Unfortunately, I never quite clicked with this book. I do think it will find an audience with other readers, but it ended up not being for me.

Into the NarrowDark

I like to thank NetGalley for receiving this ARC for an honest review!
I fine this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️’s

The entire family is scattered , in mourning, and and betrayal has come hard for Simon and his family!
This novel is very grim, each chapter is its own story. Which Tad weaves to perfection. But there are some truly jovial and enjoyable sections. Reading about Morgan gives a comic release to a serious tone, ata certain part too this novel.

All of the main characters are superbly developed. Tad Williams continually showing us how good he is!

The only question I have is
NO Michael Whelan ,
What Happened 😩

Into the Narrowdark
By Tad Williams

Tad Williams writes long, complex, and highly entertaining fantasy novels. This is the third in the Last King of Osten Ard series. As in all of his various series, it takes a dedicated reader and a true fan to stay the course.

The story picks up were "Empire of Grass" ended. It is rich with characters of many races and places with multiple names. It includes characters thought to be dead who aren't – and characters who are in fact the dead brought back by dark magic. This is truly a classic battle between good and evil, but every side thinks they are the good and their opponents are evil. Since it seems the series will have at least one more book, I hope Mr. Williams will finally let readers know which is which.

Once again Tad Williams has held me in thrall. Though I expected to burn out over the length and complexity of the book, I find that I am eagerly awaiting the next one in the series. Keep them coming, Mr. Williams.

I was approved for this book after it was archived, so I was not able to access and read the book. I would have read it if I could, please don't hold it against me! Thanks.

An interesting addition to the Osten Ard world. Unfortunately the first half of the book dragged and was exceptionally hard to get through. The story picked up and led to a more action packed conclusion leaving us well placed to take off at a fast pace in the final book.

A welcome addition to Williams' catalog. A recommended purchase for collections where fantasy is popular.

So good! Tad Williams always deliver and this world and series keep expanding in a very nice way! Must read for every fantasy reader out there!

Into the Narrowdark is the concluding volume to Tad Williams’ epic THE LAST KING OF OSTEN ARD series, and it … Hold on. Scratch that. Apparently, Williams and his publishers have decided to split the concluding work into two books. So readers will have to wait a bit longer for that conclusion, though at least they’ll have a short novel to read instead of … Wait a minute. OK, never mind on the brevity. Turns out Into the Narrowdark is still 600+ pages, despite only being half of a final book. Thankfully, though, splitting the book means a streamlined plot and far fewer character, making it … One moment here. All right, actually the plot remains a complicated tapestry, and the list of characters at the back runs for nearly two dozen pages. But Into the Narrowdark, despite its length and often slow pacing, remains an immersive, rich read that will leave its readers thirsty for the second half. Pausing. Pausing. Nope, turns out that’s totally correct. Into the Narrowdark is, in fact, wonderfully immersive and rewarding.

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 (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.

Williams moves back and forth between a number of plot threads (some of which spin off further ones) and between a host of POVs, including, but not limited to: King Simon, Queen Miriamele, Prince Morgan, Princess Lillia, Count Eolair and his nephew Aelin, Qina and Snenneq, Unver, Jesa, Tiamak, Jiriki, Tanahaya, Nezuru, Viyeki. The big picture plot remains the same — Utuk’ku, Queen of the Norns, continues to press her long-game campaign to destroy both her mortal and Zida’Ya foes. In the Hayholt, the traitor’s schemes against King Simon come near their end game (unexpectedly entangling Princess Lillia as well) while Queen Miramele and Nesa flee the chaos in Nabban. Unver, leader of the Thrithings, pushes his war effort forward, though his goals and methods confuse his own people. Morgan and Nezuru try to escape the Norn Sacrifices hunting them while also trying to figure out their oddly evolving relationship. And Viyeki is tasked with a mission by the Norn Queen even as his doubts about her rule grow. And those are just a few of the plot threads Williams dangles in this book.

