Shadowmarch, Tad Williams

Shadowmarch is the first in series of books (likely three?) in a new and rich world.  Tad Williams has historically developed a wealth of interesting characters inhabiting a  rich universe.  His books have interesting and complex plots and have often involved some sort of coming of age story intermixed with complex moral investigations.  The language is rich without being overwhelming (I haven't ever had to look up a word), but the first book is almost laborious to read in each of his series.  He tries to pack so much information into the beginning that the books are seriously plot dense and the plot lines rarely interact initially.  To the extent they do, they tend to confuse rather then enlighten.  I have very much enjoyed his other series and look forward to enjoying this one!

Started: January, 2009
Completed: November 22, 2009
Recommendation:  Good read for the patient reader who likes reading series books
Recommended By:  Nobody, I was wondering a Barnes and Noble while on vacation looking for some fun reading and picked up this book and a copy of Philosophy Now! magazine, to which I must subscribe at some point.
Review:  IT took about 400 pages to introduce the characters and establish a bunch of back story.  I enjoyed this because my experience has been that the richness of the introduction helps suspend disbelief and lays groundwork for interactions that are difficult to imagine being likely or even possible this early.  Clearly, this book does not stand on its own.  The end leaves all strings untied and virtually every character in some sort of turmoil.  There is one character, an immortal, who seems to have exactly the position she had planned with but the smallest wrinkle (therein, however, lies the groundwork for the future).  The protagonists are women in this story and that does seem a stretch.  Not being a woman, however, I have a feeling that I am much more forgiving of what must be obvious transgressions.  I like that there is not one characterization of a woman and that the book looks at many facets of women as different and distinct people (largely to the detriment of male characters who seem to fall smoothly into paranoid, conniving, honorable, or stupid with the occasional exception--most notably a "funderling" or dwarf in the more classical fantasy sense who defies such a simple explanation).

In most medieval fantasies men are the unquestioned masters of their domain and, while there is a strong sense of this superficially, it appears that, in this book, women have far more power then the traditional fantasy.  This occurs in several creative ways:  in royalty via death, in the common woman via sexuality, in the high-born via intrigue, in immortals via history, and, in one interesting case via intelligence.  The male characters encounter and, rarely defer to, women of high intelligence or cunning ripostes.  This is not to say that the men always get the worst of it, but there is no question that plenty of men do.

While the characters in the story are complex and fit broadly into the appropriate castes in medieval fantasy, there are a few that break the mold in interesting ways.  The sole female "funderling" we meet is shrewd and lovingly gruff while somehow finding an awkward balance with a stream of emotions that, it appears, she had sadly put aside prior to the opening of the book and now must fully address.  The court jester is not terribly funny and is very old--both odd characteristics for a jester.  The obligatory court fop is not particularly well dressed nor particularly eloquent (despite being a poet) although he feels he is both.  The smallest character in the book, "a rooftopper" (think borrower from the classic children's stories), has tremendous valor and resourcefulness.  This weird collection fits in grumpily with the stereotypes:  A cruel and all-powerful king, the girl who wants to be a warrior, the witch doctor/wizard who seems at risk for losing his fundamental values to pursue tremendous powers, the soldier who constantly fights with his duty, and the honorable warrior with an uncompromising commitment to his honor.  All in all, there remains a tremendous series of introductions to be had.and the plot has only begun.