Ik vond het een heerlijk verhaal. Grimmige nasleep van de oorlog. Mannen die óf wraakzuchtig, óf oorlogsmoe zijn en sommigen zelfs beide gevoelens tegelijkertijd hebben. Hertog Isgrimnur die opgezadeld zit met een Sidhe die niet mee wil vechten tegen de vluchtende Nornen.

Grimmig, bij vlagen vol horror, maar ook hier en daar een vleugje humor. Het tempo vond ik wat hoger liggen dan ik gewend ben van Tad Williams en het verhaal leek ook wat korter. Wat dat betreft was het wel een echt tussenboek. Maar wat was ik blij om weer terug te zijn in Osten Ard. Heerlijk!

Ik vind dat Tad Williams als altijd weer goed de ellende, oneerlijkheid en horror van een oorlog weet te beschrijven. De Nornen krijgen in dit verhaal een wat menselijker gezicht. Je gaat hen beter begrijpen en krijgt zelfs wat sympathie voor hen, al zou je nog steeds niet willen dat ze winnen. Een heerlijk boek, maar ik kan het geen 5 sterren geven geven. Daarvoor is het verhaal te weinig complex en dat vind ik juist altijd zo heerlijk aan Tad's boeken. Het wordt een fijne 4 sterren.

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I was somewhat skeptical hopping into this one because it *appeared* to be a full-length novel masquerading as a bridge between Williams' original fantasy series and a later incarnation in the same world. I mean, it's nearly ten hours in audio and yet it's only a #0.5 in reading order? Yikes. But then, that's Tad Williams for you. His books are HUGE. Small print, mondo page count. Yak-chokers. If a full novel can be considered nothing more than an *appetizer* in comparison, then it is what it is. Welcome to the land of the giants. :)

THAT BEING SAID.

I'm so glad I read it. It's a great refresher after twenty odd years since reading the original brick house. The Norns, the menfolk, the Duke, all the different races of immortals are brought to life for us. It includes the history of the conflict, the smattering of the magics, the fundamental differences in culture, thought, and even their old history, the nature of their making... all of it came back to me. :)

So what else did we get? Oh, just an epic battle between the Duke and the immortals, mixing up our expectations and flipping everything on its head again. Our sympathies are meant to be challenged.

And already we have a grand defeat, an epic loss, a freaking cool setup, and expectations of much evil to come thanks to the fundamental misunderstanding between the races.

Does this sound like most fantasies? Hmmm. Possibly, at least a little, but Tad Williams has one great thing going for him.

Skill. Great writing. Careful attention to detail. Great characters. And EPIC blowouts. He's kinda go-to guy for this kind of thing. Most of us will agree. We've all been blown away at one point or another. And he's BACK. :) :)
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The Memory Sorrow and Thorn trilogy had a richness in tone and atmosphere that was never equalled by the Shadowmarch series, a paler cousin, and I feared Tad Williams would not be able to recapture it. Somehow he's done it. 'Melancholy' has been cited by others as the key ingredient, and that is here again with both the Northmen and the Norns endlessly reflecting on losses and the lost, in a frozen land of ruins.

I've not been to the world of Osten Ard since the 1990s, but I remember the Norns as intimidating and mysterious. Williams strips all of that away by providing their perspective, and I was disappointed at first to find them almost conventional until, as intended, they gradually won my sympathy and more aspects of their culture were shared. I was further satisfied thanks to soldier Porto's viewpoint as he struggles to reassure Endri, demonstrating that the Norns are no less mysterious or frightening to the mortals than they ever were, even though we as readers can now see past the veil. Acts of desperation on one side are suspected as artful ruses or traps by the other, realistically displaying the effects of fear and caution, and finally all my qualms were put to rest. The Norns are still a nasty piece of work.

In a shorter work like this, Williams' primary fault (slow pacing) vanishes. The plot moves quickly, and halfway through I began to realize this story had more to say than I'd expected. The wrap-up is stellar, even if it was designed to be a setup for the next trilogy, and this serves as an excellent standalone. My takeaway is this is 1990s fantasy with a new shine, impeccably told, and maybe Tad Williams' best thing ever. If I continue to lament the typical results of authors returning to beloved fantasy worlds decades later, usually making a hash of it, I'll have to note this exception. Osten Ard is back. ( )

This book sat on my shelves for a couple years after its publication, not due to any disinterest, but because the author had set such a high standard with his previous trilogy Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. So I started reading it with a little trepidation, afraid of ruining my memories of the volumes that preceded it.

And my belief that Tad Williams is a superb author was vindicated.

The Heart of What Was Lost is a short(er) follow-up to his massive masterpiece, and it's worthy: the narrative and characters draw you in from the first page, pull you close, and don't let you go until you find out what happens. There is tragedy, anguish, horrifying deeds, triumphs, yet the descriptions of battles are never more graphic than is necessary to tell the tale.

Fantastic follow-up, Mr. Williams, thank you. ( )

7/10 ( )