Avatar wrote:Gardens of the Moon. Somebody talk some sense into me...
--A
I see you finished this reread. Knowing you as a voracious reader, you'll probably be reading it again in 6 months or a year. Consider reading it in reverse order by chapter the next time you pick it up. I don't know if that will reveal any new insights, but knowing myself and malazan readers generally, there's no harm in trying a different approach (i.e. see if you like cereal better if you open it from the bottom). If you've already read it backwards, you could read from the middle outwards or from the ends inwards.
(A->Z->B->Y->etc or M->L->N->K->O->etc)
It is a good book start to finish, so I suppose the traditional method works too.
I just finished reading book 3 in a series with just about the corniest title I've ever heard: "Legend of the Galactic Heroes." Published sometime in the 70s or 80s, it makes some good use of a space opera environment, but probably has more in common with War and Peace or Romance of Three Kingdoms. If I had to explain how Machiavelli may have been satirizing powerful rulers and not simply conveying how people should use power, and my audience had an infinite supply of time and patience, I might give them this series. I don't think Han Feizi was a satirist, but this series clearly attempted to try and engage with his work as well.
It was released as a really long anime (over 100 episodes) in the 90s, but its style has a lot more in common with the 80s stuff, and maybe earlier than that. In a way, both the book and the anime feel somewhat stilted and stuffy - but I felt the author was effective at being warm and cynical about humanity simultaneously. You have to be willing to enjoy a cliche.
The series more or less denies the idea from Tolstoy that "great men of history" are a total fiction, but tends to argue that human society shouldn't operate in expectation of their existence. Reinhard, the lead character in the "galactic empire" faction, is really the protagonist who has ambitions on a grand scale and will change the world. Yang, the lead in the Free Planets Alliance, is more like the author's commentator, gives you the intro to the political philosophy underpinning what's going on, and gives you the author's take. I think among fans, Yang tends to win hearts for being a bit of a lazy bloke. Although they oppose each other at times, the series probably spends more time on conflicts they have with their own factions (Yang tries to avoid political power and maintain democracy, while Reinhard is trying to seize control from the outset). They are more like champions who happen to represent their respective sides than like enemies who have a personal grudge.
It does have depth - but it's a very easy read. Possibly the translation made the language even more direct and clear. Both it and the anime are occasionally ludicrous in tone - I don't think there are any/many fart jokes, but if you imagine a book that tends to insert fart jokes at the wrong time, you might get the idea.