Book review, Gardens Of The Moon - Steven Erikson **** The problem with really good fantasy writing is.........that there isn't any. Well, hardly any. The real problem with fantasy is that the best ever fantasy novel came first, and all other writers have been trying to live up to Lord Of The Rings ever since. That said, Steven Erikson makes a good effort with his debut novel. Gardens Of The Moon takes place during the Malazan campaign to occupy Genabackis. I would like to write a brief synopsis of the plot, but whereas many authors concentrate on a handful of major characters, Erikson has a dramatis personae that runs to five pages. Any character may play a major part further on in the novel, or may die a bloody and messy death on the next page. Hurrah, Erikson has no qualms about killing characters, adding a nice touch of realism to his work. His writing is compact, there is description and dialogue here, but nothing extraneous to the plot, or plots, of which there are many. Magic in Eriksons world is ever present, and can be devastating, but is just as often in a cold war state of play, with powerful mages afraid to unleash their magicks lest they become weakened in the effort and other mages take advantage. Eriksons world is well thought out, and very believable, it has a gritty, dangerous, realism which sets his work apart from most other current fantasy authors. His characters are much the same, they don't charge a thousand opponents shouting "For the honour of ", no, they hide round corners and stab people in the back, or they look at the oncoming demon/dragon/undead and think, "I'm not fighting that." Gardens Of The Moon seems very much a novel set in an ongoing fantasy world, the story starts amidst a military campaign that is already well advanced, and when the book ends some 720 pages later, the invasion that has been the background to the story is still gong on. It isn't a happily ever after conclusion either, although most of the major characters escape with their lives, some escape only to face the prospect of joining a rebellion against their former masters and the prospect of further hardship and bloodshed. Erikson displays a marvelous level of inventiveness throughout the novel, I particularly enjoyed Hairlock the mage, soon to be Hairlock the insane mannequin, the three thousand years dead T'lass Iman warrior Onos T'oolan, the warren powered magic system, and the fight at the masked party, long drawn out sword fest ? Not for Erikson. Gardens Of The Moon is a complex, real feeling fantasy, awash with good ideas and interesting characters, I'm looking forward to the next installment already.