Submitted by Gerald Tarrant  (Oct 11, 2004)This epic novel deals with the naive boy Simon, a castle scullion, who dreams of adventures and heroism.
After several hundred pages, he actually finds himself going on an adventure, and meeting all manner of magics and magical creatures as he learns that adventure isn't all he dreamed it would be. Read this book to enter a fascinating world filled with magicians and priests both good and evil, ancient beasts of ill omen, and magical swords of power. There are some great characters here, and even the villains (the exception being Pryrates) are sympathetic to some extent. All his characters are interesting, even, to some extent the minor ones, and Tad Williams' world-building is absolutely second-to-none, and the ending leaves you hanging and breathless (although that can't be said for the rest of the book, which is mostly interesting descriptions of people or phenomenon) Tad Williams is not generally recognized as such, but he is the true modern master of the epic fantasy.
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