Adrian Collins's Blog, page 149

REVIEW: The Sun Casts No Shadow by Mark Richardson

The Sun Casts No Shadow by Mark Richardson follows Wellington Thorneycroft, a pickpocket doing his best to survive the soul-crushing urban dystopia of the City. Surrounded by unscalable walls, scorched with stifling heat, and cut off from the light of the sun by industrial smog, a resident’s only escape is Ambrosia–a narcotic pill that comes in an ever-expanding rainbow of flavors and effects. Clocking in at a tight 178 pages, the novel is narrated in the first person by Thorneycroft himself and begins with him meeting a mysterious woman promising the impossible gift of freedom and a life beyond the walls.

In addition to having a great name, Thorneycroft possesses a unique narrative voice that brings to mind the hardboiled radio detectives of old. Embracing the urban grime and moral decay of the City, he spends his days lifting wallets, getting high, and bankrolling half the City’s prostitutes. With most residents of the City finding work at the (capital-F) Factory producing a baffling array of products, Wellington chooses the dubious liberty of the streets instead. While he is an unrepentant crook, he does have a greasy charisma and earnest yearning for freedom that will charm many readers.

As a setting, the City itself presents a fascinating mix of noir, dystopia, fantasy, and general oddness that doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre. Its denizens live lives of sweaty desperation, working at the Factory and listening to jazz at pill bars. The nun-like Sisters of the Sun stare at the sky with empty sockets awaiting the day the smog clears. The enigmatic crime lord Felix owns the casinos and controls most of the city, and crooked Troopers enforce what passes for the law. Above all else, the compelling mysteries of the City are what kept me reading.

On a related note, while I found a lot to like about this book, my biggest issue with it was the way it presented fascinating questions but left many of them unanswered. The City is full of cool oddities–giant talking bird gangsters, strange cults of eyeless nuns, a smattering of incorporeal fantasy races against a backdrop of industrial technology, and so on. This, in turn, makes one wonder where/when exactly the place is. Is it an invented world, a parallel universe, our own world after an apocalypse? I loved how utterly weird the setting was, but without answers to many of these questions, I felt like I was left waiting for an aha! moment or a big twist that never came. Readers who don’t mind some level of ambiguity likely wouldn’t be bothered by this as much as I was.

That said, there’s a lot here for grimdark readers to enjoy. The protagonist is a likable scoundrel, and Richardson’s prose is delightfully grimy. Thorneycroft’s yearning for freedom in an oppressive, industrialized world is something most readers will be able to empathize with at some level, and the narrative tension and pacing of his attempted escape make for a real page turner. All in all, this was a fun little Ambrosia trip of a book, and it’s well suited to readers interested in taking a walk on the stranger side of noir and dystopia.

Read The Sun Casts No Shadow by Mark Richardson

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REVIEW: The Wheel of Time E4: Dragon Reborn

The Wheel of Time E4: The Dragon Reborn is the best episode so far. Adapting Robert Jordan’s classic fantasy tome was always going to be a difficult task with fans divided over decisions made in order to bring the novel to life, but this episode displays signs that the show will be one to stick with even if some may be disillusioned with some of the changes to Jordan’s work.

The Dragon Reborn starts strongly with a flashback as a man claiming to be the Dragon Reborn takes over a city and convinces a king that he is here to bind the world and not break it like the Dragon before. Logain shows his ability to channel and is powerful enough that the Aes Sedai must work in pairs to keep him under control. The Dragon Reborn does well to show the various factions within the Aes Sedai and that even though their target may be the same, the paths they choose to get to that target vary greatly. The various colours within the group are shown and it seems that Moiraine and Lan are outsiders compared to the rest of the women and their warders. Nynaeve is used as the audience’s eyes and ears as she learns about the differences between the factions (ajahs) and the tension between them. The episode begins to expand the world and introduce the audience to the wider world that Jordan wrote in great detail. There are a few changes that fans may grumble about but overall, the episode is a sign that The Wheel of Time is in capable enough hands, for the moment.

