Alexander > Recent Status Updates

The first 60 pages have got me thinking about how we treat people who are different from us, the nature of sentience in a world of AI, parenting in a world of impending ecological doom, the difference between the wealthiest of us and the poorest. It’s deep, reflective stuff. Scenes in India so closely reflect my own experience there, I can almost feel and smell it.

Loving how Chambers has thought through Exodan society; wondering if they’re all shortsighted from being inside all the time.

I’m sensing a Snow/Coin dynamic.

My head is still in Leaving the Atocha Station, so I’m not doing this justice.

Classic Will Self protagonist- self-indulgent, early middle-aged male, clinging to a youth that's slipping away.

Classic Will Self tone- sharp, dry wit.

I love how the lettering reflects characters’ mental states.

One of the best of the series.

The prose takes some getting used to.

The building of tension between Perrin’s camp and Galad’s Whitecloaks is well done.

A bit of totally unexpected deus ex machina too.

A few of the old tropes are back. Rand wants to make himself harder, allies are exposed as Darkfriends and Aes Sedai continue to make a mess of things by being arrogant, dismissive of others and unwilling to collaborate. At least we know what the deal is with Rodel Ituralde, the various strings of the story have made a bit more progress and characters have grown.

Wow.

Blister makes more mistakes than a second-rate crim caught with his hand in a till. I thought she was supposed to be clever? Or is she making these mistakes on purpose to communicate something to Tsunami?

There certainly are a lot of hammered dulcimers in this volume.

My other gripe is that many of the characters speak with such similar voices, it's almost impossible to tell them apart.

A lot happens in the prologue- after not much throughout the many pages of Crossroads of Twilight. A secondary character dies resulting in significant changes to one of the major political factions. Another secondary character is- surprise!- a Darkfriend, again. Siuan has become the new Nyaeve and Suroth has gone from always cool and calm to raging- much like all Aes Sedai did in earlier volumes. its a bit repetitive

I’m also guessing Faile is Queen of Saldea at some point.

This is so turgid compared to the last couple of books I’ve read.

I love how many different mid-century Indian environments Seth includes- rural, urban poor, middle-class and wealthy. I’m also amazed by the variety of characters and the detail about social practices, Indian society and politics, history and culture included. It’s astonishing!

Key plot points in this book and series are all driven by characters misinterpreting the actions of other characters and being too arrogant to bother understanding them.

Nynaeve and Elayne are self-absorbed idiots.

McCarthy uses few words to show a great deal. This one is quite something, even for him.

Pullman appears to be telling me that religion is garbage and to focus on living in harmony with the Earth.

I have loved reading these stories so far. 'Hypothetical Lizard' is a tragic, brutal love story set in a fantasy world, which appears remarkably whole for a short story. 'Not Even Legend' tells the story of an ordinary community group infiltrated by an extraordinary being. 'Location, Location, Location' wraps a real-estate deal in theological and philosophical discussion and 'Cold Reading' an excellent ghost story.