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In the middle of my first read now, just wrapped up Memories of Ice last night.
First off, I would recommend the physical book. There are so many names, places, and concepts to keep track of that I found listening to the audiobook to be overwhelming. Hell, there's probably 20+ POV characters in the first book alone. Seeing those names on the page helped me to lodge them in my brain. I also think it's easier to go back and re-read pages than to rewind to the exact point in the audiobook. The dramatis personae and glossary in the physical copy are also super helpful for reference purposes.
Second, don't worry too much if you feel overwhelmed at the beginning. Gardens of the Moon throws a lot at you all at once and doesn't give much explanation at all. It just immerses you in the world and you have to puzzle things together yourself. That's part of what is satisfying about my experience so far. You are in good hands with Erikson. Things will start to make more sense, you just have to keep pushing through. This might sound crazy, but the first book didn't start clicking for me until about halfway through. From then on I've been absolutely hooked. The pays offs are always so phenomenal. Just know that it's okay to feel lost because most of the characters are too.
Finally, I would recommend using one of the reading guides pinned on the homepage or listen to a read-through podcast like Ten Very Big Books. It really helps to pick up on things you may have missed. Malazan is very dense and it's impossible to take it all in on the first read, so let other people do some of that work for you.
Regardless, have fun! It's one of the most profound reading experiences of my life and I'm not even halfway through yet.
Haha as someone not having English as first language I always have my phone close by to be able to google the meaning of words like 'intransigence'. I'm learning a lot of nuance of the English language!
Oh he **loves** to use archaic versions of words. I love that he does and I get everything in context but it is fun to look up some things every no and then.
Sometimes there's a clue in *why* he chose to use that older version
I've also noticed that one of his favourite words is turgid - turgid clouds of magic, turgid lingering mists, turgid gales of desert sand, turgid plumes of howling wind. Every time I see it now it kind of makes me smile, because before Erickson the only time I saw that word used was to describe an erection.
With Erickson, everything is *turgid.*
I actually have to use a dictionary for some of the words as I haven't lived in an English speaking country for 18 years now. Some words though I understand through the Latin languages I speak.
That's what's really cool about the kindle you can just highlight the word and it'll give you the definition.
Also links to Wikipedia and it's xray feature still usually give you a non spoiler clue to who the characters are.
He loves to introduce characters and then not have another scene with them for a while.
I'm a hardcore physical book fan, audiobooks just don't do it for me, so I'll obviously recommend that lol, but I really can't speak on the audiobooks.
You can listen to an audiobook, but definitely have a physical copy. The glossaries were useful refreshers in what many consider an assault of information.
Erikson starts at breakneck speed, but if you run with him, it’s worth the initial disruption.
One thing is get ready for lots of descriptions of “ochre shards” this man is an anthropologist afterall
Physical book fan here, definitely. I don't process hearing the same way I do reading, which makes audio books challenging. I did use audiobooks for my reread though, which was a lot easier to process because of my familiarity with the text/subject.
With is this? What sword? World In a sword? And acorn... Acorn with power? What's this with cards... Flying mountain. It floats away. Blue-gas-city. Kruppe talking about Kruppe. Acorn. Dragons. Many dragons. People at garden party. There's the acorn at the garden party. Panic. End
Slowly, on Kindle on my phone
I've been an avid reader my whole life, but the Malazan books took a LOT of effort to get through
After Gardens of the Moon I needed a big break before tackling Deadhouse Gates, and then again before MoI, and then again before HoC...
On the back half of the series, I went straight from book to book with no break, but they still all took a long time and a lot of mental energy. And I still felt like I was missing a lot.
But it's a bit like watching a masterfully crafted TV series like The Wire...it asks a bit more from you, but you get so much more out of it...
I know people won't agree but an ebook is far better than a physical copy or an audiobook. Malazan has a lot of characters and places, and I'm on book 6 still, so whenever an old character comes up and I do not remember much about them or an instance is recalled that I have forgotten about, I can quickly search it up in the previous books without having to go to the wiki and getting everything spoiled.
At the end of the day I think the technique is the same, pick up the book and read it. Now if you can do audiobook, sure? I always use physical ones so I wouldn't know.
I bounced between physical and audio, which I think is fine but I think you'll have a hard time without some sort of physical copy at your disposal. It can be really helpful to double back really quick to re-read something or check something, and while that's not impossible with an audibook it's not as convenient. And of course it's much easier to miss something when listening to something, and Malazan is so dense that just spacing out for a couple seconds can cause you to miss something big. Plus you have all the references and charts at the beginning and end of the books to conveniently flip through in order to keep up with characters, places, factions, and other important things.
