#into the narrowdark

[satsukifowl]

I finished Into the Narrowdark, and now I will twiddle my thumbs awaiting the final book. I’m fine. It’s fine.

[crown-and-stallion]

Nezeru and the baby dragon. Not 100% happy with this one but oh well.

Re-reading The Last Kings of Osten Ard (just started Into the Narrowdark) and Nezeru might be my favorite character!

[9thbutterfly]

Tiny book reviews

Once again it has been a few months since I did this. And I've continued to read even as work got busy, which feels like a big accomplishment!

I feel like my brain has recovered a bit from the exhaustion of the last few (more than a few?) years, but let's see if I actually remember things about the books I read two months ago.

She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker Chan

It was... okay? It's nice to get out of Fantasy-Europe, but it also didn't really pull me in. I guess it feels kind of lonely, if that makes sense? I like books where I can feel a web of characters liking and caring about each other, and this wasn't that.

Drachenglanz (Empire of Ivory), by Naomi Novik

One of those middle-of-the-series books that I pick up at the book bazaar to see if I like the style and the rest of the series is worth reading, and in this case, yes it is. Even though I had very little idea what was going on or who the characters were, it felt engaging enough that I want to read the rest.

Grass for his Pillow, by Lian Hearn

I remember little about this, except that it was a quick easy read and left me annoyed that I had not yet ordered the next book.

The Burning God, R.F. Kuang

I wanted to like this trilogy, and was interested enough in the plot to finish it, but it was too grim and bleak for me, and while the first part still had the saving grace of characters who cared about each other, that fell away as they ended up dying or betraying each other, so I was pretty much just trying to get through to the end as quickly as possible.

Temeraire, by Naomi Novik

Starting to read this in the proper order now. I have very vague memories of reading this before, when my best friend lent it to me years ago, but really nothing past "dragon egg gets found on enemy ship", so I got to read and enjoy the rest as if I had never read it before.

An Artificial Night, by Seanan McGuire

I guess I have been well and truly drawn into this series. Going back to the Bay Area, even in fictional form, is always hard, because there is always a gaping hole where my friend Cindy no longer lives (I started reading Seanan's books mostly because Cindy knew her personally). This one was harder to read than the previous two in the series for a different reason, though - abducted children are much harder to bear since becoming a parent. Anyway, itching to buy the next one, but I need to somewhat reduce my TBR pile first.

Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt

I have no idea how this ended up in my TBR pile (got it from a neighbour, maybe?) and I wasn't even going to read it, because it is so not my thing, either in subject matter or style, but somehow it still drew me in. Glad to be done with it, though, because alcoholic parents just. Piss. Me. Off. Look, I know it's an addiction and they can't help it, but also get your shit together and stop making your children suffer, for fuck's sake. #yeah thanks Papa

Die Herrin der Farben [The Mistress of the Colours], by Peter Dempf

Another one that I think I got from our neighbour. Historical novels can be nice, but this one annoyed me right out the gate with stereotypical "women were treated like trash and corsets mean they couldn't breathe" stuff. Sure some of the "treated like trash" might be true, but to have that be all you have to say about the lives of women is just not enough for me any more. And I couldn't care about the plot, either.

Into the Narrowdark, by Tad Williams

A reread, and I immediately wanted to start into another one.

Tad, oh Tad. What do I say to describe his books? Do I love his books because the characters always care about each other, or is characters caring about each other so important to me because his books helped shape who I am? But either way, this book, like all of the Osten Ard books, is full of characters I love so much, from my decades-old friends like Simon, Miriamele or Tiamak, to my new "babies" like Jesa and Nezeru, and also full of mysteries that I desperately want the answers to. What is going on in Tanakiru? Why is Yeja'aro behaving like he does? And what the HELL is the Red Thing?!

Anyway, if you don't know what I'm talking about, go get yourself The Dragonbone Chair, and then the rest of the series. This is an order.

Voll im Bilde (Moving Pictures), by Terry Pratchett

I bravely keep trying to read Terry Pratchett, whenever I find one of his books at the bazaar, because I know everyone loves him, and I want to know what people are talking about, what all the clever quotes on tumblr are from and such, but it always feels like trying yet another dish from a country whose cooking style you just don't enjoy. (Not that I have encountered such a situation. Maybe I should say, like taking a sip of yet another alcoholic drink, knowing I just do not enjoy the taste of alcohol.) I guess I got even less out of this one than others because I'm not a film person, either. And I still don't understand the point of some kind of dark force making people make movies? But I also don't want to try harder to understand.

