Jump to content

A Memory of Light [FULL SPOILER DISCUSSION] Part 3


Stubby

Recommended Posts

It wouldn't have worked. Sanderson has confirmed that, per Jordan's notes, the Tinkers wouldn't recognize the growing songs as "the Song," even though the growing songs are where that notion originated thousands of years ago. The Tinkers are looking for something mythic that would bring about a golden age, something that doesn't exist.

It'd sure as hell help the world recover from the DO's touch, and help with the massive famine to come. OK, they may not have recognised that the song is the one they were looking for, but a few thousand people who can sing life back into a dead land would be kinda a good thing.

I think Machin Shin was more weakened by the destruction of Shadar Logoth. It seems much more like that kind of thing then a consequence of the taint to me.

Machin Shin existed long before Shadar Logoth no? and was a direct consequence of the taint on Saidin surely.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Voice is apparently a talent anyone can possess, so there's no reason to teach the Tinkers in particular. But yeah, there are lots of things someone of Rand's skill and knowledge might do to improve the world, if he weren't busy buggering off to have adventures.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Machin Shin existed long before Shadar Logoth no? and was a direct consequence of the taint on Saidin surely.

Machin Shin's origins are unexplained, but there's many theories. I can't remember when it first started existing, but I think the Shadar Logoth thing is possible from what I remember. It's got similarities to Madashar and Padain Fain has some sort of communion with it. Plus, it's got a distinct taste for Trolloc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jordan was explicit in interviews that Machin Shin was a result of the taint on saidin (although it didn't manifest until much later, long after Shadar Logoth rather than the other way around), but that it wouldn't be weakened or destroyed by the cleansing. Despite having a similar name and being malevolent weather, it's not connected to Mashadar/the Shadar Logoth evil. In fact, the cleansing of saidin works because the Dark One-derived taint (and its consequences like Machin Shin) is an evil with a different "polarity" (Jordan's metaphor) than the human-derived evil of Shadar Logoth (and Mashadar). What happens between Fain and Machin Shin is a function of that equal-and-opposite affinity, not of a shared origin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How can you say this? Those 5 pages where Moiraine taught Suian how to deal with top class seamstresses and what kind of dresses to order were just riveting.

What about the part where Moraine wore a provocative dress as a self-imposed penance? We really needed to know about that.

Go write an Amazon review, why don't you?

Why don't you?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Dragonmount River of Souls review

What's it about?

Warning: minor spoilers!

....

....

....

In a word... Demandred. Brandon revealed at JordanCon last month that the story will shed light onto what the Forsaken was up to during his time in Shara. The story begins with a character, Bao, who is on the verge of fulfilling prophecy and claiming the title of the Wyld. Originally the scenes were written in a way that the reader is left to wonder who Bao is, while gradually revealing more and more clues to his true identity.

Having read it, I can say that the strongest aspect of the story is that it shows Demandred as a possibly redeemable character. Most of the Forsaken are so steeped in their evil ways that we never question whether there's anything but darkness within them. But with this story, we get a glimpse of Demandred's full potential. We've always known that he was the second most accomplished male Aes Sedai during the Age of Legends, second only to Lews Therin. In this story, we see a man who possibly could have been the true hero of his world except for his one immense flaw: his hatred of Lews Therin.

Strange as it often seems, the entire Wheel of Time saga takes place over only period of a few years. During these three years or so, we watched Rand and Egwene, Mat and Perrin all rise to power while making new friends and enemies. River of Souls shows us that the same has been true for Demandred during the same time period. He has a father figure, along with a gruff companion who calls him a friend, and even a potential love interest. Brandon points out in the introduction that there probably could have been a full fourteen book series chronicling his adventures in Shara! (Don't get your hopes up to actually read it. But oh, the fan fiction we'll have for years to come!) Each of Demandred's companions have brief mentions in A Memory of Light. In the stand-alone book, the characters are a little flat, but when viewed through the context of River of Souls, they come to life and we're able to empathize with them much more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds interesting!

Indeed. I'm on board.

ETA: I should add though that if this story does indeed provide everything that it says, it should have been released prior to AMoL. One of the biggest "WTF" moments from most of the posts I've read in these three spoiler threads is Demandred's reveal seemingly coming out of left field. Yes, some readers had picked it out... but more through process of elimination than anything that was actually provided. Think how much more powerful his reveal and the Sharan intervention could have been if a strong short story that gave us the background of Bao the Wyld had been released in the months leading up to the book. It could have even been written in such a way that you didn't even know for certain that Bao was Demandred until his reveal in AMoL. Would have made those scenes that much stronger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indeed. I'm on board.

ETA: I should add though that if this story does indeed provide everything that it says, it should have been released prior to AMoL. One of the biggest "WTF" moments from most of the posts I've read in these three spoiler threads is Demandred's reveal seemingly coming out of left field. Yes, some readers had picked it out... but more through process of elimination than anything that was actually provided. Think how much more powerful his reveal and the Sharan intervention could have been if a strong short story that gave us the background of Bao the Wyld had been released in the months leading up to the book. It could have even been written in such a way that you didn't even know for certain that Bao was Demandred until his reveal in AMoL. Would have made those scenes that much stronger.

I think it would have been incredibly tough to write such a story without people figuring out it was Demandred, and so you have one of the big mysteries gone before AMOL is released. I mean who else would Bao be?

Always thought Shara was the only logical choice for Dems whereabouts. Theres three powers in Randland-Seanchan, the WT and Shara. Shara was too big to leave out, and Murandy couldnt have the impact needed for the big bad Dem

It will be interesting though to read of the father figure, love interest etc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadly, a Memory of Light has sucked out any enthusiasm I've had about this story. I kind of feel like my investment wasn't rewarded and won't give it any more of my time. I kind of hate that I feel this way, and I am glad others can still look forward to this, but I am out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadly, a Memory of Light has sucked out any enthusiasm I've had about this story. I kind of feel like my investment wasn't rewarded and won't give it any more of my time. I kind of hate that I feel this way, and I am glad others can still look forward to this, but I am out.

This is how I feel too, aMoL sure was terrible... I'll always have a soft spot for books 1-7ish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...