Shadowmarch (Paperback)

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.

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.

The odd thing, however, is that there is absolutely no buzz pertaining to this novel. And based on the fact that Tad Williams is a New York Times bestselling author, that is weird indeed. I always keep track of national fantasy bestsellers on the Locus Magazine website. Strangely enough, I could not find a trace of Shadowmarch. It's almost as if it had not yet been released. . .

Okay, so if you've read anything by Williams, you are aware that everything he does is always vast in scope and in details. Shadowmarch is no exception to that rule.:-)

Tad Williams' worldbuilding in this novel is again above and beyond what is currently the norm in the fantasy genre. And the fact that Shadowmarch offers us only a glimpse of what appears to be an impressive new universe makes me eager to read the next two installments!

As was the case with his other series, Williams starts rather slowly once again. But where the novel is lacking in action, it certainly packs a powerful punch in other respects. I got the feeling that Shadowmarch is one big introduction. And in Tad Williams' style everything appears to be secrets buried under riddles wrapped in mysteries.:-)

The characterizations, which are always one of the author's strong points, are at times brilliant and at times lacking. That was a disappointment, I must admit. Williams is always a master at building up characters. He obviously has a lot more in store for us in the future volumes of the series. Indeed, we want to know more about Shaso, the master of arms of Southmarch; Captain Vansen; The God-Emperor Sulepis, Autarch of Xand; Qinnitan, a seemingly ordinary girl chosen to become one of the Autarch's wives; Chaven, the mysterious physician; Yasammez, Scourge of the Shivering Plain; the strange, nameless boy found just beyond the Shadowline by the Funderlings; the orphaned girl named Willow; the potboy Gil; and so many more.

But as I mentioned, at times the chracterizations are lacking. With the Funderlings, Chert and Opal and their brethren, Williams made several attempts at humor, which somehow wasn't really à propos. In some instances, it even kills the momentum of the book. But my biggest disappointment lies in the chracterization of the twins, Briony and Barrick. It's obvious that there is a lot more to both than meets the eye, especially with Barrick's strange curse. But the way both characters think, interact with others, talk, etc; none of it rings true. In a way, it's as if their scenes were written by another author.

The other major shortcoming of Shadowmarch is all the politicking that takes place. Williams is much better than most writers in certain aspects of writing fantasy. Political intrigues, however, is not one of them. And since a large part of the novel hinges precisely on that, it's a bit of a setback. Not everyone can do it like George R. R. Martin or Katherine Kurtz, after all.

But enough about the negative. There are a lot of positive things about this novel, which keeps you turning those pages. Much like the Sithi in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, the Twilight People are not your typical happy-go-lucky elves. Somehow, Williams is the only writer who can bring the darker nature of the fairy folk in such a fashion.

Williams caps it all off with a very good ending that answers few questions. But it raises many more, which creates undeniable interest for the sequels. As the cover blurb indicates, Shadowmarch is a vast tale of magic, intrigue, terror, sacrifice and war.

And with the Qar, the Twilight People, now reaching beyond the Shadowline to reclaim their lost lands; with the Autarch of Xand looking to expand his vast empire to the north; with the king of Southmarch imprisoned in Hierosol, victim of betrayal; with Yasammez poised to destroy humankind; with a conspiracy attempting to kill the Eddon family, rulers of Southmarch Castle; with Qinnitan destined to become the mother of the Autarch's heir; with Prince Barrick plagued by a strange curse that will take him beyond; with all that and more, there is a lot to like about Shadowmarch.

The positive outweighs the negative by far. Anyway, this series will have to be judged as a whole, not just by its opening chapter.

Regardless of its shortcomings, I am convinced that Williams' fans will enjoy this new novel. They are used to the fact that he is a slow starter, even if the end promises a lot more to come. However, I am not certain that newcomers will get into this one as much. Hence, I would recommend that they read Williams' previous works before tackling this book. It would be a shame for them to base their opinion of such a good writer on the premise of Shadowmarch alone.

Check out my blog: www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com