I've never understood why people dislike that book so much. While it's not my favorite - but it is hard for anything after the first three to be a favorite for me (and that the other oft-maligned A Wizard Alone) - I've always liked it, and after all the running hell-bent in the first three books I think it's good to have a calmer one.
The pace of it makes a lot of sense to me, too; for one, it's not just one or two beginner wizards rushing around trying to save the world, there's a veritable army of wizards and it takes time to figure out how to gather and use an army and to get them where they need to go. It also says right there in the text, talking about the energetic American branch of wizardry vs the Irish branch, which is more about planning and less about jumping head-first into the fray.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-07 12:39 (UTC)I've never understood why people dislike that book so much. While it's not my favorite - but it is hard for anything after the first three to be a favorite for me (and that the other oft-maligned A Wizard Alone) - I've always liked it, and after all the running hell-bent in the first three books I think it's good to have a calmer one.
The pace of it makes a lot of sense to me, too; for one, it's not just one or two beginner wizards rushing around trying to save the world, there's a veritable army of wizards and it takes time to figure out how to gather and use an army and to get them where they need to go. It also says right there in the text, talking about the energetic American branch of wizardry vs the Irish branch, which is more about planning and less about jumping head-first into the fray.