After all, have decided I need to reread all the Osten Ard books yet again, and to wonder some more about the Red Thing.

[dietcokelimette]

Tag Game

Tagged by @disniq  tsm!

fave colour: blue in all shades

currently reading: Into The Narrowdark by Tad Williams and The Waringham Saga by Rebecca Gablé

last song: Figure It Out by Royal Blood, Will Of The People by Muse and Angels by Robbie Williams

sweet/spicy/savory: spicy! I’m slowly re-building my lost tolerance for it, though

fav alcoholic drink: I very rarely drink at the moment, but Gin Tonic is an all-time favourite. I’ve also discovered a very tasty mock-Sangria in Tel Aviv a few weeks ago

traditional or modern: Huh?

favourite writer: I’d say John Grisham, Tad Williams, James S.A. Corey and C.S. Lewis

favourite dessert: Tiramisu and vanille pudding (Dr. Oetker!)

fav rapper: I’ve never been that much into rap-music, but I’m proud to say that I know a lot of Eminem-songs by heart pretty well 

favourite soccer/hockey/tennis player: soccer/football: Uwe Seeler, a very kind and soft-spoken player from Hamburg who sadly passed away not too long ago

colours of my bedroom: white with lots of pictures on the wall

favourite politician: nah, I don’t know... nah. 

loyalty or lust: loyalty. I like it when people are willing to commit (to friendship, relationships, liking a band, whatever)

pizza or pasta: If I have to chose, definitely pizza

vegan/veggie: I really do enjoy a good medium-rare steak. Being in cancer treatment also means that it isn’t the best idea to go completely veggie/vegan and that I should steer away from too much soy products due to negative effects on my health. And after dropping a few kilos unvoluntarily I just try to eat everything that looks and smells good, and that includes meatstuff for me, so... 

favourite time period: I used to love ancient greek stuff, but nowadays I’m super interested in the era of the Wars Of Roses in England. It’s such a drama!

love or hate: always love. That’s why I’ve never understood hate-watching or its equivalents hate-reading and hate-listening. If I hate something, I try to put it out of my head.

last series watched: Tehran and Ted Lasso (weird combination, I know). I really, really tried to get into Andor (I love Star Wars), but it kinda did nothing for me? 

classical or rock: both. I’m a big fan of live music, and either a symphonic orchestra or Rammstein can rock my socks.

fairy or dragons: Uh, neither, I guess... Although I like the elf-like Sithi in Tad William’s Dragonbone Throne series, because they’re badass and at the same time deeply flawed beings.

GOT or LOTR: I’d pick LOTR because I got a bit fed up with GOT in the end, both with the books and the series (and seriously, the next book will NEVER come out, I’m sure)

[missfangirll]

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better:

I was tagged by @theworldisabrokenbonebutitishome, tank yu 😊

3 Ships You Like: err.. that is like choosing a favorite child.. imma go with 3 ships I currently obsess over.. HeiHua, WeiLan and ZoSan 😁

First Ship Ever: I can't really remember, I used to play a lot of otome games so MC with the current love interest, I suppose 😁 if you want to go back even further, maybe Son Gohan and Videl? 🤣

Last Song You Heard: Seafret - Atlantis ❤️

Favourite Childhood Book: The King of Ashur, which doesn't exist in any translation as far as I am aware.. it features the greatest love story I have ever read and the most tragic one..

Currently Reading: I am waiting for 2ha translation to finish so I can start that one over, otherwise rereading old faves, TGCF, Qi Ye.. oh and I just ordered Into the Narrowdark by Tad Williams..

