Steve Wrenn
After a slight slowdown from the crass jokes from the last book, this book is back to making me laugh so hard it hurts. I don’t dare try the audiobook since I’m afraid I’d have a car accident! I liked seeing how the in-character characters worked out in the real world. I’m not sure how much I bought into the real-world characters buying the fantasy characters, but since we have magic here, I suppose it works. I like the off-color, crass humor. I appreciate that they didn’t leave it on another seemingly obvious ending just to dismiss it later, but at the same time, they changed things up at the end, so it’s not the same plotline again for another book. Looking forward to the next book!
This is an excellent second book. I enjoyed exploring this world further and meeting some other factions in the story. I'm not sure about having a McGuffin like the horn, but I guess we'll see how much of a part it plays moving forward. I feel like they tried too hard to flash danger around Selene, and maybe this wasn't yet a trope when this book first came out, or maybe I'm just cynical, but I don't trust her, and it feels like we're not meant to. They did do a great job of hiding that Ingtar was a darkfriend, it definitely came out of left field. I'm not sure if it was warranted, like where'd that come from, but I guess with my thinking on Selene it's kind of like which do you want. It definitely feels like things are being set up for Rand to become much more widely known and actually important very soon, and also for him to struggle with the right way to use his power.
The Dragon Reborn is an excellent third book in the series. Seeing the group split and the different directions the characters take, while they all ultimately reconvene at the end, is interesting. This is kinda what was done in book 2, and I hope the series breaks from this moving forward to avoid being formulaic, but only time will tell.
It’s good to see the girls develop separate personalities and experience conflict, although the hair-tugging aspect was a bit odd. I began to wonder if that was how she channeled her magic. The intrigue in the tower shows that it’s not a very safe place, and I suspect we’ll see that other Aes Sedai have been turned to the Black Ajah. I like that they have obvious wishes for revenge against several of the people who have wronged them, and they struggle not to enact that vengeance, especially since Nynaeve is especially prone to having a hot temper.
I’m also glad to see Mat back on his feet after pretty much an entire book lying down, waiting to die. It’s almost like Jordan didn’t know what to do with him, and so he put him on the back burner.
Rand is going crazy, but this needs to be slowed down if this is gonna last 10 more books. I don’t know how many were planned at this point, but the burn rate seems to be kind of fast. Are they going to fight a new Forsaken in each book? In some ways, he’s the least interesting character since he has plot armor and we kinda already know the outline of how it’s going to end, even if we don’t know specifics yet. I’m glad the story focused more on other characters and hope that Rand’s thread can become more interesting later.
Overall, a great third book, can’t wait to start the fourth installment!
It's an awesome sophomore book in the series! I was wondering how this would follow up to the original, and while it didn't hit me with the same shock value the original did, it still had me rolling and looking forward to the next book! I have to say, it's the most creative way I'ver seen yet of dealing with the undead, and definitely the funniest!
It is an excellent book to begin an excellent series. It is a very familiar plotline of the boy from a small town destined for great things, but I like this trope. It promises much more after it's all been written, and I love the descriptive style. I love medieval fantasy, and this provides it in spades. I also like that, unlike older fantasy, women are front and center as the Aes Sedai, and are the only people who can use magic. Of course, it does appear that the ultimate hero is a man here, but this is still light years ahead of other fantasy tropes, and this is 30 years ago! This contrasts nicely with older fantasy with barely any female characters and those that were there are rarely fully developed.
I also like the different creatures in this world. While it is clear that Tolkien influenced Jordan, he also created a new set of creatures, such as Trollocs and Myrddraal, instead of rehashing Tolkien's creatures. This, along with what they've changed regarding gender roles, means that there is enough difference in this world that it is not just another Tolkien story, but great writing on its own.
As a book about Justinian, awsome! I learned a lot about Justinian that I didn't know, and I have read about him. I learned some details about the Italian Wars that I didn't know, and especially about Justinian's activities in the East against the Persians. I liked reading where the plague came from, which was different from where we thought. I even enjoyed the parts explaining why the plague is so deadly, even though I didn't quite understand it.
