Shadowmarch
US Hardcover Edition
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| Author | Tad Williams |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Michael Whelan |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Shadowmarch trilogy |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | DAW Books |
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Publication date
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November 2, 2004 (full) |
| Media type | Online (E-Book (partial) & Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 672 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 56781061 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3573.I45563 S53 2004 |
| Followed by | Shadowplay |
Shadowmarch is the first novel in the Shadowmarch tetralogy, by Tad Williams. It was released in hardcover on November 2, 2004, and in trade paperback on November 1, 2005. A paperback edition was released in September, 2006. The second book in the series, Shadowplay was published on March 6, 2007 in hardcover and on March 4, 2008 in paperback in both the USA and the UK. The third book in the series, Shadowrise, was released in hardcover on March 2, 2010. The last book in the series, Shadowheart, was published in hardcover on November 1, 2010.
Shadowmarch has had a long history before appearing in print. Originally, Tad Williams conceived Shadowmarch as an idea for a fantasy movie and later a fantasy TV series, which might have been described as "Hill Street Blues meets Babylon 5 meets Lord of the Rings". When both of these options fell through, Shadowmarch was reborn as an online serial. Released between June 2001 and August 2002 in bi-weekly episodes, it was an ambitious exploration of what online publishing done right might mean. Despite a vibrant (and at present still thriving) community gathering around this project, a lack of subscribers willing to pay the one-time $14.99 fee necessary to read chapters beyond the five initial free ones meant that after the first year, the online project halted, with the completed first novel (and subsequent volumes) returning to orthodox publishing. The book contains additional chapters not found in the original online version, while the rest of the original material was substantially revised and edited for book publication (notably being rewritten completely to past tense, since the online project used present tense to "give it a sense of immediacy").
Initially Williams set out to write a trilogy, but work on the final installment became so complex that he and his publishers decided to split the third installment into two novels, both released in 2010.
The series takes place principally in the castle and province of Southmarch. Prominent sub-plots cover connected events to the south and north of Southmarch, respectively in the land of Xis and the Qar (faerie) lands beyond the impassable Shadowline. The action centres on the troubled Eddon family, the rulers of Southmarch, the nearest human province to the Shadowline and formerly territory held by the Qar prior to the expulsion by expanding humans.
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Wikipedia