[Mithfânion]

I see a lot of recs for it here at the board. Wherein lies its strength?

They were now available as a boxed set at a considerable discount so I'd like to know if this might appeal to me. It's either this or the Cheysuli books I mentioned in another thread. Or maybe I'll buy the other series later, who cares.

Cheers http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Mithfânion (edited January 01, 2002).]

[Gabe]

It has the only portrayal of elves that doesn't merely hark back to Tolkien or paint them as humans with pointy ears. It suffers from having an utter idiot as its main protagonist and an ending that made me want to vomit.

[mundanemies]

I loved the first two books of the series and I guess I can say that I did like the last book too, but boy was there so much totally unncessary stuff there. Williams apparently went ballistic and forgot that one can tell a tale without explaining both everything and everyone's doings. So much excess that could have been cut off easily.

Tad is a good writer though. His prose flows. But he also loves his words a tad too much for my taste.

[Mithfânion]

Simon is an idiot? That's the first I've heard of that.
Although I have heard many a complaint about the ending (of which you needn't tell me! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif )

[Warewolf]

I loved this trilogy (well, it was a trilogy in hardback anyway http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif ). I think the thing that made it so good was the fact that Williams' world was so vivid: elves and dwarves were reimagined, the villains and creatures were scary as hell, references to obscure historical facts made you shiver with anticipation, and he did an excellent job of handling religion. And the places he took you: the "elf" and "dwarf" (they are not called this in the books) strongholds, ancient places of power, forgotten lands. Wow! I just cannot say enough good things about this series.

The only let down was that he seemed to rush the ending (I hate when that happens). Still, it was a very satisfying and enjoyable read. I don't think you can go wrong with it. I have all the Cheysuli books, but I haven't read them and so can't compare the two series.

[Qin]

Was the short story by Williams in Legends 3 indicative of the writing style of the actual series?

[Mithfânion]

Warewolf, are you telling me this book was once available as an all-in-one volume? In hardcover?

I can't find that anywhere, not even on Alibris as a second hand.

[Rob B]

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn was originally published as 3 Hardcovers:
The Dragonbone Chair
Stone of Farewell
To Green Angel Tower

Upon paperback publication, tGAt was so large as a hardcover (1023 pages with pretty small type) Tad and the publisher decided rather than publish one really fat paperback with thin, not so good quality paper and very small type, they would rather publish two equal length paperbacks standard good quality paper and normal sized text.

That said, MS&T is probably my favorite Epic/High Fantasy series. Tad created probably on of, if not THE most rich and living fantasy world, people with believable characters, great battle fight/scenes, enough magic to still seem magical without going overboard.

[Mithfânion]

That's interesting.

How would you compare them to Farseer trilogy? The worldbuilding and the protagonists for instance?

[Mhysa]

I didn't care much for it. I read the first two books. I thought the plot was okay, but moved very slowly. The characters were okay, but I didn't love them. Maybe I expected too much from this series.