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- Book written by Robert Jordan
- Published 15 November 1990
- Part 2 of the Wheel of Time series
When the Horn of Valere is stolen from Fal Dara right from under the eyes of its lord and the Amyrlin Seat (the head of the sisterhood of the Aes Sedai), Rand and the boys set out to get the Horn back alongside a party of Shienaran knights, while the girls travel to Tar Valon to start their training in the use of the One Power. Little do they know, however, that a new foe lurks beyond the sea…
Another wonderful classic cover - look at that sneaky trolloc in the back!
Listened to the audiobook with Michael Kramer and Kate Reading (like the first book in the series) – fine narrators.
My opinion of The Wheel of Time didn’t really change after reading The Great Hunt. Essentially, I feel like The Wheel of Time is ultra-generic middle of the road fantasy that is comfortable, but not interesting.
The Great Hunt pretty much picks up where The Eye of the World left off. In the first few chapters, the bad guys steal the McGuffin and for the rest of the book the good guys and the bad guys variously chase one another as they nick the McGuffin off each other. In the end, the McGuffin overwhelms an otherwise perfectly good attempt by two female protagonists to save another (which was probably the best part of the book, which makes the development extra frustrating) – and so our main character Bland, eeeh, I mean, Rand, saves the day in the end.
Meh.
The Great Hunt is not bad, but there is just nothing that gets my heart pumping, no reason for me to recommend this over any of the other great options out there. And there is a lot in The Great Hunt that causes me to roll my eyes.
The Wheel of Time so far has probably the worst villains I have encountered in a fantasy book, maybe ever? Mean, low-spirited, overconfident, petulant – the villains have no purpose other than to be evil, they sound like spoilt toddlers, and it never feels like they are actually threatening to our heroes.
The main characters split up in the first half of the book (for one of the splits, for no other reason than that half of them are randomly teleported to another plane of existence?). As a result, the pace is rather slow as we jump around between their stories, and none of them get the love they deserve.
I really had to push through the first half of the book – I even started listening to some podcasts again for the first time in months simply because I didn’t feel like going back to the thinly veiled (and obviously hopeless) attempt at seducing Rand to the dark side.
Like in The Eye of the World, Nyneave is probably the only character with a recognisable personality (or more than one character trait). I would seriously struggle to give you a description of the other main characters’ motivations. And that is some fifty hours of listening into the story! I am not normally a reader that needs their story to be character-driven, but this…
Finally, one of my pet peeves with the book is that it fails to live up to its title in spectacular fashion. I could go on about what my imagination expected, but the core is that there is hardly a hunt, and it definitely isn’t great.
Overall, The Great Hunt has done nothing to convince me that The Wheel of Time is worth the time and effort it takes to get through. I will start up The Dragon Reborn one of these days but I already have a feeling that that won’t change my opinion either. Unfortunately, not all the classics can be winners.
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- Video game developed by Bioware
- Directed by Mike Laidlaw
- Published by Electronic Arts
- Published November 2014
- Role-playing, Action
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- Playing time: 50 to 160 hours
A giant explosion has destroyed the conclave at Haven, killing everyone inside – except you. They say you are the chosen one. The herald sent by holy Andraste herself to save the world of Thedas from the Breach in the sky that was created by the explosion. You are the only one who can close the tears in the veil that separates the world from the fade – the world of spirits, and demons. You become the figurehead for the Inquisition, an organisation created to defend against the forces of evil.
Dragon Age Inquisition holds a very special place in my heart. I first played it on Jop’s computer. Jop was away on holiday and asked me to feed their family cat, Puntje. In return, I could spend as much time as I wanted playing Dragon Age Inquisition on her Gaming PC. The best part of the day when I graduated from my bachelor’s program was cycling to Jop’s house to play this game. Soon after, I bought my own gaming PC and started the game again.
Maybe the real herald of Andraste is the friends you make along the way. No but really, the characters are the best part about these games. Sometimes I get a little lonely when playing video games. Especially games where you spend a lot of time travelling through desolate places make me wish I had a sidekick. In Dragon Age games, you always travel in a party of four, and your companions will occasionally talk to each other while you explore. This really makes you believe that they exist as people outside of your own interaction with them.
This isn’t quite an open world game, but there is a huge variety of different environments to explore. I’m actually really glad it’s not an open world. I find that if you can literally walk anywhere, I get decision fatigue. Inquisition’s world is just the right size.
