The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn) Mass Market Paperback – November 7, 1989

"Maybe we have seen the better days. Maybe there is nothing left now but a losing battle against creeping darkness."It is interesting. I have noticed other fantasy series I've read have stolen a lot of stuff from Tad, even pulling multiple names directly! This is the real stuff though. I mean to be fair Tad himself is borrowing from stuff like the LOTR in some ways, but he makes it his own. I love the writing style. All the characters are interesting. There is a feeling of depth to the world. The story is entertaining. Feels refreshing to read this after plowing through stuff inspired by this that simply isn't as good. I may have to lower the stars of some of my reviews for other books for consistency.

In all my adult years trolling through the fantasy aisles of bookstores I routinely picked up Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" trilogy and put it back down again. It seemed way too complicated to follow, and I'll admit to being a little biased against male heroes and authors in my younger days.That changed gradually and then my opinion of Tad Williams changed completely when I read the first two novels of his latest fantasy trilogy Shadowmarch: Shadowmarch: Volume I and Shadowplay: Shadowmarch Volume II.And then this summer I fell in love with his absolutely incredible "Otherland" saga (City of Golden Shadow (Otherland, Volume 1),River of Blue Fire (Otherland, Volume 2), Mountain of Black Glass (Otherland, Volume 3), Otherland Vol. 4: Sea of Silver Light). But I was still nervous about reading this particular series because there was such a vast difference from my beloved otherland-sci-fi versus pure fantasy, normal earth universe verses made up lands, modern tech and slang (and beyond) versus fictional religions, cultures, languages and histories.But in the end the fact that Williams wrote it override my fears. Which was a good thing because at first this book really did not grab me. The other Tad William's books I read always had some kind of action going on-if it wasn't completely related to the action of the plot then it was background that the reader would really need to understand the rest. But "the Dragonbone Chair" wasn't like that really.Like his other series "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" is pretty damm complicated. It involves multiple governments, races, magical beings and characters, who all live in the land of Osten Ard-a land that has a long history of settlement by different people. The first who came weren't human but Sithi-a long living magical species. But eventually the growing population of humans stopped being friendly (or even subservient) to the Sithi and started taking their land-including the ancient stronghold of the Hayholt- a castle that has been added too by each ruler but which maintains it's Sithi bones.For years Osten Ard has been at peace. Most people are united in one religion and all the diverse people seem to get along well. All has prospered under the reign of Prester John, a human man who became king when he retook the Hayholt from a fierce dragon. But John is old and dying-and his eldest son Elias is heir to the throne.Our main character is Simon-an orphaned servant of the Hayholt who is treated (and acts) like a fairly stupid young teen. But because of his upbringing Simon knows every surface of the massive Hayholt-from the cellars to the very top of the Sithi built green angel tower. Lacking purpose in life he is apprenticed to the castles doctor-a man who is much more then he seems to be.Soon life goes down hill from almost all of Osten Ard. Under Elias' reign the land literally suffers. People start to fight petty battles and soon there is a larger battle, for it seems that Elias has made a terrible pact with an evil that never died-and the only hope of opposing him may lie with an old league who is unprepared for such a task and Elias's brother Josua, who never had any interest in ruling the land. And Simon it seems has a role to play-one that will take him to farther and stranger places then he ever saw from the top of a tower.I'll admit to almost giving up on this book. And that's because the first two hundred pages or so are very slow. And not slow in terms of time line-there are big leaps in the time line for the first two hundred pages (they cover maybe two or three years) and then the rest of the book takes place in under four months. It's just that there's no real action in the beginning of this book. There is some information that is valuable for the rest of the book but it is spaced so thinly between Simon's daily activities and other people's political wheeling and dealing that it all gets a little boring.But I made it through. And the rest of the book is just what I would expect from Williams-amazing. Simon's evolution as a character and as a man is very, very real-he's no perfect hero at all but a boy who is thrown into events beyond his control or ability to truly understand. And all of the multiple secondary characters are equally well developed. Which is one of the most wonderful things about the way Williams writes-his characters may live in a made up land and battle made up forces but really they aren't so different from the average person on the street.So is it complicated- yes. Lots of stuff to remember-yes (including the usual weirdly spelled and pronounced fantasy names.) But all and all it's a fun book in a series that seems like it has a lot to offer. I'm on to book two, The Stone of Farewell (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Book 2).Four stars.As a side note-I didn't really notice the kind of dark, sarcastic humor that flitted through the "Otherland" novels and "Shadowmarch"-but maybe that's because this is an earlier work. Hopefully it will be present in the latter part of the series.

I had heard frequently that this book starts slowly. And it does. But, that is fine by me. I liked getting to learn of the characters, the setting, and the world. Once this book gets moving, it really gets moving. The final third is one of the best endings of a book I have ever read. I can’t wait to read the second in the series.

(added 10/20/2015 - available on the AmazonUK site as an audible file, but Audible USA isn't even answering enquiries as to when/if it will come to the US market. Disappointed that Audible says 'We'll get right back to you' and over a month later... nada. Even with reminders.(added 06/16/2015 - Searched for this in Audible while on my Kindle - apparently the audio is coming out August 2015? But can't find the page while on my laptop. harumph.) Rehabilitating a 60 year old farm means I'm alone most of the time, moving around 30 acres, often doing repetitive labour. I listen to alot of free audio books from my library and have an Audible membership (soon to be dropped). I'd love to listen to these stories and have read them to my kids.I'm on my second set of paperbacks for these books and have gifted them to family and friends from 11yo to 58yo. I've stopped trying to review books for their literary worth - is it "good". I dunno - but I have found these books Entertaining. Good set of books for a gift to a young adult or older adult that enjoys humour and fantasy. A nice take on multi-culturalism - Elves, dwarves, royalty and wizards are shown to be people. The habits and culture may be a bit different, but they all lead very real lives of love, loss, hope and failure. It's funny how well a fantasy can teach your kids about the reality of life, compassion, honor and strength.As an integral part of the story, the glamour of legend and story is shown to be just a glittery reflection of reality. Alongside of Simon, you experience the hungry, dirty, frightening reality that is war and intrigue. Not to the point where I haven't allowed my thirteen yr old to read these - no graphic sex or gratuitous gore. The "lovestory" portions are a reflection of reality - Foot in mouth awkwardness and misunderstandings leading to over sensetive reactions. No glory of war or heaving bosoms here.I was homeless for almost a year 20 years ago (19yo, no family, no schooling - no... I was not a hippy/druggy/"soiled dove" - just unlucky and lost everything in a house fire) and as someone who knows the worth of dry socks and a safe place to sleep, the reality of hiking cross country is well portrayed. Hiding in trees, heart pounding so loudly you can't tell if someone is sneaking up on you, is a lousy way to spend night after night. Don't try to impress someone first thing in the morning with bug parts stuck to your sleep wrinkled face.Well... sorry if this isn't the best review I've written, but we're bringing in the hay, baby goats are being born and I just came in to cool off - so not much time to proofread this. Upshot is, if you enjoyed Redwall as a kid, you'll enjoy these. be well sf

Much hype for Tad Williams set my expectations very high. While the story kept my interest, I wasn't wowed. George R R Martin says this book inspired him to write Game of Thrones. In reading this book I found a myriad of things he took and ran with. The thing is, Martin's books are better.