[.uk] Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Vol. 1) (ISBN 0765348780)

Why does everyone think this is so good?:
I just finished my reading of "Gardens of the Moon". I say my reading because I couldn't get past the first 60-70 pages. But I'm done. This book is incredibly dense, slow, and convoluted - yet not in a good way. I generally give books about 40 pages to interest me. I know of professional reviewers that do the same. I only read more than that because it had been compared to George R.R. Martin and he is among my favorite authors at present. And just so that one doesn't think that I'm too stupid to get into it: I read Tolkien in elementary school, Robert Jordan in middle school, and I am presently in law school. And yes, I find this book convoluted and dull in comparison to the readings I do for law school - at least in them I can usually figure out what's going on.

Well-written incoherent babble:
Let me start out by saying that I will most likely read every book in this series because I'm such a fantasy fan and this series definitely has a lot to offer for people who enjoy the genre, but if you actually like a clear plot with a well-developed world and well-explained environments, keep moving. This one is not for you. The first 100 pages kept me thinking wondering if I was really reading the first book in the series. It was a lot like the Black Company series for those of you familiar with Glen Cook, but it completely lacked any of the real "down-to-earth" characters for which Cook is famous. The mages are all ridiculously powerful, live thousands of years, and use some crap called Warrens that don't make a bit of sense. The non-human races are relatively unexplained except for tangential descriptions that bear a semblance to other races developed by other authors or series, and several of them are either immortal or live for tens of thousands of years. All in all, it's not a bad read as fantasy goes, but it leaves the reader having to fill a whole lot of stuff in on their own until the author deigns to fill in some of the blanks for us. Even after the first 500 pages of what is speculated to be a 10 book series, I'm not sure who the heck the "bad guys" actually are. For those of you on the fence, think of Donaldson's Covenant series mixed with the styles of Cook, Salvatore, and Turtledove character development. As a writer, I'm impressed with the depth of the world and history, but as I reader, I'm left wanting a bit more explanation as to what the heck is going on.

Skip it.:
This was long, drawn out, and uninteresting. The characters aren't involving, the action sequences are sadly lacking, and the setting is dull. I'm amazed so many on amazon rate this highly; there is so much other good fantasy out there, skip this one and go read something else.

Great Book for Archeologists Trying to Piece A World Together with Only a Few Clues:
Gardens of the Moon feels like it was originally a 10,000 page book, then there was a fire, and only 666 pages were saved. The book covers generations and talks about past battles decades ago. It feels like there are about 45 main characters and a good chunk of them die or just disappear from the book completely... and this is all in the first 80 pages. Then some gods show up and undo what has already been done, leaving you with a feeling that the writer is just going to do whatever he wants. As soon as you start feeling for a character or getting a sense of what's going on, the book skips years ahead and just starts over at some random point with completely new characters. After a few hundred pages of this, you just stop caring. I wanted to throw this book into a fire place in order to burn the last 666 pages. You may like this book if you're into digging through pages of text like an archeologist, trying to decipher some sort of meaning from it. But if you want a sensible plot in chronological order, with strong characters, look elsewhere. No attempt is made to highlight what is important, either. Instead, you'll be digging for clues to what may be a plotline. 5% of the time, you might actually find one. To be fair, Erickson's writing style is very descriptive, but his narrative keeps clashing with his urge to tell a hundred year history of his world. If this book was a collection of short stories, that may have worked better. Note: I loved the first 3 George RR Martin books. They are complex and deep with tons of characters and I had no problem following those books. However, with Gardens of the Moon, I felt like I had to draw diagrams and take 200 pages of notes in order to follow a pointless story. Note: Feist skips around, too, but he has solid main characters that help ground his story and keep the reader interested. I've heard Erickson's later books are better, but this one is a mess. If you like character driven stories, you probably won't be able to finish this book. If you're REALLY REALLY into massive fantasy worlds, then you will probably enjoy this book.

Amazingly good:
I just finished Gardens of the Moon, and I was astonished by how much I enjoyed it. The positive points, as I see them, are the following: 1) It's not a quest novel. No character starts as a lowly (insert profession) in his/her hometown, then sets out on a journey in which he/she discovers hidden talents and depths to his/her soul/mind/whatever. Not that I dislike those, but there are too many of them. 2) Erikson doesn't spend too much time dwelling on how the magic system works. It's a Warren. It opens. Stuff happens. There's a bit more about the system than this, but it's very well integrated into the story. 3) The gods aren't all-powerful, and they are competing with each other for god-space and power. Thus, we have motivation and limits wrapped up in one convenient bit. Again, not too much brooding on this one. 4) Erikson starts us off with very little information, and grows it throughout the book. This is how an individual experiences the world, and I find it very refreshing. There's no omnipotent mage who tells the main character important background info and interprets world events for us through the lens of 800 years' experience. This leaves the reader with plenty of questions that are gradually answered throughout the book. 5) Goes along with #4. It is hard to tell who to root for as the book develops, because many individuals have apparently conflicting goals. Also, there is no main character who supports/is supported by 'The Light'. Darkness, Shadow and Chance dominate this book; not surprising since it's a book about war. Fluffy bunnies, cotton candy and kisses don't exactly permeate battlefields. Basically, this is an intelligent person's fantasy novel. In order to really enjoy it, you have to enjoy puzzles and surprises, and realize that confusion is simply your mind trying to figure things out.