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.

Did I need all the scenes that make up Into the Narrowdark, or all the details that make up some of the scenes? No. No, I did not. And yet, thanks to Williams’ language skill and characterization, I find myself far less impatient with what I think are “unnecessary” details/scenes than I do with almost any other author. Occasionally, I confess, I think I might skim a paragraph or three, skip to the next page, but then I never do. Mostly I just think, “Hmm, not sure I needed to know/see/hear this” and then happily continue reading. No doubt a number of readers will react more adversely to the slow pacing, though I have to imagine those one gave up on Williams halfway through whichever book of his they picked up first.

It helps that Williams offers up a variety of scene types: several battle scenes, a jailbreak, a mental clash of wills, some villain monologuing (one of the weaker moments in the book I’d argue), some chase scenes, some tense one-on-one confrontations, a plot arc that almost feel like horror, and more. On the other hand, some of the scenes/moments can feel a bit overly familiar to fantasy fans (some of that may be attributed to this being a continuation of a story begun in the 80s). I had that feeling in several specific moments, as with a reference to a bread that seemed like a differently named lembas or in a scene with an inspired speech to a group of outnumbered warriors riding to break a siege, as well as with some of the big picture plot points. And a few plot points relied a bit heavily on coincidence. But as with my sense that the book was longer than it needed to be, while I noticed these moments, they didn’t really detract from my reading experience.

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).

That richness of portrayal extends to the specific characterization as well. As noted, Williams does not rush anything in his novels/series. Character do not suddenly fall in love, do not suddenly veer from good to evil or the other way around, do not suddenly mature or change the worldview they were inculcated in since childhood. These things happen, of course, but they do so in due time (perhaps due “deep time” is more accurate for Williams). So Viyeki, for instance, has been experiencing some doubts about his Norn queen for a book or two now, and this one moves him further along that path, but only so far. He is not the same person he was, but he has also not wholly turned his back on that person he was (or on the culture that formed his identity). This “caught betwixt and between one’s selves” holds for a number of characters, and so we get several versions of lines like: “Something inside her wanted more possibilities, even though she could not imagine what those possibilities might be, or how they could even exist.” Or “Though [he] pushed away the treacherous thoughts before they could overwhelm him, he still could feel something stirring inside him, a seedling …”

While again, some readers may balk at the glacial pace of his change (which may or may not go where readers want it to), for me, it’s a far more satisfying reading experience than having him witness an atrocity and suddenly throw his whole prior existence away. This sort of shuffling half-steps forward (sometimes with half or full steps backward mixed in) can be seen in several of the character arcs, something I appreciated in all of them, though your mileage may vary.

Thanks to the deep characterization, the realistic speed of character growth, the level of detail, and yes, the number of pages, reading Into the Narrowdark is, as I noted above and as I’ve said repeatedly about Williams’ work, a wholly immersive experience, with the reader slowly sinking into this fictive world, so that our own world is sort of half-sense, then becomes an annoying background flicker, then disappears entirely until one turns the final page. Despite its 600+ pages, I happily finished the novel in two sittings, and had I not had some real-world responsibilities, would have probably finished it in one long reading session. I look forward to seeing where Williams takes this story and these characters — some of whom I first met 35 years ago — in the final (crosses fingers) installment.

I zoomed through this 600-page novel like it was a fraction of that length, completely immersed in the story, in which Williams sets all the pieces in place for the final confrontation between the Norn Queen and those who oppose her.

It is a dark time in Osten Ard. A great army of Norns led by Queen Utuk’ku herself is marching south to attack the Hayholt. Seduced by the promises of the Norn Queen, King Hugh of Hernystir allows the Norns to pass while his people skirmish with Rimmersgard forces. In addition to the main advance, Norn soldiers are attacking the Sithi on their own territory in the Aldheorte forest. United under Unver, their new Great Shan, the Thrithings-folk are at war on Erkynland’s western border at a time when that nation’s forces are desperately needed elsewhere to protect against the Norn onslaught. Nabban’s new rulers are focused on their own nation after the rebellion that toppled its rightful duke from power. In the face of all this turmoil, it’s no wonder that everyone aware of the tide of events feels a sense of doom, with some predicting the end of the world. Hope is in very short supply.

