I'm having such a great time with this book! Thanks so much for your excellent review . It's fun to listen to after I finish each part. I actually only have a few chapters left so I'll de watching your final video pretty soon. Thanks!
I’d say Chapter 20 is the formal introduction, in-truth, of the Storm King in this story. He loomed incredibly large, immediately - very much at the scale of a fantasy Dark Lord such as Sauron from LOTR. I got chills, that he spoke directly to the protagonist: surprisingly this is rare early on, in High Fantasy narratives. Truthfully, high fantasy scantily employs the device of a Dark Lord antagonist. I have a difficult time, naming many. Ineluki therefore is a treat for me. He’s far-&-away the best I’ve read about, after Tolkien’s Sauron & Morgoth
I admit I was a bit frustrated by the end of Part 2 and desperate to know Binabik's fate. Then I realised I could just keep reading and now I'm half-way through Part 3! I like how you describe it as an opening out into a wider world and context of a story that starts as centred around Simon. I feel that some of the lately-introduced characters, such as Maegwen, are going to become favourites (if they live of course). So much seems to happen in Part 2 that it's a surprise to realise the white arrow encounter didn't happen in Part 1 and that Binabik hasn't always been part of the story.
Sometimes rereads are quite strange to me, because so many "core" characters aren't in Part 1 and the story just feels so different without them involved. I love that you're reading ahead! Glad you're enjoying it :)
Finally somewhat caught up on my reading. Great video. Love the quote from Morgenes about the cost of power. BTW, I wrote my MA thesis about Tad & Tolkien and Hidden Monarchs 😉
Rick, I am so enjoying your discussion of MS&T. I agree that the introduction of the new POVs (Eolair, Isgrimnur, Maegwin, etc) quickly turns this story from a small one to a global story, but I do believe Tad leaves us on cliffhangers, then changes the POV on purpose. I love it and it also drives me crazy. You get bonus points for correctly pronouncing Geloe, and a minor demerit for Osten Ard (OH-sten Ard), Jiriki (jir-REE-kee), and Jarnauga (yar-NOW-guh). But much respect for these videos!!!
All bonus points and demerits are not mine to keep: I simply steal the pronunciations from the audiobook versions :D And I outright refuse to pronounce it OH-sten Ard. I can't stand that version of it LOL
@@RickMacDonnell I was the same until June of 1999, when I went to a Tad reading and learned the correct, author-endorsed pronunciations. I was flabbergasted by Pryrates and Utuk'ku! X) I love what you are doing, here, bringing to light an author whose work has somehow become the literary equivalent of the "thirteenth floor" in North America: there, but often forgotten, except by those who understand the architecture of Western fantasy literature. Bravo!
@@RickMacDonnell Hahaha. Me being German it never occured to me to pronounce it Austin Ard. Osten is the german word for east so of course I pronounce it thus. There are quite a few german word in the books like Hünen which means giant or Ingen Jegger which is very close to Jäger meaning hunter.
I am loving this book! Thank you for the “vortex” section. I was hoping you would touch on the characters that we were introduced to in part 2. It was very frustrating to be thrown in to a new story with new people.
Yesssss, this makes me so happy! The onslaught of characters and information in book 1 of the series is definitely the hump people need to get over. But by book 2 I think you're going to feel yourself on solid group and you can just enjoy what comes :)
It was this first encounter with Jiriki in the trap which sucked me into the story all these years ago. I was enraptured by the level of alienness he represented. Later I came to wonder why he wandered all alone into this trap (and what the words meant Simon's heart in the beginning - do Sithi curse?). I spent quite some time trying to crawl into the heads of the Sithi characters but never completely succeeded. Which made it so much more fun :-) I also think Simon's kind heart is already showing very strongly in the 'White Arrow' chapter. It takes a lot of kindness and courage to attack a much stronger person to save someone you don't know and who kicked you moments ago. And who is considered evil by your religion... Binabik and his loyal steed are all-time favorites of course and they are a great help to balance out Simon's mooncalf traits. Which is great, because I might have thrown the book to the wall otherwise (^_______^).
