A few thoughts about "A song of Ice and Fire"

As I was doing a reread of the famous series "A song of Ice and Fire" by the author George RR Martin, widely regarded as one of the best fantasy series ever written, I noticed a few things which I would like to share here. The series is often classified under Epic Fantasy. However, a closer look at the story would reveal that there is no epic/central plot line. There are two broad plot lines- one where all the people are playing the Game of Thrones. And the other where the Night's Watch are fighting the Others. The series is more like a rope whose strands have come loose and now are billowing in the wind wrapping around each other and unraveling. There is no central plot to keep the threads together. The various POV characters are having their own adventures, often crossing paths with each other, however as in real life there is no unified ending of the loop in sight. This is not to suggest that the series is not good. Epic or not it is definitely one of the best fantasy ever written.

Though I don't understand why would anybody want to be a peasant in this cold gritty unforgiving universe GRRM has created. If you are not a soldier, chances are you are going to be beaten bloody, raped, looted multiple times, mutilated, tortured, and enslaved. I would have thought that would be enough reason for all people to take up arms instead of shovels. I am sure GRRM is trying to make a point here about wars and male chauvinism by highlighting the darker sides of them so brutally. But I did not like that aspect of "The Prince of Nothing" by Richard Scott Bakker or "The Sword of Truth" by Terry Goodkind, not that the latter is comparable to A Song of Ice and Fire by any stretch of imagination. What actually galls me about these medieval fantasy is that the torturers/slavers/rapists escape justice because of various circumstances. And the lords and rulers often encourage them instead of despising them. Torture and Rape has become an accepted part of this world. What I am trying to say is that the Human element is missing even for characters like Daenerys who are practically the embodiment of all human virtues. Even Daenerys doesn't understand the need for vengeance of the maegi Mirri Maz Duur who had been raped multiple times by the Dothraki. How could one such as the maegi ever reconcile with the Dothraki.

There is another aspect of the story which is strange. The faith and the old gods reside peacefully. I am sure there is a bloody history somewhere which GRRM hasn't told yet, because no two religion can tolerate each other. GRRM rectifies that somewhat by bringing in the religion of the red god Rh'llor later in the series. But I thought more blood would have flown in the clash of religions compared to the clash of kings as our own history suggests.

Now a word about my favourite character. It is Tyrion Lannister . I do love a sarcastic cynic, trying to survive in this big brutal world with a handicap. Of course being a grey character I hate him at times like how he quietly accepted what happened to Tysha when he thought she was just a whore.

Now I want to read it again.......Hopefully the next two books will be published before GRRM expires himself.

My top ten scenes in The Wheel of Time

Needless to say that I am too bored now and hence this post. I am not really in the mood for explaining my reasons here for this list. I will get to it if I find time sometime later. So here goes:

1. Egwene-al-vera fighting against the Seanchan marath-damane captors in The Gathering Storm
2. Galad Damodred defeating Eamon Valda in the most awesome sword-fight scenes in sf & fantasy in the prologue in Knife of Dreams. I was awake for more than 24 hours by then and I was reading the book while lying down. But that scene made me sit up and sweat.
3. Dumai's Wells battle scene between the abductor Tower Aes Sedai, younglings, the Shaido and Perrin Aybara's company and the Ashaman in Lord of Chaos.
4. Rand-al-Thor's unbelievable display of channeling to almost wipe out the entire Trollocks and Dragkhar army in Maradon in Towers of Midnight. 
5. Rodel Ituralde's awesome attack on the Seanchan army in Knife of Dreams Prologue. Matrim Caouthon maybe the best general the pattern ever created, but those guerilla tactics of Rodel Ituralde brought sheer joy to me. (maybe because they were against the Seanchan?).
6. Nynaeve-al-Meara's healing of the gentled Logain Abler and stilled Siuan Sanche and Leane Sharif in Lord of Chaos. Nynaeve-al-Meara is my favourite character in WOT and she has so many awesome scenes, but I could only fit this scene in the top ten.
7. Perrin's fight with Luc/Isam and Egwene's simultaneous attack on the Black Ajah and Mesanna in Telaranrhiod in Towers of Midnight. So finally Perrrin gets the chance to be awesome while not being thick. Especially where he just dispelled balefire. Also Gawyn Trakand has the chance to redeem himself in my eyes.
8. The final battle between the heroes of the horn, the Children of Light and the Seanchan, with Rand-al-Thor battling Ba'alzamon in the skies of Falme and the simultaneous rescue of Egwene by Nynaeve and Elayne from the Seanchan in The Great Hunt.
9. Now comes the skirmishes of Matrim Cauthon's Band of the Red Hand with the Seanchan while trying to escape Altara in Knife of Dreams
10. Cleansing of Saidin in Winter's Heart. Well no point explaining this scene. I am sure everybody is a fan.

