The Stone of Farewell
Tad Williams
Moving right along through both my epic fantasy fix and my 2013 reading goals, I have now finished volume two of Williams’ acclaimed and lengthy creation. Middle books being what they are, this post isn’t really the place to launch into an in-depth exploration of the series; instead this is more of a checkpoint, an appraisal of how far we have come and how much we have yet to travel. In particular, the following questions presented themselves as I started into the next 700 or so pages of Williams-ian adventure:
1. Is Simon still a pantywaist?
2. Does the second book maintain the momentum of the first?
3. Does Williams wander off on too many tangents for his own good?
4. Can we still spot the ghost of J.R.R. Tolkien marauding o’er the land?
5. On a scale of Errrrghgh to Magically Fabulous, how is this holding up?
And on to the answers.
1. Pretty much, yes. He’s getting better though, and starting to listen to other characters when they tell him to man up. He shows promise as things move forward, but I don’t expect him to ever be anything but completely hopeless with the ladies.
2. For the most part. Much like the first book, there is a certain ebb and flow to the pace that asks some patience of the reader. Williams isn’t doing anything crazy here, this isn’t James Joyce, but there are long periods where he is laying the groundwork for, presumably, later excitement. Even two thirds into the series I am still waiting for multiple payoffs.
3. It may still be too early to tell. That by itself is kind of frightening, but I won’t be able to answer this accurately until the very end. He lays down the terms of the debate quite clearly though – one man’s world building is another’s boredom. I just don’t know yet if there are too many side stories here, or if they will all tie together at the end, with each little bit a critical part of the interconnected whole. At the moment, I have a lurking suspicion that entire character arcs could be excised from the text without any great loss. I am willing to be persuaded however.
4. Yes, clearly. Aside from the whole Dark Lord bringing destruction to us all parts, it is primarily characters and places that I see. Eowyn is definitely present. Helm’s Deep as well, though it fell quite dramatically. Something eerily reminiscent of the Paths of the Dead goes down, and of course the whole Sithi thing is spot on for Tolkien’s elves. None of this is blatant of course, and Williams makes most of it his own, but the master’s shadow lies long upon the land.
5. Fairly well. There’s a lot of ground to cover in volume three, but that’s probably alright because he seems to have a massive page count to work with. If I was the author, I would be uneasy with the amount of heavy lifting yet to be done. There are many plot threads dangling and new characters still popping up at the end of volume two, all of which have to be straightened out in the space of a single book. I expect Williams brings it all off with flying colors, but the possibility of crashing and burning is very real. (I am assured by others that there is no such thing, but I think any astute reader in my position would agree with me.)
So onward we go. In fact, I am just about to download a copy of the final volume from the public library; we’ll know the final answer to all these questions and more in the next few days. It will certainly be exciting.
Two Dudes in an Attic 
I haven’t read Williams’ books yet, but I own this series. But I do love myself some epic fantasy.
By the way, as I was reading this post, this line really struck me: “In fact, I am just about to download a copy of the final volume from the public library”
What happened to the world? I love living in the modern world. But I do prefer to have a physical book in my hands (says the guy who has 53 books on his iPhone).
I imagine this will end up coming highly recommended, but I’m having fun being a poop in my posts.
I also prefer real books, though when said book is 1000 pages and heavy, the Kindle looks awfully tempting. Also, the whole, “Hmmm, it’s midnight and I need a new book for tomorrow. Oh hey, look what’s available on OverDrive!” thing is awfully nice. I used to be a hardcore CD over mp3 kind of guy too, but the convenience angle made it so hard to resist.
Oddly enough, I feel like 1000 page books are too long to read on my phone. I’d rather have the book. I prefer reading short books on my phone. But my comment didn’t come across well. What I meant to say was “Holy crap! We can download books instantly on our computers or electronic book reading devices! When did we go to the future?”
I was on the internet in 1995, and while I thought it was futuristic back then, it seems so primitive now.
Well, I have 2 days off now, so I should really post my backlog of 3 book reviews.
Don’t worry – I got that too. I work in the mobile sector now and can’t believe the stuff I see. Oddly enough, 1995 was also my first year on the “World Wide Web.” Blinking text! 2400 baud modems!
We feel exactly the opposite about ebooks, but reading on the Kindle is much different from reading on a phone. When I was in Japan and scanned txt and pdf files were the only English novels I could get my hands on, I used an old Sharp PDA that I found used. That was a real winner.
Looking forward to your posts. I’ll comment on that great pic of Fuji later on.
2400 baud? I had a 14.4 modem in 1995. I even created a website in 1996 when Netscape could show background images.
That Fuji picture was a surprise. I just glanced out the window and it blew me away. The picture doesn’t do it justice.
IMO, Tad really does pull all the storylines together quite nicely in the end (but then, I absolutely love MS&T, so I might not be an impartial judge 😉 )
There’s one loose end left dangling (one that doesn’t even appear until halfway through To Green Angel Tower), but that’s intentional. And will, apparently, be resolved in a short story collection that (hopefully) is finally, finally going to be written.
Thanks for the comment! I’ve basically heard nothing but good things about this trilogy, including rave reviews from some very discriminating types, so I’m not actually worried. But, like I told Jay, reviews are far more fun to write when one is being crusty. I hope the loose end is Rachel setting out on a quest to right wrongs and clean dirt throughout the Sithi kingdom. That would be great fun. “And you put some clothes on, young lady. What kind of indecent wench do you think you are?”
That’s a great mental image!
The actual loose end is something that has “sequel!” to many a reader, and that Tad has always claimed is mean to show that, although the book ends, the stories in Osten Ard go on.