Rite
Though best known for his epic series, Tad Williams is also an accomplished practitioner of the short form. Rite: Short Work gives ample evidence of this, as it contains a knockout novella later expanded to novel-length (”Child of an Ancient City”), riffs on the great fantasist Michael Moorcock (”The Author at the End of Time,” “Go Ask Elric”), along with excursions into some of his most popular creations and beyond.
At over 125,000 words, Rite is essential for every Tad Williams fan and fantasy aficianado. Each tale features a full-page black-and-while illustration by Mark A. Nelson.
- Why I Write What I Write (an essay)
- Monsieur Vergalant's Canard
- Follows-the-Wind: A Tale from the Book of Regret
- Not With a Whimper, Either
- Child of an Ancient City
- Nonstop
- Fish Between Friends
- Z Is For...
- Some Thoughts Re: Dark Destructor
- The Scent of Trumpets, the Voices of Smoke
- The Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of
- The Author at the End of Time
- Go Ask Elric
- The Writer's Child
- Three Duets for Virgin and Nosehorn
- The Happiest Dead Boy in the World
- Rite
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Tad Williams
Tad Williams never set out to create entire worlds from scratch—yet, in many ways, that's exactly what he's done. Known for his lush, expansive fantasy novels, Williams has an uncanny ability to make the fantastical feel deeply human. His work taps into the timeless themes of adventure, destiny, and the complexity of the human spirit, all while layering in rich, immersive worlds that are as fully realized as the characters who inhabit them.
Born in San Jose, California, Williams’ journey into writing was not a straight line. He began his career as a writer of short stories and a member of the underground comics scene before discovering his passion for epic fantasy. It was the immense, world-spanning narrative of The Dragonbone Chair, the first book in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, that catapulted him into the literary spotlight. His ability to balance sweeping, epic landscapes with intimate character studies made him a standout in the genre and drew comparisons to other masters of fantasy, while allowing him to carve out a voice uniquely his own.
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Reviews and Comments
Tad's first collection of short and non-fiction is not just a collection, but also a career retrospective. RITE includes material from a twenty-year career and is certainly a must-buy for any Tad Williams fan. The stories collected here can show a broader range of topics, styles, moods and themes than his long and complex novels, because Tad could experiment more within the confines of a small story, but some of Tad's classic themes are still there. In some stories Tad also pays hommage to writers that influenced him (Peter S.Beagle and Michael Moorcock most notably). Tad introduces each story and explains its origins. The intro "Why I Write What I Write" explores what drives Tad to write.