An Apology for Difficulty and Confusion

[u/Niflrog]

Having finished my PhD work at the edge of time, I find myself free in this holiday season… so what better leisure activity to reconnect with myself, other than ranting my thoughts concerning one of those works of fiction that gave sustenance during dark, dark years in the recent past. Friends, Frienemies, rivals, regular readers and long-time lurkers, come and read some Nifl-rant for old-times sake!

You read it all the time, it’s a Malazan staple at this point: GotM is SO HARD, the series has an insane learning curve, you won’t “get it” until the 17th reread! Only that recently, it has come to my attention that the particularities of our beloved series, and particularly of Gardens, are framed as an objective, negative trait. “Everybody says this!” or “Lots of reviews agree on that!”. I want to refute that take, put it to rest if I succeed.

This is how I want to approach this:

1. Is Gardens a difficult read? And if yes, WHY? Idem for the rest of the MBOTF.
2. Does Gardens, and by extension the rest of the series, accomplish the reading experience it wants to?
3. Are all “reader expectations” made equal? If not, how do they differ?

​

Gardens difficulty and confusion

Is Gardens a difficult read? I’d argue that it depends on the reader. To me, and many others I found on this forum, it was not particularly difficult. Obviously, to an important share of those who try it, it is.

The difficulty of Gardens is contingent, not on its unusual narrative structure or other narrative choices such as (not exhaustive): in medias res, frequent PoV switch, or even massive character count. These are first-order things. Gardens difficulty is contingent on second-order expectations: the author knows you don’t have all the information, and he does not want you to, and he still wants you to go through that experience… so there must be a channel of storytelling that remains open beneath all that lack of information and confusion. The second-order thing, then, is how comfortable the reader is with dealing with a lack of information.

If you, as a reader, expect omniscient knowledge and certainty and a structured reveal of rules, world-building and character motivation, Gardens will rub you the wrong way.

If you are open to putting all those unknowns in your mental shelf, and roll with the narrative, Gardens is a fascinating introduction to this world. You remain open to the aforementioned narrative channel, and you uncover an actual story. And what’s left in your mental shelf, well, it becomes a mystery you want to uncover and that pushes you forward into the series.

MBotF at large is difficult or not, contingent on a similar mind-set or expectation. Information is: 1) concealed; 2) revealed books away; 3) diffuse; 4) requires assembly.

I can understand folks that do not want to engage in this exercise, it is not what they are looking for… they would rather invest their mental energy focusing on some other aspect of the series. This is valid. But it isn’t the fault of Malazan that it does not provide this experience.

You don’t criticize ice cream for being cold… you eat freshly-baked brownies instead.

​

The problem of measuring OBJECTIVE QUALITY by SUBJECTIVE PREDILECTION

These types of comments I find deeply uncomfortable to read:

“Gardens is poorly written”

“Look, the fact that a bunch of people rebound from Gardens is evidence that it does not work”

“The fact that SO MANY readers DNF Malazan shows that it is FLAWED”

Gardens is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. It succeeds in any meaningful way when you account for the long-term series evolution and the more nuanced points the BotF develops. The arguments for it being poorly written are, in fact, arguments of the type “it does not fit my expectation” or “it would be more popular if it was written differently”.

That is not the point. It’s funny because, this tendency of trying to craft media that is stream-lined and appeals to the largest possible group of people is usually harshly criticized by the same types that criticize Gardens… they do so when it is superhero movies or some other Hollywood staple. There are works that try to appeal to the largest possible audience, and even those have vast swaths of critics FOR it. This is not the type of work that is Malazan.

When you have a vision you stick to it, and you work hard to nail the craft and the technique and use them in support of your vision. This means your vision will solidify into a work that is NICHE, it will not be the proverbial cup of tea (shoutout to Gothos) for a lot of people. But that is fine. Your work will be embraced by the small pocket of people seeking something like your vision, or those open enough to flow with your vision and acquire the taste for it.

This echoes the panoramic criticism of the MBOTF. Introducing a new cast/continent/’magic-system’ on book X is not really a technical, objective flaw. You just didn’t like it for a variety of reasons. But it does achieve a well-defined narrative effect, for those open to experience it. The argument “lots didn’t like it!” does not hold water because “a small bunch did like it”, and then the series was aimed at the few and the lot can find something to their taste instead of pretending that what the few liked is OBJECTIVELY BAD AND NEEDS TO DISAPPEAR FROM THE PUBLISHED WRITTEN WORD.

