Tad Williams

Shadowmarch — (2004-2010) Publisher: Williams opens another of the intricate, intriguing sagas that are his stock-in-trade. In a once turbulently conflicted land of humans, elves, and dwarves, an old truce is starting to unravel. The frontier called the Shadowline, between the Twilight Lands and those of humans, is being breached. The first Marchlands kingdom in the path of Twilight invaders is in disarray, for its king is a prisoner, and not all accept his elder son's regency. What's more, the cruel empire of the south is moving north. So the Marchlands are caught between two foes while having to deal with internal intrigues and inexperienced rulers. When the prince regent is killed, apparently by one of his closest advisors, the surviving regents are an impetuous princess and a disabled prince. Trust at court and in the kingdom dwindles even as Twilight forces attack, and responsibilities the princess never dreamed of or prepared for fall upon her.

Shadowmarch

Shadowmarch is the start of yet another epic fantasy trilogy by one of the genre's better known authors. While I wouldn't personally equate Shadowmarch with Tad Wiliams' earlier masterpiece (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn), it does stand above much of what is being written today. As is typical of fantasy, for that matter most genre novels, there are echoes of earlier works by the same author and other works by different authors. One grows to expect that; it isn't the complete and utter originality that often makes a work but what one does with the similar situations/characters. By that comparison, Shadowmarch does quite well, for the most part.

The basic premise is the Southmarch lands border the Shadowline, a magical barrier between the lands of man (in a very broad manner) and the lands of the Q'ar, the Faerie race that once lived alongside man but was driven out ages ago when man hysterically blamed them for the onset of a plague. Now the Q'ar are ready to take their lands back. Meanwhile, to the south, a great empire under the god-king Autarch is gobbling up lands and threatening Southmarch and its fellow small countries from that direction. Southmarch is in disarray as King Eddon is being held for ransom in one of the smaller countries between the Autarch and Southmarch. His three children, Kendrick, Barrick, and Briony must deal with the political infighting among their neighbors, the human threat of the Autarch, the supernatural threat of the Q'ar streaming across the Shadowline, as well as assassination attempts, possible family madness, an inopportune offer of marriage, suspicion of all they once held close, and on the list goes. Two other major sideplots involve one of the Autarch's many brides (this plot never merges with Southmarch in this novel but clearly will eventually) and a funderling named Chert who finds a mysterious "big person" child tossed across the Shadowline by the Q'ar and adopts him.

This only covers part of the plot, so its complexity should be pretty obvious. Shadowmarch is not a fast-paced book, don't expect a lot of pitched battles or fiery oratory or major questing. It is an introductory book to a massive work and it allows all the stories and their corresponding complexities to unfold at a leisurely pace. Will some find it slow? Probably, but the stories and most of the characters are compelling enough that I don't think it ever lags. As an introductory novel, there are more questions than answers by the end, leaving the reader wanting more despite having just finished 600 or so pages.

The characters vary in their depth. There are a lot of them, some more major than others, but there are enough important ones that sometimes they get short shrift. Briony is pretty full-featured, though one wishes that as she changes due to her increasing responsibilities that Williams would have let us simply see/feel those changes rather than have Briony or others point them out to us ("she was harder... "). Barrick's story is intriguing, but his character languishes a bit, too often is given little on-page time and when he is present it's too often in whining, passive fashion. This begins to change toward the end in welcome fashion and his seems destined for much more in book two. Chert, the funderling delver, is probably the best drawn character and his side-story involving the mysterious child has many positive elements — tension, suspense, humor, sorrow, passion. It's in many ways the best of the stories. The one involving the Autarch's young new wife is less successful. Partially because it has an overly-familiar feel to it plot-wise, partially because it's so disconnected from the rest of the story though obviously that will change, partially because it's so predictable, unlike the rest of the stories. A far more successful character is the guard captain in love with Briony (he keeps this to himself for obvious reasons) who for various reasons ends up heavily involved in both the war with the Q'ar and the other more human threats. His character is richly drawn and the time Williams takes with him is well-spent.

