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Plot summary:
Honestly, I can barely remember what happens in this book, and I just read it... anyway. Elayne and Nynaeve are trying to find the rebel Aes Sedai, and for a while being part of a travelling menagerie/circus. Yes it is pointless. Rand mopes about. Mat tries to flee but ends up as a general instead. Siuan and what-ever-she's-called, along with Min, also try to find the rebel Aes Sedai. Egwene learns more about Tel'aran'rhiod. About 2/3 into the book there's a Big Battle where Mat gathers an army and kills the leader of the enemy. Rand does... pretty much nothing, then gets hit by lightning. Somehow the victory is Rands anyway. In the end Moiraine sacrifies herself by pushing Lanfear through a portal ter'angreal (same one Mat went through in Rhuidean). For some reason everyone equates this with her being dead, despite the fact that they know it's a portal to another world. Rand runs off to battle Rahvin, and kills him with balefire. Gawyn is stupid. If this summary doesn't make sense it's because the book doesn't make sense. Everything happens because of plot with no build-up whatsoever.
Some thoughts:
Okay. There is one very, very, VERY good thing about this book. Faile is not in it. Thank GOD. On the other hand, Elayne and Nynaeve do their very best acting like spoiled arrogant idiots. I started to try to count the times I wanted to hit them in the head with something very hard, but then I realised I would have to count every single scene with them.
Funniest scene:
The whole part with the menagerie. It's just so STUPID!
Most annoying thing:
Nynaeve and Elayne. Gaaaah!
I can't be bothered writing more about this book. I need to gather all my strengh now to get through the horror of books 6-8...
Plot summary:
Since we've been to the north, the west and the south in the previous books, this one will of course (mostly) take place in the east. We MUST have new locations each book! So Rand is off to the Aiel waste, to the city of Rhuidean because plot says so. Mat follows because some weird people inside a portal tells him to go, and Egwene because she dreamt about it. Rand and Mat visit the city and Rand comes out with knowledge about Aiel history, and Mat comes out as Odin, complete with hanging from a tree.
Meanwhile, Perrin goes home to the Two Rivers with Faile and rallies the people there against Trolloc attacks. A bunch of Whitecloaks there do absolutely nothing escept sneer at Perrin. He is successful and the people start seeing him as a lord (which he rather resents).
Elayne and Nynaeve go to Tanchico to find the Black Ajah as well as a MacGuffin that can somehow control Rand. They befriend a Seanchan called Egeanin, mutter about men and in the end Nynaeve battles the Forsaken Moghedien.
Rand breaks all custom among the Aiel, is shown to be the Car'a'carn (every culture MUST have a different name for the Dragon Reborn) and finally battles Amsodean and beats him.
Lanfear plots and moons over Rand. Quite a lot. Mat gets a hat.
Some thoughts:
There are some interesting plotlines in this book, and it delves deeper into some of the characters. Rand is still boring as HELL, but I do enjoy the descriptions of the Aiel culture and how it clashes with what the "wetlanders" are used to. But please... why, why, WHY do we have to endure Faile?? The Perrin chapters are kinda interesting what with him going back home and finding that neither he nor the Two Rivers are really the same anymore, but it all gets destroyed by the horrible bitch. AGGG. Anyway, all in all still pretty entertaining fantasy, although very wordy.
Funniest moment:
Nynaeve trying to tug her braid when she's in disguise and don't have it, getting very annoyed. Well, more annoyed than usual. Also when the Wise Ones put her in children's clothes in Tel'aran'rhiod. Indignant Nynaeve is pretty funny.
Most annoying:
Well, from here onwards I could put Faile on every entry, but that would be boring. So let's settle for the fact that Jordan ALWAYS have to point out that men and women don't understand each other. He mentions it all. The. Fucking. Time. Which get horribly repetetive and boring. Also, come on, women do NOT think about men every single second of their lives, no matter what Jordan seems to think.
After defeating the bad guys at Falme it is now time for the party to split up once more. Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne (hereafter known as the Daft Trio) go back to the White Tower with Verin, and bring Mat along since he needs to be cured from the effects of the evil dagger-macguffin. Perrin, Rand and Moiraine sit up in the mountains waiting for... well, it's not really clear. Something. Finally Rand gets enough of sitting there and runs off. According to the prophecy the Dragon Reborn will wield the magic sword Callandor, which is in the fortress the Stone of Tear, so naturally that's where he's headed.
