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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
WOW!, 27 Mar 2007
When I bought this book, I was dreading having to look up stuff in the index at every page, or not being able to understand what was going on in one great long, 700 page battle. That was the impression I had got of the series from its critics. However, others, whilst admitting that it was complex, could not praise it enough. I thought I'd give it a try.
Well, I'm simply blown away. What an amazing start to what promises to be an enormous project that will be soon seen as one of the top fantasy series ever!
Yes, Steven Erikson (and Ian Cameron Esslemont, the co-creator of the world of the Malazan empire) have imagined a world far beyond anything that's ever been written about before. Yes, sometimes it can be hard to remember exactly which Ascendant Cotillion is (though perhaps if you're confused over that one, you've skipped a few pages!) but generally if there is a point when you think, "Hang on, who's Apsalar again?" there is a very useful list of characters at the start which helped me get a few things straight - but I never needed to do this with anything important. If there was something I was unsure about, it would be a minor God, whose name was mentioned in passing. Erikson writes so skillfully about this complex world that I had next to no difficulty remembering what was what.
The pace is fast throughout the book, helped by the style of the book. You see events from many different characters points of view, from both 'sides' (similar to George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire) and you come to care for the characters.
You do NOT get spoon fed the story and details of the world. You get dropped into the story, and you pick up stuff as you go along. The way the reader has to work some things out and wonder about others is deliberate, and I feel one of the book's strengths - instead of spending a few hundred pages introducing you to the world, there is a few pages of prologue, which give you some idea of the start of the Malazan Empire, and introduce you to some of the main characters - and then the pace immediately picks up, dragging you into the story straight away.
As you can see, I feel that this will be an astounding series, and I've heard that the sequel is even better that the first book (doesn't seem possible!)
If you want a nice, easy read, where you don't really have to think too much to understand whats happening, don't chose this book. But if you want an epic, original and unbelievably engrossing new series, what are you waiting for?
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
highly recommended, 2 Dec 2008
With this book I found a new favourite author which in many ways is surprising.
Firstly, I normally like a really good, honourable hero and some totally evil dislikeable baddies that get soundly beaten in the end. However, in GotM, by the end of the book I still had no idea who was on the good and who was on the bad side. Having read all the other Malazan books, too, I am still not absolutely sure whom to trust. I find that like the real world, Erikson gives us characters in every shade of grey available and sometimes those shades get closer to one end of the spectrum or the other, but rarely do they go all the way. And as to the baddie getting beaten soundly... hmmm, it hasn't been clear cut so far and I doubt the ending will be but somehow I don't care, because the getting there is just amazing.
Secondly, yes, I will admit to skipping battle scenes and more so, duels in many books. I am just not into sword thrust left, parry right, stab middle and repeat for ten pages. However, the battles in the Malazan books are never that boring. Erikson brings in so many different viewpoints, so many unexpected twists and turns and more importantly, so much information into the fights that it is impossible to skip these sections. I wasn't even tempted.
I will say that you might be confused by the end of book one. The way Erikson writes, you are not meant to get it all straight away. You very much enter in the middle of a story where you don't know what went on before nor where things are heading and only by careful observation and listening can you work out what's going on. You hit the ground running.
If you enjoy this series, you will be pleased to hear that there is another author now writing in the same world using the same characters. Ian C. Esslemont is a friend of Stephen Erikson and co-founded the Malazan empire with him. For the recommended reading order click on my name and check out my Malazan Listmania. This is one series where you don't have to wait four or five years for the next instalment. Another good reason to give it a go.
My star ratings are the result of the following breakdown:
How difficult was it to put the book down: this is a strange one for me for a good read. I actually had to put it down for breathers, to take time to chew over the latest section because there was so much to take in and I actually felt the need to savour the words = five stars
Would I buy the hardcover of this one: definitely = five stars
Am I likely to read it again: I have already re-read it several times and will again = five stars
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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A New Epic Begins, 7 Feb 2003
Few fantasy series take as few prisoners as Steven Erikson. In Gardens of the Moon we're plunged into a story that feels already halfway done. The Malazan Empire is battling to conquer the continents of Korelri, Stratem and Genabackis, the Emperor and his high assassin have both died under murky circumstances and the new Empress is untested. The previously-conquered land of the Seven Cities is on the verge of rebellion and something seriously odd is happening in the Warrens, the otherdimensional magical realms where the Ascendants (demigods) and demons dwell and which the various races can tap to use for their own ends. This isn't a relaxing, take-your-mind-off things read, but an explosive, fast-paced epic tracking the Empire's attempts to conquer the city of Darujhistan. There are a huge number of characters here, from tragic wizardess Tattersail to cynical battalion commander Whiskeyjack to Captain Paran, whom fate has a truly bizarre destiny arranged for. Erikson takes few prisoners and also refuses to bow down to cliche. No dwarves, hobbits or elves (although the cold, remote Tiste Andii are a bit elf-like at times), but an overwhelming array of more original races, such as the demons of the Warrens and the T'lan Imass, an undead race who comitted racial suicide in order to confront a powerful enemy hundreds of thousands of years later. At times Erikson's past as a role-playing gamesmaster comes through (such as a bewildering array of magical items and a frantic desire to cram as much of his meticulously-constructed world in as possible) and the plot is so crammed with incident you may completely lose track of what the hell is going on. But Erikson's style is good, delivering complex ideas whilst retaining a certain dark humour and a genuine (and fiendish) desire to shock the audience out of its genre expectations. Even the frequent intrusions of the gods into the lives of mortals (something I have hated since foolishly reading a David Eddings novel when young) is handled well. Gardens of the Moon is a stunning debut, presenting a fantastical world in its full glory and setting up intriguing hints for future volumes...although, refreshingly, the book stands perfectly well by itself. Highly recommended.
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