Hi WhiskeyPhil,
I also joined recently and wished I had found this site sooner
I share you pain, so to speak - It took me three times to get through GotM, the first two times I only got around 300 pages or so and put it down. However, there was something about the writing that kept me thinking about the book. I began to research the Internet and discovered that many readers had similar experiences (either stop reading OR just had difficulty getting through the book). The concensus for the most part was to just "hang in there" and the series will hook you. Finally on my third attempt I reached the end of GotM and couldn't wait to continue.
Currently I am reading MoI (~600 pgs in) and all I can say is WOW!
IMHO there are a few things that I think creates trouble for readers (myself included) to writing at this level - EPIC FANTASY, is a word referenced often...
(Past reading includes: Asimov, Tolkien, Herbert , GMMMartin, Rothfuss, Hamilton, Sanderson, Simmons, etc)
For example, while books like "A Song of Fire and Ice" are often included in conversations about recommended reading - I never found George Martins series all that difficult to follow along. (I have read the series up to Feast several times now and have given up waiting for him to finish the series, or at least will not re-read the series until complete. (DAM you George - LOL)
For me, my past reading experiences have kinda trained me in a way - I typically always had a great grasp of the characters and very seldom had to use the authors appendix while I read - AT LEAST NOT AS OFTEN AS I DO READING MALAZAN.
So, as a result of what I am referring to as "my past reading/training experiences" some of the difficulty I experienced in my first two attempts to read GotM, were a result of me wanting (expecting based on past experiences) to know everything that I could at that point of the story (if that makes sense).
As I tried to grasp, understand, know all the players, all the plots, sub-plots, start of story arcs etc - my brain got kinda exhausted.
It was only AFTER doing some research via Internet and later finding this FANtastic website (during my reading of Deadhouse Gates), that I settled in for the ride. Adjusting my reading to NOT needing to know so much and just letting the story "flow" I am enjoying the series a lot. In fact, now I find myself re-reading or comparing other books/authors to my new "yardstick" (A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen)
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. ~Greek Proverb
There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors. ~Jim Morrison