Hello Ben,
Are you really advocating that we read a whole series of books we don't like before commenting? I would think that it is perfectly legit to give fair warning about the sort of books you'll be reading after reading a few. Would you ask the same for e.g. James Joyce or William Faulkner criticism? Come on! Life is to short for that.

So I have read most of the series on this list and I was looking through the comments of MBotF for other recommendations. I noticed that a decent amount of comments mentioned the series as overrated and poorly written. Upon further inspection I noticed that the vast majority of these were written by people who did not even get past thte first book, let alone into the true heart of the series. (book 5 and onwards) If you are not going to actually read the series do not post.

I don't think that this is a series for fans of the Ice and Fire saga. The characters are not in the least bit as interesting as in Song of Ice and Fire. Very flat and I honestly couldn't care less about any of them. If you like magic as the central theme of your books then this is the thing for you. It's everywhere and pops up like a deus ex machina whenever the author is stuck. Or so it seems to me, anyway. I admire the scope of it all but in my opinion this is fantasy gone berserk.
If you're into Martin-style books then give Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind) a try. A 1000% more interesting character then any I have found in these Malazan books. There also doesn't seem to be a very clear idea behind all the killing and maiming. What do they want exactly, all these larger then life wizards and emperors?
But ... to each his own, of course. It IS spectacular.

In response to the person who last posted, you must be so kind of oddball because it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE in the beginning. You DON'T understand what's going on with the ascendants. You are FILLED to BURSTING with questions.

I finished the first book of the this series and I'm halfway done with the second book, and so far the series is nothing but over-rated.

I have read most everywhere that the story is incredibly complex and that you will be full of questions throughout the first few books and all that good stuff, but turns out that there is NOTHING of that. The first book is pretty straight forward, they just go in a zigzag for a while but by the end I knew everything that was going on.

The character development is horrible. People like to say that it's a "subtle" character development, but just as good, if not better, then Martin's development and I can't agree with that. This "subtle" character development made me feel absolutely nothing for any of the characters.

I would also like to point out that it seems that Erikson has a hard time keeping up with all power going on. In the Malazan Book of the Fallen, there is always someone more powerful than the mage or god that is, supposedly, the most powerful of all. There's always a new kind of force that can destroy anything. I feel like I am watching Dragon Ball Z all over again. There's always someone who is more powerful than possible and then someone even more powerful than him.

I still plan on finishing the series, however, because it seems that it get more interesting somewhere between the 3rd and 5th books, so I have to try it.

I'll come back either when I'm done or when I'm hooked to the plot.

I am always astounded when I come across someone who does not enjoy these books. It is by far the best fantasy series I have ever read, and I have read quite a few. I would put Martin as a close second, but Erikson has taken fantasy writing to a whole new level in my opinion. In one of the new editions of Gardens of the Moon there was a new introduction by Erikson in which he explains his style of writing and what he hoped to achieve, and I believe that he has definitely accomplished this. Basically he said that he felt too many fantasy books treat the reader like a child that has to be introduced to all of the characters one by one, led step by step through the plot, and follows a very basic pattern which is predictable to say the least. He went on to say that in Gardens of the Moon you are dropped right into the story like someone jumping out of a moving car. You either have to hit the ground running or you are going to fall flat on your face. I admit when I bought it I had never heard of the author and I had no expectations. I just needed something to read while I waited for the next book in Martin's series. I was confused and somewhat frustrated early on, but I am stubborn when it comes to books and I was determined to finish it, and I am glad that I did. By the end of the book I could care less how long Martin took with Feast. I picked up Deadhouse Gates and finished it in about a week. This one was even better than the first. For those that say the charscters have no depth, it is only because you are not finding out everything about them as soon as you meet them, or reading about them through the eyes of a child like in SoIaF. You are there, you see the action, you see the characters, and the more you see the more you understand the world and the people in it. This is why it is so realistic. Not to mention the lack of good vs evil. Some of my favourite characters are more badass than the baddies in most series. And I don't know what people mean main characters being saved at the last minute. There are loads of characters that have been killed off who I loved. Bottom line, read it. This is like nothing you have ever read and if you want a book that breaks all the rules of conventional fantasy, this is it.

