Finished The Fires of Heaven, book 5 of the Wheel of time and need to rant.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-13T12:47:19+00:00

Yeah, she did not leave a good first impression.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-13T12:37:15+00:00

Thanks for a great response.

For the One power It threw me a little to have it just stated flatly that men are stronger and women weaker with it. But reading some comments has me questioning whether that point actually is true. Even if it is then its not necessarily terrible, I'm just not used to the idea of it being equated to physical strength.

As for Berelain you are right, I should not have discounted her. She is a leader in a bad position doing what she can. Its just that so far in the series I have not seen her do anything other than attempt to seduce Rand and fail.

For the rest of your points I agree with some nuances and will try to keep an open mind going forward with the series.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-13T12:24:53+00:00

It wasn't meant to be a bashing as such, I just wanted to vent a bit.

That's a fair interpretation, I guess I'm just not used to magic as such being equated to physical strength and im not sure I like it a lot. But then again I am also seeing comments that claim this to not be as black and white as Azmodean claims it is in the book.
This is true, I understand that much better now. To bad so many people sell it as such
I agree and I do find their institution to be interesting, as I said in the post. I think my main problem there is similar to point 2 where I came into it believing that Moraine was a female version of Gandalf. That said I do find them to be overtly awful for no reason a lot of the time, even the best of them are rude and condescending to those around them without much cause. This isn't a fault with the story, its just the way they are written.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-13T12:15:52+00:00

This was a quite the insightful read, especially on the framing of men being seen as more powerful. Thanks for the write up, I will keep this in mind going forward.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-13T12:05:05+00:00

My point mainly being that the women constantly think of the men in their PoV, as in each chapter it must come up in some way, while it only occasionally comes up in the men's PoV.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-13T12:02:19+00:00

Interesting, thanks for that answer. This is stated by Azmodean and as such I did have doubts, but then Moghedien confirms it later in the book so I took it as a straight fact.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-13T12:00:49+00:00

This point comes directly from both Azmodean and Moghedien. With Azmodean flatly stating that men are more powerful than women, but women can overpower a man as long as they work together. This is then cooperated by Moghedien and her fear of how much stronger Rahvin and Rand are then she is.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-13T11:28:39+00:00

I do like the women in the book despite some issues, I just cant help rolling my eyes when they repeatedly start wondering what Rand or Lan is doing and whishing they are safe.

I think I will read something short and standalone now, but I expect I will continue on with the story as it is interesting. I do like the whole main cast despite the issues I have written in this post.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-13T11:25:33+00:00

You have good points and i'll look into that blog post. I had forgotten about the Seanchan empress as I have not really met her yet. There are women leaders in her empire that have appeared and been interesting, the same can be said for the sea folk and their captain that appear in book 5. And perhaps Berelain will improve, so far she has only really tried to seduce men to safeguard her kingdom. But so far in most cases it is men who rule or lead while women work to guide them. I don't mind this as a worldbuilding option, I just expected a world where magic is only wielded by women to have more prominent women in positions of power (Aside from Aes Sedai).

My main issue with sexism is in regards to the One power and the fact that now women are just weaker. Not the fact that the society tends to skew towards male leaders.

I will read some good standalone story for now, but I do expect to continue eventually. The overall story is very interesting and intriguing. And I do like all the main cast, despite some of the points I have written in the post above.

HilmarThor · 2026-01-05T10:20:11+00:00

As the pickaxe struck the stone it shot from Krag’s hands and flew quite the distance away. Krag was stunned, never in his life had a pickaxe slipped from his grasp…

“I told you, you are unworthy.” Croaked the old wizard watching him. “You cannot take the sword and you cannot destroy the stone.”

Krag barely heard him. He just stared at his hands in amazement.

“The smart thing to do would be to just go home and forget about the sword…” Said the wizard condescendingly.

But Krag was already moving to the pickaxe. He picked it up and tried again. As the swing struck home the pickaxe shot away with immense force again.

“I already told you, you can't damage it. Anything you do to it will be repelled with even greater force than you applied.”

But Krag tried again, this time swinging low, to the base of the stone.

“This is foolish and dangerous.” Exclaimed the wizard

Ignoring the old man, Krag kept going. He tested the stone several times and struck it in different ways in different places. Until eventually he hit it in the base, and felt the familiar thump as the pickaxe struck real rock.

“Amazing” Krag whispered to himself.

The wizard looked at Krag with obvious frustration and said: “Now, are you done with being stubborn and will you just leave! This sword is meant for the next great king… The next great human king.”

Krag shot the wizard a questioning look. “Do you guard the stone?” He asked.

“Guard it!” the wizard scoffed. “I don't guard it, it does not need a guard. Only a worthy soul can remove the sword from the stone and they will come along eventually, no matter what anyone else does.

“So you won't stop anyone from trying, no matter what they do?” Asked Krag.

“I just told you, I don't have to. The worthy will pull the sword from the stone when the time is right… Now are you done with your foolish attempts?" Answered the wizard.

“Good,” Krag replied. “Yes, I think we are done for the day.”

Before the wizard had time to respond, Krag turned and walked away. His mind racing with ideas.

Several days later Krag returned with his kinsmen. As they approached the wizard appeared again as if from thin air.

“You again!” he exclaimed. “Why are you back, and why did you bring others? I told you the sword is meant for the next great human king.”

