Shadowmarch

I think the Goodreads rating of 3.75 stars is perfect for this book. It's not as good as Dragonbone Chair but it's good enough to fill the void I feel waiting for the last book in his latest Osten Ard series.

This is a Tad Williams book 1 of series and like every Tad Williams book 1 of series it is very very VERY slow.

The beginning is him building the characters, letting you really get to know them like you know a close friend. He then describes the landscape and buildings which I really love. At the end of most chapters he creates an ominous feel about the future war against mankind that will inevitably come.

The middle of the book will be so slow you'll want to pull your hair out. It's not necessarily just filler but it's information you don't really care about unless you want to know every single detail.

The ending is much better and everything is coming together and tensions have reached a breaking point and will come to a climactic end.

I've come to realize that people just don't know how to read his books because most modern readers don't have the patience. You have to pay close attention in the beginning and really let yourself imagine what he's describing instead of just breezing through because you want to reach your yearly 100 book challenge. And if you start to get bored then just take a break from it and read another book then come back to it. That sounds like a lot of work but his stories are just so much worth it.

This story is about a land that was inhabited by the Qar (fairies) but they aren't the cute cuddly Tinker Bell kind. They're the white haired, pail skinned, black eyed kind with sharp nails that will open up a can whoop ass real quick. Somehow humans invaded them and pushed back to the north and in order to escape Man they created the Shadowline which is a magical wall where if a human crosses it they become disoriented and are never seen again.

Many years later, humans have settled into the land and worried about political intrigue. The king has been captured and the oldest son is bartering his sisters maidenhood to get the King back. Also a powerful man, considered a God, has taken over a southern island and is wanting to take over the world. All while the Qar are preparing to kill all humans.

There are several similarities to his previous series but his rich imagination of the land, people, and creatures makes everything so fun. If you're a fan of Tad Williams then give it a shot but I would not start here if you've never read his work before.

I was quite reluctant to DNF this book. It's a book with a slow simmering plot, meant to be savoured rather than devoured. I wouldn't have minded doing this slowly - even if it takes me a year to finish this book - if the characters were likeable. Which they are not. Barrick & Briony are so whiny and such spoiled brats that the thought of enduring them for hundreds of pages to the end made my blood go cold.

On top of that I couldn't keep up with the dozens of subplots and characters in the first book and I hear it doesn't get any better with the last book.

The plot did pique my interest but this book is too much a slog due to the factors above. Like other reviewers mentioned - TW needs a ruthless editor to trim this book to manageable level.

If I was a student with time on my hands I probably would stick with this till the end. Unfortunately as a busy corporate worker constantly dogged by deadlines and whose free time is as precious as gold (or more), I just can't afford to do it.

This book is for more patient readers. I am, unfortunately, not one of those.

Like every Tad Williams book I've read, it takes 100+ pages to get the story going, but once set it's worth the wait. My only complaint (hence the spoiler marker, sorry) is that the answer to one of the mysteries was very much Deus ex Machina - the death caused by a thing we hadn't even heard of until the moment it was revealed to be the murderer. Otherwise, a great read, looking forward to the rest of the series.

Very, very slow to get moving. This is a world building book. Mr Williams is setting up the characters and the world for us. If this was a standalone book, I would probably hate it, but I understand it's purpose and the payoff looks to be worth it.