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

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

Okay, I just finished chapter 21. We've moved on from Perrin to Egwene, Nynaeve, and Mat. Oh, and I've seen Rand for a single page.
So, the group made it back to Tar Valon to get Mat healed from his encounter with the dagger. The girls also needed to get back to their Aes Sedai training. I think it's a little odd that the Amyrlin Seat raised Egwene and Elayne to Accepteds. That seems like a reward, but then again, I don't know that much about how the system works. If the girls really do know everything that they would have been taught as novices, then the change makes sense. Also, I think there is still some damage to Egwene from being a damane...psychologically. I don't know if the book will discuss it, but it seems as though it should. The girls are on the lookout for Black Ajah. I don't foresee things going too well for them on that front. They were already almost assassinated, and I'm pretty sure that it's just their first day back. Also, per the chapter that I just finished, Egwene is about to enter into the World of Dreams. I'm curious to see how that will work. She's supposed to be able to reach the Other Worlds through those dreams. And Perrin was told that wolves live half in a dream world. I wonder if the 2 will meet up.
All 3 boys have now met Selene, but Perrin only saw her for moments in a dream. Rand is in love with her, but I appreciate that Mat is suspicious, despite her overwhelming beauty. I can tell she has a major role to play, but I'm not positive what it is. I think she wants to see Baalzamon freed, but she seemed to despise dark friends. Perhaps that is just because of the groveling, fearful nature of darkfriends.

Jack, you know I don't even get half of your references. Also, what the heck did I just read? I don't care if the superhero idea is cool, what that 8-year-old boy went through was horrific.

You're not going to answer them first? I thought that was how these things worked? Lol

Okay, my favorite character was Joel. I liked that he was so passionate about what he believed in. He kept studying and hoping even though he really didn't believe there was anything for him to hope in. I also loved his assessments of people, particularly Melody. One of the parts in the book that made me laugh out loud was when Melody came in and announced that she was ready for her flogging. And Joel, who had just been thinking about how pretty she was, commented that it was too bad that she is crazy. And then she accused him of following her even though he actually arrived before her. Silly kids.
My least favorite character was Nalizar. And it would have been even he didn't have a Forgotten attached to him. He was a total jerk. I didn't even know Fitch at the point of the duel, but I still really wanted to beat Nalizar up for the way that he humiliated Fitch.
I hope that the sequel tells us more about the circumstances of Joel's dad's death...actually, I just hope we learn more about Joel's dad in general- an entire flashback chapter would be awesome! I also need to know what happens in the inception chamber. And I think that they should take us to the frontlines in Nebrask to see what is happening up there first hand. Oh yeah, and Joel needs to become a Rithmatist. Even though, I do think that the Joel and Melody team-up was awesome, I still think Joel should get to be a Rithmatist.

That doesn't make any sense. If it came from the dark one, then the wolves wouldn't hate Trollocs and Myrdraals like they do. All the wolves have ever done is help him. I kinda get that he's afraid that he'll become a wolf or that he'll become like Elyas Machera, who is, admittedly, pretty weird. But like I said, he lived a thousand lives and they all turned out the same. You would think that would be enough to convince him that there's nothing he can do to stop it. He could learn to use it to his advantage and control it if he'd embrace it.

So far, this book is all about Perrin, which is a nice change. And Rand just ran away, so I don't know when he will be back. I don't understand why Perrin isn't letting the wolves in. Throughout the second book, it had seemed like he had come to accept it. It might be just because it wasn't discussed that much...but then he did use it to get all the way to Cairhien, so I was sure that he had come to terms with it. He needs to just accept it...he lived his life 1000 times and it seemed like every time he ended up as a wolfman. He can't do anything to change it. It's unusual, but it's not terrible...his best friend is the Dragon for crying out loud! He needs to get himself together.

Alright, I'm just starting the third book in this series. I'll be updating this with my thoughts as I read.

I still think that if you get behind, 1 day may not be enough time to catch up. But you know how I am about reading, it's more likely that I'll have trouble stopping. I don't know, probably there is no right answer. Let's try this one out and see how it works. We can adjust it in the future as necessary.

Well, Joel was in the chamber or an hour and usually people are only in there for minutes, so I don't know that anything else would have happened.
It is accepted that there is no method to who becomes a Rithmatist except that they are specially chosen. There's still so much that we don't know about the process. But apparently research has shown that being chosen as a Rithmatist is not hereditary.
I think that the fact that the Scribbler was a Forgotten only takes away from readers having the opportunity to guess who the attacker was. But the fact that they exist and can attach themselves to people makes the war against chalklings bigger and more dangerous. (I didn't really grasp the danger from the chalklings, but it's more ominous now.) I don't understand how new wild chalklings come about. Why can't the people in Nebrask just destroy them all at once? And the chalklings that the Forgotten sent out were misshapen and impossible to kill because they were actually people, not chalklings. Is that what the chalklings in Nebrask are like?

