Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book Of The Fallen, #1)

by Steven Erikson

The Malazan Empire is a continent-spanning dominion over which the ruthless Empress Laseen holds sway, her rule enforced by the Claws, the Imperial assassins. Bled dry by incessant warfare and undermined by dissension, signs indicate that the Empire could be crumbling from within.

The Genabackis campaign has been a war of attrition in which the Malazans have spent years fighting the combined forces of local armies aided by the formidable Son of Darkness and Lord of the Tiste Andii, Anomander Rake, the Crimson Guard, the powerful warlord Caladan Brood, and their allies.

Though they emerge victorious from the siege of Pale and impel the flying fortress of Moon’s Spawn to retreat and abandon the conflict, the Malazan triumph is bittersweet. Evidence implies that the Bridgeburners were nearly wiped out by treacherous elements from within the ranks of their own army.

Before any light can be shed on what truly occurred, the Malazan troops are sent marching to subdue Darujhistan, the last of the Free Cities of Genabackis. Soon, as the conflict escalates, powerful forces converge on Darujhistan.

And with gods and Ascendants watching and manipulating events, nothing is as it seems in the City of Blue Fire.

Thus begins The Malazan Book of the Fallen, one of the greatest and most ambitious fantasy epics of our time.

• ISBN13: 9781645240969
• Publish Date: September 2022 (first published 1 April 1999)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Imprint: Subterranean Press
• Edition: Second Printing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 559
• Language: English
• Special: Exclusive Design Signed Sprayed Edges

Reviews

[moraa]

Words are like coin—it pays to hoard.

I have to admit, I'm impressed:

1. With the world-building. It's not every day you read such complexity without getting bogged down by backstory (of course a dramatis personae helps wade through those murky waters)
2. That it took me two days to finish this, especially after all the hype about its difficulty (that may have had a hand in my decision to bump this up on my tbr)
3. That I wasn't rooting for anyone! I'm accustomed to having a character to root for (even if it's not the protagonist) and I was scrambling for my list trying to figure out which alliances I wanted to see sustained and who I'd willingly part with. It was a hot mess in that final third of the book, literally and figuratively.
4. That I can't find any scathing remarks of significance (I always have those, even for my favourite fantasy writers)

All in all, I'm definitely heading over to the second book soon.

[HekArtemis]

It's the characters that did it for me. I loved every single character. I love how I couldn't find an obvious "bad guy". Not like full on grimdark where everyone is bad, no it's just that everyone is "human" and they have legit motivations for the choices they make, so I found myself rooting for all of them even though they were often opposed to each other. So good.

[ross91]

DNF at 62%
Let's face it: I'm never going to finish this book.
I don't blame it on the story: I'm intrigued with the plot and I like some of the characters. The main problem is the writing style that is really not for me: everything seems plain and kind of superficial, I find it really difficult to become invested in the plot and sometimes it's hard to separate all the supporting characters from one another.
I'm really sad because I honestly thought I had found a new big series to read and fall in love with, but the magic didn't happened. Maybe I will re-read it in the future and I will like it more, but for now I say goodbye to Mr. Erikson!