A review by notesurfer
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
DNF at 32%
Gardens of the Moon is an endless exposition of a dark fantasy world. The text is ponderous and dense, but full of interesting characters, places, politics, and creatures. The prose is never ugly, but never beautiful. The setup brings payoff, but not enough to justify the constant exposition. The scale of the plot is immense, but character development largely happens off-screen. There's just a few too many connecting threads, a few too many words in the word salad, to keep me on board. I understand how people get hooked by this world and its many players, but I need a Robin Hobb character approach to keep me invested.
Gardens of the Moon is an endless exposition of a dark fantasy world. The text is ponderous and dense, but full of interesting characters, places, politics, and creatures. The prose is never ugly, but never beautiful. The setup brings payoff, but not enough to justify the constant exposition. The scale of the plot is immense, but character development largely happens off-screen. There's just a few too many connecting threads, a few too many words in the word salad, to keep me on board. I understand how people get hooked by this world and its many players, but I need a Robin Hobb character approach to keep me invested.