To Green Angel Tower: Book Three of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn [Paperback]

Tad Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2005 | Series: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn

Available in one volume for the first time since its hardcover publication over a decade ago-The FINAL book in the trilogy that launched one of the most important fantasy writers of our time

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This sprawling, spellbinding conclusion to the trilogy that began with The Dragonbone Chair weaves together a multitude of intricate strands, building to a suitably apocalyptic confrontation between good and evil. Prince Josua wins a first victory against the forces of his brother, Elias, who rules as High King in Osten Ard. Elias has the help of the dark priest Pryrates and of Ineluki the Storm King, onetime ruler of the immortal Sithi (the race that preceded humans). But others defy him, including Elias's own daughter, Princess Miriamele, the scullion turned knight Simon, and Camaris, once one of the greatest knights of Osten Ard and wielder of the sword Thorn, one of the three weapons that may effect a victory over Elias's hordes. As Josua's forces-- augmented by those Elias has wronged and by friendly Sithi--approach the king's stronghold, a secret battle takes place in the underlying caverns. It will affect not only the conflict's outcome, but also the futures of many races. The main caveat to Williams's engrossing epic is its length. A tetralogy might have been more easily digested, although that format might have drained some of the extraordinary tension built up in the book's closing pages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-This culmination of the trilogy is incredibly long and carries, besides the story, a dictionary of names, places, and other necessary information. It tells of the final battle between the forces of good and evil in the land of Osten Ard, a mythical place not unlike medieval Europe. Clearly, the author has been influenced not only by Tolkien, but also by Wagner's "Ring" story. Everything in Williams's narrative is larger than life-the individuals, the battles, the mysticism and magic. Yet his painstaking detail ensures that the world he creates is as believable and immediate as readers' everyday lives. The main character, Simon, is a reluctant hero. He is a superior warrior, yet he hates violence. He has been chosen as a seer by mystical beings who wish to aid his human counterparts, but he is never sure of his own worth. He understands cosmic truths, but considers himself ignorant. All action spins around Simon, but the book is replete with many other interesting characters, all fully developed. Enjoying the story's wealth of entertainment can literally take months, but for the author's fans it will be a treasure. It can also stand on its own.
Jessica Lahr, Edison High School, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 1104 pages
• Publisher: DAW Trade; First Edition edition (May 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756402980
• ISBN-13: 978-0756402983
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Former singer, shoe-seller, radio show host, and inventor of interactive sci-fi television, Tad Williams is now a full-time writer. His 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' series established him as an internationally bestselling fantasy author. The series that followed, 'Otherland', is now a multi-million-dollar MMO launching in 2012 from dtp/realU/Gamigo. Tad is also the author of the fantasy series, the 'Shadowmarch' books; the stand-alone Faerie epic, 'The War of the Flowers'; two collections of short stories ('Rite' and 'A Stark and Wormy Knight'), the Shakespearian fantasy 'Caliban's Hour' and, with his partner & collaborator Deborah Beale, the childrens'/all-ages fantasy series, the 'Ordinary Farm' novels. Coming in September 2012 are the Bobby Dollar novels, fantasy thrillers set again the backdrop of the monstrously ancient cold war between Heaven and Hell: the first is 'The Dirty Streets of Heaven.'

Tad is also the author of 'Tailchaser's Song': his first novel spawned the subgenre of cats and fantasy that we see widely today. 'Tailchaser's Song' is currently in preproduction as an animated film from Animetropolis/IDA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The absolute best, June 15, 2000

By 

Ilana Teitelbaum - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Green Angel Tower, Part 1 (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

One thing can definitely be said for Tad Williams: in comparison to other fantasy writers, who start big and then peter out, his writing improves in leaps and bounds with each passing work. All the threads he wove together so cleverly, beginning with 'The Dragonbone Chair' and continuing in 'Stone of Farewell', are revealed to their fullest extent in this majestic conclusion. Typical fantasy this is not. Throw your predictions out the window when you read this series--Tad knows cliches when he sees them, and avoids them masterfully until the very end.

Toward the end, the story begins to take on the quality of a lush piece of music: marching in ever-twining threads which like strains of melody, spiral upward, constantly adding new threads of power and beauty whenever the tune starts to become familiar. There are moments so moving that they are transcendant, and so imaginative that one is tempted to predict that this is an epic that will last after many others have faded with the years.

The characters only get better, Simon in particular, who literally goes to hell and back. Tad Williams does not put his hero to minor tests and allow him to earn his status as the hero with the swing of a sword; rather, like Winston Churchill, he demands "blood and toil, tears and sweat" in relentless profusion. Yet rather than being an orgy in pain and suffering, the story is uplifting in its depiction of boy who begins as 'ordinary', and in overcoming tremendous suffering and tests of courage, becomes a hero worthy of the name.

