Měsíční zahrady : příběh z Malazské knihy Padlých (edition 2002)

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh

Review to follow! ( )

"Verdict: So-so - I didn't enjoy the book, but there were parts or ideas that I liked.

Because the scope of the work is far beyond this initial volume, it is difficult to digest."

Full review on my blog:
http://knrbooks.blogspot.com/2013/04/review-gardens-of-moon.html

There are few true masters of epic fantasy series. George R.R. Martin is one of the more recent authors to manage to create an epic fantasy series, but the list includes the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings) and Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time). I truly love the grand scale and details the authors put into creating such worlds and stories. Recently, I found my way to buying Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon and began the quest to read through The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, one of the most celebrated epic fantasy series of all time. Gardens of the Moon has set the stage for a series of epic proportions and, on its on, is one of the best books I have ever read.

Gardens of the Moon is the introductory book into the world of the Malazan Empire and Steven Erikson's amazing world. Similar to the Game of Thrones, Gardens of the Moon follows multiple storylines from multiple points of view. In one view, we follow the noble-born captain in the Malazan army, Ganoes Paran. In another, we follow the view of a young street thief named Crokus. While these two are the major characters in the book, Erikson also tells the story through other characters linked to Paran and Crokus. What is interesting about the book is how everything is connected. It is hard explaining this amazing fact without spoiling the story, but the sheer amount of thought needed to craft such a storyline is unthinkable and rivals that of the Game of the Thrones. In many ways, it surpasses it. The story is not as convoluted and vast as the political swamp that is the Game of Thrones, but it is just as suspenseful and unpredictable. There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very end and you grow to know each and every character. On its own, the story is amazing, but it also seems to be just a snippet of what is to come.

The world of the Malazan Empire is created with stunning detail. Cities, towns, physical landmarks, and multitudes of animals inhabit the world created by Brooks. If you look at the maps provided before the beginning of the book, you will see just how detailed of the world he has created. Different regions or even different places are populated by a diverse group of people, similar to the mass of cultures in real life. Each group of people have unique cultural aspects that are different from others groups that bring the level of reality of the world beyond what is found in many other books like it.

One of the major aspects of the book is its inclusion of magic. Gardens of the Moon and The Malazan Book of the Fallen series have a completely unique take on the aspect of magic. Brooks has blended sorcery and religion into a complex web. This blending has created a unique system of gods and magic of unparalleled complexity that I have never experienced before. The system is very confusing to explain and I do not fully understand it. This is due to the fact that the book does not even attempt to explain the rules behind such a system. It just throws you into the middle of the chaotic relationships between the gods and mortals. This problem is the only real major fault of the book, yet I find it absolutely amazing. Not only does the book pull you in with its unpredictable plot, but it stirs the curiosity to learn more about the system of magic and gods. Some people will find this way to confusing and will not enjoy the book and I would not blame them, but stick with it, and you will begin to see patterns and some image of rules behind it.

Gardens of the Moon is a book unlike any other. The sheer vastness and detail of the world is enough tweak the curiosity of those looking for a challenge or looking to immerse themselves in another reality. The story is one of the most intriguing I have read so far, yet it still seems to be a snippet of a larger reality. Erikson has created the perfect book to capture readers everywhere and bring them into this amazing world. ( )

It took me a while to get into Gardens of the Moon. I've been meaning to read these books for ages, but I was put off by the fact that my mother's copy ominously only had spine creases to about a quarter of the way through -- and she rarely gives up on books. The problems both of us had was not being sure who we were supposed to root for: there's no clear distinction between the 'goodies' and the 'baddies'. Of course, that shouldn't matter so much -- moral ambiguity is interesting -- so I'm not sure why it was such a barrier to both of us reading it (at first, in my case). Maybe it's just that it's different to most other fantasy stories, where you can clearly tell where your sympathies are meant to be. (The Fellowship, Fitz Farseer, Ged and Tenar, Harry Potter, Phèdre, usually King Arthur [and even when it's not Arthur, it's clear that this will be a version where your sympathies are with pagan Guinevere or whoever]...)

The other problem was the difficulty in getting used to the 'rules' of Steven Erikson's world. The magic was never explained, never made clear, so there was no way to say, okay, this is what they're going to do, or even to decide whether someone's actions seemed to fit. I seem to recall reading something lately that was impatient with needing rules for magic, and to some extent I agree, but... Usually I would like to be able to piece things together in advance, or at least try to. I don't mind being wrong, but apparently I do find it difficult having no idea.

Still, once I got into it, I didn't want to let go of the book. I'm not sure about the people who say it's badly written: it seemed fine to me, though the writing style wasn't exactly distinctive. There are a lot of characters, but only occasionally do they get too much to track. I assume some of them are going to become clearer later in the series, which I'm looking forward to -- I hope to see more of Caladan Brood and Anomander Rake, for one thing. And I want to know what happens to Sorry.

It is a big investment of time and brainpower to read this book and keep up with it, but ultimately I returned my mother's copy to her and told her to try again. It is worth it. ( )

In don't rate highly easily. I'm admittedly rating the series more than this individual book. They are absolutely worth the effort. Story lines from each book intertwine and as you near the end of the series you'll find yourself reaching for earlier books to check your memory. Not the first author to weave plots together across multiple books, but this is the best I've seen it done.

So many "did that just happen?" moments. I would recommend this series to any fantasy reader.

*edit*
My one complaint - the covers. I was so hooked on these books I brought them everywhere. But so embarrassed by the covers that I put brown paper grocery bag book covers on all of them. Yup, just like back in middle school. ( )