Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1) in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Dec 11, 2014 Francesco Manno rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: grimdark-fantasy, fantasy, high-fantasy

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The gardens of the moon is the first volume of the saga de Malazan Book of the Fallen, written by Steven Erikson and published in Italy in 2004 by Armenia.
First of all I want to clarify that this is not a simple book, as Erikson choose to catapult us into history, making us take part in the events without providing the information necessary to understand what is happening. But if one is patient and go into greater depth in the novel, you can appreciate the http://panopticonitalia.blogspot.it/2...

The gardens of the moon is the first volume of the saga de Malazan Book of the Fallen, written by Steven Erikson and published in Italy in 2004 by Armenia.
First of all I want to clarify that this is not a simple book, as Erikson choose to catapult us into history, making us take part in the events without providing the information necessary to understand what is happening. But if one is patient and go into greater depth in the novel, you can appreciate the great qualities of this book.
Let's start by saying that The gardens of the moon is a story in which are narrated the story of bloody war and brutal.
The world in which our characters act is imaginary, with a similar technology to the Middle Ages, yet credible, because Erikson provides us throughout the novel a solid reconstruction of the history, myths and cosmogony, which can not but arouse admiration in the reader.
The conflict is fought Malazan Empire, led by the Empress Laseen against the Free Cities of Genabackis, falling one after the other. Nevertheless their side sided Anomander Rake, the Lord of the Seed of the Moon, a god, with his Tiste Andii, under the command of Caladan Broods, and the mercenaries of the Crimson Guard led by Prince K'azz D'Avore.
However the story is not so straightforward, because the ranks of the imperial army are hatched conspiracies that threaten to jeopardize the outcome of the war and factions are plotting against the Empire.
A major role in the conflict is played by infernal gods, beings anchor oldest of the gods, monsters evoked by the men and enslaved to them, thanks to their supernatural powers are able to inflict heavy losses to entire military troops.
And in this context Erikson demonstrates a capacity of extraordinary imagination, presenting a series of impressive scenes, where magic and spells leave dismay the reader, as in the case of the siege of Pale.
Also there are presented a bevy of characters through a multiplication of pov, thanks to which we can take part in watching each other through different psychological profiles. This does not allow us to determine who is good and who is bad, but we have to limit ourselves to let ourselves be carried along the course of the story by Erikson.
A remarkable aspect is guaranteed by the dry prose used by the author, without unnecessary frills and descriptive parts, that comes straight to the point without giving a break in all the six hundred pages.
I must admit that The gardens of the moon I was pleasantly surprised and, despite being a high fantasy novel, I recommend it to those who do not like the genre. ...more

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