Book Review: Gardens of the Moon

Reviewed By: Tracy Jo - Kentucky

Gardens of the Moon     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Steven Erikson
Class/Genre:   Fantasy
Series: Malazan Book of the Fallen # 1
Tor, June 2004, $24.95, 494 pp

The Malazan Empire is rife with malcontents and infighting. Even as her Empire appears to be succumbing to threat of civil war, Empress Laseen greedily pushes on to the last of the free cities of Genabackis, the gem of that continent, Darujhistan. Pushed reluctantly by the empress' wim into the city, Sergeant Whiskeyjack, and his squad of Bridgeburner encounter more than they planned as the gods themselves decide to enter the fray.

Almost whiped out during the seige of Pale, the Bridgeburners, their Sergeant, and the only surviving mage of the Second Legion, Tattersail, were only interested in mourning their dead, but as more hands come to play at the table, they are forced into new roles that they must grow into as the book progresses. As the gods gather and choose their players, the ancient race of the Tiste Andii, led by a man of legend, Anomander Rake, finally take a full stand against the Empire, and the aftermath of these skirmishes continously change the face of the game, till no one, not even Tattersail, can guess how the game will play out.

As the game unfolds, and events rush to a conclusion no one can divine, the people that populate the book are alternately swept along with the tide, and fighting against it as hard and as fast as they can. A vivid and spanning tale, Steven Erikson has painted a world rich in history, steeped in magic, and filled with real characters that swing from the most ordinary, to the most extraordinary in the space of one paragraph to the next.

Tracy Jo - Kentucky

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Tracy Jo - Kentucky