Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Good things coming...
I know it doesn't appear to be much happening on this site right now. And in a way, there's not. But there is a lot of stuff going on in the background, and when it hits here, it will be amazing. Stay tuned. You won't be dissappointed.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
NotW 4: Middle of Nowhere
Two days of hard walking after being robbed, his feet blisters on blisters and no one willing to part with a horse this close to harvest, Chronicler is not yet to Newarre when nightfalls. Despairing of making it to town, he sees a fire and decides farmstead hospitality will have to do.
Except it isn't a farmstead fire. It's a bonfire, and Kvothe is tending it ready with his pig iron: he's hunting scrael. He knows the one Carter killed is not alone.
They startle each other, and Kvothe uses a few choice expletives concerning Chronicler's lack of sense and luck.
We really get to see Kvothe for the first time - with shocking, vibrant green eyes and impossibly red hair. Kvothe is alive! He is being the hero. He saves Chronicler from the scrael, the first of which goes straight for the unprepared man, who gets knocked cold in the process.
When he comes to briefly, it's all over. He's in pain. Kvothe informs him that he may have broken a few ribs saving him, but he has stitched up the cuts from the scrael. When the chronicler tries to get up to help dig a pit to bury them, he goes back down hard, this time out for the count.
Up to here, the chapter was told from Chronicler's POV. It now switches to wrap up from Kvothes. He has also been injured in the fight, but took out all 5 scrael in the process. And he still pushes forward to dig the pit.
My first question was: you know you will need a pit for them, and that you will likely be in better shape to dig it before they attack...why wait until after to dig it?
That aside, we see in this chapter a glimpse of the man they tell stories of. Deep reserves of getting it done and badasserie. He also has wit and humor, and makes an interesting comment about how surprised you'd be at the sorts of things hidden away in children's songs.
This is the second chapter we have with Chronicler, and we still have no age or physical description. We are meant to indentify with him. He is our passport into the world of Kvothe. So no details to block us from making that identification will be given until well after we have already created our own mental image of the man.
Except it isn't a farmstead fire. It's a bonfire, and Kvothe is tending it ready with his pig iron: he's hunting scrael. He knows the one Carter killed is not alone.
They startle each other, and Kvothe uses a few choice expletives concerning Chronicler's lack of sense and luck.
We really get to see Kvothe for the first time - with shocking, vibrant green eyes and impossibly red hair. Kvothe is alive! He is being the hero. He saves Chronicler from the scrael, the first of which goes straight for the unprepared man, who gets knocked cold in the process.
When he comes to briefly, it's all over. He's in pain. Kvothe informs him that he may have broken a few ribs saving him, but he has stitched up the cuts from the scrael. When the chronicler tries to get up to help dig a pit to bury them, he goes back down hard, this time out for the count.
Up to here, the chapter was told from Chronicler's POV. It now switches to wrap up from Kvothes. He has also been injured in the fight, but took out all 5 scrael in the process. And he still pushes forward to dig the pit.
My first question was: you know you will need a pit for them, and that you will likely be in better shape to dig it before they attack...why wait until after to dig it?
That aside, we see in this chapter a glimpse of the man they tell stories of. Deep reserves of getting it done and badasserie. He also has wit and humor, and makes an interesting comment about how surprised you'd be at the sorts of things hidden away in children's songs.
This is the second chapter we have with Chronicler, and we still have no age or physical description. We are meant to indentify with him. He is our passport into the world of Kvothe. So no details to block us from making that identification will be given until well after we have already created our own mental image of the man.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
NotW 3: Kote flirts with Kvothe
We find Kote leafing through a book in the inn two days after chapter one's felling night. Graham brings a mounting board he's made of roah wood and engraved with "Folly." To Graham's eye, Kote looks sickly and hollow - noticeably less vibrant and alive than he had even a month ago. In his mind, he compares him to a wilting plant. This echos the "cut-flower" of the prologue.
When Bast becomes aware of the mounting board, he is seriously freaked out. He demands to know what Kote is thinking.
