Tad Williams

Tad Williams (2019)

Robert Paul "Tad" Williams (born March 14, 1957 in San José , California ) is an American author . He writes in the genres of science fiction and fantasy . His most successful works include Die Saga von Osten Ard (English 3 volumes, German 4 volumes) and Otherland (4 volumes).

Life

Childhood and youth

Tad Williams was born as Robert Paul Williams in 1957 in San José . He grew up in Palo Alto, 20 kilometers to the north . According to his own statements, Williams decided not to start studying after school because he wanted to take care of himself early on. Instead, he did a variety of odd jobs, such as construction work or debt collection. In his spare time he played in a little rock band called Idiot. Williams hosted a talk show and worked as an actor.

Works

East ard

The Secret of the Great Swords ( Memory, Sorrow and Thorn ) tells a fantastic story from a fictional world called Osten Ard . The original edition consists of three volumes, but the third volume was split into two parts due to its size of 1650 pages (last hardcover edition published by Klett-Cotta 2010, paperback by Fischer). The great role model The Lord of the Rings can be clearly seen in the work. Williams designs several different storylines that he brings together in the final phase. Furthermore, with “The Burning Man” there is a supplementary short story that is located far before the rest of the novel. The saga includes:

• Volume 1: The Dragon Leg Throne. Translated by Verena C. Harksen , revised. by Andy Hahnemann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2010 (Orig .: The Dragonbone Chair , 1988; German first edition 1988). ISBN 978-3-608-93866-1 .
• Volume 2: The Farewell Stone. Translated by Verena C. Harksen, revised. by Andy Hahnemann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2010 (Orig .: The Stone of Farewell , 1990; German first edition 1993). ISBN 978-3-608-93867-8 .
• Volume 3: The Queen of Norns. Translated by Verena C. Harksen, revised. by Andy Hahnemann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2010 (Orig .: To Green Angel Tower , Part 1, 1993; German first edition 1996). ISBN 978-3-608-93868-5 .
• Volume 4: The Angel Storm. Translated by Verena C. Harksen, revised. by Andy Hahnemann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2011 (Orig .: To Green Angel Tower , Part 2, 1993; German first edition 1996). ISBN 978-3-608-93869-2 .
• Novella: The Burning Man. Translated by Joachim Körber . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2004 (Orig .: The Burning Man , published in Legends, New Short Novels , 1998). ISBN 978-3-608-93696-4 .

A second series entitled The Last King of East Ard ( The Last King of East Ard ), thirty years after the beginning of the first act, continues the story in Osten Ard. The Heart of Lost Things serves as an introductory and transition book from the first to the second series.

• Roman: The Heart of Lost Things. Translated by Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2017 (Orig .: The Heart of What was Lost , 2017; German first edition 2017). ISBN 978-3-608-96144-7 .
• Volume 1 (Orig .: The Witchwood Crown: Book One of The Last King of Osten Ard. 2017; German first edition 2017; German divided into two volumes):
  • Die Hexenholzkrone 1 / The Last King of the East Ard Volume 1. Transl. By Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-608-94953-7 .
  • Die Hexenholzkrone 2 / The Last King of the East Ard Volume 1. Transl. By Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-608-96196-6 .
• Volume 2: (Orig .: Empire of Grass: Book Two of The Last King of Osten Ard . 2019; German divided into two volumes):
  • Das Reich der Grasländer 1 / Der last König von Osten Ard Volume 2. Transl. By Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann and Wolfram Ströle. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2020, ISBN 978-3-608-94954-4 .
  • Das Reich der Grasländer 2 / Der last König von Osten Ard Volume 2. Transl. By Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann and Wolfram Ströle. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2020, ISBN 978-3-608-94978-0 .

Otherland

Otherland is a science fiction dystopia in four novels, whereby the books are not self-contained. The series was published in German by Klett-Cotta Verlag as a hardback book and by Heyne Verlag as a paperback (last part in August 2007). There is also a short story as an epilogue, "The happiest dead boy in the world", which has been published in a short story anthology called "Legends" and individually as a radio play:

• Volume 1: City of Golden Shadows . Translated by Hans-Ulrich Möhring . Heyne, Munich 2005 (Orig .: City of Golden Shadow , 1996; German first edition 1998). ISBN 978-3-453-53075-1 .
• Volume 2: River of Blue Fire. Translated by Hans-Ulrich Möhring. Heyne, Munich 2006 (Orig .: River of Blue Fire , 1998; German first edition 1999). ISBN 978-3-453-53216-8 .
• Volume 3: Mountain of Black Glass. Translated by Hans-Ulrich Möhring. Heyne, Munich 2007 (Orig .: Mountain of Black Glass , 1999; German first edition 2000). ISBN 978-3-453-53217-5 .
• Volume 4: Sea of ​​Silver Light. Translated by Hans-Ulrich Möhring. Heyne, Munich 2007 (Orig .: Sea of ​​Silver Light , 2001; German first edition 2002). ISBN 978-3-453-53218-2 .

• Novella: The happiest dead boy in the world , published in legends. The Secret of Otherland and Other Adventures (2009). Munich: Piper (Orig .: The Happiest Dead Boy in the World , published in Legends II, New Short Novels , 2003). ISBN 978-3-492-26705-2

Shadowmarch

The fantasy tetralogy Shadowmarch describes an archaic, evil world that is populated by various bizarre individuals. The first volume, Shadowmarch, is the revised version of a novel from an earlier online project, expanded with new material .

