Maybe it's because I'm tired of the typical Fantasy cliches and races, but I believe that even against other so-called 'fantasy greats' Erikson fares well. Erikson's worldbuilding is literally astounding. Tolkien might have made the most authentic feeling fantasy or sci-fi world I have encountered, but Erikson is the only writer who can compare. I didn't have tall expectations for Gardens of the Moon, and those I did have were smashed. Most modern fantasy I had read prior to Gardens of the Moon was cheap, badly written urban fantasy, or Lord of the Rings rehashes. However, life proves difficult for the Bridgeburners and Tattersail, a mage of the 7th army, and they start to discover that the gods themselves are playing their hand in this deadly game. Moon's Spawn, a mysterious powerful floating rock city governed by the Lord Anomander Rake, and inhabited by the Tiste Andii, one of the major races in Erikson's world, is stationed above Darujhistan for most of the story.Īfter the fall of Pale early in the story, Sergeant Whiskeyjack and the remains of his Bridgeburner squad are sent to infilitrate Darujhistan, and make sure that the gates will be open for the Malazan Empire to march in. In Genabackis only two cities remain unconquered: Pale, a powerful city which has been under siege, and is conquered early in the story, and Darujhistan where the rest of the novel takes place. The Malazan Empire is capable of spanning continents, because one of the key elements in Erikson's world are the 'Warrens', otherworldy realms from which all magic power is drawn from, though they can also be used for travel, and the gods live in their own Warrens.

The Malazan Empire is the largest single nation, which is invading Genabackis at the time of the story. Gardens of the Moon is set in a fictional world (no name given) which consists of several continents, though the majority of Gardens of the Moon takes place in Genabackis. You should keep in mind that there are are a lot of individual threads and characters in the story, which can sometimes be difficult to follow. There are so many characters that the 'Dramatis Personae' section at the beginning of the story which lists the major characters, has a full five pages, so I'm obviously not going to list them here.

Gardens of the moon by steven erikson