Cosmo Digital

Author: Tad Williams
Page Count: 675 pages - Hardcover
Review originally written 9-19-2003

Although I have wanted to read this book for some time and bought it in hardcover to do just that, I did not finish it for a long time, starting on it before my family came home from summer vacation, but then not finishing it for months afterward. Once I did finish it I did not write this until nearly five months passed, and thus my recollection of it isn't perfect. I am forced to say that the rate of my reading has steadily dwindled in the last couple years, and as a result, unfortunately, I can afford to wait five months to write down my ruminations on a novel. Perhaps my reading has taken such a blow because I am putting off these journal entries for so very long. In any case I will attempt to complete them quicker, beginning with this book.

At only 675 pages, this ranks as one of the shorter books Tad Williams has written. As the last installment of his Otherland series was over 900 pages, I was a bit skeptical that Williams could write a full-scale fantasy story in one moderate sized volume. To Green Angel Tower, the last book in his other fantasy, Memory, Sorrow, Thorn, was over 1600 pages. But he did succeed in this endeavor.

As I was reading it, I really enjoyed the idea of a modernized fantasy land. It is obvious that I enjoy that concept anyway, with my reading of City Infernal in 2002. That utilized the concept of a modern Hell, which is similar to this, although that book is a bit darker for obvious reasons. I have heard that Williams may write a sequal to his earlier Memory, Sorrow, Thorn series once the world there has begun to industrialize, but that could be just rumors. If he did, it seems that he would be refining basic concepts he laid down in this volume and taking them further.

Another part of interest was with the Remover of Inconvienant Obstacles. It was a suprise when it was revealed to be Theo's uncle who had visited the fairlyand earlier, and it added a bit of a twist to the tale. I was suspecting that the uncle was alive and somewhere, but did not know he would be in that form. It was also a bit suprising when his character was killed almost immediately after his conversation with Theo. However in this I knew he had to still be alive, and my belief was proven correct at the end of the novel, appearing to Theo in another form.

Also not suprising was the fact that Theo was really a fairy who had been switched at birth. This was hinted at from the very beginning of the novel, and as a result I am unsure if it was ever intended to be a suprise. It certainly wasn't for me.

Another interesting and suprising thread was with Theo's love interest. I knew there would be one in the book, I just did not know who it would be. At the beginning I thought it would be the Silent Primrose Maiden, primarily because an entire chapter was used to introduce her. However, not much was done with this character other than having others talk about what had happened to her. It, rather, was Poppy who suprisingly became a major character, something I was not expecting. A few scenes also showed her as more than just a random lover used for plot purposes. A few pages of introspection gave her character more depth than I thought it had.

The climactic ending, as is usual with Williams' books, was more than a little confusing. In particular the singing held very little interest for me, although I knew it would play a prominent role. Those sections were really the only part of the book I did not relish reading.

Overall, this book was actually very good. It is rare that I read something that is concluded within one book, so that was nice, having a complete story without needing to wait two or three years for all the installments.

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