Ok, I'm late to the party, but glad to finally gotten to this check point! So I had a very different experience as a first time reader. I did not at all mind the breaks in action to go to the other characters / places. It was a little confusing sometimes insofar as it's hard to remember so many new people and place name when you are new to a world. But on the whole, I enjoyed the deviations from the "main" story. It's a nice break from the action to slow down and experience some more world-building, more mythology, more politics, etc. I feel the same way about movies: if you have long action scenes that go on for ages, it gets old and stops being exciting. Good movies need to balance the action and so do good books. I felt the pacing was spot on. And I am absolutely loving the new characters. LOVED Binabik after about 2 sentences lol. Also liking Simon a lot more. I liked him from the start, even with his annoyances, but am really start to love him. Totally agree with his heart and moral character. He was growing on me more and more and the second he decided he was going to go help the screaming person I was like "Yep. This is the guy. I'm with him from here on out." I can tell he is going to have great character development over the course of the trilogy and I am looking forward to it. Loved lots of the secondary characters as well: Geloë, Marya, and especially Maegwin and her whole family and their dynamics. Looking forward to part 3.
You're doing a great job with these videos👏 I loved the second part of the book. So I just continued reading and read the rest of it! Binabik is definitely a new favorite character,he's a sweetheart. I also like how the character of Simon is developing, he is growing up and I love his empathy. Really excited to continue the series!
Great video. Thanks! You mentioned that Binibik starts to transition from mentor to friend. Another transition I see is from Simon Mooncalf to more adult behavior. He is 15 and sometimes acts the child. But he is also more experienced and therefore wise. For instance, he questions Geloë about her knowledge of the approaching men. Simon thinks again and realizes that he doesn’t need to know because he trusts Geloë and there are more important issues at this time. I think Tad Williams does a good job showing that profession in Simon.
I'm nearly finished rereading The Dragonbone Chair, couldn't stop. Binabik has definitely been added to my favourite persons list, he's just special. Qantaqa too.
@@RickMacDonnell I sort of know. That was my absolute favourite series back when I read it, and I was really lamenting the fact I could find no other that would even come close. It's just been so long I forgot pretty much the story, which makes rediscovering it all the more fun! I'm sort of contemplating throwing the rest of my planed TBR out of the window and continuing straight away with The Stone of Farewell (and River of Blue Fire.... ) 😈😂
Extremely late but I am finally getting into section three. I love Binibik as a character and find Simon fascinating. It’s very clear to me that he plays a bigger role than he knows and I’m anxious to see if his parents story comes back up later in the series. As a first time reader I also loved the side story but it did confuse me at first, plus I was a bit anxious to see what happened with Binibik. I was intrigued thought. I’m also curious about the night King and his brother an did there more to their story, I don’t know why I’m not completely sold on Joshua yet.
I just finished Stone of Farewell. Couldn’t resist, I want to jump right into A Green Angel Tower but I think I might put a smaller book in between like I did between The Dragonbone Chair and The Stone of Farewell.
Bit late here (got distracted by other books), but think I'll move straight on to Part 3! Weirdly the times we left Simon were some of my favourite sections - especially the bits in Nabban (still fond of Eolair, not entirely sure why) and Hernysadharc. I find the politics more interesting than the mystical stuff, so enjoyed the glimpses of events outside Simon's awareness. Agree it makes the story feel bigger. Also agree that Binabik and Qantaqa are excellent, and even Simon is slowly becoming less irritating. Excited to have finally arrived in Naglimund! Part 2 convinced me to order the rest of the books, so now I'm in for the whole ride (albeit somewhat apprehensive about the size of both parts of To Green Angel Tower). If I end up having to read Infinite Jest because of Booktube Spin 1 then I am absolutely going to struggle.
I am going to have to fight the urge soooo hard to not change the spin number if you land on Infinite Jest hahaha. So happy you're enjoying it more now! This is not an uncommon reaction, though. Many people have to get over the hump of Part 1, and when they do they're in for the ride.
@@RickMacDonnell Ha would definitely be an abuse of power, not sure Morgenes would approve. That said, it would clearly be great news for me and I am therefore 100% behind it. Read some more this evening, now up to Chapter 35. Obviously won't post spoilers here, but will say Part 3 is great (agree re Council of Elrond vibes) and I'm looking forward to your video on it!
![Hello [BookTube], My Old Friend](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6gpzYTfxyyI/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm a simple man...I see Memory Sorrow and Thorn content, I watch.
Simple man or enlightened man ... ?
I'm having such a great time with this book! Thanks so much for your excellent review . It's fun to listen to after I finish each part. I actually only have a few chapters left so I'll de watching your final video pretty soon. Thanks!
