Mark Erikson
2009-11-11 05:28:12 UTC
Okay, I'm posting this to good old rasfwr-j just to see what it stirs
up. I suspect nothing good will come of this.
This is the best WOT book I've read in a zillion years. The best
since LoC. It had some really, really important and powerful scenes.
It had action, stuff happened, stuff concluded...but more importantly,
it had a glut of those moments that WOT was once really famous for,
but which have been sorely lacking over the last four or five books;
those moments where a character comes into their own, when something
they've been building up to gets its payoff, and its about as good a
payoff as you could imagine.
It was also written by two different authors. The awesome part is,
sometimes you can't tell. The shitty part is, sometimes you can. I'm
left wanting to know what was written by who, and Sanderson's Foreword
suggests he wants to tell us once he's finished all three books. But
I wonder, for instance, whether "The Last That Could Be Done" didn't
have quite as much impact as I felt that chapter should have because
Sanderson just didn't quite pull it off, or because Jordan didn't.
Similarly, I want to know if I can credit RJ with "A Halo of
Blackness" (my favourite chapter in this book, and in the series for
quite some time) or whether Sanderson was really just doing an awesome
job at this point.
So,
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
RAND:
I'm a glutton for Rand chapters. He's always been my favourite
character - as you'd hope with the main character - but he hasn't done
much over the last few books other than order Lords, Ladies and Aes
Sedai around. This time, we actually get some really cool, and
chilling, Rand chapters. We get quite a lot of them.
This is an angle on Rand that I've actually been hoping for over the
last few books. Once upon a time, I hated that Rand was growing
unstable. Now, I can think of no other direction I would have
preferred his character to go in. Especially after the moment with
the Domination Band (cool name) and Rand drawing on the TP, becoming
the coldest, nastiest bastard around. This was the payoff I was after
for Rand - the one where he just goes too far, and becomes what he's
been trying to become. In fact, I wished for exactly this in my
review of KoD four years ago (towards the bottom of the page).
The escape of Semirhage, I felt, could have been handled better. I
didn't like that she was broken by Cadsuane just moments before her
escape, as it made the actual breaking pointless, and reduced her
scariness when she actuall had control of Rand. I also didn't like
that she was kept in the room next door to Rand. Surely, plotting
wise, it would have been just as easy to have the Aes Sedai Travel to
some remote prison to question her, and then have Elza lead Semi back
to Rand once she was free. Finally, I'm not sure I liked Shaidar
Haran taking a direct hand in freeing her. Although, I suspect the
whole point of the DO's plan here was not to get his Forsaken back,
but rather to drive Rand to touch the TP via whatever is linking him
to Moridin. The merging or whatever is going on between them.
I was also happy to see Rand go on to be an emotionless tyrant after
this. The death of Graendal[1] was not, for me, as disappointing as
others seem to have found it. I liked seeing Rand be both clever and
terrifying at the same time. His plan was actually quite neat. He
took a sword to the Gordian knot. And, it was also appropriately
chilling. As was his uncaring departure from Bandar Eban.
The ultimate climax of this was, of course, his meeting with Tam. For
the most part, it worked, and worked really well. Having him almost
become a Kinslayer, then attempt to continue on his course of
destruction, and finally confront himself on Dragonmount were all
appropriately epic. I'd found Moridin's revelation that he was
perfectly aware that the DO intended to destroy everything, including
his servants, to be appropriately awesome. Ishamael always sounded as
if he had a fairly complete understanding of how the Pattern worked,
and as Moridin he seems to think the good thing to do is to destroy
it. Not because he himself seeks oblivion, but because he has looked
at it philosophically and come away with the knowledge that the whole
thing is pointless.
To have Rand come to the same conclusion was only natural, the way he
was going. And he steps right to the brink of actually destroying the
Pattern. What's more, I agreed with him while I was reading it. The
book had, by this point, made a good case for Rand's actions. That
love was ultimately what made Rand step back was a little cheesy,
though right after it was a line that was affecting, and I think
Rand's whole final epiphany should have been distilled down to it: If
I live again, then maybe she does to. Ilyena gets another life.
Basically, Rand is choosing between life itself being worthwhile, or
pointless. The blather about love and joy and hope just clouded that
really simple choice with sappiness. However, I still got the point,
so I guess it worked.
