7 April 2010
Recent Reviews
WRITING RAW: WEEB REVIEWS THE SHADOWMARCH SERIES
by Tad Williams
Shadowmarch: ...Just when you think you’ve had enough, the plot pulls itself back together in a big way. Suddenly you are back to wondering who to trust, who to like and who to hate. I actually liked all the politics created for this world. I found those parts very well paced and written in such a believable manner that, at times, I wanted more of that intrigue rather than Chert wondering around lost in a cave!
Williams ends the book with the world in total turmoil. The ending does not answer many questions but provides enough interesting setup to want to know what happens to these characters and this land…
Shadowplay: ...The writing and construction of the novel is impeccable. This second installment of the Shadowmarch series ups the stakes as many of the plots from the first book are addressed and expanded in ways that one will never see coming. This book blows apart any and all expectations of this world’s future. Shadowplay builds, becoming a bit crueler, while layers of plot, action, and politics places this epic series in a new territory of imagination.
Shadowrise: What the hell is happening to this series? Is it possible that each book in this series just keeps getting better than the previous one? The answer is an unbelievable YES! ... Tad Williams has produced an enormous storyline that adds much to this epic fantasy series (or would one really long book best describe it?). I wait impatiently for the last book, coming out later this year, SHADOWHEART.
Read the full Writing Raw review HERE.
KAMVISION REVIEW
Shadowplay by Tad Williams
Reviewed by Jason Baki on March 31, 2010
As I read more, I am drawn into the possibilities of where Williams may take his tale. The world is rich, the characters diverse and the story embedded with a sense of mystery and intrigue. For such a large and in many ways complex story Shadowplay is remarkably easy to read, containing depth without ever being turgid or overly dense. Shadowplay is an excellent follow-up to Shadowmarch, and does a great job of setting up events for the third volume.
Read the full Kamvision review HERE.
Review: Zombie: An Anthology of the Undead
posted by Niki Bruce on April 4, 2010
Whether or not you can explain the current fascination with zombies, there is no doubt that this anthology is worth a look. If you can’t take sitting through a whole book on the subject, the anthology offers various options – zombies that drop from the sky, zombies that work for you, zombies who used to be people you know – and you can grab a bit of zombie genre in small bites (sorry, couldn't resist).
Read Niki’s full review HERE.
Review: War of the Flowers
posted by Andrew on April 3, 2010
And, as usual, I’m taken in by the story – this one of Theo Vilmos, ne’er-do-well, layabout, and shiftless thirty-something musician – and by Williams’ ability to adopt conventions of fantasy and make them his own. Williams is a good writer, and creates both believable characters and fully-fleshed environments with deceptive ease. Without further ado, a recommendation: Read this book.
Read Andrew’s full review HERE.
PAT’S FANTASY HOTLIST REVIEW
Warriors edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Posted by Patrick on March 24, 2010
“And Ministers of Grace” by Tad Williams is another one of my favorites. A Terminator-like soldier is sent on a suicide mission in the name of his religion. As was the case with Hobb, this is not the sort of stuff Tad Williams has accustomed us to. But it’s pretty damn good.
Read Patrick’s full review HERE.
24 March 2010
 INTERVIEW: TAD WILLIAMS
ON “AND MINISTERS OF GRACE”
By Shawn Speakman on March 24, 2010
www.suvudu.com
...And Ministers of Grace, was easily my favorite tale in Warriors. All of the strengths that Tad brings to his long fiction were present, and he has created one of the most memorable characters I have read—Lamentation Kane.
How were you approached to write the short story And Ministers of Grace for the Warriors anthology?
That story has elements from a bigger story I’ve thought about for the last few years, so some of the concepts were there already. But what I wanted to talk about in this case was not the whole inter-planetary conflict, so much as its effect on one very unusual individual. As a “rationalist”, I’m very interested in other people’s experiences with faith and their beliefs.
Read the full interview on Suvudu HERE.
22 March 2010
 FLAMES RISING FICTION REVIEW
Shadowrise by Tad Williams
Reviewed by Monica Valentinelli on March 22, 2010
Tad Williams returns to his current epic fantasy series with the third (and not-yet-final) installment of a novel entitled “SHADOWRISE.” This particular tome is well over five hundred pages, and continues the story of the betrayal of the Eddon family and the battle between the faeries and the mortals.
If you’ve been following my work here on FlamesRising.com, you might recall that I reviewed SHADOWPLAY, which was the second book in this series. After reading that book, I ended up going back and buying the first volume entitled SHADOWMARCH in order to get caught up on the series. I feel that’s a pretty important distinction to make, since there is a lot that happens between books one, two and now…three.