The story is also one of the highlights of this game. Choices feel like they matter, and the game follows a narrative that was set up in earlier instalments of the series. I should note that I would not recommend playing this game if you haven’t yet played Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2. Some of the worldbuilding will likely be confusing if you’re not already familiar with it, like the Andrastian religion and the different cultures.
Please play this series. It’s great for people who value character development, and want to play a game that is “classic” fantasy that is fantastically executed.
If you’re worried about whether this game is accessible to people who haven’t played the preceding parts in the series, be assured that my best friend binged Inquisition without knowing anything about Dragon Age beforehand. Still, I recommend you play the other parts first. It’s just so much fun to be able to follow these characters throughout the years.
I love all the Dragon Age games, that’s a given. I’ve spend hundreds of hours in Thedas. Dragon Age: Inquisition, however, would become a unexpectedly strong formative experience for me. In my first playthrough – also the only one I fully finished (and replayed) – I played as a female Dalish mage who romanced Josephine. Almost immediately I was very engrossed in this character I created, as well as the story. I took every opportunity I got to play the game. It would not be an exaggeration to say Dragon Age: Inquisition helped me come to terms with some aspects of my identity. Because of the personal impact of this first playthrough, I doubt I will ever fully replay this game with any other choices/characters, like I’ve done Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2.
Characteristically for Dragon age, the characters are the greatest strength of this game. Though not all are destined to appeal to you (or your Inquisitor), their stories and companionship give flair to the game. Sometimes, I even find myself missing some of these characters, as if they were real friends.
As for the main story, it’s not without flaws, but has many great redeeming qualities, especially in how it builds on choices made in previous games. Inquisition is the first game in which you really see the fruits of your earlier labours, the history you’re creating. As such, I’d recommend Inquisition especially to people who have already played the other two games.
Although I really love the themes of the main story – focusing on religion and one’s destiny – the pacing of the game’s ending felt a little off to me. Furthermore, many side quests were a little uninspired/underdeveloped.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is not open world, but has some huge areas that were fun to explore. Just ignore your mount and make sure you have your favourite companions with you to enjoy the stunning environments.
Lastly, I’d like to highlight Dragon Age: Inquisition has the best DLC’s I’ve ever encountered (except perhaps The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt). Each DLC builds upon the main story and offers some really cool worldbuilding insights.
- Book written by Robert Jordan
- Published 15 January 1990
- Part 1 of the Wheel of Time series
Rand al’Thor, a sheepherder from a country village, is dragged into an adventurous life when his home and village are attacked by evil trollocs. Moiraine, a powerful mage, and Lan, her sworn warder, take Rand and his friends on a perilous journey of discoveries, hardship, and challenges. Eventually, it will lead them to the Eye of the World, the location of one of the seals that keep the Dark One from rising again.
Will you look at that cover art - they don't make 'em this way no more. I wonder why.
Listened to the audiobook with Michael Kramer and Kate Reading – fine narrators.
I’m already gritting my teeth for the reactions I’m going to get, but to review is to be honest: I didn’t enjoy The Eye of the World. There. I said it.
On my Curator page, I wrote that I am a sucker for the classics. And I am. I had just never started The Wheel of Time because I always felt like the opportunity cost was too high – in other words, I could read 14 other books in the time it would take to read all of The Wheel of Time, and I’ve always believed that I would probably enjoy those 14 other books more.
I think it took five of my friends telling me to give it a go to convince me to bite the bullet. Aaaaand… I was disappointed.
The Eye of the World is not bad, exactly. It is a perfectly functional fantasy book. But that is about it. Amazingly, I found The Eye of the World to be… boring? I don’t think I’ve ever criticised any (fantasy) media for being boring before – usually, I am more about nit picks of story structure or character development. I still think there is a lot to dislike about the story’s main characters (basically, I felt only Nyneave – and I’ve had to google how to spell that because I listened to the book – is vaguely interesting as a character). But with The Eye of the World, my main struggle was just that… I didn’t really feel like listening on. I just wasn’t really interested, I just wasn’t really engaged.
I’ve tried to figure out why that is. Again, the book is not bad and the story works. My best bet is currently that there is no selling point. The Wheel of Time is so generic, cliché- and trope-ridden that it feels like an AI-generated basic fantasy tale with no life or passion to it. There is no particularly interesting setting or worldbuilding, there are no unique-feeling characters or places, no twists. The prose is fine but unremarkable. The story is a bit meandering but paced well enough not to break down.
It is just… Backward village boy from some pseudo-medieval pseudo-European land has their home invaded by evil forces, and is whisked off by a mage on a journey of discovery, only to find out he is the Chosen One? Unintentionally comically evil villains played straight? Where have I read that before?
