Gardens of the Moon

his is a book that I've been wanting to review for ages. In fact, in some ways, Erikson was the genesis of this here blog. I've been writing about fantasy since I was in highschool. My Junior Year Position Paper was on C.S. Lewis. The next year, my paper was on the genre as a whole. But after voraciously devouring this series and its genre busting all-out action, I knew things had changed in the genre as a whole. I stopped reading fantasy in college. I started dating, made friends, and basically didn't have the time. Years later, bartending in New York, and living in Harlem I had a lot of time to myself again, and I started to reread some of the classics on my shelf. I had no interest in new fantasy. I figured the genre had gone to Forgotten Realms and DragonLance knock offs. Erikson made me a believer again. I've tried to turn people on to this book, and this series, to no avail. And not to "Norms" (non-fantasy readers) to bonafide sword-swinging fantasy lovers. This series is so good I had to take notes while reading it again so I'd remember all the ideas within that I'd wanted to explore. So I'm going to abandon the usual format. The format, afterall, is intended to provoke critical thought. Kalam, Quick Ben, Whiskeyjack First of all, Gardens of the Moon, though the first in the series, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, is an intermission. I think this may be why so many people have trouble getting into it. It starts after a massive battle, after an emperor was assasinated, after a city has fallen. Much of the book is getting the characters from the remains of one city to the next on the new Empress hit list. There are other reasons of course. The scope of this world is enormous. That's one of the fantasy five, and Erikson gets full marks. His world is enormous and intricate. This is not surprising. He and a friend developed the world as a game a la Dungeons and Dragons. It should also be noted that Erikson (his pen name) was an anthropologist. As someone who is married (yes! as of a months ago) to an anthropologist, I know just how much is crammed into their heads. Each people of this world is intricate and fully developed straight out of the gate. Another reason why this is an intermission is because Erikson wastes little time on explanation. Single, dense phrases are used to describe entire peoples. And there are literally over two hundred of them, from the plains dwellers on Genabackis, the Rhivi, to the denizens of the Seven Cities, to the Gral, to the fishing people of Quon Tali, the sophisticated Daru, and the imperially minded Malazans. All those names are confusing, and that turns a lot of people off. It is very easy to miss important details, things that occur, pivotal moments described in a single sentence, and moved on only to be referred to again and again with no explanation. Still the important thing to remember when reading this epic, is that you don't always need to pay attention to these names. This series is a series to re-read, to parse, to explore. Get what you can, and have faith that Erikson will explain further in due time. It might take to the seventh volume of the series, but he has never contradicted himself that I can see, so be patient and keep reading. The really good stuff doesn't even occur until the third volume, Memories of Ice. Anomander Rake - Son of Darkness Before I get further into my notes, let's hit some of the basics. Like in Jordan's works, there are literally hundreds of characters, so this is a plot driven story. That said, given the sheer number of words in over ten volumes, many characters emerge extremely well developed. The story starts with a character named Gannoes Paran, he's young, good looking, and you expect him to be the story's main hero. Not so, because there is no main hero. This is an ensemble cast, and there half a dozen main characters at least. There is an evil empire, the Malazan Empire, which isn't really that evil, or much of an empire it turns out. But none of the soldiers of that Empire are evil, they're just men, and this is, among other things, a soldier's novel, about companionship, and loyalty in the ranks. But the Empire is the backdrop for something much much larger, which is really only hinted at in the first book, and in fact, is not even given a name to in the first of the series. Another thing that's great about the series is the magic system. One of the Fantasy Five, magic. It's completely unexplained in the first book, but it's astonishing. The book opens with a battle between a planet sized asteroid hovering hundreds of feet in the air, and five arch-mages sending corruscating waves of power into the sky. The typical magic cliche for fantasy is -- the big stuff doesn't play until the end. Until then, its all parlor tricks and smokescreens. Another cliche ripped to pieces Ok, so onto the nitty-gritty. This is a discussion for Moon readers. So stop now if you haven't read the book. Adjunct Lorn. Why did she have to die? I rather liked the character of the stern, attractive, warrior woman, and thought she would have made a better partner to Gannoes. The reason I ask is because Erikson indeed revives characters with impunity, having killed Gannoes in the first 50 pages, Tattersail and sending Toc the Younger off into a mysterious chaos warren. Lorn was a fascinating character with a fascinating weapon, her Ottatoral sword. But then again, Erikson refers to himself as a cliche breaker, and having Gannoes end up falling for the fat mage Tattersail, is a real change of pace for any genre, much less fantasy. Hedge and Fiddler, Bridgeburners One of the central mysteries of the first book is the assassination of the old Emperor. Who did it? Why? Is the Emperor really dead, and what about his cronies, are they dead too, like Toc the Elder, or Daseem Ultor? It's an interesting frame for the series. Many of these questions