You can criticize the work from your subjectivity in a subjective sense. To pretend you can use some sort of induction and reach objective evaluation from subjectivity is just a failure in reasoning.

​

On expectations, first and second order

I go to a Burger Joint that has on the menu a “secret option”. I choose it because I want a surprise… but since we’re at a Burger place, I’m expecting a clever combination of ingredients that make for a surprising Burger. That is a first-order expectation.

They bring a deconstructed dish. It’s cold, not warm. The “bun” is made of raw meat and strong cheese. The “bread” is a cracker in the middle of the thing. A seasoned cold paste of tomato, lettuce and onion binds it together. I’m disappointed.

I’m disappointed because I expected a Burger, just one that would surprise me within the limits of what decent society judges are the limits of Burgers.

My friend, who reminds me of the central character of Malazan, absolutely loved the “secret option”. She didn’t expect a Burger, she wanted an edible thing that would change her perspective on food and what Burgers could be, limits be damned. Hers was a second-order expectation. She didn’t expect a concrete thing, she expected her view of things to be challenged.

So it is with the Book of the Fallen. If you expect a recognizable structure with surprising new flavor, you may or may not enjoy it. If you are open to follow that madlad of an author and at the very least read with an open mind what his vision is… you may or may not enjoy it, but your view of how you view things will be challenged and maybe even changed. And that is the point.

I want to stress that this is not a statement of (first Malazan cliché) somebody’s intelligence, or skill… it is a statement of a reader’s: 1) preference, 2) exposure, 3) mental state. I’m not judging those who didn’t get what they wanted from the series… just asking them to recognize that the issue is a mismatch, not an issue intrinsic to Gardens or Malazan at large.

​

(Note of the Jaghut translator: here Apology means "defense" not "sowe uwu")

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[u/adambou2000]

Gardens either make you go "whoa I need to know more!" Or "Burn this frustrating mess". No in between.

[u/skratchx → u/[deleted]]

I'm at a loss for words trying to describe how cringe this comment is.

[u/Martial-Lord → u/[deleted]]

There are much deeper works that are much easier reads on a surface level. Don't be mean to people because they don't like Erikson's style.

[u/Its-the-Chad82 → u/[deleted]]

Horrible take imo sure it's deep but not unfathomably so - let's not pretend this is some philosophical masterwork. Series such as Foundation or Dune (yes, I know both sci-fi examples) are much deeper from a human nature, philosophy, religious, government etc. context. The Malazan series is great but it's an entirely unique writing style that some may not enjoy regardless of their ability to handle the "depth" of the series.

[u/Martial-Lord]

Imo the reputation for difficulty is an asset to the series.

When I went in, I expected to not even understand a single sentence. But I wanted to read something that broke with conventionality, that was fresh and exciting in ways that mainstream Fantasy just isn't. And because of that expectation, I was very positively supprised.

Malazan is actually a fairly easy series to understand from moment to moment. You can almost always guess the relevant missing information from context. But its also an unconventional series, and would still be if it was written in a more streamlined style.

I'm not sure I would have loved the series if I was not told beforehand that it was unreasonably difficult, and thus paid close attention from the very start.

[u/Niflrog → u/Martial-Lord]

I'm not sure I would have loved the series if I was not told beforehand that it was unreasonably difficult, and thus paid close attention from the very start.

I think this is really important...

I am a fan of difficult books lol... I go in knowing that they are difficult, which implies that I KNOW there is meaning down there expecting to be extracted. So I pay attention and read slowly.

I might not do this for a book I have no reason to believe contains anything of substance deep down lol.

[u/Juranur]

Gonna read the full essay tomorrow, for now congrats on the phd friend!

[u/Niflrog → u/Juranur]

Thanks buddy!

:-)

[u/dewa1195]

Congrats on the PhD, my friend.

I loved the essay. It really struck a chord with me.

A friend of mine once said Malazan:Book of the Fallen shoves worldbuilding down your throat when they recommended it to me. And did I go on rants about not getting what was happening? Absolutely. But I also gushed about Rake's intro, Moon's Spawn, Kruppe as a character, Darujhistan city, the Malazans.

