Review: Ok, it is no secret I am a big fan of this series/author and finished this novel in two nights.
Joe has been transported to a new world in-game and must start anew with less acrued power than he had before.
At first I was skeptical that a static war involving Elves and Dwarfs would be interesting yet the author takes the intricacies of world building and molds them into a palatable whole. Whats makes for a fun read are the side-quests and new characters and situations therein. I was constantly rooting for Joe as he seems to constantly get shjt on yet retains a good sense of self-worth and determination.
I did find one spelling error butt I also pick the corn out of my shjt.
Review: This series was gradually getting better. There are still remnants of backstory dialogue between characters that know each other that is reminiscent of a beginning writer, yet it was scant and barely detracted from the whole. Still with us is the grammatical and spelling errors that need correction after 6 years in print.
The story line fell dismal for most of the novel as it revolved around Maera, a new house and fukin’ babies. I mean who gives a fuk?. Is this supposed to build depth for a shallow character? Well sadly it did not and we are forced to read pure drivel for much of the novel. The setup for her husband Joe to bang her best friend Anya, at the beginning of this series, is now in play…..with her blessing of course. In short order Joe will have two wives that are the fairest in all the land.
Joe and Carnigan are growing in characterization while Maera is still a static control freak. Anya was forceful all through her escape and subsequent rescue but now behaves like a timid dormouse. This author changes a characters personality just as suddenly so as to fit the developing story line.
Very little time is spent on the mounting war where the buildup of tactics and strategy were a testament to the novels premise. These were compelling and informative interludes that again, were lacking where the waves of Maera splashed.
It is too bad that this author lacks discretion where story line plots are concerned. Nothing is a surprise as the setups are obvious and poorly concealed. The idea that Joe will get another wife is just a guess and will remain so, as I am done with all knowing Mostly Good YA’s and one dimensional female characters.
Review: Well Maera is now wed to our reluctant hero and renaissance man, Joe. Maera is slightly insufferable because she gets her way in all things and now is considered a savant. Of course, why not have an intellectual power duo that rise above the filthy masses? See while most authors allow for their MC’s to flourish under the yoke of stupidity (YA), this author chooses to gift the YA with high intellectual prowess than can only offset the readers suspension of belief. Right? Nah, it fails in many aspects yet the visceral truth is that there is no depth built into them. A cry here, a cry there and “duty before all” does not a character make.
The naming conventions are even worse this time around (Molosia-say it real slow. Mmmmooolosiaaaah) and the military conversations amongst the Narthanians is thankfully short-er-ish. Maera and a few others need to be tossed off a cliff in order to set a solid story line in motion. What I liked in this installment is that it flowed much better than the first.
Review: This story line has been executed quite a bit through the genre. Boy or gurl is transported either through time or space with advanced knowledge that progresses the resident culture exponentially. Most are inventive and take you to that place where we root for the underdog as most of the story lines involve an oppressed people that are Mostly Good. The Very Bad or Mostly Bad tend to be rigid in presentation and outcome as we brook no sympathy with conquerors.
In this rendition, the history of the planet and it’s various factions/clans are iterated between people that know each other intimately. Why would anyone discuss what they already know and accept as historical fact? It read like a 70’s porno screenplay. ” Hey honey when we moved from the Steppes of Algar in an ancestral rush to flee the great tide of Rondor, who would have thought that todays prelate would subjugate the Preddi masses and shift power to the Elscenes in a bid to overthrow Caldar? Ha, ha, ha.” <Ooom chika mow wow!!> What happened to the slow reveal rather than tossing a set stage in your face?
Which brings up another point of contention I have with this booky. The naming conventions were the absolute worst I have ever encountered as they do not mesh and obviously failed to derive from the same root. Nothing fit and the presentation was awkward and rushed. Most of the names sounded like Star Trek cultures found in a distant galaxy, only worse. “Buldorians”,Narthanians, Caeldians, Celweseians”, round out some of the failed labeling attempts.
