Gardens of the Moon

This series is famous, or infamous, among fantasy fans.

It is said that these books are difficult, and for many people, these books are therefore a formidable opponent. I have only one response to this: don't let it bother you.

Gardens of the Moon is not difficult in the sense that the language used is complex. It's also not difficult due to complicated theories (as in the case of Neal Stephenson).
Yes, there are many characters, but that's the case in many (fantasy) series. And, this is actually the crux, Erikson simply starts somewhere in the middle of a history of an empire. At least, that's how it seems. This empire is the Malazan Empire. No background is given, nothing is explained. The prologue just starts, and as a reader, you can only let yourself be carried along in the story that Erikson is telling you. And you must trust that things will become clearer as the story progresses.
If you, as a reader, find this annoying, then this book can indeed be perceived as “difficult.” Difficult to deal with, difficult to understand, and especially difficult to accept.

I have no problem with this at all. Imagine the Roman Empire, which was immense at its peak. It encompassed countless peoples. There were local rulers, generals, intrigues, wars, assassination plots everywhere. All at the same time. Now, just imagine that you are focusing on a specific event in that vast history and span of the Roman empire. Movies and books do this all the time. It helped me a lot translating this attitude towards this book.

From the beginning, Erikson gives you the feeling that you are part of an immense epic story, even if your view of it is still very limited. On one hand, a high-level chess game unfolds where various individuals are moved around the board like pawns; on the other hand, Erikson also shows the human side.
Everything slowly converges as if it were a kind of comedy. Independent storylines intertwine, with coincidences that sometimes seem like a “deus ex machina.”
This might be a point of criticism from my side. If this were a stand-alone book, the author might have taken some shortcuts in certain respects. A deus ex machina plot device has never been my favorite. So, I also trust that some things will be woven into the story as the series progresses.

For me, after the first read, this is a 4 to 4.5-star book.
It's possible that this could increase or decrease as more of the Malazan world becomes clear.

—
our mmp has a different cover (the red one)

Good series, very deep but can be a bit complicated to understand as the series encompasses a vast world.

**Second Read Review**The second read was much more enjoyable than the first because I was able to pick up on nuances of the story much better. I was more prepared and actually slowed down. I have a habit of skipping whole paragraphs that just include description. With this book I needed make sure I read every word so that I wasn't missing something. Thus, I was able to pick up more this time around. I liked more characters this time around and the story held my attention. I am starting [b:Deadhouse Gates 55401 Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2) Steven Erikson http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VJH2TSVHL.SL75.jpg 3898716] now as I want to see where the series leads me. Which is quite a step up from what I thought in my review from my first read. I'm not going to change my rating as I still believe that “I liked” the book but I believe that other books in the series will get higher ratings.**First Read Review**Intense but good. After reading this book I felt like a re-read is a must after reading the whole series. Many times I was confused about the storyline, but I believe that there was a reward at the end for soldiering through it. I don't think I could read this whole series one after the other, too intense but I will get through it. This is not a book that you can just zip through, I believe that my “speed reading” hurt me while reading it. When I read the other novels in the series I will be more attentive off the bat, I missed too much of the nuances in the beginning. I do love the fact that this series is completely different than what I've read in the past. Eriksen's voice is refreshing, new and challenging!

How should I start a new year of our lord Ashu Zarathushtra but of course with dogshit book! What a shitty way to start a new year... First book of 2022 and its terrible, author likes to “show, don't tell” huh? Well guess what Ill go with “dont read, dont buy” route. Didnt care about none of those 3 gajiilions of character, Didnt care about shitty magic system, Didnt care how it gets good after 5K pages aka 7th book out of 10... huh. Man Im too old for this slogfest, respect me and my time man. People call it Epic , the only epic thing about it is the time reader might waste on it. They also might refer to it as fantasy, well the only fantasy here is their delusions how this POS is good.

Man I feel terrible for those poor trees that had to be cut for this piece of shit, they would be more useful as toilet paper. Ill try to sell this shit for 5 bucks and if it fails at least Idont have to worry about toilet paper for about a week or so.


Rate it tl:dr,toomanycharacters,cutitdownto5oopagesand3books out of 10....

Hard to follow 

Everything Malazan does well, it does really well. Characters are all introduced with very solid and human foundations, you can see decisions ripple out and affect pages in the future and locations miles away.

Its biggest fault comes in the cast itself. Every interaction, though interesting seems to be in some accelerated timeline, where one night with 2 characters is enough to set up an absolute infatuation with one another. Or where one conversation can crumble the foundation of a character's morals that they have themselves described to grow old with. Reading any character “evolve” in this book felt like they were growing past their own personalities within the space of each word. Its so fast that i struggled to understand the same characters' motivations within the same chapter. Culling the perspective of half the cast would probably ruin a lot of the books magic, but essential time growing each character is missing, so its left to the reader to fill each of these gaps themselves.