What I didn't understand was why the book covered everything else, given the title. As several reviews have pointed out, the book is almost half-finished by the time the plague takes center stage. I read the book because I wanted to learn in-depth about it, and while I did get that, it seemed rambling. Much of it seemed irrelevant to the thesis. Especially the chapter at the end about Chinese silk. I think it would have been better to retitle the book with the plague being a part of many things discussed. I also didn't care for all the comparisons to modern times. I don't mind a few, but he made too many references to modern times for my taste.
Overall, a good book, even if it strays somewhat from what the title would suggest. If you want to know about the Plague of Justinian, this is the book to read, just be aware that it covers quite a bit more.
An excellent conclusion to the granddaddy of all fantasy trilogies! I will confess that this is my first reading of this book, and it did not disappoint. I enjoyed the parts of the book that did not make the movie, along with the elaboration of some things that were skimmed over in the book. I liked getting a more complete picture of Denethor, instead of the Peter Jackson version. It greatly helped to see why he was the way he was. I also enjoyed a different version of Pippen, one not so clumsy.
I'm not sure I saw Aragorn as desperate to take his throne, at least not to the degree that some other sources have claimed. Especially where he first refused to enter the city with his banner until invited.
The indexes at the end were a nice touch. I had read before how detailed Tolkien made his world, but until I read that I hadn't seen this, and the material used from them to flesh out the movies was extraordinary!
Overall, an excellent read. I little tough based on modern reading patterns, especially in the indexes, but well worth it!
An excellent second part of the greatest fantasy series of all time! The continuation of the story and Tolkien's writing style are truly a marvel. While at times it can be difficult, I still like the style. I would say this is the last step in writing syntax before “modern” modern English since Tolkien was a young man during World War I. And yes, I call it this as not being a scholar of language, unlike Mr. Tolkien.
I read the first half of this book in college, right after reading the first one, but then college got in the way and it fell by the wayside. This was before the movies had been released, but I can say that I'm not a fan of the way Tolkien did the whole first half of the book from the AGL side and then went back to Frodo and Sam. That could just be the modern me used to this in the movies, or even in other book series. And again, it's a personal preference, but some of the sections with just the three characters in an endless march may have been one of the reasons I didn't follow through on this series many years ago. I am glad that the book dropped Gollum's hiss speak shortly after his introduction. That would have been annoying to have to read through for almost 200 pages. The book also gives a much more nuanced view of Gollum, not proving until near the end that he had planned to betray them all along.
One of the things that amazed me is how faithful the Peter Jackson movies remained to the books. Yes, Saruman isn't killed here in the books, and the elves don't come to Helm's Deep in the book. The movies were excellent, but it was great to finally see all the meat in the stories and get in-depth. Heck, it was funny reading the conversation between the orcs in the tower, as if they were an organized army with ranks and a hierarchy. Most more recent views of orcs show them as little more than a mob that simply follows the best killer among them.
Overall, while not as good as the Fellowship, but still well worth reading, and not simply the bridge between Books 1 and 3.
The classic fantasy tale that started the modern genre. Excellent, as it was 20 years ago in college. Still some of the best prose I have ever read. The classic good and evil story. While I realize that there are very few cases of all good or all evil, and I definitely like my stories with nuance, sometimes I just like a story with clear lines. Plus, the massive world that he built is still even in light of the size of some of the worlds in newer books with more words written on them, this is still one of the most complete fictional worlds ever written. Even the likes of WoT and Malazan, the worlds are not done as completely as Arda.
The book is not, however, without its flaws. Maybe it's not so much a flaw as the product of its time. The writing definitely doesn't flow as easily to my eye as more recent works, but then Tolkien is a man of the early 20th Century, and somewhat the upper crust of Britain at that. I still like the style, but it does take more effort to read that some other works.
The last problem honestly, is the way he describes skin color in the book. While I have seen no evidence of him being racist, and certainly having no writings as troubling as his contemporary HP Lovecraft, I can't help but notice that the whiter the character's skin, the better they are. The elves have the whitest skin, while many of the groups of men who have sided with Sauron are describes as “swarthy”, ass are likewise even those members of mostly friendly groups, the few hobbits and men in league with evil have darker skin. Again, I'm not sure one could read too deep into it, but it is noteworthy. Maybe it changes in later books, but I have yet to see a good character described as having anything besides pale white skin.