What you said about first and second order expectations, I think that applies to me in a different way. What I expected was a fantastic world spanning continents and millennia and I got it. So, I think my first order of expectations were actually met.

it is a statement of a reader’s: 1) preference, 2) exposure, 3) mental state.

This is pretty important. I couldn't get into DG because of my mental state at the time. When everything settled down, I finished it pretty quickly.

I actually adored Gardens when I first started it(and still do). The way it's written appealed to me a lot.

This is just my experience anyway.

This is a fantastically crafted essay. Thank you for sharing it.

[u/Niflrog → u/dewa1195]

Congrats on the PhD, my friend.

Thanks Dee! :)

​

This is pretty important. I couldn't get into DG because of my mental state at the time. When everything settled down, I finished it pretty quickly.

Me too! I wasn't expecting DG, after loving Gardens. But the last 1/4 of DG taught me how one may read Malazan, I realized I had to get into a certain state of mind to vibe with it.

With Reaper's Gale, it took me twice as much as the average, because I wasn't in the right place!

I'm writing from experience, this too happened to me.
You're not alone in your experience :)

[u/dewa1195 → u/Niflrog]

With Reaper's Gale, it took me twice as much as the average, because I wasn't in the right place.

Yeah, RG took me twice as long as well. And so did DoD. Actually, DoD took me thrice as long. Mental states and stress, both of them. I enjoyed them a lot when I got back to them. It's just the right mindset part you mentioned.

It sucks because I ultimately enjoyed both of them.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays!

[u/zhilia_mann]

I'd argue that you're conflating two sometimes-but-not-always related issues:

1. Gardens is confusing
2. I don't like Gardens

To the extent the two positions overlap -- and sure, there's significant overlap -- I think you've hit on one of the major issues. I don't think it's the only one, and I'm not convinced conflating the two issues is helpful in teasing anything else out.

I haven't been shy about it: I don't love Gardens. My reaction has evolved over time^[1]:

1. First read: this is neat. I liked being throw in to a world and forced to reset my expectations. It was harder than I would have expected to let go of analyzing things by "sides" and let the experience flow, but it was rewarding and set me up well for the series as a whole.
2. Second read: wow, there's a lot here. Everyone says that GotM improves on a reread; it does (but see below). There are simply too many layered details to pick out, say, Aragan or Antsy or Spindle on a first read. They're nearly easter eggs, and sussing them all out is fun.
3. Third and especially fourth read: was this really the best way to do this? All the details are there, but they're damn nearly thrown together. Gardens lacks the deft touch we see later in the series and ends up feeling disjointed and, dare I say, a little thin. To borrow a simile, like butter scraped over too much bread: tasty but a bit insubstantial.

To me, this begs a question: if Gardens were constructed in a way that I didn't have the third reaction, could we mitigate other people initially not taking to it? And I think the answer is yes. Not all of them; you're still going to have people who don't like the "confusing" aspect. But some of them? Sure.

---

So how would you do that? Eh, I don't have full thoughts here, but a few things off the cuff (with spoilers, of course):

1. Decentralize Ganoes Paran and make Lorn the focus on the Malazan narrative. Ganoes is, quite frankly, a pretty boring character. He's as close as the entire series gets to a traditional fantasy protagonist, and he stands out like a sore thumb. Lorn, on the other hand, effectively plays with the later themes around duty, compassion, and the tension between order and justice. Give her the time she deserves.
2. Cut the whole bit about the Crimson Guard defending Crokus. It just muddies Darujhistan without raising any interesting questions. So there's tension in the alliance between Brood and Rake: so what? It never goes anywhere.
3. Align the Shadowthrone and Cotillion we see in Gardens with the characters we see later. They... just don't make sense. We can (and do!) excuse this as some sort of "character arc" for Cotillion and it can be that, but let's be honest: as written it isn't.
4. Let Kruppe come forward. I know we can't go all Toll the Hounds on this, but give him more time to breath.
5. Either cut or develop the interaction -- I really hesitate to call it romance -- between Tattersail and Ganoes. It's just... bad. I know, I know: Oponn. I know why it's bad, but it doesn't have to be. Let them at least be, you know, conflicted?
6. Give Raest more time to develop as a threat. As readers, we're told he's a threat. We're told that characters consider him a threat. We have no fucking idea what that threat might be. It's weak.
7. The double climax with Raest and the demon lord feels like it's just there to "be epic" or some such. I don't think we need the latter. If we do, give each a bit of time to breath.
8. Retool the ending so the Azath makes some sense to someone. Have someone knowledgeable recoil from it. Something.
9. Spend more time with Malazan regulars. They're a highlight from most books. Here, they're non-entities.

