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bazhsw
Posted 2025-11-11 3:07 PM (#33215 - in reply to #30718)
Subject: Re: 2025 Grimdark Reading Challenge		Quote Reply



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And I've wrapped up my grimdark challenge with 'Gardens of the Moon' by Steven Erikson. There's a lot of things in the book I don't normally like, after Glen Cook I wasn't in the mood for more military fantasy with tons of god-like beings throwing their weight around. At times the book is frustrating as a huge web of characters, places, magic systems, god-like beings, demons and factions get introduced page after page. And yet, it never feels like a confusing mess - there is always something to learn, something just out of reach, and then a light bulb moment. It isn't easy, but it isn't impenetrable either. It's a book which requires thought, but not too much because it will annoy. From a grimdark point of view, there is an overarching sense of futility, due to war, the whims of gods and the daily grind. There is dispassionate violence and huge swathes of military mass murder and war crimes. There is LOTS of back stabbing and plotting but it never feels like a 'grubby' book, more a book where there isn't good or evil as such, just quests for power as forces try to balance things out. And since the year is not done, I'm going to do the solar punk challenge to cheer myself up

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