Question to those of you who have read it: does it have an ending where you need to continue with the series in order to be satisfied, or can it be read as a standalone novel?
I think it functions as a stand-alone. You'll pick up with characters and over-arching events as you get further into the series, but the book is a good, satisfying read on its own, imo. People seem to have a love or hate relationship with Erikson, though. Not a lot of middle ground. Erikson doesn't do much hand-holding, so you're left to piece together some of what is going on. I re-read Gardens of the Moon after I was about five books into the series and understood a number of things I missed the first time.
Nice. I'll put it in my TBR list then. I'm currently reading the Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook, and I've heard Cook influenced Erikson's Malazan series. I want to check it (Malazan) out, but I don't want to have to go deep in case it's not my thing.
You’ll definitely see the Black Company influence in the Malazan books. One thing I like about the books is that Erikson really takes worldbuilding to another level.
