![]() ![]() But now, compared to what's come out since, Tad's world feels frankly simplistic, with the cultures poorly integrated and the underlying relationships rather vague. The historical veneer Williams ladled across in doses large and small - ultimately imparting a more 'tactile' fantasy, in terms of religion, geography, etc - made MS&T's text really shine, in comparison. This wasn't unusual in 1988, where you had huge-but-shallow stereotype worlds (Eddings), nonsensical worlds (Dragonlance, Shannara), etc. This hits on another aspect that I found dissatisfying, in that Osten Ard comes off nowadays as cookie-cutter Europe template. Given the population concentration that appears to be in Nabban I’ve never really understood how Erykenland has managed to maintain political control over Nabban? I'm not angry or anything. I'm just surprised, frankly, that I really don't fucking care. Jarnulf and his piety, a dirtier Camaris come-again, etc, ad nauseum. running from duty to the realm instead of chores, etc. Morgan is a cut out of young Simon, with a background change same mooncalfing/avoidance of responsibility except the stakes are higher for Morgan, i.e. Miri I liked, though I wanted to drop a Nuke on every instance I was returned to Nabban. TWC was a return to old and beloved characters. Same old bullshit, longer grudges.īut hey. They're little different than long lived humans. And sure, one could argue we didn't get much about their respective lives, or their inner lives, so of course they felt Other, but all I got from the reveal was disappointment. There was this sense of Otherness about the Sithi and Norns in MS&T that young me really dug. See, I lost interest in the Norns during The Heart of What Was Lost. She's probably the only one of the central cast I'm invested in. Unver is just a poor man's Kellhus (complete with no POV) and the whole Thrithings subplot felt weak and contrived. I can't even remember what Binibik did for the entire novel, other than chase Morgan through the forest. I really don't care much for any of the main characters, though. I'm interested just enough about the Norns to read the third book. I like Tad, and will always have a soft spot for Memory, Sorrow and Thorn- But I'm done with Osten Ard. Unlike EoG however, it turned a corner and opened up onto a vista I could really feast my eyes on. But, like EoG, it also wasn't horrible so I gave it another chapter. Wasn't feeling drawn to it, characters weren't really working. Why did I fucking bother? I mean, I won't be reading it anyway lolĬontrast this with The Priory of the Orange Tree. ![]() I figured if I'd dropped it like I wanted to, I'd never return to finish it- but now, lacking any desire to read the third book I'm left with this ashy taste in my mouth. Despite being either bored or annoyed, I managed to make myself finish EoG. ![]()
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