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Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1)

by Steven Erikson

3.85 · Rating Details · 63,114 Ratings · 3,612 Reviews

The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting, and bloody confrontations. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins.

For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, surviving c ...more

Mass Market Paperback, 666 pages

Published January 2005 by Tor Fantasy (first published 1999)

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Community Reviews

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Dec 15, 2008 seak rated it it was amazing

Recommended to seak by: Sffworld.com

Shelves: 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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May 16, 2011 Kelly rated it it was ok · 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 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.
...more

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Mar 03, 2017 ☽Luna☾ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: badassery, favorites, grimdark

full review now up

5/5

Buddy read with my soul sister and my pals at BB&B

“Ambition is not a dirty word. Piss on compromise. Go for the throat.”

So I have stared at my phone screen for approx 96 hours trying to think of a review for this and I'm still left speechless, so I have vomited up some words for y'all to enjoy, description

if you want a proper review check Eriksons GR page there's only 3,000 of them...

“Too many regrets. Lost chances—and with each one passing the less human we all became, a

...more

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Dec 18, 2013 Markus rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2014, malazan

"Now these ashes gave grown cold, we open the old book.
These oil-stained pages recount the tales of the Fallen,
a frayed empire, words without warmth. The hearth
has ebbed, its gleam and life's sparks are but memories
against dimming eyes - what cast my mind, what hue my
thoughts as I open the Book of the Fallen
and breathe deep the scent of history?
Listen, then, to these words carried on that breath.
These tales are the tales of us all, again yet again.
We are history relived and that is all, without ...more

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Nov 01, 2014 James Lafayette Tivendale rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, malazan

I am jealous of many of my Goodreads friends working their way through Malazan, so I have decided to do a re-read alongside them. I will do the recommended reading order this time too including ICE's books. :) x

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Feb 26, 2011 mark monday rated it liked it

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 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 falls 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 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 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! ...more

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Jan 31, 2015 TS Chan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, dr-reading-challenge, favorites

Update: I do not know what possessed me to attempt to rewrite a fresh comprehensive review for Gardens of the Moon. But it happened, and it took me quite a while to get it done.

Gardens of the Moon is the overture to The Malazan Book of the Fallen, providing just a glimmer of what this massive, grimdark epic fantasy tale has to offer, which was best described below in the author's own words.

"Now these ashes have grown cold, we open the old book.
These oil-stained pages recount the tales of the F
...more

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Apr 15, 2012 David Sven rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favourites, dark-fantasy

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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Nov 08, 2015 Apatt rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

A year or so ago someone PM'ed me on Goodreads out of the blue, practically demanding why I haven't read the Malazan series. I was simultaneously pleased and annoyed, the former because somebody seems to think I am some kind of SF/F guru who can be presumed to have read every worthwhile book in these genres, the latter because it's a bit rude init? Still, a backhanded compliment is better than no compliment, or an actual application of somebody’s backhand on my person.

Gardens of the Moon has a r ...more

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May 26, 2015 Brad rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, worldbuilding-sf, 2016-shelf

What a delightful larger-than-life fantasy novel!

I was prepared to assume that it was going to be filled with an army of confused characters mired in grit and blood and that I shouldn't expect too much from the first novel because the series gets seriously good later.

I might have managed my expectations a bit too much, because I was delighted, instead. I've been a fan of the Final Fantasy RPGs since the first one, so I'm quite used to a lot of these tropes, plus I'm also a fan of the Cthulhu myt What a delightful larger-than-life fantasy novel!

I was prepared to assume that it was going to be filled with an army of confused characters mired in grit and blood and that I shouldn't expect too much from the first novel because the series gets seriously good later.

I might have managed my expectations a bit too much, because I was delighted, instead. I've been a fan of the Final Fantasy RPGs since the first one, so I'm quite used to a lot of these tropes, plus I'm also a fan of the Cthulhu mythos, so godlings and demons raining down from the moon and infecting dreams, elder gods breaking through to the waking realm, and the dying souls of a race of immortals willing to give up everything for a final rest is all pretty much awesome. I'm ready to flip a coin and kill some doggies. :)

The admittedly large cast of characters didn't seem at all confused, either. I rooted for all of them at different times and I was very willing and able to hang my hat on the magic system with all it's Warrens and barrows and subdivisions and unique associations of interested polities. (I jest, I jest. I really enjoy the idea that magic is associated with space outside of regular space, as implied in the naming system.)

