Malazan: Gardens of The Moon Review 

I’m delighted to hear you loved Gardens of the Moon! It’s fine to feel confused two days after finishing. It’s fine to feel confused two years after finishing. I’ve found this to be a series that deeply rewards long term engagement and rereads. I hope you’ll continue to enjoy it!

Merphy: "This is going to be messy" Malazan fans: "Ah now youre talking our language"

The bag with the corpse, you're thinking of Nightchill. Nightchill was the mage that got ripped apart by demons and they think was betrayed during the first big battle and her lover Bellurdan was carrying her around.

She loved it? I'm so excited! I just finished book 3 recently. Still feel I have no clue whats going on but I love it.

The thing I love about Malazan is that it's the best example from a fantasy author of just being dropped into a world. Like, if you stepped through a portal into the world, Malazan would be what it actually would feel like. And I absolutely love it. It feels like the most realistic fantasy series I've ever read, and I've read a lot. I love that you love it.

Oh, by the way: The one who was carrying around the decaying remains of their spouse was Bellurdan, not Tattersail. This is actually brought to Tattersail's attention by soldiers of Dujek's Host because the sack with Nightchill's corpse starts to smell really badly. So, 'Sail confronts Bellurdan and talks him into allowing her to weave some spell around the sack that nullifies its smell.

Rolling the dice... Erikson created this world as a role playing game in the 80's. Some of the characters and some of the scenes were gamed out way back when and thus, the outcome was literally (and I'm using the word literally literally) decided by the role of the dice. There is a massive showdown between two characters later on in the series. In an interview Erikson was asked how he decided who would win, and he answered: "Well we gamed it, and it all came down to a D20 roll". I think the RPG connection is the main reason the world is so detailed and really feels lived in. And as you'll find out, there is a detailed history / backstory going back hundreds of thousands of years. He (and his friend I.C.Esslemont who writes stand alone novels in this world) built this world for a decade before starting to write the books. Btw, Gardens of the moon was originally pitched as a TV-show. Which is bonkers.

I have tried to get so many people to read this book.. it was that awesome.. as soon as Erikson introduced the Anomander Rake character i was hooked.

My favorite thing about this series, without a doubt, is the fact that it goes so hard and so ridiculously in to fantasy. It may be the most bizarre and fantastical thing I have ever read. Like you mentioning the Wax Witch, or things like a freaking person put in to a marionette and going crazy. It just goes so hard.

Yay! Andy said to be expecting this one and you lived up to the expectations. So glad you’re enjoying!!! ❤️🙏✊

I read this last month and enjoyed it so much! From what people told me before, I expected to understand absolutely nothing, but I always understood enough to keep me going. Not perfect, but a great start to such a long series - perhaps the most fantastic fantasy I’ve ever read.

Nightchill and Hairlock becoming Nighthair is the best thing ever.

I am so excited that you loved Gardens of the Moon! I can't wait to watch future Malazan content on your channel. Reading it slowly is the way to go, in my experience so far. I think this is one of the most difficult books to review, and you did a great job! 🌙

Reading Malazan in a summary, Book 1: I have no idea what's happening but it's sooo good and I love it. Book 2: WTF, Where am I, who are they and why am I reading about them Book 2 middle & End: Oh that's where I am and that is how they are related. This is even better thata worthy sequel (Even though I feel like I'm still in the dark somehow) Book 3: GOOD GOD Where have you (malazan series) been my whole life. why the hell have I not started this (series) before.I love this series and this might be the best read ever. I am well accustomed to this series now. nothing can stop me from finishing it in few weeks/months. Book 4: Well Sh*t, Here we go again...............!!!!, but let's continue and see where this goes......... and the rest is history.......!!!!

Also your desire to go back and reread the first book after you're done reading doesn't go away. I've only read 3 books and after every single book I've said I just want to immediately reread the previous books again. The series is MADE for rereads.

I'm actually doing a reread of the entire series and this review could not be better timed. I'm still on the first book and I can't believe I ever considered it confusing or even bad. Glad to know that you enjoyed it! Looking forward to the others, particularly the next two

Rolling dice to see how a fight scene takes place? Like D&D dice? *Proceeds to take notes*

As a Malazan fan, I feel obligated: ONE OF US, ONE OF US, ONE OF US. I'm really glad you enjoyed it especially since the first book is widely held as the roughest. Deadhouse Gates (#2) and Memories of Ice (#3) are wonderful as well and are certainly among my all-time favorites. I hope you enjoy them, too!

