[Abyss]

Just finished it. And that was a great book. totally satisfying fantasy lit read, solid instalment in the series and probably one of the best since LORD OF CHAOS. Brandon Sanderson really really hit his stride with this book and while i'm thoroughly uninformed about what chunks were his and what were RJ's, one way or the other the final product was great fun to read, totally worth the dolars and i'm so in for the next/last book it's just sick.

Warning for those not paying attention SPOILERS SPOILERS WHEEL OF TIME TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT SPOILERS
SPOILERS BIG SLIMY TROLLOC NAUGHTY PARTS SPOILERS WILL IMPALE YOU IN THE SPOILERS
FANDOM SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILERS

SPOILERS
BLOODY SPOILERS
ToM SPOILERS

...Don't hold any names or spelling against me, i'm not a professional...


BEST CROWNING MOMENT OF AWESOME - This book was loaded with Moments of Awesome, some we've been waiting for a long time. I'll get to those in a minute but if i'm going to pick one, just one out of the six or seven or more in this book, i have to give it to Egwene for breaking a Foresaken with her brain. Yes, yes, i know, i know... she fought off a Seanchan invasion practicaly solo last book, fixed the tower etc etc... the thing is all the other moments of awesome have been more or less expected... even Gawyn's as a relatively second/third tier supporting character... but however the inevitable confrontation with Mesaana was going to go down, i was NOT expecting Egwene to essentially go all 'Fuck you Foresaken, i'm the Amyrlin Seat and you. Are going. Down.'. Extra points for the way she reversed how Nyneave beat Moghedien way back in the 80s.

MOMENTS OF AWESOME INC. - Rand finally cuts loose and just wastes an entire army of Trollocs at Maradon and it's glorious, nicely developped by him later explaining just how hard it was. Gawyn's defence of Egwene may have been the best single swordfight we've had in the series. Perrin's dream fight vs Slayer AND his 2 or 3 Take Command moments were great. And i really, REALLY liked the way Brandon wove the latter two with Egwene's and co's fight vs the Black Ajah and Mesaana.

Mat takes out the Gholam. Finally. That plot's been running what, five books now? But the Tower of Ghenji rescue was a great, tight run, nicely written. Jain/Noal's sacrifice was a bit watered down because he never got much development, but it was a nice touch even so - extra points for the Malkieri link.

AWARD FOR MOMENT OF AWESOME WE DIDN'T SEE - "Nyneave stayed behind to fight." . The Black Ajah and a Foresaken just blew in a wall and attacked and all the Aes Sedai run for it NYNEAVE STAYED BEHIND TO FIGHT. Oh fuck I WANTED TO SEE THAT!!!!!!
Especially the part where she yanks out her braid and uses it like nunchucks, but i digress...

AWARD FOR BEST NEW CHARACTER GOES TO - My reflex was Ituralde, not strictly a new character but one who did essentially nothing until his intense anti-trolloc campaign in this book, but in the end i have to give it to Androl (i know i got that name wrong - the Asha'man Soldier with the talent for gateways). He had a nicely understated plotline that really ratchetted up the tension at the Black Tower and i found I was really drawn in to his segments.

BEST TEARJERKER MOMENT - Aviendha's visions of the Aiel future were viscerally painful to read. What more can i say? Those scenes come out of almost nowhere, are really well written and just staggering. Morgase's various 'you're alive' moments were a nice touch each time but not even close to the same emotional level.

THE GET A ROOM YOU TWO. ALL OF YOU. AWARD... - Egwene and Gawyn. Morgase and Tallanvor. Perrin and Faile. Berelain and Galad. Min and Rand. Moiraine and Thom (i'm with Mat 0 where did THAT come from???). For a book with no onscreen sheboinging there sure was a lotta luvin goin' on.

THE YOU FAIL AT BEING AWESOME AWARD GOES TO - Umm, Elayne... maybe pretending to be a Foresaken just then wasn't the best idea?

BEST CHARACTER REHAB AWARD - C'mon Faile haters... i don't think she did anything even marginally annoying this time? Did she? If she did, i didn't catch it.

OKAY STOP WHINING AND GO KILL THINGS AWARD - Perrin's inner anguish wouldn't have been quite as tedious if we hadn't been living with it for so very long, and there was still a lot of it here - wah, i have a wolf inside, waaah Faile is angry, waaaah, my idiot farmer friends are jealous that i got my freak on with Berelain but i didn't, waaaah i have to order people around... oh boo frikkin hoo get on with it... and he finally did... finally finally...his fights vs Slayer were great, and his Take Command and rescue the Whitecloaks thing was a great moment of awesome. The forging the hammer thing, the training with Hopper, the fact that his personal army consists of so many bits and pieces of different forces...

THE DID THAT JUST HAPPEN AWARD - Okay, Graendel fucks over Aran'gar. Graendal is indirectly responsible for Mesaana's loss. But Shaidar blames her for three... and i scratched my head until i read the glossary re Asmodean. Did i miss something somewhere in this book?

THE I SHOULDN'T HAVE ENJOYED THAT BUT I DID AWARD - The Borderland monarchs smacking Rand upside the head. Let's face it, most of us have wanted to do that more than once during this series.

THE AWARD FOR EEVVVILLLL EEEEVVVVIIIIILLLLLLL - I have to give Brandon credit for his snakes and foxes. Nicely alien, creepy and threatening and complicated all at once.

DEAD MEAT WITH HONOR AWARD - Lan, obviously. There was absolutely nothing at all surprising about any of Lan's segments - from reluctantly gathering an army to embracing his inner monarch to Charge of the Malkieri brigade - but i enjoyed each one even so.

HERE A TAM THERE A TAM EVERYWHERE A TAM TAM - I see what you did there, but even so, however you slice it Tam was in two places at once for about the first half of the book and it was annoying. Not a big deal, but 'heehee, the stories are out of synch' wasn't much of a reveal.

Anyhoo, more comments as they occur to me, but all in all a rock solid installment in the series and i'm thoroughly looking forward to the last book, even if i believe the publishers are going to pull at least one more out of Brandon after that before letting WoT rest.

- Abyss, all channelled out.

[Terez]

Abyss, on 15 November 2010 - 05:11 PM, said:

Perrin's dream fight vs Slayer AND his 2 or 3 Take Command moments were great. And i really, REALLY liked the way Brandon wove the latter two with Egwene's and co's fight vs the Black Ajah and Mesaana.

Yes, Perrin's whole 'You shouldn't be here, Egwene. It's dangerous!' was freaking awesome.

Abyss said:

Mat takes out the Gholam. Finally. That plot's been running what, five books now?

Seven.

Abyss said:

AWARD FOR BEST NEW CHARACTER GOES TO - My reflex was Ituralde, not strictly a new character but one who did essentially nothing until his intense anti-trolloc campaign in this book

Oh come on, his campaign against the Seanchan was way more awesome than that!

Abyss said:

...but in the end i have to give it to Androl (i know i got that name wrong - the Asha'man Soldier with the talent for gateways).

You got it right. I also liked him as a character.

Abyss said:

BEST TEARJERKER MOMENT - Aviendha's visions of the Aiel future were viscerally painful to read. What more can i say? Those scenes come out of almost nowhere, are really well written and just staggering. Morgase's various 'you're alive' moments were a nice touch each time but not even close to the same emotional level.

Everyone says this was a big tearjerker moment for them but oddly, it wasn't at all for me. I think it was because from the very beginning, I was all THAT AIN'T HAPPENING. So, since I knew it wasn't happening, it didn't affect me emotionally.

