Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1) in The Alternative Worlds

Feb 26, 2011 mark monday rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-modern

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

184 likes · Like · see review

Apr 08, 2008 Terence rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Update, 7/1/13: I finished listening to the Brilliant Audio version of GotM (ISBN-13 978-1-4692-2570-8) as performed by Ralph Lister. I don't have anything to add to the substantive comments I've made here and elsewhere about the Book of the Fallen but I would like to remark on the quality of the reading. Overall, I think Lister does a pretty good job but some of his voices were just "off." The most egregious of these mischaracterizations is - IMO - Kalam Makhar's. Described as a large man with ...more

32 likes · Like · see review

Aug 23, 2015 Brad rated it it was amazing

Shelves: worth-reading-twice, fantasy, to-read-again, world-building-greatness, read-in-2015, high-fantasy

What the hell did I just read?

I think I just read the longest prologue in the history of literature. That’s what it feels like, and fucked if I know why it feels like that, but it does. It feels like the longest, most in depth, most compelling prologue to something else that has ever been written.

And somehow I feel like that is a compliment.

Whiskeyjack and Quick Ben and the Bridgeburners, and Kruppe and Baruk and Mammot, and Paran and Tattersail and Adjunct Lorn, and Coll and Crokus and Rallic What the hell did I just read?

I think I just read the longest prologue in the history of literature. That’s what it feels like, and fucked if I know why it feels like that, but it does. It feels like the longest, most in depth, most compelling prologue to something else that has ever been written.

And somehow I feel like that is a compliment.

Whiskeyjack and Quick Ben and the Bridgeburners, and Kruppe and Baruk and Mammot, and Paran and Tattersail and Adjunct Lorn, and Coll and Crokus and Rallick, and Anomander Rake and the hounds and the Twins, none of these people and gods are who the real story is about, are they? They are just the groundwork for what’s to come? Or maybe not. The point is that I don’t know.

No. The point is that I don’t care.

All I know is that I wasn’t expecting what I got, and what I got may be the best fantasy novel I have ever read. And that is saying something. I am not kidding. This is probably better than anything Tolkien ever wrote (and I am deadly serious about this), and that necessarily bests all of Tolkien’s followers, all of fantasy’s near greats and mediocrities and hacks.

I can’t even begin to summarize the plot. I don’t even know where to begin with theme and meaning. So I am reduced to my TOP FIVE:

Best “holy shit!” moment: In a story full of “holy shit!” moments, I actually uttered “holy shit!” when one bad ass Bridgeburning Wizard (ex-Priest) took to his Warren and went to visit the god he’d once served, and fucked with his former liege-god to deal with someone in the not-so-distant future, while hanging his own soul on the line and welcoming the hunt of a pack of Hounds and the ire of his former Master. Keeping it as vague as I can for the spoiler police: “holy shit!”

Biggest dumbass: Crokus, a piece of advice. When you break into a person’s home and steal their shit, then get all creepy and watch them sleep, then turn all Raskolnikov and bring the shit you stole back, don’t ever expect their loyalty. Seriously.

Strangest dreams: Anything and everything that came out of the head or into the head of Kruppe. Not since George Orr have dreams held such power and wonder, but Kruppe’s were much more difficult to get a handle on, being part of such a world so far removed yet paradoxically close to our own. I was truly excited, however, whenever we found ourself in the fat thief’s brain. What a wondrous place of gods and monsters and life.

Is anyone safe?: Not a chance. I never once, at any time in the book, felt like anyone was safe. Everyone could die, everyone was right on the edge, and when duels were being fought, battles were raging, powders were being tested, sabotage was about to kick off, gods were rising and falling and rising and falling, I never felt like any character was going to make it to the end of the story. Nothing was sure. What a marvelous anxiety to feel as a reader. I hope the rest of the books are equally off-putting.

My crushes: My oh my! I love when I fall in love with characters, and this time I fell in love with the strangest of couples, the curvy, potent, powerful Tattersail and her much younger lover, the tenacious, somewhat severe and often serious Captain Paran. If I have any regret at all it is that Erikson did not write them an extended and sexy as hell love scene. I have to make up the stimulating images in my head, and it would have been so much easier if he’d written them for me. If only I could gate through a Warren and join the pair outside the Pale. It is a night made up of my dreams.

