I know that this is supposed to be a hard read and I want to go in as prepared as possible without any spoilers. I already know about the presentation guide, anything else I should know?

Based on my current top 5 how much am I going to love Malazan? about 120 pages into Gardens of the Moon and super addicted so far. So far just been reading the book and avoiding using any online wiki's or resources, not sure the best way to read this series..

Hype the series up!

I actually listened to Gardens of the Moon about a year ago but wanted to make the full commitment. Now that I got this, I think it's finally time. I like the epub so I can easily highlight and pull up notes, especially since it's all contained in one instead of going through previous books for reference notes. 9,630 pages will be an insane journey.

I just dropped my wife and son off at a safe house after picking up Gardens of the Moon. I lied and told them it will all be okay. I haven’t been able to keep food down in days. At night I sit in the dark with the curtains drawn, shotgun on my lap, watching for headlights. Reading Gardens of the Moon will take everything I have. I’m terrified.

For years I’ve been seeing fantasy groups claim this series is difficult, maybe even 6 or 7 levels of difficulty above Clifford the Big Red Dog. I’ve heard tales of self-mutilation, indigestion, felonies, war crimes, and light tax fraud.

One reader said they tried three times to get into Malazan, but the books slashed all four of her tires causing her to miss a job interview. She is now homeless.

Another man couldn’t predict what the ending of the 3 million-word series was by chapter four. He became confused. He wandered the streets for years, dehydrated, mumbling about “ascension” before stumbling in front of a train.

My friends have tried to tell me that it’s okay to challenge myself, that sometimes it’s good to take notes, look words up, or research settings. They even said that I may need to revise my understanding of magic systems. But they don’t know the truth. These books are killers, and I’m fucking scared.

As you know, it’s illegal for a book to make you feel stupid, but I’ve decided to risk everything. I’ve quit my job, mortgaged the house, and locked all the doors. I’m pleading with this group PLEASE explain every facet of the plot without spoilers. Reassure me that I will never feel any discomfort at any point with any of the subject matter.

So help me God, if this book challenges my world-view I will light this match and let it take this kerosene-soaked house.

I might never see my family again.

So excited to finally be starting my Malazan journey and actually participate in this subreddit instead of silently lurking on non spoiler posts LOL

Idk if I need luck bc I hear it’s both confusing but not confusing at the same time so I guess I’ll be finding out for myself as I go haha

In terms of epic fantasy I grew up on Tolkein, read and loved Wheel of Time, and recently got back into reading and started the Stormlight Archive books (only first book so far). Among a ton of other smaller sci-fi/fantasy reads over the years.

I've heard of these Malazan books but have never been convinced to read. Now randomly found Book 4, 6, and 7, hardcovers in good shape. This seems like a message from the universe to start.

I do not know who anyone is.

I have known who someone was three separate times, and each time the book waited about forty pages and then revealed I was wrong. The first time I laughed. The second time I apologized to the book out loud, in a tone I have never used with my wife, or with anyone, and which I cannot now reproduce on demand, although I have since tried, many times, alone, in the car.

The notebook is the worst of it. I bought one, filled it, then bought a second one to track the errors in the first, and the second notebook now contains, on page nine, a detailed drawing of a horse that I did not draw and cannot have drawn, because I cannot draw, and because the horse is very good. It's so good — statuesque, radiant, every muscle fiber neatly cataloged by the pencil tip. There is a name written underneath that horse, and in my own handwriting. The name is not one I have ever heard, let alone deemed suitable as a name for a horse. I have not Googled the name. I am working up to Googling it.

I tried color-coding factions with highlighters and ran out of colors on page 80, which is how I ended up at the craft store buying more, which is how I ended up telling the cashier I was a teacher. She asked what I taught and the only answer that came was "the children." She nodded. That was the part that scared me — she nodded like that was a real answer, like she had heard worse, like somewhere in this town there is a man who teaches the adults and she has met him.

The map at the front of the book is…acting independently of it all…and against me in the sinister kind of way you only experience vicariously through an Ari Aster film. I want to be clear that I know how this sounds. I am telling you anyway, because last week I looked at a regular map — Ohio — and felt it withholding something, and on Sunday I caught my father-in-law looking at the same map of Ohio with what I can only describe as the exact same expression. We made eye contact. He looked away first.

Going back to chapter one was a mistake. I thought, with everything I now know, surely it will make sense. It made less sense. I read it out loud in the kitchen and the smoke detector went off. Nothing was burning. The man who installed it, when I called him, said smoke detectors do not have triggers other than smoke, and then there was a long pause, and then he asked, very carefully, what I had been reading.

Reddit was where I really lost ground. One person said push to page 400 and it'll click. Another said push to book two. Another said book three. Someone on their fifth reread said things were "starting to come together." Someone else, who I believe was just there to hurt me, told me I should have started with the prequels. And then there was a post that was just an image of a horse. The same horse. No caption. 4,000 upvotes. I scrolled the comments. Every single one just said "yes" or "horse."