Kote's reply is very interesting: "I tend to think too much...My greatest successes came from decisions I made when I stopped thinking and simply did what felt right. Even if there was no good explanation for what I did. Even if there were very good reasons for me not to do what I did."
Hmmm.... The rest of this book will tend to show that a false notion, I suspect. I'm thinking of when he used sympathy to link the air in his lungs to the air around him with nearly fatal consequence. More on that in a few chapters.
But then, in "A Wise Man's Fear", we see him transition to Lethani driven "Spinning Leaf" state. Maybe this is what he's on about here?
Either way, after hanging the board behind the bar, Kote asks for the sword, which Bast has been keeping under his bed. From what is described, it really sounds like a sound the caliber of Caesura. Ancient but not worn. At least the handle and hilt are different. But the blade is of that caliber.
Personal thoughts: Caesura was given with the understanding that when he died, it would return to the Ademre. What if he faked his death? Would it then be returned? Or do the Ademre know the difference between a faked death and a real death? If the latter, did they alter the sword's appearance to protect him?
After hanging the sword on the mounting board, and going about the normal chores, they receive the visit of a caravan. This brings Kote a bit out of his funk, as there is much to do and the caravan reminds him of times long gone.
"For the first time in a long while there was no silence in the Waystone Inn. Or if there was, it was too faint to be noticed, or too well hidden."
As the evening progresses, there is music and singing, and then they sing "Tinker Tanner." This is the first mention of this standard, but it won't be the last. And as Kvothe had spent considerable time with his friends making up new verses for it, it is no surprise that Kote sings more verses than anyone here had ever heard before.
Unfortunately for him, this causes him to be recognized by a well-dressed and mannered sandy-haired man, who calls him "Kvothe" and "Kvothe the Bloodless" for the first time in the book. He had heard Kvothe sing in Imre. It had moved him to cry his eyes out. It had broken his heart.
More interestingly, the boy claims to have seen where he killed "him", and says that the cobblestones by the fountain where it happened are broken and cannot be mended.
Who did Kvothe kill there? Is this an exaggeration of the time he calls the wind and breaks Ambrose's arm? Could be, especially if Ambrose is the king he kills (and it really strikes me as being likely he is). Or maybe this is where he killed someone. Would this be the king (there are no kings in the commonwealth), or the Poet (remember Old Cob calls Kasura [Ceasura] the Poet-Killer)?
Nice foreshadowing either way.
Rather than deny he is Kvothe, Kote takes it as a compliment, and says that they say he looks a lot like the Kvothe. He then fakes a re-injury of the knee he says he got an arrow shot in three years ago so he can excuse himself.
He tells Bast he's been recognized and sends him to drug the sandy-haired boy to sleep. Bast spreads a false cover story for Kote's life, and sees to the caravan before they depart in the morning.
Kote has been flirting with Kvothe. He is mounting a sword that if it is recognized could mean his death in the common room. He is singing, and apparently in a voice that is clearly Kvothe to those who have heard him sing before. Is this why there is "of course" no music in the Waystone Inn?
After they are gone, Kote gets some pig iron and a used up smith's apron and forge gloves from Caleb the smith, purportedly to deal with a bramble patch. Caleb questions taking on such a task when the ground is so dry. Kote says, "In autumn everything is tired and ready to die." Wow.
He closes up early for the first time ever. Bast it worried.
Other points of interest in this chapter: The first time we hear the children chant about the Chandrian.
One of the many scars on Kvothe's body is neither smooth nor silver, but no further explanation is given.
We get to see a real tinker at work for the first time.
When Bast becomes aware of the mounting board, he is seriously freaked out. He demands to know what Kote is thinking.
Kote's reply is very interesting: "I tend to think too much...My greatest successes came from decisions I made when I stopped thinking and simply did what felt right. Even if there was no good explanation for what I did. Even if there were very good reasons for me not to do what I did."
Hmmm.... The rest of this book will tend to show that a false notion, I suspect. I'm thinking of when he used sympathy to link the air in his lungs to the air around him with nearly fatal consequence. More on that in a few chapters.
