Paperback, 576 pages
English language
Published April 4, 2005 by DAW Trade.
The second book in the trilogy that launched one of the most important fantasy writers of our time
Solid sequel that expands both plot and world.
Very well executed creative writing 101, with ideas stolen from all over the place. It would be entertaining if one didn't know absolutely all of the tropes. Unfortunately for Williams, I know them.
This book took me forever to read. It was good enough that I could not abandon it completely, but the endless descriptions, pages of details that were ho-hum and slow moving plot kept me from staying up all night to finish it, as is my wont with many fantasy novels, until the last 100 pages, when it got really good.
Why read it? Well, there is an erudite troll, and several interesting female characters including a believable, strong-minded princesses who manage to successfully be human and heroines. In fact, that is one of the best things about this series is that the characters are much more real and flawed than one might normally find in a heroic fantasy. And I do recommend to any fantasy reader.
The downsides might be that there is a Christian, black and white division between good and evil that makes it a bit old-fashioned. There …
This book took me forever to read. It was good enough that I could not abandon it completely, but the endless descriptions, pages of details that were ho-hum and slow moving plot kept me from staying up all night to finish it, as is my wont with many fantasy novels, until the last 100 pages, when it got really good.
Why read it? Well, there is an erudite troll, and several interesting female characters including a believable, strong-minded princesses who manage to successfully be human and heroines. In fact, that is one of the best things about this series is that the characters are much more real and flawed than one might normally find in a heroic fantasy. And I do recommend to any fantasy reader.
The downsides might be that there is a Christian, black and white division between good and evil that makes it a bit old-fashioned. There are also many landscape descriptions and there could be more monster- fighting. I have been corrupted by the graphic sex and violence that the George Martin series and to a less extent, the Robert Jordan series, blesses one with... and the magic isn't all that cool.