...more

21 likes · Like · see review

May 25, 2008 Lori rated it really liked it

Edit: reread. And what an enjoyable time to comprehend what I’m reading without waiting 1/2?through. And what a ton of info! And Paran is a main character, w
I didn’t remember that all. I often think this is ultimately Fiddlers story but maybe Paran too?

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 ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2012 Nicky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

It took me a while to get into Gardens of the Moon. I've been meaning to read these books for ages, but I was put off by the fact that my mother's copy ominously only had spine creases to about a quarter of the way through -- and she rarely gives up on books. The problems both of us had was not being sure who we were supposed to root for: there's no clear distinction between the 'goodies' and the 'baddies'. Of course, that shouldn't matter so much -- moral ambiguity is interesting -- so I'm not It took me a while to get into Gardens of the Moon. I've been meaning to read these books for ages, but I was put off by the fact that my mother's copy ominously only had spine creases to about a quarter of the way through -- and she rarely gives up on books. The problems both of us had was not being sure who we were supposed to root for: there's no clear distinction between the 'goodies' and the 'baddies'. Of course, that shouldn't matter so much -- moral ambiguity is interesting -- so I'm not sure why it was such a barrier to both of us reading it (at first, in my case). Maybe it's just that it's different to most other fantasy stories, where you can clearly tell where your sympathies are meant to be. (The Fellowship, Fitz Farseer, Ged and Tenar, Harry Potter, Phèdre, usually King Arthur [and even when it's not Arthur, it's clear that this will be a version where your sympathies are with pagan Guinevere or whoever]...)

The other problem was the difficulty in getting used to the 'rules' of Steven Erikson's world. The magic was never explained, never made clear, so there was no way to say, okay, this is what they're going to do, or even to decide whether someone's actions seemed to fit. I seem to recall reading something lately that was impatient with needing rules for magic, and to some extent I agree, but... Usually I would like to be able to piece things together in advance, or at least try to. I don't mind being wrong, but apparently I do find it difficult having no idea.

Still, once I got into it, I didn't want to let go of the book. I'm not sure about the people who say it's badly written: it seemed fine to me, though the writing style wasn't exactly distinctive. There are a lot of characters, but only occasionally do they get too much to track. I assume some of them are going to become clearer later in the series, which I'm looking forward to -- I hope to see more of Caladan Brood and Anomander Rake, for one thing. And I want to know what happens to Sorry.

It is a big investment of time and brainpower to read this book and keep up with it, but ultimately I returned my mother's copy to her and told her to try again. It is worth it. ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

May 16, 2012 Kara Babcock rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-read, canadian-author, from-library, fantasy

Darujhistan is the last of Free Cities remaining in the Malazan Empire’s conquest of a continent. A squad of elite Bridgeburners enters the city covertly to sabotage it and pave the way for Malazan’s army. Ignorant of all this, the mages, assassins, and councillors of Darujhistan are locked in a tense struggle over the fate of the city. And meanwhile, forces on the level of gods and demons, Ascendants and the inhuman, immortal races of the T’lan Imass and the Jaghut, gather to do battle on a sca ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Apr 16, 2009 Simon rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I only got about three quarters of the way through this book. I just got very bored and couldn't be bothered to finish it. Especially when I realised that it was part of one of those endless series. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 22, 2013 Martini rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed, fantasy-high, series-complete-unfinished

This book was warmly recommended to me - thanks for the nudge, Bibliophile - but with a warning that it would not be an ordinary fantasy novel. That made me curious, so I didn't have a choice but to read it.

Indeed it wasn't what I'm used to from high fantasy. The world is developed through the different points of view of several characters, whereas most of them don't seem to know much more about what is going on than the reader himself. And with "several" I mean lots of characters. Loads of char ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 09, 2011 Suz rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-club, award-winner, fantasy, life-is-too-short, epic, kindle, gritty

I'm being generous with that 2, by the way.

Epic fantasy by Steven Erikson that bored me unconscious (really). I get it, what he's going for, and I get it, the world building and all, and I can see why people might like it or why it might win an award, but I hated it.

And of course, I'll hear about how smart you have to be to like this book, or how Erikson makes you "work for it," but I think all of those excuses are crap.

He starts you off by dropping you in the middle of the story with no explana ...more

Like · see review