All in all, an excellent book. Even those who started reading fantasy with newer works, I think would gain much by reading the work that began it all. Even today, over 60 years later, this man influences fantasy in inummerable ways, and will for decades to come.
Well, the book is a product of it's time. The way the Germans are mentioned is outright reference to barbarism and being uncivilized. The only excuse I might find acceptable for this is that the author has twice seen the German army march through his country, including once less than a decade prior. Still, I shudder to think if he had discussed Muslims. He seems to switch between saying the rich exploit the poor and saying they're greedy. He tries to hide the fact that he's very partial to France since he's French, and for the most part he does, but it still shows. I suppose this is understandable, especially considering how much American historians buy into American exceptionalism.
My biggest criticism is that the book doesn't really tell a story. It mentions very few specific people, and instead has lots of numbers. It is useful, but I prefer a story to read. It's also very generalized, but it is a thousand years of history on an entire continent in 300 pages.
So, I'd say this is a book to read to see where the historiography of the period was, but to get a more accurate picture, there are better, more recent books.
So, this is as of right now, the last book released in the series, ironically exactly a decade ago as of when I post this. Farland has stated that he is still working on the sequel, but it's been a decade, so we'll see. He clearly isn't intending this to be the last book, but we'll see what happens.
So, I definitely enjoyed this book a lot. Definitely more than Worldbinder, and after seeing the whirlwind of characters in some of the recent books, it was nice to see familiar characters returning. I had missed Borenson, and so it was nice to pick his story up again. I liked reading what happened in other parts of the world, and seeing a wider impact of the binding.I ALMOST feel sorry for the wyrmlings being manipulated by the larger forces around them, but they appear to be quite happy to be manipulated. Another sticking point for me is the huge numbers again. The numbers of warriors and speed of production would be impressive in an industrial society, and this is clearly not that, so it strains credulity. The battle scenes are good, and I do like the political infighting among the followers of Lord Dispair. I do like the examination of the morality of killing those who aren't yet a threat, but who you know will become a threat if allowed to live. And, I do enjoy the set up for an even larger battle, but then that goes back to the numbers problem I already mentioned. and regarding the fact that we're still waiting on the next book for a decade, I definitely hope to see the next book completed. I'm hoping we're not left with an uncompleted series, with the conclusion of this epic battle left unwritten. Farland has had some health issues from what I've read, so we'll see what happens, and given the scale he describes, this is only the very beginning of the war to come.
I highly recommend this book, and look forward to its sequel.
Well, I was hoping I liked this book more than the last, and I wasn't disappointed. While certainly not on the caliber of the first half of the series, this is a good book, and I liked it much more than Worldbinder. Farland seems much more sure of himself in this book, and seems to be developing characters that he's sticking with, instead of the situation as I felt in the last book, where he seemed to be uncommitted to either the world he had created or the one he was creating, he seems invested in this one. I'm getting to know these characters better, instead of seeing them as the bastardized versions of the previous characters I'd enjoyed. After too much turnover, and then several key characters only lasting one book, this one makes it seem that we'll be sticking with them for a while.
I enjoyed in this book the fact that we're getting to see Wyrmlings as people, far more than we ever got to know the Reavers. Of course, the Wyrmlings are definitely portrayed as inherently evil and knowing it, vs the Reavers, who were only evil, IMHO, the way an antelope sees the lion as evil. I also love the way that Vulgash was dealt with! I'm not sure I could have come up with that interesting way of doing it without “attacking” him!
Overall, a worthy addition to the Runelords saga! Yes, unfortunately, it means slogging through Worldbinder, but this book made it worth it!
Unfortunately, easily the weakest of the series so far, by far. I suppose not bad as a story in and of itself, but as a continuation of the Runelords series, it feels like Runelords only in the barest sense. It feels like he had nowhere else to go in the main story with the magic, and with escalating evil, and so had to come up with this. First, the Reavers were the greatest evil ever faced and had to be stopped. Then Shadoath was even worse and needed to be stopped by an even more powerful being. Now even she's not the worst, and Fallion has to become even more powerful to stop this latest threat. It seems like an ever-escalating threat that only stops when the author decides to end the series. That's the exact reason I stopped watching Walking Dead. Now, I'll continue the series, as there are, as of now, only two more books, but it's definitely with less enthusiasm, and if this was like a 15 book series, ala Wheel of Time, I might stop.
The other problem besides the trope of each villain “worst villain ever TM” being worse than the last, this feels like a totally new series. I got that with the turnover with Son of the Oak and accepted that. This feels like he intentionally changed the world. If I wanted to read an entirely different series, I would have picked that series up. And yet, it's not. I now have to keep track of “shadow personalities”, and where this guy is a king here he was a peasant in the first world. Meanwhile, Raj Aten was a monster in the first series and all-powerful, here he survived and is a good man? Kinda makes me go um, trying to connect all these personalities with their counterparts. I didn't like when they blew up the Star Trek universe and I don't like when they do it here. And then the Runelord powers and blood metal that were the signature of the series, literally it's name, is almost absent here. Yeah, towards the end they're learning it in the new combined world, but it still seems like he wants to make a whole new series.
Overall, an unfortunately weak entry. Hopefully the next entry is better.
Definitely a nontraditional look at Europe and colonization. I've long known and felt that modern Europe came out of the Medieval period, but I hadn't thought where Europe's penchant for colonization came from. This examination of a distinctly European identity that spread chiefly from Western Europe is intriguing. At times I feel he conflates the argument a little too much in order the use the4 word colonization in there, but I can't argue with his overall thesis.
I was particularly fascinated by his examination of the roots of European racism, and how it came to be. At first, I was wary since he stated that it began as people all of the same skin colors, but he changed my mind. It's sad to see how the gradual emergence of ethnic racism based on being German vs Slav, or English vs Irish, but there it is. While he doesn't spend too much time on racism based on skin color, it's not hard to make the leap after reading his book.
Overall, an excellent book on the Middle Ages, and, as the book states, how Europe became Europe.
Wow! What a kick to start the new series! I had read enough going in to know that Gaborn wasn't going to be around long, but to see Farland do a sweep out of many of the old characters, and he didn't mess around about it either! Just brutal!
I liked the change from Gaborn to Fallion. One of the criticisms that I read about Gaborn is that he was too perfect, and there was really little chance that he was actually going to turn to “the dark side,” while I doubt Fallion will either since he's a Flameweaver (or potential one), I see it as a much stronger possibility than it ever was with Gaborn. It'll be interesting to see him struggle to control it as his powers develop in the next few books. It's definitely refreshing to see a much more conflicted character, much more likely to allow desires for revenge his enemies come to fruition.
The new pacing was interesting as well. The entirety of the first four books took place over a two or three week period. This had frequent jumps of months or even years with little to no coverage of the intervening time. It was ok, but it seems the polar opposite of what Farland did in the previous books. I'll have to see if I like it though the next few books.
One problem I found was in believing Shadoath's powers. After reading four books of an almost invincible Raj Ahten who couldn't be taken down, it was hard to see how she was even more evil and more powerful than him, supposedly. It's kind of like saying -50 degrees vs -60. At that point the distinction becomes meaningless. to top that off, she is then beaten by a child who had absolutely no endowments, while a lesser Runelord held off another with hundreds of endowments. I get to a certain degree that Fallion is some great being, but given how important taking Endowments are, to now make it totally meaningless kinda negates it. And then to have this seeming out of nowhere solution to prevent children from being slaughtered wholesale, seemed kind of a cop-out as if he was afraid the reader might now follow him this far.
Despite these criticisms, this is the beginning of a worthy continuation series. I was worried about liking it with a new cast of characters, and so many gone because several places I've seen that readers didn't take to them. I, however, enjoyed them, and look forward to the continuation of the story.
An excellent end to this stage of the saga! Tied up most of the loose ends and yet left enough points to begin the next section of the story. He could have ended the series here very nicely, or, as he did, begin a new storyline.
I am sort of wondering why Carris was used again as the battlefield. We knew that the castle had been severely damaged from the last battle, so why did the Earth send them to defend it again? After the first battle, even an army of commoners probably could have taken the castle, to say nothing of Runelords, and of course, we saw that it proved no match for the Reavers.
Some of the other parts that honestly seemed to have little point was the whole Inkarra storyline. Maybe this is something that will be developed in future books, but Borenson and Myrimma's trip to this dark land seemed to have no point. Their army never came to fight at Carris, didn't influence any of the other characters, and the Days that came with them really didn't seem to provide any critical help in the battle.