Finally, it's always a pleasure to see Williams' view of the fairie, which tends to be much more dark and diverse than most authors. If anything, there is too little from their perspective and one hopes for more in the next novels. The language is heightened and the creativity picks up several notches in their sections.

The ending, if one can say this after 600 pages, seems a bit rush, has a bit of anti-climax to it, a bit of deus ex machina that is unexplained, but these are relatively minor flaws and the questions it leaves are much more interesting than the answers it gives.

Fans of Tad Williams' earlier work will see clear echoes and might think it pales a bit to Sorrow (or Otherworld though personally I wasn't a fan of that series and think this better). Fans of George R.R. Martin's series will note clear similarities that should be chalked up to genre rather than theft. If I had to choose, I'd say Martin's is a bit better (much more so in dealing with the political), but there isn't a huge gulf. And in comparison to much of what's out there, Shadowmarch, like Martin's, is a step (or more) above. Strongly recommended. —Bill Capossere

Shadowmarch

The plot of Shadowmarch is rather complex, but the basics of the story are simple. Three groups vie for time in the main storyline. First and foremost are the lands of Southmarch, ruled for many generations by the Eddon family. Directly to their north are the lands of the Q’ar. The Q’ar are the fairy folk, long ago driven out of the southern regions by humans. The Q’ar have not let the many years soften their bitterness and hatred of humans. The third group involved in the story inhabit the desert kingdom of Xis to the far south, and they are ruled by the not so nice god-king Autarch. The fairies want their land back, and the southern-based god-king wants everything. The Eddons and the people of Southmarch simply want to survive. The narrative flows back and forth mainly between these three locations, telling the story from the perspective of several individuals in each of the three geographic areas.

Shadowmarch is essentially one ginormous prologue. It is in this book that you become intimately familiar with all the major players in the Shadowmarch series. It is a very entertaining read despite the fact that its main purpose is to set you up for the remaining books. My summary does not do the complexities of the plot justice. There is so much going on that I would have to write a book of equal size just to explain it all to you. Don’t run away just yet, it’s not as bad as it sounds! Tad Williams is amazingly adept at weaving complex stories in a digestible manner. I ran away from huge epic fantasies because I was growing weary of books filled with overly complex family lineages and violently tragic storylines. Shadowmarch has been my antidote, and has renewed an excitement for long epic fantasy that I thought I’d lost some time ago.

Shadowmarch has a large number of major characters. Some get more time than others, but in general the attention is spread fairly evenly among them. The most prominent characters are the Eddon twins, Briony and Barrack. A large portion of the book is spent with those two and their dealings in and around Southmarch castle. The next in line would probably be Chert the Funderling. Funderlings are a dwarflike people who are the miners and stone craftsmen of Southmarch. Chert’s story centers on a strange boy he finds near the northern border close to the lands of the Q’ar. Chert is probably my favorite character. He is funny, intelligent, and kind, and his stone-themed curses never failed to make me chuckle. The characters I just mentioned are only the Southmarch cast. There are also the fairies of Q’ar and the Autarch’s people in Xis, who provide the left and right to Southmarch’s center stage.

I'm very glad I decided to tackle this seemingly daunting series. I have not read any of Tad’s other works, but if they are anything like this, then I just increased my TBR pile exponentially. I listened to Shadowmarch on audio CD by Brilliance Audio. Shadowmarch is narrated by Dick Hill, and he is nothing short of brilliant. Mr. Hill is one of those voice actors who act their parts rather than simply read them. I was enthralled with his performance. I actually own the print version and have never read it, but when Brilliance sent me the audio version I could no longer ignore it. I will continue to choose the audio version over the print version for Shadowmarch. —Justin Blazier

