Before you read Memory Sorrow and Thorn check out my Lands of Osten Ard video! kzread.info/dash/bejne/lKZ5rq5vl6bHc9o.html

@thedudeabides7737

3 жыл бұрын

I'm down to about 6 hours to go on Green Angel Tower. It's been a ride. I love Sir Seoman. I feel that many times the questions he's always seeking answers to, are the same questions I have in my head while reading. One thing that grates on me is how every time you think you're about to get some huge nugget of truth, you don't. He keeps you hanging til the very end (I hope, cause I'm not finished yet.) I'm looking forward to this ending. I'm hoping this payoff is worth the investment.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

@@thedudeabides7737 I felt that it paid off and I know exactly what you mean about being strung along. I think he tied it all up at the end tho!

@thedudeabides7737

3 жыл бұрын

Also, the audio book performance is one of the best I've heard. Great range of character impressions.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

@@thedudeabides7737 1000% agreed

@ChristmasLore

2 жыл бұрын

" Tad"? So, he's such a good friend of yours?

Hey I have to say you make the best non- spoiler reviews👏👏👏 I like how in depth of the story you can go without spoiling

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

That's my goal so I appreciate it 🤓 thank you!

@user-yj9qq2zd9i

3 жыл бұрын

No, I am not a bot and this is not a virus. give.rachasheilev-fund.org/campaign/605c7249dff03d77e50aa898 Please, spread this elsewhere. This child needs your help.

Fantastic to see your enthusiasm for this great story! I always enjoyed Simon’s character, and the world building, especially the “underworld”, entranced me when I read these books many years ago. You’re inspiring me to reread Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn! Also, I hope you’ll love the Realm of the Elderlings when you start reading Hobb.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

I think this series is immensely special and I feel a reread would be even better. I'm currently 50% through Assassin's Apprentice and am just loving it

@user-yj9qq2zd9i

3 жыл бұрын

No, I am not a bot and this is not a virus. give.rachasheilev-fund.org/campaign/605c7249dff03d77e50aa898 Please, spread this elsewhere. This child needs your help.

Fantastic review. One if my favorite series. The ending is such a signature Tad move. The coming together of different plotlines is something he does. His other fantasy series, Shadowmarch, absolutely takes that aspect to the next level.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Can't wait to read more of his work!

Williams has real skill in drawing his mythology for his worlds, i find the mythology and the elder characters particularly memorable and vivid. The Norn Queen in this book a being who has grown steadily more selfish and evil over her long lifetime and her mysterious beginnings in the Eden in which she was born, what is 'unbeing'? I think Williams' mythology creation is exceeded only by Tolkien's ability in this area.

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I would agree with this completely

Finally read this and I'm just astonished that I never heard about this series before your reviews. It is truly one of the greatest!

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

Yes Crystal!!!

I'm glad this is being covered by you. I have been very interested in this series. I own them all and this is the nudge I needed to hop on in. I know what I'm reading after I finish Malazan. Keep them coming man! You're doing a great job

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!!

Finally got around to watching this. I already own The Dragonbone Chair and have been contemplating starting this series eventually and you've done SUCH a great job of selling this series Jimmy. It's awesome to see how much you fell in love with the writing and it has me pretty excited to get to it.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

I really appreciate that dude! I'm glad you watched and are excited. It's everything that made me fall in love with fantasy so I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

Started this series after I saw your review of the first one and literally just finished the last book an hour ago, absolutely loved this series. Everything you mentioned was fantastic, but I was also incredibly surprised by it's thematic exploration of death throughout all the 3 books. Did NOT expect the subtlety, grace and emotion with which the theme was handled, just amazing.

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

One of my all times favs

Another great review! And more videos on Osten Ard is something I’m so down for. It’s a favorite of mine and there’s a serious lack of content about the series here on youtube.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Tad is the man!!! I'll have a non Osten Ard Tad Williams review out this weekend, and I have a Lands of Osten Ard video here on the channel. I'll be doing all the other Osten Ard books too!

I’ve had my eye on this series for a while now I’m super excited to finally check it out. A Song of Ice and Fire is my favorite book series so since I heard it was a big inspiration I’ve wanted to dive in and see what it was all about. I ordered the first book so I’m excited to finally dive in.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

It's a little slow at first but I promise it's worth the journey. Love to see the inspiration for GRRM's work.

I love when the author doesn’t treat the reader like a toddler, and lets you as a reader figure stuff out on your own. I can’t wait to read this and discuss it with you!

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Many good convos can be had 😁 thanks so much for watching!