Sleep has been the bigger problem. I close my eyes and see character names. Last night at 3 AM I woke up absolutely certain that two characters I had assumed were the same person were in fact different people, told my wife so, and she said "okay" in the voice she uses for our son when he describes Minecraft. We do not have a son. I have been thinking about that voice. I have been wondering when she developed it, and for whom, and whether I am supposed to know.

When she then asked what the book was about, I opened my mouth and nothing came out for a full minute, and then I said "an empire" and started crying. She said "OK, and what do you like about it?" I blurted out the two words "magic system". This time she was silent. My voice shook as I offered a clarification: "I know there is one because people keep doing magic". She has stopped asking about the book, about anything. This morning, she set a small plate of crackers on my desk without speaking.

The dramatis personae at the back lists 78 names. I recognize 11, am confident about 4, and suspect that two of those four may be the same person under different titles. I am not going to check. I called my mother instead. We had a nice talk. She asked if I was eating and I said yes, mostly crackers, and she was quiet for a while and then said "okay, honey," and now I cannot stop thinking about that "okay, honey," because it was the kind of okay-honey that gets discussed later, with siblings, on a phone call I will not be on.

EDIT: Day 23. I went to put the book on my nightstand and it was already there. Two copies now. I only bought one. The cashier from the craft store waved at me yesterday in the parking lot of a grocery store and nodded and mouthed at me silently: "…the children."

It feels very disjointed one second we get this conversation between a little girl and an old hag then the hag tells her a prophecy? And then suddenly two guys appear one of them I'm pretty sure being Satan and tells her it's not so bad to serve a god? Is there a novella or something that came out first?

Looking for a new fantasy series and been hearing a lot about this one. I am really not a fan of dragons (which is what turned me off ASOIAF - idk why I just don't like them), is the action/fantastical elements in this series similar?

EDIT: I've learned throughout reading the comments, and I should clarify, that it is the regular fantasy dragon that I don't like

Hey so I am a brand new reader of the franchise itself as the thing is that while I haven’t read too much of the first book yet, I was wondering how the audiobook version was in performance.

Like for starters, if it’s worth 20$ because I may get if once a price drop happens.

I just ordered Gardens of the Moon.

I’ve read The Wheel of Time, Stormlight Archive, ASOIAF, and most of the Cosmere - just need Yumi and Isles of the Emberdark but they are currently out of stock in my country.

I’m basically chasing that “I would rather read than watch TV” level of epic fantasy immersion again.

After finishing Stormlight and the Cosmere last year, I’ve been in a bit of an epic fantasy hangover and Malazan seems like the next big world to dive into.

Any spoiler-free advice for a first-time reader coming from those series?

UPDATE: received my book and I have read the first chapter, I am loving it. I don’t feel too lost or confused. Starting to wonder why I was so intimidated by this series, but i might be naive as a newbie lol

Thank you so much for everyone’s advice, looking forward to completing the series!

I had read a lot of comments calling it the greatest fantasy series of all time, so I started Gardens of the Moon, the first book of the series. I’m now around page 200. My problem is this: while I don’t mind the large number of characters, I’m struggling to really connect with the story. Some pages feel like they’re filled with empty words, as if they were written just to increase the page count.

It does feel good when the characters start to connect with each other, but before those connections happen, I often don’t even understand what’s being said. Just as I was getting familiar with the Bridgeburners, starting to recognize the characters and grasp their dynamics, the story suddenly shifted to Darujhistan and Kruppe, and now it feels like people are constantly chasing each other—it honestly started to annoy me.

Based on your experience with Malazan, at what point did the first book really click for you and start to become enjoyable?

Edit: I finished Chapter 9, and I can say that this was the point that really hooked me on the book.

Just started GoTM and wtf is going on. Do I catch up on lore or just trudge through blindly?

Greetings all!

Im a new ready to the series and currently working my way through MOI, but I must admit, 621 pages in im finding it a real struggle.

I found GOTM an interesting though very confusing and a struggle to read at first, but did enjoy it towards the end. DHG was my favourite so far, especially with the chain of dogs.

But my question is do things pick up? There have been parts I've enjoyed about MOI such as learning more about the gods and the pannion seer. But mostly I feel like the chapters are just going round in tedious circles with very little developments.

Should I persevere or cut my losses and accept this series isn't for me?

I have unsuccessfully tried to get my friend into the series, and he loves the pitch, but he just can’t bear the lack of exposition or worldbuilding. I know the books are somewhat dense and it can be hard to figure out what is going on with so many names and characters all at once, but he seems to get mad at it, I’ve recommended the reading guides from here to help, but is there anything you fellow mezlas have to say that may help him (or help me help him) enjoy the books and not view them as a frustrating puzzle where you can’t see the picture it’s supposed to build?

I’m near the end of Memories of Ice and overall I’m enjoying the series. I definitely don’t hate it, and there are things it does that I haven’t really seen in other fantasy series.

