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

Narrator

Love these books. however, first 3 books are hard to get through due to this narrator.

well written but not my style

This book is like a fever dream or Salvitor Dali painting odd, hard to describe and subject to taste. I can see the appeal gods, demi-gods, immortals, mages mixed regular humans. With multiple planes of existance, animated marionettes and dragons the other tells a tale of a particular set of events from all sides perspectives at once. I think the jumping from character to character group to group is what lost me. With as esoteric as the world is the like of a centeral grounding point in the form of a cause or character to route for is what loses it for me personally. That said the writing, imagery and poetry are clearly the work of a talented artist.

Fantasy WWE, Amazing

It's like fantasy WWE! An incredible cast of characters that each have their own morales and goals. You don't know who will win or survive until the very end. You'll find yourself picking sides and rooting for them the whole way through.

If you're used to changing perspectives Read this

If you're used to changing perspectives similar to fire starter by Stephen King this is gonna work for You. Otherwise you're probably gonna get lost and find the writing style overwhelming.

The story can be hard to follow if you don't pay attention to each Character. But as you go through it you find yourself more and more invested into each character making reading this addicting and fluid.

It's worth it!!

I started reading this year's ago after a friend thrust it on me insisting it was incredible. I read through the first half thinking it couldn't possibly be the first book in the series, put it down, and forgot about it. Then, I saw it on audible and decided to give it another go. SO GLAD I DID! I ended up listening to almost everything from the Malazan related that's available. Erikson is easily in my top 10 authors and I am impatiently waiting for audible to add more.

For everyone saying there's no back story, in my opinion, that is one of the things that makes this series so unique.

At the beginning of the series I was sure I would never make sense of anything. By the end, I just wanted more. Everything fits together, little by little. Trust Erikson to make sense and all the people who have fallen in love with this series that tell you how great it is.

Very Very complex but wonderful!

Fantastic story even though its not an easy read. There are several book club read alongs on youtube that made becoming familiarized with the setting and characters. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a true epic fantasy!

Terrible narrator

The narrator did not hole intelligibility in high regard. I had to buy the book to figure out what was being said in certain parts. I have listened to a lot of audiobooks but this one by far is the worst narrated. Some pets Sound like he is swishing his spit around in his mouth as well, which began to make me furious for some reason. The story is good though and I’ve been told the next books are much less confusing so I’m gonna power through this one and see what the second book has to offer.

Absolutely wonderful story...narrator...eh

Ralph Lister is nothing compared to Michael Page. Story is beyond wonderful though. I have finished it twice now and I still dont want it to end. One of the absolute best stories about soldiers and soldiering plain and simple.

Everything is EPIC!!111

Everything in this book is EPIC!!!. EPIC betrayals, EPIC magic's, EPIC heroes, EPIC death... as if you were to go to the grocery store you had a 50/50 chance of either having your entire family being murdered by ancient evils of unimaginable power, or stumbling into the Princesses bedroom and walking away a king.

Another fantasy series I can't get enough of!

I have long been into fantasy novels and desired to find something I could sink my brain into after eaiting so long for GRRM to finish his epic set...and this so far is all I hoped!