Gardens of the Moon

Executive Summary: This is not a book for the faint of heart, or the first time fantasy reader. Mr. Erikson makes you think, and READ. No skimming allowed. Every word can be important. It's certainly not for everybody, but if you stick with it, I think most people will find their efforts greatly rewarded.Full ReviewThis is a case of, you were right Good Reads recommendation engine. Why didn't I listen to you?Shortly after joining good reads last year and putting all my books in, I checked out the recommendations page. This book was prominently listed based on several of my shelves. I read the description, and some of the reviews, and wasn't too impressed and moved on.Fast forward about 6 months and a few of my newly made GR friends were making a group to do a series re-read. A few others decided to join in as first timers. I was convinced to give the series a try.I'm glad I did. I can't say how I'll feel after all 10 books, but after the first one, I'm hooked!The group is probably a large part of my enjoyment. I can see this book being very hard to read by yourself. There were a few parts that confused the hell out of me, that were explained to me by people who had been there before.I'm very much a go with the flow and enjoy the ride type of reader. I'm OK if things don't make sense right away, so long as I get there eventually. Everything that confused me at the start was cleared up by the end. I'm not 100% if that was all book, or our great group discussion, but it doesn't matter.The book certainly has left me with a lot of questions to be answered, but that's to be expected as the start of a 10 book series.Mr. Erikson is an excellent writer. His descriptions, characters and language are all top notch. My only (minor) complaint would be that he sometimes seems intent on showing you just how good his vocabulary is.The highlight for me is the character development. This book involves some very powerful people. And just when you think “wow, what a badass”, someone more powerful shows up. I don't know if Dues Ex Machina possible when the gods themselves are part of the cast.He also paints a very grey picture. One or two chapters in, I started to feel I knew who was “good” and who was “bad”. Five chapters in, I had to re-evaluate my initial assessments. I wouldn't be surprised if 2 books in, I re-asses them again.Mr. Erikson introduces an interesting magical system with his use of Warrens. Unlike Brandon Sanderson who gives you a lot of detail and rules about how magic works, at least through 1 book the details are quite murky.All and all, a great start to the series. It's a 4, but it's a very high 4, and the ending almost pushes it to a 5 for me. I'm already looking forward to continuing on with [b:Deadhouse Gates 55401 Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2) Steven Erikson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385272744s/55401.jpg 3898716] in two weeks.

The author kept me in the dark for half the book which kept me from caring about what was happening in the second half. Poor writing and names that are unpronounceable took away from the world the author had built. I don't think I will continue to [b:Deadhouse Gates 55401 Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2) Steven Erikson http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316126263s/55401.jpg 3898716].

GotM is the best fantasy novel I've read in a long time, perhaps ever. I'm overjoyed that there are 9 more to go.

Some thoughts on what I heard about the series vs what I read:

- The first chapter was a bit overwhelming, and the language felt clumsy and confusing - I had to read a few sentences more than once to wring meaning out of them - and that fit what I'd heard. And it cleared up after the first chapter and is not at all representative of the rest of the book.

- People said Erikson throws a million characters at you and they're hard to keep track of. Pfffft. If you've read A Song of Ice and Fire, and managed to keep even half of the characters, families and relationships straight, GotM is a cakewalk.

- I'd heard that much of the world is obscure and unexplained. It is (so far). This is a GOOD thing. Tedious, multi-page info dumps (I'm looking at you, Mr. Jordan) are not how anyone speaks, and they're, well, tedious. Erikson explains enough to make sense, but not enough that you feel like an expert on this bizarre world you've just stumbled into, and has left me with quite a few nagging questions that keep me avidly reading.

- Specifically, the magic system. We all love a good magic system, and usually, some wise mage coincidentally lectures another character about how it all works, so we readers know. Here, magic is brutal, complex, and mysterious, and we see it happen, but rarely is it explained. There's obviously a system behind it, but it's not laid out in detailed exposition for us in the first book. I have QUESTIONS. Again, this is good.

- The story does indeed jump around a lot. This isn't “Chosen One and plucky companions seek McGuffin to save the world from Bad Guy”. It's a complex story, told masterfully, with dodgy good guys and sympathetic bad guys, where winning often means doing bad things for good reasons, and even after the victory, there's not much happily ever aftering. In this sense it's the most realistic, adult fantasy I've ever read.

- As a roleplayer, I was delighted to hear this all came about from a game Erikson was running, and I so very much want to play in this world. And that's the only thing that sucks about Malazan - there are no gaming materials for it. Considering the GotM came out over 20 years ago, this is confusing, sad and unforgivable. Okay, maybe not unforgivable, but c'mon.

Thank you Mr. Erikson, and and now onto Deadhouse Gates!

Re-reading (again)

This is the first book in a 10-volume series (eight of which are currently published). It's an epic fantasy spanning a world and with a myriad different characters. There are several maps, lists of dramatis personae, and glossaries to help you navigate this intricate world. It would be daunting to someone new to the fantasy genre, and on someone less so to a fan (like me).

Until relatively recently, I resisted getting involved in multi-volume fantasy series – at least those that expand beyond a trilogy. But that all changed when I started George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series (4 published, 3 to come). Got hooked there. I also got hooked on Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series (I've read 2 of 6 so far). Erikson has been compared to Martin because both are not afraid to kill off main characters (both good, evil, and somewhere in between). But these three, Erikson, Martin, and Butcher all have very different writing styles. Erikson's style is less straight-forward than the others. With Martin and Butcher, following the plot and the character's motivations doesn't tax your brain. But there is so much going on in Erikson's world. It's a little much at first but then a third of the way through this book, it begins to get clearer. And his use of sorcery in the story is heavy, detailed, and fascinating.

It's a strange place – maybe not as strange as China Mieville's Bas-Lag, but wonderfully strange all the same. And the characters are wildly diverse as well. But they could use some more fleshing out. Of the two dozen or so that I followed through this tale, I was only getting a clear picture of four or five of them. But I found the whole thing to wickedly engrossing. I love some of the weirdness he puts into this tale, like, for instance, a sorcerer who ends up having his soul transferred into a marionette. Think Chucky with wizardly powers. In this series the Malazan empire is hellbent on world domination but that is neither easy nor assured. Who knows how long it will take me to get through this series, but I'm looking forward to doing so.

One thing I gotta add is that Jeez Laweez, but these Malazan covers (US versions) are cheesy-looking! I mean, look at this one, is that guy sporting a mullet?! Sheesh. And, Book 3 looks like it may have the worst cover. I'd be embarrassed if I cared enough.