My big thing is that these books really feel like you dove into some ancient tome, picked out a historical record from the library, and just started reading. The historian writing the book totally understood the context of the tome, but you’re a historian hundreds of years later and you definitely don’t, and it’s amazing!

"I don't understand, but I want to" should be the tagline for this series. Get ready to feel that way for a while and love every minute of it.

One half of me: "What are you TALKING about? That's all wrong." Other half of me: "Thank GOD I was never forced to talk about this book before reading the rest of the books in the series."

Welcome to Malazan Book of the Fallen, I'm thrilled to hear you enjoyed the first book. It took several tries to get through this series, but once I got to the end it changed my view of the genre entirely. Take it slow, enjoy the ride, and pay attention to everything. You are in for a ride.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the book. You have a great resource in the comments with Dr. Philip Chase. I'm sure he would chat with you if you would like a veteran's view. Enjoy the ride.

I’m so excited you’re reading this! And that you loved it! Your enthusiasm was amazing and honestly, you described the confusion exactly as I felt it when I read the series. Can’t wait to watch you keep reading

So glad you gave the series another try! It really only gets better from here, so if you loved book 1, that's a great sign! Btw the ending makes a lot more sense on reread when you understand some concepts of the world better.

Your enthusiasm is contagious and I enjoyed this so much! I felt very similar to you during my read! Can't wait for Deadhouse Gates!

LOVE the enthusiasm and it's taking me back to some years ago when I first read the series. I was drawn in immediately but also left in awe. I knew I was going to have to brain real hard and take notes and constantly check references to make sense of the story and the hard work made reading that much more satisfying. I'm very much looking forward to your impressions and reactions to the other books, they are all incredible.

Oh, this was so great to hear! Malazan is my all-time favorite series and to see someone being so enthusiastic about it always warms my heart. You're in for such an amazing and mindboggling ride. It has so much sense of wonder, is so epic and filled with 100s of unique and interesting characters. And I don't think that anybody is able to spot every foreshadowing or hint. I always felt stupid after each book, when reading online about all the things I did miss. But that's another reason for making rereads a lot of fun. Enjoy your ride!

I love this video so much 😍😍😍 Welcome to my favorite series!

I literally just finished the second book 5 minutes before seeing this video and I can definitely say that there are a ton of questions from the first book that are answered as well as more that are created. I'm looking forward to more.

I highly value your honest reviews of books, even when they are negative... but I'll selfishly admit, it's an absolute joy to hear you gush about something I hold dear!! I remember when you first read through GotM and I agree, it seemed then you had too much on your plate narratively to fully enjoy thing, so I am very happy for you that its time has come :)

Great review!!! Definitely one of the best series out there. Can't wait to see how you like the other campaigns in the story. This series is like a more sophisticated Forgotten Realms with its huge scope and deep lore.

"I don't understand it, but I love it" is exactly how I felt when I read this in January. I'm through book 4 now and that sense of wonder doesn't go away. It's SO intriguing and has me so thoroughly hooked - more so than any other series I've read. The sense of curiosity that Malazan has instilled in me is wild. As a pretty jaded person, I'm happy with how eager I am to keep finding out more. Love it, and love this review.

Just found your channel from some of the Sanderson article drama and jumped straight to this review since I just finished this book found myself totally on the same page as you in almost every respect (although I found the audio was enough to keep up with, with some help jumping to fanpage to check names and relationships). I also am, weirdly, excited about a new set of characters!

