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

May 20, 2015 Tammy rated it it was amazing

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So much better on the re-read.

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Sep 05, 2015 Evan rated it really liked it

Wow. That was different.

In a genre so full of novels telling the same stories of farm boys growing up to slay the demon and get the girl, this book really stands out. Steven Erikson does a really good job of making this series his own. It's not inspired by Tolkien, Martin, or Cook. No. This is all Steven Erikson.

The Good:

The Setting of Genabackis is excellent. Places like the Pale, Darujhistan and the Rhivi plain all seem to feel real. You get so much detail about the cities and the places and y Wow. That was different.

In a genre so full of novels telling the same stories of farm boys growing up to slay the demon and get the girl, this book really stands out. Steven Erikson does a really good job of making this series his own. It's not inspired by Tolkien, Martin, or Cook. No. This is all Steven Erikson.

The Good:

The Setting of Genabackis is excellent. Places like the Pale, Darujhistan and the Rhivi plain all seem to feel real. You get so much detail about the cities and the places and yet you feel like you are just starting to get to know them.
The Characters are also quite good. The Bridgeburners are all interesting (especially Quick Ben), and Anomander Rake radiates power with every action. Sure, a little more characterization would have been welcome, but the amount we get is sufficient. My only qualm is that you don't really get inside the characters heads in this book. You read of their actions and reactions, but not their thoughts. There are, of course, exceptions to this. Ganoes Paran, Tattersail, Toc the Younger and Adjunct Lorn all have strong feelings that we get to read about.
The Plot (though it seems disjointed near the beginning) all comes together wonderfully delivering a strong climax.

The Less Good (and how to deal with it):

A lot of people get intimidated at the thought of starting an 10 volume epic, with each book numbering around 1000 pages each. This is fair.
It probably doesn't help much that when they try and start Gardens of the Moon, they are hit with names and words that they don't understand. Warrens, Moon's Spawn, Omtose Phellack, Starvald Damelain, Shadowthrone, Cotillion? However this confusion can be remedied simply be reading the Dramatis Personae and the Glossary in the back.
Many people say they are confused when reading this book, and that is normal. If you are reading reviews that say "I WAS SOOOO CONFUSED ERMAGHERD", don't worry. It isn't hard to understand what's going on. It just hard to understand where it is going. Think of it like a build-up to a climax where all the loose threads get tied together.
The only REAL time that not understanding what something meant was near the end when...nevermind, I don't wanna spoil anything, but you'll know when you get there.

In Conclusion:

I enjoyed Gardens of the Moon, and I hope that you read it someday, because you're in for a treat.

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Apr 10, 2014 James rated it liked it · review of another edition

I read this (for the first time) many many years ago. Erikson has proven to be a transformative experience for me as a reader and as a writer. When I consider what to read next, I tend to hold it up against Malazan Book of the Fallen, for good or ill. And when I write (or try to write)... well, let's just say that I love Erikson's style of character-philosophers all, even the average soldier, utilizing language both florid and common, and I admire his ability to structure military combat. Some s I read this (for the first time) many many years ago. Erikson has proven to be a transformative experience for me as a reader and as a writer. When I consider what to read next, I tend to hold it up against Malazan Book of the Fallen, for good or ill. And when I write (or try to write)... well, let's just say that I love Erikson's style of character-philosophers all, even the average soldier, utilizing language both florid and common, and I admire his ability to structure military combat. Some say that character is his weakest trait as a writer, but I disagree. It's just that he gives equal weight to world-building and plot. But you have to invest in him beyond this first book.
Gardens of the Moon is undoubtedly his weakest entry in the world of Malaz. Most sensible Erikson fans--and I believe Erikson himself--would agree that much of the track laid in his first novel here is upended in later volumes. Certainly, the quality of his story and character progressions increases dramatically even as soon as the second book. But I well know that many first time Erikson readers will judge him most harshly on the basis of GotM alone.
And that's fair.
Why should a reader obligate themselves to go through multiple books in order to decide both whether the author knows what he's doing and if he can fulfill our reader-y needs? I don't quite recall what went through my mind when I read Gardens, but I was intrigued enough to continue to the next book.
So what's in this that makes it worthwhile? First, the world-building is incredible. Never before had I read something with a world that was so "lived in". Not even GRRM could match the scale that Erikson unveiled here. The characters were compelling, even if they weren't necessarily making very rational decisions. Tattersail, Paran, Cotillion, Rallick, Rake, and yes--Kruppe. I suppose this latter character could be the make-or-break quality of the story. Some readers may find the characters shallow, but I was intrigued by their histories and their motivations. The city of Darujhistan came alive for me in a way that King's Landing, Minas Tirith, and Hogwarts never quite matched. (Although I think the bitek habitat of Tranquility comes close.) Following Crokus, Rallick, and Kruppe around took me deep into the culture of the City of Blue Flame, and I loved every moment of it. The Bridgeburners, of course, loom large over the entire series, even long after GotM is in the rearview. Characters like Whiskeyjack, Paran, Quick Ben, and all the rest leave their mark on the reader who continues the series.
But as I said, this is his weakest entry. Motivations of certain characters, good and bad, undergo significant retcons (or re-contextualizations, as the in-world explanation might be described). Proper names are refined. The magic system is further refined--or redefined.
Gardens of the Moon isn't the best fantasy book out there. But it's a wonderful introduction to one of the most fascinating literary worlds out there. I urge everyone to give it a try--and then the next one, and the one after that... ...more

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