Book Review

Animal Farm, George Orwell

Okay, it's well known that Animal Farm was a 1:1 allegory for the Russian revolution. Old Major is Marx. Napoleon and Snowball are Stalin and Trotsky. Farmer Jones is Czar Nicholas II. Squealer and the sheep are the propagandist, useful-idiots media. The dogs are the secret police. The neighboring farms are western powers and Orwell was concerned about the way they were starting to romanticize the movement as seen towards the end. And it's about as subtle as a hammer on your thumb. In that regard it's a frustrating read because it's so simplified and on the nose that it borders on a children's picture book. If you're looking for the obvious lesson to take away, it's that revolutions born of envy and ignorant violence instead of ideas, faith, and sound philosophy will inevitably substitute one tyranny for another. Another good example is the French revolution which brought about the real Napoleon. But the lesson is boring because it is so obvious.

My mind would wander to things that weren't really a part of the themes. Like the Godless nature of the allegory. People that have no solid grounding in faith are naive enough to put their faith in leaders who themselves are corrupted swiftly after stating all the lofty goals because they have no faith in something higher than themselves either. It's represented well by these characters, though Orwell wouldn't recognize it as he was an atheist. I would also find myself picking things apart that were only partially related or not related at all. Like the exploited worker archetype. Boxer's fate was already spoiled for me since I listen to literary podcasts here and there. I'm blessed to live in a country that doesn't exploit me into poverty and subservience like this. But I found that I related to him on a micro level since I've worked at jobs with bosses that show a shameful lack of appreciation complete disrespect for the most conscientious employees, using them up and spitting them out and it brought back harsh memories. I also couldn't groove with the choice of farming and animals as the vehicle for the message. Men have been stewards of animals since before the Fall and you couldn't sustain a farm without investing a lot of care and maintenance into the livestock. If Farmer Jones' Manor House is the model, it wouldn't be in business long enough for their to be a revolution. Orwell must have been "city folk", lol. Like I said - nothing to do with the themes or story, just where my mind went. However, I will say that the simplicity makes it a very easy read. I finished it in two days. (I could have done it in one if I'd had a little more time.) And for as many names as there are, they're all very easy to remember. Probably because it's so short. 

I do recommend it because it's historically significant. But, I had a hard time finding it intellectually stimulating. Mostly I was just thinking, good for Mollie for getting out early in spite of what it represents and wondering what happened to Snowball. I guess working his assassination in would have been to complex and it didn't happen on the farm. If I had to rate it out of five stars I'd give it three. 

Book Review

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Making of a Legend, Colin Duriez

This one was a gift in my Christmas books. Thank you,... Dawn? I think? It's just a biography of Tolkien focusing on the experiences of his life that definitely did or possibly may have inspired the collective content in his Middle Earth lore. From buildings to people to his experiences in WWI. He had an official biographer who was given all of Tolkien's personal papers and family records and Duriez cites his work often. But I think this is a more condensed biography that follows his journey of writing his magnum opuses. Beginning with the first inspirations in his youth and love of languages, and moving through the most impactful changes in his life like the death of his parents and meeting Edith, who he always thought of as his Lúthien. It describes him bouncing his ideas and stories off the minds of the men in his first club the Tea Club and Barrovian Society formed when he was still a student in college and naturally the interactions of the Inklings. They would hang out together and be each other's beta readers. One of them even got tired of Tolkien's elves and forbid him to offer any more chapters to the group. But Lewis kept him motivated in private. His relationship with C.S. Lewis was of special interest to me, of course. But I was surprised at how crucial Lewis' encouragement was to getting Lord of the Rings completed and published. It details his, even their (his and Lewis') crusade to make the fantasy genre respectable. All of us who enjoy the genre credit Tolkien as the father of it, but it's amazing just how true that statement really is. It tracks his children's involvement with the stories especially Christopher who shared a special understanding of the works enabling him to organize them. But also his daughter Priscilla's involvement by typing up a lot of work for him. And it details his brief interaction with fame after LOTR caught fire in American publication. It wasn't agreeable to him, but he wasn't impolite about it. In the middle is a series of photographs of the different buildings he grew up in and around, colleges he taught at, and the all important Eagle And Child pub. He mentions a lot of places in the book that no longer exist, so these are gems.

It also gives brief summaries of some of his other "fairie stories" along the way and it makes me want to look a few up. I already had purchased his Father Christmas letters he'd written to his children a few years ago and I'm delighted to know there are other outlets of his creativity. So I definitely recommend this little book for fans of The Professor. It's an interesting read.

Book Review

The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury

What fresh, depressing, dystopian hellscape is this? Oh my. 

