A review by awry_diamond
City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams
4.0
I originally ready this series in 2006 and enjoyed it immensely. It’s incredibly engaging and original, and it has wonderful 3-dimensional characters set in a world that is both fantastic and utterly believable.
And yet, the first time I read this first instalment, I nearly didn’t continue! It is a very long book, and Tad Williams spends so much time setting the scene for the rest of this series that it can feel like a bit much. I enjoyed it at the time but also wondered if it was worth continuing with such a time investment. Thankfully a good friend encouraged me to stick with it and I am so glad I did.
City of Golden Shadow is a great introduction to an incredibly complex world, and I promise the world building is worth it! The action really amps up in the following novels and the whole series benefits from the pain-staking efforts Williams puts into this initial introduction. If this book was a ‘like-but-not-love’ for you, then I urge you to give book 2 a shot and see what you think.
A few comments on the audiobook (narrated by George Newbern):
I’m still getting into audiobooks and as a result I’m a little picky about them! The last one I listened to was Timiat’s Wrath, and Jefferson Mays performance was just SO flawless, I think it may have spoiled me a little!
Newbern does a commendable job with what must be an incredibly difficult body of work to bring to life. The characters hail from many different parts of the world and many walks of life and some accents were always bound to be better than others. I suppose I can’t really hold this against him; however I did feel that certain voices, especially the women, did get a little same-y. That said I also felt that he became better at differentiating some characters as the story went on. Newbern’s overall style isn’t my favourite, but it did grow on me enough to stick with it, especially since I adore these books.
And yet, the first time I read this first instalment, I nearly didn’t continue! It is a very long book, and Tad Williams spends so much time setting the scene for the rest of this series that it can feel like a bit much. I enjoyed it at the time but also wondered if it was worth continuing with such a time investment. Thankfully a good friend encouraged me to stick with it and I am so glad I did.
City of Golden Shadow is a great introduction to an incredibly complex world, and I promise the world building is worth it! The action really amps up in the following novels and the whole series benefits from the pain-staking efforts Williams puts into this initial introduction. If this book was a ‘like-but-not-love’ for you, then I urge you to give book 2 a shot and see what you think.
A few comments on the audiobook (narrated by George Newbern):
I’m still getting into audiobooks and as a result I’m a little picky about them! The last one I listened to was Timiat’s Wrath, and Jefferson Mays performance was just SO flawless, I think it may have spoiled me a little!
Newbern does a commendable job with what must be an incredibly difficult body of work to bring to life. The characters hail from many different parts of the world and many walks of life and some accents were always bound to be better than others. I suppose I can’t really hold this against him; however I did feel that certain voices, especially the women, did get a little same-y. That said I also felt that he became better at differentiating some characters as the story went on. Newbern’s overall style isn’t my favourite, but it did grow on me enough to stick with it, especially since I adore these books.