Best of all, though, other than the fairly cool poetry and very well thought-out world-building that's obviously much, much deeper than what we see here, was the fact that there was so much damn magic! I think I enjoyed learning how it worked as much as I enjoyed watching it blow stuff up. I was duly creeped out by the puppets, the abilities manifested by soul-hopping, the shambling dead, Luck, and so much more. My interest was definitely piqued and I'm rearing to go.

I'm an old uber-fan of WoT and I've tasted quite a few other series. The one thing I see the most connection between, when it comes to like/like, is Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives. That's high praise for both series, by the way. If you like one, you'll like both, even. :)

I'm going to continue with this series with great joy. ...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Kaora rated it really liked it

Shelves: good-fantasy-series, favorites

This was a tough book to get into.

There is no spoon-feeding here. You are thrown into the world that Erikson created with no back story or explanation. Although there is a glossary of important terms and people. I suggest putting it to good use, like I did.

Nothing is clear from the start, but once you start getting invested and reading between the lines, you start to notice how truly amazing this book is. There are a lot of characters, and despite finishing this mammoth book I feel like I have b ...more

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Mar 09, 2017 ✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, books-i-own, dnf-graveyard, fantasy, my-friends-corrupted-my-soul, bbb, boredom-fest, 1st-in-series, i-must-be-mad, not-even-scared, tbr-shelf-says-thank-you, br-2017, go-me, self-preservation-is-the-key, let-s-bail-snail, machalo-tbr-cleaning-challenge-2017, read-2017, glen-cook-where-art-thou

☢ And Thus I Signed My Death Warrant ~~DNF~~ Buddy Read (ATISMDWBR™) with some lovely people ~~of slightly despicable book taste~~ over at BB&B ☢

☠ DNF at 75%. No comment.

~~Friendly~~ warning: grab a snack and get a drink, this whole lot of nuthin' should take a while.

➽ This crappy non-review is dedicated to all those Brave Little Barnacles (BLB™) out there who went the nefarious way and dared NOT luuurrrrrve this book. Consider my subaquatic kingdom a safe haven from the Erikson Horde of Doom (EHoD™), w ...more

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shamandra You're welcome! ;) I wouldn't call myself one of the horde of doom quite yet, haha, I'm only in chapter 4 so far. But even so, some people - and now I You're welcome! ;) I wouldn't call myself one of the horde of doom quite yet, haha, I'm only in chapter 4 so far. But even so, some people - and now I'm talking about fandoms in general - tend to be overly tenacious about fiction. That's an issue I find on so many platforms/social media channels these days. People don't know how to argue and discuss differences humanely and civilly anymore.

First and foremost, people can like what they like and don't like what they don't like. And they can say that too, however they like - so long, I think, as they don't aggressively attack another human being. There will always be disagreements but what's important is to always keep in mind that we need to respect different opinions, whatever we may think of them.

Fiction reflects society and puts a mirror in front of society (which is important!) and this should definitely be discussed, e.g. in form of reviews. And if there are things in books that people think are bad or even questionable for especially younger people to read, then, by all means, people need to speak up and state their minds. There's more than enough bullsh*t being published every day... and every review helps publishing houses realise what people want or not. Anyway.

People should speak their minds and not get attacked by people (I like to think of them as rabid unreasonable fan-bunnies) for it. This is a social platform. With user accounts and user names. Which by that fact alone implies that whatever said user posts are his or her opinions/judgments/thoughts/whatever. You don't think the same? Then, by all means, say it if you care enough to do so, but stay on a Goddamn civil level. Many people are very much open to discussing books - duh, that's why we're all here - so long as they feel respected in the conversation.

Sorry, I kinda got carried away here. :)

Anyway, keep doing what you're doing. There are many people out there who appreciate each and every mindful review here. :) They beat the "Love it LOL" ones not explaining why they love it any day. ...more
updated Jun 02, 2017 08:51AM

✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) I think I like you. Haha.

The problem is that some people lack confidence and kind of feel threatened when others don't share their opinion about somet ...more
Jun 06, 2017 03:28AM

Apr 25, 2012 Jeffrey Keeten rated it it was amazing

"Every decision you make can change he world. The best life is the one the gods don't notice. You want to live free, boy, live quietly."