Early on, the set up for Joseph to hook up with Maera is boldly evident as she is spicy hot and all her suitors end up leaving as she is not only hotter than fresh lava-pants but smart alecky and super intelligent to boot. Gee I wonder if they will meet? Of course when her parents talk about her it goes like, “What are you thinking about honey?” “You know my hopes for Maera to wed someone of high station may not come to pass as she is too smart and always I favored her much to my detriment and later in life I depend on her at council meetings and she is too headstrong, perhaps she should travel in order to learn more outside of our realm as the list of failed suitors……..”. And on, and on, and on. Fug me. Hmmm, I wonder where she will travel? <Ooom chika mow, wow!!>
The military cultural explanations of the Narthanians is long-winded and in much the same backstory commentary-setup vein. Oh, but Joseph needs to keep a lookout for these rascal Narthanians while he builds an empire based on CHEMISTRY! Ah smugness, where is they sting? I don’t know why the author chose to parallel Earth so closely in all things. I think it was easier to make up stupid names and change a few plants rather than build a resident alien culture on a distant planet.
This novel was based on a nerds wet-dream where Super Chemistry Man builds a backwards society up from the ground while inserting his belief system. From law and order to banking nothing is untouched by this douche. What happened to the Prime Directive? Of course he gets to bang the hottest asteroid fart in the galaxy cause…Ooom chicka mow wow!!!!
Review: This has trended where I thought it would from #2. The YA (Mostly to Very Stupid) ride the story line like a witch on a cold splintered broom stick. There is this authorial division between the genders that spreads a shallow grave of characterization.
Again, all the women are hotter than chili farts except those that A) run a kitchen B) manage a cleaning crew or, C) give Mat a slap and tickle. Egwene and crew only seem to get more feisty and controlling yet swoon over a hunky man then call him an anvil headed lout. Huh? They have all these amazing powers yet seem to get captured, a-lot. The Mostly Stupid men/boys allow the hyper-controllers to move their libidos every which way while growling about it. The only process that might make any of these women palatable would be the deletion of Very Stupid, Naynaeve. Fug me. Every interaction is an emotional tempest coupled with the constant tugging of her braid(s). A very fractional character. The foreshadowing that began in the first novel, where Egwene, Nayanaeve and Dummay could be THE MOST POWERFUL AES SEDAI EVER!!!! is, sadly, still in play.
The only characters worth a shjt are Perrin and Mat. Perrin, because he resists the hyper-controlling efforts of Faile, and Mat, as he is aware of manipulators to a fault. He also is well grounded which makes him more believable. The Ogier never changes much and is more of a story line crutch to expedite the traveling of the Ways.
These novels keep dropping in value as they continue to lose steam to the YA rendition. Lost are the gritty underpinnings that harkened the first novel and Rand al Thor has become a blind footnote to the inter-play of the Mostly Stupid.
I am going to stop here and not finish the series as the pain is too much to bear.
Review: What I feared is coming to pass. The YA dummies have taken root without any sort of emotional development other than flirting and/or righteous retribution. When not tugging on long braids in anger or blushing over hunky shirtless sword dudes, their male counterparts are playing the reluctant heroes with ever tightening brows. Even when facts hit them all right in the fukin face, they still are in denial or disbelief. So my question is, “How long can this shjt go on?”. Well as long as the nights I am willing to read it.
Morraine continues to be this central figure that is more schoolmarm to the hormonal adolescents than a magic wielding tempest. The little shjts constantly decry their state of being yet willingly go on dangerous quests for no other reason than that their friend is going. Why they tend to iterate that they are fully grown men or women and will not suffer being treated less than so, I have no idea. “I have tits! I am not a baby!” wears thin after awhile.
So why keep reading when characters are obviously heading downhill? Mat. Put simply he has grown into a different sort of man with no aspirations other than to gamble and live in the moment. He is at once daring and gallant when the needs arise yet runs for his life as situations dictate. He is acerbic to the point of obnoxiousness yet doesn’t cross the line into perfidy. I like the Ailemen clans and the Ogier, but that is expected. Who doesn’t like a friendly and affable 10 foot tall smurf. Zarien has come into play late in the game and for some reason opens her big mouth all the time under the chastisement of the adults. More growing evidence that the author planned to add more stupidity throughout this series.
Egwene’s gurl crew has come close to being erased and I wish the author had had the balls to do it. Rand is stumbling around in denial because every novel needs a Kevin Costner. So I continue on as I have nothing else to read.
Viking Jam 