Abyss said:

THE GET A ROOM YOU TWO. ALL OF YOU. AWARD... - Egwene and Gawyn. Morgase and Tallanvor. Perrin and Faile. Berelain and Galad. Min and Rand. Moiraine and Thom (i'm with Mat 0 where did THAT come from???).

Read up, yo.

Abyss said:

BEST CHARACTER REHAB AWARD - C'mon Faile haters... i don't think she did anything even marginally annoying this time? Did she? If she did, i didn't catch it.

You know, Faile has only really done one annoying thing in the entire series, and that was way back in TSR. (When she hoodwinked Perrin and Loial re the Ways.)

Abyss said:

THE DID THAT JUST HAPPEN AWARD - Okay, Graendel fucks over Aran'gar. Graendal is indirectly responsible for Mesaana's loss. But Shaidar blames her for three... and i scratched my head until i read the glossary re Asmodean. Did i miss something somewhere in this book?

Moridin also mentions her 'apparent habit' in ch. 5.

Abyss said:

THE AWARD FOR EEVVVILLLL EEEEVVVVIIIIILLLLLLL - I have to give Brandon credit for his snakes and foxes. Nicely alien, creepy and threatening and complicated all at once.

Brandon says that scene was completely written by RJ.

Edit - I've been told that signing report isn't completely accurate, or maybe Brandon was overgeneralizing some - he had to do a lot of work on that scene, as it was in draft form when he got it.

Abyss said:

Anyhoo, more comments as they occur to me, but all in all a rock solid installment in the series and i'm thoroughly looking forward to the last book, even if i believe the publishers fans are going to pull at least one more out of Brandon after that before letting WoT rest.

Fixed that for you. We want the prequels and outriggers, and we will get them if we have to hound Harriet and Brandon for the rest of our days.

This post has been edited by Terez: 23 November 2010 - 10:59 PM

[Abyss]

Terez, on 15 November 2010 - 05:37 PM, said:

... Perrin's whole 'You shouldn't be here, Egwene. It's dangerous!' was freaking awesome.

Thanks for the reminder - i loved LOVED to way he just waved off Egwene's weaves and went back to what he was doing. It was so beautifully humbling.

Quote

Abyss said:

Mat takes out the Gholam. Finally. That plot's been running what, five books now?

Seven.

Exactly. But it did have a nice wrap up and showed some real thought in how to take out an fairly unstoppable assassin.

Quote

Abyss said:

AWARD FOR BEST NEW CHARACTER GOES TO - My reflex was Ituralde,...

Oh come on, his campaign against the Seanchan was way more awesome than that!

Barely remembered and iirc, they were practically afterthoughts. But i agree that removes him from 'new character' status.

Quote

Abyss said:

BEST TEARJERKER MOMENT - Aviendha's visions of the Aiel future ....

Everyone says this was a big tearjerker moment for them but oddly, it wasn't at all for me. I think it was because from the very beginning, I was all THAT AIN'T HAPPENING. So, since I knew it wasn't happening, it didn't affect me emotionally.

Or maybe you're just cold and dead inside.

The thing is, while we've seen all kinds of visions that are strictly only 'possible', the possibility of the Aiel reduced to what we saw, and how they got there, was jarring, all the moreso because we likely won't get to see just how it turns out.

Unless we do, re the below and future books.

Quote

Abyss said:

THE AWARD FOR EEVVVILLLL EEEEVVVVIIIIILLLLLLL - I have to give Brandon credit for his snakes and foxes. Nicely alien, creepy and threatening and complicated all at once.

Brandon says that scene was completely written by RJ.

Really? Credit where due then, that was a nice bit of fantasy lit writing.

Quote

Abyss said:

... i believe the publishers fans are going to pull at least one more out of Brandon after that before letting WoT rest.

Fixed that for you. We want the prequels and outriggers, and we will get them if we have to hound Harriet and Brandon for the rest of our days.

Smart would be to end on a massive high, then leave the series aside for a few years, let Brandon get his ten volume megawork moved along, then, with much trumpetting, announce that he's doing a new series set however many years in the future.

