the library ladder | Tad Williams Was Late to His Own Revolution | A Spoiler-free Overview of His Fantasy & SF Works @thelibraryladder | Uploaded April 2023 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Early in his writing career, Tad Williams was a trendsetter who helped push the evolution of modern high fantasy beyond the Tolkien template. He set a standard that other writers have striven to match (and few have surpassed) for complex and realistic worldbuilding that incorporates politics, religions, economic systems, and the grime, grit and brutality of life in a medieval world.

He also wrote an early cyberpunk science fiction epic that seems remarkably prescient nearly 30 years later. However, his venture into science fiction sidetracked him for several years, allowing authors Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin to claim the crown as the kings of the fantasy genre in his absence.

In total, Williams has written 26 novels and dozens of short stories over the past 40 years. In this video, I discuss some of what makes his writing distinctive, and I briefly review nearly all of his works.

0:48 Prelude
1:36 Bio
2:38 Hallmarks of his writing
5:28 Common themes
5:54 Subversive goals
9:10 Why he isn't more renowned
14:58 Tailchaser's Song
17:05 Memory, Sorrow & Thorn
22:01 Otherland
26:10 The War of the Flowers
28:09 Shadowmarch
30:24 Ordinary Farm
31:52 Bobby Dollar
35:58 Last King of Osten Ard
39:49 Shorter fiction

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The detailed reviews of Memory, Sorrow & Thorn by Jimmy @thefantasynuttwork that I reference in the video can be found at:

youtube.com/watch?v=LJub4cdQb-Y&t=941s (Review of Book 1, The Dragonbone Chair)
youtube.com/watch?v=4kEt6ttr6cw (Review of the complete trilogy)

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Artwork Credits:
DC Comics
DALL-E
Donato Giancola
Gellihana
Hieronymous Bosch
Kerem Beyit
Matt Rhodes
Michael Whelan
Naligal
Wayne Barlowe

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