Review: The Fires Of Heaven (Book Five in The Wheel of Time Series) by Robert Jordan

 

Rand and the Aiel armies move through the Spine of the World, following close in the bloody trail of the false He Who Comes with the Dawn, Couladin.  

The world is already in turmoil and civil war, and the never before seen Aiel armies of thousands strike terror in the hearts of those they pass.

The city of Cairhien, already rocked by civil war, is now surrounded by Couladin's armies, who are surrounded by the Aiel army of the Dragon Reborn. How to drive them away from the city? Mat, who keeps wanting to run away, has been experiencing memories not his own of brilliant tactics that he uses to help free Cairhien.

In Caemlyn, Queen Morgase is literally under the spell of Lord Gaebril.  On his behalf she has exiled all of her allies in the city, and has been cruel about it.  She's the puppet of Gaebril, who is actually one of the Forsaken, Rahvin.  Two of her loyal retainers help Morgase fight free of the mental fog she's been in, and they make a daring escape from the city.

Siuan, former Amyrlin Seat, her former Keeper Leane, and Min are on the run with Logain, the False Dragon who was gentled.   They are betrayed by Logain who accidentally burns the barn they've spent the night in and he steals a coin purse from the farmer whose land they're on. Logain escapes, but the three women are brought to trial.  They swear an oath to work to repay the debt owed, though they're innocent themselves.  Led by Siuan, they've no intention of staying at the estate of Gareth Byrne, and will escape at the first opportunity.  They're headed to a secret city where Aes Sedai who fled Tar Valon now reside.

The Children of the Light are everywhere throughout the land.  Elayne's half brother Galad has become one of the Children. When he comes upon Elayne in a small city, he's determined to get her home again.

Elayne, Nynaeve, Thom Merrilin, Juilin and the  great heroine Birgitte travel with a menagerie show, trying to remain hidden from The Children and Galad.  Elayne does a high wire act and Nynaeve is the target for Birgitte's arrows in a thrilling act.

Everyone is on the move in this novel, trying to get someplace or just trying to escape.  It's constant peril for everyone. Action packed, yet the characters become even more defined as they try to do the right thing and stay alive.

Review: The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time #3) by Robert Jordan

 

Rumors of the Dragon Reborn's battle at Falme are everywhere. Young men who vaguely look like Rand are being captured or killed.

Meanwhile, Rand, Moraine, Lan and Perrin wait out the chaos in a hidden canyon.  One night Trollocs attack, and Rand is unable to help with the fight at all. Disgusted, he leaves, alone, determined to make his way to Tear and the Heart of Stone. There his destiny will be fulfilled, if he really is the Dragon. Somehow he still isn't sure.

 Perrin struggles to deal with his affinity with the wolves.  Part of him wants to forget his humanity and run with them, part of him fears and loathes losing himself.  He also gains a follower of sorts.

Mat, cured by the Aes Sedai of the poisonous effects of the dagger he's carried too long, is desperate to leave Tar Valon and take to the road.

Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne continue to develop their powers, training now as Accepted.  

Within the Tower, though, the foundations of all the Aes Sedai stand for are threatened by the Black Ajah who have risen among them.  Though thirteen left the Tower, they stole artifacts and murdered some of their sisters. 

Soon everyone seems to be heading downriver towards Tear.  Another great adventure in this series.

Around the World In 80 Days Episodes 7 and 8

 Episode 7

 

The companions travel across America.  In the sequence of this trip covered in the story, Fogg and company are traveling at good speed in a stagecoach, hoping to connect with a train in the next town.

The coach is stopped by a Black Sheriff Bass Reeves.  His prisoner, a southern white man seems polite at first but soon reveals himself to be a leader of a supremacist organization.  He chastises Fogg for allowing the romance between Fix and Passepartout which Fogg hasn't noticed at all.

Not far behind are the captives Civil War compatriots, who plan to kill the sheriff and set their friend free.

Reaching the town where the train will arrive soon, Fogg and his companions stand with the sheriff against the killers, almost missing their train. 

Abigail can't resist sending her father a telegram to let him know they're all alive, as they were reported lost at sea in the previous episode.

Episode 8

 

Reaching New York, somehow Fogg still has his cache of postcards calling him a coward, including one for the Grand Central station clock sent just before he left on his journey.   He stares at the clock.

Once out, he goes to the liner that will take him home, but then runs back out and to the train station.  He is waiting for a woman under the clock, explains Passepartout.  

Estella does indeed come, and the two have fine moments talking about the lives they lived without each other.  She now appears to be too practical to be whisked off to England and adventures beyond, as I hoped would happen once she was actually there.

Making his way back to the ship, Fogg is beset one last time by Kneedling, but a New York gang interrupts and wants part of the action.  Fogg and Kneedling fight the gang, not exactly together.  When Kneedling is stabbed with a knife, the gang vanishes, leaving Fogg with Kneedling who hands him a telegram saying use any means necessary to stop Fogg from getting on the ship.

