Those of my vintage were bombarded with spaceships, rock 'n roll, Michael Jackson, Freddy Kreuger and Jason Vorheese, modern vampires, Muppets, fighter pilots, and sexy neo-cowboys. Lord of the Rings was just a set of old books and possibly a pretty childish looking (IMHO) animated film at that time, if it had even been made yet. At the time, "Fantasy" was being far overshadowed by Science Fiction. I first read Dragonbone Chair in probably 1989/90 (I'd be about 20, then). ![]() Add those together and I think that has really hurt the popularity that it could have. The other issue I think is the fact people seem to be hesitant on starting unfinished series due to Martin and Rothfus so they are waiting for the whole thing to be released before diving in. The problem is that someone could have read MS&T anytime in the past 28 years and a good chance they don't remember it very well and don't want to have to re-read the series before starting Last King. ![]() That in itself should not be an issue because I think most people who read MS&T enjoy it. The problem for why it is not popular I think is two fold. There is also tons of lore and so many things to discuss on how it might play out. It is beautifully written so many cool ways the story could go. First is that it is a really engaging story with some cool twists. I think it has all the things necessary to be a classic. Now you have the Last King of Osten Ard series, which is the best ongoing series that I am currently reading, that seems to get barely any love. That is a long time to stay in the public eye with new releases and open questions to think about and discuss. Whereas people could have read MS&T in 5 years and move on to something different, WoT had 23 years of building a fanbase and aSoIaF is still going at 25. It is hard to talk about completed works that don't have a ton of open points other than say, I liked this or that plot point.Ĭontrast that to the two most popular series that arose around that time, Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire, they spanned decades and had many open questions to for people to analyze and discuss as well as forcing people to keep coming back to them to read the new editions. By the time it became easy to discuss these books with others, they have been published for well over a decade. However, this was before the rise of the popularity of the internet where it would be discussed anyways. MS&T was published from 1988 to 1993 and was mostly a classic adventure story with only a few open-ended lore points that would cause further discussion. I fear to read any other Osten Ard book in case it would ruin the feel of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.Īnyway, back to the original heading: why is this trilogy so unheard-of? Why aren’t there movies, comics, game systems set in this world? What am I missing?įor me, I think the issue was timing. The culmination of those character arcs and the world building left me so, so satisfied and even emotional. When that story came together it was just…sublime. It took me over two months but I just finished Green Angel Tower on Monday last. Thus, when I finally read Tad Williams (after a couple false starts not being able to get through the first couple chapters of Dragonbone Chair), I became completely hooked. He’s fine but not on the same level as Tolkien or Jordan. I gave in to peer pressure and read Brandon Sanderson awhile ago and have worked through his corpus. I gave GRRM a try and found him too dark and “gritty” for my tastes. I’m 40 years old and grew up reading Tolkien and Robert Jordan. There's a massive amount of information, history, backstories, current and future books on Treacherous Paths: Your Guide to Osten Ard ![]() Some of them you don’t even know yet!" Basic rules Up the corridor you have a room full of friends. ![]() A fan subreddit for the stories and fantasy worlds imagined and written by Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn & Last King of Osten Ard trilogies, Otherland, Shadowmarch, Bobby Dollar, War of the Flowers, Tailchaser's Song etc.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |