Publishing information: Paperback; 1104pgs
Publisher: Daw; 3 May 2005
ISBN: 978-0756402983
Series: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn 3
Copy: From Publisher
Reviewer: Tyson
Amazon
Synopsis: "The evil minions of the undead Sithi Storm King are beginning their final preparations for the kingdom-shattering culmination of their dark sorceries, drawing King Elias ever deeper into their nightmarish, spell-spun world.
As the Storm King’s power grows and the boundaries of time begin to blur, the loyal allies of Prince Josua struggle to rally their forces at the Stone of Farewell. There, too, Simon and the surviving members of the League of the Scroll have gathered for a desperate attempt to unravel mysteries from the forgotten past.
For if the League can reclaim these age-old secrets of magic long-buried beneath the dusts of time, they may be able to reveal to Josua and his army the only means of striking down the unslayable foe...."
The Green Angel Tower is quite the doorstopper and there were times when I wondered if I had made the right decision to read this series but I have wanted to get a taste of Williams' writing for quite a while and so I made it a goal to read the first Osten Ard series by the end of the year, and I am proud to say that I completed it just a few weeks before the deadline.
The Green Angel Tower is the finale to the original series (a new trilogy has been released this year) and while the book and series definite takes a page out of Tolkien, with the slow burn that leads up to the final confrontation. I found myself enjoying the book. The Green Angel Tower, like the books that precede it, take a slow, meandering approach to get where all the characters need to be before we finally have the confrontation between good and evil.
Simon has grown up, seen combat, and finally learns of his heritage. While it had been foreshadowed in previous books, his background wrapped up things quite nicely and allowed him to get the girl. While I have no problem with happy endings in books it was a little too perfect. While the new series will reveal how well he rules his kingdom, I would have liked to have seen things not tied up in a bow the way Williams chose to go.
Williams does do a good job of writing strong female characters as many of them played key roles in the various confrontations and decisions that affected our heroes. Miriamele has a major role to play and takes a major role in confronting her father.
While I did enjoy the book, there were a few issues I had with how everything came together. The Sithi joining the conflict was a major turning point in the battle and yet they came late, had a few skirmishes and then at the final battle engaged the enemy but in the end they had very little input in bringing about an end to the conflict. In fact, just about all of the confrontations meant very little in the grand scheme of things. While they did alleviate a few camps from death at the hands of the enemy, they didn't actually do anything that truly changed the course of the conflict.
While this is a minor concern, it was in the back of my mind as the book and series came to a close. I am glad that I finally sat down and read this series as I see it every time I head to the bookstore and dares me to give it a go. When the publisher reissued the first book, I knew it was time to give in and read it.
I now have the first two books (well, one novella and the first book in the new trilogy) and plan on giving it a shot some time down the road after I have had a chance to put a few more books that have been on my Mt. TBR for a while. The series is worth the slow pace as it has that 80's fantasy feel to it but is easy enough to get into if this one was left out of your fantasy reads and want to see what it is all about.
Overall 8/10
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