This was everything I wanted and more. All the twists and all the surprises were so great. I would of liked the end of character arcs to be a bit more interconnected by the end but otherwise it was a very solid ending to the series

Tad Williams is not grimdark but is never afraid to put a character in real peril-this flavor or epic fantasy always sucks me in. Some of my fondest memories are of reading his work - on family vacations as a kid or now, with kids of my own. I have some sadness I haven't gotten my children into him but will evangelize where I can. Some of the things he has introduced to me are now considered tropey-but they weren't when he invented them. Just an all around master. While this book is not where you want to start in the Williams-verse, it is a great conclusion to this series and will reinforce to fans of the author why he is so great. Highly recommend. I think anyone into Sanderson or Martin should check out this author, and will be pleasantly surprised.

What a wrap up to the series.. a proper ending for all storylines. Tad truly is one of the greatest fantasy writers of all time. Some endings were expected, most unexpected, which I love even more. I love how (in the style of LOTR) the main story ends at about 70% of the book, and in the chapters afterwards we get a proper ending for most of the side-storylines. Still some ends are left loose, let's hope Tad will continue to write Osten Ard novels.. but I think he will.

Thanks to DAW Books & Tad for an ARC via NetGalley. These are my honest opinions, and I also purchased the book on release day, because I will probably reread it really soon.

The Navigator's Children has that classic fantasy feel, even though the first book in the series only just came out in 2017. Fans of fantasy will appreciate this series. There is a large cast of characters, and the narrative jumps from one to the other relatively quickly. The books could be more concise and do not necessarily merit the length.

Thank you DAW Books and Netgalley for providing an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

After finishing Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, one might think there was no need for a continuation of a story that had such a marvelous closure and wonder if sequels could diminish what the original had so perfectly established. I’m glad to say this isn’t the case here, at all.

The Last King of Osten Ard managed to build upon all the rich and intricate worldbuilding from the previous series, with old and new characters so vividly fleshed out by Tad’s outstanding writing, and deliver on this final book a conclusion which elevates the whole Osten Ard Saga to even higher levels.

Breath taking action sequences, emotional gut-punches and jaw-dropping revelations that had been sprinkled throughout these 30 years on the making series, culminates on this final book, giving us an incredibly satisfying conclusion that leaves us wanting for even more.

The whole Saga solidified into one of my favorite series ever. Thank you, Tad Williams, for creating this masterpiece

Avis Lecture 🧐📖 "The Navigator's Children", volume 4 final de The Last King of Osten Ard, seconde époque de Memory, Sorrow and Thorn ou L'Arcane des Épées en VF ⚔️📜

Et vous ? Avez vous des suites que vous trouvez meilleures que la série d'origine ? 🥰

Sortie le 12 novembre 2024 ✨

Près de 23 ans aux côtés de ces héros, c'est un peu comme avec Hobb et ses différentes époques ; le plaisir de retrouver des personnages que l'on a suivi au fil des années et qui sont devenus comme des amis.
Tad Williams l'avait annoncé, il ne reviendrait dans cet univers que s'il avait des choses à dire et bordel il y en avait ! Il y en avait même beaucoup car la fin de la trilogie d'origine nous laissait tout de même avec quelques zones d'ombres ; zones d'ombres éclairées par l'excellente short story : "The Heart of what was Lost" 😍. Et puis nous avons eu ce nouveau cycle et la seconde et magnifique short story servant de prequel à toutes la série "Brothers of the Wind" 📯.
Si j'avais ressenti quelques longueurs notamment dans le tome 2 de la première trilogie, ce n'a pas été le cas ici ! Chaque volume étant meilleur que le précédent et c'est vraiment peu dire tellement le niveau d'écriture, de profondeur de personnages et la richesse de cet univers est colossale !
J'ai qualifié chaque tome de "Chef d'Oeuvre" et je le pense totalement. 😱💗
Ce dernier volume nous offre la conclusion ultime, celle que l'on rêvait tous et que l'on redoutait tout autant !
Williams est parvenu à croiser toutes les intrigues et les aligner. Les prophéties annoncées ont enfin été réalisées et nos héros qui hier n'étaient que des enfants, ont maintenant bien grandi/vieilli.
Ce second cycle s'est révélé être émotionnellement épique, et par là je ne parle pas de batailles même si nous en avons, mais réellement en terme d'émotions et de sentiments. C'etait les montagnes russes, et j'ai vraiment eu très peur dans ce grand final qui comporte deux fins ; l'une pour l'intrigue principale et la seconde pour dire au revoir, un peu plus de temps partagé auprès des héros survivants et une manière de boucler la boucle.
Qu'une ME française achète ENFIN ces droits bordel !!!!! 😱

*** Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher - DAW - for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK RATING - 3.5 stars

This is a tough one to rate. I was bored at times & on tenterhooks at others. I teared up and laughed, felt shocked and irritated. The character growth was great with some characters, but didn’t go as far as I wanted with one. Now that I’ve seen the whole of this story arc, I did feel that a few of the new characters could’ve been cut. Doing so would’ve helped the pacing immensely as events could’ve been experienced from more intriguing eyes. To no one’s surprise, Tad Williams’ writing was as pleasant and easy to read as always. I enjoyed how certain aspects of the story converged and were resolved.

The biggest complaint I have with this book (and the Last King of Osten Ard as a whole) is the pacing. It’s all over the place. Part 1 of The Navigator’s Children was glacial to the point of being painful. It picked up slightly in the second, but the third part absolutely flew by. I wish that part of the resolution had been dwelt on a little more and that further explanation was given. This series doesn’t feel complete because this particular resolution (forgive my being vague) comes out of left field and felt far too convenient.

Ultimately, I feel bereft now that the series is over; however, there are enough tantalizing story threads left loose that a sequel series would be possible.

- The Witchwood Crown (Book 1): 3.5 stars
- Empire of Grass (Book 2): 3.5 stars
- Into the Narrowdark (Book 3): 3.5 stars

A masterful conclusion to the Osten Ard saga--well worth the wait. I dare say Tad Williams' craft has never been better. Incredible prose and a story that takes twists and turns even the most ardent Williams fan won't expect, but will nonetheless enjoy. Won't say much, if you've read up to this point in the series, this is a must read.

Tad is the best and this book blew me away. I think this might be his best work to date. Nothing is lacking here and I highly recommmentd this series

I don’t have words to express how grateful I am to be able to share this amazing story with others. I started reading this series as a young teen about 13 or 14 and absolutely fell in love. I soared, I cried, I lived these books. . After the first 4 books, I unwillingly lost track of the series for a long time. I forgot how wonderful and well-loved it was to me.

Decades later, now finding it again has been like reuniting with a long lost friend. This series is one of the best-written series ever. Tad Williams is absolutely amazing. Definitely one of the greats as Tolkien was. How many weeks he has consistently transported me - made me feel I was living in these books. I haven’t wanted to eat, sleep…just live there.

I can’t say it enough. READ THIS SERIES. Start with THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR. Strap in, bring your snacks, take a vacation from work. It’s amazing. You won’t regret it.

What a fantastic closing book to a phenomenal follow up series!

From the moment I opened The Witchwood Crown I felt I was back in Osten Ard. Williams captured the feel of the original series so well right away, with alterations to the characters as they've aged. this series was very strong all the way through, but The Navigator's Children is the crowning achievement, and Tad knocked it out of the park.

This book wraps around all of the different plot lines and mysteries, plus has some new twists and turns. Williams masterfully pulls all the threads together (even the ones that felt less relevant in some of the early books and delivers quite the climax. The crazy thing is that climax is only about 2/3rds of the way through, and yet the pacing is so excellent in this installment that you never feel like it's taking too long. There's plenty that happens after the main conflict is resolved, and of course some huge revelations at the very end as well, but despite the bulk of this novel, the flow is great.

While I may have a few minor complaints here and there with this series (as I did with the origianl trilogy as well), like with Memory Sorrow & Thorn, I'm just enjoying myself too much to really care. This for me captured those same feelings from that experience which is the ultimate hurdle when writing a follow up series. If you loved MST, you will absolutely love Last King of Osten Ard as well!

