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

aidan

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ylvs Sellsword

ylvs

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19 hours ago, Jussi said:

New blurb for The Heart of What Was Lost:

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/546308/the-heart-of-what-was-lost-by-tad-williams/

 

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New York Times-bestselling Tad Williams’ ground-breaking epic fantasy saga of Osten Ard begins an exciting new cycle! • Perfect beginning for new readers!
 
The perfect introduction to the epic fantasy world of Osten Ard, The Heart of What Was Lost is Tad Williams’ follow-up to his internationally bestselling landmark trilogy. Osten Ard inspired a generation of modern fantasy writers, including George R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, and Christopher Paolini, and defined Tad Williams as one of the most important fantasy writers of our time. 




 
A NOVEL OF OSTEN ARD
 
At the end of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Ineluki the Storm King, an undead spirit of horrifying, demonic power, came within moments of stopping Time itself and obliterating humankind. He was defeated by a coalition of mortal men and women joined by his own deathless descendants, the Sithi.

In the wake of the Storm King’s fall, Ineluki’s loyal minions, the Norns, dark cousins to the Sithi, choose to flee the lands of men and retreat north to Nakkiga, their ancient citadel within the hollow heart of the mountain called Stormspike. But as the defeated Norns make their way to this last haven, the mortal Rimmersman Duke Isgrimnur leads an army in pursuit, determined to end the Norns’ attacks and defeat their ageless Queen Utuk’ku for all time.

Two southern soldiers, Porto and Endri, joined the mortal army to help achieve this ambitious goal—though as they venture farther and farther into the frozen north, braving the fierce resistance and deadly magics of the retreating Norns, they cannot help but wonder what they are doing so very far from home. Meanwhile, the Norns must now confront the prospect of extinction at the hands of Isgrimnur and his mortal army.

Viyeki, a leader of the Norns’ military engineers, the Order of Builders, desperately seeks a way to help his people reach their mountain—and then stave off the destruction of their race. For the two armies will finally clash in a battle to be remembered as the Siege of Nakkiga; a battle so strange and deadly, so wracked with dark enchantment, that it threatens to destroy not just one side but quite possibly all.

Trapped inside the mountain as the mortals batter at Nakkiga’s gates, Viyeki the Builder will discover disturbing secrets about his own people, mysteries both present and past, represented by the priceless gem known as The Heart of What Was Lost.

Outside the mountain, Porto, Endri, and their commander Isgrimnur encounter frightening questions of their own, whose answers will affect all the lands of Osten Ard for generations to come. And in the end, both besiegers and besieged will confront terrible truths about love and loyalty—and about the lies all souls, mortal or immortal, must tell themselves to keep from going mad.

 

Length is 224 pages.

This is giving more away than I would like to know ahead of reading. Beware.

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Nicomo Cosca Squire

Nicomo Cosca

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Wasn't expecting the blurb to be so spoiler heavy, I kind of skimmed through it on the last part so I didn't get as spoiled lol

Having said that, what I did read sounds AMAZING! At least to me, it sounds its going in a very interesting direction! Now I just have to figure out when am I gonna re read the trilogy :D

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Lord Patrek Council Member

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I've read it a few weeks ago and my review will go up soon. It's not as good as MST, nor is it a good jumping point for newbies. But for fans, it sets the stage perfectly for the new series. The choice of POVs left me a bit perplexed, as there are seemingly fascinating characters whose perspectives would have been much more interesting.

But all in all, a good read. I had a set of pages proofs, so I'm not sure if actual copies will feature a "what has gone before". Because there is absolutely no attempt to fill you in on what occurred in MST. It's a good thing I still had my old notes from the original trilogy. . .

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Lord Varys Council Member

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33 minutes ago, Lord Patrek said:

I've read it a few weeks ago and my review will go up soon. It's not as good as MST, nor is it a good jumping point for newbies.

That's not good at all considering that I didn't think MST was particularly good when I listened to the audiobook last year.

Especially the motivation of the villains left me with more than huge question marks. Would be pretty good if Tad actually addressed what the hell Ineluki wanted to do after he had taken over Elias' body and was living again in a past where his castle and city was burning.

33 minutes ago, Lord Patrek said:

But for fans, it sets the stage perfectly for the new series. The choice of POVs left me a bit perplexed, as there are seemingly fascinating characters whose perspectives would have been much more interesting.

But all in all, a good read. I had a set of pages proofs, so I'm not sure if actual copies will feature a "what has gone before". Because there is absolutely no attempt to fill you in on what occurred in MST. It's a good thing I still had my old notes from the original trilogy. . .

From what I've seen I find the themes of this new series pretty interesting. Focusing on the Norns (who were just evil henchmen in MST) should be interesting as could be investigating the origin of the Gardenborn. I hope it turns out that the Utuk'ku is still alive and well enough to talk coherently considering that there are a lot of threads left dangling considering her involvement in the Rimmermen attack on Asu'a.

What the weird Nisses chap wanted to do with King Hjeldin in that tower when they both died wasn't addressed in MST, either. I mean, we know he was crucial in defeating the Sithi, meaning that he most likely had received special knowledge/magics from Utuk´ku. But if he fought against Ineluki causing him to make his evil spells and all then he was actually an enemy of that guy. Why the hell would he then write a book to help Ineluki? And who would tell or reveal stuff to him he put into that book?

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Wrl6199 Landed Knight

Wrl6199

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2 minutes ago, ylvs said:

That was my most urgent question as well, Ser Scot.  *grins*

Yes and no. He said we will learn more about the origins of the Gardenborn during TLK. But alas - he did not give specifics. 

Wait so have they released the book or not. 

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Jussi Council Member

Jussi

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German edition of The Witchwood Crown will be published in August 2017:

https://www.amazon.de/Die-Hexenholzkrone-letzte-König-Osten/dp/3608949534/

Here is Google Translation of the blurb (with some corrections):

Osten Ard is in turmoil. For 30 years, King Simon and Queen Miriamele have reigned over their land with wisdom and kindness. But the dark forces gather around the Norn queen and want to subdue Osten Ard. Above all, Prince Morgan is in danger, because the enemies want to prevent his ascent to the throne and gain power themselves. Then King Simon summons his old friends to help, and Binabiq, Aditu, Jiriki, and Jeremias join with him against the Norns and other adversaries. Will there be a just fight? Can the friends defend Osten Ard? And will Prince Morgan return from the battle undisturbed?

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Gertrude Council Member

Gertrude

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Ugh - no, those covers are not ok enough. Those are horrible. The swords aren't the part that bothers me, it's the typography and the way it's just plopped over it with a glow behind it. Really, really horrible, actually.

The Heart of What was lost is ok. It may be a bit dull, but it was put together well. Compare that to the covers for the older books and they look like they are self-published with a cover by a friend who knows how to do a few things in Photoshop.

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ylvs Sellsword

ylvs

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16 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

Ugh, I'll keep my original Whelan covers, thanks.

I agree. The new covers are Whelan, too btw.

I don't understand why there are new UK covers *again*.  I thought last year's were great. Although I did not understand the bird on TGAT.

Anyways. Want another HOWWL teaser? Here you are:

 

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