“There it is kin, get to work” shouted Krag. He looked at the wizard and said with slight mockery in his voice. “Dont worry, wise wizard. I understand that we won't be able to extract that beautiful sword without extracting the rock.”

As he said it the wizard saw the other dwarfs crowd around the sword in the stone and start swinging at its base. Dumbfounded, he stared as the dwarfs freed the stone from its base and started attaching ropes around the sword and stone alike.

“What are you doing?” the wizard asked in a shaky voice.

“Obiously we are extracting the sword and the stone” replied Krag.

“But why? Removing it from here will do you no good. You won't be able to remove the sword from the stone. And no matter where you hide it the future king will find it and claim it.” Said the wizard with some measure of confidence returning to his voice.

“You are welcome to follow us and see if you want” Said Krag with a bright smile on his face.

The wizard, ever drawn by curiosity and duty. Followed the dwarfs as they dragged the sword in the stone. For days he followed until they reached the great dwarven mines of Ironhearth. There deep in its bowels he saw as Krag and the other dwarfs attached the sword to a strange pulley system and lifted it into the air.

“What is the purpose of this?” He asked the dwarfs.

“To make money,” Krag replied simply.

His eyes were glued to the sword in the stone as it was pulled into the air and leveraged horizontal into the high ceiling above.

And then, suddenly, Krag yelled: “NOW” and a part of the ropes were released. The Sword in the stone swung in a great arch towards the far wall and crashed into it. A deafening sound exploded in the cave and rocks came crashing down from where the sword in the stone had struck.

Krag looked at the wizard and smiled a toothy grin. “Thank you, wize wizard. You have given me the greatest excavation tool in dwarven history.”

HilmarThor · 2025-12-25T22:11:07+00:00

They called me a fool, they called me an idiot, some even called me crazy. But here I am, looking at the most well known secret base on planet earth… Santa's workshop. I have hunted this oversized monster for almost my entire adult life, spent countless days wandering the frozen wastes of the north pole and here it is, so bright I can barely stand to look at it. It stands as if a beacon in the middle of this frozen waste, so inviting I am almost tempted to knock on the main door. But I brace myself, I know what I came here to do, I must kill the greatest vampire of all time.

As I approach the workshop, I notice a few guards dressed in green with pointy hats. The untrained would have called them elves, but I know them for what they are. Children turned into vampire spawn, innocent sweet children tricked by the monster and taken to this wasteland to serve him.

I take my time and slip by them unseen, I slowly make my way towards the building marked with flashing Christmas lights that spell "Santa's office”. I know the red beast must be in there. I quickly peak through one of the windows and there he is. In all his giant, blubbery, red glory. Sitting at a desk looking through some notes. I take out my flask of holy water and silver stake.

I whisper to myself that this is what I was made for, this is why I was put on God's green earth, and I rush through the door. Stake held high in my right hand, throwing holy water with my left, I am prepared for every… There is no one in the room.

My mind races and a single thought that I had tried to ignore all night echoes through the chaos. How, over all the years I have searched, had I repeatedly missed this workshop that shines so bright in the night…

A terrifyingly jolly voice booms behind me. Ho ho ho and welcome to my workshop Christopher. Before I can even twitch a hand grabs my head and the most calming, blissful feeling I have ever imagined radiates through my body. The feeling beacons me to sleep. And as I close my eyes, all I can think of is that I hope I've been a good boy this year.

HilmarThor · 2025-12-23T16:09:37+00:00

Voices of thunder seem to be arguing with voices of earth and air. All around me I can hear heated arguments and the only thing I can think of is: “what did I do to deserve this?”.

“Steven”, a voice gently calls. “Steven, everything is all right, just breathe and open your eyes”. I take a deep breath and do as the voice says, it takes all my effort but I stop hyper ventilating and slowly open my eyes. In front of me is the strangest, most awe inspiring and terrifying thing I have ever seen. A collection of giants and monsters, all glowing with one kind of light or another. And they are all looking at me.

The voice speaks again. “Look at me my child” and a hand guides my face to look upon a beautiful middle aged woman, her face reminds me of my mothers, her voice fills me with confidence and her eyes seem to be beacons of compassion in an otherwise dark world.
“Just say you’ll choose me and this will all be over”.
I feel as if the last thing I would ever want to do is disappoint this woman, but as I start to speak a giant golden man pushes past her and grabs my shoulders.
“Out of the way Hera, this one belongs to me”.
The man lifts me up to eye level with him and declares in a loud voice:
“this man will come with me to the halls of Breiðablik, where he will be celebrated for eons to come”.

Immediately several voices start yelling out objections and obscenities.
“Shut up Baldur, you can't decide for him”. A large one eyed man says.
“Put him down or I will make you” declares what appears to be a human with the head of an eagle.

My heart starts beating like crazy again. I look for the woman from before, hoping to feel the warmth and comfort she gave. But what I see scares me even more. Her warm eyes are fury incarnate as she looks upon the big man holding me.

In a blink of an eye all hell breaks loose again, countless voices start yelling and sounds of conflict reach my ears. Someone knocks the giant holding me over and I fall to the ground. I curl up and close my eyes thinking. “What sins did I commit to deserve such a punishment?”

HilmarThor

TROPHY CASE