Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen)

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The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with ancient and implacable sorcerers. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins. 

For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, their lone surviving mage, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze.

However, the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand . . .

Conceived and written on a panoramic scale, Gardens of the Moon is epic fantasy of the highest order--an enthralling adventure by an outstanding voice.  

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Customer Reviews

This is a review of the whole Malazan Book of the Fallen series, which starts with this book. Plot-wise I won't say much but this is epic fantasy about 500,000 years of civilizations, gods, and conflict all building to a great convergence. Each book has a discrete plot that intertwines with the other books to creat a massive character driven story.

As a hobbyist world builder I am in awe of this magnificent construction. Mr Erikson and another guy (who writes other books in this world!) used this as a custom AD&D setting for years and finally developed it enough to bring their gaming to life. WOW. I have never seen as intricate a world and that includes Middle Earth. This world takes a whole lot of conventions and doesn't use them. Huh? Yep, there's plenty of stuff that's familiar but completely original. Those aren't elves, those aren't orcs, but yes, those are 300,000 year old undead neanderthals.

Not only is the shear scope of the world astounding, the fact that there are SO MANY points of view is great. Mr Erikson manages to tell a story that spans, literally, this whole planet and several "realms" (kind of like pocket dimensions) with races, cultures, and species all unique in perspective. Each character is defined by their culture and background but also their personal experiences. You never feel, reading these stories, that a character is just a fill out the blanks, cookie-cutter construction. Every one of them resonates and has a history.

Something else along that line that I love about Mr Erikson's writing is that he is able to give each character a unique personality. His dour, succinct characters really feel grumpy and his light-hearted inane characters really seem silly. So often in literature it's obvious that it's the same person writing dialog for all the people on the page. Not so here. I am floored that with SO MANY different characters they each remain completely distinct throughout the whole series. It makes the movie in your head that much easier to see.

This is definitely epic fantasy, told from the ground floor. You are in it, as it happens, yet still have the benefit of the overview, the whole puzzle. I'd say that at least half of the story revolves around soldiers because it's a novel of empire. But it keeps evolving and expanding to include the entire world, so to say it is military fiction is limiting. Every situation grows into every other situation. The second book follows the first one and the third book takes place on a different part of the world at the same time as the second. It is so engrossing to see how all these stories intertwine and create new stories.

One last thing to mention is pacing. One of the benefits of epic stories, with large casts, is that the POV changes often enough to stay interesting. However, Mr Erikson avoids killing the mood by pulling away from something gripping to follow an undeveloped plot line. And I mean he keeps this pacing for 10 big fat novels. That's impressive.

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