Against the Dying Light

5 Things I Read This Week

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 07:23:22 GMT

1. bawal mangarap nang malayo kapag sakto lang ang pamasahe pabalik by ænri؛༊

bawal mangarap nang malayo kapag sakto lang ang pamasahe pabalik

kung may sapat lang sana tayong oras at pera para piliin ang gusto natin, nasaan kaya tayo ngayon?

anrkivethoughts.substack.com

Perhaps the saddest part about all of this is not having to put our dreams on hold, but becoming so accustomed to letting them go that we eventually forget what they were.

It’s scary to watch a nation slowly snuff out its own light. In many ways this is how I feel about life today. I think I used to dream about becoming other things than Software Engineer, but most of those I no longer have the energy, time, or money to pursue. Trial and error is a luxury.

I read all kinds of articles from all kinds of people—opinions, suggestions, recommendations, and speculations—but rarely from Filipinos. I’m sure there are some out there, but off the top of my head I’ve only seen maybe one or two people consistently present on my feed ready to share their opinion.

I think this stifling corruption makes us believe our voices don’t matter, that it won’t help. We still rally on the streets, but the internet is a more permanent way to mobilize the people that is incredibly underutilized (for such a chronically online nation). (This is now a different topic altogether. I digress.)

Bottomline is, we need more Filipinos creating their own platforms on the internet, not disjointed and uncurated social media profiles, but actual avenues where they can share their opinions and make their voices heard.

The rising fame of Substack within the Filipino writing community could be the start of something big, if we use it intelligently.

2. The Rise And Fall of the First—and Only—Filipino Emperor by Allen Severino

www.esquiremag.ph

Not a very well-known history about one of the early seeds of revolution against the Spanish rule in the Philippines. I myself did not know this.

I’m a psychoanalyst. Social media is damaging children’s inner lives in ways we don’t fully understand | Robin Kirman

Discussion has focused on behavioral outcomes. But Meta’s settlement shines a light on damage to young people’s emerging desires and identities

www.theguardian.com

For Winnicott, the capacity for genuine desire develops only where a child is free from an evaluative gaze and can follow impulses that arise from her own center. Social media destroys that freedom. What forms in its absence is what Winnicott called the “false self” – a performing self, shaped by the reactions of others.

Decades after social media was born, we are only now starting to really see the effects of social media on people who have only ever known social media.

I’m well into my 20s now and no longer feel that social media has me in its grip (although at one point in my teens social media did do a number on me and my self-esteem), but there are countless kids and teenagers who don’t know how to move in spaces whose goal is to consume them.

I am kind of glad that legislations are being made about restricting access to the internet, but I am not sure yet what I really want that to look like. There is more discussion and research to be made, but I do agree that children and teenagers need a safer space away from predatory algorithms.

Also, this is a very good time to start spending more time with friends, family, community, or just by yourself doing whatever piques your interest outside of social media and the screen.

Genuine desire requires a kind of self-forgetting: what Heidegger, Winnicott, and others have understood as the condition of authentic being – absorption in what one genuinely pursues.

4. How to pay back a dopamine debt by Juliette Ryan

How to pay back a dopamine debt

What your brain needs to recover from a dopamine load — and why it takes longer than you think

hereisyourbrain.substack.com

A short explanation (minimal jargon) of what happens when you doomscroll and why you feel sluggish or uneasy afterwards. There’s an insightful list of things one can do to recover from a dopamine overload that I am pleasantly surprised to know—most of the things on the list are things I already do and plan to do.

I want to say more about this but I don’t know the words. If there is one thing I recommend to read out of this list, it’s this (and the comments on the article too).

And similar to another article on this list (#3), I encourage everyone to pursue their hobbies mindfully, resist the doomscrolling, and spend more time doing deep work (learning, researching) or bonding with your loved ones.

5. If we fix the phone, we fix society

If we fix the phone we fix society

Here's how I would redesign it.

open.substack.com

A fully-analog world is not something I necessarily think to be an ideal world, but I do agree that many app notifications are actually useless and serve no purpose other than to distract us or sell us something we don’t actually need.

I believe there is value in creating alternative devices and solutions, and supporting those that create those alternatives. But then again the root of all evil are the greedy capitalists that we’ve let run our society. That is a much bigger and much more complicated problem to solve. So for now, analog and single-purpose devices and curated notifications it is.

5 Things I Read This Week

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 04:46:29 GMT

1. Reading strengthens brain health, lowers dementia risk

Reading strengthens brain health, lowers dementia risk — Cambridge study

A 2026 study by researchers from the University of Cambridge found that reading for pleasure is linked to improved mental health, stronger cognitive performance, and a lower risk of dementia. Based on a comprehensive review of literacy and...

situationreport.net

I’m a strong proponent of reading. I think everyone should be reading at least 15 minutes a day, whether it’s comic books, graphic novels, epic fantasy, literary fiction, or even non-fiction. If you need to be convinced to read, let this be it.

2. How we’ll fight the platform war against Big AI by Anil Dash

How we’ll fight the platform war against Big AI - Anil Dash

A blog about making culture. Since 1999.

www.anildash.com

In an ideal world we can just delete the existence of generative AI. But this is not an ideal world and genAI is not going to put itself back in the bag, so the next best thing is to make sure Big AI and these frontier labs cannot dictate nor monopolize AI tech.

3. The Magic of Framing the Message by Judd Antin

medium.com

Why and how the secret to influence is framing the message. Interestingly, there’s a bit about the “rule of threes” that recently has been dubbed as one (of many) sign of AI writing—but it could really just be that the rule of threes work so well and is used so widely that AI is bound to have this in its training data. (Yes, I love my em-dashes. No, this was not written by AI.)

4. All Those Metrics Bleed Your Obsessions by Aaron Ross Powell

All Those Metrics Bleed Your Obsessions - Aaron Ross Powell

The internet once encouraged us to build entire identities around our weirdest, deepest fascinations. Then metrics and distribution flattened those obsessions into fungible content.

www.aaronrosspowell.com

This is sort of an overview (a reframing?) of what content on the internet has evolved to over the years as metrics and observability data became more available to users. Most of us probably already know most of what’s written here, but it bears repeating that optimizing your numbers can and will eventually make your content bland and your brand will lose its uniqueness. For most of us trying to make a living off of making content, what’s really important is to make sure our content is still representative of what we care or obsess about. But the internet is infinitely more fun if we just authentically make content because we want it to exist.

5. A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle by Kristi Girdharry

A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle

How do instructors get students to trust their own thinking and be better than robots?

theconversation.com

This is what learning looks like in the age of AI.

There are a number of studies about the effects of AI with regards to our thinking, and most point to eventual cognitive decline due to overreliance and the fact that we don’t actually learn anything by asking an AI chatbot to find the answers for us.

Learning in the age of AI: there is an added overhead of discerning whether we are “shortcutting” our own thinking, and it is up to us as individuals and our education system to adjust our modes and techniques of learning to make sure we don’t regress.

Rage Reads The Fires of Heaven (Wheel of Time, #5)

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 06:37:30 GMT

Hey! I’m back with another installation of Rage Reads Wheel of Time. Here’s a link to the previous issue if you missed it.

Warning: spoilers for The Fires of Heaven ahead! I mean it, I talk about big plot points in most of my Rage Reads issues. Turn back if you don’t want spoilers. Otherwise if you’re okay with spoilers then read and enjoy and tell me what you think!

There is no salvation without destruction, no hope this side of death.

On Rand vs. Women

There is great emphasis in Rand’s hesitance to hurt women throughout this book. I’m not sure where this specific lore came from—if it had a root, it definitely was not from his own memories. It very much seems like Lews Therin’s memories from when his actions caused Ilyena’s death somehow. Because Rand has killed a woman before, in a previous book where he had very little POV and we didn’t know what was going on in his head. Now he is deathly afraid to even hurt one, not the Maidens, not the Wise Ones, not Moiraine—not even if it means he could save the world.

This flaw is not convincing to me, it feels underdeveloped and came out of nowhere. What does he expect to happen? That other people fight women Forsaken for him? That Maidens all give up the spear and hide in safety? It feels performative, to be quite honest. And yes, maybe it is Lews Therin’s trauma talking, but I don’t get why Rand is so adamant to keep Lews Therin’s voice out of his head except this one.

On Aviendha and Rand

Rand and Aviendha finally happened. I was expecting it, but I still have my headcanons. (😇)

My headcanons aside, the fact that Aviendha is pretending she’s still “watching over Rand” for Elayne and denying her feelings for Rand could eventually bite her in the ass. The build up between them was dragged on too long, and I found myself cringing a little every time a scene comes up. I think it might have helped if we could see Aviendha’s POV instead of Rand’s throughout some of it, but I have a feeling it would have been much the same if it were Min’s or Elayne’s POV and would sound repetitive—none of them have spent as much time with Rand as Aviendha have so far though.