Great advice anytime, but even better advice when your world is in a constant state of war. Living large as the younger generation used to say. I'm sure I'm at least a few years out of date with that term. I think someone "living large" is exactly who the universe is most attracted to, not that it is above toying with the occasional poor bastard who just happen ...more

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Aug 01, 2008 Jamie rated it liked it

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 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. ...more

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Nov 19, 2014 Robin (Bridge Four) rated it liked it

Shelves: fantastic-fantasy, super-sidekicks

2nd Read March 2017

This is still a bit of a complicated book with a lot of stuff in it and I'm glad I read it with BB&B so that we could discuss some of the things I wasn't quite picking up on.

Problem #1 again is I don't think this is a good book to try and listen too. So much is going on and there are so many PoV shifts that it doesn't matter that the narrator is really pretty good it just makes the entire thing very hard to follow. So since I'm continuing on with this series I will probab ...more

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Mar 10, 2017 Jody rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, grim-dark, malazan

This was a buddy read with the gang at BB&B.

Gardens of the Moon is the first book in Steven Erikson's epic Malazan book of the Fallen series. The word epic may be overused when describing some books, but that is not the case here. Erikson has created one of the most vast world's I have ever read. The amount of characters, magic system, history, plots and subplots is on a level of its own. My advice when reading this is just go with the flow of the book. If you try to remember every detail ...more

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Jan 27, 2017 edge of bubble rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, lovely-covers, dragons, demons, magic, buddy-read, military-heroes, 2017

Buddy read with my science partner, Sade. I was a shitty reading buddy here, disappeared right in the middle of the book for days, but she still didn't write me off of her will!

I've heard a lot of stuff about this book before starting it. I was warned that it was hard, I would be confused, not to stop, to be patient and vigilant, no pain no gain. To sum it up, that the BOOK WILL MAKE ME IT'S BITCH! I was given guides to make reading easier too. So, I've started this book with dread and even made ...more

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May 31, 2016 Emma rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, epic-fantasy

I went into reading this book like I was on an adventure and that is exactly what I got. Oh my! Where to start? For prospective initiates to the Malazan series I would recommend :
- concentration
- time
- a notebook (large)
- comfy sofa
- plenty of snacks
This book gets 4 stars right now because of the amount of work it took to read it, but I reserve the right to upgrade later. I suspect the series is a 5 star read.

I was on holiday this week and had no plans to read this book. In fact I had a nice sel I went into reading this book like I was on an adventure and that is exactly what I got. Oh my! Where to start? For prospective initiates to the Malazan series I would recommend :
- concentration
- time
- a notebook (large)
- comfy sofa
- plenty of snacks
This book gets 4 stars right now because of the amount of work it took to read it, but I reserve the right to upgrade later. I suspect the series is a 5 star read.

I was on holiday this week and had no plans to read this book. In fact I had a nice selection of books all lined up and ready to go. Over the last year I have been noticing reviews from Goodread friends more and more of the Malazan series and every time I've checked out the synopsis, read some reviews, and acknowledged somewhere in my head that yes this series was on my radar, but no, now wasn't the time. Then I saw one more review and it tipped me over the edge. I downloaded the Gardens of the Moon and was starting 5 minutes later.

It is not a light read but it is a rewarding one. I felt a lot like a student: taking notes, puzzling the pieces together, finding the clues, backtracking, re-reading, double checking. Just don't ask me to summarise the plot just now, or ask me any questions. Because the answers will be incomplete and have question marks of their own!

This book gets easier as you go along. The first two parts were the hardest, trying to make sense of all the information, characters, contexts that are thrown at you. Reading this made me wish I belonged to a reading group dedicated to Malazan where I could ask really stupid questions and where we could discuss each part of the book as we went along.

I don't believe the Malazan series, if this first is at all typical of the series, is a book to be read sporadically, nor rushed through. It needs to be read fairly steadily over a few days: it's probably the only way to hold all the threads together. But you also wouldn't want to speed through (we're it even possible) because you need time for the information to settle.

I really loved this whole experience. It really felt like more than a book, more like the adventure I thought it might be. The next time I have a few days out by I will get to the next in the series.

