Gardens of the Moon

So I was looking for a new fantasy series to tide me over a bit while I waited for George R. R. Martin's next book, and the one I've seen with the most direct comparisons is The Malazan Book of the Fallen, which Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont based on their roleplaying game campaign. Just as far as the first book goes, Gardens of the Moon is not really that close to being as brilliant as A Game of Thrones, but it was still an enjoyable introduction to a rich, interesting world.

The setting itself is definitely a lot more "fantasy" than Ice and Fire. Martin's series reads like a lost history of European kingdoms with some dragons and undead added for flavor, while the Malazan series is totally soaking in magic. Gods exist in droves and fraternize with mortals, half the characters have access to "warrens" which power their spells and let them quickly travel long distances, there's a floating moon/fortress/city run by a dude who's lived for thousands of years, and so on. The world building definitely seems like the focus was more on making it fun to explore than creating a cohesive vision for a big story, but enough sense is made of it to keep the story going.

The story itself seems a bit deliberately opaque at first, as the perspective jumps around quite a bit, introducing various players and factions in the relevant parts of the world, and sort of telling you what's going on but also sort of not. It took me a little while to really get into it, but eventually things really got going and I could see the purpose of all these different threads, and it did come together into an interesting, mostly original fantasy story. Like I said, the work isn't as strong as Martin's, but Erikson does a good job of balancing a bunch of different things competently and gives them all the right amount of focus without neglecting anything. One thing I really liked is that while there were definitely avenues for sequels left open, the main story arc of the book resolves itself within Moon's pages, rather than feeling like it was one giant volume chopped into ten eventual pieces. I saw enough to make me want to continue reading the series, though I might try out a few others first before I do.