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Title:
To Green Angel Tower
Series: Memory, Sorrow
and Thorn #3
Author: Tad Williams
Rating:
5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages:
1374
Words: 532K
Publish: 1993
Well,
THAT was a chunkster of a book and I loved every second of it too.
You know you’ve hit gold when you can read over 1300 pages and
enjoy it all. This was slow paced but well done and I was never
bored. It really helped my mindset knowing I had no other books to
read and review for the rest of January. I just read this when I felt
like it and let it soak into me, like a fine mist.
I had also forgotten the “catch”. I knew that there was a catch, but I just couldn’t remember what it was until it was revealed. Man, re-reading is great! By the by, the catch is that Ineluki (the disembodied spirit who is the villain) is going to possess King Elias’s body and rule Osten Ard eternally. He needed the 3 swords to complete the ritual, hence the prophecy about gathering the 3 Swords, and hence the name of this trilogy.
Everything comes together in the last 100-200 pages. Which considering the page count overall, is really rushing things at the end. At the same time, 200 pages is almost a full novel by itself, so it’s not really rushed at all. It was a very odd juxtaposition to be in. Feeling rushed and yet realizing it wasn’t rushed one tiny bit. I also liked how Williams focused on the emotions of his various characters near the end and how Simon’s decision (Simon has been one of the main male protagonists from the beginning) to NOT hate Ineluku helped bring about Ineluki’s downfall. In modern Yugioh parliance, The Power of Friendship wins the day, hahahahahaa.
Overall though, this whole trilogy was never about the ending, but about the journey getting to that ending. I guess you have to be in a certain mindset to truly appreciate this trilogy and I got lucky enough to be there this time around and loved every second, every meandering side quest, etc. One more thing I liked this time is that knowing there is now more Osten Ard related stories, I paid attention to some of the details about the elder races and I hope that pays off when I read those books. The Niskies, the Dwarrows, the Navigator’s Children, they held the promise of more and were not just one off names, because I know there is more to come. That aspect really made this a fuller reading than my previous times. I also suspect that once I read the later (and newer) Osten Ard books that when I inevitably re-read this trilogy again I’ll be able to appreciate small things in a whole new light. I pity people who don’t re-read, because they’ll never get to have an experience like that. Sure, they will read more new-to-them books, but my reading experience will be deeper, fuller and more satisfying. What more can you ask for?
Finally, I’d like to talk about the cover and the artwork. To Green Angel Tower was released in hardback and it had wraparound art. When it was released in paperback, it was too big and had to be split into two volumes, hence you’ll sometimes see TGAT Part I or Part II. Each of those paperbacks had one half of the original cover, which I think is great, because how many of us turn our books around to see the cover going all the way around? Not me! But the cover I chose as my featured image only shows one half of the hardcover. Michael Whelan is the artist and man, can he do drawings or what? The first picture is the original hardcover in all its wraparound glory. The characters on the left are Simon and Miriamelle (who are the young protagonists of the series) and on the right we have Jiriki and his sister Aditu, who are Sithi (elves, kind of) who help the humans against Ineluki, who was once a Sithi himself.
This second picture is the original artwork by Whelan and is for sale on his website. I have actually given some serious thought about buying the whole trilogy but $200 is something I need to give some thought to and not buy spur of the moment.
And with that, I bid you adieu until tomorrow’s post which will feature more wonderful cover love :-D
★★★★★
From Wikipedia
The story begins with the forces of Prince Josua Lackhand rallied at the Stone of Farewell, where the icy hand of the Storm King Ineluki has yet to take a deathgrip on the land. The remaining members of the League of the Scroll have also gathered at the Stone in hopes of unraveling an ancient prophecy. If deciphered, it could reveal to Josua and his army the only means of striking down the unslayable Storm King.
After Simon/Seoman Snowlock and Binabik have their reunion, they come to the realization that Memory – one of the three Great Swords recognized as being key to defeating the Storm King – is one and the same with Bright-Nail, old King John’s sword that was buried with him not three years previously. The trouble is, the grave of King John Presbyter lies in the shadow of the Hayholt, the stronghold of King Elias, and between the Stone of Farewell and Hayholt marches the army Elias has sent to besiege the defenders.
Meanwhile, Miriamele, Elias’s daughter who has joined Josua’s cause, is an unhappy prisoner on the ship of a lascivious and ambitious lordling to whom she has surrendered her virtue knowing only too late of his true nature. Another princess, Maegwin of Hernystir, falls deeper into madness, leading her people in a seemingly futile resistance against Elias’s allies who have conquered her kingdom, and deep in the ancient forest of Aldheorte, the immortal Sithi are mustering for a final conflict.
While Josua and his army must make a final stand to try to delay the forces of King Elias, Simon embarks upon a quest to Hayholt Castle to try to obtain the last of the three legendary swords and use their hidden magics to defeat The Storm King Ineluki and restore peace to Osten Ard once and for all.