At least I can say I have one foot firmly planted on the Malazan path now. I'm gulping a bit at the thought of the next book, anticipating having to start almost all over again with new players and regions of the Empire. I will use this as a barometer of how ready I am. When I start getting the snacks in, routing around for my notebook, sharpening a pencil ( do people still do that?!) and scheduling a block of time where nothing much will be happening, then I will know I am ready for the next step in the adventure! ...more

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Feb 20, 2017 Carol. added it

Recommended to Carol. by: lots and lots of people

Shelves: didn-t-finish, classic, possibly-unlikely

Malazan is an astonishingly great book.* Tremendous. Many of my friends love Malazan, giving this first book in the series an average 3.81 rating (way to bring it down, Sarah Anne and Becky!), and I love it too. It was great. Hugely great.

Erikson takes the time to build the sense of each character, the workings of their daily life and the way they continued to develop over the course of the book was exquisitely detailed. The plot quickly ramps into action, with events building to a frantic pace ...more

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May 01, 2017 Mary ~Ravager of Tomes~ is currently reading it

Shelves: owned, to-read-in-2017

Me: But... aren't you stressed about how many series you've started reading??

Also Me: FUCK OFF SELF I LIKE BEING MISERABLE!

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Nov 23, 2016 Orient rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of epic fantasy

Recommended to Orient by: Evgeny

Shelves: historical, fantasy, desperado, entertaining, hero, killer, favorites, recs-by-evgeny, november-read

Crokus studied Moon's Spawn instead...
'Do you see its oceans?' Apsalar asked.
'What?' He turned.
'Its oceans. Grallin's Sea. That's the big one. The Lord of the Deep Waters living there is named Grallin. He tends vast, beautiful underwater gardens. Grallin will come down to us, one day, to our world. And he'll gather his chosen and take them to his world. And we'll live in those gardens, warmed by the deep fires, and our children will swim like dolphins, and we'll be happy since there won't be any ...more

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Sep 15, 2016 Aristea rated it it was amazing

Update on the review and casting choices on the blog!
https://todaysdecameron.wordpress.com...

I am looking forward to a lot of comments to sparkle the conversation!

- - -
This is a re-read of the Gardens of the Moon (GotM). Originally I gave this book 4 stars but this re-read made me love the series again, the details I noticed this time around were just more spectacular than ever.
Where to start? I would say that this is a series born out of a game that was developed by Erikson and Esslemont. Th ...more

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Mar 11, 2017 Choko rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-grim

*** 4 ***

A buddy read with the Epic Fantasy Warriors at BB&B!!! Because we need to get our Evil Magic On!

How the hell does a person do a review on a book like this??? This is the first book in a series, which in scope rivals WoT, SoIF, and TBC. I have found that on such books with multiple POV's and story arcs and multi-directional story-lines, it is almost impossible to even try an attempt at delving into the plot. So I don't think I am even going to try.

"..."“Through the gamut of life we ...more

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Jun 10, 2014 Conor rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, malazan

Gardens of the Moon is an ambitious, dense and challenging book. The reader is dropped into a world with thousands of years of history. A history of war, politics, violence and intrigue. A world where the gods themselves scheme and battle for power. Names, places and concepts are suddenly thrown at the reader without any attempt at simplification … and it was this difficulty that ultimately made this book so rewarding. If you can persevere through the challenges this book throws at you, you’ll r Gardens of the Moon is an ambitious, dense and challenging book. The reader is dropped into a world with thousands of years of history. A history of war, politics, violence and intrigue. A world where the gods themselves scheme and battle for power. Names, places and concepts are suddenly thrown at the reader without any attempt at simplification … and it was this difficulty that ultimately made this book so rewarding. If you can persevere through the challenges this book throws at you, you’ll realize that this is also a book filled with complex, interweaving narratives, deep world-building, a massive cast of well-written characters and gripping action that brilliantly sets the stage for the rest of the series.

From the start Gardens of the moon drops the reader into a complex world filled with mystery and intrigue. Erikson makes no attempt to help the reader, instead trusting that they will be able to figure it out for themselves. Much has been made of this aspect of Erikson’s writing and it is possibly the most important element of this book, the beginning of a 10 book series. Having heard from so many of my friends that this was an incredibly dense and difficult read I think that my expectations ultimately worked in my favour. While I struggled a bit early on, by the mid-way point I felt that I had a decent grasp on the main plot (although there was still a load of stuff going on in the background that was hella confusing) and towards the end I really appreciated how the seemingly unconnected arcs were converging and how brilliantly they wove together in the finale.

