The Witchwood Crown

It was so wonderful to be back in Osten Ard and to see what has changed and, interestingly, what has remained the same. The Heart of What Was Lost and Brothers of the Wind turned out to be great primer novellas to the start of this new series.

I felt a certain Star Wars: The Force Awakens vibe from this book – similar story beats as the original Osten Are trilogy, a familiar foe, characters we know and love, and a new group of dynamic, young upstarts.

I was pleased to see Williams's writing style has become somewhat less opaque than in the decades old original trilogy. And while this book does not work at all as a standalone (nor does it try to), I have full trust that Williams will neatly tie everything together when all is said and done. I am fully on board for the ride.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

I originally quit reading this halfway through because it was such a slog but it just kept looking at me from my shelf demanding to be finished. So I figured I'd give it another shot and the very next chapter ramped up the story and I was hooked. Such a great beginning to a new series and in typical Tad fashion it is an extremely slow and character/world building story with a masterful ending with fantastic descriptions of creatures and characters.
You don't have to read the original trilogy but you'll vastly appreciate it more if you have since you get most of the original characters back that you love and you're already familiar with Ostend Ard, one of the best fictional lands to read about. The story follows Simon and Miriamele, still king and queen of Osten Ard but older and have a grandson named Morgan who is heir to the throne. The problem with Morgan is he's childish, entitled and a bit of a dumbass. Simon is torn between keeping his heir safe or risking his life to make a better man out of him.
Utuk'ku is back like she never left and more powerful than ever and she's ready to open up a can ‘o' whoop ass on the human race. There's also some hints to possibly a certain evil sorcerer that is still alive to claim vengeance over Simon??

This took me a while to get into which I was surprised about as usually [a:Tad Williams 6587 Tad Williams https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1191183065p2/6587.jpg] grabs my attention right for the beginning. After getting through the whole book, I understand why it was such a slow burn and of course I'm hooked and can't wait for the next book in the series. I'm still not a fan of Morgan but I don't think that you are supposed to be at this time. grin