High praise for AATE

[High Lord Tolkien]

I really have to give a decent review of why I though AATE was the best ever in this series.
But I never have the book with me for good quotes though.

I still don't but I'm going to give an outline of why I loved this book and I'll will fill it in with quotes when I have the book.

I enjoyed the pace of the story and how they traveled.

These are some points that stuck in my mind that I loved:


AATE revealed the most Land history of all the books.
I couldn't get enough.

Linden pretty much told the whole world to screw off, she was bringing back TC and she did.

The Elohim just scattered and hid to escape the Worm. Too funny.

TC was back!
The second time he spoke thrilled me as much as "Nom" did in TOT.
His moments with Linden and his thoughts regarding her throughout the book were some of the most heartfelt beautifully written passages I've read in some time.

The healing of Kevin....perfect. Never would have thought he needed his father's love, sympathy and forgiveness.

The interaction and arguing between the Ardent and the Harrow I found fascinating. No idea why.
At first the Ardent was a little too odd for me but by the end I loved that fat bastard.

Liand....I didn't think I even liked him but I was sad to see him go.

The "castles" of the Viles.
I was wondering how on earth SRD could come up with something that would surpass and be different from the Giant crafted perfection of Revelstone or be different from the endless possibilities of the home of the Elohim but he did.
Solid water....god-damn what a fantastic idea and presented so well.

The super evil being under Mt Thunder...ok that was weird but I'm going to assume it will be fully explained in the last book.

The manacles were a let down. I expected something bigger but there was really nothing else available to halt Esmer so... ok.

A lot of people have complained that the Giants didn't really do anything. Even described them as "pack mules" I think.
Well....what else have the Giants ever been other than support?
I think they're doing fine and enjoy them whenever they are in the story.

The Harrow...I never saw it coming. Loved it.

The Skurji bore me as "villains".

My joy in the build up for whatever the Haruchai are going to do in the last book is almost beyond my ability to describe.
I CAN'T WAIT!

The part where TC "visits" his favorite part in the Land's history, the final/only meeting of the Forestals.....I want to read that over and over...I love it.

The end happens so fast it's like a blur.
Jeremiah's free.
The Ranyhyn are active participants in restoring his mind, they are no longer just beasts of burden, they are influencing things. They never really did that before, I love it.

TC frees Joan.
I say "free" because that's what he did.
The Ranyhyn were going to kill her but he spared Joan that last hurt.
I got all choked up reading that.

The effects of the tsunami...?
Was Giant Home effected by it or something else?
What other barely mentioned catastrophes have taken place on the Earth due to the Worms rousing?

There's more but that's all I can think of right now.


Oh, and.......Linden......[deep breathe]..........

Spoiler

didn't suck in this book....at all

.

[aliantha]

At first the Ardent was a little too odd for me but by the end I loved that fat bastard.

Agreed!

Oh, and.......Linden......[deep breathe]..........

Spoiler

didn't suck in this book....at all

.

I don't believe you just said that!

[SerScot]

HLT,

The healing of Kevin....perfect. Never would have thought he needed his father's love, sympathy and forgiveness.

I do have to wonder why they waited several millenia to forgive HLK?

[High Lord Tolkien]

HLT,

The healing of Kevin....perfect. Never would have thought he needed his father's love, sympathy and forgiveness.

I do have to wonder why they waited several millenia to forgive HLK?

Well, it looks like Loric had to admit to himself that he would have done the same as Kevin under the same circumstances. And up until then Kevin was never ready to forgive himself.
Plus, other than at the end of PtP when have all 4 Lords been together?
And at the end of PtP the Law of Life was still in effect, perhaps that made some difference.
This could have been the first time since then.

[Vraith]

HLT,

The healing of Kevin....perfect. Never would have thought he needed his father's love, sympathy and forgiveness.

I do have to wonder why they waited several millenia to forgive HLK?

In a technical sense...within the rules of the book, maybe they couldn't do it before...but that's just speculation.

In a more "realistic" sense, whatever the virtues of forgiveness as a general proposition, it only really works when both the forgive-er and the forgive-ee have reached a point where they are truly ready for it.
I'm reminded of situation, brother of a friend of mine...they had a tragic death of a child. The blame-game broke them up [and like all blame-games was only loosely based in actual events/facts]. They never got back together as a couple [heh...this isn't a movie on "Lifetime"]...but eventually they became great, and very real friends...but not until each had worked out both their own internal difficulties AND the difficulties between them, independently.

[Hiro]

SRD has commented himself about the forgiveness of Kevin issue... dunno where exactly though.

[dlbpharmd]

Oh, and.......Linden......[deep breathe]..........

Spoiler

didn't suck in this book....at all

.

You are dead to me.

[Fist and Faith]

Amen, Brother Don. Amen.

[lurch]

One little comment , if I may HLT..concerning the Giants..those who say they are nothing more than pack mules..Yes rather unfortunate. The Giants in their support roles, have always been a source of the jovial, mirth, etc. Lessening the load when things were heavy..so, as metaphors for that very action..the author has them as brunt of his own joke ( see fart thread)..in AATE..So, the Giants carry the message from the author,,that the metaphor Is the message. The characters Giants ..have transcended,,changed,,evolved..from telling hilarious stories to being the laughable. I found myself not laughing at them..but with them. A platoon of Female Soldiers, battle ready....theres a bit of Irony there, seems to me.

So..Change is Inevitable..Resistance is FUTILE,,mwwhaha, MMWWWHAHAHA!

[Dawngreeter]

Well I just finished the book. I liked it alot. I'm pretty comfortable saying it was the best one of the last chrons. I was suprised to see that it covered very little ground geographically but still kept me riveted with the amount of new information. Understandbly these books will be getting tougher and tougher to read as we approach the end trying to explain everything, and out of all the books I can see myself easily re-reading this one to fully understand it. Linden gets on my nerves but she always has, so glad TC is back as messed up as he is. Stuff that I loved -

- the Lost Deep - way cool place that really gets the imagination flowing
- the crushing blow that was delivered to Esmer, man that had to hurt
- Marhtiir
- Liand's character development and shocking death / incredible pyre built by Giants
- Galt's death / Stave emotional showing
- the all balls out battle scene when Liand dies
- TC's struggle inside Joan's caesure, incredible imagery
- use of the toy car / completion of qeullvisk structure / Stave's indomitability
- reference to ancient stories, characters
- more things I can't remember

The book was great and had an overall different feel to it. The story is building nicely to its needed final conclusion.

[Seareach]

Oh, and.......Linden......[deep breathe]..........

Spoiler

didn't suck in this book....at all

.

You are dead to me.

Amen, Brother Don. Amen.

You guys crack me up! But, well: I'm a fan of AATE but that goes without saying.