You are here: Home / Author / Steven Erikson / Gardens Of The Moon

Gardens Of The Moon by Steven Erikson

9-stars

Rate and review Gardens Of The Moon! | What does everyone else think?

Summary A stunning opening to what may become the best fantasy series in decades.

FantasyBookReview.co.uk advises printing and using the following pages for reference when reading Gardens of the Moon. The dramatis personae and glossary are featured at the beginning and end of the book respectively and are very helpful.

Gardens of the Moon - DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Gardens of the Moon - GLOSSARY

Steven Erikson's Gardens Of The Moon is the first book in the series and is entitled A Tale Of The Malazan Book Of The Fallen. The book was first published in 1999 and marked a sensational, critically acclaimed debut.

The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with the formidable Anomander Rake, lord of Moon’s Spawn, and his Tiste Andii. 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 sorceress 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 and 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…

There is no easy way to describe this book, you are flung into the fantasy world from the first page with no explanation of characters or plot. Questions that arise are rarely answered and if anything the answers raise even more questions of their very own. If you hoped that this would be a fantasy book that would help wile away a few rainy days then you will be in for a shock as this tale will require your full and undiluted attention from the very beginning. That is if you want to understand what is going on...

As with many new fantasy novels there are a lot of new character and place names to come to terms with before you can fully enjoy the book. Gardens Of The Moon is more difficult than most in this aspect as many, many characters enter the story in a very short time period and there is a lot to keep up with. It is though, without doubt, worth preserving as the whole story comes together beautifully and the plot begins to make more and more sense. I should also mention that it is not just people and places that you will need to learn, there are also gods that interfere in mankind's struggle.

During the first chapters of the book, Captain Paran, one of the main characters comes into contact with the Empress' Adjunct at a scene of unexplained carnage.

It was when the birds scattered from their path that the Adjunct found herself envying the captain. Before her the roused carrion-eaters exposed a carpet of armour, broken bones and meat. The air was hot, turgid and cloying. She saw soldiers, still helmed, their heads crushed by what must have been huge, terribly powerful jaws. She saw torn mail, crumpled shields, and limbs that had been ripped from bodies. Lorn managed only a few moments of careful examination of the scene around them before she fixed her gaze on the promontory ahead, unable to encompass the magnitude of the slaughter.
Gardens Of The Moon: Book One - Pale

Amongst all the intrigue and battle there are a company of soldiers called the Bridgeburners. I would say that these are most interesting and easily identifiable characters in the book. Their fate is intertwined with that of Captain Paran, Tattersail the Mage and the myriad characters that appear in the tale. A large majority of the action centre's around a siege on a city called Pale where there is a great magical battle between the Empire's mage's and the Lord of Moon's Spawn, Anomander Rake. We are unsure as to who is good and who is bad and the story builds nicely and the characters are developed nicely and past happenings are mentioned that help us to understand how everyone and everything has ended up in the situation that they are now.

'As I said, things have changed,' K'rul said quietly. 'You have a choice, Raest. Onos T'oolan can destroy you. You have no understanding of what his title of Sword signifies - he is without equal in this world. You can fall ignobly beneath the blade of an Imass, or you can accompany me - for in one thing we are the same, you and I. Our time has passed, and the Gates of Chaos await us. What choice do you make?'
'I make neither, Elderling One.' With a soft, hollow laugh, Raest's battered, withered body collapsed.
K'rul cocked his head. 'He's found another body.'
Kruppe pulled out his handkerchief. 'Oh, my,' he said.
Gardens Of The Moon: Chapter Twenty Two

I can't overstate the importance of sticking with this book even if all seems to confusing, the book WILL make sense in the end as the author expertly brings all the threads of the story together and gives us a story to cherish. The imagination of Steven Erikson can only be marveled at as he breathes new life into the fantasy genre with his new ideas and creations.

This is a book that I think I will need to re-read as soon as possible due to the fact that I feel it make be enjoyed even more second time around and there is a good chance that there a parts of the book that I missed first time around.

I highly recommend this book, it is a work of great skill and beauty. Read and enjoy.

Gardens of the Moon (Book 1 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Steven Erikson
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Number of pages: 752
Publication date: 2008-02-12
Publisher: Bantam Books

RRP: ~~£8.99~~
Lowest new price: £3.52
Lowest used price: £2.89

With a field as crowded as heroic fantasy, a reader is entitled to know what makes the latest blockbuster worth his or her attention: but Bantam books are throwing considerable marketing weight behind Steven Erikson, because they clearly believe he is the Next Big Thing. They may be right--he has the breadth and detail of imaginative vision, he is able to create a world that is both absorbing on a human level and full of magical sublimity, and, above all, he can write.