One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen about this book was about the lack of depth in the characters. While some of the characters, especially towards the start of the book, were unremarkable and somewhat repetitive I still thought the massive cast of characters in this book was handled well. Captain Paran and Tattersail started out as pretty uninteresting characters, however towards the end Paran improved and Tattersail’s plotline went in an interesting direction. The Bridgeburners were a likeable group of characters despite being a somewhat clichéd portrayal of tough, veteran soldiers with Whiskeyjack being an especially familiar personality. Anomander Rake was an enigmatic and intriguing character whose scenes were consistently amongst the most interesting in the book (view spoiler). I thought the characters really picked up when the setting moved to Darujhistan and an interesting new group of characters were introduced. Kruppe, the cherubic egomaniac who likes to refer to himself in the third person and is much more than he seems. Croakus, the young thief with a romantic streak. Murrilio, whose integrity and skill with a sword belie his appearance as a fop. And Rellick Nom, the assassin clinging to the one last shred of honour that makes him human. The complex and ambitious story that Erikson tells doesn’t leave much room for depth or agency from his characters but they were still well-written and admirably played their parts in this epic story.

The slow, hard-fought discovery of knowledge about Erikson’s world, politics and characters was extremely rewarding and among the best aspects of this book, however I was often frustrated by the lack of information about magic. This was especially important due to the prominence of magical battles in this book. With little knowledge of how magic works in this world or how powerful any given character is, encounters and battles between hostile mages were often needlessly confusing. At times it felt like Erikson just wanted to throw ina series of increasingly badass sorcerers, dragons and gods.

While this book was slow and confusing at the start it picked up as it went along. By the time all of the important characters had been established half-way through I had been dragged into the story. It was especially interesting to see all the different storylines converging and overlapping towards the end. The intensity of the finale more than made up for the slow opening. While some aspects seemed somewhat forced and overdramatic (view spoiler) it was still a suitably epic ending to this ambitious book. Erikson’s skill at writing taut battle scenes (view spoiler) was another cool part of this book and served to off-set the usually ponderous plot development.

Overall this was a really enjoyable book and an extremely promising start to this series. I’d recommend this to any fan of fantasy. This book was often slow, confusing and difficult, and should not be taken lightly. However the development of ambitious, complex storylines, the extensive cast of well-written characters and the intriguing, slowly revealed world made this one well worth the effort.
...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Evgeny rated it it was amazing

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, much ...more

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Oct 30, 2016 Samir rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is the series that can be found on almost every top ten list on fantasy book sites. And yet, opinions about this series are divided; some see it as the best series ever and some hate it, so i decided it was time to see what all the fuss is about.

When I started GotM I was overwhelmed, I felt like I was dropped in the middle of chaos and soon I found myself standing on the precipice and thinking: ''What in the hell have I gotten myself into?!'', but, since there was ...more

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Oct 20, 2007 Ben rated it it was ok

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 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. ...more

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Jul 11, 2010 Becky rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: religion-y, politicalish, multi-dimensional, abandoned, zombies, reviewed, fantasy, disappointing, made-my-eyes-bleed, ebook_nook, 2014

Yeah, I'm officially calling this one. Time of death: 9:18pm EST, March 6th, 2014.

My interest level in this book has only declined since I started it. That's not unusual for me, considering that I often anticipate a book much more than I enjoy the actual reading of it, but this one... Shit. It wasn't even that it was bad, it was just that it was so fucking all over the place, and I just don't have that kind of patience anymore. Not for a single book that gives me nothing to work with after 300+ Yeah, I'm officially calling this one. Time of death: 9:18pm EST, March 6th, 2014.

My interest level in this book has only declined since I started it. That's not unusual for me, considering that I often anticipate a book much more than I enjoy the actual reading of it, but this one... Shit. It wasn't even that it was bad, it was just that it was so fucking all over the place, and I just don't have that kind of patience anymore. Not for a single book that gives me nothing to work with after 300+ pages, and DEFINITELY not for a 14+ book series opening book that gives me nothing to work with after 300+ pages.

