Return To Green Angel Tower, Part 1 by Tad Williams - Review

Return To Green Angel Tower Part 1 is the first part of the third book of Tad Williams epic fantasy series, Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn and I'm pleased to say that I found it several notches better than the previous installment.

Williams writing is as complex and lyrical as ever, but the pace of events dramatically picks up over the course of this book. Now it's arguable that my problems with the pacing of the second book stem from my own impatience more than any significant failure on Williams part, but hey I'm the one reading the book and writing the review.

One problem that does seem to have gotten worse is the huge cast of characters in this story. With every book Williams adds to that cast and while he certainly isn't hesitant about thinning the herd, I found it increasingly hard to keep everyone straight in my head. To make matters worse, certain very minor characters were given a lot of attention for no obvious reason that I can yet discern.

Williams tale seems to spin larger with every book and while is apparently the first half of the concluding volume, it shows no signs of coming to any conclusion. In fact by the end of this book we are if anything further from a resolution than we were at the end of book one.

However, unlike many lesser series, the story is getting deeper rather than wider. Each revelation plays off a previous one rather than just spinning off in a new direction as is common with long running fantasy series.

I'm looking forward to reading the final volume to see how this all plays out finally.