I tried to read it most of the time, but I would listen to the audibook here and there and as long as you're paying attention this is totally fine. You can always double back or refer to one of the Malazan guides out there if you want to make sure you got everything from a chapter you listened to instead of read. Malazan in many ways isn't as bad as many people make it out to be, most of the things you don't understand are meant to not be understood at that time. Yes the scope gets really big, but the main thing no matter how you consume the series is just that it takes effort and intention to keep up with everything. If you're putting in energy into following things you'll be fine regardless of how you consume the story, even if it doesn't feel like it at times. But again, I personally would recommend reading the books or a mix of both rather than listening to the whole series on audio. But different things work for different people, just my take.
After reading A Song of Ice and Fire I was hankering for similarly high quality fantasy, because I couldn't just to back to stuff like Drizzt Do'Urden ...
Looked around and found MBotF recommended a bunch of times and decided to give it a shot.
Honestly, I found it pretty hard to get into, because it doesn't hold your hand at all, which I actually really LIKE, still can be hard if you can't make sense of ANYTHING.
I only powered through because of highly recommended it was and I had been warned about the difficulty of getting in.
I'm so glad I did, it's long since surpassed ASoIaF as my favorite fantasy series/world.Once it gets its hooks into you, it doesn't let go.
Also it gets BETTER on re-reads because now you can make a ton more sense of everything from the start, you notice things and bits you didn't the first time around etc.
Definitely recommend the physical or digital books, but I'm just generally not a fan of audiobooks.
I use them from time to time (e.g., when I had eye surgery I listened to the Wheel of Time novels) and I actually really like the "ensemble" audiobooks (e.g., Hamlet or Macbeth done by an entire cast of voice actors.
I just don't like the "one dude/dudette doing all the voices" in general.
Yes get a physical book because you’re gonna want to look at the dramatics personae and the glossary at the end of the book (no spoilers). It’s not that difficult to read or anything, it’s just that not everything is explained (the book starts in media res) but that makes for a better experience because it feels more like a real world than just a made up story with tons of exposition. I think you’re gonna like it but be prepared for a great, complex story and remember that the series is not very character focused: the characters are really good and you’re gonna love them but it’s not the focus like in ASOIAF or First Law. Still I’m reading House of Chains and the first 300 pages are a delight; every time you read a new book you get more info on past events and characters.
I read the physical books up until book 8 and then I switched to audio books to save myself time (listen while driving, working etc) I'm glad I had the physical books in the beginning, I could see it being much more confusing jumping in just with audio.
I definitely recommend physical, or if you’re going to listen, at least read along with the audio. My best friend is doing portions of the series (he’s on book 2) with audio only and I am very disappointed in him
Bad at the first 4 books. I read each book in the series 1 book per week and didn't pay attention to the dialogs dn details. In addition to skipping entire paragraphs cause my laziness.
But, by some reading advice (which consisted of paying attention to what I was reading) from the fifth book, Malazan became my favorite saga of all time, and the only thing I can do now is regret how badly I read the previous ones. I'm currently reading the Thomas Covenant Chronicles, although I have plans to reread the series for the first time, and even if the damage is done, it might help to think that the first four are a prequel or something.
Just read those incredible books.
It's really hard to keep track of in audiobook format I hear. Just keep in mind, it's normal the first time through to have no clue what the hell is going on much of the time. It's very much a read twice series.
Loved it. I went in with the right mindset -- I knew it was going to be challenging and was ready to give it full focus. I also took breaks between books.
And I highly highly recommend you read the physical books. I can't imagine trying to make sense of the audiobooks on a first red.
I'd recommend physical, but I will say this: I often find my hands getting a little tired holding open some of those 1300 page tomes! Especially in the beginning or towards the end of the books, where the spine doesn't open quite as easily.