The cast show signs of settling into their roles and Rand and Mat in particular stand out as they follow their new, mysterious ally, Thom. The Dragon Reborn has Thom again slowing down the story as he tells another tale to Rand. The episode is full of small character moments that allow our characters to reflect and breathe and it is in these small moments that the writing is at its sharpest. The bond between Aes Sedai and their warders is explained to Egwene over around a roaring fire and the world and the people within it become that much clearer to the audience. A story like The Wheel of Time needs to turn at the right pace or else it will break and this episode mixes the smaller characters moments with the grander scale scenes such as the opening flashback and a battle that will make fans of Game of Thrones and The Witcher sit up and wonder about what might be possible as the series continues.

The Dragon Reborn spends a lot of time with our heroes from the Two Rivers learning about the greater world around them from people who have suffered. They learn of loss and speak of the turning of the wheel. There is a clear bond between them all even though they are split up and taking different paths. Egwene and Perrin listen to the Way of the Leaf and learn from the pacifist travellers hosting them. Moiraine’s words about the five of them play on their minds as they each wonder who is the Dragon Reborn and the consequences of being the one to be able to save or break the wheel. The madness that takes over men attempting to wield magic designed for women plays at the back of Rand’s mind in the episode as the audience is given evidence of its effects through Logain and the whispers constantly advising him.

The Dragon Reborn is proof that the show is on the right track. It is filled with quiet characters moments that make you care about the people and the world they inhabit. There are some changes that fans may moan about but there are others that improve on Jordan’s work, as should be the case with all adaptations. Strong in the quiet scenes, and explosive when the action finally hits, The Dragon Reborn is the best episode yet and proof that this series could be something special.

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REVIEW: Parliament of Knives

Parliament of Knives is an interactive novel from Choice of Games and the third such choose-your-own adventure-esque game set in White Wolf’s World of Darkness. I enjoyed Night Road and Out for Blood but I felt that the former was significantly more enjoyable than the latter. Strangely, I think Out for Blood may be the one that sticks with me longer, though. Each of the novels takes a different perspective on Kindred society with the first being a low-level grunt working for the Camarilla as a courier, the second as a human being dealing with an invasion of Kindred into his hometown, and the third being as a high-level Camarilla flunkie.

Parliament of Knives is a significantly longer game than the previous entries and a lot deeper in terms of politics, backstabbing, Kindred relationships, and opportunities to explore alternate routes. You can side with the Camarilla, Anarchs, Primogen vs. Prince, Tremere versus Tremere, and numerous other sides. It is a game of absolute freedom and you have more choices than I expected. In my various games, I managed to betray my sire and then double-cross my partner multiple times. I formed alliances and broke them based on new informations as it entered my character’s possession.

Perhaps one of the best examples of this is when I made an alliance with the Ventrue Primogen against my sire, found her to be untrustworthy, did her dirty work, received a letter for her to give to me, and then noted she’d taken the wrong lesson from Hamlet that you should never give your execution orders to the person to be executed. I proceeded to betray her back to my sire and ended up becoming the next Prince’s right hand. I give kudos to the author that they came up with a bunch of great twists and turns for a Camarilla game.

The premise is you are [insert character name], the childe of Ottawa’s Seneschal, Eden Corliss. You can be a Toreador, Ventrue, or Nosferatu. You are highly placed in the Ottawa Camarilla but function more like a glorified secretary and occassional mercenary than anyone truly powerful. After being ordered to help fight some Anarchs, you are drawn into a conspiracy regarding the city’s missing Prince. Has he been Beckoned? Kidnapped? Met the final death? It almost doesn’t matter because Eden is the most likely to ascend in his place but everyone has their own plans in motion.

The biggest disadvantage of the text-based novel is its inherent format. If you don’t have a problem reading about 600K words of description, interaction, and choices then Parliament of Knives is the kind of experience for you. If not, well, then it’s not going to be the experience for you. The writing is consistent and to the point but, perhaps, a bit on the flowery side regardless. Which makes sense if you’re a Toreador or Ventrue but not so much if you’re a Nosferatu. There’s also a strange fact that one of the characters changes sex whether you are attracted to men or women, which I feel broke immersion.

One thing that will probably prove controversial after the previous two novels were excellent reproductions of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition’s rules is the fact this uses an even more simplified version without any skills. You maintain your Attributes but the majority of traits are missing. Instead, the primary system to keep track of is your relationships with other vampires that are measured in percentage points.

