34. Tad Williams - Shadowmarch, Volume 1
The kingdom of Shadowmarch has not been fairing well lately. King Olin has been taken prisoner in one of the southern Eion kingdoms, and now the Prince Regent, Kendrick, has been murdered in his sleep, leaving the two teenage twins, Barrick and Briony, on the throne. But things are going to get much worse for these young regents.
To the north of the kingdom lies the Shadowline, a misty and mysterious delineation that separates humans from the Qar, a fairy-like folk, of the north. Centuries ago, the humans pushed the Qar farther and farther north, taking over their lands until the Qar set up the Shadowline to prevent the humans from completely driving them out. Now, the Qar have decided it was time to retake their lands from the humans no matter what the cost.
To the south, another threat is looming. On the continent of Xand, the new Autarch Sulepis has turned his interests to the northern continent of Eion. Could the southern kingdoms of Eion be conspiring with the Autarch and could that be the reason why King Olin was captured?
It is up to Prince Barrick and Princess Briony to keep their kingdom together through these threats from both the north and the south, as well as from their own people.
To me, this book runs along the same lines as Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series, which is a good thing. Here, he once again creates a very believable world with seemingly very real characters in it. I will admit I did have a little trouble getting into the book, but after the first 100 pages or so I could not put it down. One small warning: there is a lot going on in the story as well as a lot of characters, so things can get a bit confusing at times. Thankfully, Williams has learned to put an appendix at the end with the listing of names, places, and things with descriptions for each.
To the north of the kingdom lies the Shadowline, a misty and mysterious delineation that separates humans from the Qar, a fairy-like folk, of the north. Centuries ago, the humans pushed the Qar farther and farther north, taking over their lands until the Qar set up the Shadowline to prevent the humans from completely driving them out. Now, the Qar have decided it was time to retake their lands from the humans no matter what the cost.
To the south, another threat is looming. On the continent of Xand, the new Autarch Sulepis has turned his interests to the northern continent of Eion. Could the southern kingdoms of Eion be conspiring with the Autarch and could that be the reason why King Olin was captured?
It is up to Prince Barrick and Princess Briony to keep their kingdom together through these threats from both the north and the south, as well as from their own people.
To me, this book runs along the same lines as Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series, which is a good thing. Here, he once again creates a very believable world with seemingly very real characters in it. I will admit I did have a little trouble getting into the book, but after the first 100 pages or so I could not put it down. One small warning: there is a lot going on in the story as well as a lot of characters, so things can get a bit confusing at times. Thankfully, Williams has learned to put an appendix at the end with the listing of names, places, and things with descriptions for each.
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