Fourth time's the charm...?

[Green]

As much as I love the series, I've always thought the title for Gardens of the Moon was complete garbage.

It comes from one throw-away sentence 4/5 of the way through the book, that has no bearing on the plot or the themes. It seems to have just been thrown in there.

Memories of Ice, on the other hand...

[Rane Longfox]

I think it's actually quite a significant title. The moon is mentioned a few times as being an important magical place... there's more of that later on in the series too.

[Green]

It comes in later in the series (also poorly), but its value in the first book is virtually non-existant.

[Culhwch]

Here I was thinking it refered to Moon's Spawn. Surely there's a few gardens on that thing?

[JDP]

Yeah, there was that whacking great moon that floated round, wasn't there? I read GotM straight through, but won't be continuing with the series any time soon.

[Locksmith]

I read GotM straight through too. I confess I thought it was nothing special, but had been persuaded that the series got a lot better. On that basis I read Deadhouse Gates. I found it tedious in the extreme and as a result haven't pursued the series any further.

So, don't push yourself through it purely on the basis that the rest of the series is great.

[chopper]

i had much the same problem - GoTM just seemed meh when i first read it a few years ago. the other big problem for me was the jarring shift to an almost completely unrelated set of characters in the second book. but having got back into it i'm looking forward to House of Chains.

like my car it takes a while to get going.

[Overread]

I my opinion - the transition from book one to book two is a massive shift - but once you get past that, you start to see the links (and some characters from book 1) appear inthe second book. Then I also felt that the story in book 2 was, in some ways, better than that in book 1.
Though I do agree that as a series it takes time to get going, but lets be honest here - LotR takes a whole book to really get going - and its true for a lot of fantasy - we have to have that slower start sometimes to get us into the new world that the author has crafted - and the more complex and different the world, the more of an introduction we need into it. Some people don't like this in thier fantasy = they want a DnD type adventure which is easy to read and uses the "common" themes - and sometimes so do I = just got to accept that this is not one of those series (though it does have good action!!0

[Culhwch]

Well I'm past 250 pages and about to start 'Book Three'. So far it's been very uneven - there are parts that have hooked me, but they quickly give way to parts that I have to slog through. For instance, the Phoenix Inn regulars - Crokus and Marillion and Rallick are interesting enough, but Kruppe I can't stand. Looks like we come back to the Bridgeburners, who I warmed to earlier before they dissappeared for a stretch, so we'll see how we go from here...

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by Overread

I my opinion - the transition from book one to book two is a massive shift - but once you get past that, you start to see the links (and some characters from book 1) appear inthe second book. Then I also felt that the story in book 2 was, in some ways, better than that in book 1.
Though I do agree that as a series it takes time to get going, but lets be honest here - LotR takes a whole book to really get going - and its true for a lot of fantasy - we have to have that slower start sometimes to get us into the new world that the author has crafted - and the more complex and different the world, the more of an introduction we need into it. Some people don't like this in thier fantasy = they want a DnD type adventure which is easy to read and uses the "common" themes - and sometimes so do I = just got to accept that this is not one of those series (though it does have good action!!0

I dont mind the slowness but cause the uninteresting characters i gave up on DeadHouse Gates. I liked only Kalam,Sapper(sp?) in it.

I missed too much Kruppe,Parn,Wiskeyjack and co

The story of DHG didnt do for me enough to struggle through more than 200+ pages of the book. Parn's sister Fel something annoyed the hell out of me and she is a big reason i gave up.

I think i will read book 3 and if its as good as or better GOTM then i might go back for Deadhouse if i have for story's sake.


I think its shame thanks to the new characters and the story it didnt excite me as Darijustan part of GOTM did.

[kaneda]

I was exactly like you, and stuck with the book exactly for the same reason as you (recommendation from Gollum lol, and other people raving about it).

I bought the book in 2005, and it took me about 4 turns to finish it (last year). I'm so happy i read it, took me a bit of time to get used to Eriksons style of writing (which yes is great, but did take time to jumping around all the time). The thing really helped me with the first half of the bookw as reading the list of characters and if I couldn't rememeber who they were, checking that out again.

It is a good book, so perservere, as it is definatly worth it

[Lenny]

I finished Gardens of the Moon today, so I'll leave my thoughts. I prefer Deadhouse Gates over GotM, to be honest, but that might change on my re-read, which should start within a couple of hours.

Whilst good, GotM is a slow book. Everything finally comes together in the last two to three hundred pages or so, and which is also when it really kicks off.

I'm going to through my lot in with everyone else who's said keep reading - it really is worth it. I've never had a book leave me so exhausted by the end of it, but I'd definitely read it again, and when I do, I'm going to see 500 pages of tiny links between the five or six different groups and points of view before it all comes together.

If you do finish it, then try and get onto Deadhouse Gates. Longer by a couple of hundred pages, but everything seems to happen quicker. And there seem to be more fantastical ideas than there were in GotM. Without trying to give anything away, there's some brilliant scenes in warrens that I adored.

[Culhwch]

Well, finally finished it. I was a little embarassed to note when I started this thread. Overall, I thought GotM was a very uneven book. It was well written throughout, and there were particular storylines that were quite engaging, but I think in the end there were just too many elements - it was too busy for its own good. Of course, that's as much a statement on my own tastes as it is on the novel. I just thought it might have worked better stripped back a little. Though full marks to Erikson for striving for something so complex and challenging, even if I think in the end the execution was lacking.

I've put Deadhouse Gates on hold at my library, though it won't be the next thing I read. But I will try and get to it sooner rather than latter...

[dwndrgn]

Yes, parts of GotM were definitely uneven and I'll agree that the shift to a whole new set of characters in Deadhouse Gates is startling. After getting through the first four, I realize the importance of GotM but now personally think it might have been better to bring all of that stuff in as short pieces in flashbacks and whatnot.

There are so many characters and storylines in this series that you can't help not liking one or two - I perservere to get to the bits I really like.

Unlike the GRRMs ASOIAF and the book I just finished (Williams' Shadowplay) the characters and storylines I enjoy outweigh the ones I just tolerate for plot reasons.

After those first two books, once I was familiar with the style and the balance of the characters, I was truly hooked and really wanted to continue reading immediately. Sadly I'm stuck waiting for the next one to come out in mmpb so I can afford to purchase it.

[KiwiBird]

Contains possible SPOILERS for some who have not read that far.

Originally Posted by Connavar

The story of DHG didnt do for me enough to struggle through more than 200+ pages of the book. Parn's sister Fel something annoyed the hell out of me and she is a big reason i gave up.

I agree, Felesin (all of them, but especially the first) are so annoying, i'm hoping he meant it that way, cause otherwise. I am glad that after deadhouse gates we see little of them, though i fear they might make a reappearance in toll the hounds. She too is the reason why i stopped with the books for a while, i just couldn't finish it. Especially since the other parts aren't as good as the other books as well. while Coltaine is interesting, Duiker whose perspective we see it all from most definitly is not. The same goes for Toc the Younger, sure glad he is finally dead.

That said i do like the series, third or fourth best behind G.R.R.M and Robin Hobbs work.