3.8/5

I might be coming around to it. Narratively it's all over and it can't be bothered to explain much, but it's somehow still compelling.

What a mixed bag. Does not live up to the hype but I can see why pople like it.
it's over the top, pedal to the metal fantasy turned up to 11. I don't think the way of story telling the author employed here is for me though. It feels so random at times.

I really thought this was going to be a 4 or 5 star review, but in the end I couldn't give it that.
I loved what Erikson did with the world building. It's obvious that he constructed an amazing and elaborate world. Erikson created a great atmosphere in this book and I'm impressed how fast-paced this was. There is something happening at every single page.

However, I got really frustrated with the needless complexity as the story progressed. So the world building is both a pro and con for me. There were way too many pov's, races, gods, ... I don't immediately dislike complex books, but I feel like the confusion that was created didn't add to the story at all.

One hears so much about this series, so I thought I'd give it a go on audiobook (given it's length).
There are a ton of characters and the story drops you in without a single explanation of anything. I found the Malazan Wiki an invaluable resource to keeping things straight in the early going, but then you get a pretty good sense of the characters and it seems like it went really quickly.

Looking forward to the 2nd installment.

Just finished the first book and my head is spinning a bit. This thing is crammed full of fantastic ideas, rich world building and dozens truly interesting characters. It asks a lot of questions that it doesn't answer and presents a lot of new concepts, characters, and even plots without any fanfare or explanation whatsoever... that sounds bad but it wasn't a negative experience. The style is jarring but it's also immersive, I found myself completely dialled in just to make sure I was soaking up all the details that I would need to know what the $&@! was going on, and for the most part that attention to detail was richly rewarded. I loved this world, loved these characters and loved this story... it's only getting four stars because It was so dense that I had to re-read frequently to make sure I had the story straight. Despite that, it felt epic, engaging, and I loved the style of the writing itself. I'll pick up book 2 for sure.

This series was one I only recently heard about. But was immediately curious. Most who have read and love it say the same thing; it can be extremely confusing to get in to, but it's worth it. And wow are they right.

You're thrown right in the deep end of a story that's already alive, with little to no explanation on what's going on. On top of that, it feels like every chapter, you're introduced to 2-3 new characters. Combine that with a magic system it doesn't really explain, multiple races and so many gods, and you can easily find yourself going cross-eyed trying to piece it together. I almost put it down and walked away, as I hate feeling lost in a story.

But then, something just clicks. You start picking up things here and there. You get some idea to the magic, the races, the gods, the mini-plots (of which there are many). But builds, brick by brick. See, they don't hand hold you through the story (which don't get me wrong, I'm totally ok with), but instead let you catch the subtleties on your own to understand this lived in story. And that's pretty refreshing. There's so much going on, that if they did hand it to you on a spoon, I think the book would have to be twice as big, and it's already a meaty-boy.

So to summarize my experience with this book; it can be extremely confusing to get in to, but it's worth it. I'm hooked till the end.

It's dense. I started listening to the audio book, stopped almost halfway through when I realized I didn't know who most of the characters were or what was going on. I then picked up the Kindle version of the book and re-started it. That helped a lot. After reading the entire book, I went back and re-started the audio book and listened to it again. The narrator is excellent. If you are reading an electronic version, don't do like I did and only realize there is a glossary of characters, locations, and other terminology at the end of the book when you get there. Bookmark it and flip to it as needed for reference. It would have been really helpful had a realized it was there earlier. The DLC Bookclub podcast was also very helpful as they read through and summarized several chapters each week so after reading through them, I'd listen to the episode that aligned with the chapters I'd just read, which would help clarify some points and draw connections. Despite my struggles at getting through this first book, it was worth the effort. I'm invested in the world and characters. Although epic and long, it is not as “talkie” as the Game of Thrones series. There is plenty of epic action throughout. I'm looking forward to digging into book 2.

i liked this one a lot

I have been struggling to start this saga. After I finally decided to give it a try, I can only say why people love this saga. You can feel a lot of things coming to you but you know whats going on at the background and that motivates you to keep going.

Fantasy at its best. At least, for me.

Grand, so very grand. It's almost like a “history novel.” I was craving something more... impersonal compared to what most modern books are. Gardens of the Moon has less focus on characters, and more focus on power, empire, and gods. I love how dark the book is, not just in tone either. You really never know what's coming. Erikson simply doesn't satisfy your curiosity, instead always leaving you wanting just a little more. The retained sense of mystery did wonders to keep me engaged throughout the whole book.

