Kevin's Watch

I read the Chronicles every few years because I like the series.

I have to admit that it is one of the more difficult books to get through because of what Mhoram said about what TC sought not being where he thought it would be, and what happens in the end with Vain and Findail does rather make the search for the One Tree seem like a tangent.

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And a chance for Esmer to be come into being, and look at all the havoc he is wreaking-- although maybe SRD wanted to be SURE that there was a more annoying character than Linden. (And that from a Linden fan! But if I find Linden annoying it is only that she is a little too close to home for me, and one of the most HONEST hero/heroines in fiction.)

It is such a painful journey for Covenant and for Linden and even for the Giants; no friendship is found on Elemesnedene or on Brathair or on One Tree Island-- but then again to interact with Giants, I too would take any pointless, painful tangent just to learn that

joy is in the ears that hear, not in the mouth that speaks.

I enjoyed your comments. Well said!!

I've read the 1st trilogy probably 10 times and the 2nd one probably 7-8 times, but it still holds my interest enough that it's tough to peel myself away once I pick them up. Since it's been about 2 years I may have to crack them open and read the first 6 books over the holiday season.

I have recently re-read portions of the 2nd Chrons in an effort to find some of the more subtle foreshadowings of the Final Chrons...there were a few in my head and I wanted to dig them out in the books...and I found myself reading the books in reverse order. If you have read Last Chrons then I encourage you to keep your eyes open for some instances of foreshadow and add them to the thread I started in the Fatal Revenant Forum.

TOT was not my favorite book when I first read it and still isn't, but it has grown on me a little. There are so many rumors/legends fleshed out in this book...

1) Elohim
2) Braithair

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3) The Worm and creation theories

4) The One Tree

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5) The homeland of the Giants

And we see so many new things:

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1) Nicor
2) Sandgorgons
3) Croyel
4) Ak-Haru
5) Kastenessen's story (talk about foreshadowing the next series!!!)
6) The Appointed
7) Merewives

And many story lines are expanded upon:

1) Linden's past and her significance outside of the Sunbane
2) the venom
3) Haruchai intractability
4) TC's dilemmas and his relationship to Linden
5) The esoteric language - this book perhaps proliferates SRD's condign (or incondign, depending on your perspective ) use of obscure verbosity more than any other...particularly in Elemesnedene.

And we get to sail with Giants!! How can anyone really be bummed about that!! Straining at the lines in the rigging...

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risking the jaws of the Nicor

...the pulse of a Giant's life at sea...

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wiving

...tales by lantern light...

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surviving monstrous storms...

Yeah, it grew on me just a little...

(I spoilered what I feel are potential plot revelations. General concepts I left alone. I hope I didn't goof)

Anything from 1st and 2nd Chrons is fair game. It's only that which would reveal Last Chrons that should be spoilered.

And yes, The One Tree is better the second time around. I confess that I kind of skimmed for a re-read in preparation for reading the Last Chronicles. I'm a little ashamed of that now, but at the time I was in a hurry-- I had Runes in my hot little hands!! So I'm savoring, this time.

The Seventh Ward wrote: The esoteric language - this book perhaps proliferates SRD's condign (or incondign, depending on your perspective ) use of obscure verbosity more than any other...particularly in Elemesnedene.

Maybe someone should do an official count of the number of esoteric words in both the 1st and 2nd Chronicles so we can compare.

Regarding Elemesnedene, the "obscure verbosity" is indeed condign, as it helps emphasize the otherworldliness of the Elohim.

And we get to sail with Giants!! How can anyone really be bummed about that!!

Yes, it was the anticipation of a voyage in the company of Giants that made me eager to read The One Tree, and I was not disappointed in the slightest. In fact, the book surpassed all my expectations (then again, I had not really known what to expect, since we had never gone beyond the Land before).

I replied "thrice" ... I think I've read TWL at least 4 times, TOT 3, and WGW 2. So the average is thrice.

