Brisingr Part Six

== Assault on Helgrind pt2 ==
I'm just glad the fight scene is over. It all blurred together and I had no idea what happened. Something else I've noticed. There's like seven words for "death" but only one for "fire". When speaking the word "fire" it's all about intent, according to Eragon, to get the effect you want. So, why would you need seven words for death, if you could modify how you want to kill someone with just one word. I think it's because Paolini thought it was "cool" to have seven words of death. Because that's all "I know seven ways to kill you with one word." But then it's also cool to say, I just need one word to do all this sparkly magic. Ahh... inconsistency, how I love thee. \~/
The Ra'zac fleeing, one supporting the other, which shows remarkable care for two supposedly EVIL creatures. They are, after all, siblings. But EVIL siblings. While they get away Eragon seals off the entrance to where Katrina is held so that no one but him or Roran can get in. A brilliant move if I do say so myself. Because, what if Roran and Eragon die in this attack, how will someone get Katrina out? Like if the rest of the Varden show up, for example. It should have been something more like... unlock it but don't let the Ra'zac in... or something.
I mean it sounds cool. Oh Neat Now Katrina is really protected! But it's not a logical thing. Of course it could be said in the spur of the moment Eragon isn't thinking clearly, I think it would have been better to have made it so that the Ra'zac couldn't get in, because they're the ones that would hurt her. But, it doesn't sound as cool, once again. \~/ \~/ \~/
So, they stop to heal up because Roran wants Eragon to fix his bleeding side and then after he's healed he says “Hurry,” said Roran. “They’re getting away!”. Well, duh. They're probably good long gone since the two of them stopped for a heal check. You don't stop for a heal check until after you're sure they're good and dead or good and away and you can't chase them any more. Especially if you're not in danger of dying.
Obviously they don't care that much about Katrina since they're letting the Ra'zac get away. \~/
They go bumbling around in the dark, Eragon doesn't want to make a light because that'll let the Ra'zac know they're coming. As opposed to them bumping around in the dark, or Eragon creating a light that only he and Roran can see. But that's okay! Eragon's got Uber Super Senses!
Eragon could not see, but he could still hear, smell, touch, and taste, and those faculties were sensitive enough that he had a fair idea of what lay nearby. The greatest danger was that the Ra’zac would attack from a distance, perhaps with a bow, but he trusted that his reflexes were sharp enough to save Roran and himself from an oncoming missile.
Taste. He's going to taste the air? Like a snake? Taste, while a sense, I don't think really comes into play here. But it sounds good. Which is what is important, in Paolini land. \~/ \~/ It allows him to write passages like this:
A current of air tickled Eragon’s skin, then paused and reversed itself as pressure from the outside waxed and waned. The cycle repeated itself at inconsistent intervals, creating invisible eddies that brushed against him like fountains of roiling water.
His breathing, and Roran’s, was loud and ragged compared with the odd assortment of sounds that
propagated through the tunnel. Above the gusts of their respiration, Eragon caught the tink, clink, clatter of a stone falling somewhere in the tangle of branching tubes and the steady doink . . . doink . . . doink of condensed droplets striking the drum like surface of a subterranean pool. He also heard the grind of pea-sized gravel crushed underneath the soles of his boots. A long, eerie moan wavered somewhere far ahead of them.
What an utterly useless if very descriptive paragraph. It could be seriously cut and still deliver the same punch. In fact such a long and descriptive paragraph completely cuts any tension there could be. The sentences are too long and take too long to read and figure out. Spend too much time on figuring out the meaning of the sentence and you lose the atmosphere it's trying to create. \~/
They continue walking and Saphira gets back from where she fought the Ra'zac's parents and killed them both, drowning them in a lake. Saphira mentions that some fishermen in rowboats saw them and were rowing back to shore. Eragon isn't too worried, but I'm going to assume here that these fishermen, who are obviously poor (hence the rowboats) are going to be able to get a message sent all the way up to the king. Never mind that they're poor... and have no influence and should be laughed out of town. Somehow, this will happen. At least, I think, if Paolini's style continues to be consistant. We'll have to see. I was right about the slaves. \~/ \~/
Moving onward they managed to reach about fifty feet away from where Katrina is. After some discussion they decide to free her, because they have no idea where the Ra'zac are and no way to find them. This decided, Paolini does something that fully cements the idea that he needs to have his thesaurus taken away from him. The Ra'zac shoot an arrow and, ... something augered past his face, carving a groove of flesh from his right cheek. The thin trench burned as if cauterized.
Okay, augers? They're drills. This gives me the picture of something like a dentist's drill running across Eragon's face peeling off slices like it was taking off the skin of an apple. That is not the image Paolini is going for. But it is the image he got. Arrows do not auger. They wobble, but they do not auger. Therefor Paolini has just made an incredible sounding Metaphor which Fails. \~/ \~/ \~/
They managed to kill one of the Ra'zac the other one flees. Eragon even slams the head of his staff onto the dead body, after Roran has killed it, having no regrets at what he'd done, glad that it is dead. But isn't the life of the Ra'zac important to it? What right does Eragon have in killing it?
Oh wait.
It's evil.
Never mind. \~/
SUDDENLY! A shot rang out.
No. SUDDENLY Eragon's cheek starts to hurt really badly. No, really.
“I’ve waited a long time to do that,” said Eragon.
“As have I.”
He and Roran looked at each other.
“Ahh!” cried Eragon, and clutched his cheek as the pain intensified.
“It’s bubbling!” exclaimed Roran. “Do something!”
And then Eragon calmly fixes it with magic after we learn that it was Seithr oil, and that's the end of that. It's only point there is to introduce Seithr oil into the plot. Eragon doesn't even get a scar from it. \~/ \~/ \~/
Remember what I said about those rowboat fishermen? Apparently I was right.
Talk later,said Saphira. As soon as those fishermen reach Dras-Leona, the king may hear of our doings from one of his pet spell casters in the city, and we do not want Galbatorix scrying Helgrind while we are still here
Let me remind you, poor rowboat fishermen are going to be able to get an audience with Galby's pet spell casters. Because they supposedly saw a dragon, or they wouldn't even know what it was because no one's seen a dragon in ages. So, they saw a large blue thing.... Yeah. No. They shouldn't be able to get past the gates. \~/ \~/ \~/
It's just there to give a sense of time pressure. They need to get to her before Galby finds out. But who knows how long it would take? It should take hours! I mean, they'd have to get to the city from the lake, which was far off, and then to someone who'd actually listen to them, and then to someone who could contact Galby and then see if Galby even cares enough to pay attention to what they've said. STILL OH NOES WE HAVE TO LEAVE BEFORE GALBY FINDS US!!! Time clock.
Time clocks are important. Artificial clocks that don't make sense... yeah, no. \~/ \~/ \~/
It gets better.
They know that they're on the clock. They know where Katrina is. They know Eragon has magic. But Roran decides to do it the hard way by busting down the door's hinges with his hammer. He's being heroic. That is not the time, nor the place to be heroic rescuing your loved one. Now is the time to grab her and go. But see, Paolini needs to keep Roran busy so that Eragon can find Sloan.
OH NOES DRAMATIC CONFRONTATION!!!!
Category:Inheritance Cycle
Category:Brisingr