Re: A Memory of Light in review

[TB]

On Mar 29, 11:24 am, Aaron <ahste...@gmail.com> wrote:
> So, I really enjoyed it overall. He writes well enough. The book was better, I'd say, than at least a few of the WOT installments. Numbers 7, 8, 10, 11, if I've got that right, for starters maybe?
>
> *spoiler alert*
>
> Although I read this damn book twice already, should be time to drop the spoiler alerts.
>
> Ah well.
> ...
>
> ...
>
> ...
>
> ...
>
> The Good:
> Cool traveling portal uses. I believe I'd seen almost all of those as fan ideas, which makes it even cooler. And the lava portal is very similar to a scene from the Donaldson duology "The mirror of her dreams"..."A man rides through".
>
> All the nostalgia of the main characters doing what it is they did most throughout the series. At first it annoyed me, but I quickly got over it.
>
> On that subject, some of those main characters getting a come-uppance via a nice comeback, like Perrin to Nynaeve about wolves vs. dogs.
>
> Less Faile
>
> Mat no longer being tied to the horn...gave some nice moments for me at least.
>
> Perrin stopped being a pussy!
>
> A good ending, better than many authors' attempts, I'd say. I was recently lamenting to Chucky, and have lamented over the years to many others, that so very MANY authors suck at endings. I thought this was...pretty well done.
>
> An effective bunch of Forsaken, finally.
>
> Red Ajah coming to their fucking senses and doing some good in the world.
>
> Lan did it! You know what I mean! Woo!
>
> Warder bonds being used against forces of the Light, Rand specifically. Another fan idea IIRC.
>
> Ogier kicking some ass!
>
> Tuon finally making some goddamn sense.
>
> A use for Min's talent that brings her acclaim!
>
> An army of Myrddraal!
>
> The Bad:
> Still too much Faile.
>
> One-sided Balefire usage for far too long. No way would the Light have been holding so well under those conditions. He even illustrated that in one scene just before Egwene discovers the counter to balefire.
>
> I know, I know, the counter needed to be held back for effect. But, basically, these battles should have been lost long before, under those conditions.
>
> No one can check the generals for compulsion and remove it, regularly? Seems they should have expected that move by the shadow.

Nynaeve's the only one who is good at detecting Compulsion, and the
only one who can Heal it.
>
> Faile didn't die.

That surprised me to.

A similar bad point: Lan impailing himself on Demandred's sword in
order to kill him, then sliding off the sword and onto the ground, yet
still surviving!
>
> Page 481: I feel that Bashere's outburst here (against Tam) was totally out of character. Almost as if the person writing this didn't really know how Bashere typically behaved....
>
> Page 485: Bryne being initially disturbed that Uno isn't an officer is totally out of character, both for Bryne being who he is, and for a general during a deadly battle.

I bet that the above two incidents were early signs that those two had
been Compulsed!
>
> Page 880: "in her haste, picked at the wrong thread." What? From her thoughts just above, she WANTED it to explode. So why did it get written as a mistake made in haste?

Maybe she had intended to pick at another thread that would enhance
the explosive effect, but grabbed the wrong thread, so got less of an
explosion than she wanted.

PP 748-749: Rand discovers that killing the DO would render everyone
into vapid simperers! The effect is similar to the effect of being
Turned to the Dark!

PP 827-829: The Hinderstappers battle the Shadow's forces at the river
and die, then come back to life the next morning to fight the stunned
Dreadlords!

[pbo...@conservation.org]

On Saturday, March 30, 2013 3:45:42 PM UTC-4, TB wrote:
> On Mar 29, 11:24 am, Aaron <ahste...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Red Ajah coming to their fucking senses and doing some good in the world.

Nice spin on what the Red Ajah do from Pevara - "We train to fight channelers". More use could, and should, have been made of that.

> > Warder bonds being used against forces of the Light, Rand specifically. Another fan idea IIRC.

In this case it was likely planned from the start, since the whole Alanna bond was almost entirely neglected after it was introduced it was presumably meant as set-up for the endgame.

> > One-sided Balefire usage for far too long. No way would the Light have been holding so well under those conditions. He even illustrated that in one scene just before Egwene discovers the counter to balefire.

That whole section seemed a bit off. "Just a weave" = "a counterweave exists for every weave"? This is out of nowhere - what's the counterweave to a shield? A fireball? A gateway?

> > No one can check the generals for compulsion and remove it, regularly? Seems they should have expected that move by the shadow.

