Most people have the ability to say what they think about a book without giving anything away. But I guess you don't have that ability.
Something to keep in mind for your future posts.

I am not familiar with the fantasy genre and just decided to look for a great fantasy book to read and so came upon this list. I first tried out The Wheel of Time book 1 but i just couldnt read it because I thought it was silly.
Now I am reading this series, book 1 Gardens of the Moon, and I think it is great.
I dont think it is as complicated as people are making it out to be. In fact I think this might be a marketing thing to make people read it... as a challenge, a unique experience of reading a truly complicated novel or something like that.
I found out that once you realised there was an empire trying to take over the world and factions opposed to it then you had all you needed to navigate through the plot.

And the characters are totally believable in as long as this is a fantasy book of course. If someone is too powerful it might be because a god or gods are using them for their own purposes or they are wizards that have lived for thousands of years and so have accumulated much skills along the way.

All in all, it is a great book and I enjoy reading it. If, as people are saying here, this is weakest book in the series then I cant wait to get to book two.

A living genious

This series is what the Wheel of Time could have been if it had interesting characters and story and decent pacing. More plot development occurs in one chapter of a Malazan novel than happens in a whole volume of WoT. I am itching badly to read Dust of Dreams, now that it's out. The fantasy genre is in desperate need of more writers of Erikson's cailber.

I was going to leave a comment that included my take on the book but the post by Alex basically summed up my feelings exactly, except that I read the first book to completion. I hold this site's administrator and his opinions on the genre in high regard but in the case of the Malazan series, or at least Gardens of the Moon, I must respectfully disagree.

Right now, for me, this series is at the top, with Song of Ice and Fire at #2, and The Prince of Nothing series at #3. And the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant has to be given a place of honor for me as well. They are all really good, epic, dark, fantasy, and are definitely not for everyone (mature readers only).

I can see why many won't enjoy this series or progress past the first book. Gardens of the Moon is decent. I liked it because it had a unique feel. But Deadhouse Gates is amazing, and from there I was hooked. I've read the first five, and each one gets better.

Many people won't like being so in the dark, for so long. They want answers, and I understand. But the mastery at work here is on a subtle, many layered level. At first you will be frustrated by not knowing the how, why, and what's of things, their origins, how it's all connected. And the change in settings/characters of each book can make it a slow start each time. But they build over the course of each novel, and the finale is always reeeeealllly good. The story/world/history begins to reveal itself as it goes, and it is so dynamic that it accomplishes true epic fantasy. This is what I love most about the series, and I have a sense that Erikson knows what he's doing - I trust him as reader, and not having all the answers is what gives it much of it's allure.

The pure uniqueness of the experience is also why I love it, and why it has a slight edge for me over Ice and Fire (but a new book there could tip the scales). And the character's are soooooo BAD-ASS! The pure originality of the world(s) and characters, (also why I love the Thomas Covenant series) magic, fantasy races, gods, chronology, even geography (there is no all connecting world map - the stories span different continents and dimensions) is very different than anything I have encountered. Not you're "elves, dwarves, and goblins" Tolkien style world. While I love J.R.R. and his world as much as anyone (the Silmarillion is the EPIC of all Epics), Erikson has impressed me with his creation, and it has plenty of alien-fantasy-race content to make things interesting.

I think it takes a different kind of reader to really get into Malazan. For someone who is not inclined to the darker stuff, or is new to the genre, I wouldn’t recommend it. But if you have read a lot of fantasy, and want something that is original and down right genius - get it, read it - it's (yes I'm going to overuse the word) EPIC!!!!

Don't.

Read "Name of the Wind," invest time towards bettering other aspects of your life, and buy the sequel when it comes out.

Rothfuss' world may not be as "epic" as this one, but the difference is purely mathematical. Rothfuss understands the word storytelling. It's two parts: story, and telling. Important to remember the foundations of fiction. Words around a fire. Cold people desperate for warmth and wonder.

Stories can be like torn curtains. If you can find the holes, you can also mend them, with a little bit of your own skill and imagination.

Overwrought stories are like overcooked roasts. Too chewy, not as much flavor, needlessly unpleasant to digest, and no added nutritional value.

This is certainly a good enough series to be second on this list. It's not perfect, though. Erikson has some issues with characterization. I don't think he's too superheroey, but letting a few folks die couldn't hurt.

Overall, I had no trouble keeping track of characters, nor did I find the plots either overly or underly complicated. I thin k his prose is not as spare as many people in the genre, but it had a lovely dark tone, and Erikson is good with building setting and atmosphere if he's having a good day.

I agree with almost everyone.

First, i really like this series.