I can't remember if this was one of the books on my list because of my desire to give select classics the chance I never gave them when I was growing up or if one of the blurbs about it hooked me in. I'm guessing it's the former because this book embodies everything that frustrates me about science fiction. But, I also found a lot of things charming. 

The beginning is jarring but intriguing as it's a few excursions from Earth as seen from the Martian's POV. After the third I was thinking - you'd think after a jealous husband, a clueless psychologist, and a psychic trap with more men lost each trip that they'd just start sending probes or drones or something. But on the fourth trip all the Martians are dead from chicken pox... because that would totally happen again in any modern era when people understand how diseases work! Aren't western culture white men the worst? Especially Americans?? Don't humans suck??? They do because Earth is on the verge of a planet destroying war (as always.) Shame on us for existing and committing mass genocide. On purpose of course, even though the intent was clearly never there. I get so sick of it... and this is from the 1940s. Maybe it was something to ponder back then, but it's just so old and tired now some 80ish years later. Although, it is a neat coincidence that the story takes place between 1999 and 2026 with the penultimate vignette dated August of 2026 as I'm reading it. Why do some authors want to relish in such pessimistic visions of the future? He even imagined race relations would be the same in the early 21st century as in the decades before the civil rights movement. But I guess nobody back then could have predicted that in the future the demand for racism would far exceed the supply either. 

Anyway, the book charts the course of human progression on Mars over the years from their first expeditions and onward while Earth declines into another nuclear war. And not all the natives are gone at first after the epidemic. There are still a few that turn up here and there and I thought there should have been more stories focused on them. Their psychic abilities and connections were an interesting trait that the author gave them with a lot of creative potential. Not exploring them more was a wasted opportunity in my opinion. The first three little "chapters" were gripping as the humans sent their rockets. Each time they're killed by the Martian's ability to foresee their coming or poor analysis on the part of the Martian psychologist who thought they were part of a mental health challenge suffered by the natives that made their hallucinations real and interactive. Even the madness of Spender in the fourth installment seemed to be influenced by the psychic residue remaining after the aliens have died. That's probably just what I wanted it to be... my interpretation of it, but it fits. And as it progresses there are other, random encounters with the natives. Later on there's the Night Meeting between a young human man and a Martian in which they can see and talk to each other but can't physically interact because they exist in two different planes of time and space, intersecting only briefly in a choice spot. And it's a peaceful meeting. Then there's another of a Martian fated to shape shift in order to find a symbiotic life with humans that fulfills the needs of both parties who is torn apart after being discovered. 

I described these scenes as random because they don't seem to fit with the overarching narrative. Space-time and shape shifting are just one-off phenomena that are never hinted at before or after their occurrences. That's because The Martian Chronicles isn't a structured novel. It's a series of short stories and vignettes that were published in magazines from 1944 to 1950. The general theme is that humans ruin everything they touch, but the stories can be episodic and not necessarily connected. However, there is some continuity as some of the characters from the fourth expedition turn up again like Captain Wilder and a couple of his men towards the end. It's a much needed through-line for it to remain one story. 

And I didn't hate it. There were a couple of stories that I liked and found really funny like Usher II, an homage to Edgar Allen Poe. The premise is as dumb to me as the rest of the theme, but the dark humored tribute to Poe is fantastic, not only borrowing from The Fall of the House of Usher but The Masque of the Red Death, Murders of the Rue Morgue, and The Cask of Amontillado. And I'm always a sucker for a revenge story. 

Another funny one was The Silent Towns where a man believes he's the last person on Mars and after discovering there may be a woman on the planet as well sets out to find her. But when he sees she's fat, unattractive, and has a shallow personality he runs away and is content to just be alone for the rest of his life . I realize that this is probably very offensive in today's culture (as other stories within unboubtedly would be), but I think it's hilarious and I'm not even sorry. 

Then there's the writing itself. One of my complaints about Something Wicked This Way Comes was the way Bradbury leaned too heavily on hyperbole and metaphor to suit my taste, but not here. The writing is intense and hooks you in without sacrificing any necessary details of such short yarns. Even the stories that had me rolling my eyes also had me turning the pages wanting to see the outcome. And, of course, it's another example of science fiction before the science caught up to the fiction which I have a soft spot for. From the landscape and people of Mars to the automated house on earth that does all the domestic chores by itself (just like in the old cartoons!) to the robots. Does it make sense that fully sentient robots with personalities are a thing in this time and yet they still send humans to Mars at first to die and unwittingly spread chicken pox? No. But this contradiction along with a few others is the product of it being a pulp, serial adventure rather than a planned and outlined book. It doesn't ruin the vibe for me. 

I do recommend it. For its "classic" status if nothing else. And the writing talent. And for the variety of stories.... one or two of them are bound to land with different people's tastes.  