I do not think the final tidbit from the Essanik Cycle actually
refered to this event, though. It doesn't quite fit. That wasn't the
"final storm", it was just a brief tempest Rand stirred up. Lews
Therin and Rand didn't join together, they were always the same person
(thus, Lews Therin was indeed real, insofar as Rand's soul can
remember the AoL, but also not real, insofar as he was just an element
of Rand's own psyche). And Rand was laughing, not weeping. I still
think he is going to go blind, and be a beggar (if his brief jaunt
through Ebou Dar in brown clothing was the fulfillment of that
particular prophecy, then why bother even prophecising it?) and
ultimately die. His soul will go into Logain's body, and he will weep
over his own grave.
Finally for Rand, his new sword. At first, I was baffled at how he
was supposed to remember a centuries old sword. But then the
suggestion that Falme reminded him of the sword was too obvious. So,
which one of the Heroes of the Horn does the sword belong to?
EGWENE:
It's hard to say anything here that hasn't already been said. Her
chapters were great. It was awesome to see her finally being the
badass she has been becoming over the last few books. I can't
actually think of anything more to add, really.
Except, maybe, that Elaida's capture by the Seanchan is pretty game-
changing. The Seanchan can Travel, now.
MAT:
I didn't like Mat's chapters. I didn't like how Mat's dialogue was
written (he seemed to be fine when he was just thinking, but the
moment he opened his mouth he just made me cringe). I thought there
would be more of a point to Hinderstap than there was. I was
expecting Fain to pop up and reveal that he was corrupting the town or
something. Using the Pattern fraying as an excuse to throw in some
zombie chases was kinda...crap. Especially at this end of the story,
where I feel like everything that happens should be pointed in the
direction of the conclusion, not just there to squeeze in some more
zombies.
However, I have a suspicion that this was not a Sanderson idea. "The
Tipsy Gelding" did not suffer from unfunny Mat syndrome, and so I
think RJ may have written that chapter, with Sanderson writing the
follow up.
PERRIN:
What's to say. Nothing happened. Although I did like that the death
of Rolan was actually addressed. I really was unhappy with how that
went down in KoD, so having Faile actually burning with guilt worked.
VERIN:
Yeah, Verrin was awesome. Very, very cool payoff.
Even cooler was her description of the Forsaken. Finally, an
explanation of why they just aren't anywhere near as scary as they
were described in tEotW. And one that makes the DO seem even more
scary. Just what is the ultimate goal of the DO?
SEANCHAN:
The Seanchan continue to be both hateable and likeable. Tuon is a
little shit, but I liked the implications of her deciding that Rand
had to be stopped. It was both a recognition of how powerful Rand has
become, and how terrible.
However, I still hate the a'dam. I even felt a little sickened when
Elaida was caught. Something needs to be done about that. If they're
still leashing channelers after the Last Battle, I'll be pissed.
Also, I hope Rand never bows before the Empress. It seems their
prophecies actually hold some truth - but I'm pretty sure that the
Guide explicitly said that Ishy altered them to say the Dragon Reborn
would bow, rather than bind them to him.
The Bloodknives were lame. I suspect they are a Sanderson creation.
They felt like something out of D&D with their super powers, and those
ter'angreal didn't behave like any others we've seen before (activated
by blood?). What can you do with a plot element like that? Have a
cool fight? Whatever.
FAIN:
Fain did not appear in this book, but I mention this because an
explanation of what Mordeth was, and how Shadar Logoth was the
opposite kind of evil to the DO, is probably my biggest desire for the
next two books. My pet theory is that Mordeth was something created
during the Breaking in an attempt to counter the taint, but it
seriously backfired.
TO SUM UP:
WOT still has, as far as stories go, the best one around. Sanderson
is not the author RJ was, but he's close enough. There are annoying
things in there. The characters still don't communicate very well for
plot reasons. They also repeat themselves, over and over and over.
But it isn't like this is anything new to WOT. And this is a damn
good WOT book. Hopefully, Towers of Midnight can continue this trend.
[1] Okay, let's say Graendal killed Asmodean. Just how far back did
Rand balefire her? He killed Rahvin with a much smaller beam, and
that brought Mat back to life. Did Rand manage to balefire Asmo back
into existence? Unless, of course, Asmo himself was balefired.
up. I suspect nothing good will come of this.
