[Macros]

30% into Knife of dreams.
Another nothing burger so far

[Tsundoku]

Macros, on 11 March 2024 - 09:47 PM, said:

30% into Knife of dreams.
Another nothing burger so far

Second half picks up the pace.

[Abyss]

Tsundoku, on 12 March 2024 - 02:40 PM, said:

Macros, on 11 March 2024 - 09:47 PM, said:

30% into Knife of dreams.
Another nothing burger so far

Second half picks up the pace.

It has some decent moments. Definitely suffers from the tail end of the 6-10 Wheel of Slog but if you skim a bit you won't miss much and the fun moments are fun and it picks up from here.
Don't bail, the (arguably) bestest parts are ahead.

[Macros]

I realised I've read Knife as well previously.
So I must have slogged through until RJ passed.
Half way in and the glaring issue remains.

The power scaling is quite frankly wank.
The assault on the Manor House, 100,000 trollocs dead, not a typo, and that was Rand with a handful of ashaman and aes sedai.
Plus associated Myrddraal, Soldiers are completely irrelevant in this universe.
And it was dealt with in a page, so yah, fuck all happens then a one page blitz of death gates.
And Rand is a stupid arsehole (like literally dumb)
Cadsuane is an arsehole (puckered)
Elayne is an arsehole (pampered with charmin ultra)
Wise ones are arseholes (wizened)
Perrin is an arsehole (hairy)
Tuon is an arsehole (pert)

Logain is half likeable
RJ is clearly a boob man, and seems to think women are all about the calves

[Abyss]

Everything you say is true.
Keep reading.

[Macros]

Nymeave slowly desarseholeifying
But slowly.

[Tiste Simeon]

I'll admit I never got to Tuon but I like the sound of whoever they are...

[Abyss]

Macros, on 13 March 2024 - 06:53 AM, said:

Nymeave slowly desarseholeifying
But slowly.

KEEP READING

[Macros]

And we have his BIG revelation in Knife.
Tremalking, yawn.

[Macros]

85% of knife.

A - why didn't Rand just hit Saemharage with a tiny bolt of balefire, wipe out 5 minutes of her life and get his hand back? Idiot

B - Why is Elyane such a fucking muppet? Going to try and take down 2 black ajah with just 4 sisters, 1 of whom might be a dark friend, 1 who can't always grab the source when she has most of the Kin there that are hella strong in the power? Idiot

[Abyss]

Macros, on 14 March 2024 - 07:53 PM, said:

And we have his BIG revelation in Knife.
Tremalking, yawn.

i remember the hype around this pre-release and the complete and utter nothingburger it was.

Macros, on 20 March 2024 - 08:49 AM, said:

85% of knife.

A - why didn't Rand just hit Saemharage with a tiny bolt of balefire, wipe out 5 minutes of her life and get his hand back? Idiot

B - Why is Elyane such a fucking muppet? Going to try and take down 2 black ajah with just 4 sisters, 1 of whom might be a dark friend, 1 who can't always grab the source when she has most of the Kin there that are hella strong in the power? Idiot

A - trauma

B - idiocy on the first part, trying to protect the Kin on the second.

[Macros]

A - nope no sale.

B - agreed idiot.

Like vandela and sesana or whatever their names were literally died for Elaynes hubris

[Tsundoku]

Abyss, on 21 March 2024 - 01:39 PM, said:

Macros, on 14 March 2024 - 07:53 PM, said:

And we have his BIG revelation in Knife.
Tremalking, yawn.

i remember the hype around this pre-release and the complete and utter nothingburger it was.

Sorry, refresh my memory please? Use spoiler tags if you wish.

[Macros]

The people on the island of tremalking drank the kool aid
But no one cared because, who the fuck were they?

15% into gathering storm, killing the prophet straight off was a great choice, one silly plot line removed

[Abyss]

Tsundoku, on 22 March 2024 - 11:39 AM, said:

Abyss, on 21 March 2024 - 01:39 PM, said:

Macros, on 14 March 2024 - 07:53 PM, said:

And we have his BIG revelation in Knife.
Tremalking, yawn.

i remember the hype around this pre-release and the complete and utter nothingburger it was.

Sorry, refresh my memory please? Use spoiler tags if you wish.

Spoiler

After a three'ish year pause deep in the 6-10 slogfeste, RJ brings out KoD and swears (with suitable marketing support) that it's a return to greatness, beginning of the end, restore all our faiths and ensure world peace, and btw there is one HUGE event that will knock our collective socks right off our well turned calves and trigger a fandom wide arm-crossing sniffgasm.

And of course everyone jumps right in and reads the book aaaaaaaand... nothing. Sure, stuff happens, Rand takes out an army, Elayne gets queened, the Black Tower and the Reds reach accord, Loial gets laid, but nothing MAJOR along the lines of cleansing Saidin.

So, quickly enough, someone asks RJ what he was referring to, and he says it's the mass suicide on the Isle of Tremalking. So for most of us that was a 'the what on where?'. The hardcore Terez-level WoTies quickly enough remind us that Tremalking is the island w the big statue w the shiny globe controlled by the mini statue, and tea, apparently, and towards the end of the book there was much lamenting, almost two whole paragraphs, because the highly cultish population whom we had never before heard of saw the globe light up and offed themselves because the Age of Something Something was ending.

You can imagine the reaction this triggered among those already annoyed/disappointed in the books.

Yeah, like that, only louder.

...and then RJ passed away and the mid'ness of KoD was sort of lost to the raging questions of whether the series would continue and who would do it and why Christopher Golden was taking out assassination contracts on other well-known licensed fantasy property authors.

[Tsundoku]

OK thank you. Well, I can't recall it at all which i guess really does make it a great big nothingburger.

I guess it proves the point - if the biggest thing about it was the initial lack of reaction and then later lack of recall then it really was underwhelming.

[Macros]

Sanderson is probably a better writter than Jordan, purely based on his ability to shed some of the dead weight and rationalise the number of characters.
Also anyone who says Sanderson can't do dark, read the Min section mid gathering storm.

Halfway through, worth THE SLOG so far? Remains to be seen, also the marked improvement could be the bitter after taste of crossroads and knife

[Tiste Simeon]

Honestly reading your thoughts Macros makes me glad I bailed.

[Macros]

I dunno Tiste
Jordan was slowly turning Egwene into a solid character, Sanderson knocks her out the park. Just finished the night raid, hope Siuans actions don't fuck things up too much, cause Egwene has dialed up the bad ass

[Abyss]

 Tiste Simeon, on 23 March 2024 - 07:19 PM, said:

Honestly reading your thoughts Macros makes me glad I bailed.

 Macros, on 25 March 2024 - 07:51 AM, said:

I dunno Tiste
Jordan was slowly turning Egwene into a solid character, Sanderson knocks her out the park. Just finished the night raid, hope Siuans actions don't fuck things up too much, cause Egwene has dialed up the bad ass

I think the Sanderson books are worth the slog, especially now that the slog is all available in one sloggy pile and slogskimming is an option. It sucked when we had years to slogwait. You dont. And the Sanderson books are right there w the best, not the worseslog, of the series.