The Stone Of Farewell, by
Tad Williams, is the second book in the
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy. The first book is
The Dragonbone Chair, and the third is
To Green Angel Tower.
The Stone Of Farewell continues to chronicle Simon's travels through Osten Ard. Having recovered the great sword Thorn, he and his companions must now deliver it to Prince Josua, if any hope is to be had of defeating King Elias, Josua's brother. But, when Simon finally awakens following his battle with the Ice Dragon, Igjarjuk, it seems that all hope his lost - his friends, the Rimmersman Sludig and the troll Binabik, are prisoners of the trolls of Yiqanuc. Even with the help of Jiriki, the Sithi prince whose life he saved, the future looks bleak. At the same time, Prince Josua and his small band of fugitives from the fall of Naglimund are being led by the wise Geloe towards the ancient Stone of Farewell, the one place where they might find shelter from the coming storm that Elias and Ineluki are bringing upon all of Osten Ard.
This is the shortest book in the trilogy. I still have it in large-format paperback (which is usually issued after the hardback, but before the normal-sized paperback edition), and it's probably the most battered book in my entire collection, as it went through quite a lot in my uncle's bag on his flight from London...then he arrived in Dublin with it, only to tell me he hadn't finished it yet, and I had to wait another fortnight! Ah, well....it was all worth it in the end.
For more details, go have a look at www.tadwilliams.com, which has lots of comments by Tad on what he calls "the book that ate my life", as well as summaries of the rest of his books, and news of what he's currently up to. Or alternatively, go buy The Dragonbone Chair, and get reading!