[Daigomi]

Hi!

I have spent the last few weeks obsessing over a book that I read last year while in the hospital. I must have been on some pretty strong pain meds, as I can't remember the plot at all, only snippets and scenes from the book. I base my reading almost entirely on sffworld's yearly threads regarding the favourite book of the year and Rob and Mark's round-ups at the end of each year, so it should be a well known book. I haven't been able to find it though.

What I do remember:

The book was written from multiple perspectives, including a thief and a mage. The mage is a woman, and we first see her waking up after sleeping with a fellow mage. They have some sort of fight. The thief is in a desert city (which I think is the setting for the book), and I remember him going to a tavern and drinking with friends there. I also distinctly remember a section where people are trying to assassinate him on the rooftops of the city, and there might have been an assassin's guild there. Other characters I remember include a young military commander who was a noble but took a risk in joining the military (as the military is frowned upon). I think his first job in the military was going to some country where a whole town had been killed. There was also a guy in the desert city who I remember as something of an administrator or political figure. At some point a very large and respected bird (crow or raven I think) flies into the room and negotiates with him for her leader.

Regarding specific scenes and ideas, I remember that there was a city in the sky that the mage fought against, and the bird visiting the politician came from that city. There was one section in the book where some of the characters were being led by a rude undead guide in order to find something. The undead guide had something to do with the division between old gods and new gods (him being old). I think the book concluded with a fight in the city streets and a demon or something was summoned, but I might be wrong.

Writing this down, the book sounds completely crazy. I'm starting to worry that it was all a very weird dream! I don't tend to remember my dreams though, so if anyone has any idea what I'm talking about, please let me know!

[Seak]

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

It being Erikson, I can understand why you can only remember certain things - I couldn't figure out what was going on until about 2/3 through the book and still was a little shaky in that regard. :)

[Daigomi]

Was that Gardens of the Moon? Haha, I've been meaning to read it for ages! Gardens of the Moon has been at the top of my to read pile for about four years now, only to get pushed down by more immediate reading needs (Wise Man's Fear, for example). Now you're telling me I've already read it...

I looked at the Wiki and you're perfectly right. I remember Paran and Whiskeyjack now.

Thanks for the help!

[Seak]

Hahaha, that's hilarious. I better check if there's anything in my TBR pile that I've already read...oh...nope...still hundreds of books and so little time. :D

That's seriously awesome. You should definitely read the rest of the series. I'm on book 9 (haven't started it yet) and it's definitely worth all the doorstoppers.