Gardens of the Moon Review (Malazan #1) No Spoilers - A New Favourite Series?

My spoiler-free review of Gardens of the Moon, book 1 in Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. This is the start to something insanely epic!
This review, like the book itself, is a collection of thoughts and may be somewhat chaotic...

[MattonBooks]

I've got everything Malazan (I think?) on my shelf, and I can tell you: the rabbit hole is about 1.5 meters deep. 😆 I always love watching someone fall in love with Malazan. Welcome! 😀And yup, good catch on the Black Company. Erikson has himself called Cook's writing an inspiration. And if you love Rake & Quick Ben, you're in for a treat! So much more to come with them. ♥

[NovRen]

Hey B&B thanks for dropping by on the live stream last weekend, and anything you do to support the animated series campaign. We look forward to seeing you in the future. Peace be to you!

[somethingwitty]

I enjoyed this review! Erikson's masterful prose floored me as well. I read the main 10 without going into the other books, and that was fantastic. It sounds like you're primed for this type of book, and I think the advice to treat it like poetry or short stories is fabulous. I'd suggest taking your time and letting each book shine on its own merits. Many readers get surprised and frustrated by the lack of continuity between characters in books 1 and 2. I found that the time Erikson spent on setup utterly worthwhile and impactful. Looking forward to hearing what you think of Rake throughout the books :)

[slidenaway]

Great to see another new Malazan fan!! Haven’t finished video yet but seeing all the comments about reading order, just wanna chime in —

In my personal experience, as well as lots of others who have read Malazan, I think it’s really best to read just MBotF first, then go over to Esslemont’s NotME, then everything else in any order. There can be some whiplash switching between Esslemont and Erikson, and it’s also just a lot to keep straight. MBotF is complex enough lol. People usually try mixing the two on reread, which makes more sense to me

That said, definitely try it if you want to. I would just encourage you not to lock yourself into that plan, and instead be willing to switch it up depending on how it’s going. Okay long comment over!

[CNavo.TheNextChapter]

Definitely a rabbit hole, but it was expected to happen. It will be a fun journey I'm thinking. Though GotM was a reread, I'll be excited to see where Erikson takes on henceforth. -Cheers Usman. Great wrap-up!

[jcmberne]

Glad you're enjoying! Loved this series.

[SouravUldyssian]

Great to see your review and that you loved it so much. Was waiting for this. Of course the books are only going to get better. However the next books will be much deeper and denser. GOTM despite its difficult to understand parts, also has a simpler story. From next books it will be much more layered.

Regarding reading Esslemont's books, don't worry now, since the first Esslemont book Night of Knives comes after book 5 of the main series in publication order, which is the best way to read them. So first 5 books of Malazan, i.e. till Midnight Tides, you don't have to worry about the other books.

[blacknbluecollarreader]

Excellent review man!! Rake and Kruppe were excellent characters imo. Such an epic series and I can't wait for to continue on. Deadhouse Gates is one of the best books I've read this year. You in for a ride.

[slidenaway]

Now that I’ve finished the video — well done!! Glad you loved it so much. Welcome to the club 😄

I agree the “difficulty” of the books tends to be overblown but it IS just a different writing style than I think most fantasy fans are used to. Ah whatever, that topic has been beaten into the ground so moving on lol

Interesting you noticed the short story style — Erikson is actually famously (“famously” to Malazan fans I mean) *trained* as a short story writer, and he absolutely approaches his writing that way. That’s another thing about his style that can be jarring to some peeps. So good catch!!

Rake and Quick Ben are definitely great standouts to focus on, I love them too!

As others have mentioned, Glen Cook was a huge influence on Erikson. Malazan ends up going way beyond that, in terms of scope, but the military stuff is always pretty Black Company-esque

Okay enough rambling — can’t wait to see your reaction to Deadhouse Gates!! You’re gonna love it!

[baskinthestory]

Great to see how you got on with Gardens of the Moon. This is one of those series I want to read but is just a little intimidating. I'm going to be very interested to see how you get on with the series and maybe it will insprire me to finally pick it up

[vitareads]

Really need to start this series, I'm so glad you're having a good time with it.
I appreciate good prose. Gonna have to bump this one up on my TBR. Great review!

[chadia]

Great review! Gardens is an awesome book!

[readingwithrebeccanicole]

Tht's quite the rabbit hole to fall down! This books kind of intimidate me, but I'm glad to hear it wasn't as confusing as you heard

[esmayrosalyne]

Wonderful to hear that this has gone off to such a strong start for you! I have always been very daunted by this series, but it seems like a lot of new readers have been pleasantly surprised recently and that makes me very excited to dive in myself sooner rather than later.
Eager to hear how your feelings develop as you read on in the series, enjoy!

[ColinsCornerYT]

Great review man, and truly such a wild and unique experience!

[bookswithnate]

Great to see you enjoyed it! It seems like reading the Black Company helped which I wish id done but looking forward to reading that at some point. And I read Night of Knives between book 5 and 6 and that helped with some context. Wasn’t entirely necessary, but if you want to learn more about the world it helped. And yes, this series is really damn cool and awesome.

[EpicTalez]

When I mention readign this book, I hear "forget about plot. Just focus on the characters." I will get to this one before the year runs out. Great video.

[thefantasythinker]

Glad you liked it! You are in for such a treat moving forward! I would say sprinkle in the Esslemont books in publication order. Unless you just can't wait for the next Erickson book, which may happen. Happy reading!

[Talking_Story]

This review actually makes me want to check this series out. I have been a bit hesitant to this point.

[enkeierick]

I am really enjoying this Malazan world Erikson has painted for us to enjoy.. I agree with you @bardsandbooks I’m here for it as well!!