So many scenes missed out,and among them these stand out: The interactions between Mat and Tuon over Winter's Heart, A Crossroad of Twilight and Knife of Dreams, the awesome scene between the trio of  Egwene, Mat and Elayne in Lord of Chaos, and again in A Crossroad of Twilight, the scene between Birgitte Silverbow and Mat in A Crossroad of Twilight, Nynaeve-al-Meara's numerous hilarious antics, Rand's exasperation with Dais Daemer scene with Hurin and Loial in Cairhien in The Great Hunt, Mat's other antics (the Robert Jordan written ones. I think Brandon Sanderson failed in this one bit), Eqwene's standing up to the Tower Aes Sedai after capture in Knife of Dreams and The Gathering Storm, Siuan Sanche's interactions with Gareth Bryne, Mat's trapping of the Gholam in Towers of Midnight and lots of others I can't recall right now.

Book Review: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

People still categorize Brandon Sanderson as one of the new authors to watch, despite an impressive resume. He is finishing the epic work started by none other than Robert Jordan and has already done two-third of the job. The result was quite good- both the books he wrote exceeded expectations. Though the void left by the demise of Robert Jordan can never be filled, Brandon Sanderson presented us with immense hope with his two awesome efforts in finishing up The Wheel of Time Series.

After I was unexpectedly impressed by the twelfth book of the WOT, which was written by Sanderson, I decided to take a peek at his own novels. I read the Mistborn Trilogy and it left a mark so deep in me, that I decided to follow this author whenever and whatever he writes. So when I came to know, he is writing a new epic fantasy series by the name of THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE, I was thrilled. After the first book in the series THE WAY OF KINGS released, I regularly kept checking for an ebook edition or a less expensive paperback. The paperback is still to be released. But fortunately I got my hands over an ebook. Then it was just a small matter of two days and I had devoured whatever the book had to offer.

First the cover art- Its highly impressive as anyone can check, especially the richness of colours. Next the maps- I wish the maps would have been better, in the sense less colours, designs and more details. But I know better than to complain, because the fantastic story was enthralling. It sure is an auspicious beginning to what I think will be a grand epic.

The story is divided into several parts and each part is divided into chapters. Each chapter is written in the form of point of views of several characters- mostly the central heroes. Though some of the chapters have been written from the point of view of characters which seem unimportant, knowing Sanderson I think they will most likely have a deeper role to play in his coming novels of the series. Both the female and male characters developed by Sanderson are equally strong and I have a feeling they will still be found to grow in the upcoming books of the series. Though the world building isn't yet complete (Its just the first book), but the author has done a commendable job. THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE WORLD is very complex with its irregular but infrequent highstorms (similar to hurricanes), exotic and complex lifeforms (huge crustaceans), and the mysterious sprens and stormlight that can be captured by gemstones. There are multiple magic systems- I am still not sure if they originate from the same, because this is just the first book and a lot of mystery is yet to be solved. Even then, the magic systems are fairly complex and novel- though I fear Sanderson has derived a part of one of them from one of his own works-the Mistborn Trilogy. Even then, its awesome and fantastic. 

Through this work, the author has asked some deep philosophical questions. I hope he answers them in his later works for the same series. The pace of the story is wondrous, and by the time one finishes the book, he is left with wanting more. Therefore my recommendation for any book lover would be to read the book for the next best epic fantasy series has arrived, to challenge the realms of George R R Martin, Steven Erikson, Robert Jordan, J R R Tolkien, etc. And trust me on this, Sanderson is so prolific he won't disappoint you like Martin and Jordan did with multiple delays and postponement. 

I think I see a few anticipationspren around me as I post this...

