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i_read_whatSo last time, we met more adversaries. At least this batch had semi complex motives, and also were fantasy Vikings, so that's always fun. We might have met one of our heroes too, but we're not supposed to know that.
This chapter, we're back with Akar Kessell, the least interesting of the hogpile of adversaries. Fuck it all.
So as I just mentioned, we're back with Akar Kessell. If you don't remember who he is, he was the idiot mage that was tricked into killing his mentor as part of the other wizards' schemes. The other wizards were at least a little interesting, seeing as how they had a diabolical scheme and all, but they're gone now, leaving us with this weaselly dumbfuck.
I vaguely remember enough of this book to know this weaselly dumbfuck is going to end up with the Shard, and therefore become formidable. But I can't help but imagine how much more interesting it would have been for one of the smarter adversaries to wield it instead.
Anyway, Akar Kessell wakes up face down in the snow because Eldulac, Dendybar the Mottled and the rest left him to die. He has a moment of anguish, thinking of his mentor:
"'How could I have been so stupid?' Kessell groaned. Images of Morkai, the only man who had ever granted him any measure of respect, flashed across his mind in a guilt-driven haze. He remembered all the joys that the wizard had allowed him to experience. Morkai had once turned him into a bird so that he could feel the freedom of flight; and once a fish, to let him experience the blurry world of the undersea.
And he had repaid that wonderful man with a dagger."
So why did he kill him?
I'm not asking that to play along with this scene, I'm asking that as a reader because I don't think Mr. Salvatore established enough to make Kessell's motives make sense.
He killed Morkai so he could take his place and be made a full wizard. I get that part. But what does that MEAN to him? Why is it so important that he's willing to kill his only friend? It's not enough to say "he's doing this for power", in my opinion. We should also have an idea of what power means to him.
Was he always hungry as a boy, and power is the means to ensure that he never goes without? Was he tormented as a child, and power is the means to gain respect and protection and get some of his own back against the people who mistreated him? How does this connect to being a wizard? I have some knowledge of Forgotten Realms as a setting, so that I know that wizards have a very high position in Luskan's society, but I think this could have been established better in the book.
Ultimately, the problem with Kessell as a character is that I can't connect with his motivations at all. I should be reading this scene and either feeling sympathy for this guy, pity for the fact that he's a pathetic wretch or satisfaction that he's getting his just desserts by losing the very thing he'd killed his mentor to obtain. But instead, I'm bored and waiting for the next part.
I have more of a reaction to the last lines of that section: "Far down the trails, the departing wizards heard Kessell's anguished scream echoing off the mountain walls.
Eldulac smiled, satisfied that their plan had been executed perfectly, and spurred his horse on."
See, Eldulac is a much stronger villain here, because the story has done a good job in establishing what he had to gain and what was at stake for him. He wanted out of the Ten Towns. He wanted to eliminate an inconvenient rival. He saw an easily manipulated tool, and he used it. I can comprehend that. So I watch him leave thinking: "You magnificent asshole," and wishing we could follow him as a villain instead.
So then we move on to Kessell. There's actually a pretty good part here:
Kessell trudged through the snow. He didn't know why he was walking - he had nowhere to go. Kessell had no escape. Eldulac had dropped him into a bowl-shaped, snow-filled depression, and with his fingers numbed beyond feeling, he had no chance of climbing out.
He tried again to conjure a wizard's fire. He held his outstretched palm skyward and through chattering teeth uttered the words of power.
Nothing.
Not even a wisp of smoke.
Okay, this is better. I like the sense of hopelessness and the futile wandering.
Anyway, we're told this isn't his first time circumnavigating the bowl. He's very cold, and worried about frostbite. But then he finds himself veering toward the middle of the bowl toward something warm.
Kessell digs and finds the crystal shard.
As Kessell goes to sleep in the most sheltered area he can find, we find ourselves in the shard's point of view. We're told that Crenshinibon, the shard, had waited "throughout ages uncounted" for someone like Kessell to appear in the bowl.
Really?
Those demons in the prologue acted like the shard had JUST dropped to Toril. How long ago was that?
This certainly doesn't make them seem very impressive as villains if they let the shard sit in a fucking mountain for god knows how long. Just go get the fucking thing!
Anyway, we're told that the Creshinibon is pondering the how it will use Kessell, but unfortunately we don't get to hear that pondering, instead we get an info dump about its power:
"Crenshinibon was an enigma, a force of the darkest evil that drew its strength from the light of day. It was an instrument of destruction, a tool for scrying, a shelter and home for those who would wield it. But foremost among the powers of Crenshinibon was the strength it imparted to its possessor."
I kind of like the juxtaposition here, of evil artifact powered by sunlight, who primarily seems to be designed as a helpful tool. It makes a nice contrast to our heroes, Wulfgar and Drizzt, who are both raised among antagonists and villains, and taught to kill and destroy.
