Book - Gardens Of The Moon - Steven Erikson

Canadian born, Steven Erikson is a relative newcomer to the prolific ranks of fantasy novelists. A first-time fantasist, Erikson's series, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, is projected to run to ten volumes before all is said and done. And I have to admit that if you intend to read them, you will need to set aside some significant time to do so. I generally read a small novel (500-700 pages) in the space of a week, sometimes two. I started reading this series in mid-December and am only now passing the halfway point in the 4th. Thankfully I will get a break by summer as only the 5th book is out now and the 6th is not expected until 2006.

Not only is each novel quite ponderous in and of itself (they average just shy of 1000 pages a piece), but the scope and breadth of the characters, religions, entire continents of mixed cultures, and pantheon of gods leaves ones head reeling. It doesn't help a newcomer to the genre that a lot of the concepts introduced are somewhat abstract and there is a significant backstory to the series which is repeatedly hinted at but only rarely flushed out in detail.

Erikson writes epic fantasy. When writing a series, that implies among other things, the ability to create a world readers will enjoy reading about which is drawn in sufficient depth that future volumes in the series don't endlessly rehash the same themes and plots. Erikson has acknowledged elsewhere that Gardens of the Moon is not an easy read, but it includes ten to fifteen pages of maps, glossary and dramatis personae to help the epic fantasy-impaired in their quest for understanding.

Thankfully, I'm not a newcomer to the genre.

While the series at large tells the story of the Malazan Empire... a kind of fantasical take of on a Roman Empire from our own world, it is also fair to say that the book primarily tells the story of the empire through the adventures of a particular band of soldiers known as the Bridgeburners, and the seemingly ill-fated path of the aristocratic Paran family. Though hundreds of other characters are introduced and one could argue that even the Empire's struggles are merely a backdrop for a tale of a fallen god's redemption, it is around the Bridgeburners that the most delightful aspects of the story unfold.

Erikson attemps to break with convention by not drawing characters in well-defined shades of either black or white. He succeeds admirably, creating a host of characters possessed of a complexity not often found in the fantasy genre.

The heroes of the story, the Bridgeburners, are often sarcastic, witty and seemingly resigned to any task that is set before them. That said, their opposition is seldom as clearly defined. If one were to count the various factions at work in the Gardens Of The Moon, each holding their own agenda, I suspect that you would end up with easily over a dozen. What's more, just as in real life, things have a way of changing.

If you're of the mind to whitle away a few days - or weeks - with a well conceived work of epic scope, than the Gardens of the Moon is a good place to start. But you'd better get started now. Three thousand plus pages of Erikson's saga await your pleasure - and we're not even halfway there.