Kevin's Watch

Do you like her better in this Chronicles or the last? I haven't read beyond the first couple of chapters yet, but will do.

I think I'll reserve judgement until I have the whole story, but in this first book I find her to be a much stronger person, if not character. Her ignorance of many facets of TC's previous visit to the land without her and the times at which they were separarated during their trip together make for some interesting tidbits throughout. The conflicts in emotion between her memories of the Haruchai she had known in the past and the ones she finds this time around, and the differences in the people of the land because of that fundimental difference is a fairly powerful one which, in a sense, has expanded our view into Linden's psyche as well as it has broadened her character in terms of general development and understanding. Linden's unique precipience is an effective tool for expressing the thoughts and intentions of others, even though she sometimes cannot see things quite so clearly herself. Roger is an interesting element as well as Jerimiah. Yet another conflict to toss into the mix, really stirs things up as far as dicerning intent for the other players and should make for some excruciating moments for both Linden and TC before the eventual outcome.

I actually have quite a few ideas about how this storyline will play out, I'll hold back on that for the moment as well and save the theorizing for a time when there are more folks who've read the first book.

HURRY UP AND READ IT DAMMNNITTTT, I need to talk about it...

I didn't like her much at all... she just seemed to be there to screw up everything she got involved in. I hated it when it came to the Staff of Law... she was so arrogant,

"I should be the one to hold the Staff; It's mine"

Screw you, it's not yours, it's the Earth's, it wasn't made for you, you arrogant fool.

Darth Revan:
I totally agree, and I feel really sorry for her adopted kid. . .After 'The Wounded Land', whenever it came to her perspective I wanted to scream, knowing something bad was about to happen AGAIN . . .
I really hope Roger's interesting; or that Covenant, ahem, 'ressurects' quickly in RotE, because I'm *still* mad at Linden for the One Tree stuff and the Staff of Law arrogance, as you pointed out, and I feel I can quote Atiaran:

"I pray the Lords will punish--punish!"

Well, we'll see, shall we?

Turiya wrote:Darth Revan:
I totally agree, and I feel really sorry for her adopted kid. . .After 'The Wounded Land', whenever it came to her perspective I wanted to scream, knowing something bad was about to happen AGAIN . . .
I really hope Roger's interesting; or that Covenant, ahem, 'ressurects' quickly in RotE, because I'm *still* mad at Linden for the One Tree stuff and the Staff of Law arrogance, as you pointed out, and I feel I can quote Atiaran:

"I pray the Lords will punish--punish!"

Well, we'll see, shall we?

It's plain that she loves her son dearly... he couldn't be in more caring hands. But she still annoys me way too much.

Well, being new to this forum, I can see that there is already a division between the Linden lovers and the Linden haters. I'm somewhere in between - the stance of a true coward.

That being said, I think that one of Linden's faults in this series is going to be the extremity of action to which her love for Jeremiah and her fear for his condition pushes her - I wasn't really bothered by the "It's mine" quote, because - in the context in which it is uttered - she is despearate to get it back, and has every reason to believe that she won't be able to accomplish this. Her love for her adopted son is obviously going to make her compromise every now and then, and she may find that her desperation can be just as destructive a force as despite. I, for one, am willing to trust that SRD knows what he is doing, and given his track record for characters' actions actually having real consequences in his works - Linden's actions are probably going to have repercussions later on.

I actually like Linden better (coming from someone who considers himself a founding member of the He-Man Linden Haters Club, that's saying alot.) I did not see any of the arrogance that Darth is talking about.

I hate her less, but she still annoys the hell out of me. One of my major Linden gripes in this book is something I've discussed with Darth before, and that's her constant whinging. She really seems to look for as many ways as possible to fail before she even embarks on any venture. If find that quite an abrasive contrast to Covenant's "by hell, I will not be beaten" attitude. Even when I thought he was a git, at least he had that strength. Linden is just insipid.

One thing that bothered me about Linden this time is her fear of power. In WGW, she craved power. Now everytime she thinks of wild magic she worries about the Arch of Time. Is Linden really a threat to the Arch of Time now, or is she just a big wuss?

One inconsistency (among many others, I'm afraid - but I digress) I noted with Linden's use of power is her seeming inability to use wild magic to heal this time. In WGW she usurped Covenant's power to heal the Giant aboard Starfare's Gem, but in Runes she talks about the wild magic being "too blunt" for such delicate healing.

As I recall, the reason given for that particular inconsistency is that the Giantish constitution helped. It didn't matter that wild magic was blunt, because Giants can withstand almost anything.

dlbpharmd wrote:One thing that bothered me about Linden this time is her fear of power. In WGW, she craved power. Now everytime she thinks of wild magic she worries about the Arch of Time. Is Linden really a threat to the Arch of Time now, or is she just a big wuss?

A big wuss, i'll warrant. She is a coward... yet she had an orgasm everytime she thought of power in the Second Chronicles. I really don't get it.