My Commentaries on the Novels I have read

I am one of the most avid readers of literature you will come across. I started reading at the age of five and since those early days of reading Sukumar Ray (a great Bengali poet and humour writer and the father of the Satyajit Ray) I could never put down the opportunity to get cozy in my bed with a fantastic novel with soft music playing in the background. And now that I am 22 years old I can safely say that I have read more novels, stories, short stories, poems in English or Bengali than most people of my age. And Yes I am proud of that achievement. So one fine day I decided to write up whatever came to my mind after I have just finished a particularly good novel. (The question is how do I know its good beforehand. The answer simply is that I re-read only those novels which I have found quite good the first time.) This was a fairly recent development and since then I have been penning down whatever thoughts came to my mind regarding the novel I just read. Now I have decided to organize all those thoughts and share them in my blog so that I can influence some people to take up this habit of reading (with the advent of movie and tv-series adaptations this habit has gone down the drain in the recent years). So here are those write ups. This particular blog is by no means comprehensive and Its impossible to put down a list of all the novels I have read. So I will be updating this blog whenever I do another re-read of a particular novel (which might not be soon because I have been too busy reading new releases :D)

Note: The bookmarks aren't used as rankings.

Fantasy

1. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

This is my favourite series of fantasy novels. I remember a time when I picked up the first book of the series and after perusing through the first ten-twenty chapters I couldn’t find enough interest to carry on because of the similarity of the story with The Lord of the Rings. But a couple of years later I decided that enough is enough. What is there in this series that people keep praising it so much. There are whole sets of encyclopaedias dedicated to the world of Randland. So I forced myself to read the first book till the very end. And I am glad I did it because when I finished reading it I was huffing and puffing and waiting to devour the next book and then the next book and then the next. What followed was a grand experience in my life where I completed the then published twelve books and the three prequels in less than a month. I had forgotten classes, academic studies, exams, projects, my afternoon sports, some of my meals and the company of my friends. And the best thing about it was that I do not regret it. The mega experience was so awesome that for the next few weeks whenever I discussed something with my friends (not many of whom are such voracious readers as myself) I kept bringing up the topic of WOT. So finally even my friends got interested and took to the books. The books are such page turners that despite the lack of hardcopy I couldn’t contain myself and took to reading ebooks which until then I had found extremely cumbersome to do. The books are the ones which got me into the habit of reading ebooks.

Now you would think that what is there so awesome in the story that I am rambling on and on about how much it influenced my life. Here it is:

If you think the Illiad or the odyssey as epic forget it. If you consider The Lord of the Rings as epic fantasy, it is nothing compared to the world of the WOT. This series is epic fantasy redefined with a plethora of intriguing characters, a substantial and well-explained magic system and not to forget the archetypal hero and villains: the good and the evil, the light and the dark. On the first glance it would seem to be the same old story of the peasant boy gains power and becomes the wizard of the prophecy who defeats the dark lord. But the story is so much more that one forgets the stereotype in the complexity and the complicacy of the story arcs. The heroes are not the goody ones but rather gritty, sometimes selfish, sometimes insane and vengeful.

Robert Jordan must have been influenced by the LOTR (let’s face it, who is not?) because there are some similarities between certain characters. But he builds a whole new concept and a world where a reader remains engrossed. I should also mention something about the pacing of the story. The books are full of action sequences and I especially like the sword fights which are awesome.

Therefore all in all it’s a must read. Oh! I forgot to mention my favourite character: Nynaeve-al-Maera.

1. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
2. The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
3. The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
4. The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
5. The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan
6. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
7. A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
8. The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan
9. Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan
10. Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan

This book has the slowest pacing of the lot with not much significant events happening here. But despite the ponderous read it was a very necessary book in the series. Still I would have loved if the author put on a few more action sequences in the story. The climax is fitting though.

11. Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

It is my favourite book in the series owing to the fast pacing, tying up of a few loose ends, and lots of action sequences right from prologue to the epilogue. Must mention is the sword fight scene in the prologue between Galad Damodred and Eamon Valda. I was reading the book while lying down. The scene was so engrossing and adrenaline driven that I had to sit up and by the time I finished reading it I was shaking with excitement. It’s a pity Mr. Jordan died and could not finish the work which will make him immortal in the world of the WOT fans. This was the last book written by Robert Jordan and quite fittingly it’s the best of the lot.

