The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams

[meganbmoore]

Simon is a kitchen boy in Osten Ard, home to Prester John, the high king. An orphan, Simon has been raised since birth by Rachel, who runs the kitchen. Very tall and absentminded, Simon is clumsy and not very good at much of anything. Nevertheless, he catches the eyes of Morgenes, Prester John’s doctor and biographer, and becomes his apprentice. Soon Prester John dies, and when his older son, Elias, takes the throne, his younger son, Josua disappears. Soon, Simon learns that Josua did not disappear to start a rebellion, but rather was imprisoned by Elias. Simon and Morgenes free him(after which, he promptly goes off to start a rebellion) but are soon discovered by Pryrates, Elias’s priest and advisor. He practices black magic, of course.

Morgenes sacrifices himself so Simon can escape and Simon begins his life on the run as he slowly heads to join Josua. Along the way he is joined by Binabik, a troll, and a boy named Malachais, who Simon had quarreled with at the castle. Eventually, Simon learns Malachais is actually a girl, and after they reach Josua’s forces, he learns that she’s actually Miriamele, Elias’s daughter, who left himto join her uncle, believing(rightly) that Elias is no longer himself and is completely under Pryrates control. Insert war, rebellion, token Doomed Love backstory, prophecy and the magic sword.

Honestly, so far, the story is relatively standard high fantasy. Very well told, but fairly standard. There is, however, an enormous amount of potential, and given that the book is 20 years old, I’m more than willing to handwave most of the standardness as not having been as standard at the time it first came out. Simon starts out your typical whiny-brat coming-of-age fantasy hero, but he pretty much literally gets kicked in the head and shoved face first into the mud over it. That and a few harsh reality checks do a good job of getting him past it by the halfway point, which is pretty promptly for the character type. Binabik and Morgenes are good mentor figures, and Josua is, so far, pretty cool, but I’m not putting any money on his not somehow going bad or getting off by the end. I do wish, though, that there was more in the way of strong female characters. Miriamele shows promise, and seems smart and capable, but doesn’t get to do a whole lot, largely because we only see her through Simon’s eyes, and he’s rather distracted by mooning over her. Rachel is a fine character, but does even less than Miriamele, and the only other female characters who are more than extras, I might forget about if Williams didn’t remind me of them.

Anyway, I doubt the series will go down as a favorite, but it’s solid and very much worth following up on.

 

Comments

[morwen_peredhil]

I haven't read those books in ages, but I do remember that everything didn't go as I expected and there was a twist or two at the end. Very well done for what they are.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Twists are good.

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

I think I did read it twenty years ago, but I don't remember much about it. I'll say this about it: it never entered my reread pile.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Based on this book, it falls under "worth reading all the way through once, but not a reread unless there's amazin stuff coming."

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

That about sizes up my memory of it.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Glancing at the rest of his backlog, I suspect I'll be more into his Otherland and Shadow series, both of which sound like he may have used this series as a sounding board.

[fire-snake.livejournal.com]

I think that the plot was pretty standard even twenty years ago, otherwise I agree with you. It is not one of my very favorites, but it is not clunky, decently narrated, with well developed characters who don't do anything horrendously stupid. I read it about ten years ago, and I remember enjoying it.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Most of this type of fantasy from 20 years ago was more blatantly Tolkein-esque. While this is clearly grown from Tolkein, it doesn't feel as closely lifted as some(most) others do. My main though on Simon is that he's Eragon made bearable.

And yeah, your comments about the writing and characters are my impression, too. I don't see it changing my world, but ti's a solid read, which is all that I require.

[fire-snake.livejournal.com]

Definitely less self-centered and whiny:)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

But then, so is your average 2 year old.

[southerndave.livejournal.com]

"Very well told, but fairly standard"

That was the case back when it first came out, as well. Was still a good read though. Never got around to giving it a second reading (must fix that one of these days...)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'm generous in this case, though, because there were 20 less years of genericness to have to stand out above.

[egelantier.livejournal.com]

I love OoM so very much, oh. it's pretty standard, yeah, but it's told with such love and tenderness - with perfect worldbuilding, several storylines merging seamlessly together, wonderful and diverse cast. and the way he uses dreams and prophesies and parallels without bashing you over head with it. and his 'elves' are one of the best out there - he does shows their otherness without falling to post-Tokien's cliches.

and oh, how I adore Simon. he starts very childish, goes thorugh hell and back and grows up on his own - not because of 'hidden powers' or amulets or magic or whatever Gary Stuish powers are out there, but simply because he's decent man who wants to do the best he can. he's one of most pleasant high fantasy heroes to read about.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yup, pretty much. It's standard, but better told than a lot of more "original" stuff, so I'm fine with that.

Simon has already gone through enormous character growth. I think Tavi of Codex Alera is the best example of whiny brat to awesome guy character growth I can think of, but Simon, so far, is a close match.