The other bothersome part was the fact that Raj Ahten becoming a servant of fire seemed to have little effect on him other than him being able to shoot fire from his hands, and his skin seemed to change. They made a big deal of his last scene of him getting this new name, and then only used it as he was being killed at the end of the book. Furthermore, he didn't seem to be serving Fire at all, but still serving himself. Yes, you could argue that this lust for power is part of serving Fire, but he never seemed to be subservient to any Fire Master, certainly not the way Gaborn served the Earth or even the way Mymirra served Water.
Lastly, for Asgarath being so powerful, his leaving was hugely anticlimactic. Again, this seems like it could be a thread to be picked up in future books, but if this was the end point, then this most powerful evil of all seemed rather toothless.
Despite these criticisms, I did enjoy the book. We finally got to see how the Reavers lived after 3 books, with lots of speculation in the previous two. The action was fun to read, and I could really visualize the sequences, even the parts with Runelords moving at superhuman speeds. Seeing what each member of their team brought to bear, and how they and they alone fit into the battle, was excellent, and showed the limits imposed even on the all-powerful Gaborn.
I can't wait to continue my journey!
An excellent book! As the prequel to the greatest fantasy work of all time, I was eager to read it, despite it being billed as “children's fantasy,” and it didn't disappoint me. It definitely fits the bill as a work aimed at kids, with contemporary comparisons for children to understand certain things, along with outright shattering the fourth wall, using “I” and “you” quite liberally in addressing the reader. Despite this, I enjoyed it. Perhaps this is because I knew this going in that it was aimed at children, unlike the later books. And Tolkien was able to stuff the story very well into 300 pages. I have seen the three movies and wondered how all the stuff that was in some 9 hours on screen would be squeezed into 300 pages - knowing that there was quite a bit in the movies that wasn't in the book. He didn't disappoint, even when the book got short and the Battle of the Five Armies still hadn't happened.
Overall an excellent book! While I'm not sure what specific ages I would recommend this book to, it does fit for kids. That being said, some parts of it do seem to be aimed at different aged kids from other parts, and I'm not just referring to the events, but also the sentence structure and interjections. The later sections seemed to be slightly more rushed and yet serious, which is part of why I can't decide what specific age this book seems to be aimed at. I also, however, suspect that different books would have been aimed at kids in 1937 than would be today, or even back when I was little. But definitely, something parents could read with their child.
An excellent engaging book on the history of languages! I had already known that basically most of the languages of Europe were related to each other, and even with languages in India if one looks far back enough. But to answer the question of why certain languages spread and others don't, or as to why certain languages even retreat, I hadn't known. The book can at times be a little dry, and I'll admit I didn't bother trying to pronounce ancient languages beyond the older versions of English shown in the book. Amazingly though, I didn't really need to know this pronunciation. What Ostler provided in English was enough for me to follow language structure, changes, and relationships, even if it wasn't necessarily enough for me to speak the older languages at even the most basic level.
I was particularly intrigued by English. Obviously, there are many words in English whose spelling bears no resemblance to their pronunciation, a fact that native English speakers are told time and time again makes it one of the hardest languages to learn. I've been listening to the History of English podcast and so have some idea of this, but the history, intertwined with other languages, is fascinating. And he gives a convincing argument as to why English is so dominant in the world today, beyond anything one might possibly imagine, even accounting for the size of the British Empire in the 1800s. Actually, after reading some of his reasoning behind the death of language, one then has to wonder how it lasted in some places, but he explains it.
This is not to say that the book is entirely without flaws. He readily admits to some speculation, and to a certain degree, this is almost inevitable. He makes a case and then readily points out exceptions to the rule, which is definitely possible. But in several places, the logic he uses justifying why one language spread, he then uses the exact same reason to justify why another language died out! And he does so without calling it an exception to the rule! This happened a few times and left me questioning his logic at times.
Overall, an excellent book! If one wants to know about how language spreads, how it dies, and where he things languages are going, and especially English, pick this up!
Well, for starters, this book goes well beyond the sentence “Do whatever it takes to win.” Detractors, chiefly those who want morality to rule all dealings, paint this book as advocating stabbing everyone else in the back at the earliest possible convenience. They take the whole book as being the line “It is better to be feared than loved.” In reality, the book is so much more than this.