The art of Parliament of Knives is also excellent with about a dozen portraits that invoke the characters they’re supposed to represent. While not a full-fledged visual novel, I feel they add a lot to the story that would be otherwise be lacking. The Nosferatu Sheriff is not possessing any deformities but apparently this is explained within the game. While I always prefer visual novels, I feel the art was an excellent addition.

Overall, Parliament of Knives is a solid entry into the series but I think Night Road and Out for Blood are easier for the beginner to get into. This has a lot more replay value, though.

Play Parliament of Knives in the Choice of Games app

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REVIEW: Risen by Benedict Jacka

Risen is a shattering final book of the Alex Versus series by Benedict Jacka; we say goodbye to the titular character Alex. It is all done. Finito. Endings can be difficult; it is hard to wrap up all the emotion and gravitas of a series, especially one as large as the Alex Verus one with a neat bow. Instead of allowing the series to pitter out like a band still on stage when patrons are getting their bags and heading home, Jacka finished the series with a thundering crash of an orchestra in its final song for the night. It was perfectly timed and perfectly executed, and a conscious choice by Jacka that this book and this plot arc is the right time to finish. Jacka did a great job, and I am left with a fondness for the series.

It took us 12 books to get to this point, and unlike other stories in the Alex Verus series, you can’t start at book 12, Risen. You won’t get the gravitas of what is going on and the combined struggles Alex has faced. Jacka does his best to give context to the situation that Verus finds himself in. But even with some backstory, it will read like an excited but superficial action fantasy novel. Instead, Risen feels like a story written as a nod for the fans and everything Verus has gone through and lost.

Alex Verus is an unlikely hero on many fronts. Firstly, up until recently, he was not a hugely powerful mage. Verus has always been cunning and strategic in planning because of necessity. He was scrappy, the runt puppy of the Mage world. Often his fights were akin to someone attacking with a pea shooter instead of a Nuke. You can do a lot of damage with a pea shooter if you get someone right in the eye, which was Alex’s modus operandi. It took him far in the mage world, but Verus was always lacking true power.

That is, until the last few books, where the tides began to turn. But there is always a price to pay for power.

One of the most positive aspects of the story is how Alex has grown and nurtured his relationships with his allies. As I mentioned above this is essential for Alex’s survival, but I think this is more so because of his highly protective nature. It is the epitome of a found family. If Alex chooses you and trusts you, he will likely care about you his entire life, and possibly burn the world down to save you. With all the magical and political machinations going on in the background, his relationships take center stage and are the beating heart of the Alex Verus series.

Verus also has a distinctive duality in his nature, which was evident as the series progressed but doubly true for the last book. He can be intensely pragmatic and ruthless, in essence, a dark mage. The very thing he spent most of his adult life running from. He is capable of very dark things, which many dark mages attempted to exploit for their gain. Especially, the longstanding villain of the story Richard Drakh. The morally ambiguous nature of Jacka’s hefty cast of characters seems much more realistic and practical than the perfect “good guy/bad guy” characters that many other urban fantasy series employ.

So, who is Alex Verus and why should you read this series? Alex is a complex character set in difficult situations that never jump the proverbial shark. The series has grey characters that have an authenticity that is appealing and grabs you. And those characters have psychological issues that again, add to the realism of the series. The ever-evolving plot is great, you continually want to know more. And now that it is a finished story, you can binge-read it. There is so much good, which is why I have loved and read this series for years.

It was bittersweet to see it go, but it was time. Jacka did Alex Verus justice and I was thrilled with the ending. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great urban fantasy series to binge read. You won’t be able to put it down.

Read Risen by Benedict Jacka

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REVIEW: The Wheel of Time E3: A Place of Safety

The Wheel of Time E3: A Place of Safety continues the improvements made in the previous episode as we follow the separate journeys of our heroes following their split in the shadow city. Comparisons to Game of Thrones will be made (and rightfully so) as the Amazon series introduces viewers to a world filled with magic and more exposition than they are perhaps used to on a fantasy TV series but A Place of Safety shows signs that the series can grow into something memorable.

As always, reader, ‘ware spoliers herein.

