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i_read_whatSo I ended up taking a bit of a hiatus from these reviews, because I had to write a fic for the Rip Hunter Discord Chat fic exchange. Fic is done, and therefore, I can start reviewing again.
Last time in Crystal Shard, there was a Barbarian invasion that was basically just a prologue for a story about a cranky piece of jewelry. Also, Bruenor found a young Barbarian and kind of enslaved/adopted him.
So we start with Regis. Regis, we learn, is doing well. He's now spending his winters in Bryn Shander, with his "good friend" Cassius. Cassius is pretty transparently evil, but unfortunately, Regis as comic relief character is also really fucking dumb, so there you go.
It's now four and a half years after the would be invasion and we're told the towns of Targos and Termalaine are practically at war. This isn't a deep conflict of course. Kemp was the dude who was kicking Drizzt when he was unconscious, and as annoying as I find Drizzt, that's pretty fucking low. Agorwal defended Drizzt and seems like a mostly decent guy.
We're told there's more conflict between Caer-Dineval and Caer-Konig, and Good Mead and Dougan's hole. While the city of Redwaters is demanding recompense for "staggering casualties."
Regis's town, Lonelywood, has benefited the most. It's grown in size, and is open to newcomers, and are advertising themselves as "Home of the Halfling Hero". Aw. We're told that Regis retired as spokesman by mutual agreement, as they now needed someone more aggressive on the council and Regis didn't want to be bothered.
Regis has managed a pretty good coup too. Apparnently, people pay for the right to fish under Lonelywood's flag, and since Regis is the main draw, he finagled himself a cut of the profits. Nicely done. Regis is also doing better with scrimshaw, as he "persuaded some connoisseurs" that his "unique style and cut gave his scrimshaw a special artistic and aesthetic worth"
It's implied, however, that Regis has been using the ruby pendant to brainwash people for this. Though I wonder how exactly that works, because the traders still have to sell their goods down south, to people Regis hasn't mind whammied. I may be thinking too hard about that.
We switch over to a forge, where Wulfgar is hammering shirtlessly. Why shirtless, I don't know. It seems dangerous, but Mr. Salvatore wants us to know that he wore only a pair of pants and a leather apron tied about his waist. We get a lot of detail actually about how the lines of soot settled in the "muscular grooves across his broad shoulders and chest", and how he's sweat-glistened.
On one hand, I enjoy male objectification as much as anyone. On the other, I've just realized that the sole major female character hasn't had a fucking line yet, and I'm annoyed. And also, the whole indentured servitude of a minor thing makes the objectification a bit more questionable.
Ayway, we're told that Wulfgar is doing well. Initially he'd been stubborn and angry and felt cheated out of an honorable death. It actually does sound kind of hellish though, since Wulfgar has been pretty much underground this whole time. He misses the sky. He's also seven feet tall, which makes this all kind of uncomfortable. He's been stockholm syndromed pretty good though. And we're told that Bruenor's underlying attitude is more like a stern father than a slave master's. Though he's still "gruff and insulting" and he works Wulfgar "at menial, sometimes degrading, tasks"
Ugh. Honestly, this whole set up is pretty gross. I like Bruenor as a character, but he basically forced this kid (I THINK Wulfgar is about 19-20 at this point, though I don't know for sure, so he was 14-15 when captured) into slavery. And we're supposed to be okay with this because he's not really that bad. Even though sometimes he is. What the fuck does degrading mean in this context?
Bruenor has taught Wulfgar a lot of smithing though, and more recently gave him a forge and anvil of his own so he could work without supervision. This changed Wulfgar's attitude further from servant to enthusiastic craftsman. He thinks back to how he initially vowed to "pay Bruenor back in blood as soon as he had fulfilled the terms of his indenture" and realizes instead that he's become a better man.
I mean, yay? I guess? I'm still very uncomfortable with all of this.
So, this is actually our first look at Wulfgar from inside his own head. So far he doesn't seem that bad. He's not pontificating like Drizzt, and his intelligence doesn't ebb and flow with the tide like Regis. I'm intrigued enough to see where this goes.