I’d say Chapter 20 is the formal introduction, in-truth, of the Storm King in this story. He loomed incredibly large, immediately - very much at the scale of a fantasy Dark Lord such as Sauron from LOTR. I got chills, that he spoke directly to the protagonist: surprisingly this is rare early on, in High Fantasy narratives. Truthfully, high fantasy scantily employs the device of a Dark Lord antagonist. I have a difficult time, naming many. Ineluki therefore is a treat for me. He’s far-&-away the best I’ve read about, after Tolkien’s Sauron & Morgoth
I admit I was a bit frustrated by the end of Part 2 and desperate to know Binabik's fate. Then I realised I could just keep reading and now I'm half-way through Part 3! I like how you describe it as an opening out into a wider world and context of a story that starts as centred around Simon. I feel that some of the lately-introduced characters, such as Maegwen, are going to become favourites (if they live of course). So much seems to happen in Part 2 that it's a surprise to realise the white arrow encounter didn't happen in Part 1 and that Binabik hasn't always been part of the story.
Sometimes rereads are quite strange to me, because so many "core" characters aren't in Part 1 and the story just feels so different without them involved. I love that you're reading ahead! Glad you're enjoying it :)
Finally somewhat caught up on my reading. Great video. Love the quote from Morgenes about the cost of power. BTW, I wrote my MA thesis about Tad & Tolkien and Hidden Monarchs 😉
Rick, I am so enjoying your discussion of MS&T. I agree that the introduction of the new POVs (Eolair, Isgrimnur, Maegwin, etc) quickly turns this story from a small one to a global story, but I do believe Tad leaves us on cliffhangers, then changes the POV on purpose. I love it and it also drives me crazy.
You get bonus points for correctly pronouncing Geloe, and a minor demerit for Osten Ard (OH-sten Ard), Jiriki (jir-REE-kee), and Jarnauga (yar-NOW-guh). But much respect for these videos!!!
All bonus points and demerits are not mine to keep: I simply steal the pronunciations from the audiobook versions :D
And I outright refuse to pronounce it OH-sten Ard. I can't stand that version of it LOL
@@RickMacDonnell I was the same until June of 1999, when I went to a Tad reading and learned the correct, author-endorsed pronunciations. I was flabbergasted by Pryrates and Utuk'ku! X) I love what you are doing, here, bringing to light an author whose work has somehow become the literary equivalent of the "thirteenth floor" in North America: there, but often forgotten, except by those who understand the architecture of Western fantasy literature. Bravo!
@@RickMacDonnell Hahaha. Me being German it never occured to me to pronounce it Austin Ard. Osten is the german word for east so of course I pronounce it thus. There are quite a few german word in the books like Hünen which means giant or Ingen Jegger which is very close to Jäger meaning hunter.
I am loving this book! Thank you for the “vortex” section. I was hoping you would touch on the characters that we were introduced to in part 2. It was very frustrating to be thrown in to a new story with new people.
Yesssss, this makes me so happy! The onslaught of characters and information in book 1 of the series is definitely the hump people need to get over. But by book 2 I think you're going to feel yourself on solid group and you can just enjoy what comes :)
It was this first encounter with Jiriki in the trap which sucked me into the story all these years ago. I was enraptured by the level of alienness he represented. Later I came to wonder why he wandered all alone into this trap (and what the words meant Simon's heart in the beginning - do Sithi curse?). I spent quite some time trying to crawl into the heads of the Sithi characters but never completely succeeded. Which made it so much more fun :-)
I also think Simon's kind heart is already showing very strongly in the 'White Arrow' chapter. It takes a lot of kindness and courage to attack a much stronger person to save someone you don't know and who kicked you moments ago. And who is considered evil by your religion...
Binabik and his loyal steed are all-time favorites of course and they are a great help to balance out Simon's mooncalf traits. Which is great, because I might have thrown the book to the wall otherwise (^_______^).
Ok, I'm late to the party, but glad to finally gotten to this check point! So I had a very different experience as a first time reader. I did not at all mind the breaks in action to go to the other characters / places. It was a little confusing sometimes insofar as it's hard to remember so many new people and place name when you are new to a world. But on the whole, I enjoyed the deviations from the "main" story. It's a nice break from the action to slow down and experience some more world-building, more mythology, more politics, etc. I feel the same way about movies: if you have long action scenes that go on for ages, it gets old and stops being exciting. Good movies need to balance the action and so do good books. I felt the pacing was spot on. And I am absolutely loving the new characters. LOVED Binabik after about 2 sentences lol. Also liking Simon a lot more. I liked him from the start, even with his annoyances, but am really start to love him. Totally agree with his heart and moral character. He was growing on me more and more and the second he decided he was going to go help the screaming person I was like "Yep. This is the guy. I'm with him from here on out." I can tell he is going to have great character development over the course of the trilogy and I am looking forward to it. Loved lots of the secondary characters as well: Geloë, Marya, and especially Maegwin and her whole family and their dynamics. Looking forward to part 3.