This is the best WOT book I've read in a zillion years. The best
since LoC. It had some really, really important and powerful scenes.
It had action, stuff happened, stuff concluded...but more importantly,
it had a glut of those moments that WOT was once really famous for,
but which have been sorely lacking over the last four or five books;
those moments where a character comes into their own, when something
they've been building up to gets its payoff, and its about as good a
payoff as you could imagine.
It was also written by two different authors. The awesome part is,
sometimes you can't tell. The shitty part is, sometimes you can. I'm
left wanting to know what was written by who, and Sanderson's Foreword
suggests he wants to tell us once he's finished all three books. But
I wonder, for instance, whether "The Last That Could Be Done" didn't
have quite as much impact as I felt that chapter should have because
Sanderson just didn't quite pull it off, or because Jordan didn't.
Similarly, I want to know if I can credit RJ with "A Halo of
Blackness" (my favourite chapter in this book, and in the series for
quite some time) or whether Sanderson was really just doing an awesome
job at this point.
So,
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
RAND:
I'm a glutton for Rand chapters. He's always been my favourite
character - as you'd hope with the main character - but he hasn't done
much over the last few books other than order Lords, Ladies and Aes
Sedai around. This time, we actually get some really cool, and
chilling, Rand chapters. We get quite a lot of them.
This is an angle on Rand that I've actually been hoping for over the
last few books. Once upon a time, I hated that Rand was growing
unstable. Now, I can think of no other direction I would have
preferred his character to go in. Especially after the moment with
the Domination Band (cool name) and Rand drawing on the TP, becoming
the coldest, nastiest bastard around. This was the payoff I was after
for Rand - the one where he just goes too far, and becomes what he's
been trying to become. In fact, I wished for exactly this in my
review of KoD four years ago (towards the bottom of the page).
The escape of Semirhage, I felt, could have been handled better. I
didn't like that she was broken by Cadsuane just moments before her
escape, as it made the actual breaking pointless, and reduced her
scariness when she actuall had control of Rand. I also didn't like
that she was kept in the room next door to Rand. Surely, plotting
wise, it would have been just as easy to have the Aes Sedai Travel to
some remote prison to question her, and then have Elza lead Semi back
to Rand once she was free. Finally, I'm not sure I liked Shaidar
Haran taking a direct hand in freeing her. Although, I suspect the
whole point of the DO's plan here was not to get his Forsaken back,
but rather to drive Rand to touch the TP via whatever is linking him
to Moridin. The merging or whatever is going on between them.
I was also happy to see Rand go on to be an emotionless tyrant after
this. The death of Graendal[1] was not, for me, as disappointing as
others seem to have found it. I liked seeing Rand be both clever and
terrifying at the same time. His plan was actually quite neat. He
took a sword to the Gordian knot. And, it was also appropriately
chilling. As was his uncaring departure from Bandar Eban.
The ultimate climax of this was, of course, his meeting with Tam. For
the most part, it worked, and worked really well. Having him almost
become a Kinslayer, then attempt to continue on his course of
destruction, and finally confront himself on Dragonmount were all
appropriately epic. I'd found Moridin's revelation that he was
perfectly aware that the DO intended to destroy everything, including
his servants, to be appropriately awesome. Ishamael always sounded as
if he had a fairly complete understanding of how the Pattern worked,
and as Moridin he seems to think the good thing to do is to destroy
it. Not because he himself seeks oblivion, but because he has looked
at it philosophically and come away with the knowledge that the whole
thing is pointless.
To have Rand come to the same conclusion was only natural, the way he
was going. And he steps right to the brink of actually destroying the
Pattern. What's more, I agreed with him while I was reading it. The
book had, by this point, made a good case for Rand's actions. That
love was ultimately what made Rand step back was a little cheesy,
though right after it was a line that was affecting, and I think
Rand's whole final epiphany should have been distilled down to it: If
I live again, then maybe she does to. Ilyena gets another life.
Basically, Rand is choosing between life itself being worthwhile, or
pointless. The blather about love and joy and hope just clouded that
really simple choice with sappiness. However, I still got the point,
so I guess it worked.
