Gilgamesh1082

Please, please, PLEASE. Someone else be reading this with me. I'm currently halfway through and I don't know how this can end without going out on the highest of high notes. Its utterly brilliant and depressing as crap so far. Frak you, George. Frak your old, dead bones, Jordan. Erikson is the king of epic fantasy and has managed to finish his masterpiece.

brainee

This has been on my radar for a while, and I have the first book on deck to start reading pretty soon. Thanks to George RR Martin, I won't buy any book in a series (at least a series where each book isn't a self-contained story) until the series is finished.

mugwump

I've tried three times to get into the first book and just can't. It's odd because this should be right up my alley.

Gilgamesh1082

Can't say that I blame you, brainee. Martin and Jordan have consistently dicked around their readers. At least Erikson cares enough about his story to get the thing finished. And honestly, this series is easily the best fantasy series to ever grace paper. That good.

woemcats

Except more of the story threads will be wrapped up in the side books and two additional trilogies. or so i've read.

i am interested in this series but it is such a massive commitment i will probably never read it. unless i win the lottery or get fired or something.

Lastblade

I have been rereading the entire series in anticipation of the finale. Believe it or not, he actually writes faster than I can read! I am on Reaper's Gale so it will be awhile before I get to Dust then Crippled God. I can't wait, Steven Erikson can write epic scenes like nobody's business, and his characters are amazing.

RonG617

I've tried twice to start the first book, but have given up both times in the first hundred pages. I really want to like it, but it just doesn't hold me at all.

Lastblade

It is okay, I think you do have to stick with it before you enjoy it. Erikson purposely drop you in the middle of the story without telling you anything. It is like he is testing you and if you can get through that initial confusion, you will be rewarded. But I can totally understand if you can't get through the first book and that's one thing that hurts his series.

brainee

I finally read the first book: Gardens of the Moon. And I quite liked it Yeah, you're kind of thrown in the deep end with this book. I'm pretty seasoned as far as handling these world-building epics, but I still found myself continually checking character list, maps, and appendices to maintain a grasp of things. What is certainly a strength of the book in one sense - that it's a fantasy world very different from familiar convention - is a weakness in that it can be a struggle to keep on top of things.

But once we've cycled through the same POVs a few times it was easier, and I was able to be sucked into the story. For those who are upset that Song of Ice and Fire has so little actual "fantasy", this has that in spades - demons, monsters, dragons, living gods, high powered magic blasting about, and city-destroying battles. With violence and themes it's certainly no where near a "young adult" series. But it still has a more positive world view than GRRM's series.

One thing I really liked, and if I knew this I would've read this book a while ago, is that "Gardens of the Moon" tells a complete story. If there were no other books in the series, everything would feel perfectly fine. Sure, there are many stories left to be told in this world. But the story told in this particular book reaches a very satisfying conclusion. I hope the other books in the series do the same thing - having to keep track of a single ongoing story over the span of 8000 pages or so sounds tough. But if they're contained stories, that advance what's going on in the same world (with some familiar characters), that's much more doable.

Gilgamesh1082

Aye, that would be because Erikson and Esselmont had written a script for a story that dealt with the Inn that everyone keeps frequenting in GotM. It was all these old war veterans telling their tales. When it didn't get optioned, they decided to try their hand at world building and The Malazan series was born.

Good luck, sir. There is an overarching story that keeps developing throughout the series, although each book DOES do a semi-decent job of keeping it all contained within that book. With the exception of the last 2 books. Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God are one colossal book.

xmiyux

So if I wanted to give the series a shot, what is the first book?

brainee

I talked about it 2 posts up. Unless you have me on ignore ... then someone else will have to answer

xmiyux

Ugh sorry. I even read that post and thought that Gardens of the Moon sounded like a sci-fi title more than a fantasy title. In my mind I guess I made it a different series.

Thanks for the clarification - I will see about checking out the book.

JasonF

I read Gardens of the Moon a number of years ago and found it to be slow going, but very enjoyable. I started the second book (Deadhouse Gates?), then life got in the way and I never got back to it. But maybe I'll try to read these now that there is a complete series to read.

How many books did the series wind up being?

Lastblade

There are 10 books in the main series, 4 sidestory novels. Erikson is contracted to write more books in the same universe.

Cusm

Just finished this. It was several years between me reading the last one and starting Dust, so it took me some time and Internet cheating to remember all the characters. What a series, great ending the entire book kept me wanting to read more. Got pretty watery eyed at the end.

brainee

I finished the second book (Deadhouse Gates) a while back ... book #3 is probably coming up soon for me. I didn't like DG as much as the first book. It was good, mind you, but for a number of reasons fell short for me. All the stuff going on in the story should've made for an amazing epic ... a continent-wide Jihad, Coltaine's march against all odds (interesting turn from the first book to have the Malazan side seem to be the clear "good guys"), a quest to assassinate the Empress, and various factions convening on an ancient mysterious city in the desert. I had a great deal of trouble following the storyline around the search for Tremorlor. I still have no idea what an "Azath" is, or what most of these groups/beings/factions are. And the other story threads seemed to have very disappointing conclusions by book's end: As opposed to Gardens of the Moon, this did not end feeling like a contained story. With so many characters, places, and world-details to keep track of, it feels like a big mountain to climb for understanding the rest of the series. And these books seem to be tough reading for me ... I can't handle more than a couple of chapters at a time without needing to take a break, and I feel the need to read something else after finishing a book. This isn't an assignment for school ... when reading starts to feel like a chore, I'll drop the book/author.