But then, in "A Wise Man's Fear", we see him transition to Lethani driven "Spinning Leaf" state. Maybe this is what he's on about here?
Either way, after hanging the board behind the bar, Kote asks for the sword, which Bast has been keeping under his bed. From what is described, it really sounds like a sound the caliber of Caesura. Ancient but not worn. At least the handle and hilt are different. But the blade is of that caliber.
Personal thoughts: Caesura was given with the understanding that when he died, it would return to the Ademre. What if he faked his death? Would it then be returned? Or do the Ademre know the difference between a faked death and a real death? If the latter, did they alter the sword's appearance to protect him?
After hanging the sword on the mounting board, and going about the normal chores, they receive the visit of a caravan. This brings Kote a bit out of his funk, as there is much to do and the caravan reminds him of times long gone.
"For the first time in a long while there was no silence in the Waystone Inn. Or if there was, it was too faint to be noticed, or too well hidden."
As the evening progresses, there is music and singing, and then they sing "Tinker Tanner." This is the first mention of this standard, but it won't be the last. And as Kvothe had spent considerable time with his friends making up new verses for it, it is no surprise that Kote sings more verses than anyone here had ever heard before.
Unfortunately for him, this causes him to be recognized by a well-dressed and mannered sandy-haired man, who calls him "Kvothe" and "Kvothe the Bloodless" for the first time in the book. He had heard Kvothe sing in Imre. It had moved him to cry his eyes out. It had broken his heart.
More interestingly, the boy claims to have seen where he killed "him", and says that the cobblestones by the fountain where it happened are broken and cannot be mended.
Who did Kvothe kill there? Is this an exaggeration of the time he calls the wind and breaks Ambrose's arm? Could be, especially if Ambrose is the king he kills (and it really strikes me as being likely he is). Or maybe this is where he killed someone. Would this be the king (there are no kings in the commonwealth), or the Poet (remember Old Cob calls Kasura [Ceasura] the Poet-Killer)?
Nice foreshadowing either way.
Rather than deny he is Kvothe, Kote takes it as a compliment, and says that they say he looks a lot like the Kvothe. He then fakes a re-injury of the knee he says he got an arrow shot in three years ago so he can excuse himself.
He tells Bast he's been recognized and sends him to drug the sandy-haired boy to sleep. Bast spreads a false cover story for Kote's life, and sees to the caravan before they depart in the morning.
Kote has been flirting with Kvothe. He is mounting a sword that if it is recognized could mean his death in the common room. He is singing, and apparently in a voice that is clearly Kvothe to those who have heard him sing before. Is this why there is "of course" no music in the Waystone Inn?
After they are gone, Kote gets some pig iron and a used up smith's apron and forge gloves from Caleb the smith, purportedly to deal with a bramble patch. Caleb questions taking on such a task when the ground is so dry. Kote says, "In autumn everything is tired and ready to die." Wow.
He closes up early for the first time ever. Bast it worried.
Other points of interest in this chapter: The first time we hear the children chant about the Chandrian.
One of the many scars on Kvothe's body is neither smooth nor silver, but no further explanation is given.
We get to see a real tinker at work for the first time.
Tinkers
- NotW 1: In the story of Taborline the Great, he shares what little he has to eat with a tinker, who in gratitude sells him an "amulet" (guilder or gram) to protect him for an iron penny, a copper penny and a silver penny.
- NotW 3: A potbellied and nearly toothless tinker come to the Waystone Inn with a caravan. He offers the following services and products:
- Pot mending
- Knife grinding
- Willow-wand water-finding
- Cut cork
- Motherleaf
- Silk scarves off the city streets
- Writing paper
- Sweetmeats
- Belt leather
- Black pepper
- Fine lace
- Bright feather
- Small cloth
- Rose water
- Shears and needles
- Copper pots
- Small bottles (of?)
- Buttons
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Limes from Tinuë
- Chocolate from Tarbean
- Polished horn from Aerueh
Animals
- NotW 3: Bear
- NotW 4: Cricket
- NotW 2: Crow
- NotW 1,2,3,4: Horses
- NotW 3: Mule
- NotW 1,3: Sheep
- NotW 3: Wolves
NotW 2: A Beautiful Story
This chapter introduces us to the Chronicler, who's arrival in Kote's/Kvothe's world marks the catalyst for the book to really get started.
