{"id":4359,"date":"2017-10-03T09:35:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T07:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=4359"},"modified":"2020-05-30T22:39:42","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T20:39:42","slug":"die-hexenholzkrone-1-tad-williams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2017\/10\/the-witchwood-crown-1-tad-williams\/","title":{"rendered":"The Witchwood Crown 1 \u2022 Tad Williams"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

One of my most eagerly awaited new releases of the year was The Witchwood Crown<\/em> by Tad Williams. As a young reader I loved the Osten Ard cycle, and a reread thrilled me all over again. So when the announcement came that after more than twenty years there would be a new story set in the world of Osten Ard, I was overjoyed. I picked up the first volume with excitement and, after such a long time, returned to a familiar world, old companions, and a new adventure.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Earlier this year I already wrote about Tad Williams\u2019s Osten Ard cycle here<\/a>. A short book, The Heart of What Was Lost<\/em>, was meant to bridge the gap between the old books and the new story, telling what became of the defeated Norns, the adversaries of humankind in Osten Ard. The Witchwood Crown<\/em> begins thirty years later. Simon and Miriamel are still the royal couple ruling Osten Ard from the Hayholt. The Norn Queen, who fell into a deep magical sleep after the lost war, has awakened, and the Norns are once again arming themselves to give the mortals a hard time. A classic setup, then.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The book moves at a slow pace, and little by little the well-known figures reappear. It\u2019s very nicely packaged and repeatedly stirred a nostalgic feeling in me\u2014like a class reunion, as if you were meeting people again you once saw very often but then lost sight of. Most of the protagonists are back: Simon and Miriamel of course, Binabik, Tiamak, Sludig, Duke Isgrimnur, and several other familiar faces. Simon and Miriamel are now grandparents\u2014something I just couldn\u2019t get used to. I found it hard to picture Simon as an older man, and in temperament I kept seeing the young fellow from the original story. And I still imagined Miriamel as the beautiful princess with golden hair and her somewhat headstrong yet sincere nature. In terms of their thoughts and dialogue they often struck me as na\u00efve; the hard-won wisdom of age didn\u2019t land for me, nor did their authority as monarchs\u2014something that would surely need to be more pronounced to provide stable rule over thirty years.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Naturally there are numerous new players whom Tad Williams introduces. First and foremost, Prince Morgan, grandson of Simon and Miriamel. He rather quickly comes into contact with Snenneq, Binabik\u2019s son-in-law, and so we get a familiar pairing once again: an uncertain, searching youth alongside a clever troll. Beyond that there are several other figures not from the old books whom Williams introduces in his customary excellent fashion. We also return to the Norn point of view; Nezeru, a Norn elite warrior, becomes an important new lead character. I always found these passages particularly exciting. I\u2019m not entirely sure it\u2019s a good idea to draw the Norns so clearly\u2014after all, in the first cycle that menacing unknown was a compelling component\u2014but I still found these plotlines very entertaining, and I liked Nezeru a great deal as a character.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In this first volume, Simon and Miriamel travel across Osten Ard to visit their important fiefs. As a reader you revisit every corner of the land. Places the royal couple don\u2019t reach\u2014like the Thrithings or Nabban\u2014still serve as settings, only with new figures. Together with the old friends, the book is simply big-screen storytelling\u2014a real treat, like coming home. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d ever find myself back at the Hayholt\u2014or in Osten Ard at all. Williams\u2019s world just works, and for me it\u2019s one of the reading events of the year. To sit by the fire with Simon, Miriamel, Sludig, Binabik, and Tiamak, listening to old tales and to talk of the new threat from the Norns\u2014that\u2019s pretty great.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Unfortunately, the publisher Klett-Cotta split what is a single first book in English into two parts in German, and so this first volume simply ends in the middle. You have to wait until November to finish the story, which I found rather annoying. I generally avoid reading incomplete series, since a pause always dampens my enjoyment. With Shadowmarch<\/em> I waited several years until the last volume was out and then read all four books in one go. That\u2019s a very special kind of pleasure: you immerse yourself completely in the world without interruption. I had intended to wait at least until the second volume in November, but how are you supposed to manage that with an Osten Ard novel? I held out for two days, at least.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I won\u2019t say much here about Tad Williams\u2019s prose, his storytelling, or the world of Osten Ard\u2014see my piece on the first Osten Ard cycle<\/a> for that. The new novel is of equally high quality as his others, and once again I was completely absorbed in his world. Fantasy doesn\u2019t get better than this; for me, Tad Williams puts every other author in the genre in his pocket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The physical design is typical Klett-Cotta: a nice color palette for the jacket and quite attractive cover illustrations. Unfortunately there\u2019s no ribbon marker, and once again it\u2019s a glued binding rather than sewn. Especially for Tad Williams I\u2019d still love a lavish de luxe edition with illustrations by Michael Whelan\u2014but I recognize that\u2019s a niche. So ignore the grumbling of a bibliophile who only rarely gets his full due. I did very much like the new maps in the book; they\u2019re much prettier to look at and more precise than in the old volumes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Conclusion:<\/strong> With The Witchwood Crown<\/em>, a new cycle in the world of Osten Ard begins once again. After more than twenty years, Tad Williams presents a new story and takes readers on an adventure through one of the most fascinating worlds fantasy literature has to offer. Returning to Osten Ard, meeting old friends, seeing the diverse regions again, and plunging into a renewed conflict between Norns and mortals\u2014this is pure reading pleasure. I devoured the book quickly, and, as with all of Williams\u2019s novels, it was less reading than vivid cinema of the mind. If you don\u2019t know the original Osten Ard cycle, you may not enjoy this as much, even though all the background is explained. In that case I can only urge you to read the 1990s Osten Ard books\u2014they\u2019re among the great masterpieces that helped make the fantasy genre what it is. For anyone returning to Osten Ard, as I did with The Witchwood Crown<\/em>, I can only recommend the book. A wonderful start to a gripping new cycle that stokes pure anticipation for the other volumes\u2014unfortunately not due for a few years yet.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book information: <\/strong>The Witchwood Crown<\/em> \u2014 The Last King of Osten Ard<\/em>, Book 1 \u2022 Tad Williams \u2022 Klett-Cotta \u2022 800 pages \u2022 ISBN 9783608949537<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my most eagerly awaited new releases of the year was The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams. As a young reader I loved the Osten Ard cycle, and a reread thrilled me all over again. So when the announcement came that after more than twenty years there would be a new story set in … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Witchwood Crown 1 \u2022 Tad Williams”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Die Hexenholzkrone 1 \u2022 Tad Williams - lesestunden","description":"Eine meiner hei\u00df ersehnten Neuerscheinungen des Jahres war Die Hexenholzkrone von Tad Williams. Als junger Mensch habe ich den Osten Ard Zyklus geliebt und auch"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,20],"tags":[126],"class_list":["post-4359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-reviews","tag-tad-williams"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hexenholzkrone_beitrag_2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}