62 pages • 2 hours read
Steven EriksonGardens of the Moon
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Fate Versus Free Will
Erikson explores the tension between fate and free will by personifying fate in the god Oponn. Oponn's actions and qualities and the characters’ reactions to them underscore the arbitrary and uncontrollable nature of fate as well as individuals’ power to assert their free will despite what luck throws at them.
Oponn, god of chance, is the personification of the “prod and pull” of fate (32). The two sides of fate—good luck and bad luck—are represented by the Oponn twins, the lord and the lady. Erikson’s choice to personify fate as a pair of twins rather than a single being asserts that fate is fickle and two-faced. This concept of fate as two-faced is reinforced by the Oponn’s symbol, a coin. The symbol of the coin establishes another of fate’s qualities: randomness. The author chooses to represent Oponn’s influence as a flipping coin, something that is quintessentially random and arbitrary. Fate’s randomness is further reinforced by how the god chooses to exert influence over the world: Instead of taking direct action through possession or sending in faithful servants like the Hounds, Oponn opts to toss magically imbued items like the coin and sword into the world and then see what happens. Through characterizing the god Oponn as fickle and arbitrary, the author asserts that these are the qualities that define fate as well. Luck, in the perspective of a novel, is something that is out of our control and could turn on us at any moment.
In the face of a fickle and arbitrary god of chance, the novel’s characters are reluctant to think that fate holds sway over their lives. For instance, when Baruk finds out that Crokus has Oponn’s coin, he muses that he “despise[s] that prospect of chance operating in his affairs. He [can] no longer rely on his ability to predict, to prepare contingencies” (185). Other main characters share this feeling: Anomander Rake’s initial thought is to kill Crokus rather than permit someone under Oponn’s influence to interfere with his plans. Adjunct Lorn is also set on eliminating the unpredictable yet potent influence of fate. The characters’ reactions to Oponn’s intervention establish a strong tension between fate and the force of their free will.
The novel’s ending is a testament to the power of free will: Both Paran and Crokus manage to get rid of Oponn’s tokens in their own time. Paran gifts the sword Chance to Shadowthrone, and Crokus tosses the coin into the sea. Of course, this is not before both characters have used the tokens to achieve their own ends, bending luck to their will as much as possible. That two of the novel’s protagonists possess and then dispose of fate’s tokens reinforces individuals’ power to assert their free will as the governing force in their lives.
The Positive and Negative Aspects of the Human Condition
Gardens of the Moon asserts that the human experience is complex and multi-faceted; the emotions and consciousness that set Erickson’s characters apart are also what plague them with doubts and suffering. The novel’s characters grapple with their mortality and with the consequences of their actions, thus highlighting the positive and negative aspects of the human condition.
Adjunct Lorn, as an anti-hero with complex motivations, is one of the central characters in Erikson’s exploration of the human condition. In Darujhistan on a holiday, Adjunct Lorn contemplates her mortality as she watches the crowd: “Joy and fear, agony and laughter—the expressions merged into one [...] the sounds a roar of history without meaning [...] A celebration of insignificance. Is that all we are in the end?” (420). The Adjunct considers how short her life, and the lives of all the people around her, will be; she wonders what their purpose is. These doubts relate to the separation that Adjunct Lorn has forced between herself and her emotions. Several times throughout the novel, she muses on her role as Adjunct and how that role leaves no place for the fragile, emotional side of herself. Adjunct Lorn has seen her emotions as weaknesses but feels lonely and insignificant without them. In contrast to the people in the crowd, who exude all kinds of emotion, she is disconnected and empty. This contrast highlights both the positive and negative aspects of the human condition as Lorn comes to realize that human emotions are both a strength and a weakness.
Whiskeyjack’s relationship with Sorry is another example of the positive and negative aspects of the human condition. Whiskeyjack doubts Kalam and Quick Ben’s claims that Sorry is possessed or otherwise unnatural. He tells them, “She kills like you do, Kalam. You’ve both got ice in your veins. So what? I look at you and I see a man because I know what men are capable of [...] We look at Sorry and we see reflections of ourselves” (107). Whiskeyjack’s opinion suggests that the human condition is multi-faceted: Characters in the novel are capable of both terrible things and great things, and they must process the consequences of their actions.
Inspired by the behaviors of gods in classic Greek and Roman mythology, Erikson’s pantheon of gods in Gardens of the Moon are human-like in their motivations, squabbles, and personalities. In fact, the gods in Erikson’s novel are ascended mortals: mortals who defeated death and thus entered immortality. Despite this elevated status, the gods continue to act on very human motivations like revenge, jealousy, and fear. Shadowthrone and Cotillion, for example, are the Ascended Emperor and his servant. They involve themselves in the events of the novel because they seek revenge on Empress Laseen, their murderer. In the human-like behaviors of the gods, Erikson explores the powerful sway that emotion and consciousness have on human lives. The novel asserts that this influence is inescapable, for good and ill.
Rebellion Against Conquest
Gardens of the Moon explores the awakening of a rebellion as various characters grapple with the pervasive conquest of the empire, which occurs on both a macro and a micro scale. In rebelling against the empire and against other forms of conquest, like possession, the characters’ actions emphasize the value of freedom and autonomy.
Suspicion, underhandedness, and cruelty are characterized as the governing forces of the empire. These qualities are evident in the nature of the Claw organization, the empire’s spy and assassin network. The “cult” of the Claw is introduced in the Prologue when young Ganoes Paran sees Claw agents for the first time. Their presence “sen[ds] a shiver through Ganoes” (27). Their looks mirror their underhanded ways: They are “tall, swathed in black, hands hidden in sleeves, hoods shadowing their faces” (27). Adjunct Lorn’s secretive missions and her betrayal of Paran’s trust are another demonstration of the empire’s cruel methods. The novel depicts imperial conquest as destructive, unstable, unjust, and harsh. The central plot of the novel follows Paran, the Bridgeburners, and the residents of Darujhistan as they resist the empire’s attempts to weaken the city for conquest. The novel’s large and diverse cast of characters teams up in rebellion against conquest.
Large-scale conquest by the empire is not the only kind of conquest depicted in the novel. It also explores individual conquest in the form of magical possession. The Jaghut’s possession of Mammot ends in tragedy, with the elderly mage dying in front of his nephew after attacking his friends. Mammot cannot rebel against this powerful conquest, and it means his end. Sorry’s character arc offers a fuller picture of rebellion against conquest as she is freed from Cotillion’s possession and given a second chance at life as Apsalar. Her rebellion against possession is a rewarding experience not only for her but also for Crokus, Kalam, and Fiddler, who decide to accompany her on her journey home. This journey carries into the next book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Apsalar’s life after a full loss of her autonomy through conquest is one of the optimistic notes on which the novel ends. This conclusion reinforces the value of freedom and validates the characters’ sacrifices in the name of rebellion against conquest.
