Gardens of the Moon

[horribleman]

Sorry for so many posts instantly, but I'e got so many questions.

I'm currently reading GotM, and am about halfway through it.

I get the general gist of the plot etc, but cannot seem to read much at a time without my mind wandering. I think what I want to know is am I missing something or do I need to finish the book to love it??

[Keyoke]

Gardens of the Moon is a tough book. It just throws you into this world, and as each page unfolds, you learn a little more.

I'd suggest you keep with it. Myself, I read the book twice. The first time around, I enjoyed, and realized thatt his was a start to a very complex story..

The Second time around, I was about to see alot of plot threads dangling which I had missed the first time, and just seem to catch many more details than I missed the first time.

Keyoke

[Hans]

Gardens of the Moon, is a confusing story. It is the second half of the book, which gets more exiting. And the end is an explosive. I highly advice you keep with and, and read it till the end, I'm sure you won't regret.

[Eventine]

I particularly got into the characters more as the book went on, especially Kalam and Quick Ben.

[lukaspriest]

You know, I read all kinds of praise for the book on these forums, and I was quite disappointed when I finished this read. The plot of this book is BEYOND complex, and while interesting races and characters were presented, what good are they if they have no explanation or personality? Like the T'lan Imass - "undead" warriors that are 300,000 years old - where the hell did they come from what do they do? What are the origins/histories of ANY of the main characters/races? The fact that the first book leaves you TOTALLY clueless into important information like that makes it a less than satisfying read. Sure, some of the assassin battles and whatnot were pretty intense, but I still fail to see the main story. What the hells the Jaghut? I posted these kinds of questions here once before, and everyone told me to read the second book. To hell with that! Why should I have to sit through 6-700 pages of boorish, confusing drivel just to bridge me over to another book? (which, I'm told, doesnt even involve the characters from the first!) Well, I live in the states, and I'll be damned if I'm going to shell out another 15 bucks to import a paperback.

Anyhow, thats my opinion. I suggest you pick up George R R Martin.

[This message has been edited by lukaspriest (edited May 02, 2002).]

[horribleman]

Thanks for the feedback. I've taken a break from the book and started 'The Stars my Destination' by Alfred Bester, a break from Fantasy.

Lukaspriest - what you said worries me, but I'll still finish the book. I get pee'd off when things like '~ blah has not happened since the jaghut' I think have I missed something earlier?

And I've read up to date with Martin - His dialogue is awesome.

[This message has been edited by horribleman (edited May 03, 2002).]

[lukaspriest]

You know, chances are, you havent missed anything - its probably just some reference to some point that you're supposed to read in ANOTHER book. Thats my big gripe with the book (GotM) - I read the whole damn thing, and I dont any more than when I started - you still have no idea who the hell ANY of these damned characters are.

Sure, go ahead and finish the book - the skirmish that takes place near the end is cool and all, but it sure as hell won't answer any of your questions!

[Arc]

Here's a weird thing: I've actually been reading this series backwards by accident, and the second one (Deadhouse Gates) is a *way* better read, imo.

I happened to pick up DG after someone here recommended it as one of the year's best reads.. not realising it was actually a sequel to GOTM. Consequently, I had a bit of trouble figuring out who all the people were and piecing together where the story was at. But despite this, I thought the book was *awesome*. It is way faster-paced than GOTM, tons of stuff going on including a full-bore brutal military campaign, and there is somewhat less of the constant supernatural intervention which was running all through GOTM (although there's still a fair bit of this stuff, particularly involving the T'lan Imass, which was a little confusing).

Anyway, I would still recommend Deadhouse Gates very highly, even if you found GOTM a bit slow and confusing.

[horribleman]

Well, I was just spot reading some of DG and MoI before I returned them to the bookshop, and thought that [i]they do look better[i/]. Once I've finished the Stars my Destination, I'll give it another shot and then read DG.

Thanks for all the feedback

[Rob B]

Picked up GotM a couple of weeks ago while in Canada. About 300-400 pages into it (forgot the damn thing today so couldn't read it on the train to work ).

Anyhooo....
So far I am enjoying the book. To say that there is an Epic feel is quite an understatement. I like how Erikson just throws you in the middle of everything.

Whiskeyjack's 2nd army reminds me a bit of James Barclay's Raven.

I will say the similar names are a bit confusing, especially Tassersail and Tascheryn. It's a gripe I have with authors who have similar sounding names that begin with the same letter for different characters.

[ezchaos]

A month or two ago I ordered GotM from a bookstore in Canada because of all the rave reviews I had read about the series. When I received it, I dove right in. At that time, I had some personal issues going on in my life, and given the fact that Erikson throws you headlong into his complicated world, I was forced to put the book down after a few hundred pages because I couldn't concentrate on it. I'll definately get back to it in the near future, though .

[Pathir]

I too liked GOTM. A bit difficult to get into after a lot of different POV'S and a shipload of information, but well worth it if you read on. Like FF said;the story has a wonderful epic feel to it.
And, Lukaspriest, with a series this big, a lot of things will without doubt get explained on the long, long way to the end...

[Bardos]

GotM is one of those rare nowdays fantasy books, that demand of the reader to use his/her brain, rather than giving everything in a plater. Many things aren't explained, but neither our cars in our age --that's the kind of logic Erikson uses. The first 100 pages ARE a bit difficult, but after that this book is fiest that promises much more interesting stuff to come. Personaly, it's my favourity from the whole series thus far.

[Lani]

I thought that GotM had way too many characters and plot lines, which make the reading overly confusing. However, I also thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is really nice to have a break from the typical fantasy world and Erikson's world developent is awesome.
I think the important thing is to keep on reading. At first I kept forgetting who is who and why they are doing it, but you get used to it eventually and the second half of the book becomes much clearer than the first.
I think it's the fact of all the mystics, gods, etc. in the book that confuse the most, but I think it's a book worth reading nonetheless.

[Rob B]

Less than 100 pages to go in GOTM and it is just about living up to the hype I've seen here and elsewhere.

I can see the similiarities to Martin's aSoIF in terms of grittiness and complexity. I'd have to say Erikson is a bit more complex, though. This book has that shades of grey that I really enjoy, the characters are not EEEEEVIL or Shiny GOOD.

Either way, I am glad the Chapters had a copy of Deadhouse Gates and I am kicking myself for not picking up Memories of Ice.

At this point, the characters I like the most are probably Kruppe, Whiskeyjack and Anomander Rake (who reminds me a bit of Moorcock's Elric).