And it's not just the gaints she healed, she healed Covenant as well.

I liked Linden a lot better this time around. One thing to remember is that she's a (relatively) healed person now. Part of her desire for power in the 2nd Chrons stemmed from her feelings of helplessness in the face of what happened with her father and mother.

There are a lot of other issues that factor into her reticence this time around, most of which you won't see if you don't listen to what SRD is writing (I've never been a big fan of Linden, but I won't deny myself a great story by letting my preconceived notions taint it).

Spoiler

But c'mon, she saw a vision of herself waking the Wyrm and was warned by the Ranyhyn. Are you guys saying you'd just say, "Oh, f*** that. I gots the White Gold, baby. Who wants some?"

I don't really dislike Linden after TOT, but her use of the white gold has been bugging me. It's probably because Covenent is white gold, and she is not, but the power is treated entirely differently; where Covenent would get really enraged, blow up, use his power, and then feel really, really guilty about it, Linden would look for "doors within herself", do something which may or may not be evil, and then offer insipid rationalizations.

Also, she, with her "I've earned the right" attitude, seems to immediatly assume that if something is considered foolhardy, dangerous, and compleatly unsuited to her powers, it should therefore be immediatly attempted. Is the Staff still gaurded by Waynhym in the present? Can the Ur-vile's lore help her to learn this? She never bothers trying to find out. Should she trust anything Esmer does, in light of his duality? She doesn't care, if it serves her immediate purpose. There are just so many instances like this where she's unbearably self-righteous. Very irritating.

Caer Sylvanus wrote:I liked Linden a lot better this time around. One thing to remember is that she's a (relatively) healed person now. Part of her desire for power in the 2nd Chrons stemmed from her feelings of helplessness in the face of what happened with her father and mother.

There are a lot of other issues that factor into her reticence this time around, most of which you won't see if you don't listen to what SRD is writing (I've never been a big fan of Linden, but I won't deny myself a great story by letting my preconceived notions taint it).

Spoiler

But c'mon, she saw a vision of herself waking the Wyrm and was warned by the Ranyhyn. Are you guys saying you'd just say, "Oh, f*** that. I gots the White Gold, baby. Who wants some?"

I'm entirely with you on this one, with the exception of your comment "I've never been a big fan of Linden...". I've *always* been a big fan of Linden. I liked her in the Second Chronicles, and I like her now. Her motivations for want of power in the SC were motivated by the intense pain that the Sunbane inflicted on her. And her fear now is well stated in the spoiler above.

I say she rocks.

I still want Covenant back, however.

Re: One inconsistency (among many others, I'm afraid - but I digress) I noted with Linden's use of power is her seeming inability to use wild magic to heal this time. In WGW she usurped Covenant's power to heal the Giant aboard Starfare's Gem, but in Runes she talks about the wild magic being "too blunt" for such delicate healing.

Have you read to the end yet? The above turns out not to be the case.

Spoiler

She uses the Wild Magic to heal Stave of the life-threatening injuries Esmer deals him, and it's admitted to be some astonishingly fine work.

I've never had a problem with Linden, although I admit I was getting a little sick of her in the 2nd chronicles until I understood her motivation and background better through the tale of her parents.

That said, I guess I expected her to be a little less capable than she's turned out to be! Healing with wild magic, mastering a ceasure, and of course, the most impressive feat, changing the mind of a Haruchai!

Yeah, that was pretty impressive, wasn't it?

I liked Linden in the 2d Chrons and I actually like her better now. I kept thinking, this time, that she's a lot better at taking charge than Covenant ever was ("Hi, I'm Linden Avery, the Chosen. I was here about 3500 years ago, saved the Land for you -- remember me?"), and then I had to remind myself that she's been running a hospital for the past 10 years.

aliantha wrote:I kept thinking, this time, that she's a lot better at taking charge than Covenant ever was ("Hi, I'm Linden Avery, the Chosen. I was here about 3500 years ago, saved the Land for you -- remember me?"), and then I had to remind myself that she's been running a hospital for the past 10 years.

Your right. Being a doctor, and in particular a doctor running a Psychiatric Hospital, you can bet she's not used to taking charge and not being talked back to.

I liked Linden a lot in the Second Chronicles... but despised her in this...I nearly stopped reading to avoid her arrogance.

See, that's what I'm saying, though. You see it as arrogance. I see it as somebody who's used to being in charge. A good administrator does his fact-finding, gets the opinion of everyone involved, and then makes his decision, sometimes (often?) on gut instinct. That's what Linden's doing throughout this book.

Maybe she's playing into Foul's hands. SRD might well be setting her up for a fall. But the narrative style doesn't seem hostile to her at all. It seems obvious to me that SRD likes Linden; if he's going to write her into her equivalent of the rape of Lena, you can bet that she'll pay for it, and be a sadder and wiser person by the end of the last book.