Silly would be to flog the horse to death with NEW SPRING type novellas.

[Illuyankas]

I think you'll find that Faile existing being so retardedly jealous of a woman she can visibly see her husband screaming at to fuck off all the time and NEVER EVER JUST TALKING TO HIM ABOUT ANYTHING is a little annoying. Where little is the size of the universe.

But, she's recently had some character growth which has been a pleasant surprise and she's much better as a result. In fact, I'd say she's tolerable.

[Terez]

I loved New Spring, and I'd love to read the other two planned prequels - one was supposed to be the story of Tam al'Thor's venture outside the Two Rivers, and the other to do with Moiraine's later pre-Rand years.

There were three outriggers planned - RJ left a lot of notes for both these and the prequels - and these were to do with Mat and Tuon about 5 years after the Last Battle, retaking the Seanchan continent.

[Sinisdar Toste]

I agree that aviendha's second trip in rhuidean was totally jarring and made me fear for the world after rand goes to shayol gul. i mean, come on seanchan - PEOPLE AREN'T WEAPONS! get off ur damn a'dam trip.

but anyway, what i feel you're missing is what i saw as the most emotional moment, and the only moment in the book where i had to set it aside and cry for a bit. of course i'm speaking of when rand and tam have their moment. i think the impact was huge for me, as a male, to see that kind of bare bones, father and son emotionality, but either way it was a great moment.

also loved the interactions between female and male channelers in this book, mainly in perrins army (almost spelt that paran lol). the hammer scene was great, "wise ones, i need a circle! now! don't ask, just do it!" good stuff.

This post has been edited by Sinisdar Toste: 15 November 2010 - 06:47 PM

[Hetan]

Pleasantly surprised at this book. Didn't much like the one which came before it, but this was so much better because THINGS ACTUALLY HAPPENED. It was refreshing and and the pace was kept up (mostly) throughout the book. Liked the snakes and foxes, liked Perrin a bit more (who'd have thought it?) liked Rand even - thank fuck he's grown up at last. I am even looking forward to the next one now.

[Abyss]

Illuyankas, on 15 November 2010 - 06:02 PM, said:

I think you'll find that Faile existing being so retardedly jealous of a woman she can visibly see her husband screaming at to fuck off all the time and NEVER EVER JUST TALKING TO HIM ABOUT ANYTHING is a little annoying....

far be it for me to argue the relationship motives of fictional characters, but Perrin, in the midts of his then latest whiny phase, also refused to talk to her about it iirc.

And Berelain has a much cuter nose.

Terez, on 15 November 2010 - 06:15 PM, said:

...There were three outriggers planned - ...Mat and Tuon about 5 years after the Last Battle, retaking the Seanchan continent.

THAT i would so utterly read.

Sinisdar Toste, on 15 November 2010 - 06:45 PM, said:

... i saw as the most emotional moment, and the only moment in the book where i had to set it aside and cry for a bit. of course i'm speaking of when rand and tam have their moment. ...

I did think the bit where Rand insisted on properly introducing Min was very cute. It venturd into cheddar terriroty but went a long way to showing that he's still a country boy at world conquering heart.

Quote

also loved the interactions between female and male channelers in this book, mainly in perrins army (almost spelt that paran lol). the hammer scene was great, "wise ones, i need a circle! now! don't ask, just do it!" good stuff.

Agreed. There were a lot of neat moments between channelers, more than we've seen since WINTER'S HEART or so when Cadsuane's group was working with Rand's and everyone started bonding.

Androl approaching Pevara at the end was opening a huge can of worms towards Rand's remaining loyalists and the Aes Sedai vs Taim's compulsion-wiped crew (that also includes Aes Sedai, actually).

Ituralde has some neat moments using ASha'man as a weapon, and Perrin's two were very involved in his storylines.