In London, a final frustrating block to Fogg's progress: the warrant from Hong Kong is still seen as active in Londom and he's put in a cell till the governor of Hong Kong can be wired.

Finally released, dejected because the bet was lost as time has run out, Fogg's ancient servant tells them they gain a day as they traveled so there's time to get to the club yet.  Running through the streets, they make it right on the second the clock strikes the hour.  Bellamy tries to say there was no bet but Fogg had a check delivered to the club before he left.

Bellamy's bankruptcy is discovered and the crowd at the club chants him out the door when Fogg gives him the check.  

The episode ends with Fogg, Passepartout and Fix running down the street laughing arm in arm, on their way to find a new adventure.

For myself, I enjoyed the series over all, particularly once they stopped making Fogg the butt of every joke, an object of scorn.  That went on far too long for a show in which his character is the main one.

Once the three were on the desert island, and they were down to their basic humanity, and the friendship that had been forged was allowed to shine, the last episodes were a pleasure.

Review: The Great Hunt: Wheel of Time #2 by Robert Jordan

 

In this second volume of the fourteen volume series, the forces of The Dark One begin to move more openly in the world.  As many become convinced that the Last Battle nears, The Great Hunt is called to find the Horn of Valere.

This horn can be wielded by anyone, whether they are on the side of the light or dark.  When the horn is used, the dead will answer it's call.

Stolen by the Darkfriend Pad Fain from Fal Dara, Rand and a band of soldiers from Fal Dara pursue him across the world.

Egwene and Nynaeve begin their training in Tar Valon.  Egwene as a novice and Nynaeve as one of the Accepted.   It's interesting that the Aes Sedai are willing to work with Nynaeve at such a high training level right away, particularly when she seems most able to channel her powers when she's angry.

Travel is anything but ordinary, given the distances.  In addition to the Waygates, and the perilous travel through those dark ways, there are Portal Stones, rune covered stones and portions of stones which can transport a traveler to a mirror world.  

The first time one is used it's by accident, and the world they've entered is a strange, almost empty place.  Traveling there allows the group to journey a hundred miles in a short time once they find a way back home.  In another instance of using the stone, all of the travelers see other lives they might have lived.

As with the first book, the Great Hunt is packed with adventure, romance, and betrayal.  You feel as if you're right there along with our heroes and heroines, so well realized is the world.  An epic battle at the end of the book could easily have been the series end in any other story.  Luckily far more adventure awaits.

Around the World In 80 Days (PBS Masterpiece)

Episode 5 Hong Kong

 

When Fogg stops at a British bank in Hong Kong to secure more funds from his personal account, he is refused any monies as the dastardly Kneedling has gotten there ahead of him and persuaded them Fogg is  a criminal.

Passepartout, who has lived in Hong Kong in the past, finds them a modest place to stay while they try to figure out how to proceed. 

Meanwhile,  Abigail's newspaper article about Fogg's lovelorn reason for making the trip has made it to Hong Kong. The governor's wife, coming upon him in the market, invites them all to her home.  Fogg suspects nothing, as he hasn't seen the article. 

Passepartout goes to an old acquaintance for money, hoping his old friend will loan him the funds.  Instead, his friend asks Passepartout to do what he used to do well, steal a White Dragon necklace from the governor's wife.  Passepartout refuses at first, but as night falls, he emerges from under the bed as the governor and his wife are sleeping, and steals the necklace.

The next day, Fogg is charged with the theft by the angry governor, and imprisoned.  Here Fogg is impressively brave, keeping silent and seemingly undaunted by his situation, even when he's told he will be put to the lash.  Passepartout confesses to the crime and Fogg receives just one lash, as Abigail and Passepartout bring a pardon to the prison signed by the governor at his wife's insistence.

Episode 6  The Desert Island

Kneedling isn't happy with the continued progress of Fogg and company, so he pays the captain of the ship now heading to America that Fogg is on, to drop Fogg, Abigail, and Passepartout out to sea in a small boat with only a tankard of water.

Stranded on a desert island together, everything comes out. 

Abigail is regretful that she posted the article, exposing Fogg's private grief.

Passepartout confesses he poisoned Fogg to slow him down when pesuaded by Kneedling.  He confesses he stole the White Dragon to get them money to leave Hong Kong.

Fogg is angry at Abigail, but inflamed at Passepartout's treacheries.  He draws a line on the beach and says he will not speak to Passepartout, ever, and that he must not cross the line.

Passepartout camps nearby, cooking lobster which Abigail shares, but Fogg will not. Passepartout refuses to accept Fogg's exile of him, and insists they are friends, though he regrets what he has done.  He is absolutely heartrending.

Still Fogg ignores him, and he decides he will build a raft, to get he and Abigail off the island. Gathering a motley assembly of driftwood from along the beach, he hasn't a way to cut the wood or tie it together.