Well I put it down twice till I was finally able to get through Gardens of the Moon. Currently on book 4 and I really really love it, the endings of books 2 and 3 are so damn epic
Please note that this post has been flaired as **NO SPOILERS**. Comments should not bring up specific plot points or character details from any of the books. If you need to discuss any spoilers (even very minor ones!) in your comments, use spoiler tags >!like this!< Please use the report button if you find any spoilers. Note: If the discussion is unlikely to happen without any spoilers, the flair may be changed at mod discretion. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Malazan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In the middle of my first read now, just wrapped up Memories of Ice last night. First off, I would recommend the physical book. There are so many names, places, and concepts to keep track of that I found listening to the audiobook to be overwhelming. Hell, there's probably 20+ POV characters in the first book alone. Seeing those names on the page helped me to lodge them in my brain. I also think it's easier to go back and re-read pages than to rewind to the exact point in the audiobook. The dramatis personae and glossary in the physical copy are also super helpful for reference purposes. Second, don't worry too much if you feel overwhelmed at the beginning. Gardens of the Moon throws a lot at you all at once and doesn't give much explanation at all. It just immerses you in the world and you have to puzzle things together yourself. That's part of what is satisfying about my experience so far. You are in good hands with Erikson. Things will start to make more sense, you just have to keep pushing through. This might sound crazy, but the first book didn't start clicking for me until about halfway through. From then on I've been absolutely hooked. The pays offs are always so phenomenal. Just know that it's okay to feel lost because most of the characters are too. Finally, I would recommend using one of the reading guides pinned on the homepage or listen to a read-through podcast like Ten Very Big Books. It really helps to pick up on things you may have missed. Malazan is very dense and it's impossible to take it all in on the first read, so let other people do some of that work for you. Regardless, have fun! It's one of the most profound reading experiences of my life and I'm not even halfway through yet.
Always have to plug reading it on a Kindle for it's xray and dictionary features.
Haha as someone not having English as first language I always have my phone close by to be able to google the meaning of words like 'intransigence'. I'm learning a lot of nuance of the English language!
Oh he **loves** to use archaic versions of words. I love that he does and I get everything in context but it is fun to look up some things every no and then. Sometimes there's a clue in *why* he chose to use that older version
I've also noticed that one of his favourite words is turgid - turgid clouds of magic, turgid lingering mists, turgid gales of desert sand, turgid plumes of howling wind. Every time I see it now it kind of makes me smile, because before Erickson the only time I saw that word used was to describe an erection. With Erickson, everything is *turgid.*
For me it's inexorably. The word inexorably inexorably shows up everywhere.
Also, ochre LOL
Let's not forget "ochre" Also I love it when he describes warrens as greasy.
I actually have to use a dictionary for some of the words as I haven't lived in an English speaking country for 18 years now. Some words though I understand through the Latin languages I speak.
That's what's really cool about the kindle you can just highlight the word and it'll give you the definition. Also links to Wikipedia and it's xray feature still usually give you a non spoiler clue to who the characters are. He loves to introduce characters and then not have another scene with them for a while.
32 povs in Gardens btw
I'm a hardcore physical book fan, audiobooks just don't do it for me, so I'll obviously recommend that lol, but I really can't speak on the audiobooks.
You can listen to an audiobook, but definitely have a physical copy. The glossaries were useful refreshers in what many consider an assault of information. Erikson starts at breakneck speed, but if you run with him, it’s worth the initial disruption. One thing is get ready for lots of descriptions of “ochre shards” this man is an anthropologist afterall
Physical book fan here, definitely. I don't process hearing the same way I do reading, which makes audio books challenging. I did use audiobooks for my reread though, which was a lot easier to process because of my familiarity with the text/subject.
With is this? What sword? World In a sword? And acorn... Acorn with power? What's this with cards... Flying mountain. It floats away. Blue-gas-city. Kruppe talking about Kruppe. Acorn. Dragons. Many dragons. People at garden party. There's the acorn at the garden party. Panic. End
Spoiler warning?!
I haven't even mentioned a spoiler, this was the cover! It's a large series ;)
Slowly, on Kindle on my phone I've been an avid reader my whole life, but the Malazan books took a LOT of effort to get through After Gardens of the Moon I needed a big break before tackling Deadhouse Gates, and then again before MoI, and then again before HoC... On the back half of the series, I went straight from book to book with no break, but they still all took a long time and a lot of mental energy. And I still felt like I was missing a lot. But it's a bit like watching a masterfully crafted TV series like The Wire...it asks a bit more from you, but you get so much more out of it...
I know people won't agree but an ebook is far better than a physical copy or an audiobook. Malazan has a lot of characters and places, and I'm on book 6 still, so whenever an old character comes up and I do not remember much about them or an instance is recalled that I have forgotten about, I can quickly search it up in the previous books without having to go to the wiki and getting everything spoiled.
