62 pages • 2 hours read
Steven EriksonGardens of the Moon
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 4: “Assassins”
Book 4, Chapter 11 Summary
In a dream, Kruppe travels back in time “to the very beginning of things” (252). He meets an ancient T’lan clansman, Pran Chole. Pran and Kruppe are joined by a pregnant human woman from Kruppe’s time, a resident of the Rhivi Plain north of Pale. She tells them that the Tellann Warren has produced a child of magic, whose body is an “abomination.” She requests Pran’s help in casting a soul shifting. She speaks of Tattersail.
Kruppe’s dream continues as he seeks out Tattersail’s soul, currently encased in Nightchill’s decayed, dead body. Kruppe leads Tattersail back to Pran and the Rhivi woman. The elder god K’rul arrives. They shift Tattersail’s soul into the woman’s unborn child. The Rhivi woman then gives birth to a child covered in silver fur. The fur instantly falls away.
Whiskeyjack’s squad plants explosives at the major intersections in Darujhistan. Whiskeyjack, in passing, says the word “seer” to Sorry. This temporarily shakes Cotillion’s control of Sorry’s mind, stirring her memories of the seer Rigga.
Sorry follows Kruppe around the city. She doesn’t know what he’s up to, but she has identified him as dangerous and wants to know more. She kills a guard outside the Phoenix Inn to gain access. She orders a drink at the bar and meets Meese and Irilta, two regulars. Crokus joins them. As Crokus is paying for a drink, he accidentally pulls Oponn’s coin from his pocket. It spins and spins on the countertop, drawing everyone’s attention. Sorry feels the power radiating from it. Crokus sees the blood on Sorry’s dagger and realizes that she killed the guard but says nothing.
Crokus visits his Uncle Mammot, a wealthy, scholarly man. Mammot tells Crokus the origins of Darujhistan, which he says was “born on a rumor” of ancient Jaghut treasure buried in the area (263). Crokus seeks his uncle’s lessons in etiquette and politics with the hope of earning a formal introduction to Challice D’Arle.
Quick Ben and Kalam try to contact Darujhistan’s guild of assassins; this is part of the empire’s strategy when taking over a new city. Quick Ben also takes a risk by entering the Warrens of power to seek out Shadowthrone. He plans to strike a deal with the god, hoping for assistance in killing Hairlock.
Book 4, Chapter 12 Summary
Kruppe stops by Mammot’s house, searching in the old man’s library for details about Moon’s Spawn and its residents. They discuss Crokus, whom Mammot has asked Kruppe to watch over.
Crone informs Baruk about seeing Hairlock on the plains, telling him that Hairlock has magic that is “immense, twisted, malign” (277). Together, they deduce that Hairlock is seeking the Jaghut Tyrant’s barrow.
Shadowthrone is surprised that Quick Ben knows so much about him and his Hounds; Quick Ben reveals that he used to be an acolyte in Shadowthrone’s temple. Acolytes who leave the temple are usually sentenced to death. Quick Ben seeks a deal with the god: He will give the god Hairlock, and, in return, Quick Ben asks that his death sentence be lifted. Quick Ben words his bargain carefully, knowing that Shadowthrone will try to find a way to kill both him and Hairlock. Feeling outwitted at the end of their conversation, Shadowthrone calls Quick Ben by a different name, Delat.
Baruk gives Kruppe an assignment: Along with Crokus, Murillio, Rallick, and Coll, he is to leave the city for the Gadrobi Hills and see if anyone is digging out there. They are to remain unseen.
Kalam, having received a tip from Sorry that an assassin hangs out at the Phoenix Inn, visits the bar with Quick Ben. He shows his daggers, which have special marks on them to identify him as an assassin. Rallick sees him, and the guild master tells Rallick to draw Kalam out to a meeting point.
Book 4, Chapter 13 Summary
As planned, Quick Ben and Kalam follow Rallick to a warehouse; Rallick sees only Kalam because Quick Ben conceals himself with magic. At the warehouse, they are all ambushed by Tiste Andii assassins from Moon’s Spawn. Rallick escapes, as do Quick Ben and Kalam, after a tense fight with the Tiste Andii.
In fighting off the Tiste Andii, Quick Ben releases a bottled demon. The demon, Pearl, is surprised to see Quick Ben rather than Tayschrenn. Quick Ben introduces himself as Ben Adaephon Delat, a presumed-dead imperial High Mage.
The Tiste Andii summon Anomander Rake to kill Pearl. He kills her with his sword, Dragnipur.
Sorry watches from the shadows as Crokus breaks into the D’Arle estate again, this time to return the goods he stole from Challice D’Arle in Chapter 5. He manages to get in but wakes Challice in the process. She doesn’t call for the guards but also mocks him when he shows his interest in getting to know her. Sorry kills a guard in the D’Arle gardens while Crokus is inside. He sees her watching him as he leaves.
K’rul visits Kruppe again in a dream, warning him to be cautious in the Gadrobi Hills.
Book 4 Analysis
Book 4 features dense rising action in the complex, many-layered plot of Gardens of the Moon. There are three primary groups in Darujhistan that the novel follows: the Darujhistan locals (Baruk and the Phoenix Inn regulars), the imperial forces represented by Whiskeyjack and the Bridgeburners, and Anomander Rake and the Tiste Andii. Book 4 marks an important step forward in the plot as all three groups are now aware of the others’ presence, and they are beginning to understand the others’ motivations. These three groups will end up working in an unplanned and unlikely alliance when the plot climaxes in Books 6 and 7. Their alliance is guided by a shared desire for Rebellion Against Conquest.
Chapter 11 marks a turning point for Sorry’s character; she experiences the first hints of remembering her past before being possessed. Whiskeyjack triggers this change by using the word “seer,” causing a stutter in Cotillion’s control of Sorry’s mind. She experiences another ripple in memory when she thinks about Crokus: “She knew that the boy would have to die, yet something within her seemed to be fighting that conclusion, and it was a part of her that she could not recognize [...] whose voice was this that spoke with such power and conviction inside her head?” (294). These stirrings are the first indication that the true Sorry still exists somewhere in her mind. Sorry’s character development is consistent with the motif of masking or hiding one’s true identity and foreshadows her eventual freedom from Cotillion’s control.
Anomander Rake’s characterization is furthered when the author provides details about his sword. Rake’s sword, Dragnipur, was “forged in darkness, it chains souls to the world that existed before the coming of light” (309). Just as Adjunct Lorn’s Otataral sword underscores her backstory and character motivations, so too does Rake’s sword provide insight into his character. Anomander Rake was born out of darkness, just like his sword, and has lived hundreds of thousands of years through conflict and tragedy. Rake’s terrifying sword emphasizes the side of him that is harsh and stark in his judgments; although Rake is not cruel or unreasonable, he is unyielding and uncompromising in protecting his people. He sometimes shows regret at the need to use his cruel sword against others, but he does not hesitate in doing so.
Chapters 11 and 12 mark the first notable scenes with Uncle Mammot, foreshadowing Mammot’s eventual possession by the Jaghut Tyrant at Simtal’s Gedderone Fête party. Erikson builds this foreshadowing by including a conversation between Crokus and Mammot about Mammot’s research, which happens to pertain to the Jaghut barrow. In this conversation, Mammot warns of the “catastrophic” consequences of seeking out the Jaghut. Kruppe mistrusts Mammot in Chapter 12, another clue that Mammot will be the source of danger, as Kruppe has been established as an intelligent, powerfully insightful character.
