Plameni čovjek

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn #0.5

by Tad Williams

Pripovijetka Plameni čovjek, izvorno objavljena u zbirci Legende, priča je o knezu Sulisu, gospodaru Visotvrđe iz davnina, a pojavljuju se i neki drugi likovi, poznati iz trilogije Sjećanje, Tuga i Trn, kao što su Hakatri, Nelukijev stariji brat i Valada Geloj.

O knezu Sulisu pripovijeda njegova pokćerka Breda, što je jedini slučaj kada Tad Williams progovara kroz usta ženskog lika. Kao i sve legende, i Plameni čovjek priča je o tajanstvenim mjestima, čarolijama, ljubavi i izdaji.

Hrvatski prijevod potpisuje Tajana Pavičević, a naslovna ilustracija detalj je s ilustracije Michaela Whelana za knjigu Prijestolje od zmajokosti.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Tad Williams is a California-based fantasy superstar. His genre-creating (and genre-busting) books have sold tens of millions worldwide, in twenty-five languages. His considerable output of epic fantasy and science fiction book-series, stories of all kinds, urban fantasy novels, comics, scripts, etc., have strongly influenced a generation of writers: the ‘Otherland’ epic relaunches June 2018 as an MMO on steam.com. Tad is currently immersed in the creation of ‘The Last King of Osten Ard’, planned as a trilogy with two intermediary novels. He, his family and his animals live in the Santa Cruz mountains in a suitably strange and beautiful house. @tadwilliams @mrstad

Reviews

[Micah Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

I read this short story in a mass market paperback copy of Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg. It contains several, 'Legends', of the fantasy genre and is a wonderful anthology everyone should check out... If you've read the author's respective stories.

Anyways, I have finally consumed all of Tad Williams' published work in Osten Ard. There's actually a good amount of world building in this slim tale, focusing on the best aspects of Osten Ard: the mystery of the world and the creatures within, wrapped in wonderful, elegant prose. This was more eerie and horror tinged, of which Tad excels at and would love to see more of, similar to Poe and Gothic-esque romance. It also has some entertaining bits that can be seen as possibly providing clues to the mysteries suggested in The Last King of Osten Ard series.

Williams continues to impress.

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonita historia que sirve de pequeña precuela o introducción a la saga Añoranzas y pesares de Tad Williams. Aquí nos situamos unos años antes a los hechos de las novelas y asistiremos a la historia de como se tomó Hayholt y porque se aislaron los sitha de los humanos.
En tan sólo 50 páginas Tad Williams creA un buen relato. Me gustó mucho que apareciese Geloe, la maga de la liga del pergamino y otros personajes como el hermano quemado de Ineluki.

[Chardonay Willard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit verhaal was bijzonder, droevig, mooi en sterk in elkaar gezet. Kort maar krachtig. Wat had ik het te doen met Breda, maar ook met haar stiefvader en moeder. Wat een leven.

[Johan Haneveld · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short novel or a long short story? Here an old woman describes how here stepfather becomes obsessed with a question that haunts him - a question that led to his banishment from his kingdom. To answer the question he captures a witch, who promises to lead him to answers. But are they answers he wants to hear? Interesting to read a story set in the Osten Ard universe of the author. I enjoyed the series 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn' a lot. This fills in a bit of background, but contains recognizable elements. I thought Williams storytelling pretty good here, even if the story ultimately was a bit thin, and reminiscent of different stories in the same vein. The end was elegiac though, and with some surprises, and it provided for an hour or two of escape to the world of Osten Ard.

[shar zar · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty suspenseful and the atmosphere was creepy enough but it wasn't bamboozling. It might be because it was so short but I doubt I'll remember these characters in a few weeks

[looneybooks79 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoewel dit verhaal(tje) verscheen jaren nadat het laatste boek uit de reeks werd gepubliceerd, speelt het zich toch jaren af voor de eigenlijke reeks en heeft dan ook op zich niet heel veel te maken met de gebeurtenissen daarin. Behalve een aantal namen die terug komen in de lange serie is dit een volledig op zichzelf staand verhaal.
(Spoiler Alert!)

