What’s on My Bookshelf: The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
Okay, so The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams is one of my favorite Fantasy novels of all time. I used to read it all the time when I was younger and would revel in the world that Tad created. I don’t read it nearly as often these days, but I still enjoy it–so much, in fact, that I still have my original paperback copy and the current trade paperback edition of this work as well. I reread the trilogy fairly recently (within the last five years), but the story is starting to get a bit haze, so it may be time for a reread soon, before I do a deep dive into Tad’s new trilogy set in this world.
Fantasy and the High School Student
So I’ve always been into Fantasy and Science Fiction books, so much so that I remember the story behind finding this book. I was graduating high school in a few months and our school wanted us to experience and visit multiple colleges. I chose the Southeast region and we covered schools in the Chattanooga, North Georgia, and Atlanta Georgia area. Rather than just a simple college tour, we also got to visit a couple of Atlanta museums and malls as well during our brief 2 or 3 (?) day stay. We visited several colleges and universities, museums, and malls. One mall that we happened to go to was The Underground in Atlanta (which, after a quick google search, which sadly no longer exists, unfortunately. There were tons of shops and vendors and, of course, I found a cool-looking bookstore. Browsing the shelves, I happened to see the cover of the Dragonbone Chair and I bought it even though I had brought Raymond Feist’s fantasy series to read on the trip.
A Life-Long Reader of the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Trilogy
This book is the first book in the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy (okay, sometimes there are 4 books, but that is because book 3 was so massive that it was often split into 2 separate paperback books so as not to have a flimsy paperback that would fall apart due to the length). It tells the story of Simon, who is an absent-minded youth in realistically realized fantasy world based on (in this book) a combination of a late medieval world based on English-myth (think Prester John) and Norse mythology (think the Norns). Its world-building is some of the best, but it takes its time starting the story. While the early story is a great character study of Simon, there is a plot twist that happens that forces Simon out on his own by himself. The story slows down here, but it is only temporary because once he finds a companion in Binabik, the story ramps up slowly, but insistently to its ultimate conclusion which, while I won’t spoil, was really satisfying to me.
This is one of my favorite fantasy novels from my childhood. While I did not read this one on the way back from the trip as I intended, when I finished Raymond Feist’s series, I was able to start on this over that weekend and I remember devouring it in under a week. It was that good of a book for me!
Anyway, sorry this post is late, but I’ll try to do better the rest of the week. No promises though as I have a project due later this week–fingers crossed (on both accounts)!
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
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