And Nyneave healing Naeff was just cool - ffs the more i think about the more Nyneave kept being one of the most effective characters in the book. She healed taint crazy!

Hetan, on 15 November 2010 - 06:59 PM, said:

... THINGS ACTUALLY HAPPENED...

So true, and so many neat things. RJ historically followed a build-to-big-finish approach. This book had Mat v gholam, Ituralde at Maradon, later Rand at Maradon, Perrin and wolves v slayer, Perrin v Slayer/Gawyn v Seanchan/Egwene and co v Masaana and co, Perrin's Army vs Trollocs, all big action pieces, AND THEN the Tower of Ghenji.


BEST CHARACTER MOMENT WE DIDN'T SEE - Rand owes Hurin an apology. LOL.

BEST SUPPORTING CHARACTERS YOU KNOW THE AUTHOR IS HAVING FUN WITH - Bain and Chiad's ongoing gai'shain gags with Gaul (say that phrase ten times fast). Aiel humour cracks me up.

THE OH JUST DIE ALREADY AWARD GOES TO - Byar. Thank you Bornhald, you justified your existence there.

THE BROMANCE AWARD - Galad and Perrin. Never would have expected it but it made perfect sense. One always tells the truth, the other has no time for bull.

THE YOU FAIL AT BEING AWESOME AWARD PT 2 - Elayne, please shut up and let Brigitte do her job. Please? You just go conquer more cities and play politics real good and make some shiny ter'angthingies and then shut up and do as she says the rest of the time, kay? Thanx.

BEST EXCHANGE PARAPHRASED - MAT: So, Brigitte, you've been to this Tower place?
BRIGITTE: Yep. Died.
MAT: Crap. Well, i'm bringing music and stuff!
BRIG: Did that. Still died.
MAT: Oh. Well. Umm, any suggestions?
BRIG: Yeah. Don't go.
MAT: Kind of have to. Any other suggestions?
BRIG: Don't die.

THE OOPSIE AWARD GOES TO - Verin. The 'Mat: don't open the letter thing'... bad call.

[Fid]

So agree with the sentiments - and nice that we at last have some momentum. Think my favourite moment is the Perrin put down of Egwene - move along, nothing to see - leave it to the professionals...

So now I will move onto Stonewielder....

[Abyss]

Terez, on 15 November 2010 - 05:37 PM, said:

Abyss said:

THE GET A ROOM YOU TWO. ALL OF YOU. AWARD... - Egwene and Gawyn. Morgase and Tallanvor. Perrin and Faile. Berelain and Galad. Min and Rand. Moiraine and Thom (i'm with Mat 0 where did THAT come from???).

Read up, yo.

You're quote fu is strong and does make sense in retrospect.

I suppose if it hadn't taken three decades for the series to get to this point i might remember some of that aside from the vision thing which was possibly the only un-subtle hint in there.

[Terez]

Abyss, on 15 November 2010 - 09:07 PM, said:

Terez, on 15 November 2010 - 05:37 PM, said:

Abyss said:

THE GET A ROOM YOU TWO. ALL OF YOU. AWARD... - Egwene and Gawyn. Morgase and Tallanvor. Perrin and Faile. Berelain and Galad. Min and Rand. Moiraine and Thom (i'm with Mat 0 where did THAT come from???).

Read up, yo.

You're quote fu is strong and does make sense in retrospect.

I suppose if it hadn't taken three decades for the series to get to this point i might remember some of that aside from the vision thing which was possibly the only un-subtle hint in there.

LOL. There's nothing subtle about 'my dearest Thom' and 'words from my heart'. I think I actually posted something about this here once, directed at Brandon - a lighthearted tease about his comments concerning Moiraine when he took over the series. It appears to have disappeared in the forum switch, tho. Anyway, I remember some regular or another making fun of me and saying how obvious it was and that anyone with half a wit knew that Moiraine and Thom were getting married. I think it might have been Stone Monkey. Or Hetan.