As has been stated ad nauseum by others, this book is ultimately about realpolitik. Bottom line, others will stab you in the back, so you need to be prepared for it and be willing to stab others in the back yourself. It doesn't advocate breaking alliances but says that there will be times that doing so is necessary, as will be breaking one's word. Anyone who thinks honesty is the best policy at all times is living a fantasy. Anyone who lets their hated boss know what they really think of them is likely to find themselves not working for this boss sooner than they had planned.
Finally, surprisingly, he is a big fan of the people. He states in several sections that it is more important to have the people on one's side than the nobility, if for no other reason that the nobles have more means to depose the prince, while the people outnumber the nobles. Whoa, betide the aristocracy of today if the masses were ever to remember this seemingly obvious fact.
Some criticisms, the thoughts do seem a little swingy in places. He seems to be a fan of republics, but then in portions of the Discourses, included in this edition, he says that republics oppress their people, while claiming that princes do not. In the meantime, in the Prince, he is a fan of republics. When he claims that multitudes are more constant than masses, he seems to jump through quite a few hoops and does quite a bit of cherry picking to “prove” this. and I'll grant that he did this because both of these works had intended audiences and purposes, but one should be aware of this fact as they're reading either one. I also wonder how one would take modern nationalism and mass media into account. Obviously, we can't fault him for not knowing that newspapers, and then radio, and then television, and finally the internet right on portable viewing devices, but these technologies make it very different how the people are impacted. In his view, the people won't care who the ruler is so long as they can prosper, but we see how proud modern people are to be American, or French, or Japanese, or whatever. I think these change the reality from anything he could have discerned from his time.
All in all, this is a must-read. The only thing, I would suggest a different edition. Daniel Donno, the translator of this edition, says he omitted some chapters that related to the military. Presumably, this is because they discuss military tactics and technology, which have obviously both moved on since Machiavelli's day, but I can't tell because they're not in this edition. Donno stated that he felt those chapters would be of little interest to modern (1966) readers, however, I would prefer to make that choice myself. I would also prefer to read the Discourses in their entirety rather than the piecemeal selections included here.
An excellent continuation of the Runelord's saga! The moral choices faced by the characters is excellent, and really makes one think! Who among us could knowingly order men to their deaths? Moreso, who could order a 9-year-old girl to do the things Gaborn to do the things he asked of Averan to do? Or order a retreat from a battle, knowing that defenseless civilians would be slaughtered as a result?
I like the way Gaborn's powers are still diminished. Originally his Earth King Powers basically cast him as almost omnipotent, and it almost seemed as if he could do anything, so a needed check on that power stepped in.
It was interesting to see Raj Ahten's final transformation and the loss of his humanity. Farland tried through the series, particularly through book 2 I feel, to somewhat humanize him, but as we saw, to no avail. Unfortunately, it was almost a given that this would happen given his massive hubris right after slaying the fell mage. He was so focused on people worshipping him for it, that it was to the point of being a trope that he was going to fall almost immediately.
Myrimma and Borenson have an interesting story, with her going from a peasant girl to a Runelord, to seemingly powerful wizard, and also watching her heal Borenson from his seemingly horrible childhood. On the one hand, it's straying into trope territory for someone from a peasant background to have great power and possibly lineage. On the other, it's refreshing to see a marriage where the woman is clearly the stronger half in almost every manner of speaking. You also see this with Erin of Fleeds and in fact the entire land of Fleeds. This is especially noteworthy given that this series was started 20 years ago!
The final part that intrigues me the most is the sudden shift for Averan. Up to this point, she hasn't shown any malice or ill will in her personality, even when we got an italic view inside her thoughts. Yet Binnsman immediately regarded her with suspicion as soon as she picked out her staff. Is it possible that eating from reavers has had more adverse effects on her than what we've seen? I'm probably the most curious about where her story goes in the upcoming book(s).
One thing that really bothers me is...the numbers. 100,000 artillery pieces, 1 million soldiers on the battlefield, another 2 million on the way, a million refugees...these would be staggering numbers today, and only the largest countries could do it by dedicating their entire society to the war, and this society is preindustrial. I can suspend disbelief for some things, but this is a bit much, and for no purpose. Yeah, they have magic, but nothing like this has been shown in the power of magic.