A Place of Safety shows how Nynaeve escaped her trolloc captor and how she ended up with a concerned Lan who is trying to keep the wounded sorceress Moiraine alive. Lan outfoxes Nynaeve but soon realises that she is needed to help Moiraine. Nynaeve tries her best but trolloc poison is a difficult thing to cure and so their best bet for help seems to be the dastardly group of red-cloaked Aes Sedai we encountered in episode one, a group who have caged a man believing himself to be the Dragon Reborn… Egwene and Perrin wander across a barren landscape, chased (or guided?) by wolves towards a travelling people who eventually welcome them with open arms. Perrin has another nightmare involving the being with ember eyes as a wolf eats the open guts of his dead wife. All in all, the pair seem to end the episode on a positive note compared with the fortunes of their friends…

Rand and Mat make it to a bustling town and are able to take a breath following their escape from the darkness. A caged outsider is found dead outside the town but the pair are welcomed and allowed to stay if they work for their accommodation thanks to the friendly barmaid, Dana. The gleeman, Thom, shares a glum song in the tavern before scolding Mat who attempts to steal from the corpse seen earlier. Rand befriends the barmaid before discovering that she is in fact a follower of the Dark One and wishes to trade his life for glory. The Dark One apparently wishes to break the Wheel of Time and end the cycle of pain and suffering – building on the themes of the second episode. Thom’s thrown knife pierces Dana’s throat during her speech about the Dark One and puts an end to her tale. Mat and Rand – who seems to be stronger than at least three men according to Dana – escape the town and follow Thom to the east.

A Place of Safety continues the focus on the relationships between the humans in the show. Dana wishes to improve her boring existence by aiding the Dark One and her goal is a reasonable one. Breaking the Wheel of suffering and pain is one which seems to be a valid aim. It adds to the morally grey area emphasised in the second episode. Mat longs to go home and Rand wishes to head to the White Tower in the hope of seeing Egwene again. The decisions based on human feelings and emotions continue to be a strong point in the series. By the end of The Wheel of Time E3, the audience has a good understanding of the main characters and how they are expected to behave and that will be a strength as the series moves on.

A Place of Safety is a strong episode that plays on the complex emotions and desires of the main cast. By the end of the episode, the characters are well known and the audience is ready to continue the journey. Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series is one full of complex worldbuilding and there will be difficulties along the way of this ambitious adaptation. By the end of episode 3, The Wheel of Time has earned the faith of its audience to be able to display what it is capable of across the first season. So far, it doesn’t seem to be just a load of old trollocs…

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REVIEW: Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

TJ Klune’s books have become a place where my heart can get a zap like a defibrillator pedal. Both Under a Whispering Door and Under the Cerulean Sea tread the line between sentimental and sweet, but Klune is such a skilled writer that I never drift to the wrong side of that line.

“I’m dead,” he said. “There’s no going back from that. A river only moves in one direction.”

Instead, after I get done with his books, and for this review, I will be talking about the newly released Under the Whispering Door; I feel good about myself and good about the world. I hope that somewhere in the vastness of this universe, there are true stories like what you find in these books. In the infinite, anything is possible. But until I discover and am witness to real-life stories that are as sweet as these, I will have to go back and read Under the Whispering Door again and again.

Wallace whispered, “It’s easy to let yourself spiral and fall.”
“It is,” Nelson agreed. “But it’s what you do to pull yourself out of it that matters most.”

The book follows Wallace Price Esq. A big-time lawyer and partner in a law firm. He is everything a someone who does not practice law expects lawyers to act. In that vein, Wallace is an immediately identifiable character, not one you can sympathize with, but absolutely one you understand. He is cold, calculating, ruthless, and utterly devoid of the ability to empathize.

These characteristics served him well. He is smartly dressed and expects the same of those around him. He is crushingly fastidious and again expects this of others. Any infraction on this is met with cold civility and a pink check. In other words, he is hated by his employees, has no friends, and his contemporaries are either terrified of him or believe him to be a cretin.

Then he dies. Alone. This starts the actual journey.

He wakes up from death at his funeral. There was no gnashing of teeth and wailing to the Heavens. Quite the contrary. “He was a real bastard.” Everyone is ignoring him; no one can see him. He is dead, so it makes sense except for one woman. She keeps staring in his general direction. She introduces herself, her name is Mei, and she is a reaper. She has come to take Wallace onwards.

She takes him to a place, a shabby chic little tea house in the middle of the forest. A place that Wallace would never have visited in his life but is now staying at in his death. Mei introduces Wallace to Hugo, the ferryman. Hugo’s job is to help Wallace get used to the idea that he is dead before he steps through the final door. A door where Wallace hear’s whispers coming from underneath it.