Shadowplay

On the surface, Volume 1 of Shadowmarch has all the makings of a fully realized epic fantasy: maps, appendix, a rich background history, excerpts (Book of Regret, The Book of the Trigon, Revelations of Nushash) to preface each chapter, a huge cast of characters, races, locales, gods, goddesses and much more to bring the world of Shadowmarch to life.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot more involved in making a great fantasy and I felt that Shadowmarch was sorely lacking in some areas. First and foremost, the overall story is clichéd, uninspiring and predictable. Sure, some plotlines are interesting to follow like Quinnitan’s arc in the kingdom of Xis or Chert’s fun adventures, not to mention the concept behind the Shadowline/Shadowlands which offers something a bit different, but for the most part Shadowmarch is a boring, overly trite affair, particularly the scenes involving the court intrigues set in Southmarch.

To make matters worse, the characters are very formulaic — for example you have royal twins, a captain of the guard who longs for something beyond his station, a physician who dabbles in the mystical and a poet among others, not counting such fantasy tropes as Funderlings (basically dwarves), Rooftoppers (tiny people), and Qar (fairy folk) just to name a few. Fortunately, some of the narratives are engaging like the aforementioned Quinnitan and Chert Blue Quartz, and to some extent Matthias Tinwright or Captain Vansen, but then you have Princess Briony and Prince Barrick who were two of the most annoying and whiny characters that I’ve read in some time. While I understand that their particular personalities are part of their nature and integral to the overall story, it doesn’t prevent them from being irritating.

Overall, Shadowmarch was a difficult read for me. While parts of it were entertaining, I had to force myself to finish the book, and by the time I had, I wasn’t sure that I was going to continue reading the series… but I did.

And thankfully Shadowplay was a much more enjoyable read for me. For starters, the second volume in the Shadowmarch trilogy improves in almost every area over its predecessor, most noticeably with a story that is much more engaging, complex and vaster in scope. Where Shadowmarch was merely a long-winded set-up piece introducing us to characters and places and establishing history and plotlines, Shadowplay is an incessant build-up of action, suspense, and drama that picks up immediately from the cliff-hanger events of Shadowmarch and continues on until its own exciting unresolved ending.

Sure, there are still fantasy clichés and foreseeable plot twists that plague the book, but not nearly to the extent that Shadowmarch suffered from. Plus, the characters this time around are much more fun to follow. Prince Barrick, though still whiny at times, has, along with Ferras Vansen, probably the most fascinating storylines in the entire book with their journeys through the Twilight Lands, which is where we really get to see Tad Williams’ imagination soar. Even Princess Briony is entertaining to read, though I felt that her arc was still probably the weakest and most hackneyed. I was disappointed that both Chert and Quinnitan played lesser roles this time around, but new viewpoints of fresh (Pelaya, Daikonas Vo) and familiar faces (Sister Utta, Pinimmon Vash) helped to offset that while developing a couple of interesting supporting characters (the imprisoned King Olin Eddon, Sulepis the Autarch of Xis). Matt Tinwright’s narrative seemed to be the most irrelevant, but every character, no matter how big or small, plays an important part in the overall story, which should come to fruition in the final chapter of Shadowmarch, Shadowrise.

Of course, no matter the improvements in story or characterization, Shadowplay would not work if not for Tad Williams’ skills as a writer. Shadowplay does a much better job of showcasing Mr. Williams’ adeptness at world-building, establishing lore, managing numerous plotlines/subplots and creating suspenseful situations for his characters.

So what started out initially as hesitancy in continuing a series that had failed to impress me, turned out to be a surprisingly fun adventure and I’m happy that I persevered to read Shadowplay. While I would never place Tad Williams’ Shadowmarch trilogy alongside the likes of George R.R. Martin or Steven Erikson, it has been a worthwhile read that I look forward to completing. —Robert Thompson

Shadowplay

Shadowplay is the second book in Tad Williams' massive epic fantasy series, Shadowmarch. The plot was just starting to get really interesting when the first book ended, so I was eager to start Shadowplay. Things have gone awry in the March Kingdoms. Book two starts in chaos and things only go downhill from there. I'm not normally a reader of classic epic fantasy, since I often find things like family lineage, court politics and over-dramatic heroic battles boring. This series has all of this, but this time it seems to work for me. I'm being entertained despite the fact that this is territory I've visited many times before.

The story picks up right where Shadowmarch left off. You would think the second book in such a massive series would suffer a bit form middle book syndrome, but Shadowplay does not lull in the least. The point of view switches between several characters as they each deal with the changing world around them, so this keeps the story fresh without getting confusing.

There is a simple purity to Tad Williams' writing that's difficult to put my finger on, but the characters are what really make Shadowplay great. Princess Briony is continually challenged to adapt to new situations. The annoying independent streak she displayed as a noble child is the only thing keeping her alive as she fumbles through the places she now finds herself in. Then there is her twin brother Barak, who is not as likable. In fact, Barak is probably the least likable character in the entire story. The fact that his storyline pairs him with two other very strong characters is the only thing that keeps me from losing interest in him entirely. There are many other characters we follow as well, and all of them have their own enjoyable qualities that add to the overall narrative.

I have often been told that Tad Williams is an amazing writer, and it was that reputation alone that got me started on this series. I'm certainly glad I gave it a chance. I listened to this on audiobook by Brilliance Audio. It was narrated by Dick Hill, who does a wonderful job. Every character has a unique voice (that is very difficult to do when you have so many characters). Mr. Hill makes it a fun and exciting listen. I will be sure to keep my eye out for more books read by Hill. —Justin Blazier

Shadowrise

Shadowrise is Tad Williams' third and thus concluding novel of the Shadowmarch trilogy, begun in Shadowmarch and continued in Shadowplay. So in this final volume… wait, hold on… I’m now being told that Mr. Williams, clearly feeling a sense of fantasy author peer pressure, has decided that, yes, while this is the “concluding volume,” it has in fact been split into two (hmmm, where have I heard that before), making this trilogy, in usual fantasy fashion, four books. At least. Maybe five. Who knows?

In truth though, I’ve found the degree to which this sort of thing annoys me is in direct inverse relation to the quality of the books themselves. And I can’t say I found myself particularly upset that Williams has extended Shadowmarch another five hundred pages or so. Or, you know, another thousand.

Book one was a typical starter novel: relatively slow-paced so as to introduce character, setting, necessary background information, etc. and leaving the reader with more questions than answers. It had its issues, was a bit uneven in its treatment of character and various storylines, but I found it mostly compelling throughout and found that Williams’ characteristically sharp writing more than compensated for the few flaws and found ways to make even the hoariest of genre tropes feel relatively fresh. Shadowplay picked up the pace quite a bit, evened out the quality among the numerous storylines, and improved the readability of several of the more annoying or weak characters from Shadowmarch. And Shadowrise continues in that same strong vein.

Like the previous novels, Williams shifts point-of-view among several characters and plot lines, which are far too numerous and complex to go into at this stage of the series, save to say that narrative lines that seemed somewhat disconnected or even wholly separate are now starting to intertwine, in ways both expected and unexpected. The shifts themselves are fluid and easily followed, but more than in the others I felt a bit rushed through them at times and I found myself wishing Williams had let us spend some more time in each. Part of the reason for this, however, is that Williams is better here than in book one at offering up separate stories of equal narrative force.

Part of what I enjoyed so much in Shadowrise is the way he does this in varied fashion. We follow several characters preparing for small-scale battle (and a few actual skirmishes), another character’s lone (save for a talking bird) trek through a strange land, another character’s singular focus on escaping her captor, another’s first moves into the realm of political intrigue as well as romance and so on. Each strand is compelling and suspenseful, though the means of evoking that interest varies greatly.

While we’re still working with some of the same-old, same-old fantasy tropes (twins, delvers, strange forests, etc.) as with the others, Williams puts enough of his own stamp on things and creates such fully fleshed characters that the standard forms don’t detract from the reading experience. And they are more than offset by the segments in the twilight land where he lets his imagination run free.

I said in my review of book one that this series doesn’t match the genius of his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy (it was, after all, “genius”) but is his strongest work since then and compares favorably to nearly any epic fantasy going now (with only a few exceptions). Through three books, I see no reason to change my mind. I’m looking forward eagerly to the book four, the concluding volume. Or, you know, not.
—Bill Capossere

Shadowrise and Shadowheart

ABOUT SHADOWRISE: Southmarch Castle is about to be caught between two implacable enemies — the ancient, immortal Qar and the insane god-king, the Autarch of Xis — while its two young defenders, Princess Briony and Prince Barrick, are both trapped far away from home and fighting for their lives. Barrick is lost behind the Shadowline, facing all the terrible dangers and mysteries of that magical twilight land. Briony is alone in a treacherous foreign court, struggling to survive with no weapon left to her but her wits. And in the midst of all this, something unbelievable is awakening underneath Southmarch, something powerful and terrible that the world has not seen for thousands of years. In this third volume, Barrick and Briony, along with Qinnitan — the Autarch’s desperate, escaped slave — a loyal soldier named Ferras Vansen, and a tiny handful of other folk, ordinary and extraordinary, must find a way to save their world, or else witness the rise of a terrible new age — an age of unending darkness...

ABOUT SHADOWHEART: Thousands of years ago, the gods fought and fell in the deeps beneath what is now Southmarch Castle, then were banished into eternal sleep. Now at least one of them is stirring again, dreaming of vengeance against humankind. Southmarch haunts the dreams of men as well as gods. Royal twins, Barrick and Briony Eddon, the heirs of Southmarch’s ruling family, are hurrying back home. Barrick now carries the heritage of the immortal Qar inside him, while Briony has a small army at her back and a fiery determination to recover her father’s throne and revenge herself on the usurpers. Meanwhile, the cruel and powerful southern ruler known as the Autarch of Xis wants the power of the gods for his own, a power he can only gain if he conquers Southmarch. And nobody knows what the Qar want, only that the mysterious fairy folk are prepared to die for it — or to kill every living thing in Southmarch Castle and in all the lands that surround it. All will come to an apocalyptic conclusion on Midsummer Night, when the spirits of the haunted past and the desperate struggles of the present come together in one great final battle. Many will die. Many more will be transformed beyond recognition, and the world will be forever changed...

CLASSIFICATION: Tad Williams’ Southmarch series is traditional epic fantasy in the vein of Robert Jordan and J.R.R. Tolkien, complete with a fully realized secondary world, a huge cast of characters, magic, maps, and a story that pits good versus evil.

FORMAT/INFO: Shadowrise is 564 pages long divided over a Prelude, three Parts, and thirty-nine numbered/titled chapters, with each chapter prefaced by a short excerpt from “A Treatise on the Fairy Peoples of Eion and Xand”. Also includes three maps, an Appendix, and synopses of the two previous Southmarch novels. Narration is in the third-person via Barrick Eddon, Briony Eddon, Ferras Vansen, Chert Blue Quartz, Matt Tinwright, Qinnitan, Yasammez, Daikonas Vo, Pinimmon Vash, Sister Utta, etc. Shadowrise is the third volume in the Southmarch series after Shadowmarch and Shadowplay. March 2, 2010 marks the North American hardcover publication of Shadowrise via DAW. The trade paperback version was published on November 2, 2010. Cover art provided by Todd Lockwood.

Shadowheart is 730 pages long divided over a Prelude/Epilude, four Parts, and fifty-four numbered/titled chapters, with each chapter prefaced by a short excerpt from “A Child’s Book of the Orphan, and His Life and Death and Reward in Heaven.” It also includes five maps, two Appendixes, and synopses of the three previous Southmarch novels. Narration is in the third-person via Barrick Eddon, Briony Eddon, Ferras Vansen, Chert Blue Quartz, Matt Tinwright, Qinnitan, Yasammez, Daikonas Vo, Pinimmon Vash, Sister Utta, Beetledown, etc. Shadowheart is the fourth and final volume in the Southmarch series. November 30, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of Shadowheart via DAW. Cover art provided by Todd Lockwood. The UK edition will be published on February 3, 2011 via Orbit UK.

ANALYSIS: Since Tad Williams’ Shadowmarch series was originally planned as a trilogy before the decision to split the final volume into two books, I felt it was more appropriate to review Shadowrise and Shadowheart together...

On its own, Shadowrise would be a difficult novel to review. After all, the book only tells half of the series’ intended conclusion, and the feeling of incompleteness is painfully obvious. For one, Shadowrise does not end naturally so much as it just stops in the middle of the story. To make matters worse, the author spends the majority of the novel setting up characters and events for the series’ grand finale, and as a result, the book offers very little reward or payoff for the reader apart from some interesting revelations regarding the connection between the Qar and the Eddons, the importance of Southmarch, and the autarch’s sinister plan. Fortunately, Shadowrise continues the strong performance that was found in Shadowplay, highlighted by Barrick Eddon’s extraordinary adventures behind the Shadowline — involving Skurn, the Dreamless, Sleepers, Silkins, Shrikers, Tine Fay and the Twilight People’s ancient home, Qul-na-Qar — and Briony Eddon’s familiar, yet entertaining trials in the court of Syan.

From a personal standpoint, I felt Shadowrise was a step down from Shadowplay, in part due to the novel acting mainly as a setup piece where hardly anything of importance occurs, and partly because the book often drags along, especially for the first couple of hundred pages. However, after finishing Shadowheart — which I read immediately after completing Shadowrise, and which is how I would recommend reading the two books — I had a much better appreciation for why the conclusion was split into two volumes. By doing so, Tad Williams was given the necessary time to fully develop his characters and subplots, all of which comes to fruition in Shadowheart...

From the opening Prelude which chronicles Sulepis Bishakh’s rise to power as the newest Autarch of Xis, to the closing Epilude which reveals the final fate of the merchant Raemon Beck, Shadowheart is a nearly perfect finish to the Shadowmarch saga. Finally, readers are rewarded for all of the long hours and thousands of pages devoted to the series, with an ending that is simply epic: the Autarch’s plot to awaken and enslave a god. Hendon Tolly’s own insidious bid for celestial power. Briony Eddon’s quest to free Southmarch and her people from Hendon Tolly’s rule. Barrick Eddon’s return to Southmarch as the new bearer of the male half of the Fireflower. Matt Tinwright’s struggle for survival while serving as Avin Brone’s eyes and ears against Hendon Tolly. Ferras Vansen and the badly outnumbered Funderlings’ desperate attempts to prevent the Autarch’s army from reaching the Shining Man. Qar fighting alongside humans, Rooftoppers, Skimmers and Funderlings. Qinnitan’s attempts to escape her captors, both the Autarch and Daikonas Vo. Vo’s own desperate struggles to free himself from the basiphae that is slowly killing him. Olin Eddon’s gamble regarding Pinimmon Vash, the paramount minister of Xis. Yasammez’s deadly failsafe — the Fever Egg — to prevent the Sleeping Gods from awakening. Chert Blue Quartz’s risky last-resort plan... these and many other subplots and characters converge at Southmarch on Midsummer Night in a series of climactic events that will take your breath away.

Amazingly though, as memorable and breathtaking as these events are, the convergence at Southmarch does not even represent the best that Shadowheart has to offer. That honor instead, goes to the wonderful aftermath, which consists of the novel’s final one hundred-plus pages. Who lives? Who dies? Will love triumph over duty? Will families reunite? Will there be peace between the Qar and humankind? Will traitors be exposed? The answers to these and several other burning questions are not always the ones readers might expect or desire, but they are all fitting, as is the satisfactory manner in which Tad Williams ties up the series’ loose ends (the mysterious Flint, Anissa, etc.), while leaving open the opportunity to return to this setting in the future if he so desires.

