The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams Book Review & Reaction | A Clear Inspiration for Many Authors
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- Mike heads to Osten Ard to talk about the first book in the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, The Dragonbone Chair.
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0:00 Introduction
0:32 Background
1:44 What Is It About?
2:41 What Makes it Good or Bad?
16:08 Why You Should Read It
17:23 Final Thoughts
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#MikesBookReviews #TadWilliams #MemorySorrowAndThorn 
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I think i was more thrilled when Tad Williams blurbed my second novel Blackest Heart than i was in even getting a book contract to begin with. To have my favorite fantasy writer (and writing hero) read my books and like them enough to blurb them was a dream come true.
I’ll bet that was amazing!
I haven't yet started your series Brian, but Tad's endorsement definitely has me excited to. I am confident that the GOAT (IMHO) does not dole out such high praise lightly!
@@jayspeijer614 i just finished the first one, it was fantastic. Got the second one here next to me ready to go haha. Saw Brians review of MST series and have to add it to my list!
@@jayspeijer614 dude,the Forgetting Moon was amazing!
Excellent review, Mike! You left me feeling nostalgic for those classic fantasies that take the time to develop the world and the characters before the crisis hits.
It’s so undervalued and it’s maddening for me that readers who just began fantasy a few years ago with modern stories call these “boring.”
There's a certain... Magic about it.
Most people entered the fantasy genre through lord of the rings or harry potter while others entered through wheel of time or a song of ice and fire or Narnia. My door into fantasy was through tad williams. Even after all these years I'm still a weary traveler of osten ard.
This is one of the greatest fnatssy series ever written.
I love the description of "what happens after happily ever after ". Such a good way to look at it
I enjoyed Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn pretty well for the most part. Like you I struggled with the "traveling" parts. Too bad Littlefinger's teleporter wasn't around back then 😂
#1 thing about these books is the beautiful writing. If I were forced to judge, it's even better than Hobb; feels more fluid. I didn't care that things moved slowly. And great characters. Love Binabik! I look forward to your talks on the rest of the series ...
This book moves at glacial pace but I didn't think that it was something bad. Although incredibly slow it was just very interesting and the prose was incredible (although some what challenging for a second-language English speaker as myself), so it kept me engaged. Really looking forward to Stone of Farewell
This book is definitely slow - VERY slow, even - but oh my god is it written so beautifully, and Simon is such an impressive character. He's everything I wanted FitzChivalry to be.
Fitz is boring. IMO the first 200 pages is slow but after that it's fun.
That was main reason for DNFing the book at 100 pages. Yes, the prose is great, the dialogue sharp, and the characters interesting, but the pacing is sloooooooow
DBC was my book of the month for January! I had a fantastic time with this book.
I read 5 banger books in January. No idea what I’ll pick for BotM in my wrap up.
This is my favourite series of all time. Glad that you enjoyed it. You feel almost every step of this journey with these characters. And you're right about the foreshadowing. Subsequent rereads made me realise how much Tad foreshadowed
I’m sure. Explaining all of the stuff with the Storm King I bookmarked to go back and read once I complete and see what all he laid out there.
Finally got to read this one, it's been sitting on my shelf for a while, and I'm absolutely loving it. The prose, the pacing, the setting, the character, everything is on point. Can't wait the read the rest
The battle was amazing and is what the S8 GOT winterfell battle should've been lol.
Man Pryrates is such a fantastic villain. In Stone of Farewell and To Green Angel Tower shit hits the fan lol.
CAREFUL potential spoilers (not really but be careful)
BTW you'll go to Nabban eventually so the "twists and character deaths" kinda make sense eventually but I honestly was shocked when... the thing happened.
What a great series, makes me want to read it again.
First heard about this book from Brian Lee Durfee who I just discovered recently, and I've since added it to my list of books to read. I'm a little cautious about starting another fantasy series after getting burned by a couple recently (just finished "Eye of the World" and HATED it), but as a writer and aspiring author I feel it's my duty to read all the major fantasy books/series that came before. My current stockpile of books is starting to wear a bit thin, and that gives me a good excuse to start buying again. Happy reading, friend :)
This might be my favorite fantasy series. The more I think about it and remember characters and the world, the more I like it. And I remember not even liking the first book very much, but it has aged amazingly well in my memory.
I think I read this early 90s, while I remember character names like Simon & Binabek(?) don’t remember much else and certainly can’t recall the arc. I was living life in the fast lane back then & a great number of books were read & under appreciated while too hungover to get up!