I do not think the final tidbit from the Essanik Cycle actually
refered to this event, though. It doesn't quite fit. That wasn't the
"final storm", it was just a brief tempest Rand stirred up. Lews
Therin and Rand didn't join together, they were always the same person
(thus, Lews Therin was indeed real, insofar as Rand's soul can
remember the AoL, but also not real, insofar as he was just an element
of Rand's own psyche). And Rand was laughing, not weeping. I still
think he is going to go blind, and be a beggar (if his brief jaunt
through Ebou Dar in brown clothing was the fulfillment of that
particular prophecy, then why bother even prophecising it?) and
ultimately die. His soul will go into Logain's body, and he will weep
over his own grave.
Finally for Rand, his new sword. At first, I was baffled at how he
was supposed to remember a centuries old sword. But then the
suggestion that Falme reminded him of the sword was too obvious. So,
which one of the Heroes of the Horn does the sword belong to?
EGWENE:
It's hard to say anything here that hasn't already been said. Her
chapters were great. It was awesome to see her finally being the
badass she has been becoming over the last few books. I can't
actually think of anything more to add, really.
Except, maybe, that Elaida's capture by the Seanchan is pretty game-
changing. The Seanchan can Travel, now.
MAT:
I didn't like Mat's chapters. I didn't like how Mat's dialogue was
written (he seemed to be fine when he was just thinking, but the
moment he opened his mouth he just made me cringe). I thought there
would be more of a point to Hinderstap than there was. I was
expecting Fain to pop up and reveal that he was corrupting the town or
something. Using the Pattern fraying as an excuse to throw in some
zombie chases was kinda...crap. Especially at this end of the story,
where I feel like everything that happens should be pointed in the
direction of the conclusion, not just there to squeeze in some more
zombies.
However, I have a suspicion that this was not a Sanderson idea. "The
Tipsy Gelding" did not suffer from unfunny Mat syndrome, and so I
think RJ may have written that chapter, with Sanderson writing the
follow up.
PERRIN:
What's to say. Nothing happened. Although I did like that the death
of Rolan was actually addressed. I really was unhappy with how that
went down in KoD, so having Faile actually burning with guilt worked.
VERIN:
Yeah, Verrin was awesome. Very, very cool payoff.
Even cooler was her description of the Forsaken. Finally, an
explanation of why they just aren't anywhere near as scary as they
were described in tEotW. And one that makes the DO seem even more
scary. Just what is the ultimate goal of the DO?
SEANCHAN:
The Seanchan continue to be both hateable and likeable. Tuon is a
little shit, but I liked the implications of her deciding that Rand
had to be stopped. It was both a recognition of how powerful Rand has
become, and how terrible.
However, I still hate the a'dam. I even felt a little sickened when
Elaida was caught. Something needs to be done about that. If they're
still leashing channelers after the Last Battle, I'll be pissed.
Also, I hope Rand never bows before the Empress. It seems their
prophecies actually hold some truth - but I'm pretty sure that the
Guide explicitly said that Ishy altered them to say the Dragon Reborn
would bow, rather than bind them to him.
The Bloodknives were lame. I suspect they are a Sanderson creation.
They felt like something out of D&D with their super powers, and those
ter'angreal didn't behave like any others we've seen before (activated
by blood?). What can you do with a plot element like that? Have a
cool fight? Whatever.
FAIN:
Fain did not appear in this book, but I mention this because an
explanation of what Mordeth was, and how Shadar Logoth was the
opposite kind of evil to the DO, is probably my biggest desire for the
next two books. My pet theory is that Mordeth was something created
during the Breaking in an attempt to counter the taint, but it
seriously backfired.
TO SUM UP:
WOT still has, as far as stories go, the best one around. Sanderson
is not the author RJ was, but he's close enough. There are annoying
things in there. The characters still don't communicate very well for
plot reasons. They also repeat themselves, over and over and over.
But it isn't like this is anything new to WOT. And this is a damn
good WOT book. Hopefully, Towers of Midnight can continue this trend.
[1] Okay, let's say Graendal killed Asmodean. Just how far back did
Rand balefire her? He killed Rahvin with a much smaller beam, and
that brought Mat back to life. Did Rand manage to balefire Asmo back
into existence? Unless, of course, Asmo himself was balefired.