Adri’s Comments (group member since May 20, 2013)

Adri’s comments from the First Rule of Book Club group.

I'm glad you finished it and commented!! Jack and I were lonely in here. Haha

Yeah, what were the grandfathers and grandmothers? And what was Locaha? They basically figured out that almost all of Nation's religious beliefs were really scientific insights ahead of its time. I feel like there was so much more story to tell, but instead Pratchett was just like "The end." Like, how did the Cook survive, besides the coffin. And what did Mau decide he believed about the gods? I also think that Daphne's feelings about leaving the island weren't properly explored. We watched her sob for her father and risk death to save Mau. But when it comes time to leave everyone behind, she just walks around thinking and gets on the boat and sails away? No. That's not how leaving people you love works-especially for a young girl.

Ugh, I'm talking to myself again, guys. So, I think Daphne is too focused on her father coming for her. I understand it; she's a young girl who still needs her daddy. But I think she's ignoring the reality that leaving the islanders would be very difficult. They're family and they care about her.
I think the cave is very interesting. I am having trouble believing Daphne's explanations, though. She's just a young girl who has listened in on a few lectures. There's a lot that she doesn't know. Just because this is her guess doesn't make it real.
I wonder if Mau and Cox will finish their duel or if they'll be interrupted. I think that there is more to Mau's plan that we don't know about yet. Also, are we going to hear anymore from the Grandfathers and the Grandmothers?

Alright, I'm still enjoying this book. But not as much as I did book 3. I really liked seeing Mat's encounter in the ter'angreal. And he just went through a second one and couldn't understand that it didn't work the same way. I can understand him thinking they were similar. But it seems he should have grasped sooner that this was different. These boys are all so impulsive! But they do a lot of thinking, too. Maybe impulsive is the wrong word. Mat is probably the only impulsive one. The other boys just react emotionally. Even Rand has a lot more trouble setting his emotions aside than he did when we first met.
Everyone has split up now. I'm sure that Elayne is going to figure out how she knows Thom very soon. And it's interesting to me that women who can channel, yet aren't Aes Sedai keep being discovered. I wonder why Lan and Rand requested that the thief catcher go with the girls? I agree with them that he can't be trusted-especially around the black Ajah. I think he wants to make it up to the girls, but why does he think that another encounter will be any different?
Perrin has entered the Ways. I wonder if he will run into any problems or if it will be uneventful. I think that Perrin's plan of keeping Faile away is a pretty typical response of male characters (if not men in general). They always think that they can protect the girl by telling her that nothing has been real. But girls fight for things that they believe in. It'd be better for everyone if they just told the truth. I'm looking forward to learning what has happened in Emond's Field since we left it.
I'm also interested in learning more about dream walking. I wonder if Egwene and Aviendha will be on similar training paths with the Wise Ones. Rand's flashbacks that show the Jenn Aiel are eerily similar to the Tuatha'an. Maybe they are the same people...

I've really been enjoying this book. I totally relate to Mau's confusion about his faith. When bad things happen, questions arise. If no one can answer your questions, it makes it much harder to trust in what you once believed. I'm also very intrigued by the belief system. Both Mau and Daphne can hear Nation's ancestors-if that's what they are really hearing. And if that isn't what they are hearing, then what is it? Maybe they're just crazy.
Also, does anyone have any theories about the god stones? We heard Mau's ideas. I don't exactly agree with him. There doesn't seem to be any other indications of carvings existing on the island. If the people had learned to do this, I feel like there would be more evidence. I do think that the stones probably came from trousermen. But how did they end up there? And what purpose did they serve originally?
The view of the sailors again indicates that Daphne will be rescued. But will she be able to leave Mau and the other islanders? Would he go with her? And finally, what is in the cave? At least we know that one will be answered in tomorrow's reading.

Well, of course more characters have come to the island. I'm quite enjoying Pratchett's writing. I've never read his books before. I might have to check out some other ones. Jack, your intuition was correct-I relate a lot to Mau right now.

