After setting up the new status quo of Osten Ard in The Witchwood Crown, Tad Williams metaphorically blows it up from a character perspective, spreading widely many of the characters to whom he reacquainted us or introduced to us. While Simon and his chief advisor Tiamak remain in the Hayholt, his wife Miriamele is attending a wedding in Nabban, a land of once allies, now seemingly a veritable nest of vipers; their grandson Morgan is split from the group he was traveling with after the group was attacked. Across the land in the Empire of Grass, Unvar is attempting to survive and unite his people, Eolair is lost near the Grasslands, and the Sithi and Norns are reappearing in the world. In short, The Empire of Grass, the second installment of The Last King of Osten Ard, begins with chaos and is chaotic throughout. There are some minor spoilers for The Witchwood Crown below the jacket copy…
The kingdoms of Osten Ard have been at peace for decades, but now, the threat of a new war grows to nightmarish proportions.
Simon and Miriamele, royal husband and wife, face danger from every side. Their allies in Hernystir have made a pact with the dreadful Queen of the Norns to allow her armies to cross into mortal lands. The ancient, powerful nation of Nabban is on the verge of bloody civil war, and the fierce nomads of the Thrithings grasslands have begun to mobilize, united by superstitious fervor and their age-old hatred of the city-dwellers. But as the countries and peoples of the High Ward bicker among themselves, battle, bloodshed, and dark magics threaten to pull civilizations to pieces. And over it all looms the mystery of the Witchwood Crown, the deadly puzzle that Simon, Miriamele, and their allies must solve if they wish to survive.
But as the kingdoms of Osten Ard are torn apart by fear and greed, a few individuals will fight for their own lives and destinies—not yet aware that the survival of everything depends on them.
The Empire of Grass takes place just about where the previous volume (The Witchwood Crown) ended, with Tad Williams cycling through various narratives/points of view as these characters are struggling to pull themselves out of the dark – and a darkness that becomes more enveloping – of their situations.
With each character, Williams immerses readers in their particular story building a sense of urgency and immediacy – as Simon struggles with being alone in his castle, or Mirimele fending off political machinations at every corner, or Morgan journeying through the wilds the Aldeheorte and befriending strange creatures.
What becomes most clear is that the evil Simon and his compatriots who they thought they vanquished in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn was only resting. The Norn Queen Utuk’ku, has an even grander plan of destruction in this series. Although defeated, she was not destroyed and her faction of elf-like people are squabbling a bit amongst themselves, though they ultimately manage to drive towards a unified goal of humanity’s destruction. That evil has crept into the Hayolt, in the guise of Pasevalles who is connected to something darker, though what that is remains to be seen.
One of the more fascinating storylines involves Jarnulf, the warrior captured by the Norns, and Nezeru, the “sacrifice” to the Norns find themselves something of uneasy allies. Although one Jarnulf is human and Nezeru a halfblood, having a Norn father and a human mother, they are both captives and abused by their captors. There’s a good deal of both characters struggling with their beliefs in the face of their unpleasant situation.
The twins of Miriamele’s uncle Josua make for an interesting dichotomy of nature/nurture and how far their paths have diverged from each other. It isn’t a spoiler at this point to point out that Unver of the Grasslands is Josua’s son and Tzoja is Josua’s daughter. Tzoja finds herself intertwined with the Norns, while Unver is rising in the ranks of the Thrirthing Clans of his mother, or the Empire of Grass which gives the book its title.
As in the previous novel, anytime the Trolls (Binabik, his daughter and soon-to-be son in law) are on the page, I find myself smiling. Tad most strongly pulls the reader in with these characters, at least this reader. Their unique almost Yoda-like way of speaking makes for such an enjoyable storyline, as does the import of their journey – locating Morgan.
What may be most impressive at this point in Tad Williams grand saga of Osten Ard is that this is the sixth book set in the world and more layers continue to be revealed. These layers are physical relative to the Hayholt, the castle from which Simon and Miriamele rule. Equally interesting are the layers that unfold surrounding the Keida’ya, the collective name for the Norn, Sithi, and all non-human-humanlike characters in the world. This isn’t to say that Williams didn’t provide ample world-building details in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn or that what he’s revealing in the first two books of The Last King of Osten Ard retcon what came before. No….just that this world, much like our own, I suppose, is far more complex than we – and more importantly – many of the characters originally realized. All told, the worldbuilding on display is superb and an essential element of the storytelling being conveyed as a whole.
This may go without saying for many readers, especially those whose shelves include a substantial amount of Epic Fantasy, but The Empire of Grass is just one part of the whole story. There is little closure as the novel draws to a conclusion. There are however a pleasant number of storyline convergences, with characters who seemed to be separated by great distances coming together. This is a journey I am loving, for the immersion into the world, to “living with” the characters, to the story being told (which pleasingly is still not 100% clear!).
Highly Recommended
© 2019 Rob H. Bedford
Hardcover, 688 Pages, plus Appendix
Published by DAW, May 2019
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
http://www.tadwilliams.com
Kudos for this in-depth and smart review. I agree with everything you say. May I still humbly point out some typos and errors? Well … I just can’t help myself anyway , I am ocd about Osten Ard, so:
The most important one is that Tinukeda’ya is not the collective noun for Sithi and Norn, that would be Keida’ya. The Tinukeda’ya came with the Sithi from the Garden, if they have another than servant master relation is yet to be seen.
Also EoG takes off when TWC ended not when it began and Nezeru is a halfblood, having a Norn father and a human mother. And finally two littke typos: Utvar => Unver, Eolar => Eolair.
Other than that: awesome review, cheers!
I appreciate the kind words and suggestions. Changes have been made.