Breda is de stiefdochter van een Nabbaans (edel)man die trouwde met haar moeder en dan samen gingen ze wonen op de Hoge Burcht (bekend als de Hayholt in de serie). Als Breda’s moeder sterft blijft ze alleen achter met hem. Heer Sulis lijkt almaar verder weg te zakken in een eenzaam bestaan en trekt zich van Breda niet heel veel aan. Zij ontmoet dan ook een soldaat, Tellarin, waar ze hard voor valt. En dan wordt een heks gevangen genomen en in de kerkers gegooid. Breda zoekt haar op maar komt niet heel veel te weten over het waarom zij gevangen is genomen. Enkel haar naam, Valada. (Echt of niet? Geloë?)

Op een avond volgt Breda haar vader en twee soldaten, die Velada meesleuren, in de diepste grotten onder de ‘Hoge Burcht’ en is dan getuige van een schouwspel waarbij ze een Brandende Man’ ziet die ze hoort vertellen tegen haar vader over het drakenbloed waardoor hij in brand staat en zijn broer Ineluki (Stormkoning) en Breda hoort ook een smeekbede van haar vader…

Uiteindelijk zal deze noodlottige avond eindigen in verraad en een dood van iemand dicht bij Breda…

Een kort verhaal dat zich in de wereld van Simon, Binabik, Elias, Miriamele, Jozua, Jiriki en vele andere afspeelt (in Osten Ard) maar daar helemaal niks mee te maken heeft.

Een beetje overbodig verhaal in mijn opinie, maar eentje dat de wereld van Osten Ard nog wat verder uitbreidt. Er had misschien nog iets meer link mogen zijn naar de reeks zelf.W

[Dyslexic Bookmonster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally finished this book, dear lord that took me far too long...

The weird thing is, this book has the essential things which normally have me reading like a maniac. For example, it shows the ugliness of mankind, yet as it does, deep within there are still a few beautiful parts as well. Realism? I honestly don't think so, it is too dramatic(?), but it is what I generally like in stories.

Not this time, it seems. Though I liked the ending of the first story.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started a little slow, but picked up. More emotional than I thought it was going to be, so kudos to Mr. Williams for setting up the characters and story so well in such a short amount of pages!

[Nils · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nachdem es schon einige Zeit her ist, dass ich „Das Geheimnis der Großen Schwerter“ gelesen hatte, war ich erfreut mal wieder etwas aus Tad Williams Welt Osten Ard zu lesen.
Wie zu erwarten kommt die Kurzgeschichte nicht ganz an die Qualität des Osten Ard Zyklus heran. Aber trotzdem ist die Geschichte wie immer gut erzählt und dank der Ich-Erzählperspektive der Hauptprotagonistin eine nette Abwechslung. Da die anderen Charaktere auf eine überschaubare Zahl begrenzt sind, kann man der Erzählung problemlos folgen.
Trotz der nur 105 Seiten schafft es Tad Williams der Geschichte ein nachvollziehbares Motiv am Höhepunkt des Buches zu geben ohne vorher allzu viel davon zu verraten.
Da sich „Der brennende Mann“ lediglich locker an der Geschichte der Großen Schwerter orientiert, kann man dieses Buch auch ohne Vorkenntnisse von Osten Ard lesen.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leider liegt es schon über 10 Jahre zurück, seit ich die Osten Ard Bücher gelesen habe und ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob diese Geschichte einen tieferen Bezug zur Trilogie hat.
Es ist eine Geschichte über die erste Liebe und Verrat, und dass man manchmal Entscheidungen treffen muss, die einen den Rest des Lebens verfolgen. Ein Teil der Geschichte spielt auch in den Unterirdischen Katakomben der Engelsburg, das ist der Teil, der mir auch aus Drachenbeinthron noch am besten im Gedächtnis geblieben ist und den ich sehr mochte.
Ein schönes Bücherlein für zwischendurch.

Mein Lieblingssatz
Weil Liebe nicht berechnend ist, sondern Entscheidungen trifft und sich rückhaltlos daran hält. (S. 102)

[Mr SSingh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tad Williams is a fantastic author!