Thanks a bunch Mike, just what I need a larger reread-TBR list😀
Late to the party, but Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn still ranks as my all-time favorite fantasy series. I found Dragonbone Chair in a Waldenbooks in Tampa, FL in Nov. 1989 and devoured it over Thanksgiving at my parents in Atlanta. Anxiously awaited Stone of Farewll and To Green Angel Tower and loved every minute of all three. Now, happily involved in the Last King of Osten Ard series. Thanks Mike!
My fav series of all time.
One of my absolute favorite series of all time. The character arcs and relationships are top-notch!
I'm a lurker, but watch pretty much every video you put out and occasionally follow the discord. I was saving this video bc although I started the book about the same time as everyone else, I'm a super slow reader and just finished. Loved the book and the review. The Rimmersmen are some of my favorite characters too. I kept hoping the Morgenes arc was a slight of hand. He always had something up his sleeve! Took me well into the book to give up that hope and it still tickles the back of my mind sometimes. That ending though... Ready to start book 2. I've only had this series on my shelf for 10+ years.
Tad is my favorite sci-fi/fantasy "prose" writer I've ever read. His writing is just exceptional. That said, I was feeling a bit lackluster about the first book when I first read it, but after reading 2 and 3 I reallllllly fell in love with the series. Dragonbone just almost felt like a prologue (granted it's probably because the third book is the longest book I've ever read, and assuming it was for 99.9% of the people who read it as well lol)
This was a series I meant to start years ago and just never got to. Your decision to cover it on the channel was the tipping point and now I'm halfway through book 3 and loving it. So thanks, Mike! I'm glad you liked it too.
I'm such a fan of this overlooked series and was so happy to see that you are going to be reviewing it! I love spending time in this captivating world.
Really enjoyed the first book and began the second last night! This is my first read-a-long and it's been a great experience and made reading that much more enjoyable. Thanks, Mike!
So happy to hear! I’m quite happy with the Discord discussion on it.
Thanks for the review, Mike!
This is my next read to start sometime in February. Seeing you start it and cover it on your channel has just gotten me all the more excited!
My first "oh this is where GRRM got it" was the red comet.
Same.
*Spoiler*
Hmmm, an ageless threat in the icy North, dragons are supposed to be extinct (but aren't), an old man turns out to be the best knight, and somebody's parentage turns out to be a BFD...
Not to mention Elias and Josua are both in GOT
I’m only on book 5 of wheel of time. Here is yet another trilogy for me to dive into once I’ve finished the monolith that is WoT!
Somehow I feel like I've taken this 20 year journey with you and your brother. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
This review was so helpful, Mike! I want to make sure I give this series the time it deserves when I get to it so I can really absorb the characters. It sounds like everything I love in fantasy. I must know what happens after ‘happily ever after!’
Great Mike that you liked the book so much. I haven’t read the series in at least 5 years. I will try to read it at some point this year.
I put it down after struggling with the slow start, so glad you inspired me to pick it back up, beautiful writing. Just started book 2, so far so good.
I was pleasantly surprised reading this book, and I want to thank you for recommending this great read. my fav character is benebick and kantaka as well. the audiobook is awesome and really helps through the slower parts. Just started reading book 2 yesterday and so far its going really well.
I read it along with you and loved it!
I just discovered this author and series yesterday. Crazy I had never heard of it, but I’m so giddy to get into it and start a new epic journey.
Great review! There is definitely something to be said for building the characters and setting before jumping into the action. The series only gets better from here.
I reread the series plus his new works this past summer/fall. Still have all my hardbacks and remember how I commuted to work with them. Big books!
I'm a little more then half way through. Love it so far.
I read this 25-ish years ago. I don't remember a lot about it, but I enjoyed it. I've liked everything I have read from Tad Williams thus far.
I’m in the process of reading The Dragonbone Chair. About the middle of the story. Loving it with some caveats. The character Simon was a bit difficult to get behind. Binibik was/is even harder for me. Pyrates makes a good villain. King John is a character that I wish we had more of. His death is a central plot device but his back story I find very interesting. Within the realm of this story, his story is just that. History.
The writing of Tad Williams is something that I wish to get more of. For that reason alone I would probably read the entire trilogy. He is a master of prose.
I read this as they were released and can't believe how well they hold up over the years! Such a rich world, so much depth, and wonderful characters.