Retiring for the night, Fogg and Abigail are unaware Passepartout works through the night in the rain and storm, gathering vines to hold the raft together.  He even manages a sail before succumbing to the rain and cold.

The next morning, Fogg and Abigail are amazed at the craft and begin packing it with supplies. Abigail finds Passepartout lying unconscious and feverish, and brings him back to camp.  She reminds Fogg that they've both ill treated Passepartout, and he's done tremendous things for them.

The raft, which could never have been seaworthy, is taken apart to make a fire to keep Passepartout warm and break his fever.

Fogg confesses that the two of them are the first people he has cared about in a very long time.  

A ship sees their smoke and rescues them, and will get them to America in good time.

Strong performances by everyone.

 

Around The World In 80 Days Episode 4

 

On day 28 of the journey, Philleas Fogg, Passepartout, and Amanda Fix are in a small village in India seeking a guide who can help get them to their next destination.

The leader of the village says no, the entire village is attending a wedding the next day and no guide is available.  Fogg is unable to cajole or convince her in any way.

When the British Army enters the town and arrests the would be groom for desertion, everyone's plans go awry.

To my disappointment, Passepartout, disgusted with Fogg's demanding, careless ways, puts the drug he was given into Fogg's tea.  It's supposed to make him sleep for a week so he can't make his connections and thus he'll lose his bet.

Instead, Fogg becomes comically affected by the drug, running through the town singing, and having a deep philosophical conversation with a cow.  Dragged home by Fix and Passepartout, he begins to show signs of distress.  The town leader asks about what was put in his tea, and is able to create an antidote.

While dazed, Fogg mistakes Abigail for his lost love, who abandoned him at some point and went traveling the world without him.  She turns out to be the one who has been sending him postcards from all over the world with the word Coward on them.

Given this new information about Fogg, both Fix and Passepartout are now completely behind Fogg's journey, which they see is being done to prove he is not in fact a coward or a bored rich man with a bet to make good.

There's a scene where Fogg speaks for the young deserter and his bravery for doing anything necessary to stay with his love that is quite powerful.

He saves the day once more, and the young couple have their wedding as the companions head to their train connection.

The Eye of the World: Wheel of Time #1 by Robert Jordan

 

 If you're in the mood for an epic adventure, you've come to the right place. It begins in a quiet, out of the way village, as the best adventures do.  

It's a festival day tomorrow, and thrillingly, there will be a gleeman at this year's festival.  He tells stories, sings songs, and plays the harp and flute.  There is also a rumor of fireworks.

In a year when spring doesn't seem as if it will ever come, these diversions are exceptional. 

There are also two strangers in town.  They might be an Aes Sedai and her Warder. Unheard of here as well.

The peddler Padan Fain brings news of the outside world.  War wages to the south.  The standard of The Dragon has been raised, and men are choosing sides.  The Mayor and his council want to hear nothing of this today.

We meet Mat, a prankster.  Perrin, the apprentice to the town blacksmith. Rand, a sheepherder like his father.  Nynaeve, the local Wisdom, or healer.  Egwene, daughter of the Mayor who wishes to learn the healing arts.

Amid the excitement of the upcoming festival, Rand, Mat, Perrin, and some other young men of the town have seen a Black Rider watching them from the woods.  He says nothing, just observes.

Rand's father, as one of the council, hears this and decides to spend the night back at home.  Rand is disappointed, but they return to the farm.  Before they can settle in for the night, the door is burst open and trollocs enter. Rand's father tells him to run, while Tam grabs his sword and fights the creatures.  Rand and Tam escape to the woods.  Rand goes back in for supplies, but one of the trollocs isn't dead, and he says a Fade wants to talk to Rand.

It takes Rand all night to carry his father on an improvised stretcher through the woods, avoiding the roads, desperate to get help for his father. 

Reaching town finally, it has been attacked as well, with several homes burned.  Many were injured.  Only the presence of the Aes Sedai and her Warder saved it from being worse.

Moiraine, the Aes Sedai, tells Rand, Perrin and Mat they must follow her to avoid more attacks on the village.  Egwene, seeking adventure and the chance to learn from the Aes Sedai grabs a horse and joins the group.  The gleeman, Thom Merrilin, also decides to leave town and travel with the companions.

So begins a perilous journey, hundreds of miles through towns and farmsteads and dead cities.  The Fades and trollocs seem to be always just a bit behind, and the Darkfriends, those who want to see the return of the Dark One, seem to be everywhere.

Nynaeve catches up to the group in a city, and wants them returned home.  They've already been through too much by then to turn back even if they wanted to.

They become separated, as companions do, with Rand, Mat and Thom Merrilin trying to get east together.  Egwene and Perrin keep company with a man who runs with wolves and a group of Tinkers. Moiraine, Lan and Nynaeve travel uncomfortably in each others company.

You feel every step of the journey with these characters. You think about your dinner being cold water from a creek when you're lucky. These common folk are just the companions to keep by your side in an extraordinary world.

I loved this book, and highly recommend it.