I haven't yet come across an Osten Ard story I didn't enjoy. The Burning Man is another great one. This was an interesting love story about an old woman retelling her two loves in her youth, one of her stepfather, the other of a knight who she falls for and likewise him for her. I normally hate romances, but this was part of a larger more interesting tale.

I loved the setting of this, like a haunted castle, the return of a major location from the main series. It's a short and quick read, but feels quite epic. The character of Sulis broods about his keep, and you're wondering about the mysterious nature about him, his past, what he desires with a captured witch. Breda and Tellarins love for each other is believable and kind of sweet. I won't spoil how it ends, I'll just say that I had no idea where it was going, and I loved that about it. My own theory of what it was turned out to be absolutely wrong. It's Williams' ability to draw the reader in slowly with intrigue done expertly.

I know there's another Osten Ard side novel coming up about the slaying of a great worm that is alluded to which I can't wait to read.

[Peter Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been awhile since I read this, and having now gotten through the first two volumes of Williams' Last King of Osten Ard series as well as Brothers of the Wind, it was interesting to see this earlier incarnation of Hakatri, a character that I had little association with on my previous read.

Overall, this short work is a nice "drop in" to the world of Osten Ard. We get to re-explore the Hayholt through fresh eyes, get a brief visit from Hakatri, and see a past version of a character that I must assume is Geloe, though that name is never used. All this is wrapped up in an engaging wraparound story.

Still, as a fan of Williams' long works, this does play into my personal biases about short fiction - namely that by the time I'm invested in the story, it's about to end. I freely admit that flaw is mine and not the authors.

[Stellaluna Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short (short!) novella about one girl's run-in with a figure important to the Sithi.

If even the word "Sithi" means nothing to you, you would probably be better off just reading The Dragonbone Chair. As it stands, this is a beautiful little piece of fantasy on its own, or a rich color to add to the greater story of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.

I wish it had been a little longer and that we could've lived with the characters more, but Oh Well, it's unusual for Tad to do such short-form fiction in the first place.

[Huub · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vondst in een straatbieb van mijn favoriete auteur. Ik kende de titel, dacht dat ik het verhaal nooit gelezen had en toch bleek het origineel in mijn boekenkast in de anthologie 'Legends' te staan. Nog wel met opdracht van 'his Tadness' zelf, naar aanleiding van een gesprekje dat we ooit hadden over Robert Jordan.
Verhaal zelf is eerlijk gezegd niet zo heel bijzonder - het speelt tegen de achtergrond van de MST serie, maar is heel goed afzonderlijk te lezen. Aangenaam tussendoortje.

[Paca Sad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read and not totally unsatisfactory, I thought I would read it as a precursor to The series proper. I hope reading on will give me better insight as this novel was confused and confusing for me as I had no context, but as a short story with a twist, it was ok

[Sabrina Wannet · Rating 4 out of 5]

leuk dat er 2 verhalen in zaten , de tweede vond ik een stuk leuker en spannender dan de eerste. het tempo kwam ook pas in verhaal 2. verhaal 1 was meer een vertelling van herinneringen van een vrouw. dit verhaal miste spanning en tempo maar was wel zo geschreven dat je verder leest

[Tamara Van dishoeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

een kort verhaal over een oude vrouw die vertelt over haar leven. over haar moeder en haar stiefvader. dit is mijn eerste boek wat ik van Tad Williams heb gelezen, vind de schrijfstijl erg leuk en wil zeker meer lezen van Tad Williams.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much world building in such a short novel. It builds slowly, getting you comfortable and then slowly dripping on the unease and darkness. And oh my gosh that final scene... I loved the idea and the conflict behind it so much. Definitely planning to read more of the author's work after this.

[Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

first introduction to Tad Williams, not the one to start off with. As a prequel, believe I should have read it after I was familiar with the author

[Merlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wunderbar geschriebene Kurzgeschichte. Sehr guter und anschaulicher Schreibstil und herrliche Ausarbeitung und Führung zum Klimax.