Williams did a helluva job-you should tackle Otherland the next time you have a hole in your schedule. :)
Great review! Tad Williams is my favourite fantasy author after Robin Hobb. (Well, he shares second place with Raymond E. Feist). This type of fantasy stories is what I enjoy the most to be honest. I love tropes as long as the characters are good and the story is done well.
Great Video. Thank you
I actually took my time with this book and I really enjoyed it. And the audiobook it's very good in my opinion.
My favorite series of all time - thank you for the review. And yes I’m one of those that can’t read ASOIF because it seems that Martin just ripped of this series left and right. I read this series when it came out and have reread many times over the years and I can say that the books only get better with rereads. Good video.
This is my favorite fantasy series. Love Tad's writing. Love this story. I recently finished a reread of the original trilogy (or quadrilogy for the paperback versions), in preparation for reading the new books set in Osten Ard.
It’s on my massive list of books to read! Glad. It’s good!
Really glad you liked it Mike
Tailchaser's Song ... T. Williams ... short read ... excellent book - about Cats!?!?xxx
Started my re-read a bit late and am only now on part 2 of book 1. It's amazing how much I don't remember, like I'm reading it all again like it's the first time.
Just started this Series and I’m enjoying the First book immensely!
Still working on Fall of Hyperion (I can totally see why the story telling style didn't click with you) just put this one on my list. You've never steared me wrong, Mike. So I'm looking forward to diving in. 😀
I really liked book one and I'm very excited for 2-3!
I’ve read this twice, once when it was released & again about 20yrs ago. But having read so many fantasy books, I can’t remember what happens 🤷♂️😩
Just looked the synopsis up & now I totally remember the story 😀
Cant wait for book two🔥
I read the entire series back when it was current and I was just a young adult, and read it again last year. I enjoyed Simon and Miriamele most the first go around, but found myself getting frustrated with their youthful stupidity the second time. Meanwhile, I had a greater appreciation for Isgrimnur and Josua the second time around. That says more about me than the characters in the book or Williams' writing style.
Fantastic point. I have found myself in the same position many times. I think it can be good practice to reflect upon yourself in how you react to an author's characters rather than falling back on your own personal attitudes.
It’s a good book, not my favorite in the series, but a strong start. Glad you liked it.
This book is great. Some good twists within, and the ending wasn't what I was expecting. Looking forward to part two. I also think that the Storm King is what influenced Martin's undead horde in the north.
TBF, in Martin's series, there is no Night King. That character was show only. He does have a character called The Night's King, but that was a Lord Commander at The Night Fort. In the books, what the show called Night King doesn't exist. And also, the Others speak in the books. They're more like the Hike'deya(Norns). So we will probably get more of a Aduku(sp) Storm/Night Queen, running things telepathically.
Wasn't really into Malazan (dropped out in book 2), but find this readalong much easier for a not-as-fantasy-experienced-reader. Really liked the first book, looking forward to the stone of farewell! Keep up the great content, Mike! :)
Haven’t seen the video yet but excited to see if your brother was right after all. 😁 hope to find time this week
Great video, Mike and great job keeping it all spoiler free. For once, I'm not hankering for spoilers as I mean to pick up this series too and catch up with your reread soon.
Tbh, I don't understand why people in this day and age complain about books written 30 years ago or more, why they can't shed the modern expectations blinkers and just immerse themselves in a well told story. Good books are timeless and they will always rise above transient trends and fads.
Well said! I love the grimdark stuff, but I also love going back to the roots of why I love this genre in the first place. This excels at that.
Stoked to get to it, one day ^_^
looking forward to starting this read! need to finish Nevernight trilogy first... thanks for the review mike!
very funny wording at the end of why you should read "you're never going to feel like you are crawling through mud".... considering how simon gets out of the hayholt
I read this last year and couldn’t find anyone to talk with about it. Looking forward to getting stuck into Stone of Farewell in the next few days
It was a lot of fun participating in the read along! Really enjoyed it. Great characterwork, amazing atmosphere, interesting plot. Slow beginning does really pay off. It irritated me though how many chapters and paragraphs ended with Simon falling asleep.
I already started Stone of Farewell, cause I'm a very slow reader. Enjoying it, beginning was really strong but somewhere along the way it's lost me a bit. Gonna push through though. It's still good, but it's a lot of meandering and characters just being confused. They feel a bit passive. It seems that a lot of the story is happening TO the characters. I would like them to take a bit more of an active role and have some agency.