I rate this as second best fantasy series behind LOTR. Great depth of characterization, super solid use of historical culture/language, good lyrical writing....A huge part of my love for it is how well it comes together at the end; very satisfying, very much unexpected, and obviously beautifully plotted. So satisfying to have no deus ex machina nonsense, and to stand at the end of the road, so to speak, and be able to clearly see the beginning so far behind you with all the twists and turns in between. Wonderment.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Wonderful comment and a great way to encapsulate how special this series is. Thanks!

@MrBendylaw

3 жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork No problem. I've thought for a long time that fantasy in general suffers from a lack of plotting, and a lack of connection to real events/history. Good fantasy has a well considered ending; it is not some daydream or brief reverie. And it almost has to be grounded in something real to our shared histories as people. People keep telling me about the Stormlight Archives, which is well written, but just doesn't fix me to my seat. ASoIaF, LoTR, or Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

@@MrBendylaw I couldn't agree more

I have never heard of these books before but I see books with swords and I am intrigued. Some of these covers are giving me major Tamora Pierce vibes.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

It's so much fun and also just happens to be beautifully written. Also there's mini trolls 😬😬😬😬

This sounds great. I have Dragonbone Chair and just haven't gotten around to it. It's also amusing to hear that 'you're hoping to like Hobb' at this point in your channel lol

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha, how I've grown 😂

As someone who has come back to reread this series several times since it came out during my teens, it really strikes me how differently the characters effect me at different stages of my life. When I was a teen, of course Simon and Miriamele were sympathetic and all of their decisions were completely understandable. It took me a decade to get the full effect of Tad Williams's subtle humor. On my last re-read a few years ago, Simon was still sympathetic, but I found Miri to be completely insufferable (for Aedon's sake, can you just STAY PUT for once?) and my favorite characters became Josua and Geloe. (Geloe is my "life goals" character, I want to be a cool witch who turns into an owl.)

@thefantasynuttwork

Жыл бұрын

I love Josua

Would love a characters of Oraten Ard. This world needs more exposure

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed!

Yes Andrew Wincott is probably the best audio book voice actor I've ever heard. Trust me and listen to Starmaker by Olaf Stapledon narrated by Wincott.

Nice review. It's definitely worth re-reading MST after Last King even without having seen the last volume of that - there's a lot of small details that get picked up on between trilogies. Also, do not skip the interquel, Heart of What Was Lost, which bridges both trilogies and should be read before Last King.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

I'll definitely read them all 😁

Great review! Love all your observations. And a big YES, PLEASE to a characters of Osten Ard video. 😉 However, book three of LAST KING OF OSTEN ARD won‘t be out this year. The pandemic is wreaking havoc on publishing schedules. Tad will have a shorter stand-alone prequel out in November called BROTHERS OF THE WIND about Hakatri and Ineluki. But maybe the four Shadowmarch books can tide you over till then😉📚 keep up the good work!

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much 😁 Sad to hear not the delay but Tad's other work, as you said, can tie me over!

I already told you that I'm probably going to read this because of you, but I'm commenting saying the same thing!!! I'm gonna end up reading this bc of you!!

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

I'm so glad, I'd love to hear you talk about it and be all classy 🤠

For a book thats 520,000 words long, To Green Angel Tower is remarkably well paced, though I do agree it could have be edited down a tiny bit towards the end. Really a shame that not many readers tend to read this series nowadays, it really is fantastic. I'd love to see a characters of Osten Ard video, specifically Binabik and Miriamele ( I just call her Miri, zero ideas on how to actually pronounce it) those two are my favourites, followed closely by Simon.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Yes! Those are my two favs as well although I really think Josua is such an interesting character. It's a tough race when you have such a dense, quality cast like this 🤓

Great review, spot on. Kudos FN! You said you want to wait reading The Last King of Osten Ard until book 3 is out. I am sorry to tell you that it will not be published this year but is delayed until 2022. What you could read right now if you so wish is the short novel The Heart of what was Lost which describes what happens to Isgrimnur between the showdown of To Greenangel Tower and its afterword. It works as a brigde nove between the old and the new story. And there will be another Osten Ard novel published in Autumn Brothers of the Wind which is about Ineluki and his brother Hakatri fighting the dragon Hidohebi (briefly alluded in MST). So there is some new Osten Ard content to look forward to this year albeit not the third volume.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

This is encouraging! I am absolutely reading both of those books, and I'm gonna read some non Osten Ard Tad work as well!! Thank you 😁

Halfway through The Dragonbone Chair and digging it, it’s definitely a little slower especially after finishing all of The First Law books by Joe Abercrombie. I’m enjoying it a lot!

@thefantasynuttwork

Жыл бұрын

This pleases me greatly

Wonderful review! I love the way you described the language barrier being used as a plot and character device. I also thought the passage you shared was beautifully written. Is this series the best place to start with Tad Williams?