Currently watching: ahahaha. at the same time? One Piece (rewatch), Guardian (rewatch), TGCF S1 (rewatch), A Shop for Killers, Blood of Youth and whatever I need at the time for video editing

Currently consuming: just had dinner, made a pasta bake

Currently craving: something chocolatey 👀

Tagging: @tehfanglyfish @killerandhealerqueen @stormy-seasons @thursdayplaid @ilgaksu @bean-in-dice @ahhhnorealnamesallowed @ashengem @alsoveryeevil only if you want ofc 🥰

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better:

Tagged by @the-marron, thank you very much lovely! <3

3 Ships You Like: I'll pick some less obvious ones for a change; Chang Dong/Ye Luixi (personally, I thought Parallel World was banger). Chu Sangwoo/Jang Jaeyoung (in case anyone has missed my recent descent into Semantic Error obsession). Kang Yo-Han/Kim Ga-On (guess who just finished a The Devil Judge rewatch).

First Ship Ever: The first ship I remember being into and being aware of as a ship is, oh god can't believe I'm admitting this but, Ryden or Rydon however you want to spell it I AM NOT PROUD OF THIS okay I was young and obsessed

Last Song You Heard: Liars - The Blackout. I'm not bitter it wasn't on the setlist on Monday, nope, not at all.

Favourite Childhood Book: The Jolly Postman Or Other People's Letters always brought me a lot of joy.

Currently Reading: The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods.

Currently watching: Well, I haven't decided what to start next yet?

Currently consuming: some not brilliant homemade choc chip cookies. I had to improvise because I had no eggs but a determination to make cookies to make life seem better after a day at work last night.

Currently craving: endless amounts of money and a chauffeur so I could go to another The Blackout gig tonight instead of sitting at home 😔

Tagging: @miss-ingno @sasamelons @justacoyote @missfangirll @omaenanimonoda @endof-vanity @lacommunarde @baiyubai @bladedweaponsandswishycoats No pressure though! Just if you feel like it :)

[stormlanterns]

My motivation to draw is coming back slowly and I started with Muyare Sey-Iyora, a character from Tad William's Osten Ard saga.

He isn't mentioned so often but he left an impression on me I can't quite explain. Maybe this strange mixture of strength and vulnerability Idk.

Anyway, I hope I can color these drawings soon and I try to draw more characters (again) of this wonderful and amazing fantasy saga. My last ones were from 2004 *cough*

[codenameantarctica]

The worst of having stumbled head first into the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Fandom is that it is so quiet, so small. There is so little - I probably found all there is in terms of fanworks and discussions on the internet already.

I mean... this is a plus in some way as well, as some fandoms I have found myself in are really hazardous and strange, and one has to keep oneself save from getting angry about it - or even hurt by it.

But this... this is like I am stumbling through the net waving my MS&T flag but there’s really nobody around anywhere.

[westrangecountry]

Review: Brothers of the Wind (2021) by Tad Williams

Mention the word prequel and what comes to mind? Star Wars, probably. Maybe Better Call Saul. Tad Williams’ newest novel in his world of Osten Ard is more Better Call Saul than Star Wars.

Set 1,000 years before his classic fantasy trilogy Memory, Sorrow and Thorn this book is a similar story type shift to the lawyer spinoff of Breaking Bad. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn inspired George R.R. Martin and led to Game of Thrones: an army of pale elf-like people called the Norns descend from the snowy North, beyond a wall called The Wall, during an all-consuming winter to seek revenge.

That trilogy is a quest narrative that still wanted to add complexity to the genre, especially for 80s fantasy. The enemies have a genuine motive beyond evil to avenge a genocide, even if they are misguided and misled. Even on the good side, no one is too ready to help each other for petty reasons. Cultural differences prevent those that do. Etc. But Brothers of the Wind is set at the tail end of a Golden Age for the Norn and their “cousins,” the equally immortal Sithi, and presents a different picture of the world some might know and others might discover.

This book’s plot is very simple, very welcoming to new readers: a dragon is killing in human lands and the prideful Sithi Ineluki swears an oath to kill the dragon himself. Ineluki’s brother, Hakatri pursues him to try and stop him from killing himself, while a loyal servant named Pamon Kes narrates.

Rare for a fantasy book, no one is at war or threatening to go to war in the entire novel. Tangents are Williams speciality—his strength, in truth, for creating such dense worlds that they feel more real—but Brothers of the Wind is a focused narrative. The other Osten Ard books are third person, but this is first person.

At first our narrator Pamon Kes, a servant from a race formerly fully slaves to the Sithi, seems curiously without interior. This is completely intentional. As the novel develops, a novel that he insists is only about those greater than himself, like his master Hakatri or the prideful Ineluki who will go on to become one of the central villains of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Kes develops that missing self. In the early sections, he had only been living for those who look down on him (if they even look on him at all). It couldn’t be written in anything other than first person.

