Rating: Summary: One of the best books I have ever read. Review: An execellent conclusion to the story. Many suprising and interesting things happen. Overall, it is above your standard fantasy book. A must read
Rating: Summary: Very thrilling! Three thumbs up! Review: No matter what anyone else says, I still say that this was a great book (especially for you *romance readers* out there). Many questions are answered, and many battles fought, though not only sword-on-shield battles. For all of you who have been following me through my reviews of the books, I love these books, and I've read them four times each, going on another round. (Why on earth would *anyone* do that if the books weren't good?) But in this book, there is a dreaded discovery... "Beware the false messenger!" Will it lead to total ruin? Watch as the deadly confrantation takes place... witht the Storm King
Rating: 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: Summary: Flows as slow as frozen molasses Review: I read it a while back.Book 2 was well written and built up the conflict. The names were as inspiring as those employed by Tolkein. To Green Angel Tower felt ponderous, meandering, and poorly paced. The chapters where Simon were tortured were more painful for the reader. The romance between Simon and the lead female was not believable. By the end, I didn't like any of the main characters. Overall, it was flaccid.
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: 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: 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.
Rating: Summary: This Guy Makes Robert Jordon look like Disney World Review: As always with a Tad Williams book you get a lot of distribution so be prepared for environments that are so keenly described you could cut them with a knife. Simon "Snowlock" is just starting to come into his own as a great warrior and it is wonderful to watch him and his friends mature and grow as the book goes on. The heroes lose and gain more and more allies as the book goes on(some of these the reader will grow really attached to If you want a long description of the plot you can read the back of the book and it is a good plot and story that will keep you guessing. However as with all Tad Williams books you must understand that these books are BIG so don't read them if you are one of those people who reads a book and puts it down.
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