Rating: 
Summary: 6 stars is what it should have!
Review: I'll try to keep this short, yet still explain the multitude of reasons why you should (wil) buy this book. I am a student of biochemistry, and reading (everything i get my hands on) is my most important past time. The first time I read this series I read it in German (I live in Austria). Since then I have bought the English Paperback Version of all books, read it one more time in german, and three times in English; and now plan to buy the hardcover books (only few books get the "hardcover award" from me, since I couldn't afford it else - Lord of the Ring has, so do the Simarillion and LOTR, as well as a book about the roman law and its development until today...). Bought three times, read 5 times.....within 7 years... Anyway the whole series is ended with this book, wich in itself is as long as the previous two. The pace gets faster, the story more tense, the characters develop and are finally taking action themselves, the plot finally gets solved (...), a love story developing, a happy-end with a slightly bitter taste, you may dwell on the world you have grown to love on 1600 more pages. Problem is: it's too short! (whine, whine, i wan't more) Of course it isn't the perfect story/book. But that is as good as they get. Trust me-READ THIS BOOK. I'd be proud of you....(probably doesn't help you in any way, but still)
Rating:
Summary: The Best fantasy of all time
Review: Yes, I have read LOTR, but i consider this better than that overall, though nothing can compete with LOTR history. Memory Soorw and Thorn by Tad Williams is a masterpiece. It's world and the charecters that call it home are totally believable. Everything about the story speaks at so many levels that I know that I will reread this series many times. There is no way that I can explain the book in under a thousand words. He takes many stereotypes and completly breaks them. Without ruining the story, all i can say is that by the end, I felt sorry for the storm king. Also, there is a twist that occurs at the end of this book, that puts the previous pages in a new light. if you are a fan of epic fantasy, or personal conflict, this series covers both and so much more.
Rating:
Summary: Finale to an Epic Masterpiece
Review: If you loved the epic nature and detail of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy, then you should also love Williams' Sword trilogy. The third and final volume in Williams' trilogy, To Green Angel Tower, has a cumbersome name and length (1083 pages!!! - split into two, more manageable volumes in the paperback editions), but successfully brings the epic to a close, finally explaining most of the mysteries of Osten Ard and the tragedies that torment the key characters and shape their lives. While Tolkien's Ring trilogy presents an ongoing battle between good and evil, complete with incarnate "angels" (the wizards) and "demons" (Sauron and the Balrog), William's presents a more complex picture with both humans and Sithi in their own personal struggles with love and hatred, vengeance and sacrifice, with his own keen insight into the true nature of sin thrown in for good measure.
Rating: 
Summary: A message of forgiveness.
Review: I originally became interested in Tad Williams' trilogy after reading his short story "The Burning Man" in Legends, and then discovering on the Internet that this series was very popular. What intrigued me most was that his fantasy world has a version of the Catholic Church -- in his books, Jesus Christ becomes "Usires Aedon," the Cross becomes "the Tree," etc., and priest and monk characters (some holy, some fallen) play a significant role.
That said, I actually found it very difficult to get into this series. I never felt like I really empathized with the main character, Simon -- and I think the author realized his failure in the second book, when he began to transform some of the background characters into main characters -- all of whom were more satisfying to read about. I think the most troublesome thing, though, was that the author tended to be extremely verbose, and constantly repeated the same information to the reader, over, and over, and over -- from a different character's viewpoint, for example. Very often -- even up to the very last pages -- I found myself skimming over large sections of redundant information.
(Possible spoiler warning:) Although I found the ending rushed and generally unsatisfying, it did have an interestingly unique message: that hatred and revenge are ultimately useless. At the end, the Sauron-like enemy is defeated when Simon and Camaris *forgive* him. It's a powerful moment, but ultimately marred by the author's inability to integrate their choice with the series' earlier pseudo-Christian moral messages.
Rating:
Summary: The LONG journey to Green Angel Tower...
