Williams, Tad(1957– )
The success of WATERSHIP DOWN (1972), by
Richard Adams, demonstrated that it was entirely
possible to write a fantasy novel with no human
characters and have it become a best-seller. Various
domestic and wild animals were soon featured in
similarly constructed novels, even moles, with vary-
ing degrees of success and not a few dismal failures.
One of the few clear winners was Tailchaser’s Song
(1985), which introduced Tad Williams to fantasy
readers, an epic fantasy involving cats. Despite its
popularity, however, Williams abandoned the animal
fantasy promptly, and his next novel was The Drag-
onbone Chair(1988), the first volume in a more
mainstream trilogy continued in The Stone of
Farewell(1990) and concluded in To Green Angel
Tower(1993), the last of which was so long that it
was published in two volumes, subtitled Siegeand
Storm.The trilogy is an epic fantasy clearly imitative
of the Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. TOLKIENbut
with a much more complex understanding of the
complexities of war and politics. The characters are
neither entirely good nor entirely bad, and the issues
are not a clear-cut battle between good and evil.
Williams’s next major project was the Other-
land series, which started with City of Golden
Shadow(1996) and concluded with Sea of Silver
Light(2001). A group of travelers wanders through
a series of universes, each with its own set of natu-
ral laws, sometimes pursued by their enemies and
sometimes simply trying to find the way back to
their original reality. Although less integrated as a
single story, the series is filled with fascinating cre-
ations and imaginative settings. The War of the
Flowers(2002), although not related to the Other-
land books, similarly describes its protagonist’s
journey into other worlds. Shadowmarch(2004)
launched a new epic fantasy sequence, the shape
of which can only be guessed at at this point, al-
though once again Williams has built an immense,
detailed, and realistic imagined world for his char-
acters to play in.
The very atypical Caliban’s Hour(1994) is a
much shorter work and stands alone, a retelling of
Shakespeare’s The Tempestproviding fresh perspec-
tive on the characters. He also collaborated with
Nina Kiriki HOFFMANon Child of an Ancient City
(1992), a very unusual story of an encounter with
a vampire in an Arabian Nights–style setting. Al-
though not a prolific short story writer, Williams
has proved his ability at that length as well with
stories such as “The Burning Man” (1998), “Not
with a Whimper Either” (2002), and “The Happi-
est Dead Boy in the World” (2004), but he appears
more comfortable when he has the luxury of an
entire novel or series of novels in which to develop
his plot and characters.Williamson, Chet(1948– )
The decline of the horror fiction market in the
1990s changed or ended the careers of many writ-
ers, some deservedly so. Chet Williamson, who
began writing in the 1980s, had easily established
himself as one of the most interesting new writers
in the genre, but he has appeared only sporadically
since the early 1990s. After debuting with a hand-
ful of short stories, Williamson produced his first
novel, Soulstorm(1986), whose premise sounds like
an elderly retread. A group of diverse individuals
are offered a bounty to spend a night in a haunted
house, where they encounter a variety of ghosts
before discovering the true purpose of their visit.
Just when the reader thinks the plot has settled
down, Williamson adds a new twist to keep the
tension level high.
His second novel, Ash Wednesday(1987), is
also a ghost story, but a very unconventional one.
In the small town of Merrivale, the ghosts of every-
one who has died there appear one night, locked in
their final moments of life. The inhabitants re-
spond in various ways, some having their own lives
transformed by the experience and others reacting
badly. Despite the presence of ghosts, this is more
fantasy than horror, for the apparitions pose no
threat to the characters. They are in danger only
because of their own personal flaws in this
thoughtful and insightful novel. Lowland Rider
(1988) is somewhat more explicit and suspenseful
but no less original. When his family is murdered
the protagonist explores the world of the homeless
and the criminal in a major city, seeking answers
and discovering the presence of a supernatural
force within the city, but one with a surprising na-
ture. There had been hints of theological specula-
tion in Williamson’s earlier work, but in this caseWilliamson, Chet 381