We already know Elayne is averse to “sharing” Rand, it could be really messy for her friendship with Aviendha if she knew what had transpired between Rand and the Aielwoman. It seems like Aviendha saw something in Rhuidean about her role in Rand’s future and was running away from it this whole time. Maybe it was a matter of pride to keep pretending she’s still “watching over Rand for Elayne,” maybe she thinks she needs Elayne’s permission more than Rand’s.

Also, there was an interesting callback to Rand saving Tam al’Thor back in Eye of the World. When he was dragging Tam on his back to run away from Trollocs and to get to safety towards Winespring Inn, his internal monologue was to keep moving or Tam dies. This was his same internal monologue when he was saving Aviendha from the snow, “Keep moving. If you quit, she dies. Keep moving, burn you!”

On Moiraine’s Sacrifice and Siuan’s Plans

I cannot believe that just happened. I was just saying how Moiraine was a blackbox hiding a Schrodinger’s plot—and she truly was. Until the moment happened, it had not been in my list of possible paths this plot could take. I did not see it coming at all. Does that mean Lanfear is out of the picture? I doubt that’s the last we’ll see of her.

I don’t know how to feel about Moiraine’s “death” (yes, by those quotation marks I do believe she isn’t truly dead—or maybe I’m just in denial because she just can’t go out like that). We didn’t see much of her POV in this book, and it felt a little bit like Mr. Author was deliberately weaning us off of her for a while now (thank you, Mr. Jordan, but it still hurt anyway). See, I only had an inkling that she would be gone soon because Rand was starting to like her and wanted to keep her around, and most of the crinkles in their relationship have been smoothed out. I knew something was going to happen that would break them apart, but I didn’t expect it to be this.

I don’t know what this will mean for Siuan, but whatever plans she had with Moiraine already went out the window anyway after she had been deposed and stilled. At the moment, it looks like Siuan is hatching a different plan with Leane: to influence who would sit on the Amyrlin Seat next.

On Nynaeve vs. Martyrdom

Yep, you know what it is. Of course I will talk about Nynaeve.

This book gave us a refresher about Nynaeve’s motivations and re-established her overarching goals. It looks like she is aiming to be a great Healer and even mentions she intends to Heal Thom’s broken leg and the wound on Rand’s side. Because of her origins as Emond’s Field’s Wisdom we already knew she has strong inclinations toward healing people, but the emphasis within this book was the greatest. I don’t know for sure if all those promises could be fulfilled, but Nynaeve is strong enough in the One Power that I am certain she will have some sort of breakthrough in Healing tech that the existing practices currently lack. In fact, I think there were some promises in this book that would be interesting if it paid off. Could she undo Siuan’s stilling and Logain’s gentling?

I really liked Nynaeve’s emotional journey so far, although it is slow going because Nynaeve is stubborn. Egwene has finally chipped away most of Nynaeve’s emotional shield, and Nynaeve is starting to doubt her abilities in ways that allow her to be less of a martyr and more of a team player. It feels a little bit like regression but I think it is necessary for Nynaeve’s survival. Birgitte plays a big part in this, too. I kind of adore Nynaeve’s relationship with Birgitte, because Birgitte knows how to be a hero who knows that strength doesn’t always look like staring at danger head on.

In line with this, Nynaeve also grapples a lot with cowardice and how that looks like for her. We get to see more of her reasoning out her actions and fighting against her fears and her first instinct to run away. It’s interesting that Nynaeve sees herself as a coward when she’s been consistently the one facing the biggest dangers (apart from Rand). The people around her rely on her more than anybody else. Elayne at one point even consoles herself during a moment of distress:

“No, Nynaeve would not give in. That was one of the things she admired in the other woman. Nynaeve’s head could have been on the chopping block and she would not give up.”

She describes very well one of the qualities I admire about Nynaeve.