This main thread of the quest to kill the dragon lets Williams show that despite the world being in a Golden Age, with no war threatened and even their more violence loving Norn cousins up North freely welcoming to a visit, the seeds of this society’s destruction is plain. Nor is this Golden Age innocent.

Kes encounters ghettos of his own people while the surrounding Sithi go on with self-involved happiness, barely aware of the suffering they profit from. This isn't the generic whips and slurs portrayal of prejudice from other fantasy novels, but a more realistic one, done with a welcoming smile.

Elsewhere, some ignore a threat as basic and universal as a rampaging dragon. We're not effected right now, maybe we will be in the future but that's not now, so it's not our problem. There are no looming threats, as I said, but self-interest rules: what else could bring about actual threats in future books but that?

The first half of Brothers of the Wind is the quest to kill the dragon, but Osten Ard fans will know this is only the start of the story. The outcome of Ineluki’s pride is that Hakatri is horribly burned by the dragon’s fire. The rest is surprisingly sprawling for a sub-300 pages novel, taking readers on a whirlwind tour of places only whispered of as once existing in the main Osten Ard novels.

Meanwhile, hints for the currently ongoing sequel books The Last King of Osten Ard are drip fed in and pieces of the overall series lore are even delivered up. One scene in particular will leave readers of the sequels debating until the conclusion of Last King is released.

In other words, this is way more book than you would expect. A story of brothers. A story of self-realization from Pamon Kes. A story of a world teetering, not yet on the brink, the brink not even visible, but too busy patting itself on the back over past glories to realize it is there.

Like the best prequels, it adds to what came before instead of taking away with meaningless fan service. Certain tangents in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn take on far more meaning. Depth is added to a supporting character from it and the Last King books by seeing her as a small child.

I won’t reveal how, or why. But most of all, the story of Hakatri we had heard—and his brother Ineluki with him—is revealed to be a glow up. “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there,” as L.P. Hartley wrote. Differently in people’s cases tends to mean better. More as we wished it had been done. The Tolkien comparison is overused in fantasy reviews, but it fits here: this is tragic myth, melancholic and wistful.

As much as the new books in this world have impressed me for their massive scope, complex plot, sense of approaching doom, subtly, and weaving of themes tightly into narrative I am once again left surprised by a new Tad Williams novel. Brothers of the Wind is not what I expected, which makes it the perfect prequel in a landscape of Star Wars prequel wannabes.

Where should you start these Osten Ard books? That's up to you. This one is a welcoming pick up to new readers, since Kes is writing a memoir he can quickly explain a custom or person to the reader, the shorter page count commitment, and focused narrative. Of course, this novel will pay off some lore mysteries built up in the others, which is part of what makes it such an effective prequel, one missing tile to a vast, beautiful mosaic.

[victoriaroach]

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The New York Times bestselling world of Osten Ard returns in the third Last King of Osten Ard novel, as threats to the kingdom loom...The High Throne of Erkynland is tottering, its royal family divided and diminished. Queen Miriamele has been caught up in a brutal rebellion in the south and thought to have died in a fiery attack. Her grandson Morgan, heir to the throne, has been captured by one of Utuk?ku?s soldiers in the ruins of an abandoned city. Miriamele?s husband, King Simon, is overwhelmed by grief and hopelessness, unaware that many of these terrible things have been caused by Pasevalles, a murderous traitor inside Simon?s own court at the Hayholt. Meanwhile, a deadly army of Norns led by the ageless, vengeful Queen Utuk?ku, has swept into Erkynland and thrown down the fortress of Naglimund, slaughtering the inhabitants and digging up the ancient grave of Ruyan the Navigator. Utuk?ku plans to use the Navigator?s fabled armor to call up the spirit of Hakatri, the evil Storm

[michellealsopbook]