The narrative jumps between many different characters as their roles in these various conflicts unfold, but as the High King, Simon is still at the heart of the story. Grieving for Miri, Simon struggles with despair, which distracts him from the events unfolding around him at a time when the mortal lands of Osten Ard most need their king. Simon also worries about his missing grandson Prince Morgan, unaware that Morgan is on a journey that echoes Simon’s own adventures in the Aldheorte. Like Morgan, almost everyone else Simon cares for is scattered across Osten Ard facing their own dangers, including some of Simon’s closest friends and allies. That leaves Pasevalles free to continue to put his carefully constructed plans for Simon’s downfall into action, which eventually leads to very dire consequences for them all.

I loved the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series, but one major improvement in this one from the original is that parts of the story are told from the viewpoints of the Sithi and the Norns. Readers get insight into their motivations and emotions, making them fully fleshed out people rather than inscrutable allies and faceless demons. Former Sacrifice Nezeru and her father Viyeki, for example, reveal just how oppressive Utuk’ku’s control over her own people is, and that the Norns are not as united behind their queen as they might seem. Readers also see more of how the Sithi interact with each other, including a duel of sorts between Jiriki and his uncle that is fought with songs rather than swords.

Although it has a few lighter moments, this book is mostly a grim tale that ends at a point where it’s hard to see how the forces of good can possibly avert complete disaster. The ending also leaves many questions still unanswered. What is the extent of Queen Utuk’ku’s plan to defeat the mortals? Why did she bring Hakatri back to life? For what purpose are the Tinukeda’ya being called north? Why is the Misty Vale so important?

The answer to one mystery is revealed in this book, though—what happened when Josua disappeared years ago. It’s in keeping with the rest of the story.

With March 2023 being the listed publication date for the final volume, fans of the series are going to have to wait to find out what happens next. That’s a long time to be stuck on the edge of my seat!

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Into the Narrowdark by Tad Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The long wait is well worth it. This book will be a two-parter if you consider an 800-page book just HALF of a single book. And yet, all the buildup from the first two books of the Last King of Osten Ard (aka, Simon, himself) has sent us straight to character hell.

The whole family is scattered, grieving, and armies are not only on the doorsteps but are wreaking havoc.

This book is quite dark. But there are some really light and fun parts. A particular grandson with his new immortal girlfriend is an absolute delight to read, splitting up what might be a slightly too dark and dire volume. Everyone else is worried about them, but their adventure always brought a smile to my face. And the kissing. Too cute.

I mention all this because the storm has come everywhere else and I think it has as high, if not higher, stakes than Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. The sleeping queen is most definitely awake, and all the many immortals are heeding her call.

I'm quite happy with this book. With the whole series. It's lush with detail, careful, rich in characters, vast stories that are given tons of time to really develop, and a land that I really care for.

Now, if only I had a copy of part two in my hands...

Here we are. The 3rd volume of Tad Williams' latest. It's beautiful, epic, sprawling and incredible as ever. Miriamele is missing. SImon is despondent. Pasevalles is putting his wicked schemes into full swing and everythjing is going to hell. If this book has any flaw, it's very much 'middle child' syndrome, and clearly the opening act in a major conclusion.

Ultimately, the book feels like it is setting the stage for a vast and epic conclusion. Everything seems hopeless. Williams has a way of working with length that few other fantasy authors can master. The worldbuilding is supreme, but Williams makes the reader care about the characters who populate the world more than anything else. Characters have complex motivations that invite the reader to attempt to explore and understand them the whole way through.

I'm ready for the conclusion. It can't come soon enough.