A review by ianbanks
Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams

5.0

Middle volumes are, more often than not, tricky beasts: there's often a sense that characters are being moved from one place to another in order to set things up for the finale, which can sometimes make you wish that the author would just cut out the middle-man and just release the first and final volumes. I've felt it in series' that I absolutely love and, while it doesn't reduce my overall enjoyment, it does make some stories a bit more of a chore to read than others.

Fortunately, we sometimes have middle volumes that advance the plot and the characters in such a way that you don't feel manipulated. The eponymous Stone Of Farewell is an abandoned Sithi city that the good guys are all making their way towards to recoup their losses and assemble for the final battle against King Elias and Pryrates. So there is a certain amount of manipulation going on here, but there's so much else happening that you often don't notice it, or worry too much about it, either.

For a start, we're told pretty much from the get-go that everyone needs to be there, that it's a haven where the characters will be safe for a while and that there are important plot coupons-- I mean, valuable pieces of information to be learned there. So we have a goodly proportion of the vast cast of characters heading East to the Stone Of Farewell.

Of course, being an epic fantasy, it doesn't go well: there are twists, turns, diversions, betrayals and disappointments all along the way. Not everybody makes it, not everybody stays on the side they started out on... you get the picture. Actually, this is what separates it from a lot of middle books: rather than ending on a note of hope or despair with the two sides staring down the barrel at one another, there's a mix of happiness and misery for characters, an idea that they haven't even reached a breathing-space for themselves, just complicated matters even more.

And, of course, given the length of the final volume, there are no guarantees that they are going to stay there, either...

But, if you're like me and story isn't really what drives you, there's also loads to enjoy: the writing is terrific. Mr Williams turns a nice phrase and delivers some killer moments (the reveal at the end of the second-last chapter shouldn't work but enough hints have been dropped that it does). But the characters remain the backbone of the whole thing: Simon remains an astonishing character, slowing growing into adulthood, but still acting like the child he isn't far off from; Miriamele tries very hard to make sensible decisions but is saddled with Cadrach who pushes all her buttons and rubs her up the wrong way while they both try to keep themselves safe; Josua and Isgrimnir stay awesome; while the standouts are Deornoth, who rises above the part of sidekick to become his own man, and Binabik and Sludig who team up near the middle of the book and make their own way to the Stone being hardly heard from (which is a shame because they have a Legolas/ Gimli-style friendship that is a joy to read). After the first book being mostly about Simon and only partly the others, it's great that everyone has their chance to shine. The only downside is that we don't spend terribly much time with the bad guys: Pryrates is the only one who appears to do stuff, while Elias's advisor Guthwulf has the most interesting role, that of the bad guy suffering from intimations of remorse at what he is a part of.

Just off to do some pushups in preparation for the last volume.