To Green Angel Tower | Book Review

I just finished reading the gargantuan novel, To Green Angel Tower, by Tad Williams. I thought about reading this book in parts, given its length. It's apparently up there with War and Peace in its length, and it is neatly divided into four sections—but I was engaged enough that I wanted to just finish the book. The fact that I heavily used the audiobook in conjunction with the ebook helped with that. This book is not only long, but it is the culmination of a trilogy. It finished The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. I have already reviewed the first two entries beforehand, and I will link them below. To briefly recap, I thought The Dragonbone Chair had potential, and it had an amazing climax. Stone of Farewell was not good, save for scatterings of scenes. It was basically the instantiation of middle book syndrome. But because my critique was simply that it didn't need to exist, I was still committed to moving on to the last entry eventually.

Right from the outset, I have to say that I love the title. It isn't The Green Angel Tower, it is To Green Angel Tower. It is not only different, but it implies action, it implies purpose.

But what about the actual story? Let's get to it.

No Spoilers

Plot I

Going off of what I mentioned above, the book is actually very purposeful. Despite its length, I actually had the sense that the characters were going somewhere, even as the story took them all across Osten Ard. And I think this book is almost the perfect reply to Stone of Farewell, in the sense that SoF was a rambling mess that took the characters all over the place, but also seemingly without purpose. TGAT is how you construct the plot of an epic fantasy novel. It is sprawling enough that the characters take you places, but focused enough that you understand well enough what the purpose of all of this is. Part of it has to do with the fact that there are major battles or escalations in action part way through the story. SoF seemed to lack all of this. It lacked even a serious climax at the end.

I know I complained about the lack of a sense of progression, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that SoF was simply not constructed to have any serious climaxes. In my little diagram where I talked about progression from A->H and all the signposts between, those points need to be more than just escalations of action. The characters or at least the story need to know that the story is building to something. The knowledge of the coming action has to be built into the structure of the story itself; it cannot simply come from nowhere, or at random points in the story. A story where characters see an army moving toward them, as they wait in anticipation, is far more compelling than one where characters are traveling vaguely south, and are harried by hellions at various points throughout their journey. The former has focus, even if it is slow, while the latter is lacking focus.

TGAT was broken up into multiple miniature goals and climaxes that the characters were forced to overcome, one after the other—and they all built upon one another to the final climactic moments.

Plot II

I claimed that SoF did not need to exist when I finished that book, so I want to return to that question in this review and ask whether I still agree. And I do. I am not saying that nothing that happened in that book was useful. There are useful events that need to happen, like the turning of the Sithi, and more, but what I am saying is that Williams could have seriously restructured his books to move some of the events in the second entry to the beginning of TGAT. Frankly, I was only more convinced once I got to some sections of TGAT at the very end, when the characters' travels started to pick up and even move at what felt like light speed. It wasn't bad writing. I'm not comparing it to Game of Thrones in season seven. It was probably how I would have written it. But it was how I would have written the whole novel. The contrast to everything before was stark. The armies moved to the Hayholt in a matter of chapters, which was madness, in my eyes.

Building off of this point, the rest of the novel could have been slimmed up to make room for the few necessary events that happened in SoF. Williams showed that he was capable and willing to do what was necessary. All things considered, SoF should not have existed. TGAT should have been split in two, to cover the last two entries.

Characters

Simon

Simon continues to grow and become a capable man over the course of the novel. He is also not the only character the whole story rests upon. This was one of the main things that stood out to me. He is important to the story, but he is one of many important characters.

One of the things that stood out to me were the interactions between him and one of the older knights that showed up in the book. I liked the touch that Williams added: that this knight was worried or wary over the fact that Simon was climbing the social ladder too quickly, that more training was required. The knight wasn't being insulting, he was just being . . . as I said: wary. But such it is in a time of war.

This next part will mildly spoil the end, so skip to the next paragraph, if you want to avoid it. One major thing that I want to talk about that touches upon his character, and also upon other books that follow in the wake of this one, is how Simon actually prepared himself for his position of leadership at the end of the story. To what extent did his trials and tribulations actually prepare him to become a leader who has to make difficult decisions later in life? Given that this story is largely an adventure story, it really wasn't about leadership at all. Josua had to make all the hard decisions and struggle throughout the books. And this is where ASOIAF comes in. I remember Martin making comments about wanting to write stories where characters are forced to learn how to rule. And you definitely see this in the story. From Jon to Dany, you see characters being put into impossible situations, ones similar to what Josua is being put through. When I finished this story, I got the sense that Simon's story had more to it . . . But I guess there is.

Miriamele

Miri's story throughout this entire series has been particularly dark. From SoF on into this, I think we are greeted with a story that might not be grimdark, necessarily, but it provides an edge to the story that contrasts the rest of the elements. The book starts out where the last one left off, with her a prisoner of Aspites, and her situation is only made worse as certain revelations unfold.

