Erikson is no George R.R. Martin. Flat characters and lack of descriptions prevented me from ever getting into this book. Even Goodkind is a better storyteller, and he's a joke. I found myself at the end of the book not really having any emotional reaction to the events or the characters. Besides Kruppe, none really had an interesting personality. It was all very lifeless as if someone were describing the events of a video game on paper. Also the amount of magic at everyones fingertips made it a little silly and even boring. This was a huge disappointment after seeing so many positive reviews. I was really hoping for another Wheel of Time or Song of Ice and Fire to jump into.

as people say, there's really no beginning to this book. you find yourself w/the malazan army and so on. battles ensue. but, fortunately, it's not political intrigue that fuels the story. at least, not on a geopolitical scale. instead, the battlefield holds mythic intrigue and the constant unvieling of secrets from milenia past. holding together these gigantic revelations are the gripping stories of the malazans and the myriad other individuals, mortal or otherwise, scattered about. ridiculous amounts of stories converge, in fact. i'm sure i couldn't name them all. but, it's pretty great. furthermore, the following books are brilliant, and reading this one helps set them up; although, not as much as any other fantasy series would. truly, though, the surprises, the myth and wonder, the turning of magic on its arse, and the gory excitement all starts here. even if it has no begining.

Gardens of the moon is an incredible ride but one that is difficult to stay on at times. There are many unexplained concepts which leave the reader scratching his/her head while attempting to grasp a very convoluted plot which occurs in multiple places with several frames of reference. It is a highly enjoyable read, but I would like to see Erickson take some time to give the reader a little bit of background on things like "warrens" and the like. A rudimentary understanding of the things that the charecters understand completely would enhance the experience for the reader greatly. In addition, while I appreciate the list of charecters and the glossary at the end, I honestly wish Erickson would take just a little time, to introduce charecters more fully. It is very difficult to keep up when you have 20 mages, 5 different assasians and the like. I'm not suggesting the he dumb things down, or go into Jordan like depth, just flesh them, if only a little bit, to ease us into this incredibly complicated world he has created.

The end is a whirlwind and does, in all fairness tie up many things that were confusing throughout the book.

Overall I give this a 3/5. With a little more care by the author to ensure that we understand what the heck he is talking about, it would be possibly the greatest work of fantasy that I have ever read. Incredibly imaginative and vivid!