WEBVTT 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:02.560 I don't know if I've ever publicly stated this 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:04.540 or not, but I'm going to do it right here if 00:00:04.540 --> 00:00:09.960 I haven't. And if I have, then oh well. The Book 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:11.759 of Three is better than The Lord of the Rings. 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:15.660 The Chronicles of Bredain are better than The 00:00:15.660 --> 00:00:17.600 Lord of the Rings, or better than what The Lord 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:19.539 of the Rings is, the single book in three volumes, 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:23.600 whatever. It's a fact. You can argue with me 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.420 if you want, but if you take this journey with 00:00:26.420 --> 00:00:29.480 me, I mean, heck, if you've read Chronicles of 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:32.259 Bredain, or even just the Book of Three, you'll 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:34.579 know it to be true. Search your feelings, folks. 00:00:34.780 --> 00:00:37.780 Search your feelings. Anyway, yeah, The Chronicles 00:00:37.780 --> 00:00:40.359 of Bredain is better than Lord of the Rings. 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:42.579 I love Lord of the Rings. I love The Hobbit. 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:44.600 The Hobbit is also better than Lord of the Rings. 00:00:45.579 --> 00:00:48.539 But, and Chronicles of Bredain is above The Hobbit 00:00:48.539 --> 00:00:52.920 as well. It's more focused. It's, I mean, here's 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:54.679 the thing. It's a little bit unfair for me to 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:57.640 say that it's better because it came decades 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:03.740 later. And... Not that many decades. And it gave 00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:06.739 the opportunity for Lloyd Alexander to grow up 00:01:06.739 --> 00:01:09.159 with Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and other fantasy 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:12.719 series and think about the best way to write 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:17.840 a story that's similar to, but, and yeah, sure, 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:19.340 people can look at certain things in it and say, 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:21.319 oh, it's a ripoff or it's copying or whatever, 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:25.040 but he's doing it in such a different way that 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:28.000 it's so fresh. It's not almost unrecognizable. 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:30.180 It's that you don't care. It's like, yeah, it's 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:32.420 kind of like Lord of the Rings, I guess, but 00:01:32.420 --> 00:01:36.980 I don't care because it's better. And in fact, 00:01:36.980 --> 00:01:39.760 in this episode or in this chapter, chapter 10, 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:41.840 Durnaman, we actually get to see the formation 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:45.799 of the Fellowship of the Pig or the Fellowship 00:01:45.799 --> 00:01:48.180 of the Assistant Pig Keeper. I'm not sure which 00:01:48.180 --> 00:01:50.840 one flows better and which one I like better, 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:53.019 but it's definitely one of those two is going 00:01:53.019 --> 00:01:56.000 on here. and it's a fact you can't really argue 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.019 with, I think. If you're not aware of, or you're 00:02:00.019 --> 00:02:01.239 not reading the book, you're just finding this 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:03.000 and checking it out, thank you, first of all. 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:05.019 But second of all, let me real quick tell you, 00:02:05.099 --> 00:02:08.159 we've got a little monster man, like Unto Golem, 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:11.979 whose name is Gergi, who is tagging along with 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:15.379 the group. We've got a noble, who's kind of a 00:02:15.379 --> 00:02:20.879 failed noble, in Flitterflam, and he's imperfect, 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:23.560 so he's kind of maybe our poor emir. Gwydion 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:28.280 is dead. It's as if Aragorn had fallen in Lord 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:34.180 of the Rings instead. Our Frodo, our simple guy, 00:02:34.340 --> 00:02:40.319 is Tarin. And Elanwe is... I'm not sure where 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:44.340 to put Elanwe. She's kind of like if Gollum and 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:48.280 Sam had a baby or something like that. She's 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:52.419 kind of the