Sometimes, you look at an older work in a particular genre and realise that the reason it feels too tropical is that it has become foundational for the genre. However, The Eye of the World feels a bit like a Tolkien ripoff in itself, so even there is no grace to be found.
In conclusion, The Eye of the World is comfortable, middle of the road fantasy that I believe should surprise or excite exactly no-one. I just cannot think of a reason to recommend The Eye of the World to anyone, other than that The Wheel of Time is one of those classics that many people think are ‘must reads’. I have started The Great Hunt, the second book, and will probably finish the first trilogy. But if you’re one of those people who say ‘but it gets good after the sixth book’, I have bad news for you.
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Time to get to know the Escape Velocity Collection’s curators! How? By asking them the questions that really matter! Let’s see what our curators have to say…
This week’s question is:
How well would you survive in a zombie apocalypse?
Undoubtedly inspired by The Walking Dead series and Telltale video games, I used to have dreams about this scenario quite often. These dreams occurred in a period my lucid dreaming skills were at an all-time high, meaning I had enough control over my dreams to not be intimidated by armies of zombies. Dressed in my stylish long wax coat and armed with my Orcrist replica, I’d hack and slash my way through my hometown being awesome. Till this day, these dreams still belong to my favourite dreams ever.
They were dreams however. In reality, I doubt I’d have the skills to survive a zombie apocalypse for long. I might be clever enough to outrun most zombies for a time, but I’d probably lack the relentless survival instincts needed to thrive in such a world. Some nasty group of human survivors is going to be my downfall. I’d die looking fabulous, though! They won’t take that away from me.
Jop
Peter
My skills relate to standing behind a desk all day trying really hard to come up with smart things to write to judges about corporate and commercial catfights between multinationals (and every now and then I get to wear a long black gown and tell them in person). It is pretty tough to come up with a skillset that is less useful when society breaks down.
I have absolutely zilch survival experience. So the honest answer is that I would probably die a horrible death pretty soon, and even if I managed to survive the initial onslaught, I would probably starve in a month because my body is terribly inefficient with energy.
Having said that, if I managed to actually find a community of survivors where other people took care of, like, actually surviving, I could possibly make a decent warrior-type – guns are rare enough in the Netherlands that my longsword fighting (H.E.M.A.) skills might actually be of use. And the idea of chopping zombies shoulder to hip with well-placed and neatly executed Oberhauen in a 500-year old German tradition is unsurprisingly rather appealing…
Let’s be real you guys: I just wouldn’t. For me to have any chance at all, I’d need to have some notice of there being a zombie outbreak. I wear contacts and never have my glasses with me. I’m definitely never dressed for survival. When I wore my most practical shoes to hike up a mountain in Austria, a man complimented me on climbing a mountain “in heels”.
Most importantly, I don’t really see the point of living in a post-apocalyptic society. Sure, maybe some crazy survival instinct would kick in, but I’ve seen my share of zombie movies, and they’re NOT FUN!! I love life, but I love it because of all the nice things in it. I genuinely think fighting zombies wouldn’t be the worst thing in this situation: it would be the drudgery of life without any of the good stuff that civilised society has given us.
All things considered, I probably wouldn’t survive day one.
Lotte
Robin
I guess it depends. If we assume that the zombie apocalypse will be caused by a virus as is the case in many scifi stories, then I think we can also assume that just as with real world pandemics, rich countries will be affected very differently than poor countries. I’m not saying that we would be capable enough to stop the spread of the virus here (COVID certainly has taught us that), but experience also teaches that rich countries have no problem buying up all the world’s available vaccines and such. So perhaps I would be one of the lucky ones to survive at least the start of the apocalypse – not because of any particular skill or talent on my part, but simply because I was lucky enough to be born rich and white.
That’s it: another soul-searching question answered!
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Check out our reviews of the media discussed in this post here:
- Movie directed by Mamuro Oshii
- Starring Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Iemasa Kayumi, and others
- Released 18 November 1995
- Runtime: 82 minutes
- Based on the manga by Masamune Shirow
‘Major’ Motoko Kusanagi, an almost completely prosthetic cyborg, is an agent in Section 9, a shady police/intelligence unit tasked with counter-terrorism and cybersecurity in a near future Japan. When she finds the trail of the ‘Puppet Master’, a cybercriminal best known for allegedly being able to hack a person’s cerebral implants and take control of them, she is pulled into a dangerous manhunt intertwined with politics and infused with questions of identity and humanness.