It is told from Chronicler's POV, and has just a few connecting bits of thread that imply the bigger story of the book. As a short little story, it would stand pretty good on its own.
Chronicler is introduced with no real physical description or age. What we do know about him from this chapter: He is cunning and wise. He is a Scribe. He is rich. He is friends with Skarpi, although we don't yet know what that means. Not just because we haven't yet met Skarpi, but because I suspect we still don't know the full impact of Skarpi on this story. Skarpi is waiting for him in Treya.
He is also likely of the Tehlin faith. Chronicler wears an iron circle on a leather rope around his neck. It is not a guilder: the ex-soldier's commander touches it without noticing cold or numbness. It appears to be a symbol of the iron wheel Tehlu sacrificed himself on while trying to do away with Encanis/Haliax.
When we meet him, Chronicler is in the process of being robbed by some fairly civilized ex-soldiers. They are mainly taking what they need, but otherwise treating him with respect and dignity. The worse part, perhaps, is the loss of his horse.
After they divide what interests them from what he will be allowed to keep, they releave him of his purse. He has the balls to ask for a penny or two back so he can get a hot meal or two while getting more scribal work to earn some more. The commander gives him "a pair for your pair." Chronicler has subtly implied that they got all his money, stopping them from even thinking of searching deeper. In reality, the purse is a decoy. A decoy he quickly refills from hidden stores of money - just enough to satisfy any further robbers - as soon as the current batch are gone.
He does repay their humanity in kind: one of the ex-soldiers took his cleaning alcohol. He informs the commander that it is wood alcohol, and it would go badly for anyone who drinks it.
Other than that, it is a beautiful autumn day, the kind that belongs in a storybook.
It is told from Chronicler's POV, and has just a few connecting bits of thread that imply the bigger story of the book. As a short little story, it would stand pretty good on its own.
Chronicler is introduced with no real physical description or age. What we do know about him from this chapter: He is cunning and wise. He is a Scribe. He is rich. He is friends with Skarpi, although we don't yet know what that means. Not just because we haven't yet met Skarpi, but because I suspect we still don't know the full impact of Skarpi on this story. Skarpi is waiting for him in Treya.
He is also likely of the Tehlin faith. Chronicler wears an iron circle on a leather rope around his neck. It is not a guilder: the ex-soldier's commander touches it without noticing cold or numbness. It appears to be a symbol of the iron wheel Tehlu sacrificed himself on while trying to do away with Encanis/Haliax.
When we meet him, Chronicler is in the process of being robbed by some fairly civilized ex-soldiers. They are mainly taking what they need, but otherwise treating him with respect and dignity. The worse part, perhaps, is the loss of his horse.
After they divide what interests them from what he will be allowed to keep, they releave him of his purse. He has the balls to ask for a penny or two back so he can get a hot meal or two while getting more scribal work to earn some more. The commander gives him "a pair for your pair." Chronicler has subtly implied that they got all his money, stopping them from even thinking of searching deeper. In reality, the purse is a decoy. A decoy he quickly refills from hidden stores of money - just enough to satisfy any further robbers - as soon as the current batch are gone.
He does repay their humanity in kind: one of the ex-soldiers took his cleaning alcohol. He informs the commander that it is wood alcohol, and it would go badly for anyone who drinks it.
Other than that, it is a beautiful autumn day, the kind that belongs in a storybook.
Trees, woods and Plants
- NotW 4: Ash
- NotW 3: Bramble
- NotW 4: Elm
- NotW 3: Motherleaf
- NofW 2: Oak
- NofW 2: Poplar
- NofW 1,3: Roah
- NotW 1: Very expensive: highly prized by perfumers and alchemists
- NotW 3: Dark charcoal color with black grain
- NotW 3: Like stone under the saw, and iron for the chisel
- NotW 3: Won't burn
- NofW 1,4: Rowan
- NofW 2: Sumac
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