heart, the lodestar, the... I don't 00:02:52.419 --> 00:02:53.939 know what. She's like this guiding light for 00:02:53.939 --> 00:02:57.219 Tarn, which is super cool. And, you know, I'm 00:02:57.219 --> 00:02:58.280 talking about Lord of the Rings the book, not 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.000 the movies. So she's not an Arwen, just because 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:03.819 she's a girl. She's, yeah, I mean, maybe more 00:03:03.819 --> 00:03:06.360 like Sam and somebody else. Maybe throw a little 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:10.659 Mary and Pippin and Gandalf. Yeah, maybe like 00:03:10.659 --> 00:03:13.520 Sam, Pippin, Gandalf kind of all rolled into 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:15.939 one, although she's not a wizard. But she doesn't 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:18.310 need to be. she still provides that guiding role, 00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:21.050 and she has the chutzpah and the attitude and 00:03:21.050 --> 00:03:23.870 the spunk to make things fun and funny and engaging, 00:03:24.009 --> 00:03:28.050 and also she carries like a deep wisdom and knowledge 00:03:28.050 --> 00:03:30.909 of secret things that Tarn has no idea of, and 00:03:30.909 --> 00:03:34.610 the others also are ill -informed of, and she 00:03:34.610 --> 00:03:36.610 carries that information, so she does kind of 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:39.270 perform that wizard -ish role, but she's also 00:03:39.270 --> 00:03:41.750 a bit of a scamp. She also provides some comedic 00:03:41.750 --> 00:03:44.129 moments, and not that Gandalf doesn't crack jokes, 00:03:44.270 --> 00:03:48.550 but still, it's different. And in this chapter, 00:03:48.710 --> 00:03:51.949 the four of them have decided, well, and Melengar, 00:03:51.990 --> 00:03:55.849 but she's just, you know, a horse. All the Melengar 00:03:55.849 --> 00:03:59.389 stans are foaming at the mouth and tearing, rending 00:03:59.389 --> 00:04:01.409 their garments right now at me saying Melengar 00:04:01.409 --> 00:04:03.669 is just a horse, which she is, you know, she's 00:04:03.669 --> 00:04:06.569 a good horse. Anyway, but they've decided to 00:04:06.569 --> 00:04:11.490 stick together and hold out, not hold out. They've 00:04:11.490 --> 00:04:14.870 decided to stick together and take on both Gwydion's 00:04:14.870 --> 00:04:18.620 mission. And Torrin's mission. And I think it's 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:23.120 pretty interesting. How they're doing that. Anyway. 00:04:23.180 --> 00:04:25.339 So that's the formation of the fellowship. And 00:04:25.339 --> 00:04:28.740 each of these four characters. And the horse. 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:32.720 Perform their distinct role. And they're coming 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:36.160 from different places. And they feel like. The 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:37.839 different characters. The different races. That 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:41.360 are joined together among the nine walkers. Or 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.100 the fellowship. Whatever. And I really do like 00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:46.790 that. And I think it's. good on so many levels 00:04:46.790 --> 00:04:51.170 it has a narrative it's very satisfying it just 00:04:51.170 --> 00:04:53.449 feels very satisfying that like oh okay cool 00:04:53.449 --> 00:04:55.730 these guys are all gonna go on an adventure together 00:04:55.730 --> 00:04:59.029 and they're they have a quest now to journey 00:04:59.029 --> 00:05:03.670 to do this stuff and they have you know a dual 00:05:03.670 --> 00:05:07.629 quest which is interesting and the way that along 00:05:07.629 --> 00:05:10.610 we fights to be included in the group the way 00:05:10.610 --> 00:05:13.959 that fluter fights to kind of start the group 00:05:13.959 --> 00:05:15.160 by saying, I'm going to stay with you. And the 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:17.300 way Gergi just says that he's going to come along 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:21.759 and help to save his own skin, but also to help 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:25.480 them however he can, it's a very natural way. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:33.540 Also, I love Taran's guilt and his desire to 00:05:33.540 --> 00:05:37.899 carry out Gwydion's mission because he got Gwydion 00:05:37.899 --> 00:05:41.899 killed. when Spiral Castle was destroyed. And 00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:47.180 he got Gwydion captured and taken to Spiral Castle. 