[Kurt Montandon]

Haven't really seen it mentioned, but I thought one of the best "Moments of Awesome" was Rand strolling into the White Tower and pretty much telling them how it was going to be ... and they couldn't do a damn thing about it.

[HoosierDaddy]

But they will certainly try. It's a positive that while I despise the Aes Sedai as a mob (individually they tend to be better), I can understand Egwene's "rallying" kings and queens and other "allies" against Rand's crazy plan to break the seals. (That we all knew was coming ever since "The World of the Wheel of Time" came out and it detailed the sealing of the bore (kinda) and it's failure. Which is another of my minor annoyances, but I guess I can't fault overbearing foreshadowing as a literary device when it is outside the actual series.)

I'm interested in Lanfear's visit to Rand in T.A.R. and what was going on there. No one else has brought it up, but her begging him for help I found intriguing, especially considering Graendal's likely new "hobbies."

[Cause]

Im actually hugely dissapointed with Egwene. I thought she had finally learned a lesson that all Aes Sedai need to. Instead it appears Nynaeve partly on her own and partly from Rand has instead. Being able to channel wont make you smarter then those who cant, being an Aes Sedai wont make you better then those other channelers and not everything that happens in this world neewds to be tied to or guided by the white tower. I keep waiting for someone to realise that ranking an Aes Sedais authority by her strength in the one power is absurd. That people are not going to trust them despite the three oaths untill they learn to keep the spirit and not the letter and stop manipulating everyone around them. I actually thought when egwene realised the oaths were killing them young and with elayne and nyneave raised without them that we were seeing a slow erosion of their use, but no!

But back to Egwene specifically. She has been a true amyrlin for a month and is already tryng to manipulate the Wise ones and tie them to the tower, people she herslef respects but still cant help but manipulate.. She herself acknowledge that the Dragon must be free to do what needs be done but the second she lays eyes on him she tries to thik of how to guide him (we already know that Siuns and Moraines plans for him would have led to disaster. That Elaida locking him up would have led to the end of the world). It still boggles my mind that the twenty year old Amyrlin thinks she is the best candidate to guide the dragon. If he needs guidance what of her? I can understand thinking that the Dragon needs advice, since he does, but I still find it odd that she never looks at herself and realises its the pot calling the kettle black. The aragance of Aes Sedai has been a big theme throughout the books and it seems its very slowly being rectified but we have so much further to go.

Speaking of which, its something I am very curious about. Did RJ always intend for the Aes Sedai to be cast in this light or is it Sansersons own leaning. Since he took over the books we have seen the Aes Sedai in a more strongly critised view. He shows us that Cadsuane in some ways was nothing but a bully and that her manipulations were as much a problem with dealing with Rand as any of his other burdens. Nyneave becomes more and more critical of Aes Sedai behaviour etc etc. I always thought and expected the Aes Sedai would change but it did not seem to be happening untill Branderson started writing the series. A co-incidence of writing or his own view point?

@H.D. - Did Moridin not say Graendal should not worry about attacking Al'thor? That another had been giving the task. I figured that Lanfear was the one and worry that its some kind of trap. We know she has the gretest mastery of the dream world and someonne would have had to crack Rands wards of his dream.

This post has been edited by Cause: 16 November 2010 - 08:57 AM

[HoosierDaddy]

Well, while I do despise the lot of them as a whole, Rand was batshit insane there for a while, and they are used to "running" things. To be fair, they have to think Rand is still batshit insane, and his plan to break the seals is part of that insanity. Of course, their own obstinance is invisible because they are living in a literal ivory tower, but it still makes sense from their perspective. As readers, we are in a far better position to judge them and their actions, but to be fair, their motivations are pure. At this point, it is no longer control for control's sake, I think, but rather control for the supposed world's sake.

Edit: If that's there, Cause, I don't remember it, but that is entirely probable. It seems like a really outdated plea after his abrupt turn to "I'm going to murder Forsaken with balefire no matter what, now" though.

