Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson
Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson
Where Did I Get This Book?: I picked this up at random based on the first paragraph, read at the shelf in the book store. With the kind of explosive beginning Gardens of the Moon has, I had no other option.
Why Did I Choose This Book?: When I found Gardens of the Moon I had stopped reading for a number of years. I’ve been writing and gaming – mostly text-based roleplaying – for nearly eleven years at this point, but there was a gap, a significant one. So when I found the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, I wasn’t expecting to dive back into books. In three weeks I had read the first six novels in the series. It helps that the author, Steven Erikson, comes from where I live.
The Story’s Strengths: Each of the Malazan series can be taken as a self-contained story, which is a big deal for those of us frustrated with the George RR Martins and Robert Jordans of the world for whom the last page is just an excuse for a terrible cliffhanger. While there are repeating characters and a well-defined, over-arching story arc, the ability to put the entire series down at the end of a book and say “if that’s all, that’s ok” is absolutely massive in the fantasy fiction arena. The beauty of Erikson’s writing is that, of course, you don’t really want it to be all. Once you’ve engaged the characters, you’re stuck, and it’s wonderful, because Erikson’s biggst strength is his characterisation. These people are people, not plot devices.
The Story’s Weaknesses: Gardens of the Moon specifically suffers only frm being a siege novel. The locale of the book is interesting, Darujhistan is a beautiful city. But the entire tale, all 900+ pages of it takes place there it seems, and sometimes that can be overwhelming, or at the least come across as dragging. Thankfully, the characters address much of this. The other issue is Erikson’s repeated use of Twenty-Five-Cent words like “conflagration” – however, this cleans up in his later writing, which is interesting to see.
Why I’m Recommending This Book: Simple; I loved it. It got me reading again after a long period of ignoring any written word that didn’t come from my keyboard, and with the experiences I’ve had since I started working thoroughly on my writing, the first and best way to grow your skill is by exposing yourself in an aware manner to the skills of others. More specifically, good writers are consistant readers.
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