I really like the writing, too. What I like is that it's not just the characters that are funny, but the writing itself as well. I kinda thought it was going to be the story of just Mau and Daphne. But now it seems like the cast of characters might continue to expand. It doesn't seem that outsiders would respect a boy like Mau even if Nation is his home.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Forward movement would be lateral progress. The characters need to grow and develop and the story needs to move toward a conclusion. So far in this book, the only important things (to me) that have occurred are the bubbles of evil (which was exciting) and Lanfear revealing herself to Rand (not eventful, but important). Everything else has been catching up or minute details.

Jack, you keep saying this stuff about action and explosions. But I don't think you are actually understanding why the books bore me sometimes. It's not that I need the action and excitement. I just need the story to move along. I need there to be forward movement in the plot. I know you think that a good book doesn't depend upon the plot, but I disagree with you. The story is the whole reason that I read a book.
Also, I am certainly entitled to my opinion. Faile wants Perrin to wear a beard for aesthetic reasons, and he only keeps it because she likes it. :-P
Even if Rand still would have learned about the void from Lan, I don't think he would be at the place he is without having that foundation for his dad.
I don't know that much about how Tam got Rand. Only tidbits of information have been shared sporadically through each book.
And I disagree about Nynaeve. It seems that she could never reach that place of emptiness or form the bud. She tried until she got so frustrated that she became angry and suddenly she could channel. All 3 of the girls are under the impression that at this point, Nynaeve can only touch saidar when she is upset.

So, I just finished chapter 9 and there is about to be some excitement happening in the Stone. Basically it seems like random pieces of information and peeks into daily life with the characters are being shared. It doesn't appear to me that anything substantial has occurred yet. All of the main characters are together again. Actually, the only person outside of Tear that I've also caught up with is Min. She will be staying at the Tower until the Amyrlin says otherwise.
Perrin and Faile are an item now. And Elayne is making moves on Rand...and apparently Nynaeve still has her heart set on Lan. I have to agree with Faile on requesting some facial hair on Perrin. I like a little scruff, lol...not a full beard, though. Also, it's now pretty obvious that Emond's Fielders are very conservative. But the outsiders are quickly corrupting them.
The separate attacks on Rand, Perrin, and Mat were crazy! I don't understand that idea of "bubbles of evil", though. Moiraine could be wrong, right?
So, Lanfear finally revealed herself to Rand. I hope this means that he will keep his distance from her since she's so evil! Also, she totally wants to be supreme. Is that her main motive for going after Rand? So that they can overthrow Baalzamon and the Creator? And then she could just kill Rand and be the ultimate evil overlord. Lanfear mentioned 3 other forsaken. I was pretty sure that Moiraine guessed the man that Rand killed was Sammael. However, Sammael has already been mentioned several times, so it was obviously not him. Do we ever find out who it really was? If it wasn't Baalzamon (which I know it wasn't) then it had to be one of the Forsaken, right?
Also, I've thought it was odd since the very beginning that Tam taught Rand about the void. As far as I know, Tam is an ordinary man and just uses the void as a means to focus when using his bow. And in the recent reading, Rand mentions that Lan uses a similar approach in his sword fighting. However, the void is absolutely essential to channeling. Egwene and Nynaeve had to be taught a similar method so that they could reach saidar. And Nynaeve still isn't even able to do that. She can only use the Power when she is angry. If Tam hadn't taught Rand about the void, would he even be able to channel at this point? It'd be a lot more hit and miss than it is now. And he'd probably be dead since he's already used it several times to save himself. Believing that Tam is an average shepherd who never guessed his (adopted) son would become the Dragon Reborn, I just find it very strange that he incidentally instilled an essential skill into Rand without knowing it.

Good point...put the chapter in the update? Last time Krystal and Jacob went by chapters and percent completed instead of pages. I'm not too concerned about spoilers.

I'm still in the first chapter of the book. But where's the prologue?! And what is the timeframe of this? I'm assuming it's after what last happened in the 3rd book. But so far, there's nothing to confirm that.

It's something that the characters allude to at the end of the book. I didn't expect it.

Ok, I get it.