This post has been edited by H.D.: 16 November 2010 - 09:03 AM

[Gothos]

I'm averting my eyes from all the spoilers, but I wanted to ask you guys: Is this book good enough to endure everything between The Great Hunt and this if I haven't already?

[Tattersail_]

Abyss, on 15 November 2010 - 05:11 PM, said:

Just finished it. And that was a great book. totally satisfying fantasy lit read, solid instalment in the series and probably one of the best since LORD OF CHAOS. Brandon Sanderson really really hit his stride with this book and while i'm thoroughly uninformed about what chunks were his and what were RJ's, one way or the other the final product was great fun to read, totally worth the dolars and i'm so in for the next/last book it's just sick.

Warning for those not paying attention SPOILERS SPOILERS WHEEL OF TIME TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT SPOILERS
SPOILERS BIG SLIMY TROLLOC NAUGHTY PARTS SPOILERS WILL IMPALE YOU IN THE SPOILERS
FANDOM SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILERS

SPOILERS
BLOODY SPOILERS
ToM SPOILERS

...Don't hold any names or spelling against me, i'm not a professional...


BEST CROWNING MOMENT OF AWESOME - This book was loaded with Moments of Awesome, some we've been waiting for a long time. I'll get to those in a minute but if i'm going to pick one, just one out of the six or seven or more in this book, i have to give it to Egwene for breaking a Foresaken with her brain. Yes, yes, i know, i know... she fought off a Seanchan invasion practicaly solo last book, fixed the tower etc etc... the thing is all the other moments of awesome have been more or less expected... even Gawyn's as a relatively second/third tier supporting character... but however the inevitable confrontation with Mesaana was going to go down, i was NOT expecting Egwene to essentially go all 'Fuck you Foresaken, i'm the Amyrlin Seat and you. Are going. Down.'. Extra points for the way she reversed how Nyneave beat Moghedien way back in the 80s.

MOMENTS OF AWESOME INC. - Rand finally cuts loose and just wastes an entire army of Trollocs at Maradon and it's glorious, nicely developped by him later explaining just how hard it was. Gawyn's defence of Egwene may have been the best single swordfight we've had in the series. Perrin's dream fight vs Slayer AND his 2 or 3 Take Command moments were great. And i really, REALLY liked the way Brandon wove the latter two with Egwene's and co's fight vs the Black Ajah and Mesaana.

Mat takes out the Gholam. Finally. That plot's been running what, five books now? But the Tower of Ghenji rescue was a great, tight run, nicely written. Jain/Noal's sacrifice was a bit watered down because he never got much development, but it was a nice touch even so - extra points for the Malkieri link.

AWARD FOR MOMENT OF AWESOME WE DIDN'T SEE - "Nyneave stayed behind to fight." . The Black Ajah and a Foresaken just blew in a wall and attacked and all the Aes Sedai run for it NYNEAVE STAYED BEHIND TO FIGHT. Oh fuck I WANTED TO SEE THAT!!!!!!
Especially the part where she yanks out her braid and uses it like nunchucks, but i digress...

AWARD FOR BEST NEW CHARACTER GOES TO - My reflex was Ituralde, not strictly a new character but one who did essentially nothing until his intense anti-trolloc campaign in this book, but in the end i have to give it to Androl (i know i got that name wrong - the Asha'man Soldier with the talent for gateways). He had a nicely understated plotline that really ratchetted up the tension at the Black Tower and i found I was really drawn in to his segments.

BEST TEARJERKER MOMENT - Aviendha's visions of the Aiel future were viscerally painful to read. What more can i say? Those scenes come out of almost nowhere, are really well written and just staggering. Morgase's various 'you're alive' moments were a nice touch each time but not even close to the same emotional level.