Miri I

That said, I thought one revelation about Aspites was a bit heavy-handed. It seemed to be reminiscent of YA novels, where they have to make morally grey or even monstrous characters even more monstrous by adding another element. A specific comparison would be an episode of Star War The Clone Wars, where the perspective is the clone troopers. They, unfortunately, have a Jedi boss who thinks they are dispensable. The set up is fine, but at the end, there is the obligatory revelation that this "jedi" was a sith all along. The story would have been more interesting if the villain had simply been a jedi who thought clones were dispensable; making him a sith made the story too black and white. Something similar happened with Aspites. Thankfully, Williams was nowhere near as heavy-handed as the example I gave, and he might have been able to balance it in the end. All the same, I think this is worth mentioning.

Miri II

We later get a plot with her and Simon that helps lay the groundwork for their future relationship. It is complex, and Aspites looms in the background of all of it. It also raises interesting questions about sex and consent, given what happened between Miri and Aspites at the end of SoF.

Looking back on the scene between Aspites and Miri, I would say that Aspites took advantage of Miri's grief-ridden state so he could take her maidenhead. Additionally, there are repetitions of phrases like: "She struggled." "She cried out softly, unable to resist such implacability." "felt her resistance melting before his strength and sureness." "She gave herself up to him at last." These quotes stripped from their context stand out, and when placed side-by-side it's even more stark. But even the first one is in a context that is at least abstract enough that it does not necessarily imply an outright physical struggle. At the same time we get quotes like: "He whispered soothing things about her beauty." "Each curl of his hair was intricate, textured and individual as a tree." "His words, like caresses, were blind but enflaming." "He would protect her from those who would harm her, he said." These both imply her attraction and his seduction. Obviously, merely being attracted to someone is not consent, but the point is that the scene is abstract enough that it could be rape, or it could be persistent seduction—with the implication of internal struggle on Miri's part.

These two contrasting phrases are interwoven between each other to make a clear interpretation almost impossible. For example: "Each curl of his hair was intricate, textured and individual as a tree. His head seemed a forest, his dark form looming like a distant mountainside. She cried out softly, unable to resist such implacability." In this example, I link two quotes from each section and show them in context. They are underlined. In the second underlined quote, does this imply internal struggle, or resistance to aggression?

The reason I am being so meticulous in my interpretation here is that there are many people who claim that she was sexually assaulted in this scene, where I came away from it on the fence, given how poetic and unclear that Williams was being with his writing. Why compare Aspites to a looming mountainside? Why does she cry out? Melodramatic expression in the face of internal struggle, or because of something else? The whole sequence is written like this, with parts referencing her fear at points, and then switching to describe his beauty. It is obviously deliberate.

I am not bringing this up for no reason. TGAT brings up this sequence again for obvious reasons. Miri mentions in dialogue that she wanted it. In other words, this book seems to take a side. At the same time, it was dialogue, and that dialogue had a context of its own, so that can also be considered. We can say that she was exaggerating at least a little; even if she did "want" it, it was after he doggedly pressured her, which is untoward for Aspites in another way, entirely.

Even then, the reader also has access to her internal thoughts. She never sees the event as a revocation of consent, but as her being deflowered; more importantly, she sees herself as responsible. Unfortunately, this doesn't say that much, either. If Williams understands how the concept of rape has changed over the centuries, he would know that in medieval times, it was tied to property ownership on the part of the father or husband, and only changed to female agency in the last half century or so. He might just be writing for historical accuracy. Miri blames herself and even sees herself as unlovable, and it is in this historical context that it happens.

I could go on a tangent about the recent attempts to acknowledge power differentials in the context of rape, which I am increasingly skeptical of, but I do ultimately think that it is what I said, a tangent. What matters for Williams' messaging is that Miri is situated in a society that punishes her for her sexual indiscretions, whether they are her choosing or not; society does not know, nor does it care. That said, if he was going for a feminist angle, I think it would have hit home harder if Simon had gotten laid with another woman or at least had rumors spread about his "conquests" to the opposite effect, to make the point. As long as it isn't too heavy-handed, of course.

Miri III

There is one last thing I want to mention which is related to the last thing I mentioned. In the very end, it is implied that Miri's reputation might come back to hurt her, but it is quickly dropped, almost out of nowhere. I thought this should have been addressed better.

Other Characters

Maegwin's story was very strange, and it caught me off guard. At the very least, I was not expecting the story that I got. And like Miri's story, it is one of the darker stories in the book. In fact, I am inclined to say it is the darkest. And the reason I consider it strange is because I don't think I entirely understand it. I don't understand the purpose of her arc. I guess I kept expecting her to upgrade to a full fledged real character, but she instead remained in the interstices, neither truly full, nor a background character. At the very least, she shows what war does to people.

