Reviews

La Roca del Adiós by Concha Cardeño, Tad Williams, Herminia Dauder

altorey's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

thedashdude's review against another edition

5.0

An excellent middle book, with just enough of an ending to make it satisfying. The scope is larger than the first book, and it escalates the conflict appropriately. Most of the threads are not resolved, but they all lead to To Green Angel Tower.

lasagnayo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

raila_h's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

writer6's review against another edition

5.0

This is definitely my favorite out of the four Tad Williams books that I've read so far! Stone of Farewell is pure awesomeness! :)

My Goodreads Rating/Score: 5 out of 5 Stars / 10 out of 10 on my own scoring system.

scottrick's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

_thunderhead_'s review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

paracyclops's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful relaxing tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This second part of Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series felt very consistent with the first, in terms of style and the continuation of the narrative. So far, so exemplary, as an essay in the techniques of epic fantasy writing. The structure of The Stone of farewell is carefully managed, with multiple threads woven together to produce a single, continually apprehensible narrative, and strong differentiation of both characters, and geographic or cultural regions. The worldbuilding is clearly inspired by Tolkien, in terms of both its layering of historical and mythological stories, and its repurposing of primary-world linguistics. Williams's imaginary languages are clearly based on Northern European models, apart from those of the 'Sithi' (his elves), whose phonology sounds as though it is intended to emulate some indigenous American languages. He gives each of his cultures' proper nouns a consistent music, that helps the reader to orientate themselves in his world—many fantasy writers seem to fail completely at this task, so I appreciated the care that was taken over it here.

Williams's 'Sithi' are very much more alien than Tolkien's elves, and more overtly 'magical', but they are also somehow less mysterious, which I think is emblematic of the work as a whole. There is a certain clarity and simplicity to cause and effect, a certain sense of completeness in the characters' knowledge (taken as a whole), that conspire to make this world feel more prosaic than it might (although it avoids the kind of pseudo-technological instrumentalism that mars so many fantasy worlds with overt 'magic systems'). The writing, however, is very engaging, and the characters are varied, and often likeable. Unlike Tolkien, Williams is a professional novelist, possessed of the technical skills to keep things texturally varied through the long journeys that most of the narrative threads are filled with. I have to say though, although I was never exactly bored, I often found myself wondering why Williams had spent so long saying 'Character X travelled from Point A to Point B'. I do love long books, but I like them to be as crammed with incident, thematic content and ideas as short books are. This one could have been cut by a third or more without losing anything, for me. Overall, however, it's a very enjoyable read, with narrative tension and forward momentum managed expertly to keep the reader hungering for the next page, the next chapter, and the next book. 

petitemass15's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bia_reicht's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0