Gloating

[danlo]

I'm not looking at the rest of this until I finish (pg. 417) but I've got one thing to say to all the naysayers and doubters in the Runes forum: Back when I talked to SRD about FR in August '06 I said that his readers expect him to take it to the next level. To which he replied, "I don't know how many levels I've got left in me.", damm! Was he ever pulling my leg!!! Each page in this fricking book is a new level!!! SRD completely

[lurch]

SLITE SPOILER IN THE FOLLOWING...hhhmmm..each page a new level,,,Yes, I concur that a certain giddyness can take over the reader as one progresses thru FR..Seems to me, the author is very successful in FR with ...unlocking or opening up the readers mind. Runes , being the first after how many years, the first return to the Land, was up against alot of expectations, in the box perceptions type of frame of mind by the reader/fan,,I mean what else did we have to go by?

So, prejudices had to be overcome. In a way,,Runes , at some level, had to do with overcoming elements of the past. FR continues in that vein but, alas, there is a resolution at the foundation of sorts,,begining with the Viles, then the Command, where Illusion is cast aside and so on so forth up to again, a TC is materialized. Interesting.

What I am sensing, as far as " new level',,is not only the " Time" as a character ,,but also, the narrator, the story teller,, is " fleshing out" that is becoming somewhat 3d..Seems to me the story teller, every now and then tells us a ...not a lie, but a misdirection, or just the opposite, a major hint but its delivered in such a way as to be almost a throw away line. What I " sense" is along the lines of..when Mahtir exchanges a " look" at a Haruchi..We as the reader can grasp the subtle " feeling" of his look because we know his dislike for them and as well we know the haughtyness of the Haruchi . I guess what I'm trying to get at,, is, yes there are moments when the reader has to stop,,and say,,what the hell is going on here,,? There is so much interplay going on , that the reader has to stop and think for a moment.. what the heck just happened, ? why was so and so in that scene? The conflicts are so numerous and ubiquitous it gets challenging trying to sort out all the consequences.

Now..What I've described can be said of the main character, Linden. Her problem is the reader's problem. AND,,here it comes, if the reader is open to it,",the whole new level " is where Linden has and is achieving also...So, the author is quite the success with his/ her craft when the author can take the reader to the same experience as a main character is experiencing. I mean that figuratively.

The " feel good", wonderment, acknowledgment of a " whole new level" is a letting go of prejudices and expectations. Like Linden, the reader is freed from the past, Like Linden, blinding Illusions, once cast aside, allow the reader to see " whole new levels." And , like Linden, or possibly more like all the characters Except Linden,,we have been brought to a moment,, to a Question,,with no answer,, which is the grand metaphor of Mystery Itself,, the Great Unlimited, Unbounded, Unexplored, Imagination that Each and Every One of US has access to ,, by just being able to acknowledge,, that ,," a whole new level " exists...Toms question,," Linden, What Have You Done? "...Ha !, there is that misdirectiion by the story teller.

In the realm of the Imagination,,the tragic,, and the beautiful, are of equal value. For when interfaced, co-mingled,,,the two polar opposites allow for the creation of ..." whole new levels."..And that is beauty,,and that is where the author leaves us at.