Cadrach remains the hard hitter that he was. If you thought you learned a lot about him in the last book, it turns out the groundwork was only being laid. You learn much more about his character in this book, and he is even used as a tool to help build the world in significant ways. His stormy relationship with Miri continues, as you can imagine, and there are a lot of ups and downs. Unfortunately, I cannot get into many of the specifics in the non-spoiler section.

There was one thing that I was hoping would happen with Pryrates' character in the end of the story, or near the end. It had to do with some lore drops that came at the end of SoF, which would have made the character more interesting and perhaps even terrifying. But we get what is predictable. All the same, that is no less satisfying.

Elias, again, was underutilized. Now that I've finished the story, I can understand why he was used the way he was, but I really wish he could have been used in some of the many subplots. In other words, instead of doing what he did throughout SoF, which was stand there and complain about waiting—almost like he was the reader—he could range out from the castle in the meantime. This could lead to clashes between him and Pryrates.

Ending

As Williams demonstrated with TDC, he is immensely capable of delivering satisfying endings to stories—and we only see more of this in TGAT. SoF only failed because it had no real ending, in any serious sense. It was just a bloated series of events that led up to TGAT.

The surprising thing is that the book ends very rapidly. Williams is so caught up in all the story leading up to it, that there isn't all that much build up. I already mentioned that the approach to the Hayholt is very quick, compared to the rest of the novel. Even then, everything seemed to come together all at once. And it's for a very specific, in-world reason, too. There is one plan that everything pivots around, and the actualization of this plan is what makes things happen.

One of the most evident things about the ending, as well, is just how far the enemies got. They pretty much have everything in the bag, and when the time comes, they almost win. That aspect was well earned. And, as usual, what leads to the conclusion and the victory of the heroes makes an important thematic point.

Predictions

The funny thing about predictions is that I think I could have made many within this story, given that it was so large. I feel like I've read multiple stories. Many questions were posed but then answered in the same story. Too bad I just finished it all at once.

As for the previous predictions, you'll have to wait for the spoiler section.

Conclusion

Overall, I would say that this story managed to capture the essence of epic adventure fantasy well, without becoming too rambling, unlike its predecessor. It brought all of the story threads together in ways that were satisfying, and made the whole ride worth it . . . thankfully. I think I will give this an 8/10.

Spoilers

Predictions

Well, I don't think any of my predictions held up. Aside from Simon becoming King . . . but who cares about that? That was obviously going to happen. I didn't really have much faith in my predictions, either, though.

Looking back on my predictions in my review of TDC, I thought that there was more complexity between Josua and his brother's wife. I thought that Josua was being coy about his sexual relationship. Further, I suggested that Miri might actually be his daughter. I went even further. I suggested that they might have nefarious intentions. All of this was wrong.

It turns out that Josua's former love for Miri's mother was barely ever touched upon again. However, he isn't actually the prince. He is the son of Camaris, who was in a similar situation as Josua, and apparently Camaris actually gave in to the desire.

Ironically, I never came up with a theory about the three swords. I just took for granted that they  would do something, but I never tried to understand. I did start to generate my own theories as I was reading TGAT; one was that maybe it was the sea people who were relevant. Yet it never crossed my mind that the three swords might actually be a tool to bring the Storm King back, rather than defeat him. This was a great twist.

Ending

While I did find the ending satisfying, I think I can understand why someone might be a little let down. This is because the Storm King essentially arrives and then is defeated all at once. But there is a logic behind the events. He was still dependent on the means by which he was reentering the world, so he was defeated at precisely the right point. He was at his most vulnerable. But another side of me wonders . . . if this had to be a four book trilogy, as it is often called, then why not remove SoF and have the Storm King have his temporary victory, and then make the heroes recuperate in the last book? This is where Simon would be forced to take up the mantle of a leader, as Josua would actually be dead.

Another interesting twist that had occurred to me during the SoF, near the end of it, was when Amerasu mentioned something about the Sithi gaining their immortality. I thought it would have been cool to explore that angle, and maybe even have Pryrates claim it for himself. Maybe his plan actually does work, but this is because he claims immortality for himself. Perhaps he could steal it, implying that someone, the Storm King, or even the Sithi as a whole, would lose it.

At this point, I am just rewriting the story. It did not need to be four books, and I found the ending to be satisfying, I just wanted to spitball some ideas. And there is another series after this one, as well. Apparently, the Sithi are explored far more deeply. We'll see if or when I'll get to that. Not any time soon.

Conclusion

Overall, I would say that this story managed to capture the essence of epic adventure fantasy well, without becoming too rambling, unlike its predecessor. It brought all of the story threads together in ways that were satisfying, and made the whole ride worth it . . . thankfully. I think I will give this an 8/10.

Video: https://youtu.be/Zev3dd9cyxA

The Dragonbone Chair: https://youtu.be/q75gP4vZgGM

Stone of Farewell: https://youtu.be/YAefVVTyCyw