Into the Narrowdark

Last King of Osten Ard, Book 3

By: Tad Williams

Narrated by: Andrew Wincott

Length: 34 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling world of Osten Ard returns in the third Last King of Osten Ard novel, as threats to the kingdom loom....

The High Throne of Erkynland is tottering, its royal family divided and diminished. Queen Miriamele has been caught up in a brutal rebellion in the south and thought to have died in a fiery attack. Her grandson Morgan, heir to the throne, has been captured by one of Utuk'ku's soldiers in the ruins of an abandoned city. Miriamele’s husband, King Simon, is overwhelmed by grief and hopelessness, unaware that many of these terrible things have been caused by Pasevalles, a murderous traitor inside Simon’s own court at the Hayholt.

Meanwhile, a deadly army of Norns led by the ageless, vengeful Queen Utuk’ku, has swept into Erkyland and thrown down the fortress of Naglimund, slaughtering the inhabitants and digging up the ancient grave of Ruyan the Navigator so that Utuk'ku can use the Navigator’s fabled armor to call up the spirit of Hakatri, the evil Storm King's brother.

Even the Sithi, fairy-kin to the Norns, are helpless to stop Utuk'ku's triumph as her armies simultaneously march on the Hayholt and force their way into the forbidden, ogre-guarded valley of Tanakirú—the Narrowdark—where a secret waits that might bring Simon's people and their Sithi allies salvation—or doom.

©2022 Tad Williams (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Still my favorite author, and he still has the gift

Only about a quarter of the way through the book, and it feels like I’m home. Tads ability to make me hate Simon, and then love him through the series, and then hate Morgan, and then love him, and then hate (or be greatly annoyed) Simon again, because he has resorted to becoming a whiny child again lol I absolutely LOVE these characters, they are my very favorite in all the literature I have read, I named my dog Binabik (Binbinikaykabenik). Tad, I hope you know that your writing is not only essential to the genre, but it brings people pure happiness! The narrator, his character narrating imo is the gold standard, and definitely adds a lot to my enjoyment of the books. Masterfully done, Tad and Andrew! Give me 100 more Osten Ard stories!

Excellent storytelling at its very finest

I can’t wait for the next book . This series is one of the best reads of all time in the genre… two thumbs way up!

Very well written

I appreciate the creativity of this author. The whole series so far has kept me wondering what will happen next

Worth the journey to this book!

Loved this book. It was all set up so well in the first two and promises even more amazing fourth and final book! Can’t wait!

One of the best fantasy stories that exists

I’ve read so much fantasy.
More than most people that I’ve ever met .
Siri is from that perspective that I say that this is one of the most compelling, engaging and beautiful stories ever told .
Kudos, Tad!

Plagiarized? Unimaginative? Ridiculous? Yes.

Tad Williams isn’t really a lousy, lazy, unimaginative writer despite writing The Dragon Bone Chair, and every other novel in the Sorrow, Memory, and Thorn series. Surely, he didn’t actually mean to plagiarize from every fantasy novel ever written — this book was written by accident, of course.

Simon, the main protagonist, is insanely naive, obnoxious, and insufferable. His character IS every fantasy cliché, trope, maxim, et cetera… Young handsome poor orphan is actually the missing son of a great king. Yep. Orphan boy meets princess in most unlikely of circumstances. Yep. Orphan boy and princess fall in love and get married. Yep. Lowly orphan boy pisses off most powerful, evil magician. Yep: Orphan boy finds magical sword (hidden from everyone else for millennia, of course). Yep. Friendless introvert teenage orphan boy befriends most powerful wizard and greatest swordsman and ancient elven royalty and perceptive dwarves, etc. Yep. Scared lonely untalented orphan boy becomes brave hero and most deadly warrior (time from zero to hero: about six “moons”). Yep,
It takes Simon approx 34 hours, book-time, for all that to happen - the filler is chock full of whining, complaining, almost dying, making very stupid decisions, and asking very stupid questions (the Q&A’s are meant to help readers understand the “intricacies” of the plot). If Simon were a teenager in the 21st Century he would: 1. Have zero friends. Literally none; 2. Get punched in the face, beat up daily; 3. Get picked last for every sports team; 4. Fail every class; 5. Never attract the interest of girls (or boys for that matter) and get married; 6. Be considered unemployable.

Also, Tad loves to overuse analogies, parallelisms, adjectives, and various descriptive idiomatic expressions, et cetera. Almost every sentence is explained by an analogy of some sort. Literally, like a wet river flowing over hard rocks and sandy sandstones.

Side Note: Andrew Wincott’s narration is outstanding. For real.

cannot wait for final book

excellent story telling, excellent narration. i won’t say i love this series more than memory sorrow and thorn but i will say tad williams makes you love every single side character in this series. ever character is way more developed and complex. which wasn’t always the case in memory sorrow and thorn. cannot wait to see how this story ends.

Eager for the next one

This does a brilliant job of weaving together complex histories, characters and cultures that we have been following since Book 1 (which is where you need to start.) There are many cliffhangers, and much still to be resolved at the end.

Anticipation

All I can say is …..when will be book 4 Be On AUDIOBOOK!!!!! I CANT WAITTT!!!!!!!

Another wonderful romp into Osten Ard!

This one felt like a lot of repetition. I do love my Tad Williams books, but it felt like a lot of re-explaining or restating over and over. At one point, I literally said out loud, “I get it already!”. But!!! There are many reasons to continue back into Osten Ard, and I am more than eager to get the next book. But alas, we must wait. As always, Andrew Wincott IS the voice of Osten Ard. I don’t understand how the man has a usable voice after reading these books, but I thank him for it.