The book chronicles the
clash between Fae and Mortal as well as the machinations of a China like
empire. As I mentioned after the first
book in the series, Shadowmarch, this book has a bit of the flavor of the
last Williams book I read, The
War of the Flowers. The
story continues where Shadowmarch left off.
Repeating myself from the Shadowmarch
review, the complexity of Williams world crafting is just amazing. He provides detail and then he provides
details on the detail. I revel in his
carefully crafted characters and environment.
Williams writes with a
gourmand attitude on his characters.
There is a wealth of personalities and foibles. His characters are alive and become more
real page by page. They have flaws and
faults and demonstrate both laudable and despicable behavior.
The sibling relationship
between Barrick and Briony is nearly severed by circumstances beyond their
control. Each of them is now developed
as more of a stand alone character rather than a matched pair.
Chert and family are back
and in the center of the Shadowmarch conflict.
Barrick’s quest pairs him with Ferras and Stormlantern, one of their
enemies.
There are almost too many
wonderful characterizations even the crow has surprising aspects. Again this book is definitely a banquet not a
lunch. The settings are painted with a
clarity that makes you shiver in the unnatural Fae fog.
This is the 2nd book in the
Shadowmarch series and I will look forward to reading the rest.
I highly recommend the book
and the series.
Body of work of <a
type="amzn"> Tad Williams </a>
Web site: http://www.tadwilliams.com/
This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.
Great book, and a great series. Barrick grated on my nerves a bit, but he finally seemed to start maturing a bit towards the end of this one.
ReplyDeleteBob, I thought Barrick was far more annoying than just grating! I'm guessing that Williams knows at least one privileged, spoiled brat to so accurately nail that behavior. If you haven't read his War of the Flowers, do so. I thought it was as good as the Dragonbone Chair.
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