Do you plan on doing these for Stone of Farewell? I love these videos!
You're doing a great job with these videos👏
I loved the second part of the book. So I just continued reading and read the rest of it!
Binabik is definitely a new favorite character,he's a sweetheart. I also like how the character of Simon is developing, he is growing up and I love his empathy.
Really excited to continue the series!
Look at you! That’s the best kind of comment: it’s so good you can’t slow down 😊
Great video. Thanks! You mentioned that Binibik starts to transition from mentor to friend. Another transition I see is from Simon Mooncalf to more adult behavior. He is 15 and sometimes acts the child. But he is also more experienced and therefore wise. For instance, he questions Geloë about her knowledge of the approaching men. Simon thinks again and realizes that he doesn’t need to know because he trusts Geloë and there are more important issues at this time. I think Tad Williams does a good job showing that profession in Simon.
That's a good point. As we go along, they become more on even footing because Simon starts to grow up and mature and learn, etc. Great catch :)
There is another thing imo. Binabik only recently was the mentee himself as Ookequk's apprentice until he died.
@@ylvsladuchesse2242 that is a good point!
It's okay, dude. I was also reading Part 2 (not Part 3) when Uri hit us here in Texas. So, timing was close but mot ideal lol
I'm nearly finished rereading The Dragonbone Chair, couldn't stop.
Binabik has definitely been added to my favourite persons list, he's just special. Qantaqa too.
And they just get better and better 😊
@@RickMacDonnell I sort of know. That was my absolute favourite series back when I read it, and I was really lamenting the fact I could find no other that would even come close. It's just been so long I forgot pretty much the story, which makes rediscovering it all the more fun!
I'm sort of contemplating throwing the rest of my planed TBR out of the window and continuing straight away with The Stone of Farewell (and River of Blue Fire.... ) 😈😂
2021: The Year of Tad
Extremely late but I am finally getting into section three. I love Binibik as a character and find Simon fascinating. It’s very clear to me that he plays a bigger role than he knows and I’m anxious to see if his parents story comes back up later in the series. As a first time reader I also loved the side story but it did confuse me at first, plus I was a bit anxious to see what happened with Binibik. I was intrigued thought. I’m also curious about the night King and his brother an did there more to their story, I don’t know why I’m not completely sold on Joshua yet.
I just finished Stone of Farewell. Couldn’t resist, I want to jump right into A Green Angel Tower but I think I might put a smaller book in between like I did between The Dragonbone Chair and The Stone of Farewell.
You’re flying! I love it! I take it you’re enjoying yourself???
@@RickMacDonnell Yes! The Dragonbone Chair was great, and Stone of Farewell was even better and my favorite read of the year so far.
@@mrgodliak Stone of Farewell is imho the best middle book of any series. Period.
Bit late here (got distracted by other books), but think I'll move straight on to Part 3! Weirdly the times we left Simon were some of my favourite sections - especially the bits in Nabban (still fond of Eolair, not entirely sure why) and Hernysadharc. I find the politics more interesting than the mystical stuff, so enjoyed the glimpses of events outside Simon's awareness. Agree it makes the story feel bigger. Also agree that Binabik and Qantaqa are excellent, and even Simon is slowly becoming less irritating. Excited to have finally arrived in Naglimund!
Part 2 convinced me to order the rest of the books, so now I'm in for the whole ride (albeit somewhat apprehensive about the size of both parts of To Green Angel Tower). If I end up having to read Infinite Jest because of Booktube Spin 1 then I am absolutely going to struggle.
I am going to have to fight the urge soooo hard to not change the spin number if you land on Infinite Jest hahaha. So happy you're enjoying it more now! This is not an uncommon reaction, though. Many people have to get over the hump of Part 1, and when they do they're in for the ride.
@@RickMacDonnell Ha would definitely be an abuse of power, not sure Morgenes would approve. That said, it would clearly be great news for me and I am therefore 100% behind it. Read some more this evening, now up to Chapter 35. Obviously won't post spoilers here, but will say Part 3 is great (agree re Council of Elrond vibes) and I'm looking forward to your video on it!
@@rebeccac5515 Any positive comment about these books makes my heart grow. It's like I wrote them or something, it's absurd.
@@RickMacDonnell Revealing that you in fact are Tad Williams would make a great finale for your 12th MST video