Subject: Review: "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" by Tad Williams

From: [email-masked] (Doug Ingram)
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 20:02:10 GMT

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
                          by Tad Williams
              Review copyright (c) 1996 by Doug Ingram

[very minor spoilers --AW]

	With the long fantasy series becoming the major focus of most
speculative fiction book publishers these days, it's nice to know that
occasionally someone will come along with a story so impressive in scope and
so rich in depth that it actually DESERVES three or more books.  Such is the
case with "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn," a four-book series by Tad Williams.
This series tells the story of the decline of a human empire in the face of
an evil magical plot orchestrated by a wicked human priest (Pyrates), an
ancient race of faerie-like beings (the Norns) and their powerful undead
rulers (Utuk'ku and Ineluki).  For the most part, this saga is told through
the eyes of a "kitchen boy" named Simon, who is swept along with events at
first but eventually has an important role to play.

	The story opens as an old and greatly respected king, Prester John,
is on his deathbed.  His oldest son, Elias, prepares to assume the throne,
but the younger son, Josua is troubled by the fact that Elias has grown so
close to his advisor, Pyrates.  Pyrates is one of those characters who seems
to appear in every fantasy series: a twisted, mean soul who so clearly
emanates evil that you wonder why any of the characters in the novel would
want to do his bidding.  I would have appreciated much greater development
of this character and his relationship with Elias prior to Prester John's
death, and I think that Williams is certainly up to the task of exploring
the motivations involved but really only hinted at in this story.

	Meanwhile, as Simon begins to follow the course of events, he takes
up an apprenticeship with an eccentric old wizard named Doctor Morgenes, who
tries to teach him a little bit about the history of the realm.
Unfortunately for Simon, the apprenticeship is forcibly cut short when he
stumbles upon one of Pyrates' foul plots against Josua, and Simon soon finds
himself fleeing his home to eventually serve Josua's cause and Morgenes'
wishes.  During his travels, Simon is befriended by a troll (in this story,
a hobbit-like race from the icy North) named Binabik, a very entertaining
character who serves as Simon's guide and mentor.

	The conflict between Elias and Josua soon grows to involve the
entire realm as well as the Sithi, a fearie race that split off from the
Norns in the distant past.  In the end, the human conflict and the magical
conflict become the same battle.  To say much more about the plot of the
novel would needlessly introduce spoilers in the review, so I will simply
leave the plot summary at that.  After all, probably the strongest element
of this series is the plot, and I'd hate to take anything away from it.

	To really give this series a fair shake, one has to criticize it
based upon how it fits within the genre.  As I've already noted, there are
several "stock" characters/plot devices at work here.  You've got the
well-intentioned king mixed up with an evil manipulating advisor, the
eccentric and forgetful old wizard, the rebellious royal son/daughter, the
out-of-depth central character trying to find his/her place in the great
scheme of things while remaining true to himself/herself, the ruthlessly
evil supernatural force trying to bring misery and despair to the world,
etc.  But if you've read a lot of fantasy, you realize going in that it is
part of the genre, you accept it, and you move on to see what new things
this author has to offer.

	And Williams has a lot of new things to offer.  For one, the plot is
very engaging and unpredictable.  Rather than getting bogged down during
this series as I sometimes do in long fantasy novels, I found myself more
and more eager to find out what happened next as I read further along.
Another great thing about this series is the character development.  While
Williams doesn't do too much to explore the "evil" characters in this book,
he goes to great length to describe the motivations and conflicts of the
"good" characters.  Characters like Simon and Miriamele show tremendous
development throughout the series, and it is all done in a very plausible,
interesting (and often surprising) way.

	In short, this series stands head and shoulders above the masses in
the epic fantasy genre.  It has a very entertaining story, characters worth
caring about, and it holds more surprises than you might think.  Perhaps my
only true criticism of this series is the perfunctory nature of the
denouement, in which most of the plot threads are neatly tied up in a space
of about thirty pages.  After 2500+ pages of the development of the
relationship between Simon and Miriamele, the external and internal
struggles of Josua, Isgrimnur, Eolair and Tiamak, and the strained history
between the humans and the Sithi, it seems a little more time could be spent
resolving some of these threads.  On the other hand, if my biggest complaint
about a 2600-page series is a nitpick about the final 30 pages, you know it
must be pretty good.

Doug Ingram // [email-masked] // "Carpe Datum"
http://www.astro.washington.edu/ingram/books.html (for more reviews)

%A Williams, Tad
%T The Dragonbone Chair
%I DAW Books
%C New York
%D 1989
%G ISBN 0-88677-384-9
%S Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

%A Williams, Tad
%T Stone of Farewell
%I DAW Books
%C New York
%D 1991
%G ISBN 0-88677-480-2
%S Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

%A Williams, Tad
%T To Green Angel Tower, Part 1
%I DAW Books
%C New York
%D 1994
%G ISBN 0-88677-598-1
%S Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

%A Williams, Tad
%T To Green Angel Tower, Part 2
%I DAW Books
%C New York
%D 1994
%G ISBN 0-88677-606-6
%S Memory, Sorrow and Thorn