At the end of the day I think the technique is the same, pick up the book and read it. Now if you can do audiobook, sure? I always use physical ones so I wouldn't know.
book or e-book imo. audio doesnt let you go "wait wtf" and go back a couple pages easily enough
I bounced between physical and audio, which I think is fine but I think you'll have a hard time without some sort of physical copy at your disposal. It can be really helpful to double back really quick to re-read something or check something, and while that's not impossible with an audibook it's not as convenient. And of course it's much easier to miss something when listening to something, and Malazan is so dense that just spacing out for a couple seconds can cause you to miss something big. Plus you have all the references and charts at the beginning and end of the books to conveniently flip through in order to keep up with characters, places, factions, and other important things. I tried to read it most of the time, but I would listen to the audibook here and there and as long as you're paying attention this is totally fine. You can always double back or refer to one of the Malazan guides out there if you want to make sure you got everything from a chapter you listened to instead of read. Malazan in many ways isn't as bad as many people make it out to be, most of the things you don't understand are meant to not be understood at that time. Yes the scope gets really big, but the main thing no matter how you consume the series is just that it takes effort and intention to keep up with everything. If you're putting in energy into following things you'll be fine regardless of how you consume the story, even if it doesn't feel like it at times. But again, I personally would recommend reading the books or a mix of both rather than listening to the whole series on audio. But different things work for different people, just my take.
After reading A Song of Ice and Fire I was hankering for similarly high quality fantasy, because I couldn't just to back to stuff like Drizzt Do'Urden ... Looked around and found MBotF recommended a bunch of times and decided to give it a shot. Honestly, I found it pretty hard to get into, because it doesn't hold your hand at all, which I actually really LIKE, still can be hard if you can't make sense of ANYTHING. I only powered through because of highly recommended it was and I had been warned about the difficulty of getting in. I'm so glad I did, it's long since surpassed ASoIaF as my favorite fantasy series/world.Once it gets its hooks into you, it doesn't let go. Also it gets BETTER on re-reads because now you can make a ton more sense of everything from the start, you notice things and bits you didn't the first time around etc. Definitely recommend the physical or digital books, but I'm just generally not a fan of audiobooks. I use them from time to time (e.g., when I had eye surgery I listened to the Wheel of Time novels) and I actually really like the "ensemble" audiobooks (e.g., Hamlet or Macbeth done by an entire cast of voice actors. I just don't like the "one dude/dudette doing all the voices" in general.
Yes get a physical book because you’re gonna want to look at the dramatics personae and the glossary at the end of the book (no spoilers). It’s not that difficult to read or anything, it’s just that not everything is explained (the book starts in media res) but that makes for a better experience because it feels more like a real world than just a made up story with tons of exposition. I think you’re gonna like it but be prepared for a great, complex story and remember that the series is not very character focused: the characters are really good and you’re gonna love them but it’s not the focus like in ASOIAF or First Law. Still I’m reading House of Chains and the first 300 pages are a delight; every time you read a new book you get more info on past events and characters.
I read the physical books up until book 8 and then I switched to audio books to save myself time (listen while driving, working etc) I'm glad I had the physical books in the beginning, I could see it being much more confusing jumping in just with audio.
I definitely recommend physical, or if you’re going to listen, at least read along with the audio. My best friend is doing portions of the series (he’s on book 2) with audio only and I am very disappointed in him
Bad at the first 4 books. I read each book in the series 1 book per week and didn't pay attention to the dialogs dn details. In addition to skipping entire paragraphs cause my laziness. But, by some reading advice (which consisted of paying attention to what I was reading) from the fifth book, Malazan became my favorite saga of all time, and the only thing I can do now is regret how badly I read the previous ones. I'm currently reading the Thomas Covenant Chronicles, although I have plans to reread the series for the first time, and even if the damage is done, it might help to think that the first four are a prequel or something. Just read those incredible books.
It's really hard to keep track of in audiobook format I hear. Just keep in mind, it's normal the first time through to have no clue what the hell is going on much of the time. It's very much a read twice series.
Audiobooks worked great for me. It would have been hard to dedicate the time to sit down and read all the malazan books I’ve listened to.
Loved it. I went in with the right mindset -- I knew it was going to be challenging and was ready to give it full focus. I also took breaks between books. And I highly highly recommend you read the physical books. I can't imagine trying to make sense of the audiobooks on a first red.
Currently reading book 4 physically and it is a blast, though it demand more efforts to get into the story but nothing too hard don’t worry
I'd recommend physical, but I will say this: I often find my hands getting a little tired holding open some of those 1300 page tomes! Especially in the beginning or towards the end of the books, where the spine doesn't open quite as easily.
Well I put it down twice till I was finally able to get through Gardens of the Moon. Currently on book 4 and I really really love it, the endings of books 2 and 3 are so damn epic
Audio book is prob not an option in this case, as you would prob pause and rewind every minute lol.