The Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams

The Stone of Farewell is part two of the trilogy Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. The book is set in the land of Osten Ard, where the old reigning king has died. The king's two sons, Josua and Elias, have been quarreling for some time. Elias is the son who is to take the throne, and Elias has taken on a devilish adviser by the name of Pryrates. Disturbed by the melancholy Pryrates, Josua begs his brother not to take heed of any of the evil adviser's words. Something in Elias snaps, and Elias declares war on his brother as a traitor. The war affects many people, including a kitchen boy named Simon, fated to do great things, Simon's mentor, professor Morgenes, and a great many dukes and counts. Well-loved by the people, Prince Jousua finds a good deal of support, including many strong knights; however, Elias and his advisor enlist things far greater than any human in their army. The king has called upon ancients of the land, the Norns, rumored to be immortal. Immortal or not, the Norns are by far superior fighters to any human. In the meantime, Simon stumbles upon a secret chamber of Pryrates and the adviser tries to kill him. Simon escapes Elias' court but at the cost of his teacher's life. Angry and confused, the Simon sets out to find shelter and later stumbles upon a stranger caught in a bear trap. After freeing the young man from the trap, Simon notices things about the stranger that do not seem quite human. The stranger quickly disappears, and Simon continues on. Eventually, Simon reaches Josua's keep. Here, he is told of a secret society of scholars who believe that Elias has enlisted help from the storm king, Ineluki, who has been dead for five centuries. The only hope to defeat Ineluki is to bring together three legendary swords, Minneyar, Sorrow, and Thorn. Simon is sent to find Thorn and bring it back to Josua. On the journey there, Simon meets the stranger Simon had saved earlier. The stranger introduces himself as Jiriki, prince of the Sitha, a people related to the Norn who were long thought to be gone. Amazed at the changing world, Simon recounts his story to Jiriki, who knows only too well the awesome power of the storm king, who was once a prince of the Sitha himself. Jiriki decides to join Simon in the quest for Thorn. The game board is set, and the battle for the fate of Osten Ard begins.

In the second book of the trilogy, Simon has found one of the three swords, a blade called Thorn. Now, Simon was determined to bring it to Josua, who was the last standing hope against Elias and Ineluki. During the invasion, Simon and Josua had met briefly, and determined to meet again. Simon is sure that Josua has headed towards the Stone of Farewell, the mountain at which the Sitha and Norns had separated eons ago. This sacred site was one of the few places where safety from the Norns could be found, as the Norns were unable to set foot upon it again. With a crew of new friends at Simon's side, the kitchen boy heads towards the rendezvous. Simon encounters many adventures and problems on his way, and he is disturbed by many visions in his dreams: visions that tell of times when Ineluki was a loving prince, visions of his long lost companions who gave their lives to bring Thorn to Josua, and visions of the Lord's son Usires, the old name for Jesus. In the end of the book, Simon has almost reached his destination, where Josua awaits.

As a pragmatic person, I do not enjoy this book very much. I find it hard to swallow the level of fantasy that is in the book. The book is extremely detailed, complex, and is written with great care and great depth. A simple person, I do not enjoy anything made complicated, and although I realize that a great deal of effort was put into making an epic story line for the book, I can not get into complicated stories. Additionally, while reading the book, I found that many of the themes were in conflict with my own values. I may be a bit of a realist, but if I am going to read a fantasy, let it be like Don Quixote, with fantastic ideals and a pious, upright hero. The Stone of Farewell is a fiction that pretends to be real by reflecting the sinful natures of the heroes. The main character, Simon, is driven by greed and a desire for revenge on those who killed his mentor and only helps others while he is helping himself. Why would I want to read a book that takes me to a faraway land where everyone is evil and everything is going wrong? I can just stay home.

While I personally do not find this book interesting, people who enjoy reading fantasies should find this trilogy very exciting. For those who love Harry Potter, reading this book is a must. Unlike many fiction books, the mythology of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is carefully thought out, and the back of the book contains an appendix that includes all characters, important objects, beasts, and the various languages spoken by the characters. There are so many different events and morals to the story that one might have to read it twice just to understand everything that happened. I must also admit that not all of the morals are bad, so there is some substance gained from reading the book. Whether or no one likes this book comes down to what kind of a person they are. In any case, this is high quality fantasy epic, so I advise anyone who has enough time and likes fantasy to read this book.