Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Gardens of the Moon

  • The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1
  • By: Steven Erikson
  • Narrated by: Ralph Lister
  • Length: 26 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,228 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Gardens of the Moon cover art

Gardens of the Moon

By: Steven Erikson
Narrated by: Ralph Lister
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Shadow of What Was Lost cover art
The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story cover art
The Black Company cover art
The Will of the Many cover art
The Solar War cover art
Dancer's Lament cover art
Elfshadow cover art
Red Rising (Part 1 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation) cover art
Future Wife cover art
The Heir to the North cover art
The Silmarillion cover art
BloodLust cover art
Darkstorm cover art
Time Tunnel: The Twin Towers cover art
The Riven Wyrde Saga (Omnibus Edition) cover art
Escape from Bythos cover art

Summary

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Gardens Of The Moon: (Malazan Book Of The Fallen 1) by Steven Erikson, read by Ralph Lister.

Bled dry by interminable warfare, infighting and bloody confrontations with Lord Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, the vast, sprawling Malazan empire simmers with discontent.
Even its imperial legions yearn for some respite. For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his Bridgeburners and for Tattersail, sole surviving sorceress of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, still holds out - and Empress Lasseen's ambition knows no bounds.
However, it seems the empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister forces gather as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand...

Conceived and written on an epic scale, Gardens of the Moon is a breathtaking achievement - a novel in which grand design, a dark and complex mythology, wild and wayward magic and a host of enduring characters combine with thrilling, powerful storytelling to resounding effect. Acclaimed by writers, critics and readers alike, here is the opening chapter in what has been hailed a landmark of epic fantasy: the awesome 'The Malazan Book of the Fallen'.

©1999 Steven Erikson (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Erikson is an extrodinary writer...treat yourself to Gardens of the Moon (STEPHEN R. DONALDSON)
Complex, challenging...Erikson's strengths are his grown-up characters and his ability to create a world every bit as intricate and messy as our own (J.V. JONES)
There's nothing safe about fantasy like this: intriguing, complex, thought provoking, exceedingly well-written, and, for the intelligent reader, exhilaratingly satisfying (PAULA GURAN)

What listeners say about Gardens of the Moon

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    806
  • 4 Stars
    254
  • 3 Stars
    100
  • 2 Stars
    37
  • 1 Stars
    31
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    794
  • 4 Stars
    202
  • 3 Stars
    70
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    15
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    704
  • 4 Stars
    219
  • 3 Stars
    98
  • 2 Stars
    39
  • 1 Stars
    38

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

If you are reading these for the first time ...

I love these books; I am a massive fan. I have owned them in paper, on kindle and now narrated. You will note the length of the books, with a massive 300 hrs (roughly) across the 10 books, reading them is not something to take lightly. But please believe me, it is worth the journey. This is a rollercoaster of a ride, with loud laughter, tears, disgust and moments when you can't believe the author wrote that storyline. Definitely an (18) rating, no mistaking this. GotM is a great opener and for a long time was my favourite of the series. You will read parts which make little sense, but store these up, as you will understand them in later books. The first 3 narrated by Ralph Lister, he is good and deserves 5 stars for his performance, the latter books are read by Michael Page; I have listened to the books a number of times and on the latest listening the stressing of the names has changed, seriously, a bit weird. If you decide to stop at any time, that is fine, as these books are contained and complete stories - apart from 9 and 10 potentially, but don't skip in numbers as the books builds your knowledge of the Malazan 'verse and later books won't be as enjoyable. Deep breath!! Be brave and begin - trust me you won't be the same at the end. And just to be controversial, this series leaves Games of Thrones standing, after all it is original and GOT is a re-telling of the war of the roses :-)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

72 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Ignore the doubters!

Before I delved into this series I was struck by the polarised opinion it produced. I did a little research on forums and though some will see it as over the top this is a huge undertaking when viewing the number of books in the series and the world and so some forethought is warranted. This is amazing! The language and writing style is wonderful and as beautifully crafted as the originality and scale of the world it depicts. This is not fast food fantasy and it took me longer to get through as an audio book or a kindle than normal. There are resources on Tor and wiki (without spoilers) for an introduction or character overview which some may find helpful as did I. Also there are mixed reviews for the performance, I don't understand those at all, I thought it was masterful and did the material great justice. This is not black and white characterisation but is hugely gripping and immersive in a truly original and epic world. Please give it a try!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Its no "Ice & Fire"...

I was looking for something to satisfy my hunger until the next game of thrones book is out, this sadly, is not that book or series.
Its Pales (pun intended) in comparison, and whoever compares it to the World of Ice and Fire, probably hasn't read one or the other.

This book was written as a forebear to some role-playing game, and frankly, it shows.

Details:
The world is staggeringly small considered what ive heard about it, and the one-the-nose magic, the "gods" are poorly written/ fleshed out. You just have to accept that something happened with no real understanding of how or why, "magic did it"... etc.
The hundreds of names of places, times, people, gods, religions are thrown about as if we should know what they are, and it makes it all so jarring.
Finally, as soon as you begin to get to enjoy a character and their plot, the chapter/paragraph will end and you will be stuck with someone else and have to start all over again that may not relate to anything youve read for hours ha. Its like starting a new book every hour that vaguely relates to what youve read before.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So good I had to write this review.

If you are pondering whether to make the commitment to listening to such a long series of books, rest assured, these are amongst the best narrated and enthralling works of fantasy writing I have come across. There is no doubt that these plots are complex but this adds to the enjoyment. Too much fantasy is cliched and aimed at younger adults, though often entertaining enough. This series is intellectually stimulating and enthralling. The narration is equally good, I cannot recommend this enough. I’m now on the fourth book and felt I had to reassure potential purchasers that this is time and money well spent! Many thanks!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disjointed to the point of being unlistenable

Over 4 hours in to the book and I have yet to discern what the story is actually about. Good fantasy shouldn't be this hard to like.

Didn't finish.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting book, struggled with the performance...

I found it hard to keep up with narration. Every character (bar Cropper) was given the same voice. I am used to listening to Narrators like Kate Reading and Stephen Fry who vary the characters significantly. Considering the story follows so many different characters I struggled to keep up, suddenly realising that I was know long being told about the same character. I listened to the first few chapters a number of times with the same issue, then just decided to persist to the end. Overall I enjoyed the concept of the book but am certain I missed things.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Malazan book of the fallen.

Well done to all involved in this . cracking story. great characters. fine narration.
I do not go in for reviewing books and giving out stars but this deserves 5 in each category.
thank you Mr Erickson.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Who's who, when, where or why 🤷‍♂️

Had this series recommended by loads of people. Reviews all lean towards it being a fantastic read however after 10hrs I haven't got a clue what's going on who's who, or when, where or why....I doubt I'll go any further with this as its just not enjoyable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Just can't keep up the will to persevere

Real struggle to get as far as I did, about 10 hours in. I knew the writer had a reputation for throwing you in the deep end but this feels like starting to read GoT half way through and expecting you to know exactly what is going on and keep up. Some characters are so irritating that you want to skip them altogether (Kruppe) but if you do it makes it even harder to follow things.

I might go back and physically read these because of their overall reputation but it is a big might.

I'm actually sad that iv given up because I wanted to like this, but I can't waste any more of my time on skipping back going who did what 300,000 years ago? What caused that?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

rubbish

listened to 4 hours, doesnt do any character descriptions, throws so many in you dont know who is who, tries to mention scenes from the past, obviously planning prequel books or has them already, fine for the writer but makes it even more confusing, trash book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful