Tad Williams announces THE LAST KING OF OSTEN ARD, a sequel to MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN

[Papirolle]

No, watching paint dry is more exciting then MS&T.

Exactly this!

Having just read/reading the books now (via random coincidence) I don't know if I'd exactly call them bloated. They are slow and bloated in some parts, but not so much in others.

Mostly I find them not terribly gripping most of the time. It's not a bad story, but it's rarely what I'd call a page-turner. I'm still mulling over why that is.

They are the very definition of bloat! His books are about twice as long as they should be if they were properly edited. I can't believe his editors agreed to publish them like that.

In the third book there is a sequence where Simon stumbles around in the dark underground, being lost, hungry and hallucinating. This goes on for 70 pages or so! 70 fucking pages! 10 would have been more than enough.

And that's just one example.

[Reposado]

Based on GRRM's recommend, I tried to read this series, but got so bored halfway through the second book I ended up returning the trilogy to the library unfinished. Should I give it another try this summer? Williams just never seemed to be willing to move the plot along!

Am I the only one who feels this way?

the second one is by far the biggest slog. its really 800 pages that could have been done in about two chapters

the first part of the third has a lot of the same but it does end well.

i might even recommend reading the summary from the point you stopped up until the last half of the second part of the third book and then taking up the book from there

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Booo-yaaaaah!

I've been waiting for these sequals for a while.

[Shinrei]

While i was also very much looking forward to a return to Osten Ard, i am disappointed that it will be like this. Tad always talked about a story he wanted to write about the past of Osten Ard which would have been much much more appealing to me then this Hollywood Blockbuster-like Sequel with all the old faces.

So a big fat MEH from me. Ok maybe not that big...but i am not as excited as i wanted to be with the news of more Osten Ard books.

[Arataniello]

While i was also very much looking forward to a return to Osten Ard, i am disappointed that it will be like this. Tad always talked about a story he wanted to write about the past of Osten Ard which would have been much much more appealing to me then this Hollywood Blockbuster-like Sequel with all the old faces.

So a big fat MEH from me. Ok maybe not that big...but i am not as excited as i wanted to be with the news of more Osten Ard books.

The books are stated to be

taking place thirty years or so after the end of MS&T.

and therefore

many of the "old faces" as you call them have most likely shuffled off this mortal coil.

[Arataniello]

Looking forward to this rather a lot, and the titles of the three books sound intriguing. TW's Norns and Sidhi were always described in very other-worldy terms that I always found very appealing when compared to other series' "elder races".

[Shryke]

the second one is by far the biggest slog. its really 800 pages that could have been done in about two chapters

the first part of the third has a lot of the same but it does end well.

i might even recommend reading the summary from the point you stopped up until the last half of the second part of the third book and then taking up the book from there

It's truly amazing how almost nothing happens in book 2.

[awesome possum]

Oh geez, this means I have to reread the series now doesn't it?

I ended up really liking it but I'll never forget how hard it was to get through those first hundred or so pages.

[Reposado]

It's truly amazing how almost nothing happens in book 2.

It really reminds of nothing so much as the stuff that would have happened between chapters in martins first three. And a whole books worth

[Jussi]

Stone of Farewell is my favourite book in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn...

Tad answered a question about A Chronicle in Stone:

Most of the ideas that were going to turn into stories (in other words, which were intrinsically interesting in and of themselves) have worked their way into the new books. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any that haven't.

Which doesn't mean there will never be a Chronicle in Stone, but this will certainly set it back. I still want to use that framing device, though.

[King Tyrion I]

Williams embarks on the greatest writing challenge of his career, i.e. to transform the whiny pissant teenage Simon from MS&T into a beloved and respected full grown ruler of men.

Also, while it'll be cool to get updates on the lives of all the characters mentioned, for me it's Binabik or GTFO.

Indeed, my friend. I'll definitely read that.

[Jussi]

According to Williams, TLKoOA will feature familiar characters. So Binabik is possible.

It will feature many of the same characters a generation later (and many new ones as well).

http://www.tadwilliams.com/2014/04/from-tad-the-last-king-of-osten-ard/

[Ferrum Aeternum]

Indeed, my friend. I'll definitely read that.

:cheers:

According to Williams, TLKoOA will feature familiar characters. So Binabik is possible.

http://www.tadwilliams.com/2014/04/from-tad-the-last-king-of-osten-ard/

Awesome. So long as the story isn't focused around Simon I'm willing to give it a go.

I actually liked williamjm's suggestion that the rule of Osten Ard 30 years on might be more in the hands of Miriamele than Simon. Makes perfect sense.

[Jiriki]

Looking forward to this rather a lot, and the titles of the three books sound intriguing. TW's Norns and Sidhi were always described in very other-worldy terms that I always found very appealing when compared to other series' "elder races".

I agree. I'm dying to learn a little more about those 'eight great ships' that crossed over that huge black ocean. It makes me wonder if the Sithi/Norns/Niskies weren't... actual aliens (Okay, maybe a theory that's a little 'out there').

[ᴛɪᴍᴏᴛʜʏ]

(Okay, maybe a theory that's a little 'out there').

Not really. It's the prevailing theory.

[Jiriki]

Not really. It's the prevailing theory.

Well, it doesn't really match up with the statement that the ships were burned. Who builds rockets out of wood?

But the rest makes sense: a journey that seemingly took ages, crossing a great black sea, a sea even near-immortals call 'the Ocean Indefinite and Eternal'. Anyway, I look forward to more explanation of what that was all about in the new books. And it looks like, from the titles, Williams may focus a lot on the Gardenborn.

[kephv]

Also, Amaterasu mentions that she could feel the spray of the ocean, among other imagery of water, when talking about the sea trip. Still, she could be purposely obscuring the truth, and to be honest, the Sithi are so alien like that I wouldn't be surprised if they really were (of course, all that would apply to a advanced race of fairies as well).

Another possibility is that something was lost in the translation. Amaterasu and other Sithi are trying to communicate highly advanced concepts that in Simon's language they had no words for, so metaphors would have to work.

[Bastard of Godsgrace]

I wonder if "last king" means there is going to be a revolution and Simon is going to be guillotined :devil: I regret he didn't announced this sooner, since I talked with him during a convention merely two weeks ago and I could have asked him some questions.

[Drowned Crow]

Not really. It's the prevailing theory.

Really? The great ships were built and operated by the Tinukeda'ya because of their affinity with the ocean. As in the literal ocean, with water and stuff. Which is why many of them still live on ships. The kind that float on water.

[Werthead]

There are some odd allusions in the books. The old king being called Prester John, a figure from history/mythology, which was never explained. I'm not sure if those backstory mystery things really need to be explained, either.