12. The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
13. Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
      
    Read this blog of mine for a review: http://sudiptophilosophy.blogspot.com/2010/11/towers-of-midnight-review.html
14. A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
    
    
    not yet released

Prequels:

New Spring

2. The Lord of The Rings by JRR Tolkien

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Two Towers

The Return of the King

3. Harry Potter by JK Rowling

Need I say something about how good these books are. One of the praises about the LOTR was that the English speaking world is divided into two kinds of people. Those who have read it and those who are going to read it. In today’s world the same praise applies for this multimillion dollar franchise. Some people think that watching the movie is enough. But I would say after the third movie the movies have failed to do justice to the awesome stories thereafter. So if you are conversant with the language English you should read these books.

Comedy, mystery, horror, thrill, detection, magic, action, teenage romance, misunderstanding, sacrifice, death, tragedy – you mention it, it is there in the stories blended in an enthralling unputdownable plot by Rowling.

1. Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone
2. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix
6. Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince
7. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

It is quite fitting that the final book of the series has the best storyline in the series. Packed with mysteries and action sequences it is quite simply a world in which a reader would happily let himself lose.

4. Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

I will be the first one to admit that it is really my fault to expect so much from this series after I read the first book way back when I was in school, because I hadn't watched STAR WARS then. I was so excited with the story of the first book that it immediately became one of the best books I had read till then. However I came to college and then watched STAR WARS. I was so enraged by the shameless copying of some of the plot lines of STAR WARS by the author that I decided to skip the rest of the books of the series.
Later on however I found time to read them. And to tell the truth except for the magic system and the sword fighting there is nothing special to the series. The last book is the worst of the lot with a Deux-ex-machina ending 100 pages before the book ends. There are a lot of deliberate tying of plot threads which is indigestible to the reader. One would do better not to read them. The first book is however good enough for younger readers.

1. Eragon
2. Eldest
3. Brisingr

    IV. Inheritance

5. Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

1. Storm Front
2. Fool Moon
3. Grave Peril
4. Summer Knight
5. Death Masks
6. Blood Rites
7. Dead Beat
8. Proven guilty
9. White Night
10. Small Favor
11. Turn Coat
12. Changes

6. The Sword, The Ring and The Chalice by Deborah Chester

1. The Sword
2. The Ring
3. The Chalice

7. The Riftwar Cycle by Raymond E. Feist

1. The Riftwar Saga

1. Magician: Apprentice
2. Magician: Master
3. Silverthorn
4. A Darkness at Sethanon

2. The Empire Trilogy
3. Krondor’s Sons

1. Prince of the Blood
2. The King’s Buccaneer

8. Sword Dancer Series by Jennifer Roberson

Ah! The delicious Sword and Sorcery story with my all time favourite female character: Delilah. What can I say about this bitter sweet story which I despise because of its feminism and love it still. A strong plot, mysterious magic and not to mention the awesome sword dancing. Wish I met a woman like Delilah in real life.

1. Sword Dancer
2. Sword Singer
3. Sword Maker
4. Sword Breaker
5. Sword Born
6. Sword Sworn

9. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

1. Artemis Fowl
2. The Arctic Incident
3. The Eternity Code
4. The Opal Deception
5. The Lost Colony
6. The Time Paradox

10. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

1. The Amulet of Samarkhand
2. The Golem’s Eye
3. Ptolemy’s Gate

11. The Belgariad Series by David Eddings

1. Pawn of Prophecy
2. Queen of Sorcery
3. Magician’s Gambit
4. Castle of Wizardry
5. Enchanter’s Endgame

12. The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

The Trilogy is a good enough story with an innovative magic system and a feel of a different kind of fantasy but it left me disturbed. I am not much for the tragic hero types and I guess that is what left me without a good sleep the night I finished the book. Nevertheless It managed to make a good impression on me. The most amazing aspect of the stories are how every little plot thread ultimately fit in the climax. There was no loose thread left as is often the case with big series of books. (Not that it is bad to leave some things to the reader's imagination). I should say watch out for Brandon Sanderson who seems to be a master in his art. And if he says his upcoming series The Stormlight Archive is going to be epic I would rather believe him.

I don’t know why the story kept reminding me of the Matrix Trilogy of films though they are poles apart.

