I Need Help!
No, I'm not talking about the musical they force us to read in the 6th grade. I'm talking about a dilemma I have. I've decided I'm going to get an MMORPG for my birthday (in March) and I can't decide between World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. My problem is that I would like to get WoW, but my mom isn't willing to pay the $15 per month for and I'm saving my money to help pay for the PS3 that Austin and I will probably get. Guld Wars is free after you buy it (meaning you don't have pay a subscription fee) and I also heard it is more action orientated and better for MMORPG n00bs like me, but it's not as good as WoW. Any feedback will be much appreciated.
posted by -=WTH=-Mod Clay at
8:39 AM
25 Comments:
guild wars isnt an mmorpg (even though it says it)it only lets you go with 6 other players and only for dungeons otherwise you play alone.
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[wthg}jondrunken master, at 10:16 AM
it does have "lobbys"
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[wthg}jondrunken master, at 10:18 AM
i couldnet get guild wars to work on my computer
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Anonymous, at 11:12 AM
You're both wrong. Face Of Mankind is free to play.
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Marquis de Suave, at 11:58 AM
i didnt say anything about your game just guild wars
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[wthg}jondrunken master, at 12:06 PM
An epic tale needs a big theme to justify its existence. These days, dark lords intent on taking over the world just because it is there simply won’t do. The author must work harder than that from the outset. Having found an all-encompassing threat, its scale must warrant the broad canvas of a multi-faceted world. This must avoid the twin pitfalls of either lacking sufficient detail and thus interest, or collapsing under the stultifying weight of its own realism. Yet the big picture isn’t enough. The story must be brought home to the readers by engaging their emotions with the lives and deaths of fully realized individuals. The danger here is that too many separate plotlines will hare off in different directions and everyone loses sight of the overall picture. When authors take pains to get all this right, they are inevitably going to be taking some considerable time over it. Early volumes may come out at regular intervals, but the publishing gaps tend to get longer and longer. The onus on the author to keep faith with loyal readers increases. The story must progress with new twists and concepts at the same time as offering sufficient reminders of what has gone before for those of us who just don’t have time to go back and reread earlier volumes before picking up the new one.
Kate Elliott’s Crown of Stars series has dealt with a big theme from the outset; the exile of the Ashioi, akin to elves, from a world akin to medieval Europe. Those desperate to see Ashioi magic permanently removed from the human sphere come into conflict with those who come to realize this will end in cataclysm for all. This is a game for the highest stakes, and for the few who know just what’s going on it must be played out amid all the complexities of mortal struggles for territory, political power and influence. This all takes place in a world both readily accessible and fascinating in its strangeness, drawing on myriad historical, archaeological and mythological sources. Kings rule in a recognizably feudal system where, for example, the roles of women and religion are wholly yet plausibly different. It is a world where the heavenly spheres of medieval astrology are real yet the nature of their magic is something original. From goblins and trolls to griffins and dragons, a host of mythological creatures live and breathe unencumbered by the dead weight of anyone else’s storytelling because they are woven so coherently into the story.
Kate Elliott shows the same deftness in handling multiple plot lines. Key characters’ paths run in parallel throughout the series, crossing and re-crossing in established and in novel combinations. Such meetings often throw new light on events elsewhere, offering hope or threatening danger while neatly ensuring the reader stays current with developments in everyone’s lives. Successive volumes have brought in new characters who come and go or replace those whose course is run, constantly renewing the tale without unraveling it.
So much for the story so far. What of this sixth volume, In the Ruins? It is nigh on impossible to offer a coherent summary of a book this far into a series but I shall try for several reasons: to give a flavor of the richness of the Crown of Stars for those who haven’t yet read the books; and to show those who have how Kate Elliott has kept faith with her readers and what they will be missing if they don’t follow the story. I found this just as absorbing and satisfying a read as the previous volumes.
At the start of this book, all the people whose fates we’ve been following are widely scattered through the ruins of their world. Because the Ashioi have returned. Their land, once forcibly and physically cast into the outer spheres, has been brought home by the unstoppable cycle of the stars. This catastrophe happened at the end of the fifth volume and some readers might have anticipated this would be the final book, wrapping up loose ends and bringing the overall tale to a tidy conclusion. Kate Elliott shows her quality by confounding any such expectation. As she begins with the necessary, and by this stage considerable, recapping she does so through the eyes of the exiles who have returned. Thus the familiar becomes fresh and we see the life and culture of the Ashioi on their own terms. Before they were hostile and alien, either trapped as shades between worlds or exiled beyond the spheres. Those who were trapped, who have not aged, are determined to re-establish their dominance over mankind. Those who were exiled to cling to life in a barren land have suffered too much to risk such a fate again. Things are certainly not winding down to any kind of conclusion just yet.
Humankind is largely unaware of this threat. One of the strengths of this series has always been the recognition of the impact that the high and mighty have on the poor and powerless, with their wars and alliances made in service of their own heedless ambitions. Now the ordinary people and their rulers alike are struggling under sunless skies with food in short supply. The physical consequences of the Ashioi land’s return have been eruptions filling the sky with ash to blot out the sun, and tidal waves devastating shorelines all around the known world. The magical consequences have also been significant; many enchantments that have been used by all sides throughout the story are no longer working. Others, especially some used for vilest evil, are as potent as ever.
Amid this chaos, Prince Sanglant must establish himself as ruler in the place of his father Henry, now dead after being betrayed into demonic possession by the wife he had married in hopes of becoming Emperor. Sanglant’s own wife, Liath, faces renewed hostility as his elevation brings her to unwelcome notice. With Sanglant half Ashioi and Liath half daimone, there are plenty of people fearful of such rulers. Duty means Sanglant cannot go in search of their lost daughter, Blessing, whose knack for finding trouble does not desert her. Fortunately, neither do her faithful servants. As Henry left in search of imperial glory and Sanglant went east to find some means of combating the Ashioi, Biscop Constance, Princess Theophanu and other nobles were left behind in the north. They must decide who to support, while other nobles such as Lady Sabella and Duke Conrad seize as much power as they can, heedless of the starving populace. In these trying times, heresy is increasingly challenging the authority of the church. The great powers are fortunate that minor nobles and the junior ranks of the religious like Ivar and Baldwin are not backward in plotting with faithful troops to launch audacious strikes against would-be tyrants.
In the south, Adleheid, who dreamed of being Henry’s Empress, is left with her ailing daughters amid the utter devastation of her kingdom. Her only powerful allies are enchanters who survived the lethal magical backlash of the cataclysm. The previously disregarded sorceress Antonia looks for power as Holy Mother, setting herself against Sanglant. She thinks she has the whip hand over Hugh of Austra, who was a key mover in the attempts to permanently exile the Ashioi. What Antonia doesn’t realize is that Hugh has found a way to use the changed nature of magic to his own advantage and his heart is as vile as his face is handsome. Hugh has no hesitation in using the innocent and helpless to further his own aims of devastating revenge on Liath. Rosvita and the other scholars once of Henrys court, whose knowledge could undo Hugh and answer so many questions, are still lost among the Arethousans. Alain, whose links to the rock-born Eika and whose knowledge of eons past could answer other puzzles, charts his own path through all this confusion.
I will admit to a degree of frustration when the story breaks off here. I really want to see everything brought to a resolution. Which is where the author’s note at the start of the book is worth reading. Kate Elliott offers some admirably honest insights into the writing of this series and assures us that the seventh book will conclude it. This is most welcome in one sense; I can eagerly look forward to what promises to be a fitting climax. On the other hand, I know I’m not going to want to leave this world behind. This is one of the very few big fantasy series that I can see myself going back and re-reading from the beginning.
By
Anonymous, at 12:34 PM
WTFH is this
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[wthg}jondrunken master, at 12:39 PM
Wait, who is anonymous, and did you write that??
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Matt, at 3:26 PM
yes i did im a artist that lives in sacramento california my name is ted briggs
By
Anonymous, at 4:54 PM
OKAY "TED BRIGGS" thank you for commenting in the wahttehhog please comment again sometime.
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[wthg}jondrunken master, at 5:02 PM
I think that is the longest, most well written piece of spam we've ever got.
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Marquis de Suave, at 6:38 PM
i will play drums for that band you guys were talking about
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_WTH_ the fat kid (Andy), at 10:36 AM
ryan that cant realy be spam i didnt see the usual come see my blog or heres my blog i realy like yours.this guy just put down a well written piece of work.
Unless i missed it.
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[wthg}jondrunken master, at 11:12 AM
This band thing is annoying to me because i can only do things you guys can doand on the excepption of singing witch ryan swears he can do im worce than everyone else.(worce as in not as good not saying you guys are bad)
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[wthg}jondrunken master, at 11:15 AM
Well I'm sorry you never had the initiative to pick up an instrument. And yes, it is spam as it promotes a product, in this case a book.
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Marquis de Suave, at 11:57 AM
It actually didn't promote the book.
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Pete, at 12:15 PM
he didnt even say the name of the book only the author and he answered matt.Wich means he actually took a look at the blog after the original comment
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[wthg}jondrunken master, at 4:55 PM
Just a random statement, but anyhow I participated in Guild Wars: Factions Global Free-For-All PvP Weekend Event. It has led me to believing that Guild Wars is the better game to buy.
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-=WTH=-Mod Clay, at 1:44 PM
Lots of good news lately.
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Pete, at 3:48 PM
is Hayden in the clan????
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_WTH_ the fat kid (Andy), at 5:35 PM
How'd that happen?!
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Pete, at 9:46 PM
Apparently Ryan invited him. That's cool. He has future potential with The Wahttehhog.
Hayden, change your display name to "Wahttehhog Moderator (Hayden)" ASAP.
Guys, I'm thinking that we should just use whatever display names we want to use. What do y'all think?
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Matt, at 11:41 AM
We were just using these set display names during the beginning of the blog, just to keep everything in order. I didn't think we'd use them forever.
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Matt, at 11:48 AM
Go to your Blogger dashboard (where you obviously edited your profile), and where it says Display Name, type the above.
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Matt, at 7:40 PM
56K users BEWARE.
CORPSE HUMP!!!
Red just got PWNED!!!
By
Matt, at 7:44 PM
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