The Malazan Empire wages war across a world where gods walk among mortals and magic is drawn from the bodies of dead deities. Gardens of the Moon is the most ambitious, least accessible entry in the most ambitious fantasy series written — ten books, 3.4 million words, and a cast of hundreds.
Who it's for
Experienced epic fantasy readers who want the genre's ultimate challenge and reward
Anyone who finished ASOIAF, Stormlight, and Wheel of Time and needs something bigger
Readers who trust that extreme difficulty now pays off in extreme reward later
Editor's take
Malazan is not for everyone, and Erikson knows it. Gardens of the Moon begins in the middle of events, introduces thirty characters without explaining who any of them are, and asks you to construct understanding the way an archaeologist excavates — from fragments. The investment it demands is unlike anything else in fantasy.
For readers who persist through the first three books, Malazan becomes a singular experience. By Deadhouse Gates (Book 2) and Memories of Ice (Book 3), the accumulated mythology achieves an emotional scale that makes the difficulty feel worth every frustrated page. It is the fantasy series most other fantasy authors cite as the greatest ever written.
Who this is NOT for
Anyone who needs orientation before immersion — Erikson drops you in with no hand-holding and no glossary for 200 pages
Readers who want a clear protagonist — this ensemble is genuinely enormous and no single character dominates
Anyone looking for romance or emotional warmth — this series is about war, history, and mortality at scale
Emotional payoff
Gardens of the Moon is the hardest start in epic fantasy, but readers who clear it consistently describe what follows across ten books as the most ambitious thing the genre has attempted. The emotional payoff is not in a single scene but accumulates across thousands of pages — the convergence moments in Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God are devastating in proportion to the investment made.
Ten main series novels by Steven Erikson (complete). Six prequel novels by Ian C. Esslemont set in the same world. Most readers start with Erikson's ten and treat Esslemont as supplementary.
Is Gardens of the Moon actually hard to read?
Yes — genuinely. Most readers recommend rereading the first 200 pages after finishing the full book to understand what was happening. Online reader guides are widely used and recommended even by the author. Persist past Book 1.