Glad you had a good time! I was pleased with the Discord participation and discussion.
@@mikesbookreviews definitely! If I might give you a little advice though, I think it would help if you put up your review of DBC halfway through January. I knew you were done by that time and it might have encouraged viewers who watched your review to also read it and join the read-along. People who are excited and encouraged by your review now only have 1 day to catch up if they would like to participate.
That being said, I know you're also a very busy man haha. Looking forward to the read along of Stone of Farewell!
I still have not read this series but i gotta read it one day
I love Benibik very cool mentor/friend relationship with Simeon. It's like a Gandalf/Sam mix or something haha
Bumping this up the tbr as soon as I finish FatF
Reading Dark Matter thanks to your reccomendation, wow it is amazing so far, thank you.
"In case you were off the planet when game of thrones was around" gave me a surprising LOL
I thought of joining the readalong but the place I order books from was out of books.
I also realized that I won't have time to join due to Malazan readalong, Wrath high on my tbr and receiving the Rhyria Revelations for Christmas, so I'll get to this one later
Haha comments from your brother on this are hilarious. Too bad he couldn't be on for us to jear him give you a hard time in person. Thanks for another great review! I have read ASOIAF so this should be an interesting series when I get to it. It's definitely high on my list.
I read those books along time ago. I have a question for you. If I remember correctly at one point somewhere in those books Mr Williams uses the word tawny to describe the skin color, and the phrase ""catlike eyes" of the Sithi. That combined with the cover art always made me picture the Sithi as more like cat people than traditional elves. Am I just remembering this all wrong. At the point I read those books, I was used to authors just using the word elf.
I thought Simon was pretty annoying in the beginning. I have a hard time reading from a child’s perspective. I felt the same way about Fitz in the Farseer Trilogy, and Nona from Book of the Ancestor. But hey, they gotta start somewhere. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts as you continue reading these books. They are absolutely fantastic!!!!
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I actually enjoyed part 2 very much, I love the travel parts of fantasy books because I am a “setting lover.” I also enjoyed the female characters and hope we see more of them in book 2. I agree with you that I spent a decent amount of time looking at the character list and a map to see where they were from originally. Book 2 starts with a summary of book 1; I don’t remember seeing that before. Was there a long gap between publication dates? I liked that quick summary even though there was only a week between my reads. (I began book 2 yesterday, 01/30. Many books on deck for February.)
If there's one thing no one can take away from grrm is his naming. Almost always cool, easy to pronounce names. Yea 6 aegons and Rhaegar, Rhaenyra, Rhaenys, and Rhaewhatever gets confusing at times, but nothing like some of the almost unpronounceable words in other fantasy, including Tad's
I agree with you on Part 2 being the slog of the book. Part 1 didn't seem super slow to me as I felt like it developed the beginning of the book fairly well. Part 2 though was extremely slow, and I couldn't wait to get it over with.
i like that shirt. and the video too
Fantastic read. Finally got back into it and man it is actually pretty solid.
Pros:
1.Beautiful writing. Tad makes great use of personifcation and he was pretty much cooking the whole time.
2.Character dialouge is actually pretty neat. Feels a little LOTR at first but it comes into its own.
3. Battle sequences. Absolutely fantastic. The way he writes the battles are phenemonal especially the siege at Nagilmund.
Bonus: Audiobook is amazing guys. It has background sounds and music that adds more depth to a scene.
Cons:
1.Super duper slow in the first two parts
2.Simon takes some time to grow on you. But he goes through a lot for a 14 year old so I cant help but love the kid. Still a whiny prick tho.
3.Weird to say this but the battles/fight scenes are a bit lackluster. Grand big siege battles are done great but a sword fight is pretty mundane in this book.
Great review!
Simon was never really annoying, just a little bland. All the shit he goes through (which gets worse in the 2nd book) makes it feel like he's earning every single step he takes down the path to being a hero. I was very surprised with how many people got killed off here. That sense of danger is not something I expected from a fantasy book this old. The good guys just keep getting pushed and it's hard to put the books down, I only have 150 pages left in Stone of Farewell now.
The story of how Sorrow got forged is easily the best thing in The Dragonbone Chair, that's the kind of shit heavy metal is made out of. I keep wishing Williams gave me more Sithi. The Sithi should be louder, angrier and have access to time machines. Whenever Sithi are not on the page, the other characters should be asking "Where are the Sithi?".
