Malazan Empire: The Themes of GotM and the Malazan Series - Malazan Empire

Greetings to all of you!

At the moment I am writing a major book report on Gardens of the Moon and the fantasy genre - my final assignment of what must be the Danish equivalent of 'college' - and I'd be thrilled to hear your thoughts on some of the areas in which I, my self, am in doubt (as of yet, I have only read GotM, DG and MoI).

First and foremost, I'd be really grateful to hear your thoughts on the MAIN theme(s) of the Malazan series and in particular, Gardens of the Moon?

I have reached the conclusion that some conventional themes such as the fact that friendship/fellowship (in a world where family, empire, religion etc. cannot be trusted) are the only things individuals can cling to is one of the major themes. This is especially depicted by the ninth squad, I belive, but also the way in which Paran is integrated into this group.
Another theme I have observed as being one of special import in GotM is freedom. The whole thing with Circle Breaker, Despot's Barbican, The Councilmen of Majesty Hill, The Jaghut Tyrant, Rake's enslaving Dragnipurake etc. etc. strikes me as being essential in one way or another...
In addition to this, hope, facades, and the like are themes of the story, I belive

I have a lot of ideas and observations, but I need to hear somebody else's opinions - so what do you guys think? What are the main themes of Gardens of the Moon, and where does Erikson want to go with them?

Kind Regards,
KM