Into the Narrowdark: Book Three of The Last King of Osten Ard

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If you’re reading this book, then you’ve read the earlier ones (I assume) and quite possibly others in Williams’ collection of work. In which case you probably began Into the Narrowdark with eyes wide open in terms of pacing. Williams, probably more than any other author I know, take his time in unspinning his story and shading in his characters. His books tend to be long, his plots tend to be drawn out, and his scenes do not always feel like they drive the plot forward (that isn’t to say they have no purpose, just plot movement isn’t necessarily it), and that holds true here as well. With this book, The Last King of Osten Ard has achieved the greatest possible feat for a sequel: that is, I can no longer imagine the originals without it * TOR.COM * It’s been . . . fun, in a strange, painful way, because it’s really hard work, and I love a challenge. But it’s also hard work and a challenge, so it’s slower than if I was just writing a final volume from scratch. And sometimes it makes my head really hurt. But, like I said, challenge. By the way, I believe that The Last King of Osten Ardhas now passed Memory, Sorrow, and Thornfor the longest time I’ve spent on one project. I’m not 100% positive, but I’ve always remembered writing that first multi-volume story as taking about seven years—starting Dragonbone Chairto finishing To Green Angel Tower. I believe I started TLKOOAin 2014, so we’ve slipped past that old record.

The Last King of Osten Ard Series by Tad Williams - Goodreads The Last King of Osten Ard Series by Tad Williams - Goodreads

Given this is the third book in the series, and all of them are tome-length, and the comment above on the complicated plotting, it goes without saying this is not a book to be read on its own. For those still reading, there will be some inevitable spoilers for the first two books, The Witchwood Crown and Empire of Grass (not to mention the original decades-old series that began this story). I’m also assuming you’re going to recognize the following names and plot points. Meanwhile, a deadly army of Norns led by the ageless, vengeful Queen Utuk’ku, has swept into Erkynland and thrown down the fortress of Naglimund, slaughtering the inhabitants and digging up the ancient grave of Ruyan the Navigator. Utuk’ku plans to use the Navigator’s fabled armor to call up the spirit of Hakatri, the evil Storm King’s brother. First up, the books will be given their own titles. The first volume - now Book III of The Last King of Osten Ard - will be called Into the Narrowdark. The second - now Book IV of the untrilogy - will retain the original title of The Navigator's Children.Tad and his wife Deborah Beale are also working on the third ORDINARY FARM novel, currently titled The Heirs of Ordinary Farm. There is no publication date for this book yet. However, this is his next project now LAST KING is finished.

Into the Narrowdark Out Now! | Tad Williams [Newsletter] Into the Narrowdark Out Now! | Tad Williams

This was actually a good thing, I have to admit. It allowed me to more fully integrate Brothers—which takes place a thousand years before Simon’s and Miriamele’s era—into the events of TLKOOA, an idea I had long preferred but had been forced to surrender because of my previous, pre-Covid writing/publishing schedule. (That being—I have to deliver books every so often or we don’t get paid money, and without money—well, you know how capitalism works, I don’t have to tell you.) Even the Sithi, fairy-kin to the Norns, are helpless to stop Utuk’ku’s triumph as her armies simultaneously march on the Hayholt and force their way into the forbidden, ogre-guarded valley of Tanakirú—the Narrowdark—where a secret waits that might bring Simon’s people and their Sithi allies salvation—or doom." As you may have heard me say online, this last volume, The Navigator’s Children, has proved to be the strangest and most difficult book I’ve ever written. Because the pandemic largely shut down publishing for much of two years while I was working on the first iteration of Navigator(when it still represented the third and final volume of the TLKOOAtrilogy) it was clear that I would have a long stretch of dead time before any books could be published. I had the short volume of Brothers of the Windstill to write, which I had previously planned to do after TLKOOAwas completed, but the Covid-bomb blowing up publishing schedules made me decide to write it before completing Volume Last of TLKOOA, which was then still a trilogy. Wow, I really enjoyed hearing about your process and the complexity of events that you faced as you over came the obstacles. Keep up your excellent work, it shows. Love your work. And acting as an effective salve to any sense of plot familiarity is Williams’ always wonderfully rich depiction of the non-humans in this world. His Norn don’t feel like more graceful, athletic, and eloquent humans but feel truly different. As well, he introduces a host of different forms for the non-humans beyond the usual elves and dwarves (or whatever they’re called in a particular work).A fan subreddit for the stories and fantasy worlds imagined and written by Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn & Last King of Osten Ard trilogies, Otherland, Shadowmarch, Bobby Dollar, War of the Flowers, Tailchaser's Song etc..

Into the Narrowdark: Wonderfully immersive and rewarding

The books also look like they might come out sooner than expected, with the publishers considering a spring 2022 release for the first volume and a late summer 2022 release for the second, just a few months later. Previously the publishers had been considering 22 October 2022 for the first volume and an early-to-mid-2023 release date for the second, so it appears they've shuffled things up, which is good news. The discussions are in 10 chapter increments since there are 40 chapters. I felt it would be best for people to pop in to these individual threads since I'm sure we will be reading at different paces. Just remember, these threads will have spoilers for the full 10 chapters and so on as indicated in the title! Somewhere during this time, I also realized that I had stumbled into another Four Book Trilogy, much to my chagrin. Go ahead and make fun of me: I deserve it. But I honestly thought I could do it this time. . . !Want to help us defray the cost of domains, hosting, software, and postage for giveaways? Donate here: Inspired me to write my own seven-book trilogy.... It's one of my favourite fantasy series' George R. R. Martin, Anyway, I just wanted to share some of my process stuff with you, my friends and readers, since Narrowdarkhas just hit the shelves. As I said, I’m moving forward finishing Navigator’s Children, and I think I’ve got the hardest of the problems dealt with. Now I can just concentrate on writing the ending to the whole TLKOOAstory, finally, for the first time.