In Collection
#201
Rating:
10
Read It:
Yes
#201
Rating:
10
Read It:
Yes
Between Present Day & Fantasy Worlds, Fairies - Fiction, Fantasy, Imaginary wars and battles - Fiction, Magic - Fiction, Strange Creatures, Traveling around Fantasyland, Worlds in Crisis
Returning to the fantasy genre that made him a coast-to-coast best-selling phenomenon, Tad Williams has written a new stand-alone contemporary novel set in Northern California-and also in the strange parallel world that coexists in the farthest reaches of the imagination. Theo Vilmos is a thirty-year-old lead singer in a not terribly successful rock band. Once, he had enormous, almost magical, charisma both onstage and off-but now, life has taken its toll on Theo. Hitting an all-time low, he seeks refuge in a islolated cabin in the woods-and reads an odd memoir written by a dead relative who believed he had visited the magical world of Faerie. And before Theo can disregard the account as the writings of a madman, he, too, is drawn to a place beyond his wildest dreams...a place filled with be, and has always been, his destiny.
| Cover Artist | Michael Whelan |
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Notes
The Barnes & Noble Review
In this single-volume fantasy, Tad Williams takes a struggling 30-year-old musician named Theo Vilmos and throws him into a magical realm on the verge of war.
Theo's life is not turning out the way he had planned: His girlfriend recently had a miscarriage while he was out late, practicing with his dead-end garage band, when he should've been home with her. After she loses the baby, she promptly breaks up with him and kicks him out of the house. Hoping to get his life back on track, he moves in with his estranged mother, only to find her dying of cancer. Her death and funeral are a blur for Theo, who now has no family, no friends, and no plans for the future. While going through his mother's belongings as he prepares to sell the house, Theo finds a manuscript written by his great-uncle, a diary of sorts that describes a visit to the realm of the Fey and life in an industrial city ruled by powerful, immortal families.
Before Theo knows it, a fairy saves his life from a demon sent to kill him, and he is transported to the world his great-uncle wrote about. But he quickly realizes he is not who -- or what -- he thought he was….
While the subject of changelings has been explored numerous times, Williams keeps the theme fresh by incorporating his trademarks of wonderfully complex plot twists, masterful character development, and expeditious pacing. Highly recommended. Paul Goat Allen
In this single-volume fantasy, Tad Williams takes a struggling 30-year-old musician named Theo Vilmos and throws him into a magical realm on the verge of war.
Theo's life is not turning out the way he had planned: His girlfriend recently had a miscarriage while he was out late, practicing with his dead-end garage band, when he should've been home with her. After she loses the baby, she promptly breaks up with him and kicks him out of the house. Hoping to get his life back on track, he moves in with his estranged mother, only to find her dying of cancer. Her death and funeral are a blur for Theo, who now has no family, no friends, and no plans for the future. While going through his mother's belongings as he prepares to sell the house, Theo finds a manuscript written by his great-uncle, a diary of sorts that describes a visit to the realm of the Fey and life in an industrial city ruled by powerful, immortal families.
Before Theo knows it, a fairy saves his life from a demon sent to kill him, and he is transported to the world his great-uncle wrote about. But he quickly realizes he is not who -- or what -- he thought he was….
While the subject of changelings has been explored numerous times, Williams keeps the theme fresh by incorporating his trademarks of wonderfully complex plot twists, masterful character development, and expeditious pacing. Highly recommended. Paul Goat Allen