Book Review

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien

From my 2022 Christmas haul. Slowly, I'm starting to find time to work through them before I continue with the Wheel of Time series that knocked me off course before my life went sideways for a while.
It's also the third story from my golden trio of movies that I watched on repeat as a child and have since read the books they were based on. Watership Down was a masterpiece and it made the movie even better for me. The Last Unicorn movie was a touch different from the book, but true enough to the source material that, again, I could hold nothing against the movie and appreciate it all the more. I'd heard for years that the book behind The Secret of NIHM was vastly different than the movie. But, it really wasn't that much different. In fact, it hit most of the beats almost exactly as I remembered them from the movie. Now, there were definitely more differences with the movie adaptation of this than the other two. But it didn't change the story that much. Mostly the ending... But not so much Mrs. Frisby's ending.

The synopsis, for those who don't know, goes thus: Mrs. Frisby is a widowed mouse with four children living on a farm over the winter time. One of her sons is sick with pneumonia and after getting it under control with the help of an somewhat mysterious family friend, she still can't move him in early spring to the safe place where they spend summers because the evenings would still be too cold. A crow she helped takes her to see a wise owl who directs her to some hyper-intelligent rats that also live on the farm. She discovers that they, along with her late husband and the family friend were all experimental animals from NIHM explaining why they could read, write, and use tools. They agree to move the cinder block she's living in to a better spot in the farmer's field so that her family won't be hurt by the plow and they can stay until the weather is warm enough for her son to be moved. She helps by drugging the farm cat so they can work freely and ends up getting captured by the farmer's son. But, she's rescued in time to warn the rats about the possibility that NIHM is coming to destroy their home in the thorn bush. So, they move up the time on their plan to leave for an untouched piece of land sooner - only just in time actually and a couple of the rats are sacrificed in covering the escape of the rest.

Anyone who knows the movie will recognize most of that synopsis except for some obvious details. And the details are what make the book good without necessarily making the movie bad.
The big changes were the name change - from Frisby to Brisby.
Also the movie had an added element of fantasy married to the otherwise science fiction premise with the magical locket that is nowhere in the book. It didn't have to make sense to kids but as an adult I appreciate not mixing the genres without sufficient explanation.
In the book there's a lot more documenting of the rats' time at the laboratory and journeys after their escape because it's one of the hooks of the story and it filled in a lot of holes in the movie. For example, it was good have some things fully explained like Thorn Valley, which was just a vague ideal in the movie... again because it didn't need to make sense for kids.
The biggest difference is that Jenner is not an evil usurper but only disagrees philosophically with Nicodemus. He and his followers both lived and died "off page" because their presence wasn't necessary to enhance the tension of the final threat posed from the rats possibly being reacquired by NIMH.

The movie is more colorful and fantastical and the book is more cerebral.  It was written in 1971 so it was still from a time when children's books were more mature anyway, like Watership Down and the dark fairy tale that was The Last Unicorn. Yes, it was quite different from the movie but I think I still like them both about the same. It depends on the season of your life. Recommend for fans. 

Book Review

Shady Characters: The Secret Life Of Punctation, Symbols And Other Typographical Marks - Keith Houston

One of only a couple of impulse buys after I decided to stop buying books for a while. It just looked too interesting to resist. It's the back stories of various punctuation symbols. It was a fascinating read overall. Some had more gripping stories than others, but it's more than just interesting information, it ends up branching off into different areas of written language evolution, typography, internet origins, and even ancient politicking over religious texts. So, kind of what you'd expect and kind of not at the same time. It's not a long book and a good quarter of it is footnotes and citations for serious word-nerds, not just casual fans like me. It's also filled with photo copies of some of the old texts where you can see the seeds of what the different symbols would become, so it's not quite as many pages of explanation dedicated to each one, but more than you'd think.

I personally expected the deep dive into all these symbols but what I didn't expect was the choices the author made. I thought they'd be some of the more common symbols like periods, colons, question marks, or apostrophes. And while quotation marks are the subject of one chapter and things like hyphens and dashes are in others, most of them were things that I hadn't really thought about. From the more familiar ampersand (&) to the lesser known manicule... that disembodied hand in the margin pointing to a line of text. Look up an image if you don't know what I'm referring to. And some things I didn't realize had official names, like the pilcrow (¶) and the Octothorpe.. What?.. Oh you mean the pound sign/hashtag (#) ? Then there was the interrobang which I knew of, but didn't realize was still in widespread use. It's a hybrid question mark/exclamation point. And there's things I'd never heard of like "ironics" and sarcasm and snark marks. I don't think they've ever gained much traction. I can think of several others I'd like to see written about if the author was to do a sequel. Or, I guess I could research them myself. They were all very interesting in their own way.

It was just a delightful brain tickler of a book and I recommend it as an entertaining change of pace from what your normal reading list has on it. You won't be sorry. Unless you're just not interested in these sorts of things. I guess I wouldn't want to read mathematics histories.. Lol. 

Book Review

Lord of Chaos, Wheel of Time book 6, Robert Jordan

So due to... life... I've finally finished this one. This one that I started in September of 2023. Not due to lack of interest... I still love the series and this book is as exciting as the others. But it means I've had to look up synopses of it for a couple of days to remember all of what happened. And this review won't be as thorough as usual because some of the details have slipped my mind. But there'll still be spoilers.

I don't think this book was as action packed as the previous two. There was some character catching up to do and some problems to be addressed. It starts to thread in more of the Forsaken's perspectives. They interact more with each other, trying to manipulate and out maneuver each other to sit at the Dark One's right hand while the others are disposed of. There's also a creepy new Myrdraal with a name and personality introduced as a liaison between them and the Dark One. Since his strength is growing he brings back two more Forsaken with different bodies. Aran' gar goes on to have the most impact in this installment. 

Queen Morgase is still in hiding and traveled to the king of Amadicia. But the White Cloaks are present and essentially keeping her there by force, albeit in comfort. They offer to help take back Andor with the price that she hand the kingdom over to them. They kill a couple of men that were trying to help her escape. She recognizes the threat is real so she signs a pact with them. 

They thread Perrin and the Two Rivers bunch back in, but slowly. Perrin is compelled to go Rand. Faile doesn't approve but won't be left behind. A number of Two Rivers men go along too as Perrin's army and, of course, Loial. But it takes most of the book to travel to him. Verin and Alanna start out first with a group of Two Rivers girls that can channel, intending to take them to the Tower since they don't know it's been split. Loial's parents and the lady they've arranged for him to marry seek out Rand in order to find him. And all these groups find Rand at different points in the story. When Loial's family comes to Rand he offers to take them by his fast travel portal method to Two Rivers in return for them helping him to find the waygate to Shadar Logoth so he can ward it so that the Shadowspawn can't use it. Of course, everyone in Two Rivers is gone by then, so Loial's family have to continue their journey by foot and therefore can't be around for the rest of this book. When Alanna's group intersects with him, she bonds Rand as a Warder without his permission. He spends most of the rest of the book staying as far away from her as possible and she has no sway with him the way other Aei Sedai have with their Warders, most likely because he's a man that can channel which hasn't been done before. I was really hoping that he'd find a way to break the bond, but if it happens it won't be in this book. Perrin and Loial don't arrive until close to the end in order to play a key role in the climax.

That switches them out with Mat, who had been working with Rand on his plans to attack one of the Forsaken, Sammael. Mat is still back-burner for the most part. As he's trying to get Sammael's attention by moving his troops, he rescues a boy who is being abused by a Hunter of the Horn in a village and the boy ends up sneaking in with his men. So he makes him an errand boy for the company. Rand later sends Mat to Salidar to bring Elayne back to Andor to be crowned queen braiding his journey with the ladies'. 

But, of course it's not that simple. The ladies' adventures take up a sizeable chunk of the narrative. They're reunited towards the end and then separated again. Egwene is still recovering from her fight with Lanfear and the Wise Ones will not allow her back into Tel'aran'rhiod but she sneaks in regularly anyway. She ends up in Gawyn's dreams and after seeing his feelings for her she pursues a relationship with him. She loves him but she's also protecting Rand because Gawyn is convinced that he killed Morgase and she halts his intentions to kill him if he finds him. Meanwhile Elayne and Nyneve are in Salidar continuing to work on their specialties. Elayne made a ter'angreal to allow the Aei Sedai to enter a Tel'aran'rhiod, and naturally they treat it with arrogance and have no respect for the Wise Ones who Elayne introduces them to. Nyneve continues to try to heal Siuan Sanche. They take turns wearing the a'dam bracelet they're using to control Moghedien. Nyneve wants to leave but Elayne not so much. When they do their own sneaking into Tel'aran'rhiod, they find a powerful ter'angreal bowl in Ebou Dar that will fix the problem of the weather becoming dangerously hot since the Dark One's seals have started to break. Thom and Juilan turn up also in Salidar returning from hiding the a'dam that would control a male channeler, though it's not discussed. 

