Siege: to Green Angel Tower, Part 1 (Paperback)

This book is definately the best of the three, and a damn long one, too. The Dragonbone Chair sets it off to a good start. Stone of Farewell was the worst; it suffered from the Middle Book Syndrome-lack of action or anything important going on that makes a middle book only serve as a connection between the introduction and conclusion. That one kind of depressed me, but I kept hearing that TGAT was worth it. Guess what? They were right. They were right to give the advice, I was right to take it, I'm right to give the same advice and you'd be right to take it as well. Keep reading. If you liked TDC and turned your nose up at SoF(that's me), you will enjoy this book. If you were mildly satisfied with TDC and hated Sof, you should still enjoy this book, because it is the best of the three. If you hated TDC and hated even more SoF then you're probably screwed either way so I wouldn't bother.This book is divided into four parts. The first part is The Waiting Stone. The word "waiting" pretty much sums it up. This book is definately the most action-packed of the three, but I won't lie to you - the first 300 pages is more of the same from SoF. After the drudgery, though, the action picks up and slowly builds throughout the novel. Part 2 starts speeding things, Part 3 gets things going even faster as well as introduces a little romance (actually a lot), and Part 4 is pretty much action packed the whole way through. (Warning: Make sure you buy both volumes at the same time; Volume 1 ends on a cliffhanger and if you don't have Volume 2 handy you will pull your hair out.) The climax was about 150 pages long, no joke, and the ending will definately throw you for a loop. Good ending. For those of you who are saying that the ending wasn't cataclysmic enough, I honestly don't know what the hell you're talking about. Seriously. Most of the questions you've been herding in your brain, some from the very beginning, some you've probably forgotten, will be answered, mostly in the last 150 pages. I did say that most questions are answered, not all. The ones that aren't answered aren't necessary for the resolution. It's good to have a little mystery at the end of the novel; just as in real life, some questions remain unanswered.

There are, however, a few shortcomings. The first is the way he ends chapters on cliffhangers. He'll end a chapter on a cliffhanger, go to a new POV and spend a chapter there, and then begin the next chapter exactly where the previous chapter left off. This didn't happen in his other two books. I think he said in an interview that the cliffhangers serve to keep the reader interested, but I think it has the opposite effect. Just when I'm getting into it, picking up momentum, I have to slow down and stop in order to read the next chapter, and by the time I get to the same situation one second later, it's lost some of its tension and dramatic effect.

My other gripe is his writer's voice. I'll try to explain this as best I can. There's something about his prose that affects both characterization and description in such a way that I was never able to completely immerse myself into the story. It's hard to explain, but I think it's in the way he can overly describe some things(in a lot of ways similar to Jordan), and simultaneously summarize parts that should be spoken of in more detail. I'll try to give an example: in the book, say two people are fighting, the description would go something like this: "After a brief struggle, such-and-such did this..." It's the 'after a brief struggle' that I'm talking about. That kind of writing doesn't put you in the character's head, you don't get fully immersed into what's going on, because it doesn't really tell you what the character is feeling and thinking at that moment, it just kind of summarizes. Pick up a book by Terry Goodkind, George Martin, or Stephen King and contrast the two styles of writing and you may get a clearer picture. If I pick up a book by one of those afore-mentioned authors, I can't put the bastard down until it's finished! In this book I was never able to completely immerse myself in what was happening. I tried, but even during the action sequences I was never quite able to get into it; something held me back. This problem was in the other books as well, but to a lesser degree, I think.

Despite its shortcomings, though, TGAT is still a very good book. Hats to Mr. Williams for a COMPLETELY ORIGINAL plot, excellent climax, diverse and believable heroes and villians alike, great action, great characterization, and a great, surprising, shocking ending. This is a long review, but it's a long book too, so it should deserve no less. This book is worth checking into.

After meeting with Josua's party and exiles from the plains on Sesuad'ra, the Stone of Farewell, Simon is knighted by the prince for having recovered the legendary sword Thorn. But soon they learn that Josua's brother, the High-King Elias, has sent an army led by Duke Fengbald.

They have to prepare for a desperate war. With a makeshift army of exiles, and even with the unexpected help from the trolls, they know they'll be greatlty outnumbered.

To the south, Princess Miriamele, pretending she's daughter of a minor nobleman, has unwillingly given in to Lord Apsitis. He soon tells her he knows her true identity and plans to marry her, for political purposes. She'll have to escape.

In this book, Tad Williams manages to keep us reading avidly without revealing too much of the final plot, digging deeper into each character's personality, making them seem so real. I just can't wait to read the next and last one!

Book 2 was well written and built up the conflict. The names were as inspiring as those employed by Tolkein.

To Green Angel Tower felt ponderous, meandering, and poorly paced. The chapters where Simon were tortured were more painful for the reader. The romance between Simon and the lead female was not believable. By the end, I didn't like any of the main characters.

Overall, it was flaccid.