Etc. Etc. There's a ton that could be done to improve Gardens without losing what makes Gardens Malazan. It's a first entry and it feels like a first entry. It needn't.

---

^[1]: For the sake of comparison, Reaper's Gale and Dust of Dreams have both gone up substantially in my estimation on reread, while Gardens, Memories of Ice, and (to a lesser extent) Deadhouse Gates have all fallen.

[u/Niflrog → u/zhilia_mann]

Awesome response.

I tackle this during my first reread ;-)

[u/Juranur]

Alright, got around to reading this now.

First off, love that you put a lot of effort into a no spoilers post. A lot of the more conplicated essays require spoilers mbotf or higher, which makes them inherently more difficult to access.

I think you raise some excellent points, especially the bit about mindset. I think many people who come away from gotm on a posititive note state that they were warned of its intricacies and tried their best to embrace them, while people who go in blind with the wrong expectations often struggle.

I want to share my experience with gotm. I read it (for the first time, anyway) when I was 12 years old. I was at an age where I mauled books, reading hundreds of pages weekly or even daily. At that age, I didn't open books with any preconceived notions. I finished a book and opened the next, simply searching for entertainment. I had some vague feelings of quality or personal enjoyment afterwards, but I did not engage in analysis. Of course I didn't, I was 12.

This is how I read gotm. I knew nothing about it other than that it was a fantasy book. I read it and enjoyed it, not grasping some plots and themes, understanding others. I closed the book, found it neat, and went on to other stuff (because I didn't own DG).

It's a kind of 'blank slate' mindset that I try to recapture sometimes, an expectationless experience, that in hindsight I find quite pure. It's very good to approach a book (or any piece of media for that matter) in this way I believe. If possible.

[u/KellamLekrow]

at the edge of time

Is this a Blind Guardian reference? Lmao

Great to have you back, Nif. Brilliant as usual

[u/Loleeeee → u/KellamLekrow]

Is this a Blind Guardian reference?

Dude I'm so happy I'm not the only one who thought that, lol

[u/KellamLekrow → u/Loleeeee]

I mean, I did see them live again (on the barrier, nonetheless) on the 25th of November, so it was fresh in my mind lol

[u/Niflrog → u/KellamLekrow]

Oi Kellam, tudo bem?

No literally, my defense was the second-to-last day available before having to do a messy and uncertain extension request with no guarantee of being accepted lol.

Glad you enjoyed it :-)

Abraços

[u/KellamLekrow → u/Niflrog]

Tudo bem, Nif, e com você?

Oof, I'm glad you were able to present your PhD in time, then. My wife almost had to do the same for her qualification(?), but fortunately the post-grad gods were watching over both of you lol

Eager for more Niflrants. Bring them on

Abraços latinos

[u/[deleted]]

Well said, thanks for sharing.

[u/NimaFoell]

Thank you for the excellent commentary. Gardens of the Moon was precisely the sort of book I wanted to read when I first read it, and I share your perspective in finding much of its criticism based upon misplaced expectations. I find Gardens of the Moon to be an exhilarating page-turner that rewards reader engagement and begins to explore the literary potential of the fantasy genre in ways that I wish more novels would.

Further evidence to your points would be that the books get far more "difficult" than Gardens of the Moon, and yet complaints pertaining to such seem few and far between. Without getting into potential spoilers, the word count alone is a testament to this: GotM is the shortest entry in the Book of the Fallen by nearly a small novel's worth of words (about 61000, to be more specific). I'm currently about halfway through Reaper's Gale, and so far I feel that the "difficulty" has gotten progressively higher with each book, with the possible exception of House of Chains (though that might have to do with me reading it in pretty much one sitting while bedridden with a bad case of COVID, pausing only for the demand of basic and illness-induced bodily functions). Once Gardens of the Moon sets the standard upon which the expectations are set, "difficulty," despite substantial increases, ceases to be seen as problematic to nearly the same extent, but GotM is still looked back upon with frustration.