Anyway, Kessell sleeps comfortingly, having dreams of power that we're told were sent by Creshinibon.
--
When Kessell wakes up, he realizes he is more powerful than before, and he uses a spell against a white deer so he can have venison. He not only is able to kill the creature, he's able to telekinetically lift it, which is a spell even Morkai didn't have. We're told that Kessell doesn't stop to ponder the sudden appearance of abilities, though the shard wouldn't have let him if he tried.
This is why it would have been more interesting with a smarter adversary, I think. It would have made the shard's manipulation of him scarier, but also set up an interesting power struggle. Kessell is just a vehicle for the shard.
That said, at least Creshinibon is formidable.
Kessell decides that he should have a castle and the shard provides, by creating a duplicate crystal. Kessell carries it to the center of the bowl, chants words without knowing why and alakazam, the thing grows into a very large tower. Kessell finds that he knows its name: Cryshal-Tirith.
-
We finally get a little insight into Akar Kessell as a person:
"Kessell would have been contented, for the time being, at least, to remain in Cryshal-Tirith and feast off of the unfortunate animals that wandered by. He had come from a meager background of unambitious peasants, and though he outwardly boasted of aspirations beyond his station, he was intimidated by the implications of power. He didn't understand how or why those who had gained prominence had risen above the common rabble, and even lied to himself, passing off the accomplishments of others, and, conversely, the lack of his own, as a random choice of fate.
Now that he had power within his grasp he had no notion of what to do with it."
I'm not sure how this really jives with the characterization of being willing to kill his mentor for power, but I guess I can see what Mr. Salvatore is going for. Kessell had needed to be manipulated into doing that, similarly to how the Shard intends to manipulate Kessell into doing its bidding too.
Creshnibon has ambitions of its own, and sees Kessell's "wishy-washiness" (which seems like a really odd word for an ancient all-powerful relic to use in its viewpoint narration) as a plus. It can manipulate and mold Kessell through his dreams.
The crystal shard is the smartest adversary we have so far, and I'm actually enjoying its machinations. It's starting Kessell out very small, by giving him dreams of forcing a goblin tribe into servitude to cater to his every need. And then it provides him with the tools to do just that: a scrying room so he can see the goblins and then mind control powers to bring them to him.
Next chapter: BRUENOR. Finally! Back to our heroes again! You've taken four chapters to finally give us a formidable adversary. Now it's time to make us care about your heroes!
This chapter, we're back with Akar Kessell, the least interesting of the hogpile of adversaries. Fuck it all.
So as I just mentioned, we're back with Akar Kessell. If you don't remember who he is, he was the idiot mage that was tricked into killing his mentor as part of the other wizards' schemes. The other wizards were at least a little interesting, seeing as how they had a diabolical scheme and all, but they're gone now, leaving us with this weaselly dumbfuck.
I vaguely remember enough of this book to know this weaselly dumbfuck is going to end up with the Shard, and therefore become formidable. But I can't help but imagine how much more interesting it would have been for one of the smarter adversaries to wield it instead.
Anyway, Akar Kessell wakes up face down in the snow because Eldulac, Dendybar the Mottled and the rest left him to die. He has a moment of anguish, thinking of his mentor:
"'How could I have been so stupid?' Kessell groaned. Images of Morkai, the only man who had ever granted him any measure of respect, flashed across his mind in a guilt-driven haze. He remembered all the joys that the wizard had allowed him to experience. Morkai had once turned him into a bird so that he could feel the freedom of flight; and once a fish, to let him experience the blurry world of the undersea.
And he had repaid that wonderful man with a dagger."
So why did he kill him?
I'm not asking that to play along with this scene, I'm asking that as a reader because I don't think Mr. Salvatore established enough to make Kessell's motives make sense.
He killed Morkai so he could take his place and be made a full wizard. I get that part. But what does that MEAN to him? Why is it so important that he's willing to kill his only friend? It's not enough to say "he's doing this for power", in my opinion. We should also have an idea of what power means to him.
Was he always hungry as a boy, and power is the means to ensure that he never goes without? Was he tormented as a child, and power is the means to gain respect and protection and get some of his own back against the people who mistreated him? How does this connect to being a wizard? I have some knowledge of Forgotten Realms as a setting, so that I know that wizards have a very high position in Luskan's society, but I think this could have been established better in the book.
Ultimately, the problem with Kessell as a character is that I can't connect with his motivations at all. I should be reading this scene and either feeling sympathy for this guy, pity for the fact that he's a pathetic wretch or satisfaction that he's getting his just desserts by losing the very thing he'd killed his mentor to obtain. But instead, I'm bored and waiting for the next part.