Also, because Egwene has been apart from Nynaeve and Elayne for a while, it is starting to feel like Elayne has replaced Egwene in her previous position as Nynaeve’s #1 enemy (friendly). It seems like one of the things Nynaeve has to work on is how to be a pleasant companion who doesn’t turn her friend into her debate partner. But Elayne is quicker to pick up on how to work around Nynaeve’s attitude problems, unlike Egwene who had to have Tel’aran’rhiod as her shield to dish it out against Nynaeve. I say all of this with humor, I think it’s funny that Nynaeve drives everybody insane. I am sorry that her companions are subject to her attitude, but it is still kinda funny.

On Egwene’s Readiness for the Seat

I don’t think I paid particular attention on Egwene in this book, apart from her finally having the gall to stand up against Nynaeve and put the ex-Wisdom in her place. I am glad that it happened with Egwene and not any other character. She has a deep bond with Nynaeve.

It is noticeable that Egwene is progressing much deeper in matters of Dreaming and Aes Sedai/Wisdom politics than Nynaeve and Elayne (although Elayne is already politically inclined because of the mere fact she is heir to the Lion Throne). Both Mat and Rand acknowledge that she “left Emond’s Field further behind” than any of them. Rand also describes her a few times as looking more and more Aes Sedai.

I think we are getting close to Egwene becoming Amyrlin Seat. I cannot be sure that Siuan is referring to her when she said that the new Amyrlin must be someone who wasn’t in the Tower when Siuan was deposed and that she should be very strong in the Power. It could certainly point to Egwene, especially with Moiraine out of the picture.

On Mat vs. Fate

Mat is the last one in line to hold onto the “running away” phase. Much like Rand and Perrin who had to go though it, Mat is now trying to negotiate his role in all of this and wants more than anything to run away from it. It doesn’t look like he has accepted his fate and he keeps getting pulled back in however much he tries to put all of it behind him.

Like Rand, Mat also has memories that don’t belong to him. I wonder if it’s Gaidal Cain’s memories; I always thought Daughter of the Nine Moons fit Birgitte but I don’t believe Birgitte is of Seanchan origin.

Anyway, I digress. Mat has acquired a new skill that is very, very useful in battle tactics and I hate that he doesn’t think he can contribute anything useful for the cause, that he doesn’t want to. Man up, Mat. Rand has.

Other Notes

It looks like Elaida isn’t fully in control of the Tower quite like Siuan was. She could be on the same side of the battlefield as Rand, and it seems Alviarin is on the other. Regardless, it does not look like Elaida is having a good start in her reign as Amyrlin. She doesn’t seem to be as good as Moiraine in the Game of Houses, nor is she as commanding as Siuan.
Galad is a Whitecloak. Of course he is. I don’t know what to make of this development, but we did see it coming. He was reading Whitecloak literature in the previous book. However, it seems like Galad’s loyalties are not all black and white. He is still loyal to Elayne despite her ties to the Tower, but I don’t doubt he would be just as loyal to the Children.
Elayne has made Birgitte her Warder! Elayne’s brain is so big, guys. I’m so proud of her. Our first woman Warder in the series!
So balefire erases history and could mess with the Pattern, which is why use of it had been banned long ago. This is an interesting puzzle to sort out. It seems like history is being written over and over again because every Last Battle from previous Ages keep getting undone… is my best guess. Except some people persist through Ages, like the Heroes of Legends and the Forsaken—and the Dragon Reborn attempts to go back to his space, which Rand is now occupying? It certainly explains why he and Mat have memories they don’t own. It could also explain why they have missing history of old tech. Anyway, anything that bends time can be really confusing the more you think about it—I didn’t expect to see that in this series.
New heroes can be bound to the Pattern, like how Birgitte and Gaidal Cain are bound to the Pattern. I wonder who among our Emond’s Fielders will be added to the list?
No sign of Perrin! What has happened to our Wolfbrother?

Rainbow-colored glasses time! 🏳️‍🌈

Time to take a trip to rainbow land! It’s been said a few times, but I have my own headcanons for the women of Wheel of Time. In a different time, in another universe, these women would be considered at least a little queer. You can skip this part if you don’t care about non-canon.