The Daft Trio get to Tar Valon where Mat is healed, and then gets a mission from the Amyrlin Seat to find thirteen Black Ajah who have escaped from Tar Valon. (One of whom is Liandrin, surprise surprise.) This means they have to travel again... to Tear. Of course. Elayne also give a letter to Mat that he will deliver to her mother Morgase, the Queen of Andor. This he does, and discoveres that Morgase's advisor is one of the Forsaken and plots to kill the Daft Trio. So of course he's off to Tear to warn them.
Anyway. Everyone gets to Tear after a while. Perrin works here as a blacksmith for a few days. Moiraine thinks. Loial reads. The Daft Trio gets captured by the Black Ajah. Then Rand (whom we have barely seen before in the book) steals into the Stone of Tear (we are given no real explanation HOW, just that he climbed it and got in) the same night that Mat sneaks in (better explanation, he used fireworks to blast a hole) AND a bunch of Aiel also sneaks in...
Cue an end-of-the-book battle of which half takes place in dreams, and at the end Rand grabs Callandor and kills the Dark One... OR? No, of course he didn't, it just appeared that way. Come on, we have ten more books! Mat saves the Daft Trio and gets no thanks. Perrin dreams of wolves and Moiraine uses balefire. In the morning the Dragon banner flies from the top of the Stone, proclaiming the Dragon Reborn to all.
General thoughts:
This is the best book in the series (not that that says a lot...) with a plot that moves forward toward the inevitable conclusion, more in-depth characters, more interesting baddies and not that many dull passages. We get to see more of Perrin and Mat and get to know more about how they reason. The plot thickens with the Black Ajah now showing themselves (well, at least to the readers). We get to know now about the World of Dreams and the first hint of the rules that govern that world. The three ta'veren finally seems to accept what they are and use it to their advantage (especially Mat, who absolutely ABUSES his luck). We also barely see Rand in it except at the beginning and end... which is just as well since he's as dull as wood. Dull wood. Unfortunately, this book has one HUGE problem... you might have noticed in the summary that I did not talk a lot about Perrin. That's because I don't want to think about his parts,because this is the book where Faile makes her entry. AGGG.
Funniest moment:
Every scene where Mat eats a lot. I don't know why, but it's hilarious.
Most annoying thing:
Faile. Oh goddess, Faile. I did not remember that she made her entry this early in the series, but there she is. And OH GOD is she annoying! And she will get worse... much worse. *cries*
- Mood:
geeky - Music:Bruce Springsteen - Paradise
Finished The Great Hunt yesterday. Wondering how the hell I'll manage to get through all of these books...
Plot summary:
Since the book is called The Great Hunt, and the Horn of Valere was found at the end of the last one, of course one of the first things to happen in this book is that the horn gets stolen, along with Mat's dagger from Shadar Logoth which apparently will kill him if he keeps it but will kill him even faster if he's not close to it. So... more riding across the country! Along the way Rand, Loial and a "sniffer" called Hurin manages to fall asleep next to a Portal Stone and gets transported to some weird parallell world. Here they encounter hilarious monsters called grolm (come ON!) and a woman called Selene whom they Rand trusts immediately which frankly is STUPID. They get back to the real world and end up in Cairhien where everyone thinks Rand is a lord, which leads to misunderstandings and in the end civil war. Anyway, he meets up with the rest of the team and they realise they have to go to Falme because that's where the horn is being taken.
Meanwhile, Egwene and Nynaeve has been taken to the White Tower where Nynaeve gets to take the test for Accepted without even training as a Novice (no real reason is given for this except that she's strong). They meet Elayne and Min here, and then they all turn extremely stupid and follow Liandrin (of the Red Ajah, of which we so far has not met a single symphathetic character) through a Waygate to... Falme. Where, surprise surprise, it turns out Liandrin betrays them to the Seanchan, invaders from a foreign land with ways diffferent from our own. Egwene and Min are captured and Egwene made into a damane. The other two escape. Then they manage to spring Egwene from her imprisonment at the same time that Rand & co arrives in Falme and steals back the horn. Since everyone is now at the same place and we're at the end of the book, it is now time for the Big Battle and time for the big bad evil one to turn up. In the end the Seanchan are driven from Falme and Rand fights Ba'alzamon in the sky (yes, it is as weird as it sounds.) Also, duing this Mat blows the Horn of Valere, summoning the dead heroes to join in the battle, which means that Birgitte is finally here.