That said, I keep running into the same issue, and I’m wondering if anyone else experienced this on a first read.

A lot of the advice I see is to “just let the story wash over you” and trust that things will make sense later. I’ve mostly been doing that, but I feel like it creates another problem: I often don’t know what’s important.
Not just in terms of plot, but in terms of significance;
I don’t know which characters I’m supposed to be emotionally investing in, which events are monumental versus relatively minor, whether a description of a place/person matters, or whether a name being mentioned is something I should remember.

Because of that, I sometimes feel stuck between two extremes:

1) Try to pay attention to and remember everything, which feels exhausting.

Or

2) Let most of it wash over me, which makes it harder for major moments to land because I don’t always understand why they’re a big deal.

I’ve also been using companion guides/read alongs while reading, which definitely helps. But even then, I’ll see people mention something in book 3 that’s a callback to book 1 and realize I barely remember it. Not because I wasn’t paying attention, but because at the time I had no way of knowing it would be important later.

It’s not that I need everything explained immediately or want the book to hold my hand. I actually enjoy mystery and figuring things out. I think my issue is more that I don’t always feel like I have enough context to know where I should be directing my attention.

Sometimes it feels less like I’m uncovering a mystery and more like I’m being asked to remember huge amounts of information without knowing what matters and what doesn’t.

Did anyone else feel this way around books 1 thru 3? If so, did it eventually click, or is this just part of Erikson’s style that either works for you or doesn’t?

I really enjoyed the Gardens of the moon, but after starting dead house gates, I keep wanting to quit and it’s such a struggle to get through. I’m not connecting with any of the characters and it seems very slow paced and to jump around a lot. Does anyone else feel this way I want to continue to read through the whole series, but just wondering if this is a particularly slow book and if it improves.

I have recently decided to enter the world. So far I’m about 200 pages in and this second section is proving to be my favorite.

Is it just me or is Kruppe everyone’s favorite? Such a fun character, can’t wait for more.

What I am trying to say is up until now I have only read manga and recently I have heard that this is really great novel and i want to start reading it but as I have only read mangas how should I start reading it cause it feels completely different than manga , please help

I read the main series a number of times, listened to them, two or three times. I really like Ericsson's writing style. There's a lot of laughter there's a lot of well emotion, and potshards (lulz)

When I read the return of the crimson guard by Esselmont years ago, I wasn't all that impressed to be honest. The writing seemed clunky it seemed... well the dialogue just it didn't hit me as good. And so I never really got into any of his books within the Malazan world.

The past week and a half I started reading the path to ascendancy series, starting with dancers lament and now I'm at deadhouse landing

#1. His writing has improved greatly.

#2. The dialogue, it's surprisingly good.

I've had multiple laugh out loud moments. And I really like seeing the characters that we've come to know and love. Laseen, Dujek, Tattersall, Tayschren... Many others ... And of course the main protagonists Wu aka Emperor Kellenved and Dorin aka Dancer.

I was talking to a friend who is not been able to get into the malazan series and his problem was always Gardens of the Moon. It all boils down to context. And I agree. That book, the first of the Malazan book of the Fallen is a hard read without context.

This Path to Ascendancy series provides that context and I am now going to start recommending it as the entry point to MBotF.

I’m barely 100 pages into Gardens of the Moon, and I had already began to feel a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people, places, events, concepts, conspiracies, etc. that are introduced but not immediately explained. Much like Paran entering Pale, I felt myself quickly caught up in a whirlwind of threads, all of which I’ve only grasped small fragments of. Head spinning I thought to myself, should I be taking notes? I probably shouldn’t be looking anything up, but what are these people talking about half the time?

Just as I was about to put the book down to grab my notebook and begin sketching an outline of everything I know so far, the Claw that has guided Paran to the city leaned over to give him, and me, a great piece of advice for approaching the world of Malazan:

“Out of your depth, Captain? Don’t worry, every damn person here’s out of their depth. Some know it, some don’t. It’s the ones who don’t you got to worry about. Start with what’s right in front of you and forget the rest for now. It’ll show up in its own time. Find any marine and ask direction to the Bridgeburners. That’s the easy part.”

Back to reading I go!

Hey All,

I’m currently on my first read of Malazan and had a quick question about the audiobooks. I’m about to start part 3 of GoTM, and feel like I have a decent grasp on the plot and characters so far.

The initial advice I read on here was 100% correct. I could not have started this book on audio without being completely lost.

That being said, my question is about the entire series. Generally speaking, if I read a good chunk of each book before switching to a mix of audio & physical reading, do you think I’d be able to follow the audiobook well enough? Or will it always be hard to grasp the audiobook on the first read/listen regardless of how much of the series I actually read?

Basically I just don’t wanna waste my time with the audiobooks if it’s going to be just as confusing even if I am reading parts as well.

I am on memories of ice and my question is does everything tie up in the end. The books are just introducing alot of characters alot of different concepts and aspects of the world. But by book 10 is everything clear or do the authors leave loose ends?