I am noticing a pattern in my reviews of Japanese movies (such as Howls Moving Castle or Your Name): they look amazing, but at the end I am left somewhat unsatisfied with the story. Ghost in the Shell is no different.
Again, if I were to rate Ghost in the Shell on aesthetics alone, its an easy five star (though even then I would probably have to make a remark on the movie’s awkward focus on Major’s nude body). I feel like some of Ghost in the Shell’s aesthetic choices – and even some of it’s specific shots – still resonate throughout the cyberpunk genre. Similarly, I feel like some of its themes – when does an AI become human, when does a cyborg stop being human – are central to what cyberpunk is today. In that sense, Ghost in the Shell is a pillar of the genre.
The story, though, favours emotional beats over the plot, favours scenes and moments over the story as a whole. The result is that while the immediate consequences of the scene on screen are clear, I often felt like I couldn’t place what was going on in a bigger picture. Perhaps this was also the result of rather perfunctory worldbuilding which probably served the movie’s purposes but left a lot unexplained. It is possible that some of these issues are solved in the manga – which I didn’t read – but I felt that the movie was perhaps a bit of a grab bag of scenes more than an integrated whole.
The question remains: does that matter? No, but also yes.
It does not matter in the sense that I had a fun evening watching Ghost in the Shell and would certainly recommend it to people who crave an intense injection of cyberpunk look and feel (as, you know, you sometimes do). In that area, it deserves its reputation.
It does matter, however, in that I didn’t feel like immediately diving into the franchise. I didn’t feel a connection with Major or the Puppet Master or any of the other characters, and I wasn’t curious how their lives would play out. I didn’t feel like the movie made a real attempt at answering the questions it posed, I wasn’t invested in Major’s humanness (or the lack thereof). I felt like the lacklustre story made a movie that could have been great just good.
Overall though, Ghost in the Shell’s visuals are amazing and I shouldn’t undersell the movie because it focusses only on those: it wants more than anything to look awesome and it totally does. And you should watch it because of that.
- TV show developed by Jonathan Kasdan for Disney+
- Released in 2022
- Starring Warwick Davis, Ellie Bamber, Ruby Cruz, Erin Kellyman, Tony Revolori, Amar Chadha-Patel and Dempsey Bryk
- 1 Season of 8 Episodes, as of March 2023
Over twenty years after the defeat of Queen Bavmorda in the movie Willow, six adventurers set out on a dangerous rescue mission. Accompanied by the legendary sorcerer Willow himself, they must journey to far-off places and face their inner demons in order to defeat a great evil.
This review relates to season 1
I don’t even remember how we decided to watch this show, but I do remember being on board with it way before anyone else started enjoying it.
This show isn’t good but it’s fun. You just have to give it a couple of episodes to figure out what it wants to do. The biggest struggle with Willow is that the writers don’t seem to fully know what direction they want to go in from the start. The first episodes are played relatively straight, or at least the comedy is so subtle that it’s hard to tell if the funny parts were intended to be funny, or just unintentionally bad – and thus funny. On the whole, the plot is pretty weak and the writing is mediocre. The cast do their best with what they are given, but even a good actor can’t make a bad story shine.
However, maybe three episodes in the writers seem to let loose a little. They start to lean into the humour of the show, and boy they lean hard. Surprisingly, it really works! The cast is very funny and suddenly, it’s like you’re watching a different show. I only wish they’d started the show off as more of a comedy. I can very easily imagine someone turning Willow off after an episode or two and not managing to even reach the point where the show starts to shine. It still won’t be for everyone, but if you enjoy light-hearted fantasy like, for instance, BBC Merlin, you may come to really enjoy Willow. If you make it past the first couple of episodes, that is.
This review relates to season 1
Okay, Willow the series… Where to start? I’ve only watched the Willow movie a few times in my life, twice when I was much younger, and one time a few years ago. All in all, these were not very memorable experiences, except for a rather traumatizing scene in which people were transformed into pigs. As such, I don’t really have any nostalgia for the Willow universe that I took with me when I started watching the series.
The quality of this series really depends on what you expect out of it. Of course, this is true for everything in life, but Willow takes it to another level. If you’re looking for a fantasy world full of deep and unique lore, interesting mysteries and a gripping plot, Willow is sure to disappoint. Though it tries to be this a few times, it simply isn’t. No amount of loredropping will fix this.
What then, should you watch Willow for? Well, I’d say the surrealistic shenanigans of its characters, led by Boorman, who is portrayed by Amar Chadha-Patel. Though each of Willow’s characters (in theory) has the potential to be interesting, the writing isn’t good enough to do something with it. And this is fine. The humoristic performance of the actors is the only thing that makes this series worth a watch. Bonus points for including a queer relationship, though – I know how difficult Disney can be in this regard.