1. The Final Empire
2. The Well of Ascension
3. The Hero of Ages

13. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
14. Earthsea by Ursula K Leguin

1. A Wizard of Earthsea
2. The Tombs of Atuan
3. The Farthest Shore
4. Tehanu
5. The Other Wind

15. His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

1. Northern Lights
2. The Subtle Knife
3. The Amber Spyglass

16. Septimus Heap by Angie Sage

1. Magyk
2. Flyte
3. Physik
4. Quete
5. Syren

Science Fiction

• Dune Series by Frank Herbert

I don’t know why this series is always classified under science fiction. I see more of fantastical elements in the novels. All over the world the series is acclaimed as the best of the science fiction genre, often cited as “Dune is to science fiction as Lord of the Rings is to fantasy”. It’s a pity that such a widely acclaimed book should rank so ordinary in my view. No doubt it is definitely a good story which introduces certain awe-inspiring concepts but still I find it quite ordinary compared to some of the other science fiction novels I have read. Nevertheless one should always read the series if one loves fantasy or science fiction.

• The Foundation Saga by Isaac Asimov

I have always wanted to ask this question. Which are the best books of Asimov? Having read most of his popular novels that I still can't decide on a particular one, says a lot about how good he is. No doubt Isaac Asimov is considered the master of the genre of science-fiction. Its often said that he is to Science fiction as Tolkien is to Fantasy.

The Foundation Saga is one of the best works of Asimov, and unlike the Dune Series by Frank Herbert, it actually lives up to the hype and more. I sincerely believe it when Asimov said that Carl Sagan and Marvin Minsky are the only two people he met whose intellect surpassed his own. Yes, going by his amazing solutions to the crisis that arises in the Foundation saga, he definitely possessed an unnaturally gifted amount of intelligence. The saga might be science fiction, set ages into the future, but it derives its material right from mankind's history. What is most amazing about the saga is the amazing details in the plot that rock the reader. One is forced to reflect on the similarity of the developments in the novel with human history. It takes an excellent observer of the history to concoct such a plot. Whether one likes science fiction or not, it is definitely a must read- one of those things you must do before you die!

Thriller, Detective and Crime Fiction

• Sherlock Holmes Novels by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Hercule Poirot Novels by Agatha Christie

• The Mysterious Affair at Styles

This is no doubt a wonderful story of detection and logic told in beautiful words. But I have a few complaints regarding the plot- there were a few coincidences incriminating the villains which should not be there in any detective novel. And the explanation by Poirot at the end of the novel is not enough to cover all details. Some of the interesting events have been left out to the reader’s imagination. This being Agatha Christie’s first novel hopefully she matures later into a better story teller where the puzzles fit in at the climax.

• Tommy and Tuppence Novels by Agatha Christie

• The Secret Adversary

The novel is definitely a good read just like any other Agatha Christie novel and has its fair share of thrill, mystery and adventure. Though the author seems to rely too much on coincidences to further the plot. And I must mention here that having read too many of detective novels and thrillers I had already known the “adversary” much before the climax. Nevertheless this fact should not deter the author’s fans to accompany her in this glorious ride.

Tere Bin Laden:Refreshingly original and funtastic

One and half hours of outrageous laugh riot, a smart script and fine acting- Tere Bin Laden has all the ingredients of becoming a cult favourite. Essentially a spoof on Osama Bin Laden and America's war on terror, it goes on to delve deep into the real issues if one thinks seriously- not that the engaging storyline let's you a take a break from the fun-ride that it is. All the central chracters' performances has to be greatly appreciated and applauded especially since none of them are established actors. Ali Zafar the talented singer from Pakistan get a chance to showcase his talents in acting as well and he grabs the opportunity superbly.

The funny side of the awesome movie apart it also questions certain issues in a very subtle but sarcastic way like how billions of dollars of American taxpayers' money is going down the drain chasing ghosts, how the Indian and Pakistani officials bow before their American peers, how paranoid the world has become of even simple things, and most of all how embarrassingly enchanted the people of India and Pakistan are with the American culture and their country.