I made it to the 54% mark, and then I just gave up when the book started mocking me with calls for brevity. Are you serious, book?! You're going to waste my time by just showing scene after scene of disparate.. well, everything.. bad dialogue that is purposely, maddeningly cryptic (seriously, picture some hooded "mage" type waggling his fingers mysteriously and saying "Oooooooooh...." after every comment from someone in Shadowthrone or Hairlock), and giving me exactly zero story... and then after more than 300 pages, with nearly that much left in the back half, you're going to have your most annoying character crack a joke asking for BREVITY after reading a whopping 3 paragraphs of a historical document he's reading?

To quote Eminem: I just do not got the patience.

To add to that I seriously could not care less about every single one of the characters. There was not a single character that I would even notice was gone if they were to just drop out of the narrative. In fact, quite a few of them were characters I wished WOULD just drop out of the narrative.

Well, I say "narrative" as though there's something stringing this together, but that's just for a lack of a better word. "Story" doesn't apply either. There's no story to speak of... it is just a collection of scenes and events that occur in the same "world". None of it makes sense and none of it gives me hope that there will be anything that will make it worth my time (damn near a month already, and only 300 pages in, FFS!), without committing to 50,000 more pages before there's some cohesiveness.

And so, book, I bid you adieu, and good riddance. ...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Lee rated it it was amazing · 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 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.

...more

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Oct 14, 2016 Andy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

So I went ahead and gave this book 5 stars, but I have to say that I'm actually hugely disappointed. Why? Because I came to it expecting it to hate it, and was actually looking forward to writing a scathing review. A lot of that expectation came from various articles I've read about the series and the author. I got the sense that there's a lot of smugness out there among his fan base, a lot of self-satisfaction among those who consider themselves sophisticated enough to "get it." Erickson himsel So I went ahead and gave this book 5 stars, but I have to say that I'm actually hugely disappointed. Why? Because I came to it expecting it to hate it, and was actually looking forward to writing a scathing review. A lot of that expectation came from various articles I've read about the series and the author. I got the sense that there's a lot of smugness out there among his fan base, a lot of self-satisfaction among those who consider themselves sophisticated enough to "get it." Erickson himself put me off with a quote about how he doesn't engage in "lazy" writing... as if stories that are more tightly focused on a smaller set of characters are all "lazy." Who does this guy think he is?

So yeah, I came into this book expecting a tedious exercise in bloated worldbuiling porn targeted at RPG nerds who care more about expansive worlds than prose or well-developed characters. What I actually encountered was the most fun, engaging, beautifully written fantasy book I've read in ages. Yes, it is complex and I do feel like there was a bit more going on than I was able to fully grasp, but it wasn't nearly as bewildering as I expected. It helped a great deal that I used the Tor.com Malazan re-read articles as a reference and would go to those every few chapters for recaps and insights. Even without those, I feel like I was picking up on enough of what was going on to not feel lost. I've definitely had more trouble with other fantasy books in that regard than this one (The Darkness That Comes Before comes to mind).

I love the idea of a magic system based on warrens, which are essentially other dimensions within this world. You've got dozens of characters, multiple races and societies, gods, demons, dragons, mages, assassins... all the elements of a great fantasy series, and somehow Erickson fits it all into a cohesive story without it feeling disjointed and bloated. I think that is the real triumph of this book actually; with everthing going on, it all felt interconnected.

I've actually heard people say that this is one of the weaker stories in the series, which blows my mind and has me excited to move on to the others (and to the Esselmont books as well). I've never been so happy to have been wrong about a book and I'm looking forward to being even more "disappointed" by the rest of the series! ...more

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About Steven Erikson

Steven Erikson is the pseudonym of Steve Rune Lundin, a Canadian novelist, who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist. His best-known work is the on-going series, the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...

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Other Books in the Series

Malazan Book of the Fallen (10 books)

Books by Steven Erikson

Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2)

Memories of Ice (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #3)

House of Chains (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #4)

Midnight Tides (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #5)

The Bonehunters (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #6)

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Quotes from Gardens of the Moon

“Tell me, Tool, what dominates your thoughts?'
The Imass shrugged before replying.
'I think of futility, Adjunct.'
'Do all Imass think about futility?'
'No. Few think at all.'
'Why is that?'
The Imass leaned his head to one side and regarded her.
'Because Adjunct, it is futile.” — 271 likes

“Ambition is not a dirty word. Piss on compromise. Go for the throat.” — 164 likes

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