Jack, on p. 302, the excerpt from The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson says, "It was at that point that I saw it. Something in the darkness, illuminated just barely by the fire of our burning house. A shape that did seem to absorb the light, created completely of dark, shifting blackness: like charcoal scraped and scratched on the ground, only but standing upright in the shadows beside the house. It did watch. That deep, terrible blackness. Something from the depths themselves. The shape wriggling, shaking, like a pitch-black fire sketched in charcoal. Watching."

SPOILERS






So, what'd you guys think? Some of your predictions were right.

What was that in the inception chamber? Is it always there and only some people notice it? But I don't think it usually runs away like that. I felt so bad for Joel. :-(

Poor Exton, I knew he hadn't done it because he wouldn't have let Joel leave if he had. It was shady to me that the inspector made that arrest at all.

I feel like we didn't even know that Forgotten exist until we found out that's what was attached to Harding. There was that one mention in the book that Joel was reading before he was attacked. But did y'all catch any others? I still think the inspector was a good guy during the day (which was mostly when we saw him.)

And the victims being turned into chalklings makes so much sense. There was always something off about those chalklings.

Jack!! You got your team-up and it was awesome. Why didn't we suggest tracing like that? It makes Melody's drawings better and Joel gets to use strategy, he just needs help animating it.

Nalizar has a forgotten attached to him also. But he seems to work with it instead of being unconsciously controlled by it. And it looks like there will be a sequel and Joel still has a chance to become a Rithmatist.

I really liked this book. It was well-written, held my interest, and surprised me.

I disagree. They won't discuss what actually happens, but they all clearly believe that the Master chooses the Rithmatists and he does so for a reason. On p. 183, Melody says, "I'm bad at Rithmatics, but the Master himself chose me. That implies that I must have the aptitude." And on p. 277, Father Stewart says, "To be a Rithmatist is to be chosen for service-it is not meant to make a man powerful or self-centered." On the next page, Melody tells the priest that he should encourage a boy who wants to do the will of the Master. On p. 295, the letter says that Joel can go through the inception ceremony because "If there is a chance that the Master wishes you to be a Rithmatist, we should not deny you the opportunity." We have no idea what actually happens in the inception chamber, but whatever it is, it's caused by the Master, himself.

Jack, the Riddler? Isn't that a Batman villain? :-P Idk what y'all are talking about. Why would the priest have anything to do with it? And how does he know the principal? I thought the principal and Joel's father were friends.

Why do they need a savior? Do you mean from the wild chalklings?

Also, I think we still have no idea how becoming a Rithmatist works. How could they have known Joel would become a Rithmatist? It's apparently not hereditary. They make it sound like it's based upon whether The Master sees potential in you.

And I agree, that it's weird that it all comes down to this one religion. Why is it religious at all? I mean, people love to make things religious, but you would think that everyone else would have figured out how to have their own inception chamber without having to go through the ceremony at the Monarchist Church.

I don't think the similarities are creepily similar, just that Western society and Catholicism are obviously where he drew inspiration from.

I'm cool with the 2nd as long as we get the books by then.

Are you proposing that we only discuss on the discussion days? I would suggest adding a couple of days to make it an even 2 weeks. (I just like the symmetry.) Maybe have 2 catch up/discussion days at a time?

But it sounds good to me.

SPOILERS for today's reading!




Well, that was exciting! We finally found out what the new line does. And now it makes sense why no one could hear the victims. But who is behind the attacks? It seems like it is someone on campus...or else the person is very good at sneaking past guards. I don't think it's Exton anymore. I'm not surprised that he is a Rithmatist. And until Joel left the office, I was concerned that he was going to turn on Joel.
Do you think Joel will get to be a Rithmatist? I hope so. It'd be really disappointing for him to not get picked.

Jacob suggested it might be the principal after reading part one. I think it's incredibly difficult to believe that things could be destroyed so completely. But, like I said before, I do think the history just presented points to something having been there.

And here is another book by Brandon Sanderson.

Jack, I believe it's this one: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76...

It was your idea to read 50 pages a day. I think all of us are fine with a different pace. If we read 1 book a month, then I'd still like to divide it up into sections per week. Otherwise, I'll have the entire book read in a few days and will be bugging the rest of you about how far you are and also trying not to spoil anything.

Oh yeah, and perhaps we'll get both a team-up of Melody and Joel and then later Joel becoming a Rithmatist himself.

Jack, I'm fine with Nation. I'll have to check out The Hollow City a bit more, though. I'd also be interested in a classic that none of us have read. Maybe a Mark Twain? Or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? And, well, there are a lot if classics that I haven't read yet.