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Starships & Dragonwings.
This week we read through to the end of Chapter 27.
1. Moraine
and Lan were discussing how the Trollocs could be amassing such large numbers
and other strange occurrences such as the Forsaken and possible
opposition from the White Tower early in this section. What do you think about
all of these revelations?
I take it as a very bad omen that they are unsure
of how all these trollocs could be moved about en masse. It seems that the
Myrddraal are not the biggest problem out there, though we had drawn that conclusion
when we wondered what had forced them to enter Shadar Logoth. The thought of
the Forsaken escaping from their prison is not a good one, but it would fit
with the evidence that we have seen so far. Perhaps more concerning is the idea
that the White Tower is fractured and does not act as a single unit. If the Aes
Sedai succumb to in fighting then they will be a far weaker force than they
should be, which could give the Dark One a great opportunity to overpower them.
2. Turns out
a side effect of using magic is taking foolish chances and acting giddy, sound
like any boys we know? What do you think is happening to Rand? Mat?
Although this certainly sounds like Mat, I get the
impression that he has always been like that so I do not see this as a side effect
of him using the One Power. We have not seen Rand acting in this way, or
Perrin, so it seems like they might not have drawn any power either.
Interestingly, we haven’t really seen Egwene behaving like this either, and we
know that she has been drawing on the One Power so I am not sure that it is
such a great indicator.
3. Egwene
and Perrin end up wandering very far afield, why do you think the land is so
thoroughly abandoned? Not just of people, but also of animals, if we assume
that Perrin isn't that horrible of a tracker ;-)?
They come across the remains of civilization, so I
guess that the area used to be populated at one time. I imagine that the ruins
are the result of a war, which left the area deserted and nobody has wanted to
move back in. The lack of animals is more concerning, suggesting that the area
was made almost completely uninhabitable for quite some time. The plants have
obviously reestablished quite well, but the animals still keep away for some
reason . . . which suggests a permanent taint on the land. However, the wolves
don’t seem to give any hint of that kind of thing, so maybe Perrin really is a
hopeless tracker! :D
4. Elyas and
his wolves! What do you think of this new type of magic and Perrin's new
skills? How about what Elyas said about "Old things coming again" and
the Aes Sedai not being happy about it?
Min mentioned seeing a wolf with Perrin in her
viewing, so this was not a huge surprise. I assume that Min’s ‘gift’ is another
of these old powers that has arisen now that we are approaching a crucial point
in history. I am not sure if the Aes Sedai are unhappy about the powers simply
because they cannot explain them or if it is because they suggest that an
end-of-times battle with the Dark One is approaching. It seems like the Light
is summoning as many powers as it can to join the fight.
5. Rand had
another dream, but we can't be sure if the other boys did or not.... In it
there was mention of the Eye of the World serving him, what do you think the
Eye of the World is? Any other ideas for what this dream meant?
The description of the dream made me think of an
Escher drawing, but I am totally unclear about what the dream meant. Perhaps it
shows the Dark One searching for the boys now that they have evaded his forces.
As for The Eye of the World . . . not a clue, although I guess it must be very
powerful, or contain a great deal of power.
6. Domon
told many tales about fantastic sights across the land, which was your
favorite? :D
I was most intrigued by the huge hand clutching a crystal
sphere that he reports sticking out of a hill on the island of Tremalking. The
idea that something this massive could be buried by time gives an indication of
how old this world truly is and how advanced the previous peoples were. This
suggests that the world has been through some sort of apocalypse, with society
returning to bare survival and, therefore, losing a great deal of skill and
technological advancement.
7. The
Tinkers' had an interesting and scary tale to tell. What do you think about
this new omen about the Dark One? Why do you think the Tinkers' thought Elyas
would know more?
Do we really need any more dark prophecies to feel like everyone is in
horrible danger? This report might add some information to someone who has an
idea what the various terms mean. I suspect that Moiraine might have a fair
idea what some of this means and I hope that Perrin will relate the tale to her
when they finally meet up again. I suspect that the Tinkers thought that Elyas
would know more about these things because he is more in tune with war and
violence, or perhaps they know more about his past that suggests that he would
understand some of the message.
I like your idea of the Light calling on as many powers as possible for what struggle may be ahead. And also, I agree - do we need yet another prophecy of gloom and doom to get across the impression that evil is afoot, and has a decent plan?
ReplyDeleteWe just bought this series for our library.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, I nominated you for a blog award! For details, go to http://fueledbyfiction.blogspot.com/2013/01/liebster-blog-award-rules-of-liebster.html#links
Oo, nice job remembering Min's vision for Perrin, I could never remember everything that she listed off ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt definitely seems like there was a lot of technology/magic before that has been lost, Whitebridge hinted at this as well since it sounds like they can't make bridges like that anymore!
I know . . . how about a nice, happy prophecy of how everything will end with fluffy bunnies and rainbows? It would make a nice change! :D
ReplyDeleteThat is one of the problems with prophecies like that: it would be good if they were listed somewhere for easy referral at a later date! :D
ReplyDelete