Second, if i cared enough i'd be offended by those who imply this is a "thinking man's book" and if you don't like it then it's obviously too complicated for you. Silly. Being complicated doesn't mean good. They have nothing to do with one another. His writing is better than average but convoluted and in need of editing. You may like this style of writing but it doesn't change the fact that it is needlessly verbose. People love Stephen King... he is much the same. I call King a hack and don't care if 1 billion-trillion people say otherwise, it will just cause me to think 1 billion-trillion people have poor taste and never developed their reading I.Q.... lol.

I also agree that too many of the Malazan characters are too awesome! I mean, everyone? Even that squad mage turns out to be God like? Really? The stupid grubby kid turns out to be the killer of the ages? Really?

Erickson has also created some amazing characters... Karsa, Anomander, Caladan, Quick Ben, Kalem, Fid... fascinating every one. Placing these guys in realistic settings (for you clowns who think the Malazan world is realistic, it isn't - is the 300 world of Spartans realistic just because there's lost of blood? No. Shut up.) Putting them in a realistic setting would have been AWESOME. Alas, this world isn't so bad... in fact it's better than most others... just lacking.

I thought House of Chains the best in the series.

As a side note: I was embarrassed to even carry the first book around... i mean the cover art belongs on a romance novel! Don't they know who they're selling to?

I decided to give these books a try early last year since I finally realized "A Dance with Dragons" was going to be a long time coming. Gardens of the Moon did start out a little slow for me because you pulled up in the car, stepped out, then turned around and your ride was nowhere in sight. I find myself going back to the "Dramatis Personae" repeatedly throughout the book to refresh myself on who's who, but got through it. I decided to give Deadhouse Gates a try, and that was a little easier than the first. I then decided to give Rothfuss a try and read "Name of the Wind" (Highly recommended by the way) then went back to "Memories of Ice". After reading that I've not read another author yet and I'm now reading Toll the Hounds and I'm hooked. Dust of Dreams comes out here in January but I'm not sure if I'll be able to wait, may have to order the British printing. This series is EPIC and dependable. You aren't going to have to wait years with one excuse after another like another series we all know. You get a book every year or so. Also they are going to be expanding the series with a trilogy about Anomander Rake's past and a Toblakai Trilogy (Hopefully Karsa's story). When they say this series isn't for everyone, it's true. You have to do a little "work" but it's well worth it, hands down the best series of all time. George Martin is going to have a little work to do to even come close. (Assuming we ever see the end of his series)

This series is definitely my number one - some of the comments above about flat characters and poor description are truly absurd. It is without doubt more epic than any other series in existence and in my mind, Erikson has emerged as the best of all time - master storytelling, brilliant world-building, and a plot that begins with the dawn of civilisation (not human)! The exceptional thing is such a super-charged, highly fantastic world, he still manages to weave in more humanity and realism than you'll find in a touching documentary film.

Furthermore and by far my most favourite aspect of his novels is the fact that he doesn't hold your hand even once. "It's confusing and the plot isn't obvious," people whinge, and that's just as it should be. Think about it for a minute. In such a huge, sprawling world and story, would any of the characters have a clue as to what was going on? No, I daresay not and neither should we. That's why this series is more complex and real than any other out there

I just finished book 8 and this is by far the best series ever. Do not give up reading these as they get better and better and better. It seems people give up on this because they do not like to think and want plain worlds like GRRM with a clear story. If you want something challenging and VERY REWARDING read them all. 150 pages into the first book is not even an introduction and this series should not be judged on it.

I read the two first books in this series, based on recommendations.

While well written for the most part, Ericsson has delusions of grandeour and it shows. His prose is overly complex, he obfuscates his plots on purpose and most of his characters are not as interesting or cleverly made as he thinks they are.

He also has a distressing habit of "superheroing" his characters. Noone is truely ever dead and everyone is "extremely" powerfull untill the next even more "awesome" creatrue/god/demigod/godling/magi-vampire-demon thing enters the stage. Give me a break....

High magic settings like this easily becomes ridiculus. Magic inflation is a bad thing.
I hear that some people saying that I should read more of these books before I give up, but a series that needs more than 2 books to grab you is not worth it. "The Name of the Wind" only needed 100 pages.

Your reviews have been spot on with the exception of this series. This is genre fiction with all genre and no fiction. This writer fails on most accounts: boring, flat characters, he lacks in depiction of setting, dialogue is trite and downright cheesy, plot is predictable.

I started the series with Midnight Tides, and I have to admit the series is complicated and it takes you time to wrap your head around everything that is happening. By the end of the book I was in love with the book, and I picked up Gardens of the Moon, Dead House Gates, and Memories of Ice. You do sometimes have to ignore the fact that every single soldier and character seems dangerous, and many of the soldiers are too well spoken.