This epic novel deals with the naive boy Simon, a castle scullion, who dreams of adventures and heroism.
After several hundred pages, he actually finds himself going on an adventure, and meeting all manner of magics and magical creatures as he learns that adventure isn't all he dreamed it would be. Read this book to enter a fascinating world filled with magicians and priests both good and evil, ancient beasts of ill omen, and magical swords of power. There are some great characters here, and even the villains (the exception being Pryrates) are sympathetic to some extent. All his characters are interesting, even, to some extent the minor ones, and Tad Williams' world-building is absolutely second-to-none, and the ending leaves you hanging and breathless (although that can't be said for the rest of the book, which is mostly interesting descriptions of people or phenomenon) Tad Williams is not generally recognized as such, but he is the true modern master of the epic fantasy.

This is a great book so far. Although I'm only a little past halfway through, I still find it to be a great book. Yet so far I only give it a 4 out of 5 because, I know, like everyone else says, the starting is slow, not only slow, but un-interesting, which is the opposite of how most fantasy novels are. Just as most people must have experienced, quitting the book crossed my mind. However I am thankful I didn't for then I would never would have found out how much of an amazing book it has been so far. If you can get passed the tedious starting, then I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy novels.

I loved this book. It was the best thing I've ever read. The story and the characters were so real that by the end of this book I was terrified and hooked.

This book also inspired me to write my own book. Tad Williams is a great writer. I hope he writes more. (I what to know what happen to Josua's family after this series).