• Volume 1: Shadowmarch. The limit: Translated by Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2005 (Orig .: Shadowmarch , 2004). ISBN 978-3-608-93717-6 .
• Volume 2: Shadowmarch. The game: Translated by Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2007 (Orig .: Shadowplay , 2007). ISBN 978-3-608-93718-3 .
• Volume 3: Shadowmarch. Twilight: Translated by Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2010 (Orig .: Shadowrise , 2010). ISBN 978-3-608-93719-0 .
• Volume 4: Shadowmarch. The heart: Translated by Cornelia Holfelder-von der Tann. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2011 (Orig .: Shadowheart , 2010). ISBN 978-3-608-93720-6 .

The tinker farm

A fantasy series for all ages written by Tad Williams with his wife, Deborah Beale. In total, the series should comprise five volumes. According to Tad Williams at an author reading in Munich in October 2017, his wife is actively working on the draft for the third volume.

• The Dragons of the Tinker Farm , September 2009, ISBN 978-3-608-93821-0 , ( The Dragons of Ordinary Farm , 2009).
• The secrets of Tinker Farm , September 2011, ISBN 978-3-608-93822-7 , ( The Secrets of the Ordinary Farm , 2011).

Bobby Dollar

A three-part urban fantasy series about Bobby Dollar, an angel lawyer who gets caught between the fronts of heaven and hell.

• The Dark Alleys of Heaven, 2013, ISBN 978-3-608-93834-0 ( The Dirty Streets of Heaven , USA 2012).
• Happy Hour in Hell, 2014, ISBN 978-3-608-93833-3 ( Happy Hour in Hell , USA September 2013).
• Late on Judgment Day, 2015, ISBN 978-3-608-93835-7 ( Sleeping Late on Judgment Day , USA 2014).

more books

• Dream hunter and gold paw, ISBN 3-596-28349-3 ( Tailchaser's Song , 1985), animal fantasy.
• The Magician's Island, ISBN 3-608-93557-6 ( Caliban's Hour , 1994), a sequel to Shakespeare's The Tempest .
• The Voice of Darkness, German by Peter Torberg , Klett-Cotta, 2001, ISBN 3-608-93203-8 ( Child of an Ancient City , 1992), written together with the writer Nina Kiriki Hoffman , is based on the short story of the same name by Tad Williams.
• Der Blumenkrieg, 2004, ISBN 3-608-93356-5 ( The War of the Flowers , 2003).
• Rite: Short Work , 2007, ISBN 978-1-59606-066-1 (so far only in English, contains Williams' collected short prose except for the Osten Ard story The Burning Man , as well as various non-fiction stories in the HC edition Plays and some scripts).
• A Stark and Wormy Knight , 2012, ISBN 978-1-59606-461-4 (so far only in English, collection of short stories, no overlap with Rite )
• Diary of a Dragon , 2013, ISBN 978-1-59606-558-1 (previously only in English).

Audio books and radio plays

• The Secret of the Great Swords -1- The Dragon's Leg Throne, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-86717-973-7 .
• The Secret of the Great Swords -2- The Farewell Stone, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-86717-978-2 .
• The secret of the great swords -3- The Queen of the Norn, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-86717-979-9 .
• The secret of the great swords -4- Der Engelsturm, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-86717-980-5 .
• Otherland. City of golden shadows, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-89940-116-5 .
• Otherland. River of blue fire, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-89940-535-4 .
• Otherland. Mountain of black glass, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-89940-115-8 .
• Otherland. Sea of ​​silver light, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-89940-117-2 .
• Otherland. The happiest dead boy in the world, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-86717-056-7 .
• The burning man, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-89940-706-8 .
• The dragons of the Tinkerfarm, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-86717-510-4 .
• The secrets of the Tinkerfarm, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 3-608-93822-2 .
• The dark alleys of heaven: Bobby Dollar 1, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-8445-1177-2 .
• Happy Hour in Hell: Bobby Dollar 2, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-8445-1260-1 .
• Late on Judgment Day: Bobby Dollar 3, Der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3-8445-1261-8 .

Reviews

• Buchwurm.info : The war of flowers • The burning man • The island of the magician • The voice of darkness
• Janetts opinion : Dream hunters and gold paw • The Best of Tad Williams • The dragon of Tinker Farm • The secrets of Tinker Farm • The dark streets of heaven • Happy Hour in Hell • off late on the last day • The boundary • The game • Twilight • The heart • The heart of lost things • The witch's wooden crown, part 1 • The witch's wooden crown, part 2
• Literaturschock.de : The War of Flowers • The Burning Man
• Literaturzeitschrift.de: Shadow March Volume 1 - The Limit • Shadow March Volume 2 - The Game

For more reviews see: The Secret of the Great Swords and Otherland

Web links

• Literature by and about Tad Williams in the catalog of the German National Library
• Tad Williams in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (English)
• Works by and about Tad Williams at Open Library
• Tad Williams in the Science Fiction Awards + Database (English)
• tadwilliams.de - German-language homepage from Klett-Cotta Verlag
• tadwilliams.com - Official website (English)
• Interview with Tad Williams on literatopia.de (July 26, 2008)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ tadwilliams.com