After reading Gardens of the Moon, I have a new standard for what I expect in fantasy. It is with a tinge of disappointment that I recalibrate my expectations, since other books will certainly not be able to meet this standard. Nonetheless, Gardens of the Moon is incredible and awe-inspiring, and I am now a devotee of the Steven Erikson cult.

Gardens of the Moon est le premier roman du cycle de fantasy Malazan Book of the Fallen de Steven Erickson, publié pour la première fois en 1999.

Bled dry by interminable warfare, infighting and bloody confrontations with Lord Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, the vast, sprawling Malazan empire simmers with discontent.Even its imperial legions yearn for some respite. For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his Bridgeburners and for Tattersail, sole surviving sorceress of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the dead.But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, still holds out - and Empress Lasseen's ambition knows no bounds.However, it seems the empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister forces gather as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand...

On m'avait prévenu que le début peut être ardu, et l'auteur lui-même reconnait dans sa préface que le premier tiers du premier roman est un juge de paix : soit le lecteur continue, soit il abandonne. Dans mon cas, j'ai continué avec plaisir !

Le récapitulatif des personnages et le glossaire ne sont pas de trop, mais j'ai trouvé cela passionnant dès les premières pages. L'univers est complexe, et on devine qu'on n'en perçoit qu'une partie. Le récit est dense et met en scène une multitude de personnages tous intéressants, chose rare me concernant dans un roman polyphonique.

Je ne pourrais pas résumer ici tout ce qui se déroule dans ce gros roman de plus de 700 pages, mais l'auteur nous propose un récit épique et captivant autour d'une guerre de conquête d'un empire qui tente de s'étendre sur un nouveau continent. Evidemment, tout le monde n'est pas prêt à se soumettre à l'armée colonisatrice.

Il m'a fallu environ une semaine pour avaler ce pavé, mais j'ai adoré du début à la fin et je suis déjà prêt à repartir à la découverte de l'univers de Steven Erikson avec le deuxième tome de cette saga.

4.5/5 - solid and confusing start, onto the next!

This was a hard book to read. I won't repeat all the same points as everyone else, though. Despite it being difficult, I really enjoyed it.

My first experience with Malazan was a success!

I think a lot comes with balanced expectations with Gardens of the Moon. I felt prepared and because of that, I was never lost and the characters and magic and worldbuilding never felt too much for me. There were a lot of great characters that I found very interesting, particularly Tattersail, Whiskeyjack, Anomander Rake, and Paran. Erikson is better with characters than I expected; the characterization is just more subtle than some authors.


I think if I had picked this book up knowing nothing about it, it would have felt like there were a lot of deux ex machina and ill-defined magic, but knowing how fleshed out everything is with time, this didn't bother me.

There were no storylines I didn't really like, and other than a few confusing lines in the climax, I was totally on board with figuring things out as I went.

9/10 and I'm excited to see where Deadhouse Gates takes me!

Wow, thats how to start a series! I am certain I missed most of what was happening and the finer points but it didn't matter! Im sure it will be revealed to me as I go through the series, even with all of that, this was a great book, engaging, funny at times and with action and mystery to keep you hooked and intrigued. Some of the best characters I have ever read, Anomander Rake (even though his part was fairly small in this book) will probably be one of the coolest characters ever, Parran, Whiskeyjack and the Bridgeburners, Tattersail and the other mages!

I think the most interesting par for me was the magic “Warrens” I can't wait to find out how they work.

“Open yourself to the Warren that comes to you – that finds you. Draw forth its power – as much as your body and soul are capable of containing – but remember, when the body fails, the gate closes.”

The way the characters interact with each other is great, how he swaps the POV mid fight or scene so you see what the other people are seeing/thinking is brilliant! And the fluidity of characters from chapter to chapter or even scene to scene, you like them and think they are fighting for good one page then suddenly through a POV shift or just the next sentence completely change your mind about them! Made everything very real.

A masterpiece, and supposedly a weaker entry to the series coming from some Malazan veterans! If thats true then I am in for a ride.

I cannot wait to start Deadhouse Gates!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've heard so much about this series, but this book was just okay in comparison to other fantasy. It never really pulled me in, but I was never entirely bored either, so a solidly okay beginning. I feel like once the world expands and fleshes out in the future I will like it more.

It was fine. Very confusing most of the time. If I were going off just this book, I wouldn't feel compelled to keep going with the series. But, I'm trusting the Internet that the first book is an outlier and committing to reading the next two books. We'll see.

The world and characters in this are wonderful even if I didn't understand what was happening almost half of the time.