Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn

[Spacewolf]

Has anyone read this series of books and if so how are they?

[Weezer]

Eh, they're okay. Nothing special, pretty typical of the bloated epic fantasy where the books are made far longer than necessary to add 'complexity' and 'depth', when all that is really added is more words.

[Rhydeble]

I think it's a good series, although it can be a little cliché and the ending is a little weird. I really have to advice you to read the writer's Otherland series first, which is really good.

[Whoracle]

Seconding the "Pretty good, but nothing too special" sentiment.

Also: Otherland is good, too, but a bit... weird... and not at all comparable to M,S&T, neither in terms of characters, plot, setting, pacing or writing style. Give it a read nontheless, but not neccessarily before M,S&T.

[warty goblin]

I recall trying them at some point. I think I made it partway through the first one, but gave it up as dull. At the time I remember thinking the characters, plot and setting all to be bland and forgettable. As such that's about all I remember about them, so...

...yeah, let's go with forgettable.

[Eldan]

Also, it has a few plot developments I think were intended as twists, but were actually really obvious from a few books ahead.

[smellie_hippie]

I actually really liked this series. It is one of the few book trilogies that I will pick up an re-read. I liked the reluctant hero thing, and he made good efforts towards re-skinning some of the tried and true fantasy topics (elves and such). Tad Williams does get a little wordy, and som of his plotlines unravel for quite a ways. It might help to keep a flow-chart for all the different characters and their connections.

Otherland was also good, but I felt it needed a lot more to choke through. This one got a little mroe conviluted than my tastes could readily accept.

[Eldan]

The basic problem was, I think, that the basic story thread was actually pretty simple, and did not deviate much from basic fantasy tropes. Find X magic items to kill King Evil. Stable boy becomes hero. The princess. And so on.
What made it interesting was the world building put on top of it, and a few nice reinterpretations of classical fantasy races.

[Frozen_Feet]

The first book felt brilliant, and I really liked some horror elements early on. Pryrates was also a very memorable villain, cliched as he may have been. But as it want on, it didn't really manage to hold the suspense. The ending fell a bit flat, in my opinion. But overall, it was good reading. Not groundbreaking on the field of fantasy, but certainly memorable. :smallsmile:

[Doc Kraken]

I recall trying them at some point. I think I made it partway through the first one, but gave it up as dull. At the time I remember thinking the characters, plot and setting all to be bland and forgettable. As such that's about all I remember about them, so...

...yeah, let's go with forgettable.

This is how I felt about it. It wasn't bad, per se, but it was very slow. I found myself far more interested in a couple of the side stories than the main character's tale, to be honest. Not the worst series I've read, but I tried to get through a few times and only succeeded once.

[Eldan]

The first book felt brilliant, and I really liked some horror elements early on. Pryrates was also a very memorable villain, cliched as he may have been. But as it want on, it didn't really manage to hold the suspense. The ending fell a bit flat, in my opinion. But overall, it was good reading. Not groundbreaking on the field of fantasy, but certainly memorable. :smallsmile:

Yeah, let's go with that. Good in the small things, the side story and some of the world building. Bad in the actual main plot, especially towards the end, and slow.

Tad Williams, in other words.

Also: his new books, Shadow... were pretty good too.

[Serpentine]

I've read it! I liked them! It's been a while though, so beyond the odd scene and a very vague plot map I can't give much more detail.
My second Tad Williams recommendation would be Tailchaser's Song, cuz it doesn't seem to get mentioned much.

[Philistine]

Rats! Serps beat me to recommending Tailchaser's Songthis time. :smallbiggrin: Though I would actually recommend that one before MS&T or Otherland - the length is more manageable, if you just want to get a feel for whether you like the author's writing. War of the Flowers is another one-volume, though its one volume would still make about three of Tailchaser.