The writing is lovely. Klune writes in a minimalistic style; he gets the ideas across in prose that is not overly embellished or wordy but still packs an emotional punch. “Because you’re you, and that’s who you’re supposed to be.” It is also hilarious, and there is one scene involving an ouija board that had me in tears.

Klune is so good, and his books keep having me come back for more because of the relationships he forges. There are many types of love in this life, or death as it were. There is familial love. The love of found family. The love of a dog. And the love between lovers. Klune explores them all. Because what can teach someone most about life more than love? Love spans the gamut from Blisteringly painful to joyous, and Wallace needs to learn to be a person.

Under the Whispering Door is a joyous book, a little slow at first, but things start to get rolling about midway, and I finished it all in one afternoon. It has passion, love, pain, and all the beautiful things life has to offer if you can recognize it and appreciate it. Thank you, TJ Klune, for another lovely book. I won’t be forgetting Wallace’s journey anytime soon.

Read Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

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REVIEW: Angels of Death E8: Rise

In Angels of Death: Rise we are treated to another balls-to-the-wall action fest of an episode, driving us towards the big finale, which by the end of this episode is not exactly what I thought it would be. It’s far more awesome.

After not being inside The Sword of Baal last episode, we are straight into the imperilled battle cruiser with her under siege crew. They are running out of ammunition and men, and it’s only a matter of time until the Cult breaches the bridge and takes over the ship. Should this happen, the cult will be void and warp capable, and able to spread their infection to other planets of the Imperium.

On the ground, Orpheo leads Anacaeus and his Blood Angles up the tower towards where the Patriarch is (and also where the Sword of Baal is stuck on the tower’s loading dock. Killing the Patriarch is the only way to destroy the cult, save the Sword of Baal and maybe (knowing warhammer 40K) what’s left of the human population of the planet. While Orpheo leads the charge, the Cult leader tries desperately to buy the time needed for the Patriarch to awake.

Also aboard The Sword of Baal Hadrian the tech marine is back amongst the geneseed of his fallen brothers, looking for the one brother who might save them all. This brother is The Sword of Baal’s last hope, and knowing how much of a unit the Patriarch is, he may also be Orpheo and his brothers’ last hope.

One thing needs to be said about Rise: there are some cracking battle scenes in it. The episode feels like it flies by in about two minutes as the tension ratchets all the way up to 12. Top marks to the animator for this episode. There are some moments of awesomeness, and even a really nicely delivered laugh in there.

And we also have a pretty clear direction of where all this is going—it’s really just a question of if the writers keep it straight forward and linear, or if we get the epic/brutal twist I’m sure every viewer is hoping for. This series just goes from strength to strength. More of the same next week, please!

Watch Angels of Death E8: Rise

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REVIEW: Far Cry 6

The Far Cry games are like the Assassins Creed or Call of Duty games in that they are pretty much an annual tradition now with more or less exactly what you had before. Well, moreso the latter these days since Assassins Creed suddenly became a leveling up hack and slash fantasy series instead of a stealth game. I enjoy the Far Cry series but admitted my enthusiasm for the series had waned. The series has never recaptured the same magic of Far Cry 3 and the only time they did something truly innovative was the bonkers awesomeness of Far Cry: Blood Dragon.

Far Cry 6 seems to be a weird combination of Far Cry 3, Just Cause, and Ghost Recon: Wildlands. You are Dani Rojas, a man or woman orphan fleeing the despotic regime of Yara. Yara is basically Cuba but the Castro family is replaced with capitalist strongman Anton Castillo (played masterfully by Giancarlo Esposito). After a failed attempt to escape to Miami, Dani joins the local revolutionary group and decides to shoot up Anton’s forces until he’s overthrown. So I suppose it’s actually more like Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, Just Cause, and Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

This isn’t to say it’s a bad game and combining all these influences makes it slightly less derivative than previous installments. Dani’s female voice actor, Nisa Gunduz, imbues the character with a great deal of likability and she’s easily the most interesting of every protagonist. Given only Jason Brody and Sergeant Rex Power Colt had anything resembling personalities, this isn’t as high a praise as it could be, but I still call a win a win.

