"Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow & Thorn 2 Stone Of Farewell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Tad)

By the stammering schoolboy said,
Reading some entangled story:

The kings of the old time are dead;

The wandering earth herself may be
Only a sudden flaming word,
In clanging space a moment heard,
Troubling the endless reverie.

ЧWILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

(from The Song of the Happy Shepherd)

I am indebted to Eva Cummmg, Nancy Deming-Wilhams. Paul Hudspeth,
Peter Stampfei, and Doug Werner, who all had a hand in the cultivation of
this book. Their insightful comments and suggestions have taken rootЧin
some instances, putting forth rather surprising blossoms Also, and as
usual, special thanks go to my brave editors, Betsy Wollheim and Sheila
Gilbert, who have labored mightily through both storm and drought.

(By the way, all [he above mentioned arejust the kind of folk I want at
my side if I'm ever ambushed by Norns. This might be construed as a
somewhat dubious honor, but 'tis mine own to bestow.)

NOTE: There is a cast of characters, a glossary of terms, and a guide to
pronunciation at the back of this volume.

Synopsis of
The Dragon6one Chair

For eons the Hayholc belonged to the immortal Sithi, but they had fled
the great castle before the onslaught of Mankind. Men have long ruled this
greatest of strongholds, and the rest of Osten Ard as "well. Presfer John,
High King of all the nations of men, is its most recent master; after an
early life of triumph and glory, he has presided over decades of peace from
his skeletal throne, the Oragonbone Chair.

Simon, an awkward fourteen year old, is one of the Hayholt's scullions.
His parents are dead, his only real family the chamber maids and their
stern mistress, Rachel the Dragon. When Simon can escape his kitchen-work
he steals away to the cluttered chambers of Doctor Morgenes, the castle's
eccentric scholar. When the old man invites Simon to be his apprentice,
the youth is overjoyedЧuntil he discovers that Morgenes prefers teaching
reading and writing to magic.

Soon ancient King John will die, so Elias, the older of his two sons,
prepares to take the throne. Josua, Elias' somber brother, nicknamed
Lackhand because of a disfiguring wound, argues harshly with the king-
to-be about Prymtes, the ill-reputed priest who is one of Elias' closest