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:50.860 So he feels responsible for that. He no longer 00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:54.459 wishes for adventure. He's now kind of refusing 00:05:54.459 --> 00:05:57.560 the call to adventure, or maybe lamenting that 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.360 he's taking it up, rather. We want to talk about 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:01.740 the Hero's Journey in this context. I'm not an 00:06:01.740 --> 00:06:04.360 expert on the Hero's Journey, so... I might make 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:06.819 references to it, but it's not really my strong 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:08.980 suit, and probably I should refrain from that, 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:10.800 since I haven't studied it, and I don't really 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.060 intend to study it, and bring it into a lot of 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:15.579 my discussions, because when I speak more generally, 00:06:15.579 --> 00:06:18.180 more broadly, is this a good story or not? Why? 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:23.600 Why not? How is it bad? How is it good? So anyway, 00:06:23.779 --> 00:06:26.319 but he's now lamenting the fact that he wanted, 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:29.079 when he was at Cara Dalvin, to have all these 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:31.459 great things that he's now having, and it's not 00:06:31.459 --> 00:06:35.779 so great. And I really do appreciate that. It's 00:06:35.779 --> 00:06:40.300 not a cynicism and it's not a world weariness, 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:44.660 but there is an element of truth or like learning 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:46.879 the harsh truth of life, the harsh truths of 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:51.259 life in the Chronicles of Prydain that I find 00:06:51.259 --> 00:06:56.779 beautiful. And to me, from my recollection, it's 00:06:56.779 --> 00:07:00.000 done effortlessly or it feels effortless and 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.540 it's done without. bogging down the audience 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:07.680 in like depressing stories basically I also think 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:09.899 the length of the books being individual adventures 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:12.379 or episodes that build upon each other helps 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:19.139 it to feel nicer King Ghidorah helps it to feel 00:07:19.139 --> 00:07:21.779 nicer um so I'm driving through Kentucky right 00:07:21.779 --> 00:07:23.540 now and I just passed hopefully you can see it 00:07:23.540 --> 00:07:25.660 in the video behind me there was a three -headed 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:29.360 golden dragon uh and obviously if it's not actually 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:31.259 King Ghidorah There was a T -Rex right there 00:07:31.259 --> 00:07:33.620 you could just see. It's at least a reference 00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:35.860 to King Ghidorah, and I find that charming and 00:07:35.860 --> 00:07:37.819 wonderful. Hopefully I visit that sometime soon 00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:40.600 this summer. Anyway, it's a lot of fun. Anyway, 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:44.819 getting back to it. It feels kind of effortless, 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:47.160 and it feels very real without being bogged down, 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:49.180 without being depressing. The smaller, isolated 00:07:49.180 --> 00:07:51.379 episodes of the shorter books. I don't remember. 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:52.939 I think they're all like around eight hours long, 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:55.079 five to eight hours long. I don't know the page 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:59.480 count or the word count, rather. off the top 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:01.660 of my head. But I feel like they're shorter. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:03.319 Five to eight hours sounds about right for these 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:10.199 books. Which would be 50 to 80 ,000 words. If 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:12.660 they are in fact those lengths. I believe the 00:08:12.660 --> 00:08:15.019 average is like 10 ,000 words an hour. Anyway. 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:21.540 My point is they do what Lord of the Rings did, 00:08:21.660 --> 00:08:24.560 but they do it better. And I'm really enjoying 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:29.569 seeing the journey. and seeing the journeys, 00:08:29.649 --> 00:08:31.350 the parallel journeys that these characters are 00:08:31.350 --> 00:08:38.450 all on, and it's really enjoyable. And it's not 00:08:38.450 --> 00:08:41.590 entirely apparent what the arcs are, what the 00:08:41.590 --> 00:08:43.289 journeys are that these characters are all on 00:08:43.289 --> 00:08:46.549 right now, so Flutter, he has this issue with 00:08:46.549 --> 00:08:50.929 rearranging the facts, and Taliesin, the chief 00:08:50.929 --> 00:08:54.549 bard, understands that, had the insight, whatever. 00:08:55.100 --> 00:08:57.519 and gave him this particular heart that he values 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:00.279 deeply and wants to protect and take care of, 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:04.460 even though it betrays him when he is less than 00:09:04.460 --> 00:09:07.399 truthful, let's say. And that's interesting. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:09.139 So, like, is he going to become an honest man? 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:14.620 Is he going to return to his kingdom? Is he going 00:09:14.620 --> 00:09:16.320 to become, like, some sort of great war leader? 00:09:16.620 --> 00:09:18.679 Because apparently he hasn't carved through, 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.259 what is it, like, walls of enemies or whatever? 00:09:23.610 --> 00:09:25.289 Like, you know, what's his journey? We don't 00:09:25.289 --> 00:09:28.409 know. Gergi? Can't tell yet. Is it maybe that 00:09:28.409 --> 00:09:31.149 he's been cursed to be a monster as opposed to 00:09:31.149 --> 00:09:33.409 a man and he's going to be turned back into one. 00:09:33.549 --> 00:09:35.690 Into a man at the end of his journey. I don't 00:09:35.690 --> 00:09:36.929 know. There's not enough information on Gergi 00:09:36.929 --> 00:09:41.669 yet. But he is loyal and faithful and he's interested 00:09:41.669 --> 00:09:44.070 in crunchings and munchings. That's about all 00:09:44.070 --> 00:09:50.570 I got so far on Mr. Gergi. And a lot of me, this 00:09:50.570 --> 00:09:53.960 actually just hit me in my little... Well, anyway, 00:09:54.059 --> 00:09:56.299 as I was thinking about it, what these characters' 00:09:56.419 --> 00:10:01.360 journeys are, Alana was being raised by Ahren, 00:10:01.500 --> 00:10:05.559 and she has other relations who are not such 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:08.539 great people, and she doesn't want to be sent 00:10:08.539 --> 00:10:10.059 back to them because she thinks they're bad, 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:11.980 and she, well, doesn't want to be bad like them. 00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:18.080 And she kind of was being raised to turn into 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:21.960 an evil sorceress. And she mentions that in the 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:23.860 old... olden times, which is funny because this 00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:26.899 is very long ago for us, but in the olden times 00:10:26.899 --> 00:10:30.220 for them, her people, the women were all sword 00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:31.860 maidens that fought alongside the men, which 00:10:31.860 --> 00:10:34.519 is really cool. And actually, I found this out, 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:38.340 I think because of Pendragon Cycle, that the 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:43.000 Irish women actually used to go into battle as 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:47.299 well. They would wear, I think they wore it at 00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:49.460 some point like these battle pants, like plaid 00:10:49.460 --> 00:10:52.000 battle pants. And they would go with their swords 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.340 and maybe shields too. And they would fight. 00:10:54.419 --> 00:10:57.500 And it's crazy. And it's cool because at some 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:04.019 point, Queen Guinevere, Arthur's wife, she ends 00:11:04.019 --> 00:11:06.399 up, I don't remember if she actually ends up, 00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:08.340 I think she ends up fighting a little bit in 00:11:08.340 --> 00:11:10.860 one of the books. And it's super cool because 00:11:10.860 --> 00:11:13.519 you get to learn about that. And then you see, 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.379 oh, this woman is proof of that. And it's really 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:20.840 neat. Anyway, so obviously. Uh, this is a, well, 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:22.580 not obvious. It's not obvious. Let me clarify. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:25.279 This is Welsh with all the, Wales is, I think, 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:28.179 very far north, and I believe Ireland is to the 00:11:28.179 --> 00:11:30.039 south. I'm really terrible at geography, but 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:32.559 I think that's true. But I'm saying, it's not 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:37.980 that Elanwy is Welsh, um, but that, uh, I'm sorry, 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:40.220 Elanwy is Welsh. She's from Welsh. You know, 00:11:40.259 --> 00:11:42.259 this is a Welsh story. I'm saying it's not that 00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:44.580 she's Irish, but there definitely could have 00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:47.320 been, uh, Welsh, you know, sword women's, uh, 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:51.379 uh, sword maidens as well that I'm just unaware 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:54.460 of, like I know about a little bit of the history 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:56.879 of the Irish woman. But anyway, but like, she 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:59.940 has the potential to become an evil queen, an 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:02.340 evil witch, evil sorceress, whatever, like her 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:06.419 aunt Othrin, who she enjoys fighting, defies, 00:12:06.419 --> 00:12:09.399 and like, runs around and does things that her 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.399 aunt wouldn't like. So, defying evil doesn't 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:14.940 make you good necessarily. It could just be that 00:12:14.940 --> 00:12:18.620 she's evil, but with a different bent, or a different... 00:12:18.779 --> 00:12:22.379 Kind of. So I find that to be interesting. And 00:12:22.379 --> 00:12:24.740 Tarin, you know, he's this assistant pig keeper 00:12:24.740 --> 00:12:28.980 right now. He's taking on the lead position of 00:12:28.980 --> 00:12:31.100 the exposition, like the Aragorn role, like I 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:37.440 said before. Also the Frodo role, kind of. And 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:40.379 that hero's journey. I don't even think Tolkien 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:42.980 used the hero's journey. Anyway. Sorry, I must 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:46.480 stop referring to the hero's journey when I'm 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:49.450 ill -equipped to do that. Excuse me. um but he's 00:12:49.450 --> 00:12:51.450 taking on that lead role so like will he become 00:12:51.450 --> 00:12:53.990 a war leader is that his destiny is that what 00:12:53.990 --> 00:12:56.750 he's going towards i don't know but it's interesting 00:12:56.750 --> 00:12:59.190 to see that they're in the situations where they're 00:12:59.190 --> 00:13:01.929 going to be dealing with battles and adventure 00:13:01.929 --> 00:13:04.090 and you know running from enemies fighting enemies 00:13:04.090 --> 00:13:07.490 whatever and see how this like mystic group of 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:15.789 a fellowship will do that Here's the thing, though. 00:13:15.870 --> 00:13:18.769 I'm interested in each of their individual stories. 00:13:19.649 --> 00:13:22.549 It helps that they're a smaller cast. The Nine 00:13:22.549 --> 00:13:26.470 Walkers of Rivendell or whatever were a much 00:13:26.470 --> 00:13:33.730 larger cast, and Bilbo and his 13 dwarf associates 00:13:33.730 --> 00:13:37.169 with their crazy names, crazy silly names, and 00:13:37.169 --> 00:13:39.950 their scant characterization, you know, they 00:13:39.950 --> 00:13:44.460 didn't do it for me. Tarn and his crew, the Fellowship 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:48.059 of the Pig, or the Fellowship of the Assistant 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:50.120 Pig Keeper are doing it for me. I'm very much 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:51.679 invested in each of their individual stories 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:55.179 and where they're going and learning more about 00:13:55.179 --> 00:13:57.000 their histories and their backstories because 00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:59.340 we got an inkling of what each of them is about 00:13:59.340 --> 00:14:03.259 and I'd like to know more. And Tarn is a complete 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:09.190 mystery so far. So far. Anyway, but yeah, this 00:14:09.190 --> 00:14:11.509 is just like, it's a really exciting setup for 00:14:11.509 --> 00:14:14.169 a story. And I feel kind of, in a way I feel 00:14:14.169 --> 00:14:16.269 duped, and in a way I feel very good about this. 00:14:16.429 --> 00:14:19.509 This is kind of like the L. Frank Baum structure 00:14:19.509 --> 00:14:24.450 of a story where it's get your characters into 00:14:24.450 --> 00:14:25.750 something, get them into something else, get 00:14:25.750 --> 00:14:26.970 them into something else, get them into something 00:14:26.970 --> 00:14:31.230 else, the end. And also kind of reminds me of 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:35.129 Feels Like With That. Add Escalation onto that, 00:14:35.230 --> 00:14:39.600 the Lester De - formula, which he used for The 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:46.200 Bronze Man. Oh, Doc Savage. Doc Savage is The 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:48.740 Bronze Man. He was Lester Yance's character, 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:53.580 and he used this pulp formula for him, and his 00:14:53.580 --> 00:14:56.879 like 6 ,000 word short stories, his 60 ,000 word 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:59.960 pulp novels, they're divided basically into quarters, 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:01.960 and each quarter you did something different, 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:05.039 and they built upon each other, and I very much 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:07.820 feel like that's the formula. or something like 00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:10.480 the formula bomb use. Um, there's like a three 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:13.360 quarter way through. There's a big victory. Uh, 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:15.919 and then the last quarter is a really cool, like 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:18.519 showcase of all your characters at their peak 00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:21.120 together, which is a lot of fun. It's like, I 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:22.919 call it, I refer to it as a big, I've talked 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:24.759 about it both in talking about the books and 00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:26.620 also talking about the book, the structure of 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:29.279 the books with my daughter, um, who's 14. She's 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:31.860 a burgeoning author. Uh, I call it the, uh, the 00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:37.059 victory March. So anyway, um, What's my point? 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:40.480 My point is that we kind of have now, at ten 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:43.139 chapters in, I don't know if we're actually at 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:45.360 the quarter mark or the third mark or whatever, 00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:48.519 but it feels like we have this crew assembled, 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:51.720 we have this, we've been introduced to the dangers 00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:53.600 of the world, to some of the heroes of the world, 00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:55.559 to some of the good forces of the world, and 00:15:55.559 --> 00:15:58.840 also we've assembled a cast and a crew who will 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:00.480 go through the rest of this adventure together, 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:02.759 and it feels like this was a great opening quarter 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.919 for them, or opening third for them. to assemble 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:09.720 into a team and take on a mission, and now they're 00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:11.639 about to start on their journey, and it feels 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:15.840 really satisfying. They did it in less page count, 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:18.620 did it in less word count, did it with a smaller 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:21.159 cast of characters, and I care more deeply about 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:24.759 them. Sam to me is like a very flat character. 00:16:24.899 --> 00:16:27.320 Frodo has a lot more characterization to him. 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:29.279 It's been a long time since I've listened to 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:31.480 Lord of the Rings, though, so I won't judge very 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:38.799 harshly now. But I will say just overall, my 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:42.620 impression after I finished Predain and, you 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:45.440 know, Book of Three on its own, I think, originally, 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:47.460 I thought, oh, this is much, like, this is better. 00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:49.639 This is better. This is really interesting. Actually, 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:53.019 I think I waited to finish the whole series before 00:16:53.019 --> 00:16:54.980 I made my judgment of, yeah, I think this is 00:16:54.980 --> 00:16:58.240 actually better than Lord of the Rings. But I 00:16:58.240 --> 00:16:59.879 would want to compare them a little more closely. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:02.600 But not right now. Lord of the Rings has a lot 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:04.920 to get through. So we'll... And that's the thing. 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:06.359 It feels like it's a lot to get through, whereas 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:07.960 Predane, I feel like, yeah, I could do that. 00:17:08.019 --> 00:17:10.079 I could listen to the Predane Chronicles. No 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:12.380 problem. But Lord of the Rings is like, oh, it's 00:17:12.380 --> 00:17:16.119 just... I gotta push myself. I gotta be ready 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:18.240 for this. I gotta concentrate and focus and be 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:21.799 here. And it isn't that one is high art, or one's 00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:23.839 highbrow and one's lowbrow. Lord of the Rings 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:27.200 lowbrow, or highbrow, Predane lowbrow. That's 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:28.940 not what it is. It's just, like, the presentation 00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:31.660 and the style associated with them is so different. 00:17:34.049 --> 00:17:36.230 that one is just more easily palatable. It's 00:17:36.230 --> 00:17:38.390 still nutritious. It's not like you're eating 00:17:38.390 --> 00:17:40.690 junk food. It's still the same great thing, but 00:17:40.690 --> 00:17:42.130 it's presented in such a way that I think it 00:17:42.130 --> 00:17:45.970 is superior in its presentation and in its overall 00:17:45.970 --> 00:17:51.130 content. And I think I do stand by that. Lord 00:17:51.130 --> 00:17:53.910 of the Rings and Tolkien's Legendarium in general 00:17:53.910 --> 00:17:57.069 casts a very long shadow, though, and I think 00:17:57.069 --> 00:18:00.029 that has overshadowed the Chronicles of Bredaim, 00:18:00.130 --> 00:18:06.089 and I think that's too bad. I don't feel foolish 00:18:06.089 --> 00:18:12.109 or silly or wrong for talking about the two series 00:18:12.109 --> 00:18:14.710 in comparison to each other so much here, as 00:18:14.710 --> 00:18:16.210 opposed to talking about the main content of 00:18:16.210 --> 00:18:19.890 Chapter 10. Because Chapter 10 is a linchpin 00:18:19.890 --> 00:18:23.990 chapter that has a lot of deeper stuff that I 00:18:23.990 --> 00:18:25.670 don't remember. I'm not going to say it all pays 00:18:25.670 --> 00:18:27.630 off later in this book or in the other books 00:18:27.630 --> 00:18:32.630 or in the series at all. It has a lot of stuff 00:18:32.630 --> 00:18:34.789 that's tying everything together and like really 00:18:34.789 --> 00:18:37.210 setting us up in this world. So I feel like the 00:18:37.210 --> 00:18:40.430 status quo changes that it's bringing and the 00:18:40.430 --> 00:18:43.269 new normal that it's setting up for the book 00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:45.390 and the trajectory that it's setting for the 00:18:45.390 --> 00:18:47.130 rest of the book and the series, you could say 00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:51.990 too, afford me the ability to freely talk about 00:18:51.990 --> 00:18:54.549 things in this broader perspective while still 00:18:54.549 --> 00:18:57.329 feeling like I've touched on the important things 00:18:57.329 --> 00:18:59.849 from this chapter. However, this is not an exhaustive 00:18:59.849 --> 00:19:03.269 chapter. review, breakdown, or examination at 00:19:03.269 --> 00:19:06.049 all, and it won't be. That's not what I'm going 00:19:06.049 --> 00:19:07.430 to do. I'm actually going to call it here because 00:19:07.430 --> 00:19:10.089 I feel like I've said enough and been a lot of 00:19:10.089 --> 00:19:15.289 interruptions, and I want to enjoy doing these 00:19:15.289 --> 00:19:18.029 and not turn it into a slog for myself or something 00:19:18.029 --> 00:19:20.190 unbearable that I have to do in a certain way. 00:19:22.589 --> 00:19:25.029 I'm freeing myself up to do more short videos 00:19:25.029 --> 00:19:27.660 or maybe some text posts. about some of the cool 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:29.680 stuff going on in Chapter 10, because there's 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:31.799 some really neat things that I want to talk about 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:34.140 more in depth, but not at the moment. So anyway, 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:37.079 I hope you enjoyed this. Check out my other reviews 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:41.680 of The Chronicles of Bredane. And also, I am 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:45.700 currently, it's May, no, April. I don't know 00:19:45.700 --> 00:19:47.579 what day it is. I think it's April 22nd, April 00:19:47.579 --> 00:19:51.339 23rd. I just got the cover art for my brother 00:19:51.339 --> 00:19:54.220 -in -law, the line art. For my book, Mockwing 00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:56.200 Mayhem, which features magical bugs battling 00:19:56.200 --> 00:20:00.480 monsters, they protect children from the monsters 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:02.940 who would prey upon them, and a certain batch 00:20:02.940 --> 00:20:05.380 of monsters, a bunch of mockwings, find out where 00:20:05.380 --> 00:20:07.839 they live and go to their fort to kill them all, 00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:12.000 and the grow bugs want that to not happen. They 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:14.259 come up with a plan, and it turns out that two 00:20:14.259 --> 00:20:18.440 untested and untried grow bugs are going to try 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:20.279 to save their master, even though they should 00:20:20.279 --> 00:20:22.589 be running and hiding. And they're going to battle 00:20:22.589 --> 00:20:25.509 a Mokwing. And if they defeat it, great. But 00:20:25.509 --> 00:20:28.369 bad news, there's still a whole bunch of other 00:20:28.369 --> 00:20:30.849 Mokwings who could kill them. And we got to see 00:20:30.849 --> 00:20:33.349 how they get through all of that. And