So here are some outtakes from my notes, if you could call it that:

"I am careful," Nynaeve said in a tight voice. She had not come to be lectured by this sun-haired vixen of an Aiel. — And Nynaeve isn’t queer? LMAO. (I know vixen can also mean ill-tempered, but let me have this!)
"[...] When Egwene arrived with Aviendha up behind her on the gray mare, those full skirts pushed above their knees, they looked a matched pair despite their different coloring and Aviendha being tall enough to look over Egwene's shoulder without stretching, each with just one ivory bracelet and one necklace." — Am I reading a different story than anybody else? Also, throughout the book Aviendha wouldn’t say where the necklace came from (it’s from Egwene) when Rand insists to know (he was jealous). No, surely some people headcanon these women as queer.
"She and Siuan had apparently worked out that Siuan would deal with women, Leane with men, and so it had been ever since Lugard." — I know what you are, Siuan.
So in separate occasions Nynaeve has compared Birgitte to Lan (that they both face danger head on), and Birgitte has compared Nynaeve to Gaidal (that they both have little to no caution). Later on, Juilin makes a comment that Nynaeve is behaving like a woman who lost her husband (by her own hands) when Nynaeve was inconsolable after she caused Birgitte to almost die. And you expect me to just ignore those deliberate comparisons? I will not be silenced.
"And if I wanted you to lower the neck another inch?" — Birgitte to Nynaeve out of context. I love my little rainbow glasses. 😇
"I liked you, Nynaeve," she said as she laid everything out. "Thorns, warts, and all. I no longer do, as you are now... [...] I would like to like you again, whether you return the liking or not, but I cannot until you are yourself again." — No this was actually so cute. Tell her, Birgitte!

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5 Things I Read This Week

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 08:18:01 GMT

Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Wordsworth Editions

A few things I read this week that I thought was worth sharing:

1. Sometimes you just plant the tree by Solarpunk World

Sometimes you just plant the tree

An ordinary morning in a possible future.

solarpunkworld.substack.com

A future that sounds impossible, but a little thing called hope says it can be so. What does your ideal future look like?

2. Why I No Longer Read [Modern] Fantasy by E. Morgan

Why I No Longer Read [Modern] Fantasy

I don't care about your sandbox.

greenteaandpostitnotes.substack.com

I mostly disagree with the author of this article but I think it’s still worth sharing.

I’m not a big Sanderson fan but I’ve read a few books in the Mistborn series and a few books on the Stormlight Archive. While Vin and Kaladin are characters that can only exist in the magical world that Sanderson has built, I still think their problems translate to the real world. If it didn’t, there wouldn’t be a story.

Even though the SFF genre is widely regarded as the genre to escape reality, at the end of the day the stories resonate because there is humanity in them and we find a reflection of us between the pages and the prose.

3. Malaya, Maharlika, and why the Filipino saga matters by Rexy

Malaya, Maharlika, and why the Filipino saga matters

In case you missed it, our publishing company RAYGUN (managed by me and John Ray among other amazing people) recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for the first issue of Malaya, a Filipino dark fantasy epic inspired by pre-colonial Filipino resistance.

maharlika.substack.com

Decolonize your imagination.

This is a Malaya promotional piece but also a reminder that Filipino fiction matters, and how decolonizing your imagination is the most important thing you can do for Philippine arts and literature.

4. The End of Reading is Here by Rose Horowitch

www.theatlantic.com

A brief history and the emerging decline of literacy in America and what a postliterate society looks like. Lots of interesting facts, research, and statistics. Even though this is written with America in mind, I think it translates well to the current Filipino literacy and political climate (why voters choose leaders who seem populist instead of those who can demonstrate their expertise through writing and reasoning).

Looking at the history, the rise of short form content in platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube is not the first disruption or threat to the art and practice of reading and writing. There was the newspaper, then the television and televised news, then there were podcasts and audiobooks—these all changed the collective people’s habits and attitude towards reading and writing.

“Now that being a reader is optional, it can function as an identity marker. When you see someone on the train reading printed matter, it feels like a statement.” — Is that why there’s a trend of people thinking reading in public is performative?

5. Anne Rice vs. Fanfiction by The Book Baddie Diaries

Anne Rice vs. Fanfiction

How One Author Helped Terrify an Entire Generation of Fic Writers

thebookbaddiediaries.substack.com

A brief history of Anne Rice’s plight against fanfiction and fandom.

I’ve been reading fanfiction since I was in my early teens (mostly Glee, every time the writers didn’t give my favorite lesbian enough screen time) and I didn’t always know how most traditions and fandom culture came about. I kinda just took them as they are.

I didn’t know this piece of lore existed, but I had fun reading about it!

Rage Reads The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time #4)

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Hey! It’s been a while. It took me almost two months to finish reading this book! Not because it was boring or that I thought it was a slog, I just didn’t have enough time for leisure reading the past couple months because of work and life stuff.