The gameplay is a mix of ups and downs. In addition to the usual combination of Far Cry’s stealth and gunplay that depends on you assaulting base after base, you now have the addition of horses! That’s about it. Oh and the perk system is now gone to be replaced with upgrading your gear, which I found to be a chore and not particularly helpful.

Some of my immersion was broken by the fact enemies now require special types of ammo to hurt effectively, which might work in space opera or fantasy but not in the Caribbean. The most annoying addition was the Supremo, a sort of weird rocket launcher backpack that is pretty much necessary to destroy helicopters and tanks but looks ridiculous. There’s also an absence of human companions (only animals this time), which I felt was a loss.

The supporting cast is quite entertaining this time around and I came to be fond of Libertad’s various oddball members. The standout star is, of course, Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo and he proves to be one of those rare actors who can bring his performance to video games. Anton Castillo isn’t as entertaining as the Handsome Jack-esque Pagan Min or as singularly terrifying yet charismatic as Vaas but manages to trump Joseph Seed by a significant margin. Also, if he were real, I’m pretty sure a substantial number of people would be saying his actions in Yara were justified to industrialize it. I deal with socialist strongman apologists all the time.

The graphics are beautiful and Yara is probably the nicest place in all of Far Cry’s various territories. Hell, I’d live there if not for its terrifying social unrest. I think they could have done more with the city and provided a little more variety in places but it was a solid setting for our war againsty tyranny. The driving is still abyssal and I also feel like is missing some of the funner mini-games from Far Cry 5. Another small bit to complain about is the fact that the Season Pass doesn’t contain all of the costumes and skins that Ubisoft is selling separately, often for outrageous prices. That’s the purpose of a Season Pass and the fact it only includes Far Cary: Blood Dragon and a villain campaign means the word has become meaningful.

Far Cry 6 has a lot going for it but it doesn’t reinvent the wheel and some of the things it does are worse than its predecessors. Still, I very much enjoyed it and think its certainly a well-done game that I got my forty hours out of. I recommend you buy the game at a discount or get a used copy versus the main thing. Also, unless you really want Blood Dragon, not to bother with the season pass.

Play Far Cry 6

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REVIEW: The Wheel of Time E2: Shadow’s Waiting

The Wheel of Time E2, Shadow’s Waiting, is an improvement on the opening episode of Amazon’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s epic series. (As always, this is your spoiler warning.) Our heroes are on the run from the trollocs that almost destroyed their village but they are forced to ask themselves difficult questions as they follow the member of Aes Sedai, Moiraine and her warder, Lan. A show that started off with characters clearly set in the camps of good and evil now begins to show the subtle shades of grey with the morally ambiguous actions of the sorceress creating tension between the friends.

Shadow’s Waiting starts with a cold open as we are introduced to Eamon Valda, a Whitecloak ‘questioner’ as he chomps enthusiastically on some food in his best Denethor impression as a member of the Aes Sedai – who has had her hands chopped off – burns at the stake. Eamon seems unaffected by the suffering of the dying woman and the Aes Sedai rings he wears on his belt is a clear sign that this is not some novice in the ways of death-dealing in regards to the magic society. As the Whitecloaks continue their punishment, Moiraine leads our weary band away from the trollocs, bribing a ferryman to aid them across the river as the beasts are not overly fond of water. Heartlessly sinking the ferry in a whirlpool, Moiraine watches as the ferryman realises that his family are stranded in a land now swarming with trollocs, he dives back into the water and dies in the magical whirlpool. This allows Moiraine the opportunity to explain her views on the ethics of her actions and the code she follows as a member of the Aes Sedai. She is prevented from killing anyone except in defence of herself, Lan, or another Aes Sedai. The ferryman caused his own death by jumping into a whirlpool she happened to create. Totally not her fault, apparently. Egwene buys into Moiraine’s reasoning for twisting away from taking the blame for the man’s death but the others aren’t as convinced. This is an important moment in Shadow’s Waiting. The motivations and plans of the main players in the world are not so clear and this leaves a lot of room for questions to be answered as the series keeps turning like the eponymous wheel.

The group bump into the Whitecloaks from earlier and Moiraine manages to convince them that they are nothing special but she is unable to hide the nasty wound received from the first episode. There is tension between the two groups who both claim to be against The Dark One and again, this is The Wheel of Time at its best. There is not a clear good and bad side at the moment. Shows like Game of Thrones and The Witcher have proven that fantasy works best when the focus is on the complexities of humanity and way in which can be the real monsters in the world. More of this will lead to further improvement as the show continues.

