Gardens of the Moon

It's dense. I started listening to the audio book, stopped almost halfway through when I realized I didn't know who most of the characters were or what was going on. I then picked up the Kindle version of the book and re-started it. That helped a lot. After reading the entire book, I went back and re-started the audio book and listened to it again. The narrator is excellent. If you are reading an electronic version, don't do like I did and only realize there is a glossary of characters, locations, and other terminology at the end of the book when you get there. Bookmark it and flip to it as needed for reference. It would have been really helpful had a realized it was there earlier. The DLC Bookclub podcast was also very helpful as they read through and summarized several chapters each week so after reading through them, I'd listen to the episode that aligned with the chapters I'd just read, which would help clarify some points and draw connections. Despite my struggles at getting through this first book, it was worth the effort. I'm invested in the world and characters. Although epic and long, it is not as “talkie” as the Game of Thrones series. There is plenty of epic action throughout. I'm looking forward to digging into book 2.