Mmm, I don't know. Mat is much more enjoyable since his healing. And I still really like Lan. Perrin isn't so bad if he doesn't spend all of his time complaining about being a wolf. I don't know if I like all of any grouping, though. I'm really glad that Thom isn't dead, but he's changed a lot since his encounter with the Myrddraal. It's completely understandable, especially after what happened to his girl. But I still liked him a lot more before. And I still don't trust Moiraine. She has her own reasons for everything that she does. I don't like Nynaeve, either. And Egwene is annoying me, also, although I think it is because of the psychological damage from being a damane.
And I know who Aviendha is. I have to say that she stood out to me the least of that group of Aiel. And I didn't think she'd be back after they separated from the girls.
So, this was definitely the best of the 3 that I've read. It was a lot more interesting. I didn't get to see much of Rand, and I still kind of think that he is going a little bit crazy already. But that could have more to do with being hunted, heralded, and horrified than with channeling the one power. I found it quite interesting how everyone ended up at Tear. Half of the characters were headed that way from the start. It is surprising that Mat was able to catch up with them, despite his errand. I hope Thom gets better...that'd be pretty mean to make us think he's dead, bring him back to life, and then kill him with an ordinary sickness.
I wonder what comes next in the prophecy. I guess Rand really believes that he is the dragon reborn now? I thought that he did at the end of the last book when he proclaimed it, but apparently he didn't. Also, I'm very curious as to how this Lews Therin thing works. Is Rand really Lews reincarnated? Or is he referred to as Lews because he was the greatest enemy.
I really want to talk about Baalzamon, but I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll wait. At the start of the book, we knew about 1 of the Forsaken being free. By the end of the book, 3 are certain. I am sure that I know a 4th and possibly a 5th, depending on how that Baalzamon thing works out. I'm also intrigued by the Aiel being the people of the dragon, especially since the main characters don't know much about Aiel. We can all learn together! :-)

Well, I'm ready to start book 4 now. Unfortunately, I think it will take a lot longer to complete because school starts on Sunday.

I like it! How does that avoid spoilers, though?

I'll tell you about the dream later. It's not that interesting other than that it happened exactly the way that I had dreamed it the night before. And I remember it very clearly.
Yes, I have met Faile. I'm not too fond of her...mostly because she calls everyone by dumb nicknames instead of by their actual names.
I don't remember Aviendha, though...

Well, now I have made it through chapter 41. Everyone except Mat is on their way to Tear. I really think that this book has been the most interesting so far. As in the other books, the characters haven't made that much physical progress. However, many more things have happened to them or inside of them than did in the previous books.
I really like the presence of dreams in the book. I dream every night and remember most of my dreams upon waking. (If I don't focus on them or write them down, though, I will forget them.) I've only had 1 dream that came true. Anyway, I enjoy seeing the characters' dreams and how they intermingle. As I had guessed, Egwene and Perrin did meet up in a dream. Egwene also approached Rand in a dream, but Rand didn't believe it was really her. And Perrin saw Rand in a dream, but Rand attacked him using the One Power. Rand has made few appearances in this book, and he appears to be going a bit mad already.
Perrin now knows (from a dream) that Selene is Lanfear. Yay! Hopefully he can convince Rand of her evilness...if he ever catches up to him. Also, Lanfear claims to serve Baalzamon, but she obviously wants to be equal to or greater than him. I have a feeling that this desire will cause further strife in the future.
The girls (Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve) are on their way to Tear to fight Black Ajah. They know that a trap has been laid for them there. (Oh yeah, and apparently Lanfear can disguise herself as other people, since that is the only explanation for Else.) A combination of 13 Aes Sedai/Dreadlords and 13 Myrdraal can open an Aes Sedai to other things besides the One Power. I do not know if any of the characters will fall to this ploy in the future or if it will only be attempted, but one or the other will certainly occur.
I figure that this book will end around the time that Rand gets ahold of Callendor. It appears that many are waiting for him at the Heart of the Stone.

What?! You posted it without reading it. I thought "looks good!" was an assessment.