Shadowheart

I would like to propose that Tad Williams stop writing trilogies and tetralogies. Why does the awesome have to stop? Take a cue from Robert Jordan and keep those bad boys coming. I realize I'm a nobody in the grand scheme of Tad Williams' publishing life. I'm making this proposal based on completely selfish reasons. It's a flimsy, pathetic argument at best, but there it is.

Clearly it's with a sad heart that I finished this, the fourth and final book in Williams' Shadowmarch tetralogy. Trying to summarize the plot of this densely written 722 page brick is almost more than I can bear at the moment. So, I'll be brief(ish). The twins Barrick and Briony Eddon continue to wander separately across Eion. Briony Eddon has come across a powerful show more prince who is not only smitten with her but also well outfitted with a small army of troops. How convenient. The prince and his soldiers serve as her loyal escorts as she makes her way back toward her Southmarch home. Barrick Eddon has been changed by the mysterious Qar and is figuring out how to survive in this new self. He, too, discovers a need to return to Southmarch with an army of Qar in tow. Did I mention that the nasty god-king of Xis has King Olin Eddon held prisoner and a small country's worth of soldiers waiting outside the gates of the castle? Gods are waking up, ambition is upsetting the delicate balance, and family loyalties are being tested.

Soapbox time. As a card carrying feminist I was put off by the fact that Qinnitan and Briony's virginity seemed to carry such importance. They "saved" themselves for their true loves, yadda yadda. Briony and Qinnitan were both strong, capable young women... why ruin it by making them chaste? And I already mentioned in a previous review my distaste for the depiction of the homosexual characters in this series. Briony's travelling troupe of buds has not one but two old, lascivious sorts the apparently prefer young lads while the evil Autarch was sexually abused by his Uncle. A familiar stereotype, for sure. But I know Williams' is capable of much more than these overused and quite worn out tropes.

If you've made it this far into my review you must think I'm bonkers. I first declare my undying love for all things Tad Williams and then rail against his depiction of women and homosexuals. Well, there it is. I DO love Tad Williams' stories. In fact, I am so comfortable in the worlds that he creates I can't help but start feeling it's my right to move around the furniture. It's a well-meaning sort of badgering and if Tad Williams' were to ever stumble across this review I hope he'd take it in the spirit of sisterly poking in which it's intended.

I recommend this series to all lovers of the epic fantasy genre. Happy reading! show less

9/10
A happy ending? Not really, but a satisfying one, and one that feels right, given the overall arc of the whole story. The main characters appear to have accepted who they now are in this changed world, growing over the 4 books into the people they must be going forward. Many, but certainly not all, questions were answered, which allows the reader to speculate a bit. Like whether there are Qar in the southern lands, how Vash and Prusus do in ruling Xi/Xand, whether Briony and Vansen ever marry, if Barrick succeeds in awakening Qinnitan, and what Flint discovers as he wanders the world.

Certainly there was a lot of death and destruction and I would not have missed some of the details of the more gruesome deaths, but the author seemed show more to realize that he had a lot of characters to bring together and a lot of loose ends to tie up, so there seemed to be a bit more emphasis on moving the plot(s) and less on the more tedious descriptions.

The author has again shown he can take a story with many diverse threads and weave a marvelous, complex tapestry. His characters have depth and are multifaceted, his plots have surprising twists but he lays the groundwork for those unexpected moments so they make sense, and his world-building is excellent. show less

This fourth volume brings the Shadowmarch story to a close, as all characters and plotlines are brought together in one locale. Briony and Barrick each lead an army to their homeland's defence as it comes under siege by the Big Bad who threatens to unleash a god upon the world that he will be able to control. If you've read your Homer, etc. (or just been paying attention through the previous three volumes) you know it's a fair bet he's biting off more than he can chew.

