With work wrapping up on the third Bobby Dollar novel, speculation has begun about what Tad Williams will begin working on after his first foray into novel-length urban fantasy. The answer might be something close to his roots. Williams has discussed the fan pressure for him to return to the world of Osten Ard, made famous in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, the modern fantasy classic that inspired George R.R. Martin to write A Song of Ice and Fire. Most recently, Williams took part in a thread on his official message board which asked, “Will Tad write a book about Deornoth & Derra?” He said:
“I can only promise that one of these days, there WILL be more about the prophecy twins,” he said. “Too many people have asked me over the years for me just to ignore it. I did too good a job, I guess, at showing what further interesting things might happen in Osten Ard. Thanks for caring.”
Deornoth and Derra, the ‘prophecy twins’ that Williams refers to in his reply, are introduced at the end of To Angel Tower, the final volume of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, with a prophecy that might give hint to the adventures in the (potential) upcoming series:
They will be as close as brother and sister can be although they will live many years apart. She will travel in lands that have never known a mortal woman’s step, and will lose what she loves best, but find happiness with what she once despised. He will never have a throne, but kingdoms will rise and fall by his hand.
It has been pointed out that there are some similarities between this prophecy, and the plot of Shadowmarch, Williams fantasy series that concluded in 2010.
Williams further hinted at a return to Osten Ard during a chat with fans on twitter. Of his future projects, he mentioned a fourth Bobby Dollar book, and a “special project that will surprise (and I hope please) my readers.” What would please his readers more than a return to the land that made him a pillar of modern fantasy?
In recent years, Brooks has seen several revisions to the look and feel of his novels, even switching styles midway through a series because the first volume didn’t sell as well as expected (Armageddon’s Children to The Elves of Cintra). His most recent trilogy, The Dark Heritage of Shannara, used a bold, emblematic approach that I found quite appealing, so it’s interesting to see Del Rey shifting focus again to this new style. On first glance, I think it’s great all around. The typography and composition of the various cover elements is good, and the illustration is striking. It is sort of weird that the series title is larger than the book’s title and the two aren’t distinguished from one another, but that’s a small complaint. It’s funny, and somewhat telling, to see Terry Brooks all-of-a-sudden mimicing the look of Brent Weeks’ novels.