Finally a word or two on Bollywood. It regularly churns out utter crap. No need to mention the name of any movie here. Just pick any of the big-name starring ones and one can easily fathom the depths to which Indian film industry has plummeted to. (All people who regularly read thevigilidiot can refer to what I am trying to say here) But every now and then a gem comes out and Tere Bin Laden is the Kohinoor of them. If you are still wondering if you ought to see it surely you are the "ullu da pattha"

Inception: What an idea Sirjee

I have never been a fan of Christopher Nolan. No, I didn't like Memento. I didn't like The Dark Knight. I rate his Batman begins higher than The Dark Knight. And to me Memento is a very simply story only told backwards. Just try watching it in the order it actually happens, I am sure you will lose the charm that it held over you. In fact My favourite Nolan movie was The Prestige. Despite the profound flaws in the story and concepts I liked it better than Memento and the Batman Series.

However everything changed when I started to watch Inception. Mind it that after the hype around The Dark Knight the disappointment after watching it was simply too overwhelming for me. So I decided not to watch Inception until the DVD version of the movie was available in LAN. After The Dark Knight I had developed this pre-conceived notion that all this public hype around Inception is simply farce and I will be as disappointed as I was with The Dark Knight.

After watching the movie, not only my silly notions were dismissed but I was thoroughly shaken up with the concept- the vastness of it, the huge scope of the idea. Now I can state without any doubt that After The Matrix, Inception is the next movie to do that to me (Its very difficult to amaze someone who has read most of the popular and obscure fantasy and science fiction available with a concept) Now I believe that like Matrix was the epitome of achievement of the Wachowsky Brothers, similarly Inception is for Nolan. They are unlikely to be bettered by their creators.

Just like matrix the idea isn't foolproof. There are some obvious flaws or unexplained concept within the idea like why was Saito sharing the same dream as Cobb in the ultimate level of dreams or why doesn't the subconscious register the obvious imperfection in the totem and isn't able to incorporate that in a dream. In fact people have been saying a lot about the ambiguous ending of the movie. I didn't find any ambiguity. Even though the totem continued to spin, it was obviously the reality simply because in dreams you don't deal with characters of your subconscious- there were so many of them (Ariadne, Arthur, Saito, Eames, yusuf, Fischer, Miles, etc etc) and if they weren't the subconscious' projections they must have been real people sharing the dream. But then what was the point of so many people sharing the dream. Besides there wasn't any loop in that level. Hence it had to be the reality. And that Michael Caine has clarified that it was in fact the reality.

Despite the imperfections, unanswered questions and unexplained logic one has got to appreciate the vastness of the idea. To borrow the slogan of a popular cellular service agency of India, What an idea Sirjee

Yes I bow to the person who conceived the idea. The movie is a must watch. If you haven't watched it yet rush off to get hold of a DVD. You won't regret the long after hours contemplating the concept of the movie. Trust me on this.

P.S.: I couldn't help but notice one scene in the movie where the subconscious of Fischer becomes suspicious and Arthur asks Ariadne to kiss him to ease their suspicion. This is because Fischer, an American born and bred was so at ease with public display of affection. But I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if the target was an Indian (or even someone from southern Asia or middle east). Such a public display of affection would surely have caused more harm because the damn culture simply doesn't allow it. I can't help but pity the Indian culture and the society.

Towers of Midnight: A Review

Now that the thirteenth novel of The Wheel of Time Series has been released the countdown to the final novel A Memory of Light begins. According to Brandon Sanderson's latest update on the series, the probable date for the release of the novel is around March 2012, which just goes on to show how good an author he is to be able to write something like the "final novel of the WOT series" in such a short time, whereas people like Martin are still struggling with their fourth novel.

