Rating: 
Summary: Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
Review: I was hoping this was going to be the dark fantasy series I'd been waiting for. It isn't.For every plus in this novel, there's a huge minus. The world building is exceptional and a nice change from those cutesy elves and grumpy dwarves but the excess of detail cripples the story. In one scene, a thief scurries through town past a harbour, the author names three of the ships in the harbour and their home ports which have nothing to do with any immediate or past events. It's as if he was being paid by the word count. Garden of the Moon is meandering, unfocused, and overwritten fantasy that's poorly structured to boot. I was thankful a list of the characters came with the novel, for I was still refering back to it with fifty pages to go. You shouldn't have to do that if a writer is doing his job. The story should tell itself. This novel doesn't and asks for far too much patience and effort on the readers part. Erickson has a great prose style but an editor should have clipped this book by about a third as well.
Rating:
Summary: Starts well and then...oh dear.
Review: I've just finished Gardens of the Moon and I find myself annoyed. Annoyed because the reviews were far too generous (especially those by one of my favourite fantasy authors: Stephen Donaldson); annoyed because the book promised more than it could deliver; but most of all at the way it became so juvenile towards the end.
The characters run here, someone or thing appears from nowhere, incredibly powerful and poised to destroy them until someone else pops up and engages them, freeing the characters to now run there, where someone or thing appears from nowhere, incredibly powerful, poised to destroy - only to have someone else fortunately pop up and engage them... I'm not exaggerating.
This is pathetic. Also infuriating is Erikson's twin penchant for not explaining things properly or clearly and then throwing huge developments at the reader that mean nothing. Examples of the first being Finnest and Azath - what the [heck] were they? Aside, that is, from being incredibly powerful beings poised to destroy until someone else appeared and engaged them... His second failing is particularly well evidenced when, on page 552, we're suddenly told: "We're readying ourselves to take on a new player in the game...the Pannion Seer...damn nasty." Who? Where did all this come from? What about resolving the threads we've just spent 500 pages reading about?
Imagine Frodo suddenly turning away from Mordor, and telling a bemused Sam that they must tackle a new threat, (the unscrupulous mushroom-growing Farmer Maggot perhaps) and you get some idea of how gobsmackingly disconcerting this is. Far from heightening the tension, this totally devalues all that's gone before. It's as if Erikson suddenly gave up on the current plot and started to look forward to the next book.
The last 100 pages degenerates into one vastly powerful being running around after another, with the smaller characters always on hand to witness and marvel in the most contrived and irritating manner possible.
There were some good things about the book - the Assassin war, for example - but all the mood-setting is tossed away for one of the daftest climaxes I've ever read. This book has drawn comparisons with George RR Martin's magisterial "Song of Ice and Fire" - that's why I bought it. Don't be deceived. It's poorly written and childish.
Rating: 
Summary: could have been great!
Review: I loved nearly everything about this book-the creativity,the intelligemce,the need to constantly surprise and entertain the reader with imagery and ideas.What stops it getting the full five fom me though is a uniform lack of depth to all the characters.This may be a personal point though ,but I NEED to get involved,to emotionally latch on to my characters-Again and again the story would NEARLY begin to grip me,but!....would then move on to yet another character in yet another place.The author has a fantastic imagination but didn't really back it up with a great story.But don't let me dissuade you.It's a fun,entertaining read and hopefully these characters will grow in the next installment.
Rating: 
Summary: Up-Date for all US fans
Review: For all US fans, good news: TOR have just done a ten-book deal with Steven Erikson to publish all the existing and forthcoming titles in this wondeful series. Roll on America
Rating: 
Summary: A great read, superior to anything in the genre
Review: The book is a little complicated in the beggining, Erikson doesn't start of in the beggining of the story. What he does is throw you in halfway through and lets you pick up on things fromt there. The easiest way to go about understanding the book is to just read it, most everything is explained later in the book, and while you might not believe it at first you will come to understand it and then you will be like, "Holy cr@p, that makes sense" and have a smile on your face. It is fun to go back and understand and it makes the book so much more enjoyable when the author doesnt waste half of his time talking about how the character looks. Had Erikson done this, the book would have been over 1000 pages but I loved it because I got to make the characters look like what I wanted, instead of the author forcing a look on me, and also because i didnt have to completely make a character up, he did it right in the middle. Over all, you just need to get past the first 200 pages or so and you will love it, things will start to make since and you will understand what everyone is doing. Until that point look forward to the bridgeburners PoV, they should be able to get you past the first 200 pages. Once there youll have amazing characters like Crokus, Rallick Nom, and last and definetly not least my favorite character- Kruppe. Just read it, youll love it!
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Effort
Review: Throughout the first 180 pages, you will constantly flip to the references in the front and back of the book. Erikson solves the problem of boring context by completely ignoring it. However, the character motivations, thoughts, and dialogue strike home. Moreover, whereas most fantasy deals with peasants, wizards, and warriors, Gardens of the Moon explores more interesting types of characters such as gods, assasins, thieves, and soldiers. Like Martin (George RR), Erikson diverges from the dwarf, elf, and ogre type of fantasy that has been beat to death. Even when Erikson deals with stock characters such as magicians, the focus is on the character rather than on magical mumbo jumbo. This is a good book for people who want multi-story lined fantasy with complex characters in a complex world.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Stuff
Review: One of the great publishing crimes of the early twenty first century is being committed under your very noses; Steven Erikson's "Malazan Book of the Fallen" sequence is not being picked up by any publishers in the US. This is in many ways appalling, while I applaud the fact that Amazon her eis importing these novels a major US publisher should be picking them up; why? Well probably because quite simply along with "A Song of Fire and Ice", Erikson's books are probably the best fantasy series available today. Admittedly this series is not for everyone, it's complicated, it's gritty and in places it's hard to follow. However it's worth the effort, Gardens of the Moon is a book that rewards the reader.