don't even get answered in Moon, but are answered in the sequel Deadhouse Gates, and in many ways the entire series strives to answer these questions. Along the same lines, is the idea that the Bridgeburners, the seminal unit of the Malazan Army that is known far and wide must also die. I regret this, there are only about seven of them left to begin with, and they all seem to be great characters. Still, the series is called the Malazan Book of the Fallen, and if Malazans didn't fall, well, what would be the point? Next topic: The Deck of Dragons. So Erikson takes the game of Tarot and makes it real. It's an unbelievably clever mechanism for the story, it adds a ton of depth, and a ton of detail. However, it does make the story denser and harder for the lite-fantasist to glom onto. The Deck of Dragons is a playing deck of all the gods and demi-gods in the saga's pantheon. They're organized into aligned houses, and unaligned houses. And when characters like Tattersail give a reading, it often reveals what Gods are at play in the field. All the houses, and the players in each deck are noted at the beginning of the first book. This cheat is not repeated in later books. Another very divergent aspect of Erikson's work is his quixotic narrators. Calling them narrators is a bit misleading, they are characters, who often speak in riddles, or long nearly non-sensical rants that seldom make sense to the other players, but which are more often directed at the reader. Each book has such a character, but the one in Gardens is none other than Kruppe. Kruppe is a fat, balding little wizard who is a master thief, and we find out during the book, quite a powerful mage. However, his persona is one of befuddlement and misdirection, and even his greatest friends seldom realize that their actions and thoughts are directed entirely by the mischievous Kruppe. This fat wizard also provides the book with its greatest sense of comic relief. These narrative voices are almost always comedic and poke fun at both the author, and his characters. You get a sense of the author himself, or at least, who the author might like to be, as these characters, in addition to being funny, are almost always really good natured as well. This is another aspect which deserves exploration: Erikson is a master of good and evil. It sounds trite, and I'm sure that he would prefer to think of himself as a trend breaker, but fantasy is about good and evil, Gods of Dark, Swords of Light. In this Erikson doesn't break the trend, he masters it. You may recall from a prior review of Naruto, that the character of the young Ninja is extremely good, happy, kind, and despite his idiocy, his heart is warm and caring for all. The good--in the Erikson novels--is similar. However, Gardens of the Moon, is less of an exploration of good and evil than his later novels. Still you get flashes of it through characters like Kruppe and his companions, Gannoes love for Tattersail, Tattersail's heartwrenching guilt about previous monstrosities committed under imperial writ. Ok, just a few last points: There are many characters, including the "hero" Gannoes, and the anti-hero Lorn, who are forced continually to sublimate their will. They act for the good of the empire, of which they are committed agents. Sergeant Whiskeyjack of the Bridgeburners who is offered the chance to retire, flee certain death because of his love and loyalty of his comrades, and their own love for him. This sublimation of the will, can be seen as character building, but it also exerts an exceedingly destructive force. When Lorn finds out that Tattersail was the agent responsible for atrocities committed in Malaz City, the girl, shorn of her previous life, reemerges from her imperial shell, the illustrious general Dujek Onearm reminds her of her current responsibilities, and that she herself is the second in command to none other than the woman who commanded the purge. Of course, these events are all historical, past events that are mere artifacts to the story, but the sheer depth is staggering. And I'm in love with it. I want to unearth the entire history of this continent that goes back over two-hundred thousand years. Penultimate point: Dragnipur. How cool is that? A massively powered sword, that itself harbors a magical realm of pain and imprisonment, where a massive cart is pulled by a single Atlas like godling. Ultimate point: Erikson stories as we'll discover are all about convergence. This I think qualifies as a cliche, but Erikson is the first that I've read to be so open about it. Jordan's books use the same cliche, the Wheel of Time books always end with a convergence. So what does this mean? A convergence is a meeting of fell powers, the climax of every story, where all the pivotal characters meet for their hour of greatest conflict. What makes Erikson's convergences so remarkable? The sheer scope of the powers involved. Even now, I recall vividly the ending of the Sword of Shannara, and the half-elf Shea's meeting with the evil wizard. Those powers were great and scary, buy Shea was a quiet, hobbit like character with no real power's of his own. As a brief aside, Japanese horror movies, and anime is very similar, and in fact may be the progenitor for this sort of convergence. The powers that meet are colossal, far greater than human, far greater than mere wizard or swordman. The forces that converge in an Erikson novel are titanic in nature. And astonishing. As an aspiring author, it makes me weep with jealousy. The depths of horror, the depths of love, the depths of friendship and loyalty, seem to be unsurpassable. So. If you can get through all the names, if you can get through all the lands and peoples and characters, if you can look beyond the things you don't yet know, and enjoy it for what it is, the rewards are entirely worth it. Buy this book. Note: I intend to add photos to this soon, so check back! [...]

Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen) is the first book in a ten book series called The Malazan Book of the Fallen. The series is arguably the most epic in scope, the most complex in narrative style, and the most detailed in terms of cultural, sociological and religious aspects. Comparisons to other great fantasy epics will no doubt include The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition or A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) or even The Wheel of Time, Boxed Set I, Books 1-3: The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn ...but a better and more accurate comparison may be to Frank Herbert's magnificent sci-fi masterpiece, the Dune (40th Anniversary Edition) (Dune Chronicles, Book 1) chronicles, and Glen Cook's gritty and character-centric fantasy series The Black Company (Chronicles of The Black Company #1) . Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen) starts off much like Dune (40th Anniversary Edition) (Dune Chronicles, Book 1) and The Black Company (Chronicles of The Black Company #1) , in that you are literally thrown into the middle of this fully realized world, replete with an ancient but still living prehistory (in the form of the T'lan Imass and the Jaghut), a powerful but aloof alien species (in the form of the Tiste Andii), and a host of elder gods who are anything but passive and who routinely interfere and direct the lives of the general populace. I remember when i was a teenager and I had heard of a movie called Dune which was apparently based upon a best-selling novel. The premise intrigued me to the point where I read the book and then immediately saw the movie by David Lynch. I did not see the movie alone. I took my cousin with me. My female cousin who knew nothing of sci-fi or fantasy and who probably was looking for a movie like Gremlins or Ghostbusters, rather than a strange sci-fantasy like Dune. And the movie was incredibly strange. If i had not read the book...i don't think even I would have been able to pick up on all of the subtle nuances and grand scope of things without having read the book first. I can't imagine what it must have been like for my poor cousin, who was so confused and befuddled afterwards that all she could do was ask "What is the 'water of life'? and why did he keep saying 'the sleeper has awakened'?" I recount this story only to illustrate a potential problem point: readers who are looking for the standard/typical mode of fantasy storytelling which have become so predictable that many times we're not looking for diversity in narrative, but rather looking at what type of new "power" is being contested or won. No, Gardens of the Moon will be as baffling and mysterious and potentially frustrating for many readers who are looking for something straightforward and simple to explain. Such is not the case with this series. Steven Erikson has created a complex and living breathing world and populated with various races and cultures and countries and thrown them into this story. And what is the story? It's hard to say really. There are so many narrative plot points. But I think the fundamental story is that something happened thousands of years before, something so terrible and cataclysmic that the repercussions of the event have reverberated throughout history, affecting the elder races and which have now culminated into a series of devastating and world-ending consequences that the modern races and their current use of magic must now contend with the here and now. I having been reading this series for the past few years now, and am on the last few novels. These books are not easy to read, but they yield so much pleasure in terms of epic storytelling and the range of characters. I will point out two things that you may need to know about the entire series: First, Steven Erikson believes that all characters, big and small, matter. You might agree with that viewpoint, but if you think about what that really means, it means that each and every little character gets their share of the page, meaning what would normally be a 400 page book could turn into a 1,000 page book because the lives and dreams of each and every character is detailed and told. hence the massive length of most of Erikson's books. Second, Steven Erikson's prose style is almost as complex and flowery as his story and settings. This prose is as purple as purple can get. He tends to wax poetic and philosophically on things and may even meander here and there, but the beauty of the series is in the details. And my god, there are some details. Details that you may think aren't much when you first encounter them, but then you realize how they contribute to the overall understanding and appreciation of the entire story. But with that said, these books are marvelous. And if you can get through the first book, as dense and complex as it is, then you will be rewarded by the 2nd and 3rd books, Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 2) and Memories of Ice (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 3), which are about as good as anything i've ever read. The book Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 2) will break your heart with its grueling story about Coltaine's Chain of Dogs. And Memories of Ice will astound you in its scope and power; it is perhaps Erikson's one Masterpiece, though some may argue that the entire series is what constitutes his masterwork. but if one were to give the word masterpiece to any one of his novels, it would probably have to be Memories of Ice. But in order to get there, you have to go through Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen), which is not his best work, but the beginning of his greatest work.

