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  • Gardens of the Moon

  • The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1
  • By: Steven Erikson
  • Narrated by: Ralph Lister
  • Length: 26 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (378 ratings)

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Gardens of the Moon cover art

Gardens of the Moon

By: Steven Erikson
Narrated by: Ralph Lister
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Publisher's Summary

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Gardens Of The Moon: (Malazan Book Of The Fallen 1) by Steven Erikson, read by Ralph Lister.

Bled dry by interminable warfare, infighting and bloody confrontations with Lord Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, the vast, sprawling Malazan empire simmers with discontent.
Even its imperial legions yearn for some respite. For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his Bridgeburners and for Tattersail, sole surviving sorceress of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, still holds out - and Empress Lasseen's ambition knows no bounds.
However, it seems the empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister forces gather as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand...

Conceived and written on an epic scale, Gardens of the Moon is a breathtaking achievement - a novel in which grand design, a dark and complex mythology, wild and wayward magic and a host of enduring characters combine with thrilling, powerful storytelling to resounding effect. Acclaimed by writers, critics and readers alike, here is the opening chapter in what has been hailed a landmark of epic fantasy: the awesome 'The Malazan Book of the Fallen'.

©1999 Steven Erikson (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

Erikson is an extrodinary writer...treat yourself to Gardens of the Moon (STEPHEN R. DONALDSON)
Complex, challenging...Erikson's strengths are his grown-up characters and his ability to create a world every bit as intricate and messy as our own (J.V. JONES)
There's nothing safe about fantasy like this: intriguing, complex, thought provoking, exceedingly well-written, and, for the intelligent reader, exhilaratingly satisfying (PAULA GURAN)

What listeners say about Gardens of the Moon

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

What's happening?

I have tried patiently to absorb the story, characters and world with this book several times now.
I have to say that the biggest frustration I find here is the poorly developed characters, locations and lore.
I get that it's deep and complex but I just feel dumped in the middle of a world that's never explained and with unexplained characters that blither on with endless exposition about a world and threat that's only ever vague in explanation.

to put it simply, it's an over powered fantasy universe and no one knows what's happening.

Just listen and you will see what I mean.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • MM
  • 06-02-2019

Struggle to start with. got better though

Initially struggled with so many characters and chopping and changing parts/ prospectives of the story. Got better as it went on.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • MB
  • 02-07-2019

Great Story and Narration

It is not the story one can listen to with headphones while shopping in the Supermarket. I found that I needed the glossary and list of characters at hand for ready reference. I like to listen while I am active and read a hardcopy when I can. There seemed to be new sets of characters of types regularly cropping up. Sometimes the book was hard work but rewarding in the long-run. Good for intellectual types who like a challenge. The complex nature of the book probably stems from the authors academic background. I read the book in four days which helped my momentum. The narrator is excellent.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

only finished out of sheer stubborn spite

shockingly boring. Like so boring it has to be a special skill. I can't even say exactly what was so painful about it, this book has all the elements of a traditionally satisfying fantasy novel but none of it worked. I didn't give a damn about any of the characters. I couldn't tell you what anyone's goal or character arcs were. Did anyone learn anything? Did I? Perhaps I learned not to buy into the hype. I CAN'T BELIEVE I PAID SIXTEEN DOLLARS TO BE TORTURED LIKE THIS

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hood's breath!

This is one hell of a book.

"Seeking is not the same as finding, and finding is not the same as succeeding" - Alchemist Baruk

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great performance of a complex and brilliant story

I loved the original book and wasn't sure how such a massive and complex story would translate to audio but it was even better.
A great performance.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Story!!! So... much... story...

i struggled with this as an audiobook. It's a behemoth. With so much going on - and so many 'storyworld' elements that have no immediate conceptual meaning - it's hard to know what to focus on. I don't think this would be an issue when reading off the page though.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of the visual description is amazing (once you get past the characters and races and places that are being referenced that are meaningless if you don't know the world). The battle scenes are epic, even if you don't know who to barrack for. Magic everywhere. Great, thwacking heaves of magic and story. it sounds like it would be great if you know what's going on. After listening for 30 hours, I have nfi who anybody is or what anybody is doing. There's an evil puppet? A big wagon full of bodies? I dunno.

I will read the rest one day, as there is some really, really cool stuff here, but for me it doesn't work as an audiobook. It's just too big to track.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

easy story

i enjoyed the book.. would have been difficult for me to read, but easy listening

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

Fantastic book well worth anyone’s listen. Brilliantly written and marvellously read, can’t recommend it high enough!

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

3 hours in and i dont know whats happening

Theres so many characters introduced so quickly, and no time to get to know any of them, so many places, so many things happening. I really have no idea whats going on

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