Gardens of the Moon concerns the military campaign by the Malazan Empire to capture the last remaining Free City on the Gernsbackian continent. War is waged with conventional soldiers as well as powerful magicians, and gods mix with mortals in a complex, but rewarding, series of narrative threads that come chiefly out of the school of Feist's Magician, although there is also something of the flavour of Gavriel Kay's celebrated Fionavar books. The moon of the title is a wonderfully grand conception, a sort of floating mountain that moves through the skies of the war-striken continent, and is the home of the 'Son of Darkness'. The various magical battles are splendidly written, and the characters are well realised. Rewardingly mellow and fiendishly readable. --Adam Roberts
Amazon.co.uk Review

Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book 1) (Malazan Book of the Fallen) (Amazon.com)

Author: Steven Erikson
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Number of pages: 752
Publication date: 2008-03-04
Publisher: Corgi

RRP:
Lowest new price: $6.83
Lowest used price: $6.54

The opening chapter in an epic fantasy masterpiece.
Product Description

Daniel from Reading
"Steven Erikson is the best fantasy author to come along since Tolkien. His narrative is spellbinding and the characters are as life-like as you could wish for. I did like Gardens of the Moon but thought that Erikson was cutting his teeth on this one and that the books improve with each release. Memories of Ice is very, very good!"

Gaz from The Malazan Empire
"Wow, what can I say. Fantasy like this does not come along all that often and I was blown away. The imagination of Steven Erikson is incredible, the world that he builds and characters that he creates are unbelievably good. Gardens of the Moon has a start and a finish so you could stop after reading it but I find it highly unlikely that anyone could do that. Brilliant, fantastic, exceptional, I'm running out of superlatives, so just buy it."

Emily from Seattle
"This is a perfect start to what may be the best fantasy series I have ever read. Complex fantasy, rich characters, involving story. I found that I had to re-read the book as I felt that I\'d missed too much first time around. I\'m glad I did, it was even better second time around, Kruppe is a great character."

Ed from Nottingham
"With most modern fantasy being very much a "good vs evil" affair, I found this book very refreshing. By the end I was still trying to work out who the good guys and the bad guys were! It is an extremely well crafted story of war, politics and betrayal. The story flows well, despite the number of characters involved and builds up to an exciting climax. I get the feeling that this is very much the 'tip of the iceberg' in terms of the world that Erikson has created. I have wasted no time whatsoever in starting his second novel."

Omar from Sydney
"There is no other word more fitting for Steven Erikson, for his achievement with this stunning series. He takes an old format and tired genre by the throat and revolutionizes it with his creativity, his ingenuity and brilliant storytelling. A multitude of characters, grim and dark, struggle to survive in a world every bit as real and brutal as our own, if not more so. This is perhaps the only time fiction has made the real world pale into insignificance. This is a series that everyone should read. A lyrical master, Erikson fills his novels with lush prose and evocative descriptions without ever losing that hard edge; his characters distinguish themselves more distinctly than any I can remember - you will laugh, scoff and mourn with them as though you were best of friends or kin. Erikson proves himself as the best in the business with this series and Gardens of the Moon is a rip-roaring opener. "

Steve from London
"I came across this book without ever having heard of the author. After 100 pages I nearly gave up, but something about the author's style made me keep going. Was I glad I did! This book blew my mind, although I had to re-read straight away to get everything straight. The best modern fantasy series and author today bar none. How Mr Erikson pumps these novels out at the rate of one a year beats me. This is exciting and intelligent stuff and having caught up with the series I can't wait for the climax. Developing the plot and characters across the series and keeping them fresh is a major achievment. Get into the world of the Malazans now, you won't regret it."

Submit your own mini-review

Let people know what you think about Gardens Of The Moon. You can write your own mini-review and give the book the rating that you think it deserves. Your reviews will go towards giving Gardens Of The Moon its overall rating that will decide where Gardens Of The Moon finishes in the top 100 fantasy books of all time.

Books you may also enjoy...

A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow by George RR Martin

The events in Storm of Swords overlap the ending of the second book, A Clash of Kings. I have to admit to not enjoying Clash of Kings overly, something I discovered placed me in a minority. Looking back I feel that I was a bit lazy when reading it, characters are thrown at you at a not inconsiderable rate of knots and you can either use the handy cast of characters at the beginning of the book to refresh your memory when you get lost or you can do what I did… carry on regardless hoping that everything will become clear in time. ... read the full review

Summary: A Song of Ice and Fire is the history lesson you wished you had in school.

Reader reviews | Write review

Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson

After decades of internecine warfare, the tribes of the Tiste Edur have at last united under the Warlock King. There is peace – but it has been exacted at a terrible price: a pact made with a hidden power whose motives are at best suspect, at worst deadly. ... read the full review

Summary: Never have I been left in such awe by an author's imagination.

Reader reviews | Write review

The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson

The Bonehunters sees us rejoining the Malazan Fourteenth Army, under the command of Adjunct Tavore Paran. Sha’ik is supposedly dead, the army of the Whirlwind in tatters, and the last survivors making for the refuge fortress city of Y’Ghatan under the leadership of Leoman of the Flails. ... read the full review

Summary: Brilliant, captivating, astounding and mind blowing.

Reader reviews | Write review

Also in this sub-genre...

Book of the Month

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.

Previous winners of Book of the Month

Latest interviews

Interviews plus question and answer sessions with authors, narrators and publishers.

Must-reads

The following reviews are of books that begin the very best fantasy series available.

Competition: Win a signed copy of Graham Hancock's Entangled

Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heaven's Mirror, Supernatural and other bestselling investigations of historical mysteries. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular, Entangled is his first work of fiction. We have five signed copies of Entangled to give away as prizes. Email us the answer to the following question and the lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a copy of the book, signed by the author.

Enter the competion now!

Special Feature: Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe

Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.

Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe

Special Feature: Understanding the author of Alice in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.

Lewis Carroll on Fantasy Book Review