Tad Williams Archives - Novel Notions

“Duty is honor,” my stern father often used to tell me. “And honor is all.” But I would amend his saying. I have learned that our first duty is to truth, because without truth, honor itself is hollow.

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Book Review: The Witchwood Crown (The Last King of Osten Ard, #1) by Tad Williams

April 18, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Cover art illustrated by Michael Whelan

The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Last King of Osten Ard (Book #1 of 4), The Osten Ard Saga (Book #4 of 7)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 736 pages (Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 350,000 words

Published: 27th June 2017 by DAW Books (US) & Hodder (UK)

It is with a heart of joy I proclaim The Witchwood Crown as an exquisite return to the world of Osten Ard.

“You have a fine voice. Remember that music is a noble charge, even a dangerous charge, because it can pierce a man’s heart when a spear or arrow cannot.”

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Petrik’s Top 19 Books of the Year! (2023)

January 27, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read so far this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2023)

Between 1st January 2023 and 31st December 2023, I read 80 books + 177 manga/manhwa volumes (76.8k pages).

Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. These rules allow me to highlight more authors, and at the same time, I’ll also be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) that I read this year.

Rereads aren’t included.
One book per series.
The books listed here are not all exclusively published this year; the list consists of the top books I read for the first time this year. Non-2023 published books on this list will have their first date of publication included.

Do note that although there’s a rank to this list, I HIGHLY recommend every book/series listed below because I loved all of them immensely, and they received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Honorable mentions are for two best novellas and two short stories I read this year. Without further ado, here are the top 15 (or 19) books I’ve read this year! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.) …

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Book Review: The Heart of What Was Lost (The Osten Ard Saga, #3.5) by Tad Williams

January 5, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Cover art illustrated by Michael Whelan

The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Osten Ard Saga (Book #3.5 of 7)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 222 pages (Kindle edition)

Word Count: 78,000 words

Published: 3rd January 2017 by DAW Books

The Heart of What Was Lost is the action-packed epilogue to Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, and it is also a great setup to The Last King of Osten Ard. …

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Book Review: To Green Angel Tower (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #3) by Tad Williams

August 23, 2023 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on To Green Angel Tower

Cover art illustrated by Michael Whelan

To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn (Book #3 of 3), The Osten Ard Saga (Book #3 of 7)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Classic Fantasy

Pages: 1960 pages (eBook edition)

Word Count: 533,000 words

Published: 1st March 1993 by DAW Books

It is done… At 530k words long, To Green Angel Tower is the largest single-volume novel I’ve ever read. It is a mesmerizing slow-burn epic fantasy tome imbued with high-stakes pulse-pounding final chapters.

“Sorrow needed its brothers. Together they would make a music greater still.”

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Book Review: Stone of Farewell (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn #2) by Tad Williams

July 13, 2023 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Cover art illustrated by Michael Whelan

Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn (Book #2 of 3), The Osten Ard Saga (Book #2 of 7)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Classic Fantasy

Pages: 703 pages (Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 282,750 words

Published: 7th August 1990 by DAW Books

Stone of Farewell is all about preparation for the grand conclusion.

“Old cities and old stories were now part of his very life. It was strange how the future seemed tied inseparably to the past, so that both revolved through the present, like a great wheel…”

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