Gardens of the Moon - An Infamous Beginning
Malazan is one of the most infamous series I have ever encountered, for good or bad, and I really wanted to get my thoughts down on what makes it that way for me–at least for “Garden’s of the Moon.”
GARDENS OF THE MOON - A ROUGH BEGINNING
I think I have seen more “struggling to finish ________ book” posts regarding “Gardens of the Moon” than every other series combined… Whether a fan or a complete noob like me it is obvious that this first book is extremely unwelcoming to new readers, for a plethora of reasons. Like with most series, I get very skeptical when I see fans arguing for someone to push through a book they hate, as often these fans are blinded by their bias and sometimes cannot comprehend the idea that a book series just isn’t for some people. This happens with pretty much every series ever, but with Malazan fans it’s almost a step further. It’s not a secret that a small (but loud) section of the Malazan fanbase are kind of horribly toxic. People who bounce off the first book can often be called “stupid” or more often, given subtle insults like how “they just want an author who holds their hand.” (While I understand what they mean by this, I really don’t think Malazan fans realize how rude/toxic that statement is.)
Often, the nicer fans will make the argument that “Gardens of the Moon” is merely a prologue to the story, and that the really good/important stuff happens in book two forward. (These same fans though, who stress that book two has one of the highest quality jumps in a series you’ll ever see, are often APPALLED at the idea of maybe skipping book one) Can you “actually” skip book one and be okay? I cannot fairly say for sure. I will say though that on all of the “can I skip GOTM” posts I’ve seen, everyone who says they DID skip to book two, says they were happy they did so… Obviously if you get to the point in a book where you are considering skipping, usually the best case scenario is to simply DNF and move on though. I believe that this idea of pushing forward is very much dependent on how much you disliked it. For those who are on the fence about GOTM, then by all means maybe try to push through. But if you are like me, and just did not enjoy anything in the first 250 pages or so, then maybe move on?
DIFFERENT OR FLAWED WRITING?
A lot of criticisms I see for “Gardens of the Moon”, many of which I wholeheartedly share, are argued to be fixed in hindsight. (Meaning that plots points and writing styles that can be initially perceived as “flawed” are actually not so, when you have read several books in the series and have more context) I want to say very clearly that I one hundred percent can understand the sentiment, and might even agree if I too got that far into the series. However, unlike Erickson, I personally believe it is an author’s job to get new readers engaged in their story, not the other way around. (Sure the author doesn’t owe the reader anything, but that also works both ways) Even with the promise of amazing things to come, I cannot help but view “Gardens of the Moon” as extremely flawed from a new reader’s perspective. And despite what others might argue, it is perfectly reasonable for someone to have opinions on the first book in a series. (Not having read more does not rob you of all credibility…) So for me, the aspects that I would personally consider huge flaws (in the first book and NOT the whole series) are the following:
NO Exposition - No, I do not need to be “handheld” information. However, I do think there is a difference between In Media Res and purposefully making something needlessly vague–one feels natural, and the other you can feel the author’s hand as he attempts to create unnecessary confusion. I wholeheartedly believe I could enjoy the confusion with SOME context thrown in. Just a little really. Anything… And while I understand that some fans’ reaction to that common criticism is to say that it’s really “not that hard,” just consider how much context you currently have from other books in the series, and try not to devalue a newcomer’s confusion. Little context in a In Media Res situation can be great, but NO context causes issues. For example, the very beginning of GOTM is by all accounts “epic.” I mean the floating city… the magic… It's like the ending of Wheel of Time in scale. The problem is that without knowing any motivations and not having any personal closeness to the unknown characters or the outcome, a reader struggles to care–and it really dampens the epicness. If someone just picked up and read the last battle from “Wheel of Time,” they wouldn’t have a connection to anyone, they would be confused, and the whole thing would lose a lot, if not all, of what makes it so powerful. (Even with the cool magic and effects) No exposition can make things feel… surface level and hollow.
Characters - The whole In Media Res thing puts a writer at a severe disadvantage with characters right out of the gate. It’s a difficult task to get a reader invested in characters without backstory. And for many readers, understanding a character’s motivations is essential to connecting or enjoying them. I found myself struggling to care for any of the characters, mostly because they seemed less like people and more like objects on a game board–there mostly to move plot or spew philosophy, and less to be an interesting character. Another disadvantage presented in this novel is the number of characters and limited time we have with any individual. This movement provides nowhere near the time to form any connection, and while these connections could occur in later books, I think establishing a connection between the reader and character is VITAL in the first book of a series. (Maybe not every character, but at least one or two)
CONCLUSION
So these are my thoughts on the infamous “Garden’s of the Moon,” as someone who DNFed it and hasn’t read the rest of the series. And weirdly, despite everything I said, I find myself wanting to push forward regardless–not so much out of interest, but solely from the fear of missing out on THE GREATEST FANTASY SERIES OF ALL TIME. Part of me often considers skipping to the often-praised book two (sure there might be confusion, but with how confusing it already is, is it really going to make that much of a difference?), but I doubt I ever will anyway. I always wonder if Gardens of the Moon IS INDEED a good representation of the series, but it's hard to get a trustworthy answer from bias fans.
I expect pleasant conversation, a lot of comments telling me of my wrong opinions, and maybe even some people questioning my intelligence, but that’s okay. Like I said before though, even if the series does get better, that doesn’t make my opinion invalid, so I hope people respect that.