Gardens of the Moon - Steve Erikson

Playboy

Just wondering has anyone else read this book or the next in the series. I was urged to read it on an english board so I went and bought it. I wasnt expecting much as I had read nearly every great fantasy series to be published but with the lack of good novels at the moment (apart form Chris Wooding and George R.R Martin) I had more or less stoped reading fantasy in favour of other genres.

I must say I am blown away by what i have read so far ... I only started reading it last night and I am already half way through it. If he keeps it up it will be by far the best fantasy book/series I have ever read. I just wanted to know other peoples thoughts on it and if it continues to be as good as it started out to be.

Sooner or Later

I'm a big fan of Erikson. His archaelogical background makes him a great world-builder. He is a great storyteller and he populates his books with fascinating characters. The good news is that there are five titles out in the series already, with another five to come. Also there is a possible movie in the works of the second book Deadhouse Gates or, to be more exact, of the Chain of Dogs section from it.

The official fan site is Here .

I posted a link to the discussion of the movie in a topic further down, but don't read it until after you have read Deadhouse Gates unless you don't mind seeing spoilers.

ixoy

Superb series! I've read the first five, buying the new ones as soon as they're published. What's really great is that Erickson has planned the whole thing clearly - there's some incredible interweaving of stories, spread over multiple continents and millenia. I keep expecting it to fall apart - it should. It shouldn't be able to work... and yet it does. I mean the sheer power being spread among the characters, it should create an imbalance, make it implausible but we're halfway there and I'm still entranced. If I hadn't such a huge backlog of books to read, I'd be re-reading this series just to go "ahhhh that makes sense now" when I know the pay off that comes of a scene in a few books time.

You know RJ could really do with taking a look at this series. It's called planning RJ. It's knowing what you do when you start out and weaving everthing beautifully. What's even greater is that Erickson doesn't do a George R.R. Martin on it - he releases his books steadily, pretty much one a year. Very impressive....

So in other words yeah I like it

Boro

If you think Gardens of the Moon is great, just wait till you read DeadHouse Gates - it will completely blow you away.

Erikssons use of language in the series is fantastic. You dont see the same old characterisations and descriptions coming up the hold time (ala RJ). Everything is fresh and some of the stories he brings up are awe-inspiring in their intensity. Seriously, the story of the chain of dogs made me incredibly emotional, and im not the weepy type. Some of the stuff makes you want to cry, some makes you clench your fist and vow vengeance, other parts are just pure fantasy heroism that makes you feel elated reading.

Possibly the best fantasy that i have ever read, and i have read a lot!

hostyle

Boro wrote:

Possibly the best fantasy that i have ever read, and i have read a lot!

Feel free to remove "possibly" from the above sentence. Hes the best, bar none.

Celt

Dammit, havent seen Midnight Tides in Easons or Forbidden Planet yet

ixoy

Celt wrote:

Dammit, havent seen Midnight Tides in Easons or Forbidden Planet yet

Saw it in Chapters on Abbey Street a few days ago. Try there

Boro

hostyle wrote:

Feel free to remove "possibly" from the above sentence. Hes the best, bar none.

J.R.R.Tolkien would rate higher. But not by much.

I picked up Midnight Tides in chapters there a good few weeks ago. Very good but i dont think it was up to quite the same high level as the previous ones.

Celt

ixoy wrote:

Saw it in Chapters on Abbey Street a few days ago. Try there

I walked past it, didnt think it would have something neither Easons nor Forbidden Planet didnt have

****

!_Brian_!

Picked up Gardens of the Moon the other day simply because it was the only author I hadnt read yet in my local bookshops fantasy section. Had seen his books their loads of times but never knew anything about him and gave it a miss.

Only about 150 pages in but shaping up to be pretty savage so far!

azezil

Good lord Brian, this thread is older than you are!
But, no harm ^_^

MayoForSam

Read all of the Malazan books up to Bonehunters, really excellent in my opinion. Incredibly detailed, confusing to a degree but worth persevering. Coltaines 'Chain of Dogs' sequence is Deadhouse Gates in simply epic, apparently a movie is in the making.

pwd

I like Steven Erikson. I've read up to midnight tides, and gardens of the moon is my favourite. One of the reviewers on the cover of one of his books says that his books manage to alter your perception of reality. I think that is true, but that the dreamilke quality to the books is less present as the series goes on. There is more exposition, less wonder.