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Simon is just a kitchen boy in a large castle. In most fantasy novels, he would grow into a radiant hero and be crowned in triumph. In this fantasy epic, the Dragonbone Throne saga by Tad Williams, he also will become a hero and a king, but he will also stay the boy that stumbles from adventure to adventure, manages them all by wit or luck, but has a hard time coping with all of that.
I absolutely enjoyed these books. It’s a typical fantasy battle of good vs. evil, but then again not. Tad Williams writes his epic in a way that does not stray from what you expect from a fantasy epic, but executes it in a way that builds realistic characters you can absolutely enjoy. There is a distinct good and bad, but at least the lines are a bit blurred, and there is an air of tragedy around most of the characters, no matter if they are good or bad. The story rolls along, jumps to different bands of characters. We always return to Simon of course, as he is the main character, but we see lots of others.

It is a war of brothers. Their father, the king, has died. The heir to the throne has incarcerated his brother and unites with the forces of evil. There is a lot of magic in this book, but it stays mysteriously hidden, noone is throwing Flameballs here. We have the lost hero, the greatest knight of all, return. He is undefeatable in battle and slays his enemies like there is no tomorrow - yet the thing he hates most is fighting, and this is what makes him so relentless. Getting over with what is inevitable.
There are Tolkien elves in this book, but they have another name. Trolls are small and intelligent creatures who live in the mountains, following strange rituals and staying away from humans. Only Binabik and his wolf Qintaqa become trusty companions to Simon after he has to flee from the castle. Finally, he will return to the castle for the final battle, where three magic swords come together in the showdown.
This epic has a good ending. It’s not spectacular, and if you build up to a grand final for almost 2000 pages, it’s almost impossible to pull out an ending that’s sufficiently good. Tolkien managed that, Williams not, but it’s not bad either. There’s a big surprise before the ending, but then everything gets a bit blurry and whene we’re finished, the evil guys are gone.
To everyone who likes fantasy books - read this one if you haven’t. You are sure to be sucked into a realistic and living world of great tragedy and high adventure! And there’s a dragon in there somewhere!