I just now finished book one of a new tetralogy by Tad Williams, called "The Witchwood Crown." The tetralogy "The Last King of Osten Ard" is a sequel set a few decades after a well-loved Tad Williams trilogy published years ago. "The Witchwood Crown" is a hefty book. I read it on my Kindle but, at least in that format, it was well over seven hundred pages. It took a couple of tries...I bailed on it after two hundred or so pages a while ago for reasons I don't recall...I had liked it at the time, but so much time had passed since I had read it, I went ahead and started over. Months later, I got through it. I loved every page of it.
First, I'd like to point out that this has to be the most complicated fantasy novel I've ever read. It is bold in scope, there are tons of plot threads, lots of varied characters with their own respective backgrounds and priorities...it is almost like a James Clavell book or a Leon Uris book in complexity and scope. That is a wonderful thing, though, and I enjoyed getting to know this world and its inhabitants. I could seldom guess what was going to happen next, even though, as a writer, Tad Williams is inevitably setting the table for future events throughout the prose...he does so in a subtle and deep way so as to remain less predictable and more real. I love it when authors do that this well.
The story focuses on a post-war era with several kingdoms struggling for their own sovereignty and prominence...lots of politics both on the global stage and on interpersonal ones. In the midst of this, there is also increasing violence and intrigue and some unknown forces driving different people in different ways. Plenty of action, too. It is well-balanced and well-paced. This novel is a treat. I just finished this book less than an hour ago and I already miss it.
I highlighted more than a dozen passages during my readthrough. I'll summarize by saying this book is incredibly well written. This is only the second Tad Williams book I've read but I can promise that I will be coming back for more even beyond this trilogy. Here's a few quotes:
"If the queen looked like she had been crying, Simon looked like someone who could not even remember how to cry, as though something important inside him had collapsed and might never be rebuilt."
And another:
"How does time slide past us so quickly? she wondered. There is nothing more precious in all the world, not gold, not jewels, not even love itself. So how does it so easily slip through out fingers?"
And just one more:
"But to be in her presence, to be examined by that yellow stare, had been to feel her power - not the might of a conqueror or even a will in search of mastery over others, but the unselfconscious power of a stone standing in the middle of a mighty river - something which did not move but instead let everything else bend around it in a rush of pointless motion and noise."
"The Witchwood Crown" ended with a spaghetti bowl of loose ends, as the first book in a fantasy trilogy generally should. I can't wait to pick up those threads in the next volume. Am going to read at least one other book on my Kindle first before diving in again. Thanks, Tad Williams. That was awesome.
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