And, I always really enjoyed TOT. After the darkness of the Sunbane and what had been done to the Land and the people, it was very refreshing to be free of it. To journey with and get to know more Giants! To explore parts of the world we've never seen before...

SRD does have some odd usages for words in the book. He repeatedly refers to the Brathair's language as "brackish"; maybe as a way of saying it was kind of "salty"; whatever that means. All I can think of is salty sea dogs, avast matey, like that.

Still, the coruscating reifications and formicating concatenations of the argent crepuscularity are extremely condign.

deer of the dawn wrote:SRD does have some odd usages for words in the book. He repeatedly refers to the Brathair's language as "brackish"; maybe as a way of saying it was kind of "salty"; whatever that means. All I can think of is salty sea dogs, avast matey, like that.

I always interpreted that as harsh and guttural, like German or Russian.

Still, the coruscating reifications and formicating concatenations of the argent crepuscularity are extremely condign.

My brain hurts...

Auleliel wrote:

deer of the dawn wrote:SRD does have some odd usages for words in the book. He repeatedly refers to the Brathair's language as "brackish"; maybe as a way of saying it was kind of "salty"; whatever that means. All I can think of is salty sea dogs, avast matey, like that.

I always interpreted that as harsh and guttural, like German or Russian.

I pictured the Brathair as middle-eastern. Probably because it's a desert environment and trade center, like somewhere hundreds of years ago in Israel or Morocco or somewhere.

deer of the dawn wrote:Still, the coruscating reifications and formicating concatenations of the argent crepuscularity are extremely condign.

... extremely? What a lame word.

I always liked TOT a lot due to the way it engaged me over a wide emotional range from loving the Giants to wanting to slap the snot out of the Elohim. And the fight scene with the Guardian is one of my absolute favorites in all of the Chronicles. The sense of failure at the site of the One Tree was somewhat anticlimactic to me at first but in the end really just motivated me to read WGW.

wayfriend wrote:

deer of the dawn wrote:Still, the coruscating reifications and formicating concatenations of the argent crepuscularity are extremely condign.

... extremely? What a lame word.

When I saw the repeated use of words like "the", "and" and "of" I just skipped over the whole sentence.
(Truth be told the only word I recognized was "argent". They used to be a band in the early 70's didn't they? )

A question for everyone: what was your initial reaction to the maps in The One Tree, when you flipped open the book and saw the drawings for these different places outside the Land? Did they seem lame to you or did they whet your appetite for what was in store?

The certainly got my imagination going even before I started reading. The map of Bhrathairealm and the diagram of the Sandhold was really cool to me. You must understand that I was a 13-year old at the time; I wasn't yet a jaded fantasy reader.

It would be interesting if our artist-members here at KW were to turn their talents toward depicting the great Sandhold, either the interior or the exterior, or both.

matrixman wrote:A question for everyone: what was your initial reaction to the maps in The One Tree, when you flipped open the book and saw the drawings for these different places outside the Land? Did they seem lame to you or did they whet your appetite for what was in store?

They really excited me! I couldn't wait to find out where they were, what would happen there, et cetera. And I certainly wasn't disappointed.

^What he said!!!^

I have to re-read both Chronicles every couple of years. I'm currently reading The One Tree.

I'm hoping to be able to pick up Fatal Revenant and The Runes of the Earth by the time I finish the next book.

That's excellent to hear, ControlFreak! (And I still adore your avatar.)

I just started Mordant's Need again after 20+ years. I thought it was only my 2nd time reading it, but it's so damn familiar--every single scene--that I think I must have read it more than once in my youth.

Anyway, I've only read the 1st and 2nd Chronicles 3 (4?) times each. The last time was 2005. I have to give myself some space between readings.

Malik23 wrote:
Anyway, I've only read the 1st and 2nd Chronicles 3 (4?) times each. The last time was 2005. I have to give myself some space between readings.

That's where I'm at with Lord of the Rings. I have read them at least 7 or 8 times, but I need a break. I think the films kind of saturated me for a while. But I'm not at that level with TC yet.