Willow is an excellent series to watch with friends. However, I doubt if it also holds up when you’re watching it solo.
This review relates to season 1
Sometimes you watch something, and you just can’t wrap your head around why it was made, how it was made, how this got past quality control. Willow is like that. Mostly.
The first three episodes of this series try to take themselves seriously, and that results in some trash-tier one star material that I would not recommend to anyone. Then it seemed like the writers/directors realised that their setup for the first three episodes wasn’t going to cut the mustard, so they scratched that plan and went with a comedy satire on the fantasy genre instead – but apparently didn’t want to do reshoots of the material they already had, so they kept those terrible episodes at the start. It boggles the mind, and unsurprisingly, Willow is being eviscerated in reviews (including this one…).
In a way, it is a pity because the parody-approach works much better. The way the series is set up now, though, the shift of tone results in a jarring juxtaposition with the first episodes and as a viewer, for a while you’re utterly confused as to what Willow is trying to be. By the end, the series has (mostly) found its niche as a comedy with some heartfelt moments, but even then it is haunted by terribly inconsistent production values and the awful choices made in the first few episodes (and Warwick Davis’ complete absence of acting. I’m not saying he is acting poorly, he is just literally not acting at all. He reads his lines at the camera wearing a costume. That’s it.).
I had fun watching Willow with the other curators, but I would have never watched past the first episode, much less the entire first half of the series, to get to the decent (dare I say… good?) parts if I would have had to watch it for its own sake. I can see that there will be people who will enjoy it for the moments – and it has its moments – but if you want to watch Willow, I think it should be the kind of show that you love to hate together. Don’t take it seriously from the start, but watch it to see the train wreck itself in slow motion (and for the few moments of brilliant humour from Amar Chadha-Patel’s character Boorman).
Willow gets a begrudging two stars from me that it kind of doesn’t deserve, but then Boorman is funny and the penultimate episode is cool. I didn’t want to be too harsh. Perhaps I should’ve been.
I am so confused by this show. It started out as a generic young adult fantasy series, and not a particularly good one. The main characters are whiny teens with a level of self-obsession fitting for their age, and the overall plot will not win any originality prizes. If I had not been watching the show together with the other curators, I genuinely do not think I would have made it past the first episode.
But after a few episodes, some hilarious scenes started to appear which seemed completely at odds with the tone of the rest of the show. These scenes were not only funny but also absurdistic in a way the rest of the show is not. The contrast is so big that I kept wondering what the show-runners were intending.
Confusion aside, these few scenes were truly great. I wish the creators had leaned into this more and had chosen this tone for the whole series, because then I think it could have been a really good show.
As it stands, two stars is all I can give it.
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Review: The Great Hunt – Robert Jordan
When an artefact from the Age of Legend is stolen, Rand and his friends set out to retrieve it, while the girls start their training in the use of the One Power.
Review: Dragon Age: Inquisition – Bioware
Review of the video game Dragon Age: Inquisition. A giant explosion has destroyed the conclave at Haven, killing everyone inside – except you. They say you are the chosen one. The herald sent by holy Andraste herself to save the world of Thedas from the Breach in the sky that was created by the explosion. You are the only one who can close the tears in the veil that separates the world from the Fade – the world of spirits, and demons. You become the figurehead for the Inquisition, an organisation created to defend everyone against the forces of evil.
Review: The Eye of the World – Robert Jordan
A sheepherder from a country village is dragged into an adventurous life when his home is attacked by evil trollocs. A powerful mage and her sworn warder take him on a perilous journey of discoveries, hardship, and challenges.
Curator Question: How well would you survive in a zombie apocalypse?
How well do the curators think they’d thrive in a zombie apocalpyse?
Review: Ghost in the Shell – Mamoru Oshii
An almost completely prosthetic cyborg, is an agent in a shady police/intelligence unit tasked with counter-terrorism and cybersecurity in a near future Japan. When she finds the trail of a cybercriminal best known for hacking a person’s cerebral implants, she is pulled into a dangerous manhunt infused with questions of identity and humanness.
Review: Willow – Lucasfilm
Over twenty years after the defeat of Queen Bavmorda in the movie Willow, six adventurers set out on a dangerous rescue mission. Accompanied by the legendary sorcerer Willow himself, they must journey to far-off places and face their inner demons in order to defeat a great evil.