Now, I admit I had a couple of events spoiled for me, but I didn't know they would happen this soon in the story and in the same book no less. The healing of Siuan Sanche and Egwene becoming the Amyrlin Seat. These both could have seemed forced and unearned but it's actually well done and it works. Nyneve succeeds in healing Logain first and then the former Amyrlin along with Leane, though not back to their full power. And I think that makes it make sense. It didn't restore Sanche's power entirely, so she can't just take her position back and start where she and Moiraine left off. After that Nyneve is unable to sneak away because she's a novelty among the Aei Sedai and she still can't channel without being angry so they abuse her to try to study how she accomplished it. When the Wise Ones allow Egwene to dream walk again, she's summoned back to Salidar by the Aei Sedai. Egwene earns respect from the Aiel Wise Ones before she leaves though by confessing that she walked in dreams while they weren't permitting her to and accepts the punishment of being flogged. They part with love and admiration. She then fast travels to Salidar by entering Tel'aran'rhiod while awake, the result of that working a lot like the portal stones from the second book. Sheriam and other leaders are in a power struggle at Salidar, so she decides to use a legal loophole to name Egwene the next Amyrlin Seat as a counter to Elaida's coup at the White Tower. But she's honest about the fact that she's basically using her and it's abundantly obvious that she means to control her like a political puppet, so it makes her rapid rise to the top make sense as well. Egwene pulls a few stunts though, like raising Nyneve and Elayne to full Sisters by executive fiat so they can keep counsel with her. She also meets with Siuan to learn how to manipulate people and circumstances to her favor. She gets Elayne and Nyneve's trip to Ebou Dar going and that's where Mat comes in. Elayne refuses to go back to Andor until she finds the Bowl and Egwene persuades Mat to accompany the group since she's sure he won't return to Rand without her. She then intends to use his remaining army to goad the Aei Sedai at Salidar to march on the white tower. Elayne and Nyneve find favor with the queen in Ebou Dar and begin searching for the Bowl. 

So all the action is reserved for Rand in this book. But it's a slow build of tension because, like with all the rest, there are problems to be addressed before moving on through seven more books. Namely, the Aei Sedai. Elaida sends an embassy from the White Tower to meet with him as does the Little Tower in Salidar under the leadership of Merana. The latter refuse to let Elayne go on this trip and take Min instead which leads into another problem to address. 

In the course of the story, a background storyline began with Min having a vision of being in love with the Dragon Reborn and having to share him with two other women. So this possible polyamorous relationship has been back-burner for quite some time. Elayne declared her love for and intentions to marry Rand in book three before leaving with Nynaeve and Egwene. Rand also meets Aviendha in that book and their relationship is consummated in book five. In this book, Aviendha confesses this to Elayne after Rand sends her with Mat's party to Salidar. Sharing a spouse is common in Aviendha's culture so there's no issue there. Elayne finds it shocking but she's heard Min's vision so she has to consider the possibility and holds nothing against Aviendha. So the only one who's behind is Min and this is her first interaction with Rand since the beginning of the second book I think. Maybe the beginning of the third. And I think it was a mistake to wait this long. She's throwing herself at Rand throughout this story in a way that seems to play against her character type. It's no more than rampant, childish flirting, but Min is a unique character and I thought she would be used a little differently. Of course she still may be... Another small spoiler I've stumbled on is that the three women bond Rand which doesn't make perfect sense yet since only two of the women can channel. It's a mystery to me right now, but I'm not put off enough by Min's behavior to be disappointed yet. I think their flirtation is just kind of jarring since they only met briefly in the beginning and spent very little time talking. A little more familiarization would have helped and it certainly would have been possible in the pacing of this book because the center conflict of the book is not what Rand intends it to be. 

Rand intends to move on Sammael at the start. It's how he directs Mat's army. It's why he extended amnesty to men that could channel. It's why he's trying to force unity among the lords of the various kingdoms. He's been hot after this Forsaken since the end of the last book. But he's still trying to button things up by bringing Elayne back to secure Andor. He also has responsibilities to the young men who are now able to channel freely without being hunted by the Aei Sedai. One of the former False Dragons that had escaped, Mazrim Taim, comes to him with one of the Dark One's seals as proof of loyalty and offers to organize a school to recruit and train young men who can channel. Lews Therin doesn't approve of Taim and I'm sure his warnings will be valid in the end, but Rand doesn't have much choice since he can't spend his time training them himself. His idea for the school is more honorable than Taim's who trains the men brutally and goes on to christen it The Black Tower. Rand refers to the recruits as Asha'man as an Aiel reference and tries to impart wisdom to the men when he visits. He also has come to terms with the fact that he needs the endorsement of the Aei Sedai as well as loyalty from the surrounding kingdoms and most his time is spent speaking with the delegations from each Tower with Min by his side to use her visions to his advantage. For most of the meetings he is in control, limiting their numbers since they could overtake and gentle him. Lews Therin, again, fills Rand's thoughts with vengeance and warnings. But this time Rand is a touch arrogant in his dealings and it comes back to bite him. The Little Tower embassy puts forth a show of power that he's able to break. But as much as he never trusted the Aei Sedai in general, we, and most likely he, knew they would not follow through with their threats. Elaida's group, however, never had any intention of supporting him as the readers well know. They enchant a chest to sneak in enough of them to cut him off from the Power and incapacitate him. They lock him in the chest, kidnap Min as well, and immediately head back to the White Tower before anyone has a chance to realize he's missing. But Perrin, Loial, and the Aiel do notice and gather to follow and rescue him. The Little Tower embassy goes with them along with Alanna and Verin, and Taim brings the Asha'man. This confrontation becomes the central conflict and climax. Elaida's Aei Sedai are allied with the Shaido Aiel and Gawyn's younglings. The battle is wild and not managed well. But Rand manages to break the Aei Sedai block and escapes the chest to lead the attack on the Aei Sedai and Shaido. At Taim's urging he goes dark and orders the Asha'man to unleash complete destruction and then forces the allied Aei Sedai to swear fealty to him. 