A long, long time ago in a world far, far away (otherwise known as 1988), a younger me picked a heavy (like really heavy) book titled The Dragonbone Chair off the shelf in the bookstore. If you had told that younger, thinner, more-haired me that I’d still be reading about those characters almost 40 years later in 2024, I would have laughed at the absurdity. But here I am, just putting down The Navigator’s Children, Tad Williams’ newest set in the world of Osten Ard, which is just as heavy (really heavy) and still as immersive, enjoyable, and moving. This being (perhaps) the concluding book in this lengthy series, there will be unavoidable spoilers for the earlier ones.

The plot picks up where the prior book ended, and follows the same various storylines though, this being (perhaps—more on that later) the concluding volume, as one might expect those disparate plot lines/characters narrow toward each other and then eventually converge. A not-complete list of characters/arc include:

• Queen Miriamele (who is not dead) attempts to capture the traitor Pasevalles, now holed up in a castle the Queen is besieging even as he mourns the news that her husband, King Simon, is dead
• King Simon (who is not dead) tries to get back to his kingdom to hold it together but gets entangled in the final battle in the Vale of Mists between the Norn and their kin the Sithi even as he mourns the news that his wife Miriamele is dead.
• Prince Morgan and a few others travel through the danger-filled valley of mists with the rogue Norn Nezuru, who find herself mysteriously pulled towards whatever awaits at the vale’s endpoint, while Morgan and Nezuru try in their own way to deal with their ever-deepening bond.
• Nezuru’s father Viyeki is tasked by the Norn Queen to engineer a path to help destroy the Sithi in the valley even as he struggles with his Queen’s intent and his role in all the violence. A struggle made sharper by his interaction with the slave Tinukeda'ya forced to work for him.
• Geloe (who was dead and now is only mostly-dead) tries to stop the Norn Queen’s mad attempts to kill everyone while also find to free her people, the Tinukeda'ya

As noted, this is only a partial list; a lot is going on here. While the first book of this new series had some issues with pacing and an overload of POVs and plot points, those problems got smoothed over in subsequent works and that holds here as well. The movement between POVs is fluid, the plot well-balanced for the most part (a few characters could probably have been dropped without harm to plot though it would affect the immersive nature of the story, and it all comes together well without feeling forced. There’s also a nice variety within the plot, with large-scale battle scenes, moments more small-scale tension than spectacle focused, interpersonal scenes, and individual introspective moments, each of them handled with equal skill and effectiveness.

Williams has always been an author who takes his time in all sorts of ways, whether its developing plot or character or filling in world details and The Navigator’s Children is no different. The best aspect of this is how fully fleshed out the characters become over the course of the series as well as the book. Changes happen fitfully, slowly, realistically. Viyeki has struggled with the Norn’s cruelty throughout and while he makes a choice at the end to turn against it, it has taken literally two thousand or so pages to arrive at that decision, meaning it truly was a struggle, and one the reader was never quite sure — though one could guess and one hoped — which side he would tip toward. Simon and Miriamele have been noting the pitfalls of the current governing system and of the dangers of any one person — a king, a queen, an emperor — holding so much power, but it takes them thousands of pages to devise some sort of alternative. And it is only “some sort”—because that sort of major shift in worldview takes time, as does figuring out how to execute that shift. Morgan was, as I noted in my review of the first book in the follow-up series, an incredibly annoying character — whiny, immature, a drunkard. He is no longer those things by the end, but it wasn’t thanks to a singular event, a sudden epiphany, a tragic consequence of his behavior. It was time that led to his changing. And one could go down the list of such transformations.

Change and the passage of time, the aging of and aging out of characters has been a running theme throughout the series, making for again, a more realistic story but also one laced throughout with melancholy, nostalgia, and bittersweetness. I can’t say if this is truly the end. Williams sneaks in a little backdoor moment that teases the potential for more stories set in the world amidst these characters. But if this is the end, it’s a fully satisfactory one, both sad and rewarding as any good ending should be.