After years spent gathering dust on my bookshelf, GARDENS OF THE MOON finally found its way onto my nightstand, having fought through piles of work-related and leisure reading materials. A friend of mine had strongly recommended the series three or four years ago, and after the nice hardcover copy that I had immediately ordered arrived, it unfortunately became stalled in my ever-churning heap of books-to-read. Still, this one has been on my radar as a highly-anticipated epic adventure. Always being prominent in real-life bookstores, as well as here on Amazon, the Malazan Book of the Fallen series has long evoked a sense of postponed gratification and anxiety over my limited reading time. The covers of the books alone promised a dark, fierce, and gritty fantasy that I assumed would take after Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire . My friend's descriptions included phrases like "mind-blowing", "awesome", and "Freaking insanely bad-ass". Well, the wait is over, and I've begun my journey through Erikson's massive saga. And I am very happy to report that the writing, story, and setting are every bit as good as I had hoped. The most striking aspect of GARDENS OF THE MOON is that Steven Erikson has absolutely no care for the reader's comfort, dropping you right into the middle of a complicated story that is already well underway. Character motivations are rarely explained, a vast setting is suddenly exposed but not explored, a huge and confusing cast of characters from all manner of races is introduced with very little guidance, and mysteries abound in magic, lore, and history. The general feeling during the first half of the book is one of confusion, where you'll feel like you must be missing key information, as every character seems to know more about what is going on than the reader. You'll find yourself trying hard to remember many details, with the hope that you'll finally be able to get a grasp on what is behind the intense and deadly story. While this aspect may sound frustrating, and many reviewers have docked stars from this book's rating, I found the abrupt entry into this world exciting and fun. Knowing that there are huge pieces to the story that haven't been revealed, straining your brain to remember snippets of history, and pondering over the nature of the never-explained Warrens (the source of magic in the series), all gave this book a real and gritty feeling. It was like I had been suddenly transported to this new and mysterious world without the benefit of an introduction. Erikson's intentional refusal to hold the reader's hand might sound off-putting, but I found it refreshingly unique. The story itself, which has only begun to unfold with GARDENS OF THE MOON, is incredible. Vast empires, rebel armies, powerful sorcerers, and unearthly beings vie for power in a violent and quickly moving plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The magic is very much in-your-face compared to most dark epic fantasies. Battling wizards lead to wholesale destruction, animated puppets and talking war-hounds stretch the imagination, and so-called gods interfering with mortal concerns calls for expecting the unexpected. The setting is absolutely jam-packed with all manner of new races, human-like and not, living and undead, mortal and immortal. Wonderfully imagined characters fill the pages of GARDENS OF THE MOON, with names like Whiskeyjack, Quick Ben, and Anomander Rake. You get the feeling that most of their stories have already been told, but that this newest adventure will be the most desperate and thrilling yet. Other characters like Crokus, Paran, and Sorry take on the mantle of the young would-be heroes just starting on their hopeful, yet disillusioned, adventures. This series tells an incredibly large story that I am excited to have finally begun, and can hardly wait to continue with Deadhouse Gates . GARDENS OF THE MOON reminded me of why I love to read epic fantasies, and it made me glad to know that there are still wholly original stories to discover in a field of so many excellent and prolific authors. Very highly recommended!

