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Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn/The Heart of what was Lost/The Last King of Osten Ard


Ser Scot A Ellison

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14 hours ago, Werthead said:

A bit like Valinor/Aman after the Rounding of the World (after the Downfall of Numenor) in Tolkien, you could sail to Valinor if you were permitted there or knew the way, but no-one else would find it.

Aha! That may be it: the Lost Garden is another dimension (partially or permanently). The ships crossed on the sea from the Lost Garden to Osten Ard, but still from another world (kind of). So that way everyone was right: the Norns and Sithi sailed to Osten Ard and didn't use starships, but they still come from "elsewhere".

Oh, I like that. The Garden is a reverse of Valinor, to which the Keida'ya and Tinukeda'ya are no longer permitted to return. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it.

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On 2/1/2017 at 7:01 AM, Xereaux said:

Oh, I like that. The Garden is a reverse of Valinor, to which the Keida'ya and Tinukeda'ya are no longer permitted to return. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it.

In the case of the Gardenborn, I don't think they aren't allowed to return: it's that they physically can't: the Eight Ships were burned eons ago, and the Tinukeda'ya, being a less long-lived people, have lost the knowledge: the Dwarrows at Mezutu'a don't even know how to use the Shard anymore.

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New blurb for The Witchwood Crown:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Witchwood-Crown-Book-Last-Osten/dp/147360320X/

Thirty years ago Ineluki, the Storm King, was destroyed and his armies scattered. Osten Ard has been at peace ever since, ruled by Simon Snowlock, kitchen boy made king, and Miriamele, King Elias' only child. But now age weighs upon their reign. Simon's dreams have deserted him, old allies die and betrayal and assassination threaten. His son and heir John Josua is years dead and his grandson, Morgan, is a wastrel. A journey of redemption and discovery beckons in the darkening world.

And in the frozen North, in Nakkiga, the mountain fortress, Ineluki's ally, the Norn Queen, wakes from her deep, decades-long sleep and tells her followers that she will sleep no more. Humanity must be destroyed. Her sorcerers will bring a demon back from death, her warriors will seek the world for living dragon's blood...

And finally the greatest artefact of all, the Witchwood Crown, will be hers.

With a cast of hundreds - humans, giants, dragons, trolls, Sithi and Norn - The Witchwood Crown is epic fantasy as it used to be: classic, grand and sweeping and evidence that Tad Williams is the greatest living writer of the form.

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14 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

Oh I'm that case I'm sure the DAW one will be even worse.

Actually it is not.

Spoiler

Thirty years have passed since the events of the earlier novels, and the world has reached a critical turning point once again. The realm is threatened by divisive forces, even as old allies are lost, and others are lured down darker paths. Perhaps most terrifying of all, the Norns—the long-vanquished elvish foe—are stirring once again, preparing to reclaim the mortal-ruled lands that once were theirs....

It is a short teaser that stays quite vague.

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6 hours ago, ylvs said:

Actually it is not.

  Reveal hidden contents

Thirty years have passed since the events of the earlier novels, and the world has reached a critical turning point once again. The realm is threatened by divisive forces, even as old allies are lost, and others are lured down darker paths. Perhaps most terrifying of all, the Norns—the long-vanquished elvish foe—are stirring once again, preparing to reclaim the mortal-ruled lands that once were theirs....

It is a short teaser that stays quite vague.

We live in strange times. o.O

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Just a question to the people who already got a glimpse on the book:

Spoiler

If the story takes place about thirty years later how much of wastrel can Simon and Miramele's grandson Morgan be? I mean, assuming they had their son John Josua immediately after the end of the MST, and that guy then had his son Morgan at about fifteen years or, Morgan could still only be only fifteen years old by the beginning of the new trilogy.

But I very much doubt that people in Osten Ard have children at this early age, which would mean that this Morgan guy would be much closer to the age of ten. And considering how Simon turned out there would be still some hope left at that point.

 

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2 hours ago, ylvs said:

Lord Varys, here is your answer

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The story is set in 1201, 35 years after the end of MST. Prince Morgan is 17.

 

Thank you, that way things make sense.

Spoiler

I already began wondering whether Miri was already pregnant during the Epilogue of the last book ;-).

Do Miri and Simon have only the one child, the son Josua John who predeceased them, or are there more? That could make things more interesting.

That whole thing about Utuk'ku's healing sleep was a retcon done in the new novella, right? Back in MST the last news we got on her was that her silver mask was broken and all her powers drained, with her essentially being reduced to nothing but an empty aged shell who lost her beauty ages ago.

I like that she not letting things go but I'm not sure whether that is a, let's say, natural continuation of the story. The novella should have covered the whole mask-breaking thing, the effects the loss of the harp and the magical well had for the city, and actually establish how good the chances were that she could recover via some healing sleep/stasis thing.

Anyway, I like the 'spoilery' blurb. That kind of thing wets your appetites, especially if you have read the other books. The other pretty much sounds like a blurb that could also refer to the first trilogy.

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Spoiler

That Miri already was pregnant during the epilogue is very much possible. I'm currently reading the ARC and will keep an eye open for the birthyear of JJ.

I'm not gonna tell you anymore, Lord Varys. But rest asured that things are interesting.

I didn't know the word retcon (not a native speaker), but yes. It is exactly that. And I agree that the broken mask should have been adressed in HOWWL. I do not rememeber a loss of the Breathing Harp and the Well and cannot find it neither. Do you have quote?

 

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