Towers of Midnight
Ugh, I've been slacking badly... finished this book on Saturday, started typing this on Sunday, and then just... gave up. What does one say at a point like this? Someone tell me, precisely what am I supposed to do the next 9 months before the last book comes out? This is not funny. I want to know what happens, and I want it now!
But, yeah, okay. Let's get this over with. Finally.
The Good:
Rand. After the episode at the top of Dragonmount in the previous book, he sorta figured that there is enough good in the world to make it worth saving. So he goes Jesus-mode, walking around making apple trees bloom and stopping people from starving and the sort of stuff. (AND that the farmer with the apple trees was the same guy who gave Rand & Mat a ride in his wagon back in the freaking first book of the whole series! Asdf. Them little details. <3) His interaction with pretty much everyone he interacts with during the course of this book. Okay, introducing Min to his father was super cheesy, but sort of sweet, too. (And makes me wonder if he's going to do the same with Aviendha & Elayne, and what will Tam think of that? xD) His talk with Cadsuane and the comment about being over 400 years old and the only living male Aes Sedai who never went over to the Shadow. <3 Which leads me to...
Lews Therin. I was disappointed when, in the previous book, Rand thought that he was never going to hear Lews Therin's voice again. And let's face it, Lews Therin Telamon has been a huge part of what makes Rand an interesting character. Regular farmboys-turned-heroes just don't cut it, I'm sorry. But this, in a way this was even better - see, Rand is Lews Therin. Lews Therin is no longer a voice inside his head, but he is him. And it shows. In random offhand comments here and there. And that makes it more authentic than if he went on lengthy monologues about all the things he remembers from LTT's life. Well played.
Galad's alliance with Perrin. And yeah, generally most of the stuff that happened while they were together. I didn't like the Whitecloak conviction that Perrin is a Darkfriend or a Shadowspawn, but then again, they're Whitecloaks, what can you expect. I liked that Dain Bornhald finally found out the truth, that Perrin didn't kill his father. I liked the reunion between Morgase and Galad, and Morgase & Tallanvor finally getting married. Grady & Neald are still awesome. The forging of the Hopper-hammer whose proper name I can't find for the moment. The chat with Elayne and the conclusion. The encounter with Noam/Boundless in the Wolf Dream. Faile & Berelain's plot to clear Perrin's reputation must have been the first time in the whole series that those two don't make me want to tear their hair off.
Elayne and Andor. At least something somewhere is going according to plan. Gawyn, too, once he quits being an angsty teenager. And even more so when he finally gets proven that Rand didn't kill his freakin' mother. The mother turning up alive does the trick, mkay. Mat "sneaking" into the palace to get himself caught by Birgitte. :D
Moiraine & Thom's thing was a bit out of the blue, but whatever, sweet anyway. Even if the sequence of getting her out of the thingyplace made for a way too long continuous Mat-section.
The Bad:
The Black Tower. I'm not appreciating this at all. But then, I've stated that enough times already.
Mat being a dumbass and refusing to open Verin's letter. Although the ending that this resulted in... asdf. That feeling of staring at the page, reading the lines over and over again, wondering if I'm actually reading it right; did what I think just happened, just happen? Holy shit.
Way too long continuous Mat passages. I've nothing against the character, but really. Especially now that Rand's being all wtf-awesome again, we're made to trek around following Mat, of all the characters?
Aviendha's trip to Rhuidean. Or, more so, the potential futures she saw there. Jeesh, that's just... Could it have been any more hopeless? I honestly doubt it. And that brings me to...
The Seanchan. We've one book to go, and most of that book will probably be dedicated to fighting the freaking Tarmon Gai'don, and these folks still think female channelers should be leashed and male ones killed outright. They can't just stay like that through the end, poised to take over the whole fucking world as soon as (or even during) the Last Battle. Like, misters authors, you are planning to do something about this, aren't you? Aren't you?? Because if the series ends with Seanchan empire spanning the whole freaking continent, I will not be impressed.
The WTF:
Holy timeline mess, Batman. I thought, in the previous book, when Tam showed up to have a chat with Rand and told him about stuff in Perrin's camp that hadn't happened on-screen yet, such as Morgase's coming out, I was wondering when we're going to get an overload of Perrin PoV to catch his arc up with the others. And then it happened in the first half of this book. During which half, then, Tam al'Thor was in two places at the same time; with Rand, where he actually was, and with Perrin in the past-arc until Perrin's arc caught up to the point where Cadsuane came to fetch Tam. Uh... Now, I'm by no means a professional in these matters, but... Isn't this a bit of a clumsy way to do it? I'm sure it could have been handled better.