After some dark shared dreams by our four heroes from Two Rivers involving bats and a strange figure with ember eyes, Moiraine leads them into a shielded city punished for not fighting against the darkness, Shadar Logoth (Shadow’s Waiting). Even trollocs fear to tread in this incredible, abandoned city. The group rest for a while in the stunning ruins of the city but danger is just around the corner. Mat gives Perrin a dagger forged by Perrin’s late wife and then wanders off and finds a mysterious dagger of his own hidden in the ruins. Acting like a fool of a Took, Mat takes the dagger and darkness rises to consume a horse and reaches out for the panic-stricken men and women. They flee the rising darkness and are cut off from one another. Mat and Rand flee through a crack in the wall. Perrin and Egwene jump into nearby water, and Moiraine and Lan ride away as the wound the sorceress received continues to sap her of her energy. The episode ends with a familiar face stopping Moiraine and Lan and asking where her four friends are. It seems that Nynaeve, the Two Rivers’ Wisdom is alive and well after all…

The Wheel of Time E2: Shadow’s Waiting smooths the rocky path the series started off on. The Whitecloaks are casually sadistic in a way that should make them steal any scenes they are in and the doubts and uncertainty amongst the main group will lead to some interesting TV to come. A big improvement and now I am looking forward to episode three.

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REVIEW: The Winter Road by Adrian Selby

Adrian Selby’s The Winter Road, follows the ambition, drive, and cost to build a road across the perilous wilderness of The Circle, uniting the warring clans and creating a trade route. Behind this daring concept lies the motivation and sacrifice of one woman: Teyr Amondsen. The beating heart of Selby’s standalone novel is Teyr’s life.

Set a few hundred years before the events in Selby’s debut novel, Snakewood, The Winter Road, opens with a dual timeline: one in the present and one in the past, set a year earlier. Both are told in first-person from Teyr’s point-of-view. In the present, Teyr is broken, bruised, and alone, trying to survive amidst the unforgiving bleakness of winter in The Circle the only way she knows how: to fight. The past version of Teyr stands before the chief of Citadel Hillfast with the plan for a road, backed by pure ambition, preparation, and logic. Though many doubt her, Teyr knows she will not fail.

This confidence in her dream and her abilities is one of the ways Teyr stands out as an unlikely protagonist. Her self-assurance comes from her background as a war veteran and the life experience that comes from middle-age. More than that, Teyr is also a wife, mother, and the leader of the expedition to form the road. Selby blends strength and vulnerability in Teyr’s characterization through her choices and sacrifices in a realistic and impactful way without taking away from the many roles she carries. These qualities make Teyr well-realized, but also flawed. Selby weaves several thematic elements into her character from motherhood to passion to purpose: “Maybe it’ll inspire the girls there to see what a girl can do, that we deserve our own names to be part of the weave” (80).

Over the course of The Winter Road, Selby slowly builds the tension and dread for what Teyr experiences like a crescendo, especially with the knowledge of her psyche in the present timeline’s aftermath. The introduction of the newly-risen warlord in the wild of The Circle also presents more fatal challenges for Teyr and company. The two timelines eventually merge and bring the narrative full circle before continuing forward as Teyr’s war for the road isn’t over. Selby masterfully layers his reveals with raw emotion right up until the novel’s end.

The grimness and grit of The Winter Road’s world shows itself through the brutal bitterness of the titular season and extends into the depiction of an untamable forest, just as deadly to its inhabitants as they are to each other. The bleakness of the world even appears in the dialogue. Selby crafts unique words and colloquialisms; their sounds just as rough as the land they originate from. This added feature of the world-building might require an adjustment with Selby’s writing style. The dialogue paired with the initial narrative can make for a slow start, but the payoff is more than worth it.

The Winter Road earns a unique place amongst other grimdark works. While fans will recognize the brutality of the atmosphere and setting, especially in Selby’s action sequences, there’s also a sense of heart and honesty embedded within it. Teyr herself says it best: “Love is speaking the truth because it hurts, and it is hiding it to avoid hurt, and choosing right never comes easy or often” (197).

Read The Winter Road by Adrian Selby

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