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Johanna 😀 Definitely the place to start with Tad! He has other books in this universe and then completely separate works in fantasy and sci fi. But this, imo, is the best starting place 🤓

@Johanna_reads

3 жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork Great! I've been curious about Tad for a while now, and I'm glad to know I can start with this series. Thanks!

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

@@Johanna_reads my pleasure 😁

I just finished this series a few hours ago. A phenomenal trilogy. Gonna dig into the rest of Tad's bibliography now.

@thefantasynuttwork

Жыл бұрын

YESSSS

@MetalGildarts

Жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork I was on the edge of my seat the last 90 pages of To Green Angel Tower. It's not often a novel makes me do that.

I have a feeling I am missing out ... got to get this. Also, you mentioned a Tad Williams stand alone fantasy on your chat ... what was it? I forgot the title. That might be a good place to start. Thanks for the fun & interesting videos. I love your passion for this stuff, and no BS talk.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! The standalone is called The War of the Flowers and I'll be posting a spoiler free review for it today!

@alexfrederick3404

3 жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork Thank you ... I will look forward to the review!

Great review! I’ve just finished the first book and as much as I want to like it, I can’t bring myself to. I’m a huge fantasy fan, but I just find TDC a bit too complicated with all the names and places which you can’t properly pronounce… it makes remembering who is who quite difficult, so I often had no idea what was going on. I want to read book 2, I’m just really not sure it’s gonna be any different… 😬

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

Hope you enjoy it!

mr nutts! a pleasure as always

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Pleasure is all mine!

My favorite series

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

It's certainly top 3 for me, hard to pick just one. This is a masterpiece no doubt!!!

Good review and I can just agree, it's still one of the best fantasy series out there! And yes, the ending is just perfect Addition to Simon and Miriamele: The miscommunication between Simon and Miriamele was really annoying at some point, but I think it was atleast to a degree intended by that, not just to portray them as teenagers, but also to critique the Feudalist mindset of both of them, since the difference in standing was a big point of Simon basically being constantly oooooverly anxious and had a mind carousel. That also makes his dialogue with Aditu about the whole matter more meaningful in a wider sense; it directly calls out how unnecessarily complicated the topic of love is in mortal society. Regarding combat: I actually did like how the combat was written, partially because Tad was focusing more on the emotions involved and not badassery. Which I appreciate a lot. Otherwise, I was a bit sad the battles around the finale weren't more indepth tbh since I love the clash of realistic medieval human armies vs fantasy dark elves/dark fairy folk.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah great point about the romance and commentary on feudal society! I hadn't really considered it like that but you bring up valid points. I appreciate that. Combat, especially during this period in fantasy, wasn't as refined as we see today. I don't hold it as a huge negative over the series and truly if it was as in depth as some of the stuff I love reading today, I'm not sure it would even fit the narrative. Definitely me just nit picking because clearly this is a top 3-5 series of all time.

It’s always interesting seeing someone who is a huge fan of a series rave about it, but isn’t exactly above criticizing it. I did enjoy a lot of the discussions you mentioned, especially the languages part of the review. I always admired the cultures he created here (and the different creatures) but I didn’t think of the languages and their barriers as such until you mentioned it. However, I’ll have to disagree on the pacing part of the series. In my experience so far with the first two books, book 1 was slow as most books start out in that decade from what I read. But book 2 felt worse in that regard, it made me think of the dreaded second book syndrome in trilogies which I haven’t experience in a while before reading it. Even though I’m starting book 3 today, I am also extremely skeptical that the pacing will improve drastically here, but according to some users on Reddit it does and this review works into that push as well. So here’s to hoping I come out of Osten Ard feeling the sense of wonder and amazement you all did!

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

I hope you do too! Fair warning however, and you can probably guess this as of now, I like slower books haha

Man, I'm always looking for more Osten Ard content! The language thing you talked about is spot on. As I've been listening to the audiobooks, I've also read some parts while listening. The Finnish translations that is, maybe some 400 pages total. And that has driven that point of the languages of Osten Ard home. By which I mean, I imagine especially Rimmerspakk and Quanuc have a non-fixed sentence structure. Example: in English no matter what happens, the word order is always Subject, verb, object. For example, 'The boy kicked the dog'. In Finnish, that is also true for simple sentences with no extra info. Poika potkaisi koiraa. That has the same word order. But if you add more information, with a non-fixed sentence structure the word order changes. The boy kicking the dog fell down. Koiraa potkaiseva poika kaatui. Still the same words, but with different suffixes. And that's what's happening in Binabik's and Sludig's etc. heads when they're speaking erkynlandish. I might flesh this out further tomorrow. Don't you just hate it when you start writing an essay on KZread, and notice that you have to go to bed? Also, spoiler warning * * * * Can we talk about Aditu taking Simon to Sithi lands in The Stone of Farewell? Because that really may be the most beautiful scene I've ever read. In every sense.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

