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Tad William's Memory Sorrow and Thorn discussion thread.
Matthew
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I remember reading this series back in high school, and it was one of the first fantasy series I read all the way through. It had characters I liked, and mixed in a good amount of reality (politics of a actual medieval world, combined with fantastic elements like dragons and elves) with its fantasy.
It's been a while since i've seen a group of heroes that I actually liked this much (I can't say the same for ASOIAF as who knows whose the actual heroes in that). and it was pretty much just the right length for what i was looking for at the time.
This was a fantasy series by Tad Williams set in the world of Osten Ard during the end of the Reign of King Jon the Presbyter (or Prestor Jon as some call him), an old and heroic king who holds some dark secret. Jon is set to leave his throne to his eldest son Elias, who many feel will become a great king. When Jon finally passes away, Elias successfully claims the throne, but it soon becomes apparent that he is not the king the people were hoping for. Soon after, Elias brother Prince Josua vanishes.
All this is seen through the eyes of Simon, a castle scullion and apprentice to Doctor Morgenes, the castle physician. When Simon accidently stumbles onto the whereabouts of Prince Josua by accident, it starts a large, epic, and sometimes rather dark adventure for the young man.
It is well known that this series was one of the major inspirations for "A Song of Ice and Fire" (I believe Martin stated somewhere that this series convinced him good fantasy could still be written, Plus he put a shout out to this series in "A Clash of Kings"), and it was pretty much what put Williams on the map. I still consider it one of my favorite series.
It's been a while since i've seen a group of heroes that I actually liked this much (I can't say the same for ASOIAF as who knows whose the actual heroes in that). and it was pretty much just the right length for what i was looking for at the time.
This was a fantasy series by Tad Williams set in the world of Osten Ard during the end of the Reign of King Jon the Presbyter (or Prestor Jon as some call him), an old and heroic king who holds some dark secret. Jon is set to leave his throne to his eldest son Elias, who many feel will become a great king. When Jon finally passes away, Elias successfully claims the throne, but it soon becomes apparent that he is not the king the people were hoping for. Soon after, Elias brother Prince Josua vanishes.
All this is seen through the eyes of Simon, a castle scullion and apprentice to Doctor Morgenes, the castle physician. When Simon accidently stumbles onto the whereabouts of Prince Josua by accident, it starts a large, epic, and sometimes rather dark adventure for the young man.
It is well known that this series was one of the major inspirations for "A Song of Ice and Fire" (I believe Martin stated somewhere that this series convinced him good fantasy could still be written, Plus he put a shout out to this series in "A Clash of Kings"), and it was pretty much what put Williams on the map. I still consider it one of my favorite series.
Matthew on
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After reading it, I actually recognized a qualitative difference in writing for the first time. I could no longer read stuff like Dragonlance the same way again.
Its a pity his newest fantasy series feels so off to me.
I enjoyed the hell out of MS&T, though.
Good, but not perfect, and not as good as Otherland.
Excellent use of Jesus-with-the-Serial-Number-Filed-Off though.
See how many books I've read so far in 2010
I tried to read that
I wasn't as enthralled as I thought I would be...
Maybe I should reread them. I wonder if I have a copy somewhere.
I seem to remember a number of scenes where a character was crawling around in the dark, not sure if he was going insane. I may be exageratting a bit, it's been more than a few years since I read these books. But I remember those parts as just dragging on and taking forever.
But this was one of my favorite fantasy series as a kid. Along with the Death Gate Cycle.
On the other hand, I think Pryrates was the first fantasy villain that really scared the crap out of me.
"Oh, look, the good guys are going to get hi...
...What the fuck just happened?!"
My buddy tried to get me to read... I forget what it was exactly, something Green Angel Throne. Couldn't be bothered after Otherland.
Otherwise it was great, and I definitely want to reread this now after ASOIAF.
I was so traumatized when he stomped the head in of a puppy just because he could.
I should try this series, I think.
I also, so far, have liked the Shadowmarch books.
Seriously. What the fuck is wrong with you people. Otherland is a god-damn masterpiece.
Shadowmarch is okay, but the weird feminist theme is kind of preachy and off-putting.
The ending was stupid.
And I recall also finding the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn books to have massive pacing problems. I skipped something like 150 out of the last 200 pages of the last book, which is not a good sign.
It even comes with a summary in the front though.
Blasphemy. Some parts of the ending may have been kind of random and out of nowhere, but the other parts were so awesome it didn't matter.