I have more of a reaction to the last lines of that section: "Far down the trails, the departing wizards heard Kessell's anguished scream echoing off the mountain walls.
Eldulac smiled, satisfied that their plan had been executed perfectly, and spurred his horse on."
See, Eldulac is a much stronger villain here, because the story has done a good job in establishing what he had to gain and what was at stake for him. He wanted out of the Ten Towns. He wanted to eliminate an inconvenient rival. He saw an easily manipulated tool, and he used it. I can comprehend that. So I watch him leave thinking: "You magnificent asshole," and wishing we could follow him as a villain instead.
So then we move on to Kessell. There's actually a pretty good part here:
Kessell trudged through the snow. He didn't know why he was walking - he had nowhere to go. Kessell had no escape. Eldulac had dropped him into a bowl-shaped, snow-filled depression, and with his fingers numbed beyond feeling, he had no chance of climbing out.
He tried again to conjure a wizard's fire. He held his outstretched palm skyward and through chattering teeth uttered the words of power.
Nothing.
Not even a wisp of smoke.
Okay, this is better. I like the sense of hopelessness and the futile wandering.
Anyway, we're told this isn't his first time circumnavigating the bowl. He's very cold, and worried about frostbite. But then he finds himself veering toward the middle of the bowl toward something warm.
Kessell digs and finds the crystal shard.
As Kessell goes to sleep in the most sheltered area he can find, we find ourselves in the shard's point of view. We're told that Crenshinibon, the shard, had waited "throughout ages uncounted" for someone like Kessell to appear in the bowl.
Really?
Those demons in the prologue acted like the shard had JUST dropped to Toril. How long ago was that?
This certainly doesn't make them seem very impressive as villains if they let the shard sit in a fucking mountain for god knows how long. Just go get the fucking thing!
Anyway, we're told that the Creshinibon is pondering the how it will use Kessell, but unfortunately we don't get to hear that pondering, instead we get an info dump about its power:
"Crenshinibon was an enigma, a force of the darkest evil that drew its strength from the light of day. It was an instrument of destruction, a tool for scrying, a shelter and home for those who would wield it. But foremost among the powers of Crenshinibon was the strength it imparted to its possessor."
I kind of like the juxtaposition here, of evil artifact powered by sunlight, who primarily seems to be designed as a helpful tool. It makes a nice contrast to our heroes, Wulfgar and Drizzt, who are both raised among antagonists and villains, and taught to kill and destroy.
Anyway, Kessell sleeps comfortingly, having dreams of power that we're told were sent by Creshinibon.
--
When Kessell wakes up, he realizes he is more powerful than before, and he uses a spell against a white deer so he can have venison. He not only is able to kill the creature, he's able to telekinetically lift it, which is a spell even Morkai didn't have. We're told that Kessell doesn't stop to ponder the sudden appearance of abilities, though the shard wouldn't have let him if he tried.
This is why it would have been more interesting with a smarter adversary, I think. It would have made the shard's manipulation of him scarier, but also set up an interesting power struggle. Kessell is just a vehicle for the shard.
That said, at least Creshinibon is formidable.
Kessell decides that he should have a castle and the shard provides, by creating a duplicate crystal. Kessell carries it to the center of the bowl, chants words without knowing why and alakazam, the thing grows into a very large tower. Kessell finds that he knows its name: Cryshal-Tirith.
-
We finally get a little insight into Akar Kessell as a person:
"Kessell would have been contented, for the time being, at least, to remain in Cryshal-Tirith and feast off of the unfortunate animals that wandered by. He had come from a meager background of unambitious peasants, and though he outwardly boasted of aspirations beyond his station, he was intimidated by the implications of power. He didn't understand how or why those who had gained prominence had risen above the common rabble, and even lied to himself, passing off the accomplishments of others, and, conversely, the lack of his own, as a random choice of fate.
Now that he had power within his grasp he had no notion of what to do with it."
I'm not sure how this really jives with the characterization of being willing to kill his mentor for power, but I guess I can see what Mr. Salvatore is going for. Kessell had needed to be manipulated into doing that, similarly to how the Shard intends to manipulate Kessell into doing its bidding too.
Creshnibon has ambitions of its own, and sees Kessell's "wishy-washiness" (which seems like a really odd word for an ancient all-powerful relic to use in its viewpoint narration) as a plus. It can manipulate and mold Kessell through his dreams.
The crystal shard is the smartest adversary we have so far, and I'm actually enjoying its machinations. It's starting Kessell out very small, by giving him dreams of forcing a goblin tribe into servitude to cater to his every need. And then it provides him with the tools to do just that: a scrying room so he can see the goblins and then mind control powers to bring them to him.
Next chapter: BRUENOR. Finally! Back to our heroes again! You've taken four chapters to finally give us a formidable adversary. Now it's time to make us care about your heroes!