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Gallus

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Gallus’s Bookshelves

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Gallus is Currently Reading

Gallus is currently reading

The Rise of Kyoshi

by F.C. Yee (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 25, 2026 11:34AM

Gallus is currently reading

The Iliad

by Homer

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Aug 10, 2025 01:16PM

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Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1)

by Steven Erikson (Goodreads Author)

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in August 2016

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Gallus said: " This book is not for everyone. The writing and world are anything but accessible and if that's not your thing you won't like this book. on the other hand, if you like massive sprawling worlds that just seem to get more detailed as you go, mixed with This book is not for everyone. The writing and world are anything but accessible and if that's not your thing you won't like this book. on the other hand, if you like massive sprawling worlds that just seem to get more detailed as you go, mixed with the most real and often harrowing depictions of war I've found in the fantasy genre, this series is for you.

This next bit is copied from my review of the last book.
Should You Read the Malazan Book of the Fallen
Now I'm going to do something very typical of a Malazan fan here. I recognize that on the surface, these books aren't for everyone. The world is incredibly deep and difficult to get used to, the writing is dense, the viewpoints are plentiful, bordering on absurdity, and the plot is as convoluted and confusing as they come. All that said, I think that if you give yourself the chance, you will love these books, no matter who you are. If you're an epic fantasy reader I don't know what you're waiting for. Go buy Gardens of the Moon right now. If you don't like fantasy, Erikson goes out of his way to take the piss out of many of the genre's tropes. If you're worried about lacking thematic or character depth well. . . don't, this series has what you want. If you're worried about the barriers to entry mentioned above that's reasonable, and as someone who loves lots of viewpoints, deep worldbuilding, and clever if sometimes flowery prose, I can speak only from secondhand experience. That experience, however, is that even non-fantasy readers who don't think they like all these things love the series all the same by the end of the third book.

How To Read the Malazan Book of the Fallen
If you've made it this far, I assume you're actually considering picking up this behemoth of a series and I commend you for it. I'm going to give you some advice I wish I'd had when I first started reading the series. First thing's first. The Malazan wiki is a great resource that you must avoid at all costs. Unless you want major spoilers like how and when characters die, who certain mysterious people actually are and who ends up meeting that you might not expect, don't go on the wiki. They do their best to keep unnecessary spoilers out of the eyes of newcomers, but one can only do so much. Second, use the Malazan reading companion found here. https://www.reddit.com/r/Malazan/comm... This is the companion for GotM, but from here you should find the helper for the next two books as well. They're long powerpoints that serve as spoiler-free notes to help readers keep track of where and who characters are, what the different races are, what they look like, and many other things new readers might have difficulty with. The maps in particular are extremely helpful. Next, if you go online you'll probably see many suggestions about recommended reading orders, ignore these for your first readthrough. Read the books in the order they were published. With hindsight, I can see some merit to moving around the order on subsequent reads, but there's no reason to get bogged down in that for your first readthrough. Finally, listen to Ten Very Big Books. It's an excellent podcast in which the three hosts, one of whom is rereading the series while the other two read for the first time, release a new episode for every few chapters of the series. They unpack what's going on in the story quite well, often explaining things to each other and pointing out what the others missed. Very helpful for getting your bearings in such a complex story and very entertaining besides. In the end, you don't need to do any of these things. I didn't (well, I did read the books in order) and I still loved the series to bits. If you made it this far, go pick up gardens. If you've already read it, think about when to start your reread, I know I am. ...more "

Jun 09, 2020 06:49AM · see review

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Gallus’s Quotes

“Her voice left a flavor of honey and gunpowder on the air.”
― Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

175 likes

“Tell me, Tool, what dominates your thoughts?'
The Imass shrugged before replying.
'I think of futility, Adjunct.'
'Do all Imass think about futility?'
'No. Few think at all.'
'Why is that?'
The Imass leaned his head to one side and regarded her.
'Because Adjunct, it is futile.”
― Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon

tags: malazan

441 likes

“Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

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“The man who must brag for himself knows that no one else will”
― Robin Hobb, Royal Assassin

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“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring