First Reactions to W@W

[hag]

I just got the book a week ago and needless to say, I devoured it....looks like in going to need a knew one. My first reaction? well i'ts not my favorite of the series but W@W is still FANTASTIC. I loved the way all the other books are playedout and come together,all the good bookness.
I just dont like Carmela all that much. She's cool and all... but i dont like her better-then-you attitude. *sticks at her.* Stay but just goaway...it must be the Kit in me.

[joe]

i finished the book about a month ago. before that i had gotten the first six books from my sister and read all of those in 10 days. and then i begged my mom to take me to B&N. and she finally did so i got wiz holidy and W@W. but my mom almost said no to W@W cause it was still hardcover and it was like 20$. but i convinved her otherwise. so then i got home went into my room and the next day i was already reading W@W. i dont really read fast. its just that once i start a book i have to finish it. so i end up staying up all night and finishing it. for example. when i got eldest (the sequeal to eragon) i didnt sleep for 2 days. anyway. so it took me 2 days to finish W@W. and i loved it. and unlike some other people here, i like the fact <span class="ev_code_white">that carmella is going after roran. it gives more space for kit and nita . so iam good with that. i was just sad that rashaun died. and i dont like roran at all so yea.</span> it was an awesome book. i would read it again but i already started another book. ttyl.

To read the spoiler, select the text - Peter

[hag]

uhh...wasn't that a spoiler? maybe not. anyway im tring to get as many people to read w@w as i can... and it's not a kide book ok t.g...and no im not a queen dork s.j.

[Cheeto]

Sibby's spoiler summed up ALL my feelings about Ronan!!!! Well, almost. I don't HATE Mela (after all, she IS my good twin! ) I just don't think she deserves Ronan of the Gods. *drool*
Sooooo Nita/Ronan. Mebbe Mela/Filif.

[christmas]

omg this is by far the best of the series. the plot is amazingly well done and the relationships are obvious. at the end when they're on the moon i was crying for the character death and then for ponch. i cant wait to see what DD does to pick up some of the pieces...

[Gatemage Stardragon]

I loved it. I started rereading it, but the "round table book club" that's evolved in my area had the book move on. I have to go buy it soon.... I borrowed it from a friend of mine, and another friend is borrowing it from me....

[Raeinar]

I might as well mark the complete post as a spoiler: [<span class="ev_code_WHITE">
but just wow! It is still not my favorite: that would be "A Wizard Abroad" for soooo many reasons but this was definitely an... eventful book. *deep breath*

There has always been something sad about each novel, loss being the overwhelming motif in most cases. This did not only appear in Wizards at War but prevailed as one of the main motifs of the novel and indeed; it could be said that one of themes follows the lines of losing something precious in order to gain something else. Possibly, "you must lose to gain" or "no pain, no gain", both sound all too corny but so many universal ideas are inundated in W@W - in this case "karma".

The story itself is extremely well thought out. The mystery is never completely revealed until the defining moment (climax so to speak but only in so many definitions). M(r)s.Duane does an astounding job laying clues for the reader which has always been something that is imperative in keeping my interest. She keeps the reader thinking and flawlessly summons the question "what's going to happen next!?!?" which, really, is the goal, no?

I literally threw my arms up in a sort of triumph the moment that Ronan was described, cheering as my eyes finished the sentence. Maybe an over enthusiastic response but seeing as how A Wizard Abroad is my favourite...well what can I say Anyway, my point in mentioning this is that as Ronan's plan later in the book unfolded I was guessing ahead at what was about to happen and was silently chanting "nooooo, noooooo, noooo, nooooooooo!!!!" and I now realize I may not have taken a breath for the duration of that scene. The description of the spear piercing - though I don't remember how detailed it was in text - was vivid in my mind and was the equivalent of a sledgehammer to my diaphragm - the air was knocked out of me because I was positive that one of my most beloved characters was dead! (You can imagine my intense relief later )

I was surprisingly upset and rather shocked though when a relatively new character left us. Roshaun's almost anti-climatic...death(?) left me quickly asking "wait, what happened?" A sentiment that barely had time to make itself known because the story doesn't miss a beat, almost increasing the pace with barely a mention of the fact that a main character pulled a disappearing act Houdini would be proud of. The shock was increased by the fact that I truly missed what had happened the first time. In the course of an almost-paragraph his spell turns from amazingly successful to critical failure.