This is a dark, grown up fantasy series. Don't expect the typical story lines, and plot progression. I think a lot of people who call this "difficult" fantasy, however, are over-stating the reality. This isn't "difficult" it just isn't obedient to the typical formulas fantasy readers have come to expect. Many have spoken about the fact that you don't know what is going on and have to "figure it out" as you go. Sanderson fans will hate that - sorry - not meant to be an insult, but that is indicative of Sanderson's style. His magic system is very direct and easy to understand. This series is not. This book doesn't answer all your questions, either. So, to be more precise, "difficult" is just too vague. I would say this story develops suspense and makes you wonder about the politics, the motivations of the characters and the way the magic and world works without digressing to explain anything to you or to resolve all your questions. You must stick with the story to find out everything. There are no 'informative digressions', which is a common feature in fantasy today. What I mean by 'informative digression' is a point in the text where the main character or narrator will, as an aside, stop and 'catch you up' on how the world works, what his/her motivations are and just spend a page or so explaining things about the world and how things work in the world to you. So, this series has NO 'informative digressions'. Also, most modern fantasy is much more character focused. These are all stylistic choices, not substantive choices. It may make it harder to get into for some, but this is a point of preference, not quality. Given, if you want or need those character driven stories or like to get filled in as you go, you won't like this series. Personally, I enjoy both kind of stories and don't view one style as inferior or another superior, but I accept the style for it's strengths and enjoy them when they are well done. In this case, it is VERY well done and INTENSELY enjoyable!

I've heard mixed reviews of this book and series. I went into it knowing that I would likely love or hate it, that it might be anything for me, ranging from one of the best and most epic stories ever, to being a completely boring and barely comprehensible mess that would be a chore to read. I came prepared to be blown away, or massively disappointed. In all honesty, it wasn't the best I've ever read, but it didn't really disappoint me in the ways I feared it might. There were some points where I wanted to ask, "What is going on?" but never where I felt bored or overwhelmed. The things that Erikson does best, I think, are the epic scale, the deep weight of history on all of the worldbuilding, the complete feel of the world, the dense and abundant magic, and the spectacular imagery. This novel is truly epic, a story of empires and gods and ascendents and intense magic. It is original among the fantasy genre, a world that feels genuinely unique and different to me. I found almost all of the characters to be interesting, and am definitely planning on following through with these series. However, Erikson does have his faults, and after reading through the first time, I can emphasize with those who can't make it through "Gardens" at all. While he ignores many of the cliches of fantasy, he also ignores numerous tenets of storytelling that have good reasons for existing, and this, I feel, is why he hasn't ascended to the massive bestselling lists. The problems with GotM are all in the storytelling and execution. Erikson's style of storytelling is that of an overzealous young storyteller rambling out his ideas and stories as fast as he can. His ideas are good, his ambitions sincere, and his imagery superb, but he doesn't put any time on the reader's feelings and just throws it all in our faces as fast as he can. He doesn't even try to explain things, and gives precious little description about the things that would be the most interesting, and while I like much of what I'm hearing, receiving it is imperfect because the storyteller sacrifices its structure. The story in GotM is shoddily put together, ignoring such concepts as foreshadowing, underlining, and other things that allow a reader to deduce what is important and what is not. Erikson might switch POVs between paragraphs, and several times a chapter at least, putting us into the head of a character who will disappear or be killed off 20 pages later, without us having any way to determine them from a character who will become major, especially as there tends to be long breaks as the story transitions to another part of the world and we don't see the character we've been following until later. I've read some reviews that urge to ignore this and just take the story as it is, but I cannot. GotM doesn't feel like a fun, enjoyably chaotic chain of events, but rather an epic fantasy that almost had a coherent plot and missed the mark. At the same time, I sometimes feel like I'm witnessing events, but not being told or allowed to understand why they are, leaving me to at times wondering, "What just happened?" This is particularly obvious in the way that the plot involving Raest was resolved. We aren't told much about the magic or how things work, yet odd things still pop out of the world, and occasionally veering into the territory of the deus ex machina. The involvement of the gods makes the plot more epic and all, but it also means that I've been annoyed more than once by something being waved away as the gods' involvement, or the gods seeming to stick their hand into the pocket of every thief on the streets for some reason or another. I think Erikson has overstretched a bit in this novel where characters were concerned, leaving too many characters and too little time to develop them all, occasionally wasting the reader's time with characters that come to naught. Several characters turn out to be less important than the attention that Erikson gives them would indicate, and I'm left with the feeling that the novel could have been better if they had been treated with less importance from the get-go, as secondary characters rather than major ones. I also think that Erikson has a bit of a problem with description. He avoids the exposition-heavy flaws that some writers display, but he falls into the opposite extreme. Oftentimes, he doesn't give enough description to feel the weight of what is happening or understand it, and leaves out what the reader really would want to know. After reading this book, all I know about the Jaghut's appearance is that they have tusks. That's it. There are occasions where the non-human races get sufficient exposition, such as Anomander Rake making clear the general Tiste Andii appearance, but also some lacking cases. All in all, this is a good epic fantasy with some of the best ideas and imagery in the genre and a lot of solid characters and magic, but is imperfect in its realization. With some better storytelling and improved skills, this could truly be one of the best series out there. Given all the things I've heard about the series picking up in the next few books, I have hope that this will still turn out to truly be one of the best.

