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Gardens of the Moon

The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1

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Gardens of the Moon

Written by: Steven Erikson
Narrated by: Ralph Lister
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About this listen

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Gardens Of The Moon: (Malazan Book Of The Fallen 1) by Steven Erikson, read by Ralph Lister.

Bled dry by interminable warfare, infighting and bloody confrontations with Lord Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, the vast, sprawling Malazan empire simmers with discontent.
Even its imperial legions yearn for some respite. For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his Bridgeburners and for Tattersail, sole surviving sorceress of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, still holds out - and Empress Lasseen's ambition knows no bounds.
However, it seems the empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister forces gather as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand...

Conceived and written on an epic scale, Gardens of the Moon is a breathtaking achievement - a novel in which grand design, a dark and complex mythology, wild and wayward magic and a host of enduring characters combine with thrilling, powerful storytelling to resounding effect. Acclaimed by writers, critics and readers alike, here is the opening chapter in what has been hailed a landmark of epic fantasy: the awesome 'The Malazan Book of the Fallen'.

©1999 Steven Erikson (P)2019 Penguin Audio
Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Magic

What the critics say

Erikson is an extrodinary writer...treat yourself to Gardens of the Moon (STEPHEN R. DONALDSON)
Complex, challenging...Erikson's strengths are his grown-up characters and his ability to create a world every bit as intricate and messy as our own (J.V. JONES)
There's nothing safe about fantasy like this: intriguing, complex, thought provoking, exceedingly well-written, and, for the intelligent reader, exhilaratingly satisfying (PAULA GURAN)

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All stars
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I loved the style, like a modern Shakespeare.
The world, plot and characters were well developed.
It is important to listen carefully so as not to miss any details, especially at the beginning when the place and character names are unfamiliar and focus shifts quickly between the various subplots.

Action and poetry

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Narrator was amazing. Hope the rest of the books are just as good. fourteen fifteen

Narration

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I hope one day they make the books into a movie of the like of the hobbit, lord of the rings and game of thrones. Has huge potential just by the way it is expertly written and narrated. Lister is a master and like all his books, he dives right in the characters .

Fully enjoyed it even though at times was hard to follow the name swaps and crazy action. Well worth my time and money.

Expertly written and narrated

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Roughly a decade after reading the books, coming back to the audiobook felt like a homecoming. It’s almost better the second time, and I usually despise reading books twice! Lister does an amazing job at narrating, and I found he absolutely killed it with Kruppe! Masterfully done. Looking forward to listening to the rest of the series.

Absolutely fantastic!

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I read through the Malazan novels (all core Erikson and Esselmont ones) a few years ago. When I first read Gardens of the Moon, I was pretty confused. Partly because the authors intentionally avoid exposition, and partly because I wasn’t paying a great amount of attention (I was reading while travelling at the time). It wasn’t until the 4th one (House of Chains) that I felt I had a firm grasp on the world, political & pantheon situation, and world-building like the history and magic system. But it was extremely rewarding to get to the point where I felt like I had figured it out myself instead of having it spoon-fed to me.

I’m using the audio books as a re-read, and it really came together much more smoothly this time. There’s actually a lot more explanation of what’s going on in the first 4 chapters than I remembered, if you don’t get too bogged down in names or titles. And the writing really does flow to prompt your imagination just enough to tell the story while you can paint the rest of the scene around the dialogue.

My biggest critique for the audiobook is that the chapters swap character perspectives a lot. In the written novel, this is clear with paragraph breaks, but for this one it’s harder to follow because it’s only a 2 second pause. I think it would be better if they had paused a little longer. I’d advise new readers to be watching for when a perspective is changing, so that you can follow along a bit better. Otherwise the performance is pretty good.

Amazing on a second read

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I read this series and now am listening on Audible for a second pass through. This book is the first for the series and a gateway into about 400 hours of amazing storytelling with deep characters.

One of my top series to read

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Great series, good narration, but a bit hard to get into at the start. One of my favorite fantasy series, if a bit scatterbrained at times

good series

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Any fantasy lover cant miss it! Its confusing at first but just wait once it clicks, its fantastic.

Amazing!

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Complex as they said. In a great way. Epic in scale. Satisfyingly interwoven. Definitely reading the next.

@x1506x

Holy sh*t this was good

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It was a little touch and go at first, there was so many characters and so much going on it was a bit hard to keep up at first, but by the middle of the book i was clear in who was who and where their alligences were, the twists and turns had me intrigued and I just couldn't stop.

Lots going on and it's amazing!

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