THE GET A ROOM YOU TWO. ALL OF YOU. AWARD... - Egwene and Gawyn. Morgase and Tallanvor. Perrin and Faile. Berelain and Galad. Min and Rand. Moiraine and Thom (i'm with Mat 0 where did THAT come from???). For a book with no onscreen sheboinging there sure was a lotta luvin goin' on.

THE YOU FAIL AT BEING AWESOME AWARD GOES TO - Umm, Elayne... maybe pretending to be a Foresaken just then wasn't the best idea?

BEST CHARACTER REHAB AWARD - C'mon Faile haters... i don't think she did anything even marginally annoying this time? Did she? If she did, i didn't catch it.

OKAY STOP WHINING AND GO KILL THINGS AWARD - Perrin's inner anguish wouldn't have been quite as tedious if we hadn't been living with it for so very long, and there was still a lot of it here - wah, i have a wolf inside, waaah Faile is angry, waaaah, my idiot farmer friends are jealous that i got my freak on with Berelain but i didn't, waaaah i have to order people around... oh boo frikkin hoo get on with it... and he finally did... finally finally...his fights vs Slayer were great, and his Take Command and rescue the Whitecloaks thing was a great moment of awesome. The forging the hammer thing, the training with Hopper, the fact that his personal army consists of so many bits and pieces of different forces...

THE DID THAT JUST HAPPEN AWARD - Okay, Graendel fucks over Aran'gar. Graendal is indirectly responsible for Mesaana's loss. But Shaidar blames her for three... and i scratched my head until i read the glossary re Asmodean. Did i miss something somewhere in this book?

THE I SHOULDN'T HAVE ENJOYED THAT BUT I DID AWARD - The Borderland monarchs smacking Rand upside the head. Let's face it, most of us have wanted to do that more than once during this series.

THE AWARD FOR EEVVVILLLL EEEEVVVVIIIIILLLLLLL - I have to give Brandon credit for his snakes and foxes. Nicely alien, creepy and threatening and complicated all at once.

DEAD MEAT WITH HONOR AWARD - Lan, obviously. There was absolutely nothing at all surprising about any of Lan's segments - from reluctantly gathering an army to embracing his inner monarch to Charge of the Malkieri brigade - but i enjoyed each one even so.

HERE A TAM THERE A TAM EVERYWHERE A TAM TAM - I see what you did there, but even so, however you slice it Tam was in two places at once for about the first half of the book and it was annoying. Not a big deal, but 'heehee, the stories are out of synch' wasn't much of a reveal.

Anyhoo, more comments as they occur to me, but all in all a rock solid installment in the series and i'm thoroughly looking forward to the last book, even if i believe the publishers are going to pull at least one more out of Brandon after that before letting WoT rest.

- Abyss, all channelled out.

i think this part was impressive. The bit that made it even more impessive was that Perrin was stronger in the wolf dream than Egwene was in the Dream. He seemed like he was more bad ass than Egwene until she broke Mesaana that is!!

what do you mean? i am going to read the glossary because I have not done so yet. but is there a reference to Asmodean in there?

[HoosierDaddy]

That would be a "yes, something never detailed in book before suddenly divulged in glossary" sort of random information.

I also think Perrin could smoke Egwene in T.A.R. no matter how much 9000+ willpower she had as a Dreamer.

[HoosierDaddy]

@Gothos: Depends. It's a fun read, but entirely different than Erikson, Martin, Bakker, Abercrombie. It's good reading, but it is not going to push any boundaries for you.

This post has been edited by H.D.: 16 November 2010 - 09:58 AM

[Cause]

Gothos, on 16 November 2010 - 09:29 AM, said:

I'm averting my eyes from all the spoilers, but I wanted to ask you guys: Is this book good enough to endure everything between The Great Hunt and this if I haven't already?

Its easier to get through the boring books now that you can just pick up the next book and keep going. Give it till book 4 at least and see if you like it or not. But yes the latest two books are picking up the pace and addressing the issues with a few of Jordans last.