The first thing I'll say is that I probably would have stopped reading this novel after a couple hundred pages except for two things: 1. Many reviews here mentioned it's slow going and confusing at first, but picks up near the end. 2. I'd actually read the prologue of the third book in the series (Memories of Ice) first, and had been blown away by the writing and imagery. In the end, I'm glad that I continued reading, but I'm going to start with my dislikes because I want to end this review on a positive note. The book as a whole is somewhat confusing initially because the author throws a huge amount of names at the reader. Places are given little 'context' and a large cast of characters is introduced quite quickly. For awhile, each chapter or couple of chapters then introduce more places and more characters. It is not easy to keep all of it straight. Sometimes the reader is left to wonder what a word means when referencing a character. ie, there's one specific case where one character notices another, but the word used to describe the new character could be anything from the character's name, his rank, or even his race. Erikson is also not particularly good about describing the non-human races. I'm a believer that mannerisms or descriptions of non-human races shouldn't be the focus of every sentence in which they speak or act, but I do think that a description to fix their 'look and feel' in the mind of the reader should be done fairly quickly, and Erikson often doesn't include any of this until well after a race is mentioned for the first time. His descriptions of battle scenes can be quite confusing in this book. Plus, I was left wondering why the two sides shown in the beginning needed such huge 'traditional' armies when magic more or less trumped them the way a nuclear bomb would trump a World War II army. I have begun re-reading this series, and the scene I'm referring to stuck out even more. I'm not sure the soldiers in the huge army brought to assault a fortress were ever described as doing anything more than dying under incredibly powerful waves of magic. It was obvious the mages in the assaulting group were expecting something along those lines... so why would you even bring the army in close until after the mages got done with their jobs? I suspect the answer is because Erikson wanted to show how powerful magic could be in his world, but it still didn't make much sense. The characters are pretty stereotypical in most cases, and there really isn't much fleshing out of them as time goes on. This, by the way appears to be the case through at least the third book in the series. If a character changes, it's usually because of an outside influence that forces the change, not due to any real character development (there are a couple of exceptions). The final thing that I didn't really like was that the characters often seemed to be behaving more like "Dungeons and Dragons" roleplaying parties rather than real people. There were times when it literally felt like I was reading multiple D&D adventures rather than a coherent novel. So what did I like about the book? The first thing is that it's part of a much better series than this first novel would indicate. Without giving much away, many of the characters in this novel have significant backstories and depth that only becomes revealed in the later novels. I liked that the world was dark and felt reasonably realistic for a magic heavy novel. It focuses a great deal on politics and war, and generally does a good job. The magic itself, while mechanically confusing initially (and it gets better explained later in the series) is quite interesting. Even though Erikson's ability to introduce an intensely evocative scene isn't at full strength in this novel, there are hints of it from time to time when you can almost see an epic image or sequence in your mind's eye as if it were on a movie screen. I know I haven't given much of a synopsis of the novel itself, and the main reason is that I finished it over a year ago. While I remember specific scenes in great detail, the overall flow and plot of the novel eludes me. This isn't really a negative knock, as I have this problem with a great many books, but my impression is the plot does meander and take awhile to actually get anywhere. Still, if you have the time and patience to get through what really feels like a prologue to the rest of the series, I think it's worth it. I might recommend that you do what I did and pick up "Memories of Ice" in a bookstore, and read the prologue. If it hooks you, I think you'll find the build up worth it. While I gave the book '3 stars' (and this isn't one of those cases where it's really 3 1/2 stars to me), the series up through 3 1/2 books is closer to 4 - 4 1/2 stars.