I re-read this series multiple times, it's one of my favourites. I love how, having read the further books, each new read through allows you to understand things that went over your head previous times. There is no world with such deep lore in recent series, each time you dive in you uncover a new layer (no surprise that the writer is an actual anthropologist) I think you summed it up in a great way : you're overwhelmed by the number of things that you don't understand, but it's such a fascinating thing to piece the puzzle together that you just want to go on and get more ! Can't wait to see how you feel about the next one ! I love the Convergence mechanic, where too overt an action by one of the gods is bound to draw the attention of other gods who might choose to get involved, but since they usually to be subtle and off-hand about it, one of the main aspects of what the characters have to do is figuring out who is involved and who controls the different actors ans pawns involved (the deck of dragons being one of the most interesting tools for that) because if left alone things are bound to escalate and it's the mortals who will suffer the heaviest consequences of the inevitable catastrophe....It's fascinating to watch the moves and counter moves and just watch it all collide as things get ever more frantic ! One of my gripes with the series though is that the focus changes every few books. You start in a new part of the world with new characters, often in a civilisation that is completely different, and no apparent connection to the previous storylines with only a few of the known characters from previous stories pop in here or there. You end up realizing that it is because the overarching story isn't readily apparent at first, and you need to puzzle out what it is by yourself, but so many of the characters are so interesting, it's sometimes grates to not be able to have more time with them.

Best review for the book I have seen. Lol. Captures the first read experience perfectly. Can't wait for your deadhouse gates review!

Just about to read this and will come back after for the spoiler section - thanks for the video!

Glad to hear you liked it Merphy, and great review. Genuine passion that reminds me of me trying to describe the stories! I was also interested that it sounds like you approached it in a similar way to me. I was pretty busy with other reading and studies when I first read it, and on finishing GotM I'd have said I enjoyed it, but not much 'stuck'. I pretty much mentally shelved it then. I came back to it 12 to 18 months later and read it again and this time I had no trouble keeping things together, had a bit of context to the world and absolutely fell in love with the story and the series. As you've clearly gathered...there is so much that happens for a book this size (by far the smallest of the series) and despite having completed the series, I still felt like the things I met in book one were fresh and relevant! If you continue to enjoy the series as much as I did you're in for a real treat!

Merphy : « I’m so attached to these characters! I can’t wait for book 2! » Me: Oops 🤭😂

So happy you're reading these. I don't know if my expectations were low after all the warnings, but I loved it too. I'm only into the prologue of Deadhouse Gates, but already there's some great character work.

Your excitement is infectious. I genuinely have no time for a reread of MBOTF......but also... maybe?? 😆

Hi! I loved your review. This is one of my favorite fantasy series (even though I haven't read books 5-10) and actually, I'm rereading the first four books because I finally bought books 5, 6, 7 and 8 after years of searching them translated in my country. I'll wait to hear your next reviews, I'm in book four and be prepared. You're in for a wild, wild ride

Glad you like it! I'm reading book 3 at the moment. In book 2 you will read about one of the most amazing friendships I've ever read, I think you will love it. To be honest, I found it a bit more difficult to get into book 2, but the second half was absolutely amazing.

So glad you reviewed this! One of my favorite series.

An unstoppable force meets a brick in the face.

Ahh haven’t watched it yet but the title alone gets me so excited! I adore this series. Currently in the middle of book nine and I dread what‘s to come in the second half.

I've been bouncing around your channel and found my way into considering the Malazan Series. You're so fun to listen to and I feel like you'd be a great coffee chat buddy! Subscribed!

This makes me want to reread! I felt all the chaos of thoughts and feelings reading it the first time! I can't wait to see what you think as you continue on

First time reading through it myself. Would love to see more Malazan book discussing your read through, it would help me keep everything straight in my head.

Hi Merphy, am so stoked you're finally reviewing this! So that scene with Paran and the chains takes place in the mini-warren of Anomander Rake's sword, Dragnipur. The sword comes up again several times, and you are right to love Anomander, he is most definitely bae.

I am soooo happy you loved it! Hope you enjoy the rest; it can be heavy at times but there's usually light or funny moments spread throughout the series.

I am so glad to see how many people have been getting into this saga in the last year.. I’ve had to read the first part of this book 3 times and I’m almost done with it. It’s freaking amazing. I’m beyond excited to be on this journey

Finally! i have been waiting for this review for a long time. Have always been on a fence about reading malazan.Guess i will start now since you loved it and as you described makes it seem like even more interesting. Will start reading and comeback for spoiler part of the video as soon as i finish the book. 👍

I agree with you sooo much ! The book is just so intriguing and compelling that it propelled me along even when I got confused by a scene or part of the book . Utterly brilliant imo. Cannot wait for deadhouse gates once I finish it soon !

