Tad Williams

This review is for the whole Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy (or tetralogy, since the last book is sometimes divided in two books, being so long).

It was good, I appreciate what Williams has done here. This was one of the LoTR copycat trilogies in the 80s (and early 90s, in this case), targeting readers who loved LoTR and wanted more like that. What distinguishes this particular effort is that it's actually good. It's well-written and gives the reader a sense of a deep history behind the current situation of the fantasy world. It's a bit like LoTR (fight against a powerful dark lord, "elves" who are vanishing from the world, deep mythological past behind the story) but also different enough to have its own style and character.

People have criticized that it's too slow and long, and they have a point. I did not mind too much, because when a story is good and you can immerse yourself in it I don't mind giving it time and space, but occasionally I also felt it was a bit too slow and wordy. For me it was worth-reading, though.… (more)

This review is for the whole Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy (or tetralogy, since the last book is sometimes divided in two books, being so long).

It was good, I appreciate what Williams has done here. This was one of the LoTR copycat trilogies in the 80s (and early 90s, in this case), targeting readers who loved LoTR and wanted more like that. What distinguishes this particular effort is that it's actually good. It's well-written and gives the reader a sense of a deep history behind the current situation of the fantasy world. It's a bit like LoTR (fight against a powerful dark lord, "elves" who are vanishing from the world, deep mythological past behind the story) but also different enough to have its own style and character.

People have criticized that it's too slow and long, and they have a point. I did not mind too much, because when a story is good and you can immerse yourself in it I don't mind giving it time and space, but occasionally I also felt it was a bit too slow and wordy. For me it was worth-reading, though.… (more)

This review is for the whole Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy (or tetralogy, since the last book is sometimes divided in two books, being so long).

It was good, I appreciate what Williams has done here. This was one of the LoTR copycat trilogies in the 80s (and early 90s, in this case), targeting readers who loved LoTR and wanted more like that. What distinguishes this particular effort is that it's actually good. It's well-written and gives the reader a sense of a deep history behind the current situation of the fantasy world. It's a bit like LoTR (fight against a powerful dark lord, "elves" who are vanishing from the world, deep mythological past behind the story) but also different enough to have its own style and character.

People have criticized that it's too slow and long, and they have a point. I did not mind too much, because when a story is good and you can immerse yourself in it I don't mind giving it time and space, but occasionally I also felt it was a bit too slow and wordy. For me it was worth-reading, though.… (more)

I guess I wasn't ready for such an elaborate plot. I was often lost and felt that so many unpronouncable, and therefor, unmemorable, names were being thrown at me, of people, creatures, and places, that I couldn't keep up. Critical information delivered as a tale of the history of the land by the wizard to the young boy, and a laundry list of names delivered as the folks coming to attend the funeral of the king, made it feel like a dry history lesson devoid of an emotional life. Events were described that the characters couldn't identify as real or dreamed, making it even more challenging to follow. I went the entire 44 chapters (33 hours) and there were definitely characters, sections, descriptions, and elements to love...in fact there were many elements that are also found in the Game of Thrones, but not being a frequent visitor of the Fantasy genre, for all I know, might be common to most fantasies.… (more)