That’s why I read fantasy, in large part- I like that feeling of the archetypal coming to life in an interesting way that shows the inner workings of the recurring characters that I see everywhere in my reading. I like that sensation of a campfire at night and a bard repeating the history of a people, with flickering flames and drama and shadows and pronouncements that you can only take seriously in that setting and which you’d feel obliged to laugh at in the morning. This is a bad story. It’s cool that Erikson doesn’t need to spend a hundred pages explaining every detail of his world to us (and given how complicated it is, thank GOD for that), but the reader shouldn’t have to stop reading many times in order to try to straighten out what’s going on, who are these random people that keep showing up, how does this new demon or magic fit into anything, and most importantly, all important, why on earth should I care?

Erikson definitely did not manage to make me care. It’s largely a function of the fact that there is such a huge cast of characters, and he spends so little time developing any of their personalities. When there is some sort of “inner reflection” by a couple of them, or “feelings”, it seems shunted in there to give his epic quest one of the elements an epic is supposed to have- it feels like he’s impatient with people being, you know, people, and would rather get back to telling me about this super cool magic battle with a demon he just invented that just popped out of nowhere. It was almost like people were necessary vehicles for him to create his fantasy world, but that cool names, and “Houses” and ranks (Son of Darkness, Knight of Darkness, Queen of Light) were the real point of the whole thing. People are there for him to be able to have fights. Honestly? It seemed like it was kind of constructed like an RPG game a lot of the time. Here is an action sequence. After this, your hero may explore this world and pick up coins and treasure to increase his value, there is an epic quest, but you can choose to get sidetracked by a bunch of others that involve various gods and spirits. Then in between each quest there’s that part where the game stops to give you an expository scene that advances the plot and you just watch, and then you take control back and go on to the next action sequence. Eventually you come back to the big quest and kill off the Big Bad and YAY YOU WIN! I can certainly see the appeal of this construction as a game, but I think as a book it doesn’t work so well, at least, not for me.

It certainly didn’t help that in addition to the off putting construction and the poor character development, the dialogue was absolutely laughable (incredibly stereotypically exactly what satirists make bad fantasy writing sound like), the plot was ridiculous, he pulled a new thing out of his ass every five pages because… well.. because... His world building was incomplete, too. It felt like you could never trust it because he could just change it on you a minute later because he felt like it. He doesn’t hold himself to any rules. It’s like when you’re trying to make up an excuse on the fly for why you were late for something: “I forgot my keys, and then I got caught in a traffic jam, and then I passed that and there was some truck that had dumped bunnies on the roadway and I had to help save the poor things, and then I was almost here when all of a sudden Elvis appeared from the dead, riding an elephant and… well that’s why I’m late and its totally okay!” There’s no suspense because the main characters are sure to be resurrected (the alternate dimension rebirth had me laughing so hard I was crying), and the bad ones are either off screen, introduced late, or dumb. There’s some attempt at shades of grey with one character (the Adjunct) but he tells me what the point is, straight out, about five times, just to be sure that I get it, and its not that interesting a point anyway so it kind of ruins it. I liked the climactic end battle, but I swear to you even while that battle was going on, he was introducing new magic and people and not just going with the hundreds he already had after 600 pages of setting things up. If an author feels the need to do that instead of relying on the payoff from the 600 pages he already has… not good news. Not good news at all.

I don’t know, I almost kind of feel bad saying all this. It feels like I’m making fun of someone who’s just so excited to tell me about all this cool stuff he thought of that he forgot to put it in a coherent order. It doesn’t mean that the individual ideas he thinks of can’t be cool, he just hasn’t figured out the other stuff he needs to make it interesting as well as cool. But still… lest we forget. HEELS, ERIKSON. HEELS.

Yeah, still not over that. Next date, if there is a next date (I’m sensing some peer pressure coming my way from my crafty friends), I’m showing up in sweats, half tired and in the mood to watch reality TV. Something tells me things might go better that way.
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Apr 08, 2010 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Without any reservations, the best book I ever read. Steve Erickson is a master of fantasy. When I evaluate a book I ask myself these questions, is the author gifted at story telling? Was the plot intriguing? Where the characters memorable, good and bad? Did the author inject too much of his or hers philosophy in the story? The author more than surpassed these questions and if I could I would rate it six stars out of five. The book evolves around the Malazan Empire and the power hungry Empress L...more Without any reservations, the best book I ever read. Steve Erickson is a master of fantasy. When I evaluate a book I ask myself these questions, is the author gifted at story telling? Was the plot intriguing? Where the characters memorable, good and bad? Did the author inject too much of his or hers philosophy in the story? The author more than surpassed these questions and if I could I would rate it six stars out of five. The book evolves around the Malazan Empire and the power hungry Empress Laseen who would do anything to control all surrounding continents.