This review was not acceptable. It was exceptional! You did a wonderful job of conveying the mindset that most readers must leave this book with. I thoroughly enjoyed your commentary and look forward to hearing about your experience with the subsequent volumes. Well done!!

It only gets better till the end from what I have heard!!! Hope you will review all the 10 books!!

Thank you for doing a spoiler-free intro to this and similar books. It helps determine interest level.

I just finished this book because of this video and it was fantastic, so thank you for reviewing it!

Hooray Merphy! You have such an amazing journey ahead of you!

Entertaining to watch. If book 2 feels like a big slow down for you, do not give up. I'm a few hundred pages into book 7 now and I implore you to push through any rough patches you find. You will love it based on how you've felt about book 1.

Great! Started end of last year and now halfway the third one. You share the same feelings I had about the first book. It's fantastic and confusing from the first moments. That feeling does not leave immediately in the next books... but it'll be worth it! I guess we slowly have to piece it all together

Glad you loved it. The series gets absolutely amazing in it's scope. Ian C. Esselmont's Malazan books tend to be a lot more character focused and easier to follow. While both authors are absolutely awesome I prefer Ian's books.

I loved this review because it encompassed all the great feelings and frustration we all experienced when we first read this book! At the time I write this you're on book 3, so hopefully this isn't a spoiler: 23:38 - Paran actually was transported into Anomander, (said like salamander, only Anomander), Rake's sword, Dragnipur, which holds the souls of everyone his sword has killed.

Merphy, I love your book one reviews of my favorite book series, it brings back the joy of reading them for the first time for me too. Gotta re-read Malazan now ahaha

What I love about this review the most is, it's exactly like the book! It's all over the place & I mean that in a good way.

I am now interested and will be picking this one up. Thanks for the spoiler free review

This was FUN. So glad you're reading this series. And from your rambling spoiler segment....I don't wanna say there's a 'right' way to read Malazan but you're approaching it in a good way I think. Inquisitive and detective like. You're in for a wild ride with the next two books. And there's plenty of lovely people who'll be happy to clarify whatever you need.

Never clicked on a video faster. My current favourite series and I’m only on book 6. You’re in for a wild ride, and imo the best the genre as to offer

Thanks Merphy - the review was so infectious and enthusiastic it made me want to re-read this book again. I finished the series last year, 10 years after starting Gardens of the Moon. Amazing ride - not sure where or which ride I was on half the time. Probably need to re-read it all again....hope it doesn't take another decade!!

I love this series! I love how intelligently it’s written and I love that Erickson trusts his reader intelligence enough to believe that they can figure it out without spoon feeding us the info.

Great review & description . I am interested in the series but not anytime soon. I still want to read First Law books and J Gwynne series that I missed out on when they were released.

This is the book that got me first interested in the Fantasy genre two years ago. I had no idea that fantasy could be written like this and this well. It's now my favourite all time author and book/series. Been reading only fantasy ever since.

The prologue and first chapter make so much sense after you finish the book. All in all this book feels like planned chaos and I love it.

Favorite series of all time. I've read through this so many times. I just can't get enough!

Just found your channel, really glad you're enjoying Malazan so far. My one thought based on the video is you're in for a massive treat. It is widely considered that GOTM is one of the weakest books in the series, so the heights you will reach in the coming books... I'm subbing just so I don't miss your reactions.

I was listening to the audiobook for the first 7 or so chapters and then switched to reading whilst listening and only then was keeping up but a lot of the stuff in the beginn did go over my head and so in glad for this review kinda helping me give context to stuff that happened towards the end.

I finally decided to see what other folks have to say about the books, and I am delighted to hear that you became attached to characters that I did not initially appreciate (like the witch). It's been a while since I read the book, but I don't recall picking up on the witch's prophecy and I'm reasonably certain I thought her tale was done with her death. I was surprised when she popped back up! In regards to a reread for the sake of Tattersail's readings, please do! The state of the world depicted by the Deck of Dragons is fascinating when you know more of the players the cards represent. And as others have said, a reread of the series is just generally fascinating for all the details you pick up on the second read that escape notice the first time. Subtle references to characters not yet introduced... It may be time that I give the series a third read-through.