So, not a lot of outright battles but still a lot of intensity and plenty of loose ends to run with in the next installments like Rand parentage. He discovers that his mother is was a Daughter-heir of Andor, Tigraine, that fled to the Aiel Waste because of a fortelling by Gitara Moroso. Aran'gar, one of the newly brought back Forsaken, frees Moghedien after Nynaeve and Elayne leave her in Egwene's charge. The ladies will undoubtedly have a challenge finding the bowl at Ebou Dar. Even Lan is reintroduced which will bring an added layer to Nyneve who is in love with him. And the Daughter of the Nine Moons is finally mentioned by one of the Forsaken at the end which is something I've been dying to know about since Mat's destiny to marry her was teased three books ago. Not a good sign... her being mentioned by the bad guys. 

I'm still loving the series and I'll be purchasing the next three for sure... But maybe I'll work through some of the books from my 2022 Christmas haul first. They're shorter and not as complex. This is a good book to pause on since it's a break in the pace of the story anyway. And these books, for as detailed as they are, are still so easy to pick up again after a break. A long break in this case for me. Would recommend, as always.

 

Book Review

The Wheel of Time, book 5, The Fires of Heaven, Robert Jordan

The next episode in the saga. This prolonged, soap-operatic storytelling is a genius way of creating a long series (over three books) The Prydain series was connected but episodic as was Harry Potter. And even though these individual books have goals met at the end, they’re not neatly tidied up at their endings. The cliffhangers are more obvious and designed to keep the reader following. Now the story is expanding from the compact beginnings in which everything and everyone was in their place. The White Tower was exactly where it was, doing what it was supposed to be doing. There was a Queen in Andor, barely touched on as far as development, but a safe and familiar anchor for a lot of the main characters. The original group was still together, and even when they weren’t it wasn’t hard to keep track of all of them in the same narrative. Min is only a supporting character thus far, so her absence from the third book was a gentle way of preparing the reader for a pattern that will necessarily follow as the resolution of the world becomes clearer. Even the main characters have to take turns now, much like I suspected early on. Everyone gets a turn in the spotlight while others are put on the back burner for a bit.

Absent from this book is Perrin, which is surprising but makes sense as the rest of the characters needed time to “catch up”. Loial, Verin, Alannah, Faile, and even Padan Fain and one of the more aggressive Whitecloaks don’t appear either because that part of the story had taken place on nearly the other side of the mainland mass. Perrin’s personal quest was also resolved in the last book. Naturally it’s temporary… a side quest so to speak … but it was a satisfying place to park that character at for a while so that the personal journeys of other characters could be followed in more detail. However, although he’s on the back burner, he’s not forgotten. In some of the wanderings through Tel'aran'rhiod Nyneve and Elayne visit Edmond’s Field to discover somebody building a house. I think I can confidently guess that Perrin, after having married Faile in the last book, is at least trying to put down roots back home as well as other vague indications that they’ve also had a child together. We’ll see.

