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To Green Angel Tower, Part 1 (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Book 3)

To Green Angel Tower, Part 1 (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Book 3)

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a real wower.
Review: When I started this series I didn't expect much from it. Boy how wrong I was. This was a great story. But it was so much more as well. The depth of his characters, the strenght of his ideas, the power and depth of his symbalism make this a truely profound read. Not just a great work of fantasy, but of literature as well.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the best fantasy novels (and series) yet written.
Review: Although the size of this book may be daunting to some, and Williams' style discouraging (to those of limited intellect who prefer writing that does not "waste time" on anything not key to the movment of the story), this is a very satisfying novel in every sense, and one of the great works of fantasy. I will not give it a perfect five stars, however (there are few books I have read that would deserve such a rating), but, if it was possible, 4.5; it nears greatness, and almost achieves it. But not quite. I enjoyed the entire book, but there were the occasional bits that could have been reworked. The size of the novel did not bother me in the slightest; in fact, I wish more writers would cover such an amazing scope. Only in a thousand and more pages could such a story be adequately told. I also enjoy Williams' style immensely. He spends the time to fully describe each passage; it is not, as some have suggested, useless detail. It is necessary. The only ! thing I object to is the familiar theme of, it seems, much American fantasy; that of the commoner rising from nothing to achieve greatness. Although the descendant of a past king, Simon makes a speech towards the end about a commoner's blood being just as red as a nobleman's. It is that speech alone, perhaps, that forces me to withold that final star. Over all, however, I found "To Green Angel Tower" to be a wonderfully imaginative, entertaining conclusion to a great trilogy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pure Williams
Review: I,v read alot of complaining that the trilogy was rushed and long winded. That Williams "bit of more than he could chew"and others,the books were a prime example of a large, knowlegable mind. He described the characters well and the ongoing subplots kept me reading till the morning hours.I wished that the adventure would never stop and that the conclusion would take another book. His fantasy writing style has no comparison to Tolkien,Jordon or Brooks,his writing is not better or worse than anyone else it's strikly HIS, just as the three writers I mentioned have there very own style of writing.So complainers, read the trilogy again and find out what I mean.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best book I've ever read!!!
Review: I read this book in 5 days simply because I could not put it down. I recommend this book to everyone who should read this reveiw, and to everyone who already read it, read it again! Don't let the size stop you (The end is well worth the wait) : )

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: As one other reader has commented, this series is far too long, outstripping many other trilogies by page length and nothing more.

In the first book, there is a painful amount of description which really isn't necessary to the plot or to worldbuilding. Passages that seem to read like 'there was moss on the rock. The rock was of about average size and weight. A long linneage of erosive factors had gnawed since the dawn of time on the rocks grandpappy, which had been somewhat larger' abound in this book.

The second book builds upon this flawed heritage, though it begins to pick up the pace as the author prepares to package his epic into the cliched trilogy of volumes expected of a fantasy series. This is the best book of the three, but by the end, most readers will anticipate that the author has only really told the first third of the tale.

This is borne out by the third and longest book. All 'moss on the rocks' type narrative is dropped completely as the author realizes that he doesn't have time to waste lavishly describing things that don't move the plot along. Unfortunately in the rush to put the wraps on the plot, the characters fall by the wayside, becoming the unwitting victims of the authors poor pacing.

The entire series ends with a gimmick that is so tasteless that it deserves disclosure here - the hero is knocked unconscious and it is only later described to him by the other characters how the bad guys were defeated. This is a convenient way for the author to finish unveiling all the plot devices in the shortest amount of time possible, and one senses that by the end of the third book, the author is too tired of the trilogy to try and do something better. Too bad for the reader!

Due to the problems with pacing, the lack of character development (especially in the last book), etc. I cannot begin to understand the constant comparisons of this trilogy to Tolkien. Read Terry Brooks, read Guy Kay, read Goodkind ...

But leave Tad Williams on the shelf.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Second only to Tolkien
Review: There are few books in the history of fantasy novels that parallel Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" trilogy. In a time where fantasy writing has been reduced to the application of time-tested but lazy formulae, Williams takes a turn for the epic and produces a work of such scale and depth it can only be rivalled by the genre's patriarch, J.R.R. Tolkien. In this final installment, Williams continues to demonstrate the literary quality which has created such a devoted following. As events in the world of Osten Ard build to a Homeric scale, Williams' characters remain so thoroughly real and personal that keeping up with the staggering number of plotlines becomes an easy task. Throughout the volume, Williams moves the plot from a cluster of personal conflicts to a climax of global proportions, and does so with such a master's touch that the novel's conclusion is satisfying in every possible way. A phenomenal conclusion to a most unique and remarkable trilogy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Thanks to Tad Williams
Review: In a genre that seems to becoming overwhelmed with cliche'd, trite drivel,(ie. romance novels diguised as fantasy, BLECH). Old hardcore SF/Fantasy readers such as myself get a thrown a bone. A rather big bone considering the massive tome that this series is. I would like to thank Tad Williams for saving our little corner of the universe.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely totally cool!!
Review: I love this series! I finished Book 3 in 15 days, and 7 days for The Dragonbone Chair. I often feel like I am in the book, running, laughing, crying and eating with the characters. If you have't read this, DO!! This is my most favorite saga ever, and I read TONS of fantasy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A tremendous novel
Review: I was not planning to offer my comments about this publication, but the review posted on April 30th of 1998 unintentionally makes a good point which needs further explication.

The review implies that the critic began this final volume without reading its predecessors, and consequently felt overwhelmed. I would urge readers to read the first two works prior to the final volume. The simple actions and dialogue that appear in To Green Angel Tower are augmented by nearly 2000 pages of prior development; each page is a revelation to the reader, a progression that crackles with tension. To begin with this book would be overwhelming indeed. Start where the story starts--The Dragon Bone Chair, which you can buy right now at this site. Do not, however, begin here and ruin one the greatest potential literary experiences a reader could hope to encounter.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply the best Fantasy series of the past ten years.
Review: To Green Angel Tower is a terrific ending to a great fantasy series. I read Fantasy novels religiously, and I can tell you that Tolkien himself would have been proud to have written this. Sure, it's derivative in its way. It's even almost predictable. But the characters are so engaging (and for ANY Fantasy to work, characters, and not setting, must come first) you won't care. The only other work I've read in the last decade that compares is Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay. In this novel (split into two books for the paperback version - it's just so thick) Simon the scullion boy becomes a man, Princess Miriamele comfronts her father, King Elias, and his evil, and the monk Cadrach reveals his secrets. With a cast of hundreds, this series is as sweeping as any Doctor Zhivago or Gone With The Wind. In fact, it would be easier to compare this work to those, rather than Lord of the Rings. People who aren't fans of Fantasy would actually do better to pick this series up FIRST, before LOTR. Yes, you heard me correctly. LOTR is the greatest Fantasy work ever written, but more people could actually relate to the themes of MST. Everyone grows up, and there are not many stories about Rites of Passage that are as good as this one. If you are a Fantasy fan and haven't read this series, you're missing out. Read and enjoy.


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