They wouldn't obviously have been expecting it to be laid on them in Tel'aran'rhiod, and they were supposedly guarding the tents.

> > Faile didn't die.
>
>
>
> That surprised me to.

I think Sanderson didn't want to spoil the "Dragon's Peace" ending by leaving a succession crisis in Saldaea as a loose end. Of course he could simply have refrained from killing Bashere off.

There were more deaths than I'd expected - given Jordan's reluctance to kill his protagonists, had he been writing it I suspect everyone would have survived - but there were still a few too many last-minute escapes (Perrin, Galad, Faile, Lan).

> A similar bad point: Lan impailing himself on Demandred's sword in
>
> order to kill him, then sliding off the sword and onto the ground, yet
>
> still surviving!

Yes, that was clumsy, particularly with Sheathing the Sword foreshadowed way back when as a necessarily fatal move. Maybe Sanderson felt that characters whose possible post-Last Battle future was foreshadowed (and none were as heavily choreographed as Lan and Nynaeve in the resurrected Malkier) should survive for consistency.

>
> > Page 481: I feel that Bashere's outburst here (against Tam) was totally out of character. Almost as if the person writing this didn't really know how Bashere typically behaved....

The characters commented that it was out of character, so I think Sanderson picked up on that. Who else in the series has accused Bashere of being a Darkfriend? Considering that one of his cousins was (in Maradon), this might be a particularly sore point for him.

More worrying to me is that it's not consistent with the reactions of the other great captains to being challenged - they all admit to being unable to function.

> > Page 485: Bryne being initially disturbed that Uno isn't an officer is totally out of character, both for Bryne being who he is, and for a general during a deadly battle.
>
>
>
> I bet that the above two incidents were early signs that those two had
>
> been Compulsed!

Hadn't thought about it that way, but yes that could have been a deliberate lapse.

> PP 827-829: The Hinderstappers battle the Shadow's forces at the river
>
> and die, then come back to life the next morning to fight the stunned
>
> Dreadlords!

I liked that one...

[Timothy Bruening]

On Monday, May 27, 2013 at 8:41:55 PM UTC-7, pbo...@conservation.org wrote:
> On Saturday, March 30, 2013 3:45:42 PM UTC-4, TB wrote:
> > On Mar 29, 11:24 am, Aaron <ahste...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Red Ajah coming to their fucking senses and doing some good in the world.
> Nice spin on what the Red Ajah do from Pevara - "We train to fight channelers". More use could, and should, have been made of that.

I expect that they will in the future go after rogue channelers of BOTH genders, such as any surviving Dreadlords.

> > > Warder bonds being used against forces of the Light, Rand specifically. Another fan idea IIRC.
> In this case it was likely planned from the start, since the whole Alanna bond was almost entirely neglected after it was introduced it was presumably meant as set-up for the endgame.
> > > One-sided Balefire usage for far too long. No way would the Light have been holding so well under those conditions. He even illustrated that in one scene just before Egwene discovers the counter to balefire.

I was surprised that Egwene herself didn't get retroactively killed due to Balefire canceling out the protective actions of her troops!

[Timothy Bruening]

On Monday, May 27, 2013 at 8:41:55 PM UTC-7, pbo...@conservation.org wrote:

> On Saturday, March 30, 2013 3:45:42 PM UTC-4, TB wrote:
> > On Mar 29, 11:24 am, Aaron <ahste...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Red Ajah coming to their fucking senses and doing some good in the world.
> Nice spin on what the Red Ajah do from Pevara - "We train to fight channelers". More use could, and should, have been made of that.
> > > Warder bonds being used against forces of the Light, Rand specifically. Another fan idea IIRC.
> In this case it was likely planned from the start, since the whole Alanna bond was almost entirely neglected after it was introduced it was presumably meant as set-up for the endgame.
> > > One-sided Balefire usage for far too long. No way would the Light have been holding so well under those conditions. He even illustrated that in one scene just before Egwene discovers the counter to balefire.
> That whole section seemed a bit off. "Just a weave" = "a counterweave exists for every weave"? This is out of nowhere - what's the counterweave to a shield? A fireball? A gateway?
> > > No one can check the generals for compulsion and remove it, regularly? Seems they should have expected that move by the shadow.
> They wouldn't obviously have been expecting it to be laid on them in Tel'aran'rhiod, and they were supposedly guarding the tents.

How did Graendal Compulse a Warder (Gareth Bryne, Warder to Siuan)?

[Timothy Bruening]

Since Graendal could Compulse a Warder, why didn't she Compulse Lan?