IRA: Beyond the Shadows

This is the second time I'm switching blogs, and I'm sorry for all the confusion this may cause. Don't worry, though, I'm sure I'll come up with more rants in future (ha). The book I'm switching to is Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks. It is the third book in the Night Angel Trilogy. I will try to summarize what I've read so far and then comment on it. I'll try to start off on a good, non-ranting note.

Summary (Chapters 1-13):

The first chapter starts off with Logan Gyre, a noble, sitting on the battlefield after the Cenarian's have just defeated the Khalidoran's. (The Khalidoran's invaded and occupied Cenaria at the end of the first book and had a reign of bloody terror until the Cenarian's rallied together and defeated them). Terah Graesin, the woman who inrends to be queen, comes to Logan and reminds him that he swore his troth that he would follow her and wouldn't claim the kingship. Logan agrees and says he will do so, because he is honorable and won't go back on his word.

Kylar, a former wetboy who has the ka'kari, has to into a Ceuran camp and steal a sword called Ceur'caelestos. He fails at first and must flee. He then goes to this Lae'knaught camp and basically convinces them that he's some magical apparition (using the ka'kari), and that the "Khalidorans" are behind it. In reality, the Ceurans disguised themselves as such in order to lure the Cenarian army. They end up going into the Hunter's Wood, where a magical creature exists that kills anyone who enters, and are killed. He then fights Lantano Garuwashi, the Ceuran who holds Ceur'caelestos, and they reach a tie. A pit wyrm attacks them, and Garuwashi kills it using the sword. In the confusion, Kylar manages to procure the sword and throws it into the Hunter's Wood. The Wolf then gives him a new right arm, per their deal. He then leaves and goes back to his horse, where he and Logan end up meeting up. He tells Logan that he took care of the Lae'knaught, as well as that the "Khalidroans" are really Ceuran's and that their army intends to attack Cenaria. They then leave.

Meanwhile, Dorian Ursuul (son of the Khalidorans Godking, but who has renounced it) sneaks into the Khalidoran capital and pretends to be half-Feyuri eunuch slave in order to find his future wife. He has the gift of prophecy and had visions of her. He manages to get into the tower where she's kept, and they talk. He tells her that he will help her escape and has a plan. It will be ready in five days.

Analysis:

I may have missed a few things, but I believe I have most of them. One of the things of note in this book is the gritty realism of it. Even the heroes tend to be very dark. Kylar Stern is a former wetboy (basically an assassin but more deadly. They are all Talented, a kind of magic) who grew up in the slums as an orphan. Logan Gyre had to hide in the Hole, the worst part of the prison in Cenaria, to escape death. He was forced to become a cannibal to survive, as all the other prisoners in the Hole did. So, as you can see, it is definitely a very dark series. This is probably one of the best things about the book, in my opinion.

IRA

I've started to realize something about this book, and a lot of books in general. I've read a lot of books, and its amazing just how similar they can be. I mean, you've got whats supposed to be an atypical hero (in this case, a thief) that has to save the day from the evil bad guy from escaping his prison. They have to go on a quest to get some object that can keep him locked up. Now, I don't know about other people, but there are any number of books I've read that have a remarkable similarity to this one. I just decided to rant a little about this. Also, whats with some of these ridiculous names? The Rainbow Horn? I mean, come on! That sounds like such an intimidating artifact (ha!). And the Nameless One? I know he was evil and all, so they didn't want to speak his anymore, but still. It's vaguely Harry Potter-like (which is just ridiculous). Still, I find the characters amusing. With a lot of characters in books, they are rather flat and not really real, you know? I can't really think of much else but I will leave you with my little rants.

IRA

In Shadow Chaser, the main character (the hero), is a thief.  Though he's not just any ordinary thief, he's a master thief. Apparently, he's this Dancer in the Shadows mentioned in a goblin prophecy but he's rather skeptical of this, understandably. This leads me to another topic having to do with the sci-fi/fantasy genre. There are a lot of books in this genre with a hero who's mentioned in prophecy. Also, I've noticed that a lot of heroes in books tend to be thieves or darker characters (assassins, etc.). The authors are trying to step out of the box, but since other authors are doing the same thing, it's kind of redundant. But I do have to say that Harold, the main character, is a rather amusing narrator. He's kind of sarcastic in a lot of his narration. This does help give the book a more unique quality to it.

The Sound and the Fury: Memories

In this blog, we're supposed to say how we remember stuff and also talk about how reliable the memories recalled by the characters are in The Sound and the Fury.  Myself, I tend to remember words better. Particularly if I repeat them to myself several times, as well as if I write them down.

My guess is that the characters memories in The Sound and the Fury are probably somewhat less than accurate. The fact is, most of the memories they recall are from the fairly distant past, which definitely lessens the accuracy of the memories. If they were more recent, they'd be more accurate. Also, memories are subjective. Two people could be recalling the exact same event, and said memory could be nearly unrecognizable as one and the same.

IRA: Shadow Chaser

Okay, the last blog I did was over a book called Spellwright but I've decided to change my book.  This book is the second in The Chronicles of Siala series, called Shadow Chaser by Alexey Pehov.

Basically, there's this evil Nameless One. They need to reseal his prison using the Rainbow Horn (ridiculous name, I know). And of course, this horn can't simply be in an easily accessible place. No, it has to in Hrad Spein, an old elven and orc castle type thing (its underground). This place is extremely dangerous, and no one ever makes it out alive. The main character in this series is Shadow Harold (or just Harold). He is a master thief. The reason that they want Harold to get the horn from Hrad Spein is because of his skills as a thief.

Also, in this series there are orcs, goblins and elves. First off, I would like to start with discussing the physiology of elves. In many books, elves are beautiful creatures but in this series they are not. They have dark, swarthy skin, pronounced lower canines, and ash-grey hair. As a matter of fact, they and the orcs share a resemblence. There are also dark elves and light elves but about the only difference is the type of magic they use. The light elves use human wizardry, and the dark elves use shamanism. Basically, theres no physical differences between them. On the topic of wizardry and shamanism, they both have their strengths but the main advantage to wizardry in this series seems to be that it takes less preparation and is far quicker. Not to say that shamanism is weaker than wizardry, its simply different.

IRA: Spellwright

I'm starting a new IRA book, called Spellwright by Blake Charlton. In this book, there are magic wielders but they use words. There are several magical languages. Some effect the physical realm, others are more metaphysical. Also, there is Language Prime. It was the first language, and the creator used it to make the world. So its clearly the most powerful language out there. It's considered blasphemy to use it, though. When the deities first awakened, they attempted to master Language Prime and rule humanity. This started the Blood Crusades and nearly destroyed humanity in the process. Thats why its deemed blasphemy to  use it. Many believe it no longer exists, but it does. This story seems to exemplify the thought that words are powerful. It's rather like the phrase "the pen is mightier than the sword." In this case, it most certainly is.

There are also people who, for whatever reason, when they touch any kind of text, end up rewriting it into a dangerous misspell. This can be potentially deadly. These individuals are known as cacographers. The main character is one such (Nicodemus Weal). I will continue discussing the main character and this realms magic in my next blog.