Subject: Book Review - 'Memory, Sorrow & Thorn' by Tad Williams (fantasy)

From: [email-masked] (Sibylle Dussy)
Date: 24 Jan 1996 01:00:18 GMT

~title:	Memory, Sorrow & Thorn (trilogy)
by:	Tad Williams
genre:	epic fantasy
publisher: Legend (Great Britain), DAW (USA)
price:	GBP 5.99 (each book)

1st Book:	The Dragonbone Chair
year:	1990
pages:	930 (ca 20 pages appendices)
ISBN	0-09-970490-0

2nd Book:	Stone of Farewell
year:	1991
pages: 874 (ca 20 pages appendices)
ISBN	0-09-984810-4

3rd Book/part 1:	To Green Angel Tower / Siege
year: 1994
pages: 815 (ca 20 pages appendices)
ISBN	0-09-931441-X

3rd Book/part 2:	To Green Angel Tower / Storm
year:	1994
pages:	815 (ca 20 pages appendices)
ISBN	0-09-938261-X

The English publisher Legend had to divide the original hardcover 
edition of Book 3 'To Green Angel Tower' into two paperbacks due 
to its number of pages. It may be that DAW in the US published it 
as one. 

Summary

'Memory Sorrow & Thorn' tells the story of Simon, a scullion in the 
Castle of the High King of Osten Ard (a continent which can be 
compared to Tolkien's Middle Earth). The moment the old king 
dies and his son Elias succeeds him to the throne, peace in Osten 
Ard is gone for Elias has made a pact with Ineluki the Storm 
King, a dark entity who once was a mortal being. His influence 
will eventually destroy Osten Ard if he is not stopped. Josua, 
Elias' brother, tries to rally forces but Elias and Ineluki seem 
invincible. The only hope of the defenders is to find three ancient, 
lost swords one called Memory, the other Sorrow and the last one 
Thorn. Simon participates in the quest for them and is destined to 
play an important part in deciding the fate of Osten Ard.

Review

If you first venture into Osten Ard reading 'The Dragonbone 
Chair' you will need patience. There is such a lot to get acquainted 
with. Williams divided his creation into many different countries 
with their own people, their way of life and their language they 
sometimes speak. You will have a hard time (just as I did) until 
you know who is who, from which country and on whose side. 
Williams makes this easier for you by  listing every single 
character at the back of the book. Thus you can always look up, in 
case you have forgotten a name. Moreover,  he based his creations 
on myth and history as we know it. There are e.g. the Rimmers-
men. They live in wooden houses in the cold North. Their leader's 
throne stands in a hall where shields hang from the walls. They 
wear long braided beards and are fierce warriors. In short, they 
are like Vikings. The people in the marshes of the South on the 
other hand are quite small, brown-skinned and live in clans. Their 
way of transport is the water and their nearest city Kwanitupul 
will remind you of Venice. 

As the story evolves and the protagonists begin their quest, you 
will visit almost every part of Osten Ard. Like a tapestry, the 
countries and their history will unfold before your eyes. You will 
visit the trolls in their mountains and the Sithi (some sort of elves) 
in their forests. You will wander through decaying ruins of old 
settlements. You will see many cultures and most will seem 
remotely familiar to you.

To like 'Memory, Sorrow & Thorn', you must be prepared to "get 
lost" in Osten Ard. Williams has woven an enormous amount of 
tales and songs into his plot. Sometimes you will read one hundred 
pages and nothing much happens, except that e.g. Simon and his 
friends ride towards the cold North and tell each other tales or 
sing. Most of these tales and songs will later become important for 
the story  but if you are more interested in the solid action of 
"heroic fantasy", you might get bored and will be disappointed. 
There are some battles but most conflicts are fought with words 
and by intrigue. 

Williams is a very sensitive writer. Although he had to deal with 
an impossible number of characters, he managed to make every 
single one come alive. His heroes, even if he describes them as 
such, are never glorified. I sometimes got the impression that he 
enjoyed writing about their dark side more than anything else. He 
also liked their hard times better than their moments of triumph. 
On occasions, their suffering is described into all detail and 
reading may become tedious.

Comments 

To me 'Memory, Sorrow & Thorn' was a slow read. Although I am 
no slug usually, I never managed to read more than approximately 
100 pages in one afternoon due to the wealth of information to be 
absorbed. Moreover, especially during the second book when the 
protagonists all travel in groups towards a gathering place, 
Williams splits the storyline into about eight separate threads. 
This sometimes gave me a hard time because together with the 
songs and tales it slows the plot impossibly down. At one point I 
also had enough of looking up words and phrases of made-up 
languages in the annex of the book and often ignored them. But 
otherwise, I enjoyed 'Memory, Sorrow & Thorn' very much. The 
story is suspenseful because you wonder all the time how things 
can possibly turn out right in the end. Ineluki seems so invincibly 
powerful.

I believe that 'Memory Sorrow & Thorn' is truly worth reading for 
anyone interested in epic fantasy. Seldom has an author gone to 
such lengths to think up a complete new world. It must also be 
noted that in spite of the size of the trilogy Williams managed 
to answer all questions and leave no open threads.

If you liked Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' and don't know whether 
you should read 'Memory, Sorrow & Thorn' I herewith list some of 
the differences I found to give you a general idea, but without 
arguing the pros and cons. While I believe that the stories have 
some basic similarity, I know that they can't really be compared:

With Williams, you won't have to read prefaces and annexes to get 
to know Osten Ard. As mentioned above, history and tales are 
woven into the storyline. Williams doesn't glorify his heroes as 
Tolkien has a tendency to. While Tolkien often stresses the importance 
and actions of a group of his protagonists, Williams likes to 
separate his main persons, make them act on their own and have 
a deep look into their feelings. Tolkien's ring-bearer fulfills his 
task long before the end of the book and the rest of the story 
consists of battles, talking and traveling. Williams has Osten Ard 
saved later.

Constructive comments on this review would be most appreciated.

Sibylle Dussy
January 19, 1996

*************************************************************
Disclaimer: This review was written on my own accord. I was 
neither asked to do this nor (unfortunately) did I receive a free 
copy of the book.
*************************************************************
The exclusive copyright of this text remains with the author. It may
be distributed on any free computer network but only together with 
the complete text of this copyright notice. It may not be put on any 
homepage or FAQ or whatsoever without prior permission by the 
author. This text may be printed and distributed in paperform for 
non-commercial purposes. Its appearance in any publication must 
be permitted by the author in advance.

Copyright (c) 1996 Sibylle Dussy ([email-masked])
**************************************************************