Some thoughts:
Compared to the last book it is a relief to read a book where things actually HAPPEN. Sure, it is still occasionally very tedious reading (especially the dream scenes. Why do they have to be so bloody long?) but at least some of the stuff is interesting. Many things which will be important in later books are introduced (or at least embellished on) here, such as the Portal Stones and the Seanchan and their damane. We get to learn more about Perrin and his relationship with wolves, as well as more about the Aes Sedai. But why, WHY are everyone acting so stupid?? Let me present the top three stupid things in the book!
3. Rand meets a strange, beautiful girl in the other world. He trusts her at once, without really thinking HOW she came to be there and HOW she knows how the monsters hunt. Now, admittedly Rand is a complete idiot, but STILL! Meeting someone sho seems to know a lot of strange things just like that... a little mistrust would not be amiss.
2. The Red Ajah Liandrin comes talking to Egwene and Nynaeve, telling them they must leave Tar Valon NOW and not talk to anyone else. She specifically says that they shouldn't trust anyone because anyone in the Tower can be Black Ajah. (Somehow they don't realise this applies to LIandrin as well.) They follow her, never wondering why she's not bothered by the Black Wind in the Ways. Elayne and Min tag along just because. Okay, I can handle Egwene and Elayne being this stupid, and perhaps Nynaeve, but Min? She should know better.
1. Egwene again! So, Nynaeve, Min and Elayne have managed to free her from being a damane, and now they need to sneak though the city to a waiting ship in the harbour. The city is teeming with soldiers since Rand just stole back the Horn and Whitecloaks are coming. So what does Egwene do? Sneak along as was the plan? No. She stands in the middle of the street, using the One Power to tear up the freaking road in front of the soldiers. How, just HOW is that helping anything at all except showing every single enemy they have where she is? Of course, two seconds later she has a great fireball coming her way...
Funniest moment:
Not a moment this time either (I should rename this category), but the fact that the most grizzled, battle-scarred, one-eyed Shienaran soldier who can't say anything without cursing is called... Uno. No. Just... no.
Most annoying thing:
See last post. It continues! *tears hair*
Anyway. All in all a more enjoyable book than the first, and if I remember correctly a hell lot better than the later ones. (Which makes me fear for reading the rest...)
Do a google search on "[insert your first name here] wants" and put down the first five things that come up.
This was my result. I must say it is... odd.
Nina Wants A Chip!
Nina Wants You on Her Bed
Nina Wants To Know What's In Her Mouth
NIna Wants to wear Clothes!!!
Nina wants to become a sculptor
I don't know if it's just my brain or whatever, but... yeah. Am I the only one thinking the last sentence doesn't really fit in? I'm extremely tired right now so I don't know if this makes sense or not. Eh, I'm off to bed.
To make things a little more bearable, and to make sure that I will remember what happens this time I will post a summary of each book along with my thoughts here on LJ.
So. Book one, The Eye of the World.
Plot summary:
Evil Trollocs attack the peaceful village of Emond's Field, forcing our "hero" Rand al'Thor to run off together with two friends (Perrin and Mat), a mysterious Aes Sedai called Moiraine, her Warder Lan and obvious romantic interest Egwene. The Dark One stirs in his prison and according to legend only the Dragon Reborn can stop him. Yes, it is the bog standard fantasy beginning. They travel a bit, then get separated in an attack in an evil abandoned city, then get reunited after a few "adventures" (which are horribly not interesting at all). We learn that the three guys are ta'veren, which means pretty much that destiny turns around them, which sounds kinda good but really sucks. On the way they pick up Nynaeve who is the village Wisdom and who wants to drag them back to the village, and Loial, an Ogier which is the series "good race which is not human" since Jordan at least has the sense to keep away from dwarves and elves.