I don't think the ending is all that it might have been, and I have some structural criticism concerning subplots that are transparently filler or needless complication, forced into alignment with the main story or to give leftover characters something to do. Seeing the show more full arc in retrospect, I think several elements might have been stripped out of this series to condense it and little would have been lost besides page count. It's a finely crafted world to visit. The author's made good strides in presenting his female characters, and I like the twins at the centre of the story although it took me a while to warm up to Barrick. My takeaway: the gods help mortals who help themselves, the series titles being a reference to the role of faith in our lives and how it sees us through despair. show less

Everything comes to a head, of course, in the last part of the book. I still have mixed feelings, engaged one minute, disengaged the next, but it was a massive undertaking. I think Williams worked hard to create, in the twins, two royals who are not particularly 'nice' or easy to identify with -- convincingly strong characters full of pride, the arrogance of having been treated 'special' all their lives, lack of interest in hearing other points of view etcetera. I also think Williams decided to take a page out of QEI's playbook and that was, in the end, kind of fun. I sense too a connection to P.C. Hodgell's extraordinary work (God Stalk and the next eight books after that).
Anyhow, I am in awe of so much hard work. When it was good, it show more was very very good and I'll leave it at that -- an almost four stars effort. ***3/4 show less

I started this book early last year, and finished part one on the day I went into labour with Matthew. It has taken me very nearly a year, but the other three parts are now finished too! As epic fantasy series go this one definitely gets quite epic at times, with most of the book building up to an enormous battle with a god which feels like it can only end in doom. Of course it doesn't (they rarely do) but finding out exactly how and why is half the fun. The only issue with reading a series so slowly is you get less of a feel for how the characters and story evolve, for it's all too easy to forget what happened in the first chapters, never mind the previous three books! I don't think I see myself re-reading this one in future, but it show more has been a good investment if my time. And now I just need to decide what to read next!

Oops, checking on librarything it seems it was book 3 I was reading during labour, and I have only been reading this one since September! I think my comments stand though. show less

What Tad Williams does good, he does very, very good. I'll give him that. The ending of this huge Fantasy series is sufficiently huge, magical, war-driven, god-killing, and mad enough to fill the hearts of any epic fantasy fan.

Williams takes his time to build everything so very slowly until it all comes crashing together and we're left breathless.

On the other hand, stories like this are still only as good as the characters that drive them. And if you're dealing with a huge cast of characters, they really need to have a lot of interesting situations, interesting responses, and general likability. I'd give half the cast here that accolade. The other half, however, either bored me or just made me want to hurry through and get to the good show more stuff.

Briony is the huge issue. Her brother Barrick is just fine.

I tried. I really tried. She has aspects about her that I liked intellectually and not all of her storyline was a complete waste, but I never felt emotionally invested.

Overlooking that, I really enjoyed most of the Funderlings, the fae-call out, the dead or dying gods, the dreaming, the con, the mad immortals, the sacrifices, and the siege of the world. No complaints there. :)

It's just unfortunate I couldn't have enjoyed the entire sequence equally. Too many bits seemed too long, in need of a big shave. The plotting sometimes seemed pointless or just a way to get from point A to point B because I wasn't invested in some of the characters. But then again, maybe it's just me.

I can't say this is more than an above-average epic fantasy. Flawed, still good. show less

I think I enjoyed the final book more than any of the others but I think I can also see why I didn't finish this series when it first came out. It's just rather a slog at times. MST is much, much better - read that first!
I never expect TW to start fast but usually after a slow start he manages to grab me and you start to care about the characters. But that never really happened for me in Shadowmarch, especially the two main characters Briony and Barrick. I just never cared that much about them and their problems. Some of the side characters are involving e.g Chert, Vansen and even the damsel in distress Quinnatan. All the strands come together at the end for the big battle - some of which went on for far too long. I would also have show more liked to find out what the Autarch planned earlier in the story as it would have given the story more momentum.
So I am glad I finally get to tick this off my plan for this year but it will be my least favourite of TW's series. show less