Art by Kerem Beyit
OstenArd.com, reporting on an announcement by Tad Williams’ wife and business partner, Deborah Beale, revealed that Williams has completed work on the first draft of The Witchwood Crown. This novel is the first volume of The Last King of Osten Ard trilogy, a follow-up to Williams’ genre-defining epic fantasy trilogy Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. Aside from one short story, “The Burning Man”, this is the first time that Williams has returned to the world of Osten Ard since publishing the final volume of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn in 1993.
“The Witchwood Crown is expected to be published in Spring 2016,” OstenArd.com said. “[It] will be followed by Empire of Grass and The Navigator’s Children.” Williams has previously announced that legendary artist Michael Whelan, who painted the covers for Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, will be responsible for the cover art for the North American edition of the trilogy from DAW Books.
{swoons}
*jumps up and down* Is it there yet?
Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Tad Williams. I’ve read all his stuff since Tailchaser’s Song was first published, but calling MS&T ‘genre-defying’ seems like one of those epithets that people assume to be true without really thinking about it. It’s packed with genre cliches, from the naive young (white) man protagonist to the immortal and mysterious elf-like Sithi to the extensive underground caverns to myriad other facets of the story. I know that Williams has said that he intended the trilogy as a deconstruction of traditional fantasy tropes, but what can that possibly mean in this context? I’ve read the whole trilogy twice (and I rarely read anything more than once) and it’s likely I’ll read it again in preparation for this new trilogy. It’s a fun read by a skilled raconteur. But genre defying? Kameron Hurley’s Bel Dame trilogy is genre defying. Nalo Hopkinson’s Brown Girl in the Ring is genre defying. China Mieville’s Railsea is genre defying. Catherynne Valente’s Orphan Tales are genre-defying. Those novels exist at the periphery of fantasy. (How do you know something’s at the periphery? It’s when you say, “Is that really fantasy?”) They introduce new ideas, new perspectives, new ways of narrating, and all avoid cliche like the plague. MS&T is about as squarely situated in the fantasy genre as it’s possible to get.
You’re absolutely right, Matt. I meant to write “genre defining” rather than “genre defying”, referring to Memory, Sorrow and Thorns‘ impact on post-80s secondary world fantasy, and particularly its influence on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.
Ah, I apologize for writing a paragraph-long screed complaining about a typo. No question that his influence is great.
[…] Tad Williams Completes The Witchwood Crown […]
[…] Tad Williams Completes The Witchwood Crown Tad Williams has completed work on The Witchwood Crown, the first volume in his follow-up sequel trilogy to Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. […]