62 pages • 2 hours read
Steven EriksonGardens of the Moon
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Series Context: The Malazan Book of the Fallen
Gardens of the Moon is the first book in the 10-book epic fantasy series, Malazan Book of the Fallen. Although the series does not tell a linear, chronological narrative across books, Gardens of the Moon introduces key themes and conflicts that are developed throughout the series. The series explores themes relating to tyranny, the effects of war, and human nature. Each of the novels in the series takes place on different continents and at different times, with each novel following the arc of several principal characters. The main characters in Gardens of the Moon are not the main characters in the subsequent novels, although the events in this first novel have impacts that are felt throughout the series. Taken as a whole, the series tells a sweeping story of a world torn apart by generations of conflict.
As the series title implies, the novels in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series are structured as records of past wars. The chapters and parts in each novel open with fragments of poetry or conversations from the history of the world. The novels all feature multiple characters’ points of view, in a similar structure to Gardens of the Moon. Within each novel, the main characters’ parallel experiences of events are recorded, offering a multi-faceted perspective of the story arc.
Genre Context: Epic Fantasy
Gardens of the Moon is an epic fantasy novel. The genre of epic fantasy (also known as high fantasy) is characterized by setting; epic fantasy stories take place in imaginary worlds, with magic, technologies, and histories that differ from those on Earth. This contrasts with the genre of low fantasy, in which magical or fantastic elements are added to an otherwise realistic setting.
Epic fantasy is also distinguished by its epic scale. Gardens of the Moon and the series of The Malazan Book of the Fallen adhere to this genre norm with complex, multi-faceted plot lines, grand historical scope, and large casts of characters. Most often, the plots of epic fantasy novels include high stakes conflicts, like world-threatening events or battles between forces of good and evil. Gardens of the Moon follows a large-scale conflict that spans nations and involves powerful beings like gods, in keeping with the genre of epic fantasy. Unlike many epic fantasy stories, however, Gardens of the Moon complicates the definition of good versus evil rather than drawing clear lines between the two. Still, the concept of right and wrong is central to the novel and the protagonists’ character arcs.
The main characters in epic fantasy novels often possess extraordinary abilities or unusual backstories that set them apart from other people. This is true in Erikson’s The Malazan Book of the Fallen, which features characters who are powerful mages, skilled assassins, and the like.
In Gardens of the Moon, many of the characters are also exceptional because they have been singled out by the gods. This is a distinguishing feature of epic stories, not just epic fantasies. The pantheon of flawed and interfering gods in Gardens of the Moon is reminiscent of heroic epic poetry like Homer’s Illiad, in which powerful main characters as well as deities are involved in large-scale conflicts. Heroic epic poetry often deals with themes like the power of fate and vengeance, which are critical in Erikson’s novel as well.
