Reviews

Confession time this one isn't for me it's just too slow. Some long books cast you under a spell and this did in places which Is why I can't rubbish it completely, but then I don't think you can because for every book that isn't for you someone else might love it.

fullwom777's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

wallace_korp's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

paracyclops's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I've been on a long search for epic fantasy that I really like. For reasons I won't go into here, I really should like it, but in practice very few books in the subgenre have grabbed me. Tolkien, Le Guin (Earthsea), George R.R.R.R.R.R. Martin, Mike Brooks God-King Chronicles and that's about it. I've read a lot of first books in long series, and rarely gone any further. The Dragonbone Chair was a bit of a surprise, then. It's the first published in a lot of books Tad Williams has written in the same setting, although they don't all constitute a singe storyline, so I'll have a lot of reading pleasure ahead of me, if he maintains the same standard throughout.

It's not the most groundbreaking world, being a fairly straightforward quasi-medieval setting, whose cultures are built from northwestern-European materials and languages, but it's constructed with close attention to detail, and it's a plausible riff on the theme of knights and castles. Williams make the effort to depict daily life in detail, and broadly, he gets things right. His characters seem very much to be products of their cultural and social context, and they're bound by the webs of social obligation that you would expect of real humans in a real place. His worldbuilding leans to the mythopoeic, although he does have a tendency to explain things, which drags it back towards the historical—he doesn't quite understand the importance of the distinction, in the way that Tolkien and Le Guin do, for example. The story is classic high fantasy fare, with ancient betrayals, magic swords, dragons, supernatural antagonists, and all of that fun stuff—it's well plotted, and pretty straightforward. The characters are likeable (when they're meant to be), and Williams spends a lot of time in a very closely zoomed third-person perspective, narrating their interiorities as much as their actions. He also writes well—it was possible to take pleasure in his prose, his metaphors, his images and so on. This is worthy of comment, as in my experience most epic fantasy writers have very poor technique. It's not good enough to carry the book on its own, but it brings some extra pleasure to the reading experience.

There were quite a few moments when I became aware that the plot had not advanced, and that I had not learned anything new about the world, for quite a lot of pages. However much I like the characters and the prose, neither are quite compelling enough to compensate for these lacks—and when I found myself waiting for the next thing to happen, neither seemed quite as entertaining. I think the whole book could probably be cut by a third without losing anything. However, the bits that do need to be there kept me sufficiently engaged to forgive Williams this failing, and overall, I enjoyed the book a great deal.

amiascah's review against another edition

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This is a well written nice epic story that was just too slow and theres so many other things I want to watch.

qjbrown96's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was a rollercoaster. At first I was thinking that this was going to be the best book ever and then it got so boring I almost put it down and then it got pretty good again. I can definitely understand why some people hate this book but I thought it turned out pretty good especially since it was made in the 80’s. I think the hardest part for me with fantasy books is that I’m trying to find the next Game of Thrones and nothing I’ve read matches up that masterpiece. Although I can see where Martin got a lot of inspiration from Williams in this book. Of course like most fantasies there’s similarities with Tolkien. There’s the evil force that seemingly wants to rule the world, there’s different bands of humans, there’s Giants, large wolves, large dog like creatures, Siths(elves), and Trolls(Dwarves). Binabik the Troll and Morgenes are my favorite characters.

disagreeable's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It was a rough go. So slow to start. I thought, honestly that the main character was disabled for the first bit. Turns out he just kinda sucks. It picks up after 175 pages. Before that there are 1000 names of places and people and events that is impossible to keep track of or care about. Some call it world building I call it too much. But, like I say it picks up. Lots of goings on. Some fun and exciting. Some tedious and blah, but important to the story.
I started this book knowing that I’m going to read all three. So I’m off to start the second. Hopefully it’s more exciting. If not, at least I can say I tried.

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