The Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams (Memory Sorrow and Thorn: Book 2)

9/10

In Osten Ard, the evil of the Storm King covers the land and the country is riven by war. Nature, unbalanced by the tide of evil, slips into a permanent winter. Simon, once a kitchen boy, now a hero hiding in the troll stronghold of Yiquanuc, has prophetic dreams. Only he and his companions can save the land, but to do this he must embark on the second part of his quest... to the Stone of Farewell.

Can a series of three books be called Epic? In the first book you begin to get an understanding of the depth and detail that Williams endeavoured to depict in this world and its inhabitants. In the second book of the series he has amplified this illusive quality abundantly.

There is a maturity and aged feel in the history and lives laid out to the reader. The development of Simon from boy to man can at times be slow but you catch glimpses of the person he will be become.

The second book delves into the history and personality of most the other mains characters, giving them a rounded feel with the notable exception of Miramele. I feel there was a real opportunity missed with this character development. There was no true transformation of Miramele from damsel in distress to heroine of Boadicea propositions.

Williams has written the frustration and resentment that Josua is struggling with in such a way that you can at times feel this with yourself.

The greatest accolade I can give any book is it makes you want more, there was no skimming chapters of the secondary characters to get back to Simon and his odyssey. Sequels can be as good if not better than their predecessors.

There is loss, sorrow and death; but there is hope and bounds forged. Debts will be paid, what is old will pass and what is new will rise. I give The Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams 8.8 out of 10.