World Fantasy Award nominee 2000.
The Malazan Empire is a continent-spanning dominion over which the
ruthless Empress Laseen holds sway, her rule enforced by the Claws, the
Imperial assassins. Bled dry by incessant warfare and undermined by
dissension, signs indicate that the Empire could be crumbling from
within.
war of attrition in which the
Malazans have spent years fighting the combined forces of local armies
aided by the formidable Son of Darkness and Lord of the Tiste Andii,
Anomander Rake, the Crimson Guard, the powerful warlord Caladan Brood,
and their allies.
Though they emerge victorious from the siege of Pale
and impel the
flying fortress of Moon’s Spawn to retreat and abandon the conflict, the
Malazan triumph is bittersweet. Evidence implies that the Bridgeburners
were nearly wiped out by treacherous elements from within the ranks of
their own army.
Before any light can be shed on what truly occurred, the
Malazan troops
are sent marching to subdue Darujhistan, the last of the Free Cities of
Genabackis. Soon, as the conflict escalates, powerful forces converge on
Darujhistan.
And with gods and Ascendants watching and manipulating
events, nothing is as it seems in the City of Blue Fire.
Thus begins The
Malazan Book of the Fallen, one of the greatest and most ambitious fantasy epics of our time.
"Steven Erikson is an
extraordinary writer. I read Gardens of the Moon with great pleasure.
And now that I have read it, I would be hard-pressed to decide what I
enjoyed more: the richly and ominously magical world of Malaz and
Genabackis; the large cast of sympathetically rendered characters; or
the way the story accumulates to a climax that hits like machinegun
fire. My advice to anyone who might listen to me is: Treat yourself to
Gardens of the Moon. And my entirely selfish advice to Steven Erikson
is, write faster." – Stephen R. Donaldson
"Erikson's style is no-nonsense,
and his military campaigns have a reality to them that's often lacking
in fantasy… 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
"Steven Erikson… has the breadth
and detail of imaginative vision, he is able to create a world that is
both absorbing on a human level and full of magical sublimity, and,
above all, he can write… a wonderfully grand conception… fiendishly
readable." – Adam Roberts