Last time in Crystal Shard, there was a Barbarian invasion that was basically just a prologue for a story about a cranky piece of jewelry. Also, Bruenor found a young Barbarian and kind of enslaved/adopted him.
So we start with Regis. Regis, we learn, is doing well. He's now spending his winters in Bryn Shander, with his "good friend" Cassius. Cassius is pretty transparently evil, but unfortunately, Regis as comic relief character is also really fucking dumb, so there you go.
It's now four and a half years after the would be invasion and we're told the towns of Targos and Termalaine are practically at war. This isn't a deep conflict of course. Kemp was the dude who was kicking Drizzt when he was unconscious, and as annoying as I find Drizzt, that's pretty fucking low. Agorwal defended Drizzt and seems like a mostly decent guy.
We're told there's more conflict between Caer-Dineval and Caer-Konig, and Good Mead and Dougan's hole. While the city of Redwaters is demanding recompense for "staggering casualties."
Regis's town, Lonelywood, has benefited the most. It's grown in size, and is open to newcomers, and are advertising themselves as "Home of the Halfling Hero". Aw. We're told that Regis retired as spokesman by mutual agreement, as they now needed someone more aggressive on the council and Regis didn't want to be bothered.
Regis has managed a pretty good coup too. Apparnently, people pay for the right to fish under Lonelywood's flag, and since Regis is the main draw, he finagled himself a cut of the profits. Nicely done. Regis is also doing better with scrimshaw, as he "persuaded some connoisseurs" that his "unique style and cut gave his scrimshaw a special artistic and aesthetic worth"
It's implied, however, that Regis has been using the ruby pendant to brainwash people for this. Though I wonder how exactly that works, because the traders still have to sell their goods down south, to people Regis hasn't mind whammied. I may be thinking too hard about that.
We switch over to a forge, where Wulfgar is hammering shirtlessly. Why shirtless, I don't know. It seems dangerous, but Mr. Salvatore wants us to know that he wore only a pair of pants and a leather apron tied about his waist. We get a lot of detail actually about how the lines of soot settled in the "muscular grooves across his broad shoulders and chest", and how he's sweat-glistened.
On one hand, I enjoy male objectification as much as anyone. On the other, I've just realized that the sole major female character hasn't had a fucking line yet, and I'm annoyed. And also, the whole indentured servitude of a minor thing makes the objectification a bit more questionable.
Ayway, we're told that Wulfgar is doing well. Initially he'd been stubborn and angry and felt cheated out of an honorable death. It actually does sound kind of hellish though, since Wulfgar has been pretty much underground this whole time. He misses the sky. He's also seven feet tall, which makes this all kind of uncomfortable. He's been stockholm syndromed pretty good though. And we're told that Bruenor's underlying attitude is more like a stern father than a slave master's. Though he's still "gruff and insulting" and he works Wulfgar "at menial, sometimes degrading, tasks"
Ugh. Honestly, this whole set up is pretty gross. I like Bruenor as a character, but he basically forced this kid (I THINK Wulfgar is about 19-20 at this point, though I don't know for sure, so he was 14-15 when captured) into slavery. And we're supposed to be okay with this because he's not really that bad. Even though sometimes he is. What the fuck does degrading mean in this context?
Bruenor has taught Wulfgar a lot of smithing though, and more recently gave him a forge and anvil of his own so he could work without supervision. This changed Wulfgar's attitude further from servant to enthusiastic craftsman. He thinks back to how he initially vowed to "pay Bruenor back in blood as soon as he had fulfilled the terms of his indenture" and realizes instead that he's become a better man.
I mean, yay? I guess? I'm still very uncomfortable with all of this.
So, this is actually our first look at Wulfgar from inside his own head. So far he doesn't seem that bad. He's not pontificating like Drizzt, and his intelligence doesn't ebb and flow with the tide like Regis. I'm intrigued enough to see where this goes.