Gardens of the Moon

Malazan, #1

by Steven Erikson

Mass Market Paperback, 666 pages

English language

Published Nov. 4, 2005 by Tor Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-7653-4878-4
Goodreads:: 55399

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(130 reviews)

Dark forces gather in the Malazan Empire as Empress Laseen, malevolent ruler, turns her attention to Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, and Sergeant Whiskeyjack and Tattersail recover from the siege of Pale.

2 editions

Katharsisdrill reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Original and complex fantasy

4 stars

As soon as you turn the first pages of this book you know that you are in the high fantasy genre. You are thrown in medias res, and have to cling to the sentences to understand what all those names and concepts mean. There are some very pictorial scenes of magical battle that fascinates and some rather quirky characters who amuses... but it is a bit of a mouthful.

Then you start realising that this is not the common high fantasy fare after all. There are no direct analogue in human history, as is otherwise typical of fantasy universes (ie. those are Romans, those are European medieval kingdoms etc.). There's an originality to the people and customs described, and beneath it all the complexity of the history of not one, but several ancient civilisations lurks.

The tone might at times be a little too heroic and grandly, and there's a …

The tone might at times be a little too heroic and grandly, and there's a lot of recurring inner dialogue used to characterise that might have been skipped. But all in all the sheer richness of the world and the originality of the characters compensate these minor flaws. The book is hard to get hold of, but you have nine more books in which you can get familiar with the universe, so read slowly and enjoy being in a world that only resembles ours in its cruelty.

Definitely recommended.

Poltirsh reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

None

2 stars

Moronic antagonists, stupid protagonists, nonsensical world.

Fred Johansen reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

The first Malazan needs the other nine.

4 stars

Like many readers, I struggled a bit with Gardens of the Moon, Steven Erikson's first tome in the Malazan series. Not that it's a bad book, it's merely a bit confusing at times. It hits you with about a hundred names and several storylines that do not touch each other very much before the last chapters.

So, does it all come together? Nearly. Does the book stand on its own to be readable as a novel in its own right? Very nearly, but not quite.

I'd recommend that you approach it the same way I did: Having heard so many positive things about the "good kind of chaos" of the Malazan series as a whole, I decided to read the first book with a view to continuing onwards to the whole series.

Am I going to continue? I suppose I must, now, in order to get the whole story.

And …

So, does it all come together? Nearly. Does the book stand on its own to be readable as a novel in its own right? Very nearly, but not quite.

Am I going to continue? I suppose I must, now, in order to get the whole story.

And am I looking forward to it? Yes I am.

Tom Goetz reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Reads like book three of a litrpg series. Names, places, and concepts all pile on with no background or explanation. Lots of contradictions.

CuriousLibrarian reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Well conceived fantasy world, with a full suite of characters, histories and cultures. Not all are human. I loved how women are integrated into this world as equals. I needed the Malazan maps and wiki to help me navigate this complex story but it was well worth it.

Joerg reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the moon' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Definitely well written and keeps you sucked in from the start. A big bag of standard cliche fantasy fare, a cast of characters covering volume 1 of the New and Extended Character Class Handbook. Lots of old and older and even more oldest gods and pre-human races that are almost all comically shallow. Women characters exist even in prominent roles, though they either are (a) ice-cold and calculating or get a healthy dose of (b) male gaze. An enjoyable read for sure, but nowhere near different or imaginative beyond the fantasy-gatekeeping of adolescent white boys.

Tavish reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Read it a long time ago, but this time I listened to an audio book. It's good, but I had difficulty following some plot lines, especially initially when we reach Darujistan. Also, the ending was kinda confusing, so much happened all at once. Will have to check out some external resource to figure out what all happened.

chuckdee reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I must admit to purchasing this book a while back on recommendation, attempting to read it, and not being able to make it through. It was densely packed and twisting in its plot, and I wasn't able to rip throught it as I was normally wont to do. I decided to give it another try, and discovered a story that was layered and well crafter, that demanded my full attention and pulled me into the rich background that was crafted. It does take a bit more thab most books in the reading, but I can say at this point that it is well worth the effort.

Yashima reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Some of my favorite fantasy characters of all time populate this mythical place ... if you haven't read it, prepare for an ambitious endeavour in reading all 10 books. Or as the preface starts: "There is no point in beginning something without ambition."

On my first reading I rated this book 3 stars sometime after reading it in relation to the other books of the series. My second reading, while reminding me of some weaknesses (a few sluggish chapters and descriptions I tend to skip), proved to be 4.5 stars worth of fun. I am glad I decided to come back to this series.

chadkoh reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

This is the first in 10 novels, but reads like it is about novel number 6. About halfway through he finally settles on a group of characters to follow — at least, it seems that way, but he keeps introducing new characters and even new unknown baddies right up to the final chapters! I don't know who edited this book, but that person needed reinforcements. Erickson has a million ideas for world-building, and every time I was about to give up on the book, he would keep me around for some intriguing concept or set piece. However the lack of any narrative build just renders this story as overly complex and disorienting. I am not likely to pick up the second.

Matthew reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

What an utterly stunning fantasy novel. All the characters have such depth and complexity to them, there's no boring sense of black-and-white good guys vs bad guys, there's an enormous sense of richness to the lore and world this takes place in, and the twisting storyline with its many threads is consistently fascinating and exciting.

Coalford reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Second read through of Erikson's epic. I remember what a slog this was the first time though, and though it was one of the most difficult books I've ever gotten through, I'm glad I did.
His series is now one of my all time favorites. Highly recommended, though not for everyone.

Sean Gursky reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I think I liked this book? It was hard to tell because I didn't understand much of what was going on. I knew that Book #1 in this series was going to be a struggle, and it was.

Once a character was introduced and they continued to appear in later chapters I was able to grab on to them and get a bit of enjoyment from the story, but there is still a lot I don't know about this universe that makes it hard to follow along. I got in the habit of reading chapter summaries for chapters I just read to bring some clarity, but that always didn't guarantee understanding. I will continue with this series because it gets better, but this was a bit of a challenge.

RxBrad reviewed Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (Malazan, #1)

Review of 'Gardens of the Moon' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Honestly, not as bad as I was expecting it to be. I just didn't have a whole lot of spare time to read it in a reasonably short timeframe.

As I've seen other people say, the author throws a lot of characters at you with no explanation of who they are. The glossary at the end helped somewhat after I was done reading. I suspect this is a book you'd have to read again (after reading the entire series) to really appreciate.

Definitely better than any of the Wheel of Time books, at least. Just kind of hard to follow. And I think you need to be kind of nerdy to stick with this series. It's no Game of Thrones.