Now coming to the topic at hand: how good is Towers of Midnight the thirteenth novel of the series. As one would expect in a penultimate novel of the series, many of the still hanging plot points were to be tied up, and Sanderson did actually accomplish that particular daunting task (daunting because some 2-3 novels back we were still wondering how could so many plot points could possibly ever be tied up?) So Kudos to the successor of Robert Jordan. Traditionally every WOT book centers around one of the heroes of the saga. Keeping up with the tradition, TOM also centers around a key character and its Perrin Aybara unexpectedly (unexpected because you would wonder why Matrim Cauthon isn't the central character given the exciting set of adventures he was expected to have in the book) Well Mat has got his fair share of attention and Sanderson doesn't disappoint with the adventures of Mat as promised. But its Perrin who finally comes of age in the book after days (read books) of whining, and complaining. I was glad to see this ever uninteresting plot of the Faile-Perrin-Berelain triangle has finally been sorted out in the book. In the last couple of books by Jordan we were exasperated by the ever expanding key plot point of Perrin which I still say is the weakest central character. But in this book Sanderson treats him fairly and pleasingly the chapters on Perrin didn't drone on and on for a change. Egwene gets her fair share of adventures as well as does Elayne and strangely even Aviendha (Sanderson totally eliminated the characters of Elayne and Aviendha in the previous book) But as we all have come to expect of Sanderson he ever always deals with strong female characters. Rand doesn't have a strong presence in the book but then he has already done much and I guess he will be the central character in the final book. Though some people would say the strange sense of calmness that has come onto the character of Rand is pleasant I find it very disconcerting. 

Now coming to onto the key plot points that has been resolved in this book. While the three main plot points associated with Mat, namely Gholam, the Tower of Ghenjei and Verin's letter were resolved in an amazing and previously unforeseeable way, the rest of the plot points that were resolved were strangely underwhelming. I guess with Jordan we all have come to expect the unexpected but some of his original plots were really straight forward and linear. So we can't really blame Sanderson on failing here. Though I would hate to state that Sanderson failed in giving due value to the Asmodean question which was probably the most discussed unresolved plot point for half a dozen books. He could have associated a story with it while resolving the plot point. But instead he chose to reveal Asmodean'd killer with a hint and finally in the glossary. 

So overall Towers of Midnight is a good read as expected, far better than some of the Jordan "drone on"s like Crossroads of Twilight. But the fast paced action of The Gathering Storm is missing. I guess we all would have liked to see a bit more of the forsaken especially Moridin and that abomination of Shaidar Haran. But that wasn't to be, which is just as well because then the last book is the one supposed to be the best book in the series. 

So go ahead Mr. Sanderson. Our best wishes and hopes are with you as Tarmon Gaidon approaches.

The perfect romantic movie

To me (and I would like to declare that in BOLD TO ME) the perfect romantic movie is HUM TUM. you might be shocked to know that a movie buff like me rating a bollywood movie over any hollywood one when there are classic romantic films produced by hollywood like casablanca. I should make myself clear here. I tried to watch casablanca twice and felt asleep halfway through it, and finally never managed to watch the entire film. I could not even bring myself to read the plot from wikipedia. Now why I say Hum Tum is the perfect romantic movie. here are my reasons:

• I am an Indian and its an Indian love story. So only a bollywood movie can actually capture that perspective
• It never depicts boring and scientifically unproven stuff like Love only happens once. because it might actually happen many times-just depends on how much attractive you are and how soon you can stop pretending to ignore your partner's flaws. In the movie Rhea actually fell in love twice. Of course the first husband died a very timely and convenient death. But after all its an Indian audience. That is so much the film makers can do.
• The guy was a complete playboy and openly had many a relationships and affairs. Even the girl was a bit too philosophical like all Indian girls are she never minded the aforementioned fact and fell in love with the guy despite those apparent flaws of his. Indian girls should learn that sex isn't the ultimate test of fidelity. Rather its the first building block for a relationship.
• They had sex before they admitted their love for each other. This is a very logical step since if a couple doesn't have sex before getting involved in a marital relationship in an orthodox and strict Indian society it might spell doom for their life- what if they are not compatible in bed. In other societies they divorce and the fact is easily forgotten. But here one can't even do that. So better option is first try the sex and if its quite satisfying then only go ahead with proposal and stuff.
• The girl was the widow and not the guy was the widower. This point is very important since most other romantic movies though often get the other points alright miss-out on this. Its always important to have the girl being more experienced in matters relating to relationships because guys  generally have a "everything's fine" attitude and they never learn. And that experience of the girl comes in handy in that case.
  
• The comic element- A romantic story is very boring, and the timely situational comedy present in the movie takes one through the ride without letting him feel bored for even one moment.
• The songs- All the songs are melodious and situational. According to me its Jatin-Lalit's best score yet.
• And finally of course its a "they lived happily ever after" story. So it also pleases those people who get upset if its not.

If there are any other points I can't recall them now. If someone can add to this he/she is more than welcome.