Review: Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series is certainly derivative. A young scullion with dreams of grandeur finds himself embroiled in an epic struggle to save the land of Osten Ard from the dreaded Storm King... Stop me if you've heard this before. Even so, "The Dragon Bone Chair" (book one in the so-called four book 'trilogy'), was a compelling return to the undying genre of high fantasy, and fueled my interest in the series that ultimately lead me to the second offering, "The Stone of Farewell" - a book that was slow, ponderous, and anti-climactic. "To Green Angel Tower: Part 1" is an improvement over the middle volume, but might have been equally disappointing were it not for the later chapters. This book moves at a glacial pace that's unfortunate. If you found "The Stone of Farewell" to be unexciting, but you've decided to persevere, then the first portion of this follow-up will have you second guessing your decision. Very little happens of any consequence, and many subplots are pointlessly integrated into a story that sometimes forgets its true goal, and its true nemesis. One particular adventure, which sees some of our heroes rescuing a friend from an insect-like menace, is overwrought, overlong, and underwhelming. Though this "side quest," so to speak, does have a minute connection to the Storm King at the heart of the story, it's thin at best and serves as nothing if not filler. This is but one example of Williams' divergence from what's important, and what keeps his readers... well, reading. Passionless as the first chunk of this thickset tome is, it finally recaptures the urgency of book one as it progresses into the latter chapters - and it's a very welcome thing, because the world of Osten Ard is a beautifully conceived and richly textured place, and the threat of the Storm King is suitably menacing and ominous. Even better, many of the novel's characters grow into maturity (literally as well as figuratively). Eolair, who before seemed like just another waste of space, comes into his own as a living, breathing, and ultimately likable character. Miriamele stops behaving as a spoiled brat, and actually begins to grow into a woman. The main character, Simon, even gets a bit more relatable, though I still cannot help but wish someone else was the hero of the story. Even knighted, he still behaves as a naïve, whiny child. Still, Jiriki, Aditu, Binabik, and Isgrimnur are as likable as ever, and Camaris takes a pleasant turn as well - even if he displays an implausible recovery from that which plagues him. As a whole, the negatives and positives make "To Green Angel Tower: Part 1" a decent read, and nothing more. Too often this is a bit of a 'skimmer,' where you can leap and bound over several paragraphs and miss absolutely nothing of significance. Then again, as you progress things improve so dramatically that you'll want to pour over each and every word. Despite suffering from too much filler, and sometimes too little character building, this belongs to a series that could have been a classic were it not for its poor, uneven pacing. Still, the series is good and surprisingly well-written, and stands out in an overcrowded genre. If the dull moments ultimately lead to the joy of the exciting ones, then I say it's worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: Haiku Review
Review: Epic conclusion.
True evil is revealed to
Be obsessed revenge.
Rating: 
Summary: A Worthy Conclusion.
Review: NOTE: This review pertains to the whole book, not just this one volume. This book is definately the best of the three, and a damn long one, too. The Dragonbone Chair sets it off to a good start. Stone of Farewell was the worst; it suffered from the Middle Book Syndrome-lack of action or anything important going on that makes a middle book only serve as a connection between the introduction and conclusion. That one kind of depressed me, but I kept hearing that TGAT was worth it. Guess what? They were right. They were right to give the advice, I was right to take it, I'm right to give the same advice and you'd be right to take it as well. Keep reading. If you liked TDC and turned your nose up at SoF(that's me), you will enjoy this book. If you were mildly satisfied with TDC and hated Sof, you should still enjoy this book, because it is the best of the three. If you hated TDC and hated even more SoF then you're probably screwed either way so I wouldn't bother.This book is divided into four parts. The first part is The Waiting Stone. The word "waiting" pretty much sums it up. This book is definately the most action-packed of the three, but I won't lie to you - the first 300 pages is more of the same from SoF. After the drudgery, though, the action picks up and slowly builds throughout the novel. Part 2 starts speeding things, Part 3 gets things going even faster as well as introduces a little romance (actually a lot), and Part 4 is pretty much action packed the whole way through. (Warning: Make sure you buy both volumes at the same time; Volume 1 ends on a cliffhanger and if you don't have Volume 2 handy you will pull your hair out.) The climax was about 150 pages long, no joke, and the ending will definately throw you for a loop. Good ending. For those of you who are saying that the