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

first word of every sentence too quiet

good book, narrator needs to stop saying first word of sentence quietly, hard to hear.

No favors from the narrator

The story is fantastic. Lister's voice is certainly listenable. The issue is that this is a book with multiple characters and, by extension, multiple POV changes. this is is not a problem in and of itself, except that there is absolutely no pause in the narration between POV changes. this means that there are multiple times where you will be listening for 5-6 minutes before you even realize he switched to a completely different location with completely different characters. this could have been fixed easily by providing a 5 second pause between POV changes so the listener knows that the current scene is over.

Good epic story/ not generally cheesy.

I have the hard copies of this series as well, and I really enjoy the atmosphere and style of storytelling. The way the author approaches this series is a larger than life telling of struggles on the daily human level, to the fact that even the smallest quibble of gods can spell destruction of a civilization. The magic system has a flavorful description and the combat descriptions are robust.

Gardens of the Moon is a slow start, but midway through it really starts moving.

probably the only criticism I feel at times is the way in which the characters and their stories are generally slowly revealed, but at the same time it doesn't feel forced and like they have to vomit out all of the backstory and motivations all at once. Best way of saying it is, there are many many stories being told and so only a few get some time in the light and have to wait several chapters or until the next book for more information.

Just be warned, this series can be quite gruesome at times, and it is a good time consumption to get into and through all of the information you are drowning in.

Loved this!

New author and narrator for me. Kruppe is ma boi!! 🤣 He is my fave "simpleton" character, mostly because of Ralph's amazing performance! This was a very enjoyable and an interesting approach to storytelling; it was like a linked mini series.

fabulously frustrating start!

This text is gloriously obtuse. transformed to pure joy by the narrator!

Can't wait for the next!

simply the best

you'd be hard pressed to find better writing, characters, or action in any other book from any other genre. case closed

Loved it!

It was a bit tough to follow initially, but great cast and storylines. I am absolutely purchasing the next book.

oh yea, really solid voice acting too.

Remarkably Accessible

For a series somewhat known for not explaining itself, this was really accessible. Strong characters and plenty of teases for the rest of the lore

Good story.. poor narration editing

Great book.. it was incredibly confusing for quite some time. The book obviously contains many different storylines and scenes. In a written book a switch from one to the next would have a few blank lines. Most narrators insert a pause for the same effect. The narration in this book went from the end of one scene right into the next with no pause. It was jarring and confusing. You stop and think where did this character come from? Who is this again? I didn’t know he was mixed up with them?

second time through the series. love it.

love the characters and the deep web this book creates. at first is hard to handle the sheer number of people but each one is developed through the books!