"Roshaun's eyes opened wide. It was a look of com-
plete surprise and, a second later, of regret, for some-
thing that should have worked, really should have--
Roshaun!"

"The cry was soundless. One moment he was stand-
ing there, a statue of burning gold. The next moment,
the statue was a searing white, and the moment after
that, there was no statue at all:"

These lines I must have re-read three times and still I was completely shocked. I didn't see it coming, and didn't believe it had came even after it passed me. In truth I'm still not sure whether he's dead, in the sun stone, a power or something like it, in his or earth's sun, or perhaps something I can't surmise but the event itself was...unbelievable and incomparable to anything I can truly think of in real life except...I suppose - real death (a person, whether taking their last breath in a hospital bed or receiving a fatal gun shot dies remarkably quickly - even if you're watching you're liable to miss it and generally even if it's expected, when it happens there are few ways not to be caught off guard.)

Though not dead, Ponch's change surprisingly effected me the most. In retrospect it was more so the description of Kit's life sans-Ponch that was upsetting. From the moment I heard Ponch tell the full version of his species story I knew what was going to eventually happen but it was still upsetting because he has been a part of the novel for so long. Even with the sheep-dog's arrival it won't be the same. I was "sad with happiness" when his new character showed up on the corner but I was not excited or relieved. We didn't lose Ponch as a character but the persona completely changes him for me. I miss the excited, almost childlike (and yet unnervingly smart, mature, and capable) dog jumping in circles around Kit - and who could forget, especially after this book, the blue food Maybe nothing will change but I can't quite see the sheep-dog doing those things the same way the old Ponch had and that...that makes me sad.

There were so many other moments that were upsetting, exciting, or otherwise powerful in this novel but they are too many to name from Tom's memory loss (upsetting) to " 'mela's " more prominent role in the big fight (infuriating) but the near death's, disappearances, and changes mentioned were most definitely the most heart stopping, "OH MY GOSH", unbelievable moments in the novel for me and all, as you can tell, were very upsetting.

This novel was full of change. Change, in most cases is good, it's exciting, and leads to growth but it's almost always also sad.</span>

O, and one last thing - last page "<span class="ev_code_WHITE">he saw someone standing at the end of his driveway, watching him, as if she'd known exactly where he'd be.</span>"<span class="ev_code_WHITE"> Nita, 'mela, or someone/thing else?</span>]

[Kathy Li]

Ummm... perhaps posting over in the WAW Spoiler Forum might work better for you, Raeinar? The link is at the very top of the main page.

[Raeinar]

heheh...
Yeah - I guess I got a little type-crazy.

First reaction..."WOW I loved the book"

As for my previous post - if you would like me to remove/move it please either reply or PM me and I will do so immidietely.

Unfortunately I tend to over type when it comes to books. *blush*

[Kathy Li]

No worries. You just have to be careful of hiding spoilers here , and you don't over there. Also, a lot of the subjects you touched upon have threads existing in that forum, so you might wanna leap in there is all. I think it's fine for this post to be here, since it's definitely a first reaction to Wizards at War.

[starkruzr]

That's rather entertaining.

Unless you highlight it, the entire post is this vast emptiness punctuated with the odd graphical emoticon.

Much like one of my research papers.

... what? Is THAT why they keep getting rejected?

[Raeinar]

Originally posted by starkruzr:
That's rather entertaining.

Unless you highlight it, the entire post is this vast emptiness punctuated with the odd graphical emoticon.

Much like one of my research papers.

... what? Is THAT why they keep getting rejected?

Thanks for the laugh! I suppose it does look like that doesn't it XD

[LightMagic]

I loved W@W! I thought it was th most amazing of all the books. I cried alot when I got to the end. My friend told me about the series and told me that this one was the best, and I didn't believe her. Now after I read it I can't wait to read it again!

[yankervitch]

I really like how DD has been exploring a variety of very "real-life" situations, especially in "Abroad", "Dilemma", and this one. The description of the effects of a temporary loss of wizardry - that only physical things would begin to have any meaning - seemed one of the best descriptions of some of the side effects of globalization (as Friedman would put it, 'too much Lexus and not enough olive tree') combined with the "heightened state of alert"/scare tactics we've seen from the current US administration.

Bravo.