Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

   1999; 666 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Book 1 (out of 10, not counting the prequels) in the “Malazan Book of the Fallen” series.  Genre : Epic Fantasy; Sword & Sorcery.  Overall Rating : 9½*/10.

    Someone has it in for the Bridgeburners.

    Well, that’s not surprising since they’re an elite fighting squad in the Malazan Imperial Armies, and commanded by the legendary Sergeant Whiskeyjack, he who was once the commander of the whole Second Army.

    But he’s been demoted, probably at the behest of the Empress Laseen, who came to the throne under somewhat suspicious circumstances, who no doubt questions whether his loyalty is first and foremost to the Empire itself, or to the previous Emperor.  Popular military heroes can be a threat. And so can the soldiers they command.

    So if the war calls for a suicide mission, guess which squad always gets picked?  During the recently completed siege of the city Pale, they were given the task of tunneling underneath the defensive walls and laying explosives.  But tunnels tend to collapse unexpectedly, and the majority of Whiskeyjack’s men were lost.  Now there’s only half a dozen or so left alive.

    And guess what?  Their next assignment has just been issued.  They’re to infiltrate Darujhistan, the next city in the path of the Imperial invasion and lay more explosives underground.  Duty calls, the Empress commands, but after this mission, there may be no more Bridgeburners left alive.

What’s To Like...

    Gardens of the Moon is the first story in a completed 10-book series in one of my favorite genres, Epic Fantasy, and it truly lives up to its billing.  Both the world-building and the character development are incredible, there’s lots of both action and intrigue, and buckles are swashed.  There are heroes and villains, and sometimes it’s hard to tell them apart, as they are all my favorite color, “gray”.

    There are war-weary warriors, mages and mage-killers, and churlish thieves and assassins.  I was impressed by the number and variety of non-human races, wowed by some magical crows, and delighted that several dragons showed up late in the tale.  I have a feeling the latter will have more significant roles in subsequent books.

    I especially liked the god-building.  The ones here are indeed powerful, but they’re neither omnipotent nor omniscient, and they are at times subject to the whims of fate and luck.  The ones that no longer have worshippers are rather sad cases, and, like the humans, they are mostly “gray” in alignment, falling into the “gods behaving badly” category.

    There are two maps plus a Dramatis Personae at the start of the book, and a glossary listing various titles, peoples, gods, critters, and geographic locales in the back.  Bookmark both sections, because you’re going to be referring to them a lot, since you’ll be crossing paths with a slew of people and places.  Steven Erikson treats the reader like an adult; he expects you to look new stuff up in those reference sections, and is thereby able to forego bogging things down with a backstory.

    A fair number of characters die in the book, but if your fave is one of them, keep a stiff upper lip, not all of them stay dead.  Tarot Card enthusiasts will love the potency of the decks that are used here.  And I found soul-shifting to be quite the neat trick.  The book’s title is explained on page 531, and I liked the euphemistic cuss phrases used here, such as “Hood’s Breath” and “Shedunul’s Mercy”.  A pantheon of gods means a mortal has so many more ways to take their names in vain.

    Everything builds to a superbly exciting climax, and without giving away any spoilers, I’ll only say that any author who can create a thrilling ending using a social gathering as the backdrop can certainly be described as “gifted”.  Some of the storylines are resolved; others are left open for the sequels.

Kewlest New Word ...

Woad (n. or adj.) : a yellow-flowered European plant of the cabbage family, or the blue dye obtained therefrom.

Others:  Febrile (adj.); Arbalest (n.).

Excerpts...

    “Tell me, Tool, what dominates your thoughts?”

    The Imass shrugged before replying.  “I think of futility, Adjunct.”

    “Do all Imass think about futility?”

    “No.  Few think at all.”

    “Why is that?”

    The Imass leaned his head to one side and regarded her.  “Because, Adjunct, it is futile.”

    “Let’s get going, Tool.  We’re wasting time.”

    “Yes, Adjunct.”

    She climbed into the saddle, wondering how the Imass had meant that.  (pg. 325)

    “Do you stand alone in this, Anomander Rake?  Do your people approve?”

    “They care not,” Rake said.  “They accept my commands.  They follow me.  They serve Caladan Brood when I ask them to.  And they die in the mud and forests of a land that is not their own, in a war not their own, for a people who are terrified of them.”

    Baruk sat forward.  “Then why?  Why do you do all this?”

    A harsh laugh was Rake’s response.  After a moment, however, his bitter amusement fell away and he said, “Is an honorable cause worth anything these days?  Does it matter that we’ve borrowed it?  We fight as well as any man.  We die alongside them.  Mercenaries of the spirit.  And even that is a coin we scarcely value.  Why?  It doesn’t matter why.  But we never betray our allies.”  (pg. 486)

“It’s a bad smell when sorcerers panic.”  (pg. 5)

     The quibbles are microscopic.  The main map was hard to read and doesn’t cover the full world.  Some cities, countries, and even continents are cited that simply aren’t shown, and I searched for them in vain.  However, it must also be said that all the places that are visited in the story, at least the terrestrial sites, are on the map.

    Also, it took me a while to figure out what the main storyline was.  Was it the siege of Pale?  No.  How about the suicide mission to Darujhistan by Whiskeyjack and his merry band?  Not really.  Perhaps it’s the overthrow of the Empress Laseen.  Uh-uh.  But somewhere around mid-book, things got clarified, so this is a non-issue.

    Last, and least, the bits of prose that start off each chapter, although a nice touch, generally didn’t do much for me.  But I pick at nits.

    9½ Stars.  Highly recommended.  I’ve been meaning to give Steven Erikson a try for quite some time.  My expectations were lofty, and Gardens of the Moon fully met them.  I’m now facing a gazillion pages to read if I want to pursue this series, plus there’s a 3-book prequel that Erikson hasn’t finished yet.  And I still have one more epic fantasy author on my list to try: a fellow named Stephen R. Donaldson.