Just finished Gardens of the Moon last night and I can't be happier I decided to pick up this book at the advice of a few friends. Such a great start to a promising series. I just love the way Erikson reveals just enough to keep you going and makes you actually think and reason while reading, it's a welcome change of pace. One of the things that still bugs me is that I'm not quite sure what an Adept is.
At first, I thought it might just refer to someone who could access a Warren, but Tayschrenn seemed surprised to learn Tattersail was an adept when she was able to use the Deck of Dragons so effectively. OK, so maybe it's a person who has an uncanny ability with the Deck. But later, there is some hint that Murillio may be an adept due to his profiency at dueling. There were other instances at well that led me to believe that it might just be someone with an uncanny ability at *something*, but this doesn't really explain it as it seems to be more than just being really good at something. Are they guided by a God, have some sort of latent magical ability, etc. So I'm left wondering what exactly is an adept? If it's something to be revealed later, we can just leave it at that.
The other question I had was if a Talent is the same as an Adept. Towards the end of Gardens, Lorn asks Fiddler if he is a Talent when they play their game of cards using the Deck of Dragons, and even though it is a game the reading seemed to ring true, which seems to link Talent with the same kind of ability Tattersail had with the deck that clued Tayschrenn into the fact she was an adept.
Anyway, a fantastic read and I'm really glad I had the foresight to pick up Deadhouse Gates when I bought Gardens so I don't have to brave the snowstorm to get to a bookstore on my way home from work

Graywinter
This post has been edited by graywinter: 28 October 2009 - 06:48 PM