An ok ending to what has been a good second series in Osten Ard

The ending dragged a bit but all the main plot points received good closure

I first read the Dragonbone Chair in 2019 and have completed this series in 2024. It has become a major part of my life and did not think at the time that it would become my favorite fantasy series of all time but here we are. Tad Williams once again crushes it with a finale! Although I would've liked more deaths, this series isn't know for being too gruesome so I'll take what I can get. I loved the enemies to lovers (they finally accepted being lovers woohoo!) and how all the characters came together. Their plots felt so far before I started this book that I didn't know how they would come together but was pleasantly surprised by how they all came together. My personal favs in this book were Morgan, Simon, Miriamele, Eolair, Tzoja, and Tanahaya. There were so many great moments between friends as well as some great parent-child conversations. Their stories are not yet over and even if we don't get to see them end with a future installment, I'm happy where they left off. But you can't tell me he doesn't have something cooking for Nabban!

I think Tad Williams is one of the most outstanding authors in epic fantasy history, and he’s seriously underrated—he deserves way more recognition. His new series "The Last King of Osten Ard" shows once again that he’s a master storyteller, crafting deep and engaging characters and skillfully weaving multiple plotlines. Even with their releativly leisurely pace, it’s hard to put the books down. Plus, Williams has a knack for writing great endings, and The Navigator's Children is a perfect example of that. Without giving too much away, I wouldn't say it's packed with surprises, but it’s definitely beautiful and emotional.

This is fourth book in the series and the first that I have read. The first part of the book gives a synopsis of each of the prior three in some detail. The book itself is quite lengthy and for me not a page turner or one that I could not put down to do something else. The author has created a dense world of characters and his writing style just did not appeal to me. I know there are several fans of author who gobble up his books so I will leave it to you to decide if you want to read this series.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Goodreads, Net Galley, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

This took awhile to brew because I kept procrastinating. Apologies.

Thank you DAW and Netgalley for the opportunity. The Navigator's Children is the overdue finale to The Last King of Osten Ard (another four-book trilogy!) and I am very happy that I got my grubby hands on an Advanced Reader's Copy.

Tad Williams has a superb control over his story. Into the Narrowdark leaves readers with several loose threads and they are tied up neatly in this last installment. It's a little bittersweet, and to be rather frank, not everyone ends up happy, but it's satisfying. Even elegant. It's like going through lines of code and finding out that this absolute beast of a program not only runs smoothly, it's also efficient. Old friends like Simon and Miriamele continue to be themselves, while new characters have absolutely grown on me. I don't think I will ever get tired of telling people just how much I love Nezeru and Jarnulf's character arcs -- they're such interesting characters! As a child, I grew up outside my native "culture" and certain aspects of how they act just reminded me of that. (i.e. Nezeru is half-human, but she's not human the way Morgan is human.)

I've always enjoyed the immersive world building in MS&T and I have particularly enjoyed the sort of "organic" role that lore has played in this series. The Tinukeda'ya, the Navigator, and their ships... I feel like a very small child unwrapping layers upon layers of wrappings. All of these stories build up and what the Tinukeda'ya believed about their place in this world -- it really doesn't come as a surprise what they choose to do in the end, and I really love that.

Some minor issues regarding Morgan's romantic relationships. Love the representation. The execution? Not so much. It reads like an afterthought which... is probably not intended but again, romance doesn't seem to be the focus of this books and I honestly like that we're left practically scratching our heads about several characters. It feels like we're getting another series, but maybe I'm just delusional.

(A solid 5/5.)

This was a fantastic conclusion to the series. I came into the book wondering how everything could possibly be tied up by the end, and I felt that it ended up being a satisfying conclusion for both the returning cast from MS&T and the new characters. The second half of the book features some of the best action and character development of all the Osten Ard books, and sets up new and interesting possibilities for the world. I'm excited to see what might be coming for this series in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and DAW Books for the eARC!

What an amazing intricate novel. The characters were well developed and the plot involved. I read this as a standalone and possibly my experience wasn’t as good due to not reading the previous novels. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This long awaited ending does not disappoint. For fans of the original Memory, Sorrow and Thorne series Williams takes the needed time to give every character a satisfying ending. It has been quite a journey but it definitely has been worth the wait. Williams style of writing draws us into the emotions and experience in a powerful way.