So, who’s the star of this book then? This time I don’t think that Rand is the main attraction in this book even though it begins and ends with his story as always. Rand is completely over his denial phase now and he’s done whining about it for the most part. His part of the story isn’t about him having to accept any new burdens. Now he’s making serious efforts to learn how to command and lead intelligently. He’s no longer a boy, but a man and even Moiraine has little sway with him. In fact, she even begins to yield to his decisions in many cases. But, Rand begins this book having loose ends to tie up. After accepting his place as the Dragon Reborn and convincing the Aiel to follow him, or as many clans as could make it to the meeting place in time for him to claim his position as their Car'a'carn, the one clan that refused to follow him in spite of the evidence, the Shaido led by Couladin, didn’t just fall in line after the battle at the end. They instead decided to cross out of the Waste and attack Cairhein which the Aiel had a bad history with anyway. Rand’s plans to bring the Kingdoms together in peace to prepare for Tarmon Gai'don, the final world-breaking battle with the Dark One, must be put on hold. He tries to do the right thing by waiting for the other clans to join them so there’s no chance of fomenting another rogue clan like the Shaido, but ultimately there’s no time and he proceeds to go on to rescue Cairhein and establish the Aiel nation as an ally in spite of Couladin’s actions. Along the way Mat’s newly gifted ability to form winning battle strategies comes in handy. And although Mat makes one last attempt to separate himself from Rand’s destiny, he’s first drawn back in by the Wheel of Time and then ordered to stay by Rand himself. Cairhein is saved and now has an uneasy alliance with Tear, which Rand secured in the third book. His next plan is to confront one of the Forsaken, Sammael. He chose Sammael rather than Rhavin to keep the eyes of the other Forsaken off of Elayne who is daughter-heir to the Andor throne which Rhavin has been silently controlling as well as Queen Morgase for a while now. The queen breaks away from Rhavin’s hold and manages to stealthily sneak away, but to the rest of the world, it appears that Rhavin has killed her. So Rand ends by taking revenge for the death of Elayne’s mother, killing Rhavin and saving some of the other prominent characters from dying by use of the horrific Balefire which was foreshadowed at the beginning as having strange effects on time. As to the apparently permanent deaths at the end… I don’t know. This is my favorite genre and I’ve consumed enough of this sort of material to not trust that Lanfear, at least, is truly dead. As for the definite death of Rand’s teacher that he acquired in the last book - that one was a surprise. I thought he’d have more time with him to learn. But learning in a controlled environment isn’t a luxury afforded to these poor ta’veren.

The truth is that all the female characters feature more prominently in this book than the men, however I  wouldn’t even say that the deposed Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche, is the main attraction of this book either even though we see more of her and Leane than ever before. On the run with Logain, Siuan, Leane, and Min find themselves in trouble, framed for crimes in a small village. They’re rescued by Queen Morgase’s former general and consort, Gareth Bryne, who governs the area and binds them to oaths of service in return. At the first opportunity they get, they run of course. Siuan knows that there’s a secret place that the Aes Sedai that weren’t a part of the coup to seize the White Tower would gather.  Gareth follows out of pride more than anything because nobody recognizes the former Amyrlin since she’s been stilled. Interesting twist: being cut off from the Power changes the ladies' facial features, but instead of looking older (since it’s been stated that most of them are much older than they look because of the Power) they end up looking much younger. Anyway this part of the story serves two purposes. First, that madness and a quick death are not the inevitable result of being stilled or gentled as long as the person has a purpose to focus on. Siuan subjects herself to the Aes Sedai’s unending condescension and humiliation while subtly manipulating them into the direction she would have led them if she was still the Amyrlin and keeping as much control of her life as she can. Second, this part of the story really validates the feelings of the other characters that don’t trust the Aes Sedai and haven’t since the first book. It was a validation I needed because, although I could see they all had agendas, I’d put them as a whole into the “wise mentor type”, supposing that even though there were a few bad eggs, they would all be steering the heroes in the right direction for the most part. But that’s not the case. Only a small number of them really understand the magnitude of Rand’s presence and what must be done to defeat the Dark One again. The rest, as impressive and even good as many of them are, are abominably arrogant and surprisingly ignorant of the big picture as well as closed minded and just as concerned with their power even though they’re not in league with Elaida and the Aes Sedai who overthrew the Tower. It gave the group some much needed depth. And now the readers can’t be entirely sure of where any of them stand, building excellent tension. Gareth finds the ladies after they get to Salidar and the Aes Sedai rope him into forming an army to help them to retake the White Tower. He's not as submissive to their want for control, but they come to an agreement using Siuan's oath to him partly as a bargaining chip since they think they control her now too. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