anyway, 00:20:33.529 --> 00:20:37.990 excuse me. I think it's a great book. I think 00:20:37.990 --> 00:20:39.329 it's a lot of fun. I think it's a great first, 00:20:39.369 --> 00:20:43.430 you know, debut middle grade novel. It's about 00:20:43.430 --> 00:20:45.410 25 ,000 words, which I think is a respectable 00:20:45.410 --> 00:20:49.009 length. And it's a lot of fun. It's a quick read. 00:20:49.150 --> 00:20:51.339 A lot of cool things happen there. It's setting 00:20:51.339 --> 00:20:54.700 up a world, not a trilogy, but a world full of 00:20:54.700 --> 00:20:57.539 world building. And I have ideas already for 00:20:57.539 --> 00:21:00.720 the sequels that I, well, I have an overall story 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.059 I want to do, but that overall arc for characters, 00:21:03.099 --> 00:21:06.799 I want to pair with some really cool, fun adventures 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:08.940 that are going to show us different, unique aspects 00:21:08.940 --> 00:21:13.720 of the throwback world. And anyway, that's Mock 00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:15.619 Wing Mayhem. You can find out more by checking 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:17.319 out the links in the description, going to mgwingers 00:21:17.319 --> 00:21:19.940 .com. You can sign up for my email list to get. 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:23.579 a free short story and some other bonuses about 00:21:23.579 --> 00:21:26.039 the Mothman world, as well as a notice when it's 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:29.380 going to be live, when you can buy it. I'm planning 00:21:29.380 --> 00:21:31.759 on recording the audio book myself and releasing 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.980 that as well as the digital ebook version and 00:21:34.980 --> 00:21:40.720 the paperback on the same day, summer 2025. So 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:43.619 it's coming soon. I hope you enjoy it. I hope 00:21:43.619 --> 00:21:46.920 you check it out. And again, I hope you enjoyed 00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:49.140 this review and I will continue doing. chapter 00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:51.680 -by -chapter reviews of the Book of Three, as 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:53.059 well as the rest of the Chronicles of Verdane, 00:21:53.140 --> 00:21:58.259 and I'm also doing reviews of books that are 00:21:58.259 --> 00:22:01.059 like Mockwing Mayhem. What does that mean? It 00:22:01.059 --> 00:22:03.440 means books that, if you look at what makes up 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:06.920 Mockwing Mayhem, and you distill it down, and 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:08.900 you say, okay, there are other popular books 00:22:08.900 --> 00:22:11.339 out right now, or that came out 10, 20 years 00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:13.819 ago, whatever, that are popular fantasy books 00:22:13.819 --> 00:22:16.420 for middle -grade audience, and you could say 00:22:16.420 --> 00:22:19.619 they compare. Let's check them out. And I'm going 00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:21.900 to read them and review them. And I have my Wings 00:22:21.900 --> 00:22:23.700 of Fire review, which I think is already out 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:27.619 by the time that this review goes live. So I 00:22:27.619 --> 00:22:29.460 hope you check that out already. If you haven't, 00:22:29.460 --> 00:22:34.160 go back. I read book one of Wings of Fire, which 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:37.359 is called The Dragon at Prophecy. And you can 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:40.220 hear my full thoughts on the book there. I would 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:42.000 very much appreciate you checking that out. And 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.099 if you're a fan of Wings of Fire, I think you'll 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:46.640 like Mocking Mayhem a lot. If you're a fan of... 00:22:47.819 --> 00:22:49.579 Chronicles of Bredan, I think there's a good 00:22:49.579 --> 00:22:51.420 chance you'll like it a lot because it's a fantasy 00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:53.920 adventure story with depth and cool stuff going 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:57.759 on with characters. Very much, it's not a comparison 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:00.299 like how Lord of the Rings and Bredan Chronicles 00:23:00.299 --> 00:23:02.539 are a comparison to each other, but it is a comparison 00:23:02.539 --> 00:23:05.180 in that it's fantasy with neat world building 00:23:05.180 --> 00:23:09.539 and characters engaging in interesting character 00:23:09.539 --> 00:23:12.539 development, kind of deep stories, themes are 00:23:12.539 --> 00:23:14.900 being explored, and there's some cool action 00:23:14.900 --> 00:23:17.829 as well. So anyway, I hope you check that out. 00:23:17.849 --> 00:23:20.529 Until next time, folks, take care, be well, and 00:23:20.529 --> 00:23:21.029 keep reading.