[acesn8s]

Pillow friends...

[Andorion]

7 chapters in. I am surprised. After that strange beginning things moved pretty fast.

I like the new, assertive Elaine who is turning out to be a natural leader. The post-marriage flustered Nynaeve is also a nice change and her byplay with Alise was extremely funny. Really liked Aviendha first opening a portal and then dissolving the weaving like it was nothing and apparently no Aes Sedai has ever dared to do this. More rude surprises for the Sedai. The part with Elaine and the portal wasx instructive and sobering though.
Getting increasingly interested with Moridin, the pattern of whose operations suggest he is equal to or greater than the Forsaken.
The weaving of the Bowl of Winds was interesting, and it clearly suggests that Saidin can be woven through saidar if a correct Terangreal is used. Lets see if the effects manifest anytime soon.

Meanwhile the PoV has shifted to Perrin and the Faile-Berelaine thing hasstarted up again.......sigh....... I was really expecting a Mat PoV, what with the Seanchan invasion, and the way the last book ended......I am getting a nasty feeling about that Spoiler posted upthread now...

[Illuyankas]

Keep an eye out for the word 'pillowfriend', it's used to describe a couple of Aes Sedai in training who hook up during MOIRAINE AND SIUAN WERE TOTALLY DOING IT AS YOUNG NUBILE WOMEN LOCKED UP WITHOUT DUDES IN THE UNRELEASED PREQUEL 'AMOROUS AJAHS 4: IS THAT A OATH ROD OR ARE YOU JUST PLEASED TO SEE ME' THAT BRANDON SANDERSON WON'T LET ME READ their Novicehood together.

Also guess which book the gay guy is in.

[Macros]

NO NO, the lesbian scene, in the pool, with all rands wives just getting it on like Jordan always wanted, Mins trousers were just too much for Elayne and Avendhia

[Andorion]

Macros, on 16 October 2014 - 03:59 PM, said:

NO NO, the lesbian scene, in the pool, with all rands wives just getting it on like Jordan always wanted, Mins trousers were just too much for Elayne and Avendhia

Ok ok enough spoilers... at least I have something to look forward to...

[Abyss]

That was a lesbian scene?


I thought it was something to do with the whole bonding warders thing...

oh, wait...

THAT PERVERT!

[Andorion]

Still with the Perrin PoV and now Morgase 'maghdain' and co. have joined them. must say that the second I realised who they were, I went holy shit! So far the setup is very good, a lot of promise, lets see where RJ goes with this. I do wish that RJ would stop trying to put every unattached girl in a romance. Min, Aviendha and Elaine are with Rand, Egwene is with Gawyn(literally in her dreams) Nynaeve has Lan, Faile has Perrin....I mean I understand that giving Tallanvor an attraction for Morgase spices things up and highlights the change in her situation, but this is starting to read a bit like David Eddings' second Belgariad trilogy, where everybody, literally everybody got married, including Belgarath, even though Eddings had to resurrect his 1000 year dead wife to do that.

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 17 October 2014 - 02:35 AM, said:

Good thing you read fast. 10 was the newest when I started and it took me 10 mths to get through NS-10. My timeing was spot on though cause 11 released about a mth after I finished that masseive read.

Then you had to wait four years to see what Sanderson could do with the series?

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 17 October 2014 - 03:34 AM, said:

Yep. Just imagine those that started with bk 1...

Hell on earth... basically they could say that their entire youth was defined by WoT..... what a thought

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 17 October 2014 - 04:03 AM, said:

Out of curiosity have you clicked that spoiler yet?

Maybe after a few more chapters? Where I am at, the PoV just shifted to Rand, so now I am waiting for just one more PoV......

[EmperorMagus]

From book 8 to 11, I read about 3 sentences of each page, and I don't think I missed much. That's despite the fact that WoT is my 2nd fav series of all time. (Actually, it no longer is, I hated MoL )

Mat rocks tho.
And go fantasy Jordan, I'm with you,

This post has been edited by Deathbringer the Adorable: 17 October 2014 - 08:01 AM

[D'iversify]

Briar King, on 17 October 2014 - 03:34 AM, said:

Yep. Just imagine those that started with bk 1...

I started in summer 2001, i.e. over 11 years after Eye of the World came out, and it was bloody long enough as it was.

[acesn8s]

Briar King, on 17 October 2014 - 03:34 AM, said:

Yep. Just imagine those that started with bk 1...

[acesn8s]

Abyss, on 16 October 2014 - 05:22 PM, said:

That was a lesbian scene?


I thought it was something to do with the whole bonding warders thing...

oh, wait...

THAT PERVERT!

Fire of Heaven . . . The Nine Horse Hitch....

[Andorion]

27 chapters in and the shit has hit the fan. And to all of you who are curious, yes I did click the spoiler and no I can't believe thats what is happening. I kept waiting and waiting for Mat but he never showed up and how can any sane author do this and....but ahem! Back to what actually has happened:

Egwene finally shows some backbone and some political skill but I would say that the biggest shadow hanging over the Aes Sedai camp is the fact that Sheriam who is a traitor and Halima who is an infiltrator are both extremely close to the new Amyrlin, so that is pretty ominous for future events.
The White Tower just keeps on fragmenting, Elaida is basically a puppet of her Keeper who is under the Dark, but if I read that last scene right Seaine's group found Black Ajah, right? I mean that's the only reason Talene would not take the oath. So logically this might lead to a secret investigation and rooting out of the Black, and then to an inevitable confrontation.