There are some drawbacks to this otherwise perfect book. For one thing, Tad Williams is lacking in his portrayal of women, primarily Miriamele and Vorzheva. The latter is constantly whining and irredeemably selfish--it's difficult to understand how a great guy like Josua got stuck with her, let alone risked his life for her sake. The fact that the author is obviously in love with her does not make liking her any easier.

Miriamele is well-realized character, but toward the end she becomes sulky, and the problems that exist in her relationship with Simon are never resolved, let alone discussed, since any such discussion deteriorates into cuddling. This makes the abrupt resolution of their relationship at the end hard to swallow--so they slept together. Maybe it'll put off their problems for a night--but what about the rest of their lives?

I also thought that some very dramatic events at the end should not have been narrated by Tiamak after the fact--it took away any sense of immediacy, and belittled the importance of Cadrach's wrenching sacrifice.

Other than that, though, what is there to say? This is an epic that actually lives up to its length and delivers. The author obviously knew where he was going from page one, and his intent drives the story home by the end with stunning power. Not by any means a light read--but deep and immensely satisfying.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 6 stars is what it should have!, December 1, 1999

By 

Chris Gatterbauer (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Green Angel Tower (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Book 3) (Hardcover)

I'll try to keep this short, yet still explain the multitude of reasons why you should (wil) buy this book. I am a student of biochemistry, and reading (everything i get my hands on) is my most important past time. The first time I read this series I read it in German (I live in Austria). Since then I have bought the English Paperback Version of all books, read it one more time in german, and three times in English; and now plan to buy the hardcover books (only few books get the "hardcover award" from me, since I couldn't afford it else - Lord of the Ring has, so do the Simarillion and LOTR, as well as a book about the roman law and its development until today...). Bought three times, read 5 times.....within 7 years... Anyway the whole series is ended with this book, wich in itself is as long as the previous two. The pace gets faster, the story more tense, the characters develop and are finally taking action themselves, the plot finally gets solved (...), a love story developing, a happy-end with a slightly bitter taste, you may dwell on the world you have grown to love on 1600 more pages. Problem is: it's too short! (whine, whine, i wan't more) Of course it isn't the perfect story/book. But that is as good as they get. Trust me-READ THIS BOOK. I'd be proud of you....(probably doesn't help you in any way, but still)

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why did it end so soon? :(, January 3, 2000

By 

Yossi Mills (Flushing, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Green Angel Tower (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Book 3) (Hardcover)

Unoriginal, boring, long winded? Unfortunately, we live in an "instant" society, instant gratification, instant highs, instant food, if something lasts for longer than an instant, we've been trained to find it boring. Fashions come and go in a year, sales are always high as we strive to be "un-boring", movies must perpetually keep viewers on the edge of their seat... That's why I read. "The book is better than the movie" syndrome occurs around 85% of the time, usually because the story as presented in the book is too slow, can't be packed into 2 hours, etc. This gives the movie a rushed, unfinished and undetailed impression, in comparison to the book. If you prefer movies to books, then this series is not for you. Unfortunately, however, this "perpetual action" syndrome has crept into literature, fantasy being no exception. Writers must churn out one pulp novel per year, keeping books to a healthy length and be madly full of action at every turn to gratify the baser whims of the less sophisticated readers. Tad Williams put a lot into this trilogy, more than his publishers anticipated when the work ran sorely overtime, more than the readers expected when we hassled the local bookshop for news of release dates, all in the name of art. If you want heads rolling, magic flying, a formula being strictly adhered to and a stock-standard cast of non-complex characters wandering around aimlessly and killing trolls, then this series is not for you. Tolkien wrote of a dragon, elves, small men, trolls, treasure, magical artifacts, rites of passage and a journey - so did many other authors. Are all works of fantasy to be compared to his? Yes, he was brilliant! Yes, he was original, but are all works of fantasy to be labeled "unoriginal" because they use an element of his work? It is almost impossible to name five works of fantasy since that don't contain any common element with Tolkien. So too with all writers hence, must a new book necessarily be judged in the light of all works preceding it, some small-minded critic not tolerating a common element or two with another work? We might as well cease reading. "There is nothing new under the sun", but sometimes a great story rips us off our seats and plunges us into an intricate and ALIVE world, spun from the imagination and rhetoric of the author, history, previously read works, current affairs, dreams and aspirations. This is one such series, and I can not recommend it strongly enough to any who would appreciate what is one of the most intricately woven and spellbinding trilogies set in a fantasy world. The momentum of fifteen hundred pages of pure art sweeps the reader of their feet and carries them through to the spectacular ending. When I awoke from this saga, I felt as if I'd woken from a pleasant dream.