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The New York Times bestselling world of Osten Ard returns in the third Last King of Osten Ard novel, as threats to the kingdom loom...The High Throne of Erkynland is tottering, its royal family divided and diminished. Queen Miriamele has been caught up in a brutal rebellion in the south and thought to have died in a fiery attack. Her grandson Morgan, heir to the throne, has been captured by one of Utuk?ku?s soldiers in the ruins of an abandoned city. Miriamele?s husband, King Simon, is overwhelmed by grief and hopelessness, unaware that many of these terrible things have been caused by Pasevalles, a murderous traitor inside Simon?s own court at the Hayholt. Meanwhile, a deadly army of Norns led by the ageless, vengeful Queen Utuk?ku, has swept into Erkynland and thrown down the fortress of Naglimund, slaughtering the inhabitants and digging up the ancient grave of Ruyan the Navigator. Utuk?ku plans to use the Navigator?s fabled armor to call up the spirit of Hakatri, the evil Storm

[austinparsons]

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[codenameantarctica]

Me with all my theories until “The Navigator’s Children” hits my screen. .... next March hopefully!!!!

[codenameantarctica]

“Into the Narrowdark” is out and oh, my heart, my poor heart!

[codenameantarctica]

Excuse me while I make plans to murder Pasevalles

[codenameantarctica]

SPOILERS FOR INTO THE NARROWDARK FOR ANYBODY WHO HAS NOT READ!

That’s part of my thought. All this would have proved up until now to be would have been a great shocker. Yes, it would be a perfectly applied rug pull from underneath the reader’s feet, but at the same time it is just too heart-breaking, too off-screen, too unworthy of an end for a character as important as that. And this is not even my own feeling alone who has to come to deeply love this character, but it seems like about everyone I found writing about it on reddit or facebook or twitter thinks like this.

So, to end it with this as a writer? It’s possible. But I hope, hope, HOPE that Tad will not do that to us. To me.

And the thing is that the shocker would still be working if in Navigator’s Children it was revealed that Pasevalles was wrong or lying. We have been shocked, every new reader would be shocked. And the scenes are done so perfectly that I guess everyone who reads it again will be chilled even if they know the outcome.

Plus, there is so much that still needs to be wrapped up and there are so many hints. Without wanting to go into too much detail:

- we have prove that even army-men who are used to people dying on the battlefield could not tell whether Simon was dead. It needed Brother Etan for that. So, would ~18yo first-time murderer Pasevalles in his state of frenzy have know whether his victim was really dead (who was very likely covered in blood, other than Simon was)?

- up until now the whole story of Lady Faiera is little but a Red Herring for both the reader and the character - if it is not to tell us about what a Sithi Mirror can do. Both her and Fortis’ story tell us that someone influenced by a Sithi Mirror can also vanish for years.

- Etan finds out that in the years in Kwanitupul Josua even used his own name and even though a neighbor realized that he had the same name “as the old King’s younger son”, they never made the connection that he was also missing the same hand. Proving that even in those days Josua was able to remain beneath the radar. With facial-scars, potential memory-loss and advancing age, who is to say anybody would know who he is.

-  The corridor from the Kynslagh into Asu’a has been mentioned twice now in close succession, and once by Lillia who never walked through it. Either this is to show which way Tiamak and Telia are going to use to get out of there, but it could also have been used by someone else to go to safety. After all the Kynswood is above part of the Kynslagh.

- There is still Jarnulf with his connection to anybody of the League of the Scroll that made him have that pendant - a pendant of silver that would have bought him in his wandering, poor days food and warmth, but he never sold it, which seems to me like it has sentimental meaning.

- an the whole thing with whatever JJ has been doing down there in increasing panic and frenzy, plus the words of Muyare that they “never sought the Witchwood Crown here”, but we know it was there = the norns know the WC is not there anymore. I still can’t imagine that after WC being the title of book one, this is going to be just a ruse, just a thing to muse over its meaning. I am sure this is an actual thing - and very likely the crown of Hamakho himself, because he have learned about him not only in ITN now, but also in BotW.

As you see, I am clinging to every tiniest bit. I just keep hoping. I might be completely and utterly wrong about every bit of this. I have been before. And once NC hits my screen and Josua remains dead I will cry my eyes out, not only for losing him that way but also because of what it means for the character in-story. Less than 10 years of doing what he wanted, of being free? That sounds like too cruel, too gruesome to end that way. To snatch him away just to give Pasevalles a shock-scene after we already knew what kind of character he was.

Me with all my theories until “The Navigator’s Children” hits my screen. …. next March hopefully!!!!