What a comment! Thanks so much for all that extra insight on the languages point. Truly fascinating stuff!! And yes that scene was wonderful

@FallenAdam

3 жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork That scene man. I teared up a bit from the sheer beauty of language there. If you want to dig in more on that language point, I recommend watching this Royal Institution video. It might seem like it's not related to what I was saying at first, but it's there. kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZIKA09ekpM7Koc4.html

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

@@FallenAdam this is awesome, I will absolutely check this out. Thank you :-)

Have you ever heard the surprisingly cogent theory that all of the Children of the Garden are from space? That they traveled from the Garden (another planet) and the "Great Ships" were spaceships on the "Endless ocean" of, well...space? Lol. It's really a fun theory.

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

I LOVE THAT THEORY

@Rhuarc1

2 жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork Tad Williams himself has winked at it. I actually wrote a basic framework on how it might have worked, and it wasn't terrible. One thing that I posited was that Dragons were much different creatures in the Garden, but the harsh conditions of Osten Ard gave them an awful vitality.

Will you also read Otherland and Shadowmarch? Shadowmarch is my personal favourite series of Tad and it often feels like a different take on similar/same topics as MST did. Just darker (some would say "edgy" maybe)

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

I'm absolutely going to! I'm actually reading his War of Flowers standalone in March as well

I own 3/4s of the series now and it's VERY tempting to start soon.

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

It's a big investment but one that's worth it IMO

@thatsci-firogue

2 жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork you and me seem to have similar tastes and interests in Fantasy so I'm sure I'll love it

Oh yes, another author underrated on booktube. I love his slow worldbuilding and characters.

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

He's amazing

@ 8:44 he mentioned two authors who write combat very well, but I'm having a heck of a time making out their names. Any ideas? THX

@kittymachine3798

2 жыл бұрын

Ok, I figured out the first author is John Gwynne. No clue about the second.

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

Evan Winter, sorry about that!

I remember we had a couple guys come over to the house to fix the A/C and I was rereading 'To Green Angel Tower". When they came over I left the book on the table and all three of these guys looked at the book like I had placed a gun on the table. After they were done one of the guys told my wife in Portuguese "your husband like reading really REALLY big books doesn't he?"

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Hahahahahha that is amazing 🤣

Is this three books or four? Amazon lists book 3 in two parts.

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

It's 3 but book 3 is split cause it's so massive lol

would you recommend tackling this entire series back to back to back?

@thefantasynuttwork

2 жыл бұрын

I would yes

@bottle1211

2 жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork Gotta think if I wanna make that type of commitment. Thank you!

Have you read the sequels?

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Not yet but planning to 😁

Unfortunately for me, I don't ever like the idea of trudging through a book to get to a better sequel. Book 1 is really dragging despite great prose, a detailed fantasy world. Simon isn't bad, but he really does come off as a story device more than a protagonist of "I want to know about the world, feed me exposition" and I reflect on ASOIAF. First chapter is Bran, then its Cateyln informing about Lord Aryn's death. the story starts to kick off pretty fast. I am 60 pages in and all i know is a king is dying and his sons are bickering but its not the highlight of those pages, Simon cleaning and wanting to know history is

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Damn sorry it's not hitting with you. You bring up some valid points here, thankfully I didn't really mind book one at all but accept others may. Hope the next read you choose is better!

@dericmederos1514

3 жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork Thanks, I'm also curious what it takes for you DNF a book or if thats a rare event

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

@@dericmederos1514 rare because I vet books pretty hard before I read them. I never considered DNFing DBC though, I genuinely loved it haha

It sucks that my copies are stuck in the USA right now.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

I hope they arrive soon 🙌

@benjaminmolina3456

3 жыл бұрын

@@thefantasynuttwork i was thinking of getting them myself after covid, like Thanos but no infinity stones.

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

@@benjaminmolina3456 I like it!! Hahah

The only thing putting me off is the name Simon. I dunno, it just seems so bad for a protagonist in a fantasy novel 🤣

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

I actually thought the same thing 🤣🤣

@Gypsy_Danger_TMC

2 жыл бұрын

Seoman

writing is way too flowery for me it’s damn near impossible to stay awake and pay attention during the audiobook

@thefantasynuttwork

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry to hear that! I love flowery prose but it's obviously a personal preference