Reviews with content warning for Gore - Gardens of the Moon

While being certainly confusing, as it's intended to be by Erikson's writing style, I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I was really nervous going in because I desperately want to enjoy this series, and I'm glad to say that I couldn't be more excited going forward.

Erikson's prose is absolutely magnificent. It might be the best I've read so far. He writes incredibly dialogue, makes mundane scenes interesting with the way his language flows, and creates an incredibly atmosphere through the descriptors and words he's used and created for this world.

The action sequences are cinematic. I don't typically like a soft magic system, but I absolutely loved whatever the magic is in this series. It creates some jaw dropping moments.

Characters and worldbuilding were also great. I would die for Kruppe. It was an absolute joy to read every scene he was in.

I'm very pleased with the beginning to this series.

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charlinem's review

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adventurous challenging dark inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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farleighelse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

would read again. Magic. Magic realms. Magical creatures. War and genocide. young and eld gods. possession. Picks up towards the middle end of the book. Looking forwards to seeing more of Paran and Sorry. Assassination and sabatoge. older audian

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annapox's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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nerdkitten's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bcrowes11's review

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A lot of people call it dark, though I'd call it slightly pretentious. That being said, I want to read it again now that I know how it plays out so I can get a better feel for it, but it did seem that Erickson tries too hard to be unique in this first book. So we'll see how the tone changes since the rest weren't for a screenplay.

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catsy2022's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Rating: B

Malazan is immensely popular on Reddit's Fantasy board, the first place that I heard of it. Written in 1999, Gardens of the Moon is the first entry in the series, the debut novel of the author who is reportedly also an anthropologist and archaeologist. Cool. I did manage to power through the book in a few days once I got going, however, I wouldn't say it was particularly amazing.

Gardens of the Moon (GotM) follows two separate groups of people in the ongoing war caused by the Malazan Empire expanding into different continents with the purpose of conquering the world. The first group is a ravaged company of men - both mages and warriors - who have been doing missions for the Malazan empire and the second is a group of locals living in the last free city Darujhistan. The story features a rich lore and world, multiple gods and elder beings (all explained in the Personae Dramatis and Glossary) as well as frightening weapons. I would say that I liked a few of the characters but found them to rarely be in the limelight.

Every character save 1 or 2 spoke in the same manner, so I never felt like they were particularly distinct. The names don't follow any sort of convention but I liked that they weren't overly complex or confusing. I also liked how some weapons have names. I liked the presence of the gods and how they interfere in the mortal realm as well as learning about the political climate. I think it was a good introduction to a new series. I wonder now if I could explain what happened in the book; I never felt like I was truly lost in it, but I did feel like none of the battles were particularly epic or exciting.

I already have the 2nd book at home and the library also has them in their collection so I think this may be the best path for me. I hope the next books are better.

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