Predictably the expedition aginst the Black Tower messed up. So Logain is now with the Black Tower. A rivalry with Taim now maybe? And who exactly is Moridin?He is apparently Naeblis, but I am pretty sure Demandred wanted to be that, and the last we saw him, his plans were going well, and the Dark Lord was pleased. So is this Demandreds elevated form? or someone totally new?

And all of this brings us to Rand and the Seanchan and what is basically a Sorcery Enfilade. I admire Rand's plan, which was to hit the Seanchan, keep them running and take them at a run. But he really should have modified his plan when he understood the disturbed nature of Saidin. But then again the entire book was hinting at how Rand is finally going over the edge, and basically that was what manifested here. So, my earlier question does get answered, he does use Callandor, but due to all the problems, he fucks up royally. I still maintan though, that with normal Saidin, Rand could have used Callandor to eradicate the Seanchan. As it is the Seanchan count themselves defeated, and their general is dead. So clearly they are not going on the attack immediately.

This in turn brings up a very important point, which is the Seanchan numbers. The Seanchan general Miraj said he could muster around 45000 including local soldiers, and since Ebou Dhar is the front and Tarabon is a rear area, I assume that he has around that many again in reserve at most. So the Seanchan Forerunner army can have around 80-90000 soldiers. But what is alarming is the recalling of a moderate rebellion, where 30000 died and '50 times that' became slaves. Thats 1.5 million slaves, and that implies a truly massive population. So if the Seanchan forerunners by which I mean vanguard can have 90000, and the invasion has been planned for two generations, the actual army could number in over a million.Though transporting and maintaining an army that large, would be a logistical nightmare. I mean the only real-world historical precedent is the Second World War in the Eastern Front, and even that did not go smoothly. This is definitely something to ponder over.

Finally there are the consequences for the wielding of the Bowl of Winds. One is pretty clear. The disturbance of Saidin and Saidar in the area is basically disrupting everything. But the more long-term aspect is the waether. Soft rain is turning into downpour, downpour into deluge and in places its snowing. The next book is called Winters Heart. Am I right in thinking the weather will now swing to extreme cold, and everything will be freezing? And please do not say "Winter is Coming"!!!

I haven't finshed the book yet, but I have to say that apart from the Mat part or rather the lack of it, which I assume wasa huge letdown to those who were waiting for this book at the time, this book is not really that bad. Its shorter than quite a few, which is a big plus, there are less descriptions, and more action, some really important progress is made, so yeah I find this book to be quite ok.

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 18 October 2014 - 02:43 AM, said:

I was clapping for you a few post back when brought up the Mat bit. I was horrified not getting him in 8. However Perrin was not in 5 but as he was my least fav of the 3 I didn't mind or even miss him one bit....

So yeah story wise this is a good entry but no Mat seems like a dark cruel world and thus it is my 2nd least fav.

On the Narblis, everyone of the 13 hope and fight for that position. Did I read that right that you think Moridin is Demandred?

Well, I figured that Demandred actually did what he was told to do and he did it succesfully, so he could have gotten rewarded, and the form of his reward was elevation to a new body and new power maybe? Sammael got himself killed and Graendal basically sat around...I mean it couldn't be Ishamael right? Most of the other Forsaken really messed up, except Semirhage and Mesana who are running covert ops.......The other option is that its something totally new like Shaidar Haran.

[Andorion]

This post has been a bit overdue but the last day was really full. Anyway......

Read the last 4 chapters and finished PoD. So Elaine and company finally reach Caemlyn. Foresee a lot of political wrangling here. But they have a darkfriend on tow.

Did not get that scene in Caemlyn with Hanlon and a captive Aes Sedai. Am I supposed to know these people?

Some of the Black Tower try to kill Rand, fail totally, but wsa it them? Was it a scheme of Taim? Questions questions. Was half expecting Min to die, but apparently RJ doesn't kill of characters easily.

Perrin messes up, clearly the prophet has a plan and Faile and most of the others end up Shaido prisoners. This is going to be painful.

One problem that is hitting me about this series is that I really can't care a lot about the characters. I mean if Min was killed, or if the Shaido tortured Faile, I amnot sure it would mena a lot to me in the way I physically felt the dealths in DG, MoI, RG, DoD, TCG etc. This I think is RJs biggest problem. Most of his characters are too annoying to be empathised with properly. About the only two people I really care about are Lan and Mat and Lan is practically a side character.

[Macros]

what of the lesbians?

[Andorion]

Macros, on 19 October 2014 - 10:05 AM, said:

what of the lesbians?

None in sight yet, I think.

[Illuyankas]

The thing to remember about Winter's Heart is the ending.

As in, that is literally the only thing I remember about it. So keep that in mind if you find it dragging.