There are no young boys who become kings, no princesses and definitely no quaffing of wine; instead we see a complicated war from the point of view of a platoon of foot soldiers. If you're a fan of Eddings or Brooks and think they are great fantasy try Erikson then you'll find what real fantasy writing is about. Be warned though there are two competing story lines, the story in Book 1 here is only picked up in Book 3 "Memories of Ice". Books 2 and 4 involve a separate though linked story line. Great Stuff!
Rating:
Summary: A second look...
Review: Although I have already written a review of this book, I can't help that after reading this book for a second time, I believe that I did not adequately review it correctly in the first place. I had, at first read, given Gardens only 2 stars, but after I see what other books I have reviewed with 2 stars, I cannot help but see that Gardens is of a higher caliber. Let me try this all again. I stand by my old review in that this book has its flaws, but it is clear to me now that Gardens is probably one of the better fantasy books of the year. For a debut novel, Gardens is great. And although I cannot praise this story as top of the line, I cannot ignore the fact that I have come back to read this book many times. It is Erikson' supreme writing style that has brought me back over and over again. Everytime I begin reading the pages just fly by. Unlike some books, where you notice every turn of the page, Erikson' writing allows you to go for 20-30 pages in minutes without even noticing the time passing. Erikson paints his scenes so vividly, and accompanies them with such interesting and realistic dialogue that it just flows like magic. Unlike many fantasy novels that often begin slowly and unfold gradually, Gardens blasts forward with hurtling speed and doesn't let up. From the beginning to end, Gardens flies in fast-forward and while exciting, it many times shoots past details and information that, as the reader, you begin to feel lost without. Many things are just skimmed over and never fully explained, so various character motivations and explanation remain undiscovered. The world-building seems to be the beginning of something vast in scope, and yet is only touched upon in relation to the fast-moving plot. The lack of cohesiveness births more questions often times than overall satisfaction. Nevertheless, you are many times enthralled with the plot and don't become disenchanted until the end of the story. Also, to the books credit, it moves away from so many stereotypical aspects of the fantasy genre. There are no young peasant boys discovering a royal heritage and magic power hidden within, no quests to find a long lost items of power, no old mysterious men with their quiet strongmen companions, and no worlds where everyone is always beautiful, intelligent, and virtuous. Gardens of the Moon's uniqueness is its strength. Its centering on the harshness and cynicism of war and the complex spiderwebs of political machinations make it all too more fascinating. It's a world where the main goal is to stay alive, and no one is safe, not even the main characters, from death or worse. And it is these main characters which are another selling point for Gardens. They are not all likeable people, but you sympathize with almost all of them, and find you rooting for them even in the worst of times. However, as I have speculated in my past review, Erikson faults by having an overabundance of POV characters. Like Robert Jordan, who plagued his later books in the Wheel of Time with so many POV characters that you never really saw the true cast anymore, Erikson spreads his POVs out to thinly, so most of the characters cannot be drawn out as well as could be, since you are constantly shifting back and forth among them, especially towards the close of the book. Gardens of the Moon is a very good novel. And though it has its inadequacies, it is definetly a must read book. For not only is it a cut up from most of the genre, but Erikson's next two books in the series are absolutely wonderful, and fix everything that was wrong in Gardens. I believe Erikson is one of the best voices in fantasy today, up there with the likes of Jordan, Martin, and Kay.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent, captivating read.
Review: Erikson's Gardens of the Moon, is, in short, one of the best epic fantasy novels I have ever read. The plot is excellent, very well thought out,and oddly enough, original to the core. This book is a masterful mix of intrigue, magic, and what seems to me to be a rarity, a departure from Tolkieneske standards. Overall, I just cannot recomend this book enough, it is well writen, the plethora of characters will astound you with their uniqueness and each page will have you wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: Will keep you reading and keep you frustrated?
Review: As with any recent epic fantasy series the inevitable comparisons with Jordan's Wheel of Time or George Martin's series will arise as these are without a doubt the most popular contemporary epics. Jordan is a master of character creation and you feel like you know them - this at the expense sometimes of plot development which has left many frustrated. Martin's characters arent developed to the same detail but are much more interesting with there being a fine line between good/evil. There are things to like and dislike about the good and bad guys and he is willing for anyone to die at any time - very refreshing. Now this book was a mixed bag for me. It kept me reading with its interesting world and pace but I was frustrated throughout the book. You never feel at home here. Never fully understand the different characters motivations or the background to the current conflict. In fact - there is no background at all. You constantly are trying to grasp the meaning of what is going on and while it seems that it is very important or very intriguing the impact is missing because there is never a full understanding for the reader. Despite these issues I read it quickly due to its pace and original story but it has not left me clamoring for more.
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