Stone of Farewell

Stone of Farewell is a 1990 fantasy novel by Tad Williams, the second volume of his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. The saga develops the narrative started in The Dragonbone Chair and focuses primarily on Simon, a former kitchen servant in the largest castle in the land.

Stone of Farewell

First edition
Author	Tad Williams
Cover artist	Michael Whelan
Language	English
Series	Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
Genre	Fantasy
Publisher	DAW Books
Publication date	August 1990
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages	608 (hardback)
ISBN	0-88677-435-7
OCLC	22143548
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 20
LC Class	PS3573.I45563 S76 1990
Preceded by	The Dragonbone Chair
Followed by	To Green Angel Tower

Plot summary

The previous volume saw Simon wound a dragon with the mystical sword Thorn, splashing himself in dragon’s blood, leaving himself deeply scarred (physically and emotionally). Now bearing the sobriquet "Snowlock", he and his companions leave the mountains in search of the mysterious "Stone of Farewell".

Meanwhile, Josua "Lackhand", brother to the king, leads a motley band of survivors after the disastrous events at Naglimund.

Princess Miriamele, having escaped before the siege of Naglimund, gets caught up in events that demonstrate the evil powers surrounding her father.

Princess Maegwin of Hernystir leads her people deep underground, where they discover secrets that may help turn the tide in a war thought to be hopeless.

Finally, a power rises in the North, but its true implications may not yet be fully revealed.

Reception

In Locus, Carolyn Cushman called the novel "an epic fantasy you can get lost in for days, not just hours".

Kat Hooper of fantasyliterature.com gave The Stone of Farewell a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and a mixed review, calling it "excessively lengthy" and saying it "is everything we’ve come to expect from a middle book in a well-written traditional medieval-style epic fantasy trilogy".