But I’m here and I’m ready to talk about The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan! As always: there will be spoilers in this post. Look away before you regret it. But if you’ve read the book: come yap with me.

The Way of the Leaf was a fine belief, like a dream of peace, but like the dream it could not last where there was violence. He did not know a place without that. A dream for some other man, some other time.

A collection of ta’veren

In matters of ta’veren: we saw what it was like for Perrin to be ta’veren outside of Rand, Rand is still pulling Mat into his ta’veren orbit, and I am now more sure than ever that Moiraine is also ta’veren.

For Perrin: when he was away from Rand for a huge chunk of time, his ta’veren-ness finally came out. Verin and Alanna also noted this. He was very adamant that he had no leadership qualities (and maybe he did not) but somehow the people of Emond’s Field treated him like a leader and he led them to victory against many, many hordes of Trollocs.

I personally did not think Perrin displayed great leadership skills in this book—he was more a reluctant leader—but I do believe he knew what he wanted to do and he knew what he wanted to happen, and his ta’veren-ness took care of the rest. It is a convenient little tool, when the character doesn’t have to work too hard to be heard, or respected, or followed, or to do anything substantial in general.

For Rand and Mat: either the Dragon Reborn is too strong of a ta’veren that he is pulling Mat towards his web, or he and Mat are supposed to be moving through the same path. For the most part, Rand played the politician in this book. He’s been reading and scheming and formulating plans and making his moves. He is almost unrecognizable from the Rand we first met, apart from the fact that he still does value his friendships with the Emond’s Fielders, especially Egwene.

There’s no argument that Rand is ta’veren, he very much is and strongly so. A lot of Aiel traditions were broken to make room for him, and by the end of the book the Aiel as they knew them will never be the same again. I think he could make any prophecy come true if he put his mind to it. It’s an interesting little brain puzzle—were the prophecies made with knowledge of his ta’veren-ness? That whatever he chose to do would certainly, irrevocably happen? Was it just a matter of erasing the wrong prophecies so the right ones could fall into Rand’s lap? (Is that what Moiraine is doing? Making sure his interpretations of the prophecy are correct, because ultimately however he interprets it is the way it will unfold?)

Mat, on the other hand, has been much the same but in a louder volume. He is a playboy and a gambler, he drinks a lot and flirts even more. He has the tendency to treat every woman around him as a conquest. He is certainly not one of the characters I like in the series so far, despite being one of the most well-liked characters in the Wheel of Time. Things sort of just happen around Mat, and the only thing he really had control over in this book is whether to go through the red door or not—and he did, twice. And now even though he wants so bad to get out of the Waste and run away, there is the thought of the Daughter of the Nine Moons and the ancient tongue and the spear looming over his head.

For Moiraine: it makes sense that she’s ta’veren. Suian has the Talent to know whether a person is ta’veren, and she must have seen that Moiraine would be a useful pawn in the game. It would give them the edge they needed to fulfill whatever end it is they are planning to achieve. Moiraine seems to be scarily effective in carrying out their plans, despite us readers not knowing what that plan is. The point is, things seem to be mostly going Moiraine’s (and Suian’s) way with respect to their plans about the Dragon. (At the very least, Moiraine isn’t super concerned. Maybe a little annoyed she can no longer pull on Rand’s strings and she’s no longer privy to his plans.)

Besides that, Rand and the Emond’s Fielders still seem to see Moiraine as someone who can make things happen—like a ta’veren. They hate her for bringing them into this mess, but at the same time they would not want her gone. When there are gaps in what they know, they assume Moiraine has the answer. At the moment, Moiraine feels like a big blackbox with a Schrodinger’s plot point hidden inside it. She has spies, she knows things she won’t tell anybody else, she places pawns where she thinks they’re most useful, she’s still pulling strings—but for what? How? When?

I didn’t really give the concept of being ta’veren much thought before—initially, it just seemed like a convenient tool to make things happen when they can’t just happen—but I realize that ta’veren are very powerful pawns in the game, and whoever controls them gains a significant advantage. In a way, this is a game between whoever can collect the most ta’veren to use as pawns to control the board.

My rainbow-colored glasses and the one thing this book got right

Okay so the thing about me: I wear rainbow-colored glasses. It means I try to see the gay in everything, because gayer is better (of course). And this book was such a treat, let me tell you.