[Marieke Veen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wel een aardig boekje. Het kostte me even tijd om te wennen aan de vele karakters die worden benoemd maar gelukkig kun je velen gelijk weer naast je neer leggen

[Dalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Darkmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Burning Man
Author: Tad Williams
Novelette
Written in: 1998
World: "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn"
_____________________


Author
Tad Williams is an US fantasy and science-fiction author. Wrote nearly 20 Novels. He is the Author of "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn", "Otherland", "Shadowmarch", "Ordinary Farm" and "The Bobby Dollar Books" series.
His other Novels are:

Tailchaser's Song (1985)
Child of an Ancient City (1992, written with Nina Kiriki Hoffman)
Caliban's Hour (1994)
The War of the Flowers (2003)

I plan to read all of his nonseries - standalone novels. I already read "Child of an Ancient City", now it's time for "Caliban's Hour".

I'm still not sure what to think about this author. Even after reading two of his books, I'm not able to say if I'm interested in this author or not.
His novels are rather very different from each other, they vary in narration and worlds. But they have two things in common: the mysterious atmosphere and tragic touch.


Writing Style
"The Burning Man" is written in the first-person limited narration. I personally don't like this kind of narration cause it narrows my own knowledge of the happenings and hinders in becoming a better view in the ongoing situation. I this novel it becomes even more difficult to follow as the main character stands far from the events and don't understands and don't know plenty of things. Most of the book consists of the main character's speculations, perceptions and sentiments.





Main Character

The main character is an old woman telling the story of her youth. She doesn't sounds old throughout the story, though. It's more like she prepares herself to die and think about her life once again. She is filled with sentimental feelings and have some kind of an uneasy conscience, which makes her go through the most incredible and important events of her lifetime.

Events that changed her and left a huge mark on her life.




Story Summary

The Burning Man is an exciting and thought-provoking story about life and death, love and fear, and innocence and betrayal.



In the Land of Ost Ard there stands an old castle. Abandoned, empty... cursed. Or at least, so the legends tells.

Breda is about to live there. She is scared, but also excited as a child. But then, she just get used to this strange place, which she has to call home from now on.

Her life is filled with saddness. Her mother dies, and her new father - Lord Sulis, seems not to notice her at all. She is lonely, and left alone by everyone.

But then, one day she fells in love, and her life is filled with plenty of light, like never before.

But evil things are about to happen. Her father is plotting something, something very strange, that involves the burning man. Something bad is about to take place in the nearest future! Someone is about to die. Her love is in danger. Then her beloved follows her father into the very deapths of the ancient castle and the deapths of the soul to set the black fire.



(There was no reasonable summary to find anywhere, so I had to write it by myself.)




Opinion
The beauty of this short novel lies in the love story of this book.
I cant say much more about it though, cause it make the intergal part the climax.

It wasn't boring, even if nothing happened, all bcause of the mystery.

One would want to know what happens next all throughout the story, till the very end.

The story is overall sad and tragic, but somehow also very calm, distant and reserved, because of the main character's attitude.

Recommendation
I will still recommend it, though it wasn't as great as I expected it to be, considering the limited narration and this not so interesting story frame setting, but the story itself makes it worth reading.



RATING:

Story: 5.0 / 6

Writing Style: 3.9 / 6

Overall: 4.0 / 6



0 - Zero / You won't be able to read more than 5 sites anyway, so why bother to start reading it at all?

1 - Very Bad / Forget it

2 - Nothing new / a great book to fall asleep

3 - In the Middle / Can be Read

4 - Good / Worth Reading

5 - Very Good / Great

6 - Excellent / Masterpiece (Rare, very rare)

[Annemieke / A Dance with Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is certainly an interesting story that peaked my interest about the world and the characters. I felt that the main character had a strong voice. The build-up to the actual event was long. In contrast to that the event felt almost like a disappointment. I just kept thinking, 'That was it?'

[Knjiga · Rating 4 out of 5]

It starts out very slow, to the point where I was bored with it but continued only because it's 70 pages long. After half a book things finally get going and I loved it.