Shadowmarch [Hardcover]

 

 

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I just finished Shadowmarch. To be honest, I wasn't very impressed. Not that it was a bad book, but it wasn't up to par with Williams' usual quality of writing.

The Good Points:
-The prologue was excellent, mysterious and gripping, and really drew me into the book. The blind king and motionless queen were very intriguing.
-Williams did a good job of creating many more questions than answers in this book so you want to keep reading to solve the mysteries. Especially at the end of the book, the world is in upheaval, all the characters are embarking on journeys, and I would like to see what happens to everybody in the next book.
-The scenes describing the Qar were interesting and well written. I especially liked the descriptions of their main stronghold, where Williams really shows off his imagination and powers of description.

The Not So Good Points:
-VERY few of the human characters were exceptional or even interesting in any way. I didn't care about these characters nearly as much as I did about those from Memory, Sorrow and Thorn and Otherland. Indeed, a good half dozen of the characters seem like boring remakes of characters from MS&T. Barrick and Briony seemed to me like annoying versions of Simon & Miriamele, right down to the colour of their hair! I won't bother to mention all the others...The only human I really liked was Ferras Vansen--he's such a darn nice guy. Also, Chert and Opal Quartz were pretty endearing.
-I felt that there were a couple too many POVs. It diluted the story. Especially Quinnitan's story--if Williams was going to include her, shouldn't he at least have hinted by the end of the book what on earth she has to do with anything?
-The setting of Southmarch didn't seem very interesting to me. Maybe it's because there were too many places and people named--after a while I just found it confusing. And the maps in the front of the book are hard to read. Osten Ard from MS&T was a much more appealing setting for an epic fantasy.
-Lastly, I was surprised to see that the quality of writing was inconsistent throughout the book. Usually Williams' writing sparkles--for me, anyway--but in this book, while some parts definitely kept me on the edge of my seat (for example the scene where Vansen meets the Qar woman in the forest) some parts, indeed many, were simply dull. At times when I was reading I was thinking, "hey, this is pretty good!" and sometimes I was thinking "this is boring..." there was little consistency.

In all the first volume of Shadowmarch was okay. I'll pick up the next installment when it comes out. But still, I was very disappointed in it for a book of Tad Williams, whose stuff I normally love.

If you've never read anything by Williams before I would strongly suggest picking up Memory, Sorrow and Thorn instead, starting with The Dragonbone Chair, because it's SO much better.

Although not part of the review, I would like to respond for a moment to the two reviews above that mention George RR Martin's work. I adore Ice & Fire and think it the most exceptional fantasy out there at the moment. But really, Tad Williams most definately didn't borrow from GRRM, if anything, you can say (as said above) that GRRM borrowed from Mr Williams' first trilogy, Memory, Sorrow & Thorn, which I also don't believe. All writers of a genre, especially fantasy, have similarities.

Now to the review. I've read all of Williams' works and to a degree loved them all. MS&T was still the most poignant for me and the story to draw me in the most. Otherland was admittedly brilliant, but it didn't pull me emotionally the way MS&T did.

Anyway, Shadowmarch have the most overtones of MS&T with a bit of War of the Flowers as well, but not as good. Dragonbone Chair did start off slow, but not THIS slow for goodness sake! I don't like the (apparent) protoganists, the twins, but there's hopes that they will grow and develop. The Qar are very interesting and the prologue as well as the other references to them are intriguing and I wonder what they plan, exactly. The Funderlings are slightly reminiscent of the Trolls, just a bit more, err.. hobbit-like than the trolls were. I like them though and the foundling child is another great mystery. I was especially interested in the POV half a world away, for the very reason that it doesn't tie in with the story yet but knowing Williams, it eventually will. Captain of the Guard is a character I really liked and would like to read more about as well as Shaso. Chaven is slightly reminscent of Dr Morgenes from MS&T, but hopefully he will stick around longer and some of his mystery be cleared up. Finally, the story develops and does end on quite a high point, with everything shaken up and change in the air, leaving one wondering what's going to happen next. Although not his very best work to date, I really enjoyed it and I have high hopes for the sequel and will definately recommend reading Shadowmarch, especially if you are already an established fan.

Shadowmarch is the first book in a quadrilogy written by Tad Williams, a fantasy and sci-fi authour with a long pedigree. His experience shows in the writing; it's taught, skilful, and, at times, poetic. This is an authour that's been around the block a couple times, and it shows. It's just a shame that Mr. Williams' editor didn't cut the book in half. The writing would have been even tighter and more focused, because Shadowmarch in its published form ends up losing its way after a few hundred pages and becomes meandering, and, to be honest, kind of boring.

Shadowmarch is a book about a princess. Its title alludes to the city she ends up ruling over, but it's not gone into in any real detail, and, aside from its geography of being located on a spit of land connected to the mainland by an artificial causeway, it seems rather generic. Its real focus is on the travails of one Princess Briony, and, to a lesser extent, Prince Barrick, her emo twin brother. Together, they form the royal household of Eddon. Overall, though, you won't find yourself caring all that much about them. You would think in an 800+ page book a lot would happen to these characters, but you end up realizing very little actually does. Barrick complains about his arm some, Briony cries, Barrick acts emo, yadda, yadda, yadda. It's not badly written, it's just not very interesting.

The book shifts through a number of separate PoVs, with its most disconcerting shift being that of Qinnitan's, in a far away continent to the south. I feel the novel would have been better served if this PoV were cut altogether. The action in the empire of Xand is so disconnected and distant from what is happening in the north of the continent of Eion that you just want to rush through these (at times lengthy) chapters to get back to what and who the book is really about. I am sure Qinnitan and the Emperor will have important roles in the next book or, if that book continues at the pace of Shadowmarch, the one after that, but their presence in this one definitely slowed the story down even more than the sluggish pace it was already moving at.

The world that Shadowmarch is set in is passably interesting, with far away exotic lands of dusky skinned individuals, and more Western oriented lands to the north, such as the March Kingdoms, that may pique the fancy of the fantasy-inclined. Nothing about these lands is particularly original or outstanding as far as fantasy literature goes, though the Qar, or Twilight People, are. They are easily the most interesting aspect of the novel, and it's a shame they weren't utilized more. I hope they provide a larger part of the story in book two.

Overall, while a kind of boring and tepid affair, I hold out hope that book two will be a little more exciting. It's a well written series, by an experienced writer, and we'll see if he can pick up the slack as he moves along with the story. Give it a shot if you are running short on decent fantasy fare to read. Otherwise, pick up something else, and leave this one to a later date.

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3.0 out of 5 stars We'll see in the long run. . .
It marks the beginning of a new fantasy trilogy, Williams' first in about a decade. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn is one of my favourite series of all time, and his scifi/technological... Read more

Published on Feb 9 2005 by Patrick St-Denis

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great.
Before reviewing this book, I feel I must respond to the comments made by the previous reviewer: This book is nothing like George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Read more

Published on Feb 7 2005 by Craig

2.0 out of 5 stars Tad Williams thanks George R.R. Martin
I might re-visit this review later as in all honesty I've only read about 3/4's of the book at this point, but so far I've found the book to be a near pointless (and inferior)... Read more

Published on Nov 23 2004 by David Dowbyhuz

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