I found this title while searching for something that could satisfy my hunger for depth and grit while I awaited the next installment in GRRMs "A Song of Ice and Fire". I had begun feeling like there just wasn't anything in the fantasy genre that could come close to the "grown up" feel of that series and though I enjoy reading the novels put out by other contemporary fanasy writers, I have been deeply spoiled by the refreshingly grey-scale world woven by Martin. In searching for other contemporary fantasy authors that could engender in me the same depth of feeling and suspense that Martin has, I came across several lists in which "Gardens of the Moon" (and it's subsequent volumes) were listed alongside the titles that I have come to deeply enjoy. My first taste of Erikson was a pleasant one indeed. In this book you will find very little in the way of clear-cut good and evil (even a demon can be cute in this world when it is kept as a pet) but you will find much of the refreshing shades of grey that make the world feel real despite it's fantasy heritage. The cast is huge and the races are many, and I'll admit it can be daunting at times. That said, the author never seems to talk "down" to you or insult your intelligence with ultra-convenient and utterly unbelievable plot twists. In addition, the book engenders a rare but true feeling of suspense brought on by the fact that the main characters are not necessarily going to make it alive...one of the main things that made Martin's books so great to me. The question then becomes "will he get out of this" rather than "how will he get out of this." On the downside, it can be difficult to keep track of what race is what and who is on who's side, but some of that can be attributed to the fact that many of the characters are simply on their own side, rather than backing the cause of one of the main fighting influences in the story. I also get the feeling that as you continue with this series, much of this will become more familiar as I was much more accustomed to following the goings-on by the end of the book than I was in the beginning. In summary, with a little grit, a lot of sorcery, some sword and a fair measure of intelligence, Erikson has managed to pen a tale that truly is fit to rub shoulders with the likes of the best the fantasy genre has to offer and leaves the overwhelming majority of his contemporaries in the dust. And while he's not Martin, he's comparable and he writes faster -- meaning I'll have something to read and keep me happy while I patiently wait for Martin to shuffle into his publisher with the next installment of ASOIAF in tow. I highly recommend Gardens of the Moon.

(I wrote the following in response to a discussion topic question below, and since I hadn't even written a review yet, decided to copy it here as it says what I feel about this book and it's sequels. The question was from someone who had read the first 50 pages and wanted spoilers to decide whether to continue.) Felt that way about the first few pages also, and put it down a couple times to read other books, like Roger Zelazny's Amber Series and John Scalzi's Old Man's War trilogy. Amber is up there, for me, with Tolkein. Before I finally read Gardens of the Moon, my next faves were George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series, and of course Robert Jordan's first three Wheel of Time books. Well, I'm now in book 6 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, just 2 months after reading Gardens of the Moon, and it's the best fantasy series I have ever read. It just gets better with every book. New stuff in each but the main story carries on, as do the main characters. The books' cover pages, with people like Stephen Donaldson comparing Steven Erikson to Tolkein, are not exaggerations. Plus the books are 1000+ pages, and he's written 9 or 10 now. An epic fantasy lover's dream come true. And again, every book gets even better than the previous. Do yourself a favor. If you like the books by the great authors mentioned above, you must read Gardens of the Moon. The characters you have been introduced to in the first 50 pages will be around from now on. So much happens to them, you won't believe. If you've read about the Hounds decimating the Malazan troops outside of Pale, I'm surprised you are not hooked already. The seemingly bad guys who control the hounds and take the girl are actually good guys in a very complex way, and it's very surprising who they really are. The girl is a major character for the entire series. Most characters take a book off while Erikson enters another area of the complex world and introduces new ones, but they all interact at some point in the incredibly sweeping panorama. This is all a developing saga that while complex, all ties in. It's a book about wars between mortals but with the immortals and almost-immortals playing the most prominent roles. Erikson's character development is unparalleled. The action is non-stop. The sorcery is more prominent and stronger than you've ever read before, yet the ordinary mortals are the most interesting characters. Gods walk among the living. Demons are friends as well as foes. The humor is laugh out loud funny at times. The shock of the violent death of a favorite character, that you never thought would die, will really get to you. Erikson is like Martin in that sense, but you really like Erikson's characters, versus ambivalence for many of Martin's. More specific spoilers? No, won't go there. If you have read Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind and liked it, as I really did, you will love The Gardens of the Moon and the sequels, known collectively as The Malazan Book of the Fallen.