To Green Angel Tower (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn) (Hardcover)

by Tad Williams (Author)

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.

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1104 pages
• Publisher: DAW Hardcover; 1st edition (March 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886775213
• ISBN-13: 978-0886775216
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #771,365 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #35 in

  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Williams, Tad

• This is item 3 in The Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 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) (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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 6 stars is what it should have!, December 2, 1999

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

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)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tad Williams: A decidedly brilliant writer, August 20, 1997

By	[e-mail] (Stephanie in Ft. Lauderdale, FL) - See all my reviews

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

The first thing I would like to say about this series, something which I almost couldn't believe I had found on the science fiction/fantasy bookshelves (especially after the shock I took with the Robert Jordan books) is that . . . and this is really quite amazing . . . the characters on the COVER of the book looked *exactly* like their DESCRIPTIONS *IN* the book! Besides this amazing feat, what struck me most about the whole series was the development of the main character. Williams succeeds wonderfully in absorbing the reader in his realistic depiction of Simon's growth from a clumsy, dream-filled boy to a clumsy, love-struck adolescent to a slightly more mature (but still clumsy) young man. Also, he masterfully transforms the tired old formula of disguising the standard fantasy races by giving them a different name. He imbues these characters with such incredible detail that you barely notice the gimick. Altogether a great read, worth the hours it takes to get through the dictionary-sized tomes