It's the younger ladies that steal the show in this installment. Although her part is relatively small this time, Egwene makes great progress. The story spoiled itself early on when one of her visions upon being tested at the White Tower showed a possible future in which she will be the Amyrlin Seat while Rand is at the height of power; so, a fairly close future. It hasn't seemed likely so far since she's been very acquiescent to Elayne's royal station, Nyneave's bossiness, and Moiraine's dominant presence so far. But she's the only one of the young protagonists that's still being actively taught and disciplined by Moiraine and the Aiel Wise Ones. The discipline and training makes her unafraid to be more authoritative with Elayne and especially with Nyneave, no longer yielding to her imperious attitude. She learns to be steady and more patient when dealing with Rand. She still lacks the emotional maturity needed to be a full Aes Sedai and take a cool command of situations, but that will probably change soon now that the real "wise mentor" character is gone.
Elayne as well begins to demonstrate independence from Nyneave's self-entitled leadership. She’d already displayed hints that she was much more open to learning and new experiences with the Wavedancers. And that ability to bend to the changing winds of their journey makes her more pliable in her group with Nyneve, Thom, and Juilin. Once they realize the Tower is compromised they must go on the run until Nyneave can remember the name of the place where the Aes Sedai would meet. Nyneve still gives orders as she sees it, but all of her orders are the result of her being left with no choice after Elayne and the others augment and change her orders to produce realistic instead of idealistic results. She’s not intimidated by Nyneave’s bad temper like Egwene had always been and, therefore, puts her own ideas forth with a commanding confidence. Elayne proposes dyeing their hair as a disguise. Elayne is more receptive to joining Valan Luca’s Menagerie to hide in plain sight while they travel. Elayne must deal with the subtle nuances of Galad’s character when Nyneave would have been more trusting. And we finally get to see some of Elayne’s power come to light. Since the beginning the Aes Sedai have acknowledged that Egwene, Nyneave, and Elayne possess immense strength in the True Power and could potentially be the most powerful Aes Sedai since ancient times. We’ve mostly seen Egwene’s journey in using her power and special gift in the world of dreams. Nyneave’s explosive, raw, and unregulated power has been touched on as well. And although Elayne has been remarkable, she’s not stood out yet. In this book she begins to tap into her abilities and realizes that she could use them to create. The series is littered with all kinds of channeling aids from ancient times. Moiraine’s personal project on the trek back from the Aiel waste was to ensure that a wagon load of ter’angreal was returned to the White Tower for study. They know how to use some of these objects, but nobody in the recent ages has ever created them. Elayne, although she’s not given a chance to yet, is certain that she can create a ter’angreal. In this case she thinks she can replicate an a’dam in their possession that they’re intending to return to the White Tower. She also bonds a Warder having only studied the concept. Her hidden talents will have practical uses as the story progress.

But, I think, this book really belongs to Nyneave. You have to laugh when you realize that the person who has complained the loudest about how the Aes Sedai want to control everyone, wants to control everyone in her own small circle … which is obvious from the first book.  And even though she’s been a self-appointed leader so far, most can see that she’s not a very good leader. She bullies and nags those around her until they give in just to shut her up. She only listens to other views when there’s no other choice but to abandon her own. She sets herself too rigidly in her goals. And her inability to bend ends up breaking her a little this time. In the best sense. It starts with a little humbling. She has to be grateful to the guys for having the wherewithal to know what they're doing in spite of what she orders them to do. They rescue her and Elayne from White Tower spies and help secure their place in the Menagerie. She then has to suffer having a "boss" like Luca who, though a boorish huckster, is also smitten with her. She takes refuge in the fact that she bested Moghedien in their showdown and continues to explore Tel'aran'rhiod with Brigitte Silverbow as her guide. Birgitte is a Hero of the Horn from another age that hasn't been reborn from Wheel of Time into this age yet. As they spy on Moghedien in the dream realm, things take a dark turn. Moghedien catches them and Birgitte sacrifices herself to save Nyneave. As a result, Brigitte is thrust into the waking world, fated to permanent extinction until Elayne bonds her to herself as her Warder. Nyneve's ensuing feelings of guilt cause her to lose confidence. Her decisions are shaky and, much to her chagrin, require a lot of help from Elayne, Thom, Juilin and some old Shienaran friends meet up with again. But she gets a second chance at Moghedien and she acquits herself expertly. She gains control of the Forsaken woman with an a'dam in Tel'aran'rhiod and uses her to travel to Camelyn and help Rand destroy Rhavin. She'll still have quite a lot to answer for since this happened in Salidar right under the noses of the Aes Sedai while secretly teaching Siuan how to use the ter'angreal ring that helps to navigate the realm of dreams. However, that arrangement itself marked some growth in her character as she matched her wits with Siuan's own controlling nature in a more measured fashion than her usual brow-beating method. She never lost her spirit but her failures enabled her to focus on new goals instead of wanting to take some unrealistic revenge on the Aes Sedai for upending her simple life in Two Rivers. Now she's focused on learning, not only to be a healer, but also training her audacity onto learning how to heal a person who has been stilled or gentled. Just as Elayne knows she can create ter'angreal, Nyneave knows she can reverse this fate worse than death for Power wielders. Now she'll have to learn how to channel without being angry. This book has left a lot to unpack.

Next up is Lord of Chaos. Nearly halfway through. What a ride. I still highly recommend for fantasy fans.