The Empress had the Emperor and second in command killed off. Shortly after that is when one of the Elderly gods "Shadowthrone" opened his Warren (a maze of underground networks that snaked thousands of leagues throughout the empire and a means for the sorcerer's to access different kinds of power). Each sorcerer possesses access to a different Warren. Within the story, there is also Claws(master spies), Assassins, High Mage(soceror) killers like Adjuct Lorn and one of the most interesting characters is the ancient and supremely powerful Anomander Rake, Lord of Moon's Spawn and a major player in the "reshaping" of Darujhistan.

The Empress decided to unleash sorcery to overtake the city of Pale along with a sizable army. Above the city of Pale was Moon's Spawn to resist the invasion. The ensuing use of sorcery was amazing as one High Mage Taychrenn unleashing volleys of fire from his sword at the floating mountain and the reply by them with a transparent rolling source of energy that killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers in grotesque ways.

I really enjoyed the lesson in the story as the use of sorcery has it's consequences as old gods thousands of years old became involved to the determent of the Malazan Empire. Oponn for instance directly interfered with the operation of the Empire.

Decisions from the evil Empress proved to be her downfall as she decided to kill anyone who was associated with the assassinated Emperor. Tattersail and the "Bridgeburners" outsmarted Laseen and staged a coup of their own along with One Arm Dujek, commander of the forces that invaded the city of Pale. There is so much I could reveal about this great book. I wish to leave whoever reads this review to discover so much more in this epic fantasy. The characters I was hoping to survive did and in the end spoiled Laseen's plans along with the desertion of a massive army led by Dujek. At the end of the book her empire is on the brink of destruction. The ancient and powerful Anamander Rake used his influence to pave the way for Dujek's army to desert into the city of Darujhistan. Recommended to any avid reader, this book has much to offer regardless of preferred genre. Very intricate with more than one hundred characters and so many subplots. I would like to take this opportunity to thank goodreads author George Straatman for highly recommending "The Game Of Thrones" and lending me "Gardens Of The Moon". Without his ecouragement I would not have likely discovered the awesome world of fantasy!

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Dec 19, 2008 Raja rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I read Martin's A Game of Thrones, and at the end I had exactly the same thought that I had at the end of Gardens of the Moon: "Ahhhhh, things are getting started!" But unlike Thrones, I didn't feel like Gardens could have done without the middle four or five hundred pages. Almost every section of every chapter in Gardens is important in ways that become apparent within the book itself. I'm given to understand that some of those hundreds of middle pages in Thrones pay off two or three books late...more

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Jan 13, 2013 edifanob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-books, 2009-reads, malazan-reading-order, 2013-reads

I read the book in 2009 for the first time.
On 2nd of January I started my 2013 reading adventure:
To read all 10 Malazan of The Fallen Books by Steven Erikson and the five by books Ian C. Esslemont.

And the means I reread Gardens of The Moon!

The re-read has been a great experience because I understood a lot things better and discovered new connections.

------------------------------------------------------

This is the first volume of the MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN series by Steven Erikson. Ninth boo...more

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Jul 29, 2007 Billy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fantasy fans

This book/series is a bit more pure fantasy than George RR Martin's work. That said, the ending of Book 2, and two points in book 3 are the most choked up I've been when reading a book in a long time. This first book is a bit hard to get through, and I was frequently checking the glossary of characters in the back for the first 200 or so pages. The reason for this is that instead of slowly introducing you to the world and the characters, Erikson starts smack in the middle of a continent spanning...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
The Malazan Fallen: GOTM - Chapter Twenty-four - NO SPOILERS	29	72	May 01, 2013 11:46pm
The Malazan Fallen: GOTM - Chapter Fifteen - NO SPOILERS	116	60	Apr 26, 2013 02:41am
The Malazan Fallen: GOTM - Chapter Thirteen - NO SPOILERS	59	53	Apr 25, 2013 03:57pm
The Malazan Fallen: GOTM - Chapter Twelve - NO SPOILERS	61	58	Apr 25, 2013 03:23am
The Malazan Fallen: GOTM - Chapter Ten - NO SPOILERS	55	60	Apr 24, 2013 02:15pm
The Malazan Fallen: GotM - Chapter Seven - NO SPOILERS	65	66	Apr 23, 2013 03:32pm
The Malazan Fallen: GotM - Chapter Eight - NO SPOILERS	25	71	Apr 23, 2013 05:13am

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