Gardens of the Moon: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1 by Steven Erikson
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Summary
the Malazan Empire captures the Free City of Pale. It attempts to conquer the city of Pale while overhead looms Moon's Spawn, a massive floating fortress and home to the Tiste Andii. Anomander Rake and the other Tiste Andii wage war on the Malazan army, triumphant in the end, but at great cost. Then, the Bridgeburners are dispatched to Darujhistan, the last free city state in the northern continent, while gods conspire and ancient beings are re-awoken to wage a war. Darujhistan trembles as humans, gods, demons, and a tyrant battle, while the house of the Azath re-awakens in the heart of the city.
As someone who has been a fan of fantasy and sci-fi for as long as I can remember, I had high hopes for 'Gardens of the Moon: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1'. This book had all the classic elements of the genre - wizards, fighters, thieves, assassins, fair maidens, and even sentient winged creatures. It was filled with intricate plots and conspiracies within conspiracies. It had everything that should have made it great, but somehow it fell short of my expectations.
One of the major issues I had with the book was the sheer number of characters and the pace at which they were introduced. It felt like they were thrown at me without enough background information to really get to know them. This left me feeling a bit confused and disconnected for the first third of the book. Unlike other fantasy series I've read, I never developed that deep love for the characters that makes a story truly memorable.
On a positive note, the narrator did a pretty good job overall. However, there were a few instances where some of the characters sounded annoyingly like leprechauns, which was a bit distracting.
It's clear from other reviews that many people thoroughly enjoyed this book, but unfortunately, it just didn't grow on me the way I had hoped.
After reading all the reviews, I thought I was up for the challenge of following a complex plot, considering myself a skilled listener and all. But boy, was I mistaken! I spent hours trying to make sense of it, skipping parts in the hopes of progressing in the storyline, but it just didn't click. The narration didn't help either – it was difficult to distinguish when a chapter ended and a new one began, and the character voices all blended together. Maybe reading the book would have been a somewhat better experience, but I highly doubt it. The author could have definitely used some help from the editor in crafting a coherent story that truly captivated the reader or listener.
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