All in all, an excellent book that I can't wait to continue!
A good horror book that gives an interesting picture of what people in the 1890s thought the 1920s would be like. I found it particularly interesting that they still foretold a war with Germany! It was also interesting to see “undesirable” laws keeping certain groups out of the United States. Keep in mind this was before the Holocaust cast such laws in a very dark light.
Regarding the stories themselves, it's interesting to see that written horror hasn't changed that much in over 100 years. It still much more covers the foreboding associated with the unknown, and not understanding death. The world Chambers writes in is still recognizable as mostly modern. Science has changed so much, but it's interesting to see the way Chambers treats science and it's potential misuse, as well as how he treats the Middle Ages. The Franco-Prussian War is relatively little known in the US today, so getting a fairly contemporary account is interesting. I'm not sure I like the end having love stories tacked on, or that they were interesting, but I guess that's how they wrote back then. Overall, an excellent book for those looking for some older horror, especially those wanting to see where HP Lovecraft got some of his inspiration.
An excellent sequel! This book moved at a much faster pace, and introduced some amazing characters and places! I definitely enjoyed reading about more than simply another two-way fight like in the previous book. The original Runelords books gave us a slight taste of the menacing reavers that had been discussed, and it seemed clear right from the get go that they would be the bigger enemy by far, even before being discussed much. The new lands such as Fleeds being discussed was very cool. And seeing a matriarchal warrior culture is an awesome twist! The battle in the climax was awesome, very descriptive, and I could definitely picture the events happening in my mind! Iy played out just like a movie!
This book also advances beyond the first in that you have several different threads through the book, all connecting in the end. I like the story of Averan, Pole, and Roland. It's interesting to see new ways of magic being used besides the runes. Indeed, some of the spells are of a more traditional fantasy magic type. However, the magic is at a cost, and must be used wisely or it will be withdrawn. This is a good way to prevent rampant overpower by someone with unchecked magical powers. Indeed, it would seem that the burden born by Gaborn is much more a curse than a blessing. It's almost unrealistic that he can emotionally handle seeing so many die that he has made so close to himself. It was touching to see how Father Borenson felt for a little girl after just meeting her, and it was fun to learn a little bit about Borenson's past. I will say that the book's length (and the slowness with which I read it made it difficult to keep it in mind that these events, in both books, have all taken place over the course of one week. In some cases there are several hundred pages between encounters with a particular storyline but less than a day has passed. Farland does seem to be cognizant of that since he seems to bring up this short timespan frequently. The only other criticism I guess I would have is that with little artwork that I could find, I can't help but imagining the reavers as giant versions of the Aliens from the franchise of the same name. I know the cover art isn't from Farland, but maybe with the reavers making their first big appearance, they should have appeared on the cover instead of the Darkling Glory.
All in all, an excellent book, much better than the first book. Seeing that the lands are indeed expanding, as are the characters, I'm excited to see where this goes!
An excellent book on the Carolingian reign. McKitterick examines the evidence in excruciating detail to determine is the story that has been passed on about him based on fact or myth. By examining the primary sources contemporary to Charlemagne, rather than simply taking the word of Einhard, we get a much more complete picture. Itinerant kingship is examined, and she smashes the belief that all action in the Carolingian Empire happened solely based on the presence of the king in a place. Based on the distance that separated the locations, it becomes clear that far from relying entirely on the person of the king, Charlemagne established a bureaucracy that extended throughout his realm. Far from Aachen being the be all end all of the arts in his realm, it was one of many in the kingdom. On examination, it would seem obvious, especially given how many military campaigns he fought, but very little scholarship that I've read up to this point has challenged this view. It's also interestingly proven that he probably was able to read and write, contrary to previous scholarship.
The one piece that I didn't agree with was the section examining his piety, what was private and what was public. In modern times we're used to examining how much of a person's piety is genuine and how much is for show, especially from politicians. I think, however, that it's hard to overestimate piety in this age. Given how central Christian piety was to Charlemagne's rule, both from the point of view of how he standardized worship, and the forcefulness with which he converted the Saxons to Christianity.
Overall, one of the best pieces of current scholarship on Charlemagne.