But, yeah, okay. Let's get this over with. Finally.
The Good:
Rand. After the episode at the top of Dragonmount in the previous book, he sorta figured that there is enough good in the world to make it worth saving. So he goes Jesus-mode, walking around making apple trees bloom and stopping people from starving and the sort of stuff. (AND that the farmer with the apple trees was the same guy who gave Rand & Mat a ride in his wagon back in the freaking first book of the whole series! Asdf. Them little details. <3) His interaction with pretty much everyone he interacts with during the course of this book. Okay, introducing Min to his father was super cheesy, but sort of sweet, too. (And makes me wonder if he's going to do the same with Aviendha & Elayne, and what will Tam think of that? xD) His talk with Cadsuane and the comment about being over 400 years old and the only living male Aes Sedai who never went over to the Shadow. <3 Which leads me to...
Lews Therin. I was disappointed when, in the previous book, Rand thought that he was never going to hear Lews Therin's voice again. And let's face it, Lews Therin Telamon has been a huge part of what makes Rand an interesting character. Regular farmboys-turned-heroes just don't cut it, I'm sorry. But this, in a way this was even better - see, Rand is Lews Therin. Lews Therin is no longer a voice inside his head, but he is him. And it shows. In random offhand comments here and there. And that makes it more authentic than if he went on lengthy monologues about all the things he remembers from LTT's life. Well played.
Galad's alliance with Perrin. And yeah, generally most of the stuff that happened while they were together. I didn't like the Whitecloak conviction that Perrin is a Darkfriend or a Shadowspawn, but then again, they're Whitecloaks, what can you expect. I liked that Dain Bornhald finally found out the truth, that Perrin didn't kill his father. I liked the reunion between Morgase and Galad, and Morgase & Tallanvor finally getting married. Grady & Neald are still awesome. The forging of the Hopper-hammer whose proper name I can't find for the moment. The chat with Elayne and the conclusion. The encounter with Noam/Boundless in the Wolf Dream. Faile & Berelain's plot to clear Perrin's reputation must have been the first time in the whole series that those two don't make me want to tear their hair off.
Elayne and Andor. At least something somewhere is going according to plan. Gawyn, too, once he quits being an angsty teenager. And even more so when he finally gets proven that Rand didn't kill his freakin' mother. The mother turning up alive does the trick, mkay. Mat "sneaking" into the palace to get himself caught by Birgitte. :D
Moiraine & Thom's thing was a bit out of the blue, but whatever, sweet anyway. Even if the sequence of getting her out of the thingyplace made for a way too long continuous Mat-section.
The Bad:
The Black Tower. I'm not appreciating this at all. But then, I've stated that enough times already.
Mat being a dumbass and refusing to open Verin's letter. Although the ending that this resulted in... asdf. That feeling of staring at the page, reading the lines over and over again, wondering if I'm actually reading it right; did what I think just happened, just happen? Holy shit.
Way too long continuous Mat passages. I've nothing against the character, but really. Especially now that Rand's being all wtf-awesome again, we're made to trek around following Mat, of all the characters?
Aviendha's trip to Rhuidean. Or, more so, the potential futures she saw there. Jeesh, that's just... Could it have been any more hopeless? I honestly doubt it. And that brings me to...
The Seanchan. We've one book to go, and most of that book will probably be dedicated to fighting the freaking Tarmon Gai'don, and these folks still think female channelers should be leashed and male ones killed outright. They can't just stay like that through the end, poised to take over the whole fucking world as soon as (or even during) the Last Battle. Like, misters authors, you are planning to do something about this, aren't you? Aren't you?? Because if the series ends with Seanchan empire spanning the whole freaking continent, I will not be impressed.
The WTF:
Holy timeline mess, Batman. I thought, in the previous book, when Tam showed up to have a chat with Rand and told him about stuff in Perrin's camp that hadn't happened on-screen yet, such as Morgase's coming out, I was wondering when we're going to get an overload of Perrin PoV to catch his arc up with the others. And then it happened in the first half of this book. During which half, then, Tam al'Thor was in two places at the same time; with Rand, where he actually was, and with Perrin in the past-arc until Perrin's arc caught up to the point where Cadsuane came to fetch Tam. Uh... Now, I'm by no means a professional in these matters, but... Isn't this a bit of a clumsy way to do it? I'm sure it could have been handled better.