I am very much agree that GRRM & Steven Erikson is listed on the top. However, I regret that after reading their books, it is harder for me to find another ‘good book’. They’ve raised the standard so high that other books, for me, seems to have lack of depth. The price to pay for reading the Malazans & the Song of Ice & Fire

A few weeks ago I commented on here that the Malazan series doesn't seem to be my thing after reading three books. Good thing I already had bought the next three, or else I would have given up.

Now, halfway through book 5, I think this series is shaping up to be one of the greatest fantasy epics of all-time. It just took a couple books Before Erikson really started to hit his stride. Either that, or I'm getting more used to his style and it's starting to become easier to keep track of the overwhelming amount of characters and locations.

It also took me a couple books to get rid of my preconcieved notions of what an epic fantasy should be. It doesn't really follow any of the so-called rules, and not in the same way as Martin's "brutal reality" style, although Malazan is certainly brutal. It has more to do with Erikson's style of storytelling, slowly peeling away the layers until you have one of the most mindblowing and intriguing stories in fantasy.

So my recommendation is to stick with it if you become frustrated by the first couple books. You'll be glad you did.

Wow. Can't believe my eyes. there is NOOOO way anybody could not like these books. Sure, hard to get past the first pages, but after the first half of the first book (i got into it way sooner, but it might take some longer) it gets epic. Best series ever, better than tolken, or robert jordan. Can't wait for #10 to come. Get this book and read it right away

this book sucks balls i read the first one and that was the most painful thing i have ever pulled myself through soooo poorly paced oh and the fact that they build up for the first fight and then talk about how epicly powerful the wizards were at the beginning and they die in two seconds HAHAH i thought that was the stupidest thing on earth...
and the voodoo bullshit is so retarded
anyone that likes these books has a patience of a goddamned NUN
i also think that the ridiculous dialouge in this book is comparable to a turtle lying on its back trying to get back up again only to die of thirt
haha
this is the gayest choice on earth

While I would never deny Erikson's tremendous world-building skills, which just may be without equal in modern fantasy, he suffers in his characterizations, and is unable to draw me into his world the same way Martin, Hobb, or Tolkien do. But he does have a rabid fan-base, so it seems he's a "love him or hate him" type of writer, and usually the best writers and artists fall into this category. I, unfortunately, fall towards the latter category, though I do admire his ambition.

With me, there was no suspension of disbelief, because I knew that whenever a main character was in a bind, some seemingly random incident will occur and save him or her at the last second. It may be a god, demon, or amazingly powerful mage, but it will be something.

But if your looking for a unique, military fantasy set in a well-crafted world, this may be for you. Just don't buy the first 6 books like I did expecting to be blown away, as I did. I was only able to make it 3 books in, which took me about 3 months to read, forcing myself to keep going, where the Ice and Fire series took about a month and the Farseer trilogy took less than 2 weeks.

It all depends on what your into. If you're more into super-badass mages and gods and demons each more powerful than the last, this may be for you. But if you need more of a connection to the characters and their stories, these books fall short imho.

And I soooo wanted to like these. Especially after spending so much time (and money) on them.

I'm giving up on it - for anyone who's played DnD or Rolemaster, etc (the PnP versions), or if you've read Weiss/Hickman, you'll recognise the world building of a roleplaying game.
It's not bad, but I am just not enjoying it right now - for those who claim the need to think: there's thinking through difficult characters (like Thomas Covenant), and there's thinking through detailed history and myth (like Middle Earth), or maybe there's thinking through political/personal plots (something like Martin), but I don't really know where this fits other than to be detailed enough for you to have to consciously juggle incomplete information for long periods of time (just like an RPG).
It's like hack and slash versus roleplaying, or maybe RAM v CPU.

There's nothing wrong with the latter, I just think I'll put it off for another day, when I've worked through most of this list through the local library.

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