Shadowmarch: Shadowmarch: Volume I (2004 original; edició 2005)

I read Book 1 and 2 of this series back when they first came out but then the long wait till the next publication meant I sort of forgot about it (even though I really like Tad Williams as an author and have read a lot of his novels - MS&T is the best but Otherland is pretty amazing too). It's also one of the main reasons why I generally no longer start new series until they are finished.
So while waiting for him to complete his sequel to MS&T which now looks like at least 2022, I decided to read this one, now that it is complete.
I remembered bits and pieces. Do not pick up Tad Williams if you want to be straight into the action and know what is going on - he just doesn't write like that! He is an author who builds up his characters and background slowly - hints of this but only hints. Shadowmarch is no different. A slow build of different characters and different races. Five main POV characters give the reader an overview of each strand. I enjoyed it a lot. ( )

Like every Tad Williams book I've read, it takes 100 pages to get the story going, but once set it's worth the wait. My only complaint (hence the spoiler marker, sorry) is that the answer to one of the mysteries was very much Deus ex Machina - the death caused by a thing we hadn't even heard of until the moment it was revealed to be the murderer. Otherwise, a great read, looking forward to the rest of the series. ( )

It has been way too many years since I picked up a Tad Williams fantasy. I read the books surrounding the Dragonbone Chair back when they came out and I was extremely impressed by the writing quality and character, the slow burn and devoted character building, the inexorable finality of the grand explosion or magical release or bloodshed to come.

He builds slowly, carefully, and with enormous attention to detail.

Therefore, I knew very well what I was getting into here. These are long books and there are a lot of them, and true to modern epic fantasy form, we have a firmly established place and time. We get to know all our main characters, their little squabbles, their personalities, their little strivings.

It requires patience. Even to me, it required a lot of patience. I grew bored with long stretches, but nothing is permanent. Battles and magic and the Shadow come to those who wait, as well as long stretches underground, fae creatures, goblins, and a truly wicked scene being set.

Darkness and all the creatures in it will come to reclaim the land. And I mean literal darkness, neverending night, and this is no hyperbole. Tad Williams is setting the stage for an end-all epic scene of destruction and mayhem and horror.

I trust him as I trust few writers. His Otherland SF series was a brilliant romp of the imagination and his fantasy reaches high-brow status while never skimping on the gritty detail.

But again, it requires otherworldly patience. :) The taste of things to come at the end of this huge tome is well worth the wait. I feel like I've grown up with these folks now. I feel like I'm living here, that I love this place. The anticipation of its destruction is truly wicked.

Suffice to say, I can't let this end here. I'm in it for the long haul, and that's sometimes the only thing you can do. :) ( )

I "read" this as an audio book and enjoyed both the book and the performer. It's calling on some of the weirdness of Hope Mirrlees' Lud-in-the-Mist in combination with the hulking castle of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast. Great fun, and I'll wait to see where it all develops in the next volume. ( )

Helaas heb ik boek 2 niet. ( )