The first thing I noticed about this volume, was that an optional summary of each book in the series was included at the front of the book. That, in my humble opinion, was brilliant thinking because it quickly reminded me of what I read. So, when I started to read Chapter One, I didn’t get a long diatribe of “what came before.” This book is really “the book o’ big fat secrets,” so I’m going to do my best not to spoil too much for you.
Read the full FlamesRising.com review HERE.
Read Monica Valentinelli’s review of SHADOWPLAY HERE.
Win an Autographed Copy of SHADOWRISE
posted by Patrick on March 22, 2010
Visit Pat's Fantasy Hotlist for details.
 KAMVISION INTERVIEW: TAD WILLIAMS
by Jason Baki on March 15, 2010
...This series was originally conceived as a film, and then a TV series, before being put out as an online series. Only afterwards being transferred to book form and then conceived as a trilogy, and now expanded to four books. That's quite a journey, what have you learned from the process?
[Tad's laughing as Deborah reads the question] Absolutely nothing.
Haha, fair enough! Well Do you think the final work is better because of the journey you've been on with it?
As a book, certainly. The first volume still contains fossils of its origin as an online serial. But since then it's become more and more one of my Big Stories.
...I think Deborah may have mentioned that this will be your last epic fantasy for a while, so where next for Tad Williams?
My next books will be closer to what's thought of as contemporary dark fantasy. They're about an angel who has a succession of really bad days. It will be, like most of my work, different than what came before it and yet extremely Tad-like. The first book will be called 'Sleeping Late On Judgement Day'. The books are normal thriller-length too. For now I think I've explored everything that the epic can give me.
Read the full Kamvision interview HERE.
Read Jason Baki's review of SHADOWMARCH HERE.
14 March 2010
Reviews and More
SHADOWRISE
PREVIEW OF SHADOWRISE BY TAD WILLIAMS
Flames Rising has a short excerpt from Tad’s new novel.
GAME LOCUS NETWORK REVIEW
Shadowrise by Tad Williams
Regardless, SHADOWRISE is a wonderfully crafted offering by one of fantasy’s luminary authors and should not be missed (more so because Tad has claimed that this will be his last epic fantasy–we certainly hope that’s just exhaustion talking).
Read the full Game Locus review HERE.
SEEDLINGS BOOK REVIEW
Shadowrise by Tad Williams
Any fan of Tad Williams or the Shadowmarch series should be completely satisfied. Shadowrise simply represents creative, intricate, well molded fantasy that leaves you with feeling as satisfied as if you've eaten a delicious meal. The book doesn’t drop the plot, nor does it plod along. The characters continue to be interesting and well crafted. And, most importantly, we won’t have to wait as long for the next book! Pure win right there.
Read the full Seedlings review HERE.
FREE SHADOWRISE WALLPAPER DOWNLOAD
Orbit UK is offering Shadowrise Wallpapers for downloading HERE.
FANTASYLITERATURE.COM REVIEW
SHADOWRISE by Tad Williams
I said in my review of book one that this series doesn’t match the genius of his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy (it was, after all, “genius”) but is his strongest work since then and compares favorably to nearly any epic fantasy going now (with only a few exceptions). Through three books, I see no reason to change my mind. I’m looking forward eagerly to the book four, the concluding volume.
Read the full review HERE.
THE DRAGONS OF ORDINARY FARM
READING RUMPUS BOOK REVIEW
The Dragons of Ordinary Farm by Tad Williams & Deborah Beale
All in all, The Dragons of Ordinary Farm is a worthy addition for students interested in fantasy and/or action-adventure stories. The fantasy reader will be held rapt and the action-adventure reader reader will find lots to like too. The ending really packs a wallop and leaves enough room for a sequel or five.
Read the full Reading Rumpus review HERE.
WARRIORS
Warriors Review: And Ministers of Grace by Tad Williams
Reviewed by Shawn Speakman for Suvudu
Tad is a highly-intelligent man, a writer who brings that into his work. But that is not the only aspect to this new novella. And Ministers of Grace brims with vigor and excitement from beginning to end. Tad has created a very real world of conflict that in many ways mirrors our own, and through that creation Kane walks, a competent killer using all means at his disposal to complete his quest. The realities of both worlds feel real to me as I see them in our own; the science that allows Kane to transform his body into a killing machine was fascinating to behold and just plain cool.
Read the full Suvudu review HERE.