As I mentioned earlier though, Shadowheart is not perfect. The subplot involving the Fever Egg felt forced and underdeveloped, and is one I could have lived without, along with the subplots concerning the hooded man and Dawet dan-Farr. I also felt some of the characters added very little to the novel (Kayyin, Willow, Sister Utta, Shadow’s Cauldron), while other characters I wish had been given more face time including Olin Eddon, Yasammez, Daikonas Vo, Qinnitan, and Chaven. Then there’s the pacing, which is a bit lethargic at times, a problem considering the novel’s hefty page count. Also, because the series uses a number of common fantasy tropes, many of Shadowheart’s major outcomes are easy to predict, although the author does throw out a couple of unexpected surprises along the way. Finally, between Shadowrise and Shadowheart, I felt that one or two hundred pages could have been edited out of the books without losing anything critical to the series’ conclusion. All in all though, these are fairly minor issues that do not detract from the novels’ overall enjoyment.

Writing-wise, it is impossible to praise the Shadowmarch novels, especially Shadowheart, without talking about Tad Williams. While I was less than impressed with the author’s efforts in the first Shadowmarch novel, Tad Williams’ performance from Shadowplay all the way through the end of Shadowheart, was just a thing of beauty. Characterization that allows characters to grow and evolve — in particular Barrick & Briony Eddon — while providing insights to help the reader understand and empathize with them; world-building that is creative and deep; the ability to juggle numerous plotlines without losing sight of the end goal; prose that is detailed, elegant and accessible; exploring thought-provoking issues on everything from faith, prejudice and duty to cowardice, love and death; all this and more was handled by Tad Williams like the veteran writer that he is, and without the skills of someone like a Tad Williams at the controls, I don’t think the Shadowmarch saga would have been nearly as compelling.

CONCLUSION: Tad Williams’ Shadowmarch series may have gotten off to a rocky start in the opening volume, but by the time Shadowheart rolled around, I could hardly contain my excitement at finally completing the series, and both Shadowrise and Shadowheart deliver. Unfortunately, because I have not read any of Tad Williams’ other novels, I can’t offer any comparisons to the author’s earlier work, but from the viewpoint of someone who loves to read epic fantasy, Shadowrise and Shadowheart are as good an ending to a fantasy saga as I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. —Robert Thompson

Shadowheart

Shadowheart is the concluding fourth volume of Tad Williams’ most recent trilogy (yes, yes, I know), following Shadowmarch, Shadowplay, and Shadowrise. The last was originally intended to finish the series but instead was split in half, leading to Shadowheart. The first book, Shadowmarch, started off a bit slow and had some issues I thought with pace and cliché. Shadowplay was a large improvement in nearly all facets, Shadowrise kept to the higher quality, and Shadowheart, I’m happy to say, mostly ends it all in strong fashion.

The plot, which has been wide-ranging in terms of geography and multiple plot strands, has narrowed to a single point, centering on the Eddon family’s seat, the castle Southmarch, whose caverns below the castle were the site of an ancient battle between gods which resulted in the gods banished and the portal closed behind them. But the mad Autarch of Xis has forged his empire as a weapon to slice open the path to the castle so as to gain the power of the gods for himself, and in Shadowheart he’s finally reached his goal. One Eddon twin, Briony has returned with a small army she’s managed to collect thanks to a young prince hoping to wed her. The other Eddon twin, Barrick, has returned as well, but is more Qar (faerie) than human thanks to the magical Fireflower inside him which gives him all the memories of past Qar kings, as well as some level of authority among them. Meanwhile, under Southmarch, the human captain Ferras Vansen leads an ever-dwindling group of Funderlings (Qar dwarfs) in an impossible battle against the Autarch, hoping against hope that the Qar army, which had originally come to battle the humans, will join with them against the greater threat. There are a few other plot lines as well, along with dozens of characters, but that quick little summary gives a rough idea of the main story line.

