Finally starting the library ebook.

 

I've always been meaning to read this long fantasy epic.

 

At the time it was being published, I just didn't have a lot of bookstore access (and the internet was not like today) -- just never managed to get the books in order so never read. 

 

Plus it was an era with so many Tolkien wanna-be fantasies that I was a bit burned out.  The rest of this series has apparently withstood the test of time and steered away from the wanna-be mess.

 

 

This is highly thought of by fantasy authors. Tamora Pierce rates it five stars on GoodReads and this was the series that inspired George RR Martin to try his hand at epic fantasy. This first volume of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn consists of 766 pages of such tiny print I feared for my eyesight. It's the kind of book with maps up front and an appendix and glossary in the back, written in omniscient point of view, populated with elves, giants, dragons and trolls, and studded with songs and poems. It took a long time to get into--for 170 pages in the paperback edition we pretty much just follow, Simon, the 14-year old orphan scullion, dodge his duties about the castle before Something Happens. He acts fourteen--a flighty, whiny annoying pain--but does grow in the book. My favorite secondary character was the Yoda-like Binobik and his wolf--once he shows up on page 252 the book was a lot less of a slog. Despite reviews calling the writing "beautiful" I didn't find the prose lovely: convoluted sentence structure, overdescriptive, overuse of italics and bold. The only other place I can ever recall seeing bold used for emphasis is bad fan fiction. Although good enough to keep me reading, I didn't find the style graceful compared to fantasy writers such as Peter S. Beagle, Tanith Lee, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Stewart or T.H. White. Moreover, the book could and should have been half the length; a great deal of the material was repetitive and unnecessary for world-building or character development. (And I would have appreciated far fewer dream sequences.) I looked on my bookshelves for my fat fantasy books: Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart is 912 pages; George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones is 835 pages; Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule is 820 pages; Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is 734 pages. Did I feel the weight with those books? No. But Dragonbone Chair definitely needs a diet. With Carey and Goodkind the length of the first books and those that followed didn't daunt me--I eagerly pounced on their next books. But I look at the equally fat Stone of Farewell and then at the conclusion To Green Angel Tower--split into two books and each still over 700 pages--and I whimper. Don't know when or if I'll get the nerve up to finish this four book "trilogy," despite Dragonbone Chair ending on a cliff-hanger.

The second volume Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy appears at first to be an event-laden set up piece for the grand finale series, however Stone of Farewell turned out into something more in-depth especially when it comes to characters. From various locations around Osten Ard, characters that have survived the events of The Dragonbone Chair start heading to the legendary Stone of Farewell, a temporary sanctuary for those fighting against the tide of evil brought by the Storm King. While others continue their noble, and sometimes misguided, personal quests.

From the north, Simon's journey begins with saving the lives of his friends from a death sentence then heads to the southern border of the Old Forest only to be separated from his friends. In the west, Prince Josua leads a ragtag band of survivors in the Old Forest first in a battle of survival then into a quest that leads them to the vast plans in the east of the country to the Stone. Miriamele learns her quest to bring Nabban to her uncle's side a failure before her arrival then finds herself being secretly traded from one political player to another while Duke Isgrimnur's search for the wayward Princess gets sidetracked to find small Wrannaman along with a legendary figure. And in occupied Hernystir, Maegwin leds her exiled country in the depths of the mountains and finds a lost city.

From the first page the action is always moving forward unlike the beginning of The Dragonbone Chair. Simon's sojourn with the exiled Sithi is a interesting and very necessary change of pace in the later half of the book as the reader continues to learn that things aren't necessary as they seem. While the vast majority of the book is a great read, there are parts that are somewhat of a drag and questionable. Both Miriamele and Maegwin seem to be well-written one page then clichéd the next, its very maddening as a reader. Another is the fact that the majority of Josua's journey to the Stone comes from Deornoth's point-of-view, while Deornoth is a great character it questionable that a major player like Josua seems sidelined by the writer.

Stone of Farewell is a wonderful middle volume of a trilogy that is not only an adventure in itself, but builds up the story for the finale. If you've read The Dragonbone Chair and are thinking about if you really want to continue with the series, I recommend you read the first 100 pages because you won't want to put it down.

I am rather sentimental about this book, since this series got me into fantasy/speculative fiction. I suppose it might lose a star if I were to reread it now, but in my head it is a great fantasy read.

A classic in the fantasy field, this is best suited for readers looking for the traditional orphan-identity quest. While I enjoyed it overall, I was able to set the book down and walk away, coming and going from the story until Simon reached the woods. I consider it a bad sign when I'm able to set a book down--my favorites have me locked into reading position until I reach the end page. Eventually it picked up and reeled me in, but there was skimming involved. A combination coming-of-age and castle/kingdom political novel, I felt like the book would have benefited more from focusing on one or the other. As it was, the politics were mostly the side story, and I largely skimmed over those sections of the book without any real decrease in enjoyment of Simon's story. It's classic high fantasy, with full landscapes and world building, starting from the castle to underground tunnels to a deep forest, to a deserted Sithi (read elven) city, a highlands castle and a mountain. When the book ends with Simon and other adventurers sent on a journey for a missing sword, it's almost shocking that it's not a ring. I like that Williams' world contains non-human races. There is the most interesting take on trolls that I've read yet--Binobik and his wolf quickly became my favorite characters. The white hounds and the Bakken bring nicely frightening elements to the story.One frustration is that Simon's development seemed very uneven and unlikely to me, that parts of his political and intellectual consciousness seemed so limited even when being taught by the doctor. He does indeed behave like a fourteen year old boy at the beginning of the story, and credit to Williams for capturing that well enough to be annoying. Every time you turn around, he's complaining about reading, and his refrain lasts for some time even into his forest journey. However, rescuing the Prince should have been the beginning of a political awakening . We very much get the "boy buffeted about by the winds of fortune" storyline, but he remains clueless every step of the way. Then suddenly he develops a sense of honor towards his kidnappers--that almost results in repeated injury by the Bakken. This was the Simon who had no honor towards shirking workloads in the castle, and who discovered a monk had fleeced him--twice--and has resolved to guard himself more closely? It's that kind of uneven characterization that makes him frustrating to root for as a lead, being so malleable and of almost no strong principles. I did like that he was open-minded enough to befriend a small person.I didn't find the writing particularly impressive or beautiful, and it is odd to have bold and italicized words. The song lyrics are often distracting, but occasionally add some richness to the story. It feels like it was trying hard to be capital "E" epic, and the cliffhanger ending is an annoyance. I'll grab the next one from the library.