I'm halfway through this book right now! Been reading this and The First Law simultaneously. What a neat coincidence. I'll have to finish soon so I can come back and watch the video. The magical stuff is a little difficult to comprehend, I regularly find myself thinking "did I miss where they explained what is going on right now?" but the character interactions outside of the magic are a lot easier to follow.

The series has been on my TBR since Daniel talked about it and seeing his love/hate relationship with the books grow into the overall adoration made me even more interested to pick it up. (Living in Europe it's harder to get English copies now with the whole Brexit thing going on though) I'm not watching your spoiler review, but I'm already giving this a like anyway ;)

One thing to keep in mind for those who start malazan and are overwhelmed with questions: Erikson does not do disappointment. He just does delayed payoff. :)

I am SO glad to hear that other people were confused yet loved the book at the same time. I just started the second book and I'm loving it!

So brilliant to see this enthusiastic review I am so pleased am not alone in my love of all things malazan have read it all twice and probably will read it again still waiting for book 3in the Kharkanas trilogy something to look forward to once hooked that's it !!!!

I loved this so much. I think probably everyone who's read this series empathizes with your scatterbrained excitement despite not reallly knowing what's going on. If you keep going, it certainly won't be the last time you feel this way.

I think the part of this series I enjoy the most is that often characters have underlying meanings in their conversations that you don't pick up on during your first read... and that they're often deliberately lying or hiding their knowledge from other characters. It makes the host of perspectives crucial because their differing access to information varies wildly in both scope and accuracy.

I’m only on Knife of Dreams with WoT, but I’m excited to lick this up once I’ve finished. I also want to get through Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere as I haven’t read anything by him yet. Hopefully it doesn’t take me too long or else my TBR will go on forever.

I love that you loved GotM!! ......... BTW.... You did a great job summing up your thoughts. Also, the end is amazing, though so is the middle and the beginning. You'll want to keep reading so you can see all these threads realized into a cohesive tapestry. It's my favorite epic high fantasy series. I like Wheel of Time, though for me, Malazan has so much more to offer without the familiar tropes of WoT. Enjoy reading Malazan 📚😊 I'll be looking forward to your review of book 2, Deadhouse Gates.

Great to hear you enjoyed it. In terms of Deadhouse Gates - struggle through the first half, because the finale of the books is such an all timer, I actually was sold on the whole series. And couldn't read anything for a week afterwards. Remember the name Chain of Dogs!

Everyone that has recently read Gardens definitely understand and sympathize with your review. There is so much to unravel here. Loved your enthusiasm.

"I'm gonna really try to stop myself from gobbling up these books" -- Merphy "Gobble me, swallow me, look inside of me, quick next page before you forget about me" -- The Malazan books

Really enjoyed your review. I was confused and exhausted when I read this book. I feel I like I only absorbed 50% of the contents of the book, the rest will probably make sense when I come around to re-read it.

I just started the 2nd one! I loved this book and the way the author connects the world!

Omg I’m so excited you love this book! I’m on book seven right now and loving it and I think it’s in my top three favorites series already. Deadhouse Gates is still my absolute favorite and I hope you love it despite the new characters and continent. Regarding it felt like Erickson was just rolling dice for some of the events, he kind of was? He outlined this entire series through a DnD campaign with one of his friends so take that as you will.

I'm excited you are reading the series I'm on. I'm on book 7. I can't wait for your review of all of them.

This review perfectly articulates my feelings so far

My god i don't even like to read that much but id listen to you talk about books forever!

I finished this book last year and just started Deadhouse Gates, it's such an incredible series and like you I absolutely love the characters. Also I'm using your review to try to talk my wife into starting it 😆

Malazan is such a hype series! Really enjoyed Gardens of the Moon but Deadhouse Gates is where I got really engaged in the world. So much fun to reread earlier chapters with context of what's happening in the setting.

I am about 15% into the first book and I am also loving it. I have been putting it off for two years because so many people say the first book is rough but it has been a blast for me (over the course of 2 oft-interrupted hours).

Holy Hood, you're reading my favorite series, and loved the first? I'm so glad you're getting into it.

Glad you're reading this. I'm on book 5 and loving it.