I must say I can't remember how I read series when I was in elementary school and series were pretty much all I read. A lot of what I read was Warriors by Erin Hunter, and so I believe that I mostly read through that incredibly long series while slipping in other books when I had something else, and not another Warriors. Anyway, I've been reading series totally broken up in the past few years. Not only that, but I've been reading books by the same author not part of the same series! Shadowmarch here is an example. I'm halfway through Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, and yet I interrupt it with a different story by the same person! Not my favorite thing to do. Good thing I can keep stories straight, or else I'd be a bit confused upon starting To Green Angel Tower Part I. Well, Shadowmarch had to be read, and I am glad. I was excited to see what Williams had done after he'd had some more experience with writing.
In a stony keep, surrounded by ocean, royal twins Briony and Barrick Eddon have somehow found themselves in charge of Southmarch. With those who should have ruled before them imprisoned or dead, the teenagers are pressed onto the throne to oversee the troubles of their lands at a time when the lands have never been more troubled. In the very near north, hidden by enchanted mists, the strange fae Qar are stirring. They are no longer content to hide behind the defenses they constructed the last time they tangled with mortals... The centuries of waiting in their cold, gray world are over. They want their old homeland back from the sunlanders. Yet it seems that the Qar are not the only thing that should be worrying Briony and Barrick. Powerful human forces from the south press in, not to mention betrayal from within.
So that's the beginning and all its wonderfulness. If the beginning is really good, I like to start by talking about it. It gives the review some more structure. But I really cannot ignore what is probably the greatest thing about Shadowmarch: its female characters and their roles. Classic fantasy has an unfortunate history of focusing mainly on what the guys did. Williams, a modern writer of fantasy epics, gives his girls a much bigger role in all his stories. In Tailchaser's Song, there's Firsa Roofshadow. In Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Miriamele, Maegwin, Geloë, and Vorzheva all have prominent roles as ladies with personality. But all of these lovely women (and one cat, Roofshadow) are somewhat overshadowed by the deeds of their main-character males. This problem, which occurs in other classic-style fantasies by other authors, as well, is not a conscious choice so much as a habit, an element of the genre. But it doesn't have to be. Knowing nothing about Williams' decisions about his characters for this series, I can say for sure that there has been a radical shift in characterization and character choice. Williams' books always have multiple main characters, but our main-main character in this series, our hero, is Briony Eddon. I suppose that could be disputed, but I see Briony as the main character, and I have several good reasons for it. She certainly has more of a part than Miriamele of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. (Okay okay my constant comparisons to that series are probably getting annoying; I'll stop now.) Miriamele (I'll stop soon, okay) is indeed pretty cool, but she's also kind of annoying. Her willingness to dress as a boy and her lack of consideration about it is a little unrealistic. Briony, however, has an internal monologue that I wanted to read more than almost any other character's internal monologue. Right from the start, she hates her fancy court dresses. She much prefers wearing her brother's clothes and rages against those who give her funny looks for it (which is just about everyone). She thinks about why she is not accepted the way she wants to present herself and wonders what she might do about that. She looks for female role models and finds that she may have to pave most of the way. Briony is not the only example of an exhilaratingly real and important female character. Yes, Tad Williams, you have managed to write a non-sexist classic-style fantasy. Just step back and admire the beauty of that unusual combination. When he actually took the time to fully develop a girl as the hero of the story, he ended up with character whose head is so realistic and detailed. The character of Briony obviously alludes to early feminists and, to a degree, those who struggle today with their gender presentation. Short-tempered and intelligent, complicated and rational, Briony also makes for the perfect foil for her brother Barrick, who is angry, brooding, secretive, and tormented. Their contrast and relationship fulfills a much-needed story element: conflict that has nothing to do with fairies or armies but is all the confused distress between two fifteen-year-olds that, no matter the setting or contributing factors, is something that you kind of need in a story about two fifteen-year-olds in a difficult situation. On his second big series, Williams' characters have vastly improved.
As usual, the plots and subplots of Shadowmarch are beyond stellar. New information comes to light through expert revealing. The three subplots that I'm most eager to find out more about in the next three books are the family curse, the motive for the murder, and what really happened to Chert when he was down in the deeps. It seems obvious that something more about Vansen's past also awaits me, grinning and rubbing its hands together in excitement. Now you're interested, aren't you?
And while writing about Briony and Barrick, I have neglected all of the other wonderful characters in Shadowmarch. Other main people include Chert, a Funderling who finds a strange boy; Ferras Vansen, a guard captain who grew up near the Shadowline; Qinnitan, a young woman from Xand (which is about as far away from Southmarch as you could get, but the connections are starting to emerge); Yasammez, a Qar warrior woman; and Matty Tinwright, a comically feeble poet with an unusual acquaintance.
If you read my review of The Dragonbone Chair, you may remember the profusion of typos that I battled through in my attempt to enjoy the story. Wonderfully, I encountered no such troubles in Shadowmarch. DAW, I approve.
The only real problem with Shadowmarch was the world-building. As I mentioned previously, Eion feels much like a recycled Osten Ard, a complaint I have heard voiced by others. When you create a land as epic as Osten Ard, though, I can imagine how hard it is to start over with something equally good. Osten Ard takes a lot of its inspiration from existing places and cultures, or ones in the past. Eion is inspired by Osten Ard and some fragments of the real world. Xand is probably the best-developed culture in the whole book. The Qar are just kind of weird and vague. Southmarch is what would happen if you took medieval Greece—glory days over—plunked it in Northern Europe, and gave everywhere super-English names (the surrounding lands have names like Summerfield, Blueshore, Silverside, Helmingsea, Landsend, etc.). The other cultures are just not even things. Their names are mentioned, oh someone's from there, and that's it. No development, no language, no culture, no history.
And, talking of place names, can we just have a look at how truly dreadful some of them are? For example, Hierosol: A country that is often mentioned, slightly described, and horribly named. It sounds like an engine lubricant. Honestly. And how do you even say it? Is that first syllable pronounced like heer, or hyer, or hire? Is that last syllable sawl or sole? Where might one put emphasis? I'm fine with pronunciational ambiguity, but to have it be 100% perplexing, plus an unpleasant word however you say it, is not a happy thing. In passing and on the maps at the front, we are also treated to the likes of Syan, Akaris, Krace, and...wait for it...Sessio. That's a misspelled color; pretty sure I came up with something like that when I had run out of ideas for naming characters; that's sort of a cross between Thrace and Crete; I would be ashamed to live on the island of Sessio. "Where are you from?" "Oh, I'm from...Sessio." Sorry, Tad Williams, this is probably a little unfair. But these place names do beg to be made fun of, and I haven't even brought up Qar. I guess it's supposed to be fae and unpronounceable by human tongues. But honestly. And what about the Xand/Xis/Xixian thing? I am at a loss for words here. I no longer can... Argh. Tad Williams needs to end this fixation with Q's and X's and come up with something better. Did he really write an entire series containing a place called Sessio?
In short, I would recommend Shadowmarch to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy story. Shadowmarch is another brilliant piece of work by Tad Williams, one that's better than the last. As long as you expect to laugh at some place names and struggle to wrap your tongue or indeed any part of your anatomy around others, you'll thoroughly enjoy this book and, I'm sure, the next three.