Great review for a great book! I think I was a bit more floored than you about how blatantly some plot points were lifted into ASOIAF. Reading TDC my jaw hit the floor sometimes when certain reveals happened (for one in particular it's even in the name!) Hope you enjoy the rest of the saga!
Oh they went up big time in book 2 ha ha
What would be a good book for a newbie to this genre? Would this be a good series to start with ?
I couldn't really get into it after reading 30 pgs or so. I might try it again, but my experience is that usually if I can't get into a book, I won't if I try it again (Name of the Wind and Way of Kings, for example).
I wanna read this series but I can't find those same copies anywhere here in Ireland because the UK covers are terrible.
I often get Simon & Fitz from the farseer trilogy confused in my head, probably because they both get apprenticed 🤷♂️
⚔️ Tad Williams is an author I don’t think that I ‘get’! I still have “Dragonbone Chair” on my shelves, but I DNF-ed it many, many years ago. I looked it up just now and it says my “Legend” labelled copy was first published in 1990, so it’s likely of that vintage - the faded, brown pages suggest as much too. I remember struggling with it and DNF-ing, and then I didn’t enjoy the first “Otherland” book either (so much so that I gave that book away). But I do wonder if I’ve now ‘levelled up’ sufficiently to cope with Williams’ work at my current age, which may be why I’ve kept hold of it. Anyway, no disagreement with you at all, of course, just one of those authors I have tended to avoid across the decades. David Brin and Julian May also fall into this rare category of not being for me, whose books I have look of similar vintage to Williams’, and neither of whom I’ve revisited in the past quarter century probably.
We seem to be in the minority. The issue I have with Williams just became more pronounced ad the series progressed. After a taking probably over a year to slog though GA2 it is the only book I have ever hurled across the room.
A friend told me to try Otherland, which I did. It was rinse repeat ofnthe issues I had but at least that series was shorter.
Totally agree, Part 2 was the part I enjoyed the least. Part 1 I actually loved.
I tried and failed to read the Dragonbone Chair twice. I was just so bored by Simon moping around the castle doing nothing, and only made it about 100 pages or so both times. Three months ago I made the third attempt, and today I just finished the end of To Green Angel Tower. I'm embarrassed to admit I ever found it boring, since the story that unfolded really swept me up. But I'll mention for anyone who might have had the same issue, because I can't emphasize how rewarding the series is once it gets rolling.
More Guinness is always good 😊
I loved this book, BUT I found the pacing to be frustrating through the first couple hundred pages. It felt like it took the majority of the page count to even touch on the things mentioned in the back cover summary. I just wish that summary on the back could have let the story do the talking so the partnership of Elias and the Stormking would have been more of a reveal. That said, I still loved it. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, for me, I guess.
You and your brother seem to have a fun relationship haha
If i don't like lotr, will i like it?
Huh I had the misconception this was straight classic fantasy in the vein of Feist or Eddings, I’ll have a closer look.
(Not that I have a problem with that, just not what I’m looking for atm)
The 3rd best fantasy series of all time IMO, after LOTR and Malazan.
I really love all of the Osten Ard novels - the original trilogy as well as the new 4-book-trilogy :-) I just finished 'Brothers of the wind' and had my fangirl-heart broken. Tad has such wonderful prose and I love all of the characters - even though his cast is so huge. Thanks the heavens for the appendix :-)
For me, I liked the overall story, but I didn't like the journey getting there. I also agree that the middle part is much more slower than the first. Unfortunately, I was not engaged enough with the story to continue the series.
One great way to establish a person as evil is to step on a puppy lol
I'm ploughing through the last book right now. I read it many years ago but have forgotten the story completely. I admire the quality of writing but I am getting so sick of Simon yet again being "lost and alone while losing track of his sanity" or "mystical dream sequence with important sounding but obscure information" for about the 10th time in this trilogy! I've found myself thinking "this is all great but please just advance the damn plot" so many times. I have about a quarter of the last book to go and there is just so much still to be resolved. Its actually a bit disappointing considering how many pages it has taken to get this far with so much still unanswered. The books influence is undeniable though on more recent fantasy.
Your brother sounds like a man of few words. Lol
#LFLR
"VBW"
Always looking for a good fantasy writer, though Clark Ashton Smith and Roger Zelazny are hard acts to follow. We’ll sink our teeth into Tad Williams.