Editors Reads Verdict
Williams sustains and deepens what the first book established — the middle volume benefits from the freed momentum of no longer having to set up the world, and the multiple narrative threads achieve genuine complexity.
What We Loved
- The freed momentum of the second volume allows Williams to develop multiple storylines simultaneously
- The Sithi sections are the series' most original contribution — Williams's ancient non-human civilization is genuinely alien
- Simon's development as a character continues along a convincingly gradual arc
Minor Drawbacks
- The multiple plotlines don't converge until the third volume, which can make the middle feel diffuse
- Some secondary characters receive more attention than their narrative importance justifies
Key Takeaways
- → Ancient civilizations decline not because they lose their power but because they lose their reason to exercise it
- → The relationship between a powerful civilization and its successors is always shaped by what the successors misremember or misunderstand about the past
- → Growing up requires not just acquiring new capabilities but losing the comfort of not having them
| Author | Tad Williams |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DAW Books |
| Pages | 587 |
| Published | January 1, 1990 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy, Epic Fantasy |
Stone of Farewell Review
Stone of Farewell is the second volume of Tad Williams’s Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, and it benefits from the structural freedom that middle volumes have when the world has been established: Williams can move his multiple narrative threads forward without the burden of exposition, and the result is a volume with more momentum and more complexity than its predecessor.
The storylines have fragmented: Simon is traveling with a small group through the wilderness, slowly becoming something more than the kitchen boy he was; Josua, the legitimate prince, is gathering the remnants of the resistance at the ruins of Sesuad’ra; Miriamele is navigating court politics in the south; and the Sithi — the ancient, semi-divine beings who preceded humans in Osten Ard — are making their slow, ambivalent decisions about involvement in human affairs.
The Sithi sections are the series’ most original contribution and the element that has aged best. Williams was thinking about what a genuinely ancient, genuinely non-human civilization would be like — how it would perceive time differently, what human actions would and would not seem significant to beings who have lived for millennia, what their architecture and culture would be like if they had not changed significantly in thousands of years. The answers he arrives at are genuinely alien rather than merely exotic, and they do the work that the best fantasy world-building should do: they make the world feel larger than the story.
Simon’s growth continues at the pace Williams established in the first book — gradual, uneven, authentic. The boy who could barely boil water in The Dragonbone Chair is becoming something, but not easily or quickly. Stone of Farewell is a bridge book in the best sense: it arrives somewhere worth reaching while making clear that the destination is still ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Stone of Farewell" about?
The second volume of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn expands the world of Osten Ard while multiple groups pursue their separate quests toward the gathering storm. Simon is growing up; the Storm King's power is growing; and the three swords of the title prophecy become clearer in their significance.
What are the key takeaways from "Stone of Farewell"?
Ancient civilizations decline not because they lose their power but because they lose their reason to exercise it The relationship between a powerful civilization and its successors is always shaped by what the successors misremember or misunderstand about the past Growing up requires not just acquiring new capabilities but losing the comfort of not having them
Is "Stone of Farewell" worth reading?
Williams sustains and deepens what the first book established — the middle volume benefits from the freed momentum of no longer having to set up the world, and the multiple narrative threads achieve genuine complexity.
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