Kai’s Reviews > The Shadow Rising > Status Update

"All up and down the line, as far as Perrin could see, the women were there. Their numbers were the only reason the lines still held, almost driven back against the houses. Women among the men, shoulder to shoulder; some no more than girls, but then, some of those 'men' had never shaved yet. Some never would."

I'm really susceptible to all the death-and-glory demeanor. I thought the battle was wonderfully written.

The action at the Palace, with its two boss fights, the rescue mission, and the general vibes, to me it felt very much like "Final Fantasy IX" somehow. Now I try to remember if there were political undertones in the game, too.

Wow, marriage ceremony in only half a page. I have to admit, I probably won't miss Faile much when her journey will probably mostly take place in the off?

Nynaeve and Elayne's quest in Tanchico promises some sort of heist into the Palace, right? Their deep friendship with the Seanchan woman is not very convincing, though, especially because the open arms seem pretty out of character for Nynaeve. So far the events there seemed a bit aimless, but I guess that was to be expected from an almost hopeless task like that.

Tales of Goldeneyes. The excessive space makes it possible to really spend time with the crowd, as if we follow Perrin to all his daily interactions, some only rather minor in the bigger scheme of things. I love it, total immersion for me right now.

The alliance with the Whitecloaks came completely out of nowhere. It will be interesting to see how this develops. Peace and harmony is not what I predict.

Did we just learn more in 40 pages than in the two thousand that came before? We learn of the Aiel purpose in the perhaps all-encompassing Aes Sedai plan, what they call the Way of the Leaf, and how they lost their Way. We learn of the time before the Breaking, the shifting perceptions. We even learn an important additional detail about the magic system.

Yet, many things not clear, some I just might have missed.

The Aiel origin myth is the most convincing sign of more mature writing. The way it addresses identity of a people was amazing.

It seems the narrative will be continued in the next chapter. This segment of the book is exciting on numerous levels.

Rand and Mat reunited to take up yet another trial, one so much more exciting than Egwene's in the previous novel. Stumbling through the ancient city, unfinished yet unbroken. Literaly deserted, the two in search for Rand doesn't know what.

Great sword & sorcery vibes again, especially with the bizarre things that happen to Mat at the end. I'm beginning to truly love this series!

The two seaward chapters delivered what was perhaps the most captivating prose of the series so far. You could almost smell the ocean and feel the freah wind on your skin.

The sense of adventure fully outweighs the campy attempts at romance. To be honest, even the latter is growing on me. The silly juvenility adds character, doesn't it?

After about one third of the book, people are finally getting on their ways. The quests do sound promising.