With everything coming to a head here, Williams has sacrificed some of his plot variation (a strength in the earlier books) for a much more streamlined storyline. What he loses in variety, though, he makes up for with a greater sense of urgency as nearly everybody is in a race against time, with the fast-approaching deadline of Midsummer’s Eve (when the Autarch can perform his rite) looming over all. While this makes for mostly compelling reading, I do think Williams would have been better served had he managed to cut out 200-300 pages from the last two books and thus allowed for an even faster pace, one that matches the urgency a bit more faithfully. And I’m not sure all the juggled plot strands are actually necessary here. One, involving the usurper Tolly, for instance, adds very little to the story (is basically a weaker echo of the Autarch story) and could have been cut (along with its little spin-off plots) without losing much. Another plot, involving a sort of “ultimate weapon” also bears little fruit, feeling much more like an afterthought rather than a built-in storyline. Cutting these two, and perhaps a bit more, would also have let us spend a bit more time with some more rewarding characters who get lost a bit, such as Chert, one of my favorite characters from the earlier novels.

Briony’s storyline is relatively strong as she tries to find her place in this upside-down world:  is she queen of the Eddons now that her father and brother are gone?  Is she tag-along to the prince who hopes to wed her?  Can she regain the throne from the usurper Tolly, and is that even the biggest priority anymore? 

Barrick’s plot, until the near-end, is less action-oriented than Briony’s, more introspective, as he must find some way to integrate the Fireflower into himself before its power and knowledge and alien nature kills him. His slow movement away from his human self, and his growing relationship with the Qar queen (as well as her sister) is mesmerizing and as captivating as the battles being fought (though his own battles are great in their own right).

But for me, the best part of the plot was that involving Vansen and the Funderlings, who know they’re pretty much fighting a losing battle but plan to lose it as slowly and in as costly a fashion as possible. Their slow retreat ever downward is a tour de force. It’s the opposite of those grand battles we’ve grown used to in epic fantasy, but it’s no less thrilling and in many ways much more moving.

The climax of Shadowheart is truly epic in scale, involving gods and giants and magic swords and desperate plans and a brave bat and... yes, I said a brave bat. It all works but what is most surprising about it all is that it doesn’t come close to ending the novel. Williams takes a big risk here and goes on for another 125 pages or so, giving us ending after ending. I can’t say we needed all 125, but 100? Sure.

Beyond the plot, the characterization is mostly sharp, especially Vansen, King Olin Eddon, the two Qar royal sisters, several of the Funderlings, the Roof-Toppers, and several others of the Qar. Interestingly enough, while I enjoyed following the main characters (most of them), I thought the side characters represented Williams’ best characterization. They were revealed in efficient fashion with vivid moments of dialogue or gesture, as compared to the main characters where sometimes I wished I were told less of their thoughts or changes and could have been allowed to simply witness them.

Finally, one of my favorite aspects of Williams, here and elsewhere in his writing, is how his view of the Faerie world is so much more diverse than most other fantasy authors. Where all too many give us the usual tall, lithe, and fair (not to mention good with a bow and with animals) stock type, and occasionally someone will give us two or three variants on that (their “dark” cousins), with the Shadow series they vary in size — some giant, some small enough to fit in your hand, color, shape, limbs, even substance and form as some seem mere flames in their armor. Even better, they vary in their politics and personality: rather than the usual monolithic portrayal, we see them fighting among themselves, mistrusting each other; and instead of the typical “aloof elf” presentation, we get funny Qar, nostalgic Qar, and bad-tempered Qar. In other words, we get an author willing to mirror the human range. It’s an incredible palette of creativity and my only complaint is we didn’t spend more time with them.

The Shadowmarch series isn’t without its problems. The first book starts off slowly, there are pacing issues throughout, the entire series probably could lose 300-400 pages, some of the actions and characters are a bit familiar. On the other hand, the prose is always sharp, the characters grow, the plot picks up, emotions ride deeper, the worldbuilding is vivid, and by the end, you’ve been more than fairly rewarded for the time put into reading the entire series. Well-recommended. —Bill Capossere