The titular Eye of the World is of course the MacGuffin they have to find in the end, which they do after a bit more travelling. There they meet some Forsaken (henchmen of the Dark One), defeats them, and then Rand meets the Dark One in a dream and kills him (or DID he? dun-dun-duuun!) by drawing on the male half of the True Source, which is kinda a big deal since every male that has been able to do this have gone mad.
General thoughts so far:
Well, as I said earlier, this pretty much follows the template for the first book in a fantasy series. Clueless poor guy is more than meets the eye and gets dragged into adventure by older magic-wielder. Still, the premise is actually pretty good and I like the whole theme with weaving (time is a wheel, existance a pattern, you weave different strands to make magic...), and there are a few interesting characters. Unfortunately, the main one is not one of those. Rand is bland and totally uninteresting. Also, as is well known, Jordan just doesn't know where to stop writing. His writing is tedious at best and just incomprehensible at worst. He certainly does not know the meaning of kill your darlings. And as I recall this will only get worse...
Funniest moment:
Not so much a moment, but the whole part with the Children of the Light. Mainly because I'm watching Rederiet now and there's a sect there called exactly the same thing... and they are hilarious.
Most annoying thing:
The fact that all three guys ALWAYS seem to think that the others would be better talking to girls than they are. Okay, it was funny the first two or three times. We get it now. You do not have to write that "Rand wished Perrin was here, he knew how to talk to girls" EVERY SINGLE TIME one of them is chatting to a lady!
Now, onwards to The Great Hunt!
So. A few reflections.
The beginning was great. Ah yes, the moon landing was of course a secret mission to explore a crashed alien ship! Yeah! Too bad the rest of the film didn't live up to this...
Simmons. Always fun, although I felt they made his character just a bit too crazy at times. But I still like him.
It felt like the filmmakers had (finally) been looking through a few episodes of G1. And then taking the most implausable parts of it. Let's see... bringing Cybertron to Earth? Hello The Ultimate Doom. The American government sending the Autobots off Earth? Hello Megatron's Master Plan. And those ideas are just as stupid in the movie as in the old G1 episodes. I mean, come on! Like it wouldn't wreck havoc with the Earth gravitation to bring a much bigger planet into our athmosphere. And why, just why, do the Autobots have to leave the PLANET because the USA don't want them? Actually, those ideas are MORE stupid here since the old episodes are kids' cartoons, and kids' cartoons don't have to follow normal laws of nature.
Still can't understand why they don't let us know the Autobots. Or the Decepticons, for that matter. And where is my old moral Optimus? Not in this movie that is. All this accomplishes is that we don't care a bit for the ones who die. (Except Ironhide. That made me sad!) This is a film about giant alien robots, so please have them play a part more than cannon fodder!
The final battle could have been cut by 80% and we wouldn't have missed anything. Booooring. And just WHERE were the Autobots there? All we saw was Sam running this way, running that way, and then running this way again. I paid good money to see robots, not people! :-P
I really understand why they've never let Prowl be in this movie. He would implode from all the lack of logic.
Not going to talk much about the sexual chauvinism, since it's more hilarious than provocative.
In all, fun movie if you watch it with the right mindset.
- Mood: geeky
Went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 yesterday. Some impressions below the cut.
( SPOILERS AHEAD! )Now I'm gonna eat something. Hungry!
Then my brother and his girlfriend started talking about how they'd downloaded and started watching Game of Thrones. And would you know, I just happened to have a few memory sticks with me! So. I got the first five episodes and got home. Do you think I went to sleep (the sensible option) or stayed awake watching three episodes in a row all night, giving me less than an hour's sleep? Yeah, I think you know.
So, what did I think? Considering I watched the two remaining episodes when I got home from Svenska Högarna despite being dead tired might give a clue. Yes, I liked it. Great actors, great scenery and very true to the book. Lots of blood, gore and nudity. Most things were as I had imagined it, except for a few people looking younge/older/fatter/slimmer or whatever, but that's just to be expected. Also the whole Loras/Renly thing was more pronounced in the series. Really looking forward to more episodes! Have to get my brother to send me the others he's got...
- Mood: nerdy
