Gardens of the Moon

The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1

By: Steven Erikson

Narrated by: Ralph Lister

Length: 26 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Vast legions of gods, mages, humans, dragons and all manner of creatures play out the fate of the Malazan Empire in this first book in a major epic fantasy series

The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with the formidable Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, 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, surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze.

However, it would appear that 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 new voice.

©1999 by Steven Erikson. (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Erikson is an extraordinary writer. My advice to anyone who might listen to me is, Treat yourself to Gardens of the Moon. And my entirely selfish advice to Steven Erikson is, write faster." --Stephen R. Donaldson

"I stand slack-jawed in awe of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. This masterwork of imagination may be the high water mark of epic fantasy. This marathon of ambition has a depth and breadth and sense of vast reaches of inimical time unlike anything else available today. The Black Company, Zelazny's Amber, Vance's Dying Earth, and other mighty drumbeats are but foreshadowings of this dark dragon's hoard." --Glen Cook

"A world that is both absorbing on a human level and full of magical sublimity...a wonderfully grand conception...splendidly written...fiendishly readable." --Adam Roberts

Needed a second read through to fully understand

To me this book was like someone handing you a stack of poker chips and dropping you into a high stakes poker game and you've never seen a deck of cards in your entire life. it's up to you to figure out what the cards mean, what the chips mean, what the vernacular means and you've been at the table for a few hours before you even figure out what happened in the first hand you played.
While there are some compelling characters, the sheer number of them means that you're constantly reorienting yourself to who is talking, who they are and where they fit into the story which again it's something you're not even meant to grasp until hundreds of pages into the book.
As it is with any fantasy novels where characters interplay with God's the physical rules of the universe are constantly changing, this allows the author to toy with your emotions and to me this undermines the stakes for the characters. you might think certain things are happening to certain characters but in this universe Gods can do THIS... ta daaa! I'm left shaking my head thinking...really bro?
Ralph Lister does a decent job with the material, good differentiation between characters but his Cadence in the parts where he's the narrator have always required me to pay very close attention to follow no matter what fantasy novel he's reading, the powder Mage Trilogy comes to mind.
I realize that a lot of people really love this book and perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I would have actually read it but for me even the audiobook felt like work.

Deep, engrossing, complex, tough...

Great story. I started reading the book years ago but stopped because It seemed overwhelming. It was when I started listening to it on audiobooks that I was able to really dive in to it. Erickson doesn't hold your hand and gently ease you in to the story. You're put into it and the pieces come together, and you are rewarded, as you go further in to this complex story.
I have the hard copy book and I have the audiobook. As I would listen I would reference the hard copy book often to familiarize myself with names and locations.
The narration in this book is on point. Characters come to life and each one seems very individualized. The main reason I didn't rate this book at 5 stars was because of the steep learning curve. Having said that though, you are rewarded with a great story if you push through. I look forward to the next books in the series.

Solid

I enjoyed listening to this book. It was challenging for me to follow it. By the end I was on the ball. this isn't anything against the author who attention to detail was remarkable.

very hard to get into.

once you get past the initial quarter of the book it starts to come together and become interesting. I almost put it down for good several times.

Great book once you figure it out

This book has a pretty steep learning curve. I struggled in the beginning to follow what was going on but it all worked itself out eventually. Great book once you get sorted out.

Amazing!!

Loved it! With so many books in this series I can't wait to see where it all goes!

Hope the story gets better.

Really struggled to finish. The story jumped around so much I thought the download was screwed up! I will give the next book a shot but hopefully it won't be a waste of time.

Great Series

I've read a lot of series like "Wheel of Time" and "Wizzards First Rule" to name a few, and after some first initial doubts I surprisingly found this series akin in length, and the ability to keep readers drawn into this incredible world. Just make sure that you pay attention to all character plots or you will miss the interesting way the seamlessly blend together at random times to tell an incredible story.

Fabulous tale

This is better than Wheel of Time, Harry Dresden, or Game of Thrones. Solid character development, very tight story, great interleaving of clots. It's a wonderful first book. I hope they're all this good and it looks like they are. My new favorite series. This is a D and D lovers heaven. I greatly appreciate the magic and countermeasures for the militarized magic

Even better as an audiobook

Where do I begin?

I think I’ll start with the narrator. Broad range of character voices. It really inspired a lot of differences in the story for me. I felt like I could connect the characters a lot more. I love Stephen Ericksons books, but there tends to be a lot of them, and it was easier for me to follow the storyline with someone reading to me.

Full disclosure: I’ve read this series twice already. So to say that I like it isn’t understatement. But again having someone read it to me in such an entertaining and interesting way brought a whole new level of appreciation to the novel. I cannot wait to start the next!