We got to see more of Aviendha in this book, and in my very humble opinion: the girl is gay (or bisexual). She liked being around Egwene at first, to the point they were inseparable. Then at one point in the Waste when she chose to “watch over Rand” for Elayne, she describes Elayne:

“Is she not beautiful? Her back is straight, her limbs supple and strong, her lips like plump loveapples. Her hair is spun gold, her eyes blue sapphires. Her skin is smoother than the finest silk, her bosom fine and well-rounded.”

Granted, she is describing Elayne to remind Rand that Elayne is all that, but also who would describe somebody that way? In my head, she has a little crush on Elayne. Let me have this.

And then there is also Egeanin. I thought she had really good chemistry with Nynaeve, despite the latter hating her for being Seanchan. Nynaeve and Elayne basically fell for her pretty much immediately, but then the girls saw her in a different light when it was revealed that she is Seanchan.

Even so, Nynaeve and Elayne can’t help but like her still (“Light, how do you stop liking someone?” / “She made me like her, and I cannot stop, and I hate her for it!”). And, oh no, they have to keep her captive now and she has to sleep in the same room so they could keep an eye on her. Oh and also she should undress to make sure she has no weapons on her. The fanfic writes itself.

Anyway, there was a point when Egeanin was described as someone who fought like a Warder! She certainly seemed eager to accompany Nynaeve and Elayne to the Panarch’s Palace to act as their bodyguard. It would be one hell of a letdown—for me, personally—if she doesn’t get to be Warder to any of the women. PLEASE give me my woman Warder, Mr. Jordan.

(Okay, spoiler: I know someone will be Warder to one of the women. I haven’t read the whole series yet to know whether Egeanin will be one or not.)

All that aside though, I’m always happy to see genuine, wholesome female friendships in any form of media. And even though Jordan had many interesting choices (like naked women: the Sea Folk seafarers, women going to Rhuidean, Aiel customs of bathing naked in a tent sauna together, Seanchan slaves, Berelain—for my sanity’s sake I will choose to think these choices are satiric in nature), one thing he got right is the connection between the female characters in the book.

I like that Aviendha has taken a liking to Egwene and Elayne. Even the connection between the original three women: Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve—their friendship and solidarity with each other stands out to me and makes me feel warm inside. Despite Egwene and Nynaeve always clashing, their friendship still takes the spotlight. Like when Egwene said she would choose not to go to the Aiel Waste to learn about Dreaming (which she really wanted to learn about) if it meant that the other two felt that she was running out on them. Or when Elayne said she won’t give up becoming an Aes Sedai or hunting the Black Ajah with Egwene and Nynaeve even if Rand asked her to.

The bond between these women is a very strong contrast against the fraying and straying loyalties within the Tower. Where the Aes Sedai are scheming and spying against each other, our girls instead choose to lean on each other in face of hardship and difficult times.

The Reborn One, marked and bleeding, dances the sword in dreams and mist, chains the Shadowsworn to his will, from the city, lost and forsaken, leads the spears to war once more, breaks the spears and makes them see, truth long hidden in the ancient dream.

Unpacking the Forsaken

The Shadow Rising has seen the most action with Forsaken in the series so far.

Selene has finally revealed herself as Lanfear to Rand. She is not actively killing Rand every time she sees him, and at one point even helped him (and the others) with the Trolloc attack in the Stone. In a conversation between the two, I think she alluded to being in big trouble if the other Forsaken (Chosen, as they call themselves) discover what her plans are.

This tells me at least one thing: the Forsaken are acting for themselves. It seems like they all have separate plans to achieve their own selfish goals. We know that Lanfear used to be Lews Therin’s lover, and it seems she wants to reignite that connection with Rand and become the most powerful couple in all of the land. I don’t know what this means for her—is it part of her plan to usurp the Dark Lord? Or does she mean to turn Rand to the Dark side?

But for Rand to be strong enough in the One Power, Lanfear advised him to seek for a teacher who knows how to wield the male source of the Power. Among the many things going through Rand’s head, he also spent his time ruminating on this fact. Later, Rand defeated Asmodean in a fight in Rhuidean and turned him into his captive. Rand planned for Asmodean to be his teacher in the One Power.

Asmodean then revealed that his connection to the Dark Lord is the thing preventing him from going mad. This is new information for us. There is a way to avoid going mad, but it includes surrendering