The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams

Synopsis:
After the death of the beloved king, a land falls into chaos and war, and one young boy finds that his destiny is inextricably linked with that of his people.

Review:
The Dragonbone Chair is the first in an epic fantasy trilogy that borrows from Arthurian legend and the myth of Prester John, among others, in a vaguely medieval world where dragons are not yet a memory. I found book one to be a very slow start to a series that got rave after rave on Amazon.com, or maybe I’m just spoiled by Robin Hobb. I had trouble keeping all the warring factions straight, and never really emotionally invested in the story. There was a lack of sophistication in the character development that irked me. However, towards the end I began to believe that Williams has a mythology in mind that will be exciting to discover.

I considered putting it down, but something about it did keep me turning pages, and I am going to keep on in the series, though not right away. It felt like it took forever to finish (and I guess it kind of did, considering I haven’t blogged in days because I haven’t finished any books). Superslowreader, this week!

In other reading related news, I signed up for a site called Good Reads, where I’m tracking my current reads and to be read pile. I’m only using Librarything for my permanent collection, and in many cases I wait until I’ve read a book to deem it library worthy. Good Reads has promised more widgets in a few weeks so keep an eye on my sidebar.

And, yes, I broke down and pre-ordered Harry Potter. I feel like I miss him already…

Maybe in the future, when I’m in the midst of an extra-long read, I’ll break my “one blog post per book” rule just so you all don’t miss me that much. Or maybe that will make you all doubt my superpower. Any opinions?