8 March 2010
 THE BOOKGEEKS INTERVIEW: TAD WILLIAMS
Reviewed by The Editor on March 8, 2010
Tad Williams’ debut fantasy series Memory, Sorrow and Thorn sold millions of copies around the world and established him as one of the greatest fantasy writers of modern times. His virtual reality saga, Otherland, and his standalone novel The War of the Flowers were published to similar popular and critical acclaim. The third volume of the Shadowmarch series. Shadowplay, has recently been released (it was going to be a trilogy, but Williams’ fans know his track record with trilogies!), so we caught up with him to ask him about his craft…
Read the BookGeeks Interview HERE
5 March 2010
BOOKGEEKS REVIEW
Shadowrise by Tad Williams
Reviewed by Simon Appleby on March 2, 2010
. . . Fortunately, the only disappointing thing about Shadowrise is the fact that it doesn’t represent the promised end to the sequence – taken on its own terms, it’s some of Williams’ best work to date. His first fantasy series was a powerful and gripping piece of storytelling but the moral landscape was very clearly defined; the Shadowmarch trilogy quartet still showcases a powerful story, but you’re hard pressed to know who the baddies are, and in that way it reflects some of the changes to the fantasy landscape wrought by the likes of Steven Erikson and K.J. Parker. Ambiguity abounds, as we start to discover the true significance of Southmarch Castle to the increasingly tragic Qar, and the wrongs that the human race have perpetrated against them throughout their history. . .
Williams keeps the plot moving along very nicely indeed, spending just the right amount of time with each character before switching perspective, and interweaving the narratives deftly. Both of the Eddon twins continue to develop, and all of the crucial characters move closer to the inevitable denouement at Southmarch Castle that will undoubtedly occupy much of the final volume, to be titled Shadowheart. Williams continues to improve as a writer, in my view, and Shadowrise proves he is still one of the authors to beat when it comes to high fantasy. If only he could count to three…
Read Simon Appleby's full Review HERE
Read an Excerpt from Shadowrise HERE
Order Shadowrise: Little, Brown Book Group (UK) • Barnes & Noble •
IndieBound • Borders • Powell’s Books
 BOOKGEEKS REVIEW
Shadowmarch and Shadowplay by Tad Williams
Reviewed by Simon Appleby on February 26, 2008
It’s beyond the scope of a review such as this to describe the multiple plotlines that make up these books, the characters who we meet along the way and the reverses that many of them have to endure, but I will say this: Williams has devised a more complex plot than his previous fantasy trilogy, and seems to have learned some lessons about momentum. While a few sections drag slightly, and he is still prone to throwing in dream sequences, the frequent switches between characters maintain the pace pretty effectively. Most crucially, at the end of Shadowplay, it’s still not really clear what the overall story arc is – what is the significance of Flint, the boy from beyond the Shadowline? What are the Autarch’s intentions towards the March Kingdoms? Also unlike the earlier works, there are many more grey areas for characters to inhabit and we are not always sure who the good guys are, or what motivates them. This is in contrast to the (very enjoyable) ‘goodies v baddies’ approach in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn.
 Williams writes exceedingly well – he evokes the atmosphere and scenery of a range of settings beautifully. His characterisation is a major strong point (not always something you can say about fantasy writers) and his command of language is better than ever (ditto!).
In the development of this new trilogy, one can feel the influences of writers who have come in to the fantasy genre since Williams started and made a big impact – K.J.Parker for the moral ambiguity, Steven Erikson for the complex mythos that underpins the whole story, and R. Scott Bakker, especially in those parts of the book set in the Autarch’s court. I enjoyed these books immensely, and unusually for a fantasy trilogy, at the end of the second book I have very little inkling of how the story will play itself out. Roll on Shadowrise!
Read Simon Appleby's full Review HERE
3 March 2010
This month Tor.com is celebrating Michael Moorcock and “The Legacy of a Living Legend.” From editor Eric Raab: “Over the next month here on Tor.com we will hear from many who cite Moorcock as an influence, friend, and without a doubt one of the greatest fantasists of all time, including Neil Gaiman, Tad Williams, and even some words from Moorcock himself.”
In “In the Shadow of The Jewel in the Skull” Tad writes about how he first discovered Michael Moorcock, how Moorcock’s Multiverse influences him, and how he’ll always be a Moorcock fanboy at heart:
I remember finding my first Michael Moorcock books at a used bookstore in downtown Palo Alto back in the early 70s. I was very young, of course. (So was Michael, I’m sure—a precocious youth. None of us wants to be reminded how long we’ve been writing.)
I don’t remember if the Hawkmoon books were the first or the second thing of his I read. I know that I went through the Elric, Corum, and Hawkmoon books all in short order after I discovered them, and then began systematically tracking down everything else of Moorcock’s I could find, occasionally even splurging on a new paperback instead of waiting for one to show up pre-owned. That was the mark of true love.
Read the rest of Tad’s piece HERE
3 March 2010
FANTASY BOOK CRITIC REVIEW
Warriors edited by George R. R. Martin & Gardner Dozois
Reviewed by Robert Thompson
ABOUT WARRIORS: “People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories. Since Homer first sang the wrath of Achilles and the ancient Sumerians set down their tales of Gilgamesh, warriors, soldiers, and fighters have fascinated us; they are a part of every culture, every literary tradition, every genre. All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, and The Red Badge of Courage have become part of our literary canon, taught in classrooms all around the country and the world. Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing—a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they’re best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color in these pages, warriors from every epoch of human history, from yesterday and today and tomorrow, and from worlds that never were. Some of the stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat.”
