Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
                          by Tad Williams

              Review copyright (c) 1996 by Doug Ingram

	With the long fantasy series becoming the major focus of most
speculative fiction book publishers these days, it's nice to know that
occasionally someone will come along with a story so impressive in scope
and so rich in depth that it actually DESERVES three or more books.
Such is the case with "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn", a four-book series
by Tad Williams.  This series tells the story of the decline of a 
human empire in the face of an evil magical plot orchestrated by a
wicked human priest (Pyrates), an ancient race of faerie-like beings 
(the Norns) and their powerful undead rulers (Utuk'ku and Ineluki).
For the most part, this saga is told through the eyes of a "kitchen boy" 
named Simon, who is swept along with events at first but eventually
has an important role to play.

	The story opens as an old and greatly respected king, Prester
John, is on his deathbed.  His oldest son, Elias, prepares to assume
the throne, but the younger son, Josua is troubled by the fact that
Elias has grown so close to his advisor, Pyrates.  Pyrates is one of
those characters who seems to appear in every fantasy series:  a twisted,
mean soul who so clearly emanates evil that you wonder why any of the
characters in the novel would want to do his bidding.  I would have
appreciated much greater development of this character and his relationship
with Elias prior to Prester John's death, and I think that Williams is
certainly up to the task of exploring the motivations involved but really
only hinted at in this story.

	Meanwhile, as Simon begins to follow the course of events, he
takes up an apprentice-ship with an eccentric old wizard named Doctor
Morgenes, who tries to teach him a little bit about the history of the
realm.  Unfortunately for Simon, the apprenticeship is forcibly cut
short when he stumbles upon one of Pyrates' foul plots against Josua,
and Simon soon finds himself fleeing his home to eventually serve
Josua's cause and Morgenes' wishes.  During his travels, Simon is befriended
by a troll (in this story, a hobbit-like race from the icy North) named
Binabik, a very entertaining character who serves as Simon's guide and
mentor.

	The conflict between Elias and Josua soon grows to involve the
entire realm as well as the Sithi, a fearie race that split off from the
Norns in the distant past.  In the end, the human conflict and the magical
conflict become the same battle.  To say much more about the plot of the 
novel would needlessly introduce spoilers in the review, so I will simply 
leave the plot summary at that.  After all, probably the strongest element
of this series is the plot, and I'd hate to take anything away from it.

	To really give this series a fair shake, one has to criticize
it based upon how it fits within the genre.  As I've already noted,
there are several "stock" characters/plot devices at work here.  You've
got the well-intentioned king mixed up with an evil manipulating advisor,
the eccentric and forgetful old wizard, the rebellious royal son/daughter,
the out-of-depth central character trying to find his/her place in the
great scheme of things while remaining true to himself/herself, the
ruthlessly evil supernatural force trying to bring misery and despair
to the world, etc.  But if you've read a lot of fantasy, you realize
going in that it is part of the genre, you accept it, and you move on
to see what new things this author has to offer.

	And Williams has a lot of new things to offer.  For one, the plot
is very engaging and unpredictable.  Rather than getting bogged down during
this series as I sometimes do in long fantasy novels, I found myself more
and more eager to find out what happened next as I read further along.
Another great thing about this series is the character development.
While Williams doesn't do too much to explore the "evil" characters in
this book, he goes to great length to describe the motivations and
conflicts of the "good" characters.  Characters like Simon and Miriamele
show tremendous development throughout the series, and it is all done
in a very plausible, interesting (and often surprising) way.

	In short, this series stands head and shoulders above the masses
in the epic fantasy genre.  It has a very entertaining story, characters
worth caring about, and it holds more surprises than you might think.
Perhaps my only true criticism of this series is the perfunctory nature
of the denouement, in which most of the plot threads are neatly tied up
in a space of about thirty pages.  After 2500+ pages of the development
of the relationship between Simon and Miriamele, the external and
internal struggles of Josua, Isgrimnur, Eolair and Tiamak, and the
strained history between the humans and the Sithi, it seems a little
more time could be spent resolving some of these threads.  On the other
hand, if my biggest complaint about a 2600-page series is a nitpick
about the final 30 pages, you know it must be pretty good.

Doug Ingram // d.ingram@tcu.edu // "Carpe Datum"
	http://personal.tcu.edu/~dingram/books.html (for more reviews)

%A Williams, Tad
%T The Dragonbone Chair
%I DAW Books
%C New York
%D 1989
%G ISBN 0-88677-384-9
%S Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

%A Williams, Tad
%T Stone of Farewell
%I DAW Books
%C New York
%D 1991
%G ISBN 0-88677-480-2
%S Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

%A Williams, Tad
%T To Green Angel Tower, Part 1
%I DAW Books
%C New York
%D 1994
%G ISBN 0-88677-598-1
%S Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

%A Williams, Tad
%T To Green Angel Tower, Part 2
%I DAW Books
%C New York
%D 1994
%G ISBN 0-88677-606-6
%S Memory, Sorrow and Thorn