ending wasn't cataclysmic enough, I honestly don't know what the hell you're talking about. Seriously. Most of the questions you've been herding in your brain, some from the very beginning, some you've probably forgotten, will be answered, mostly in the last 150 pages. I did say that most questions are answered, not all. The ones that aren't answered aren't necessary for the resolution. It's good to have a little mystery at the end of the novel; just as in real life, some questions remain unanswered. There are, however, a few shortcomings. The first is the way he ends chapters on cliffhangers. He'll end a chapter on a cliffhanger, go to a new POV and spend a chapter there, and then begin the next chapter exactly where the previous chapter left off. This didn't happen in his other two books. I think he said in an interview that the cliffhangers serve to keep the reader interested, but I think it has the opposite effect. Just when I'm getting into it, picking up momentum, I have to slow down and stop in order to read the next chapter, and by the time I get to the same situation one second later, it's lost some of its tension and dramatic effect. My other gripe is his writer's voice. I'll try to explain this as best I can. There's something about his prose that affects both characterization and description in such a way that I was never able to completely immerse myself into the story. It's hard to explain, but I think it's in the way he can overly describe some things(in a lot of ways similar to Jordan), and simultaneously summarize parts that should be spoken of in more detail. I'll try to give an example: in the book, say two people are fighting, the description would go something like this: "After a brief struggle, such-and-such did this..." It's the 'after a brief struggle' that I'm talking about. That kind of writing doesn't put you in the character's head, you don't get fully immersed into what's going on, because it doesn't really tell you what the character is feeling and thinking at that moment, it just kind of summarizes. Pick up a book by Terry Goodkind, George Martin, or Stephen King and contrast the two styles of writing and you may get a clearer picture. If I pick up a book by one of those afore-mentioned authors, I can't put the bastard down until it's finished! In this book I was never able to completely immerse myself in what was happening. I tried, but even during the action sequences I was never quite able to get into it; something held me back. This problem was in the other books as well, but to a lesser degree, I think. Despite its shortcomings, though, TGAT is still a very good book. Hats to Mr. Williams for a COMPLETELY ORIGINAL plot, excellent climax, diverse and believable heroes and villians alike, great action, great characterization, and a great, surprising, shocking ending. This is a long review, but it's a long book too, so it should deserve no less. This book is worth checking into.
Rating:
Summary: Tad Williams first part of his last book is a bang.
Review: From Semon's departure from the Sithi city to Prince Josua's attempt to protect himself from Elis's loyal Duke. Tad Williams starts to tie up all the points into one large knot.
Rating:
Summary: incredible
Review: when i first got this book, i kept glancing at its thickness(i had the hardcover single volume kind) and wasnt sure i felt like reading a huge brick. well, i was absolutly wrong. unlike most authors, who seem to just re write tolkien or lewis, williams compliments tolkien, and adds his own sense of style. ofcourse all books relate to tolkien, lost homeland in the west and such, or elves or whatever, but williams really makes it seem his own, he really brings out the characters, like simon and jeeriki, and although meagwin gets pretty tedious with her crazyness, it still adds up because everything matters! who would have thought, the thing they wanted was the thing to destroy them?? nisses and his whole sword thing. williams even has his own religion! this is tolkien like detail, and color, which i wish all books had.
williams curse u for writting only a trilogy of probably one of the best fantasys there are!
Rating:
Summary: Dissappointing
Review: Tad Williams does not write series, he writes 5000 page novels that the publisher simply chooses to break up into three of four parts. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn is a compentent and often compelling novel with a few memorable characters, and well developed world.
The main problem with this book is that the world that Williams creates stoped developing and coming up with new suprises after the first book. To key to keeping a good fantasy series going is much the same a planning a good vacation. The fun is not so much in what you do, but in living and seeing the different lifestyles in the cities you visit. The culture of the characters was suprisingly monotone, and to make it worse the mythology behind the story was weak. Sorry, but the storm king couldn't make it anywhere near my fireside storytelling list.
I give this series three stars because of the good characters and the often compelling trials that they are put through. But ultimately the book draged too much for me to give it any better.
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