—from George R. R. Martin’s Introduction
Every story in “Warriors” appears here for the first time. Included are a new Dunk & Egg novella from the world of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire, a new tale of Lord John by Diana Gabaldon, an Emberverse story by S.M. Stirling, a Forever Peace story by Joe Haldeman, and an epic tale of humanity at bay by David Weber. Also present are original tales by David Ball, Peter S. Beagle, Lawrence Block, Gardner Dozois, Robin Hobb, Cecelia Holland, Joe R. Lansdale, David Morrell, Naomi Novik, James Rollins, Steven Saylor, Robert Silverberg, Carrie Vaughn, Howard Waldrop, and Tad Williams.
Many of these writers are bestsellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable reading...
5) “And Ministers of Grace” by Tad Williams. Some of the ideas in “And Ministers of Grace” are familiar like colonized planets, implants that transmit messages/advertisements directly to a person’s brain, a “nanobiote”-enhanced soldier who reminded me some of Alex Mercer from the Prototype videogame, and religious themes, but as a whole I was blown away by Tad Williams’ futuristic tale of a Covenant Guardian named Lamentation Kane sent on a mission to assassinate the Prime Minister of Archimedes, and the ensuing chaos that follows... Would love to see the short story expanded into a full-length novel or series.
FORMAT/INFO: “Warriors” is 736 pages long divided over twenty short stories and an Introduction by George R. R. Martin. Each short story is preceded by biographical information about the author and a short description of their contribution to the anthology. March 16, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of “Warriors” via Tor.
Read Robert Thompson's full Review HERE
Official George R. R. Martin Website
Official Gardner Dozois Wiki
Order “Warriors” HERE
Read An Excerpt HERE
18 February 2010
 FANTASY BOOK CRITIC REVIEW
The New Dead edited by Christopher Golden
Reviewed by Robert Thompson
ABOUT THE NEW DEAD: In the world of pop culture, nothing is hotter than zombies right now. Thanks to the commercial success of Max Brooks’ “World War Z”, Seth Grahame-Smith’s “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”, the wildly popular video game series Resident Evil, comic books like Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead and Marvel Zombies, and movies like Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Zombieland, and Shaun of the Dead, the living dead are here to stay.
Now in “The New Dead”, Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden has assembled an all-original anthology of never-before-published zombie stories from an eclectic array of today's hottest writers including Joe Hill, John Connolly, Max Brooks, Kelley Armstrong, Tad Williams, David Wellington, David Liss, Joe R. Lansdale, Jonathan Maberry, Mike Carey, Brian Keene, and many others. Inside are a wildly diverse and entertaining collection of new views on death and resurrection . . . the Last Word on the New Dead...
15) “The Storm Door” by Tad Williams. When I think of Tad Williams, I immediately think of epic fantasy, so I was a little surprised to see the author included in a zombie anthology. Williams more than holds his own though with an impressive tale about a paranormal investigator named Nathan Nightingale who discovers that predatory souls are taking over the bodies of the recently deceased...
FORMAT/INFO: “The New Dead” is 400 pages long divided over nineteen short stories. Also includes a Foreword by the editor Christopher Golden, and biographies on all of the anthology’s contributors. February 16, 2010 marks the North American Trade Paperback publication of “The New Dead” via St. Martin’s Griffin. Cover art provided by Per Haagensen. The UK version will be published on February 18, 2010 via Piatkus Books under the altered title: “Zombie: An Anthology of the Undead”. Subterranean Press is also producing a limited signed edition of “The New Dead” that is already long sold out.
Read Robert Thompson's full Review HERE
Official Christopher Golden Website
Order The New Dead HERE
Read Excerpts HERE (PDF) + HERE (PDF)
INTERVIEW | Zombie Style
with Christopher Golden, Kelley Armstrong, Mike Carey, Tim Lebbon, David Wellington, & Jon Maberry
The Mad Hatter's Bookshelf and Book Review
28 January 2010
INTERVIEW: TALKING WITH TIM
Deborah Beale on Using Twitter to Preview Tad Williams’ Shadowrise
By Tim O'Shea
This March, Volume 3 in Williams’ Shadowmarch series, Shadowrise, will be released. To whet the appetite of fans anticipating the book’s release, Beale is twittering (as MrsTad) excerpts from the book. The most recent series of tweets started on January 23. I had to ask Beale a few questions about the effort, and she was more than happy to oblige me in this mini email interview. My thanks to Beale for her time and efforts, as always.
Read the full interview here: Talking with Tim
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