Cover: Michael Whelan.

From the best-selling author of TAILCHASER'S SONG comes the first volume in an epic fantasy trilogy filled with warfare, magic, and wonder.

THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR is the story of Simon, a young kitchen boy and magician's apprentice, whose dreams of great deeds and heroic wars come all too shockingly true when his world is torn apart by a terrifying civil war – a war fueled by ancient hatreds, immortal enemies, and the dark powers of sorcery.

In Osten Ard, a land once ruled by an elvishlike race known as the Sithi, the human High King is dying. And with this death, a long-dormant evil is unleashed on the land as the undead Sithi ruler, the Storm King, seeks to regain his lost realm through a pact with one of human royal blood. Driven by spell-inspired jealousy and fear, prince fights prince, while around them the very land begins to die, poisoned by a sorcerous force sworn to annihilate the humans whose ancestors had driven the Sithi from their rightful home long ages ago.

Only a small, scattered group, the League of the Scroll, recognizes the true danger faced by Osten Ard, only they hold the knowledge of times past, of threats fulfilled, and of a riddle of swords, which holds out the one small hope of salvation. And to Simon – unknowingly apprenticed to a member of this League, and unwittingly touched by magic both good and ill – will go the task for spearheading the search for the solution to this riddle of long-lost swords of power, a quest that will see him fleeing and facing enemies straight out of a legend-maker's worst nightmare!

Published
1988
Where to find this book
External links open a book search at the selected retailer. Availability may vary.
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn

The series

Full series details →

This New York Times-bestselling epic fantasy trilogy, about a young castle servant who saves his kingdom from evil, defined Tad Williams as one of the most important fantasy writers of our time.

Risingshadow

Rating distribution

How reader ratings are distributed across the 1–10 scale.

1021
98
873
714
657
52
417
31
22
10
Risingshadow

What did you think of this book?

Share your experience with other Risingshadow readers.

Risingshadow

Reader reviews

1 review

What Risingshadow readers think about this book

8/10

The Dragonbone Chair is the first book of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn.

Tad Williams has managed to write an entertaining fantasy story, which can be recommended for all fantasy fans. I know that this book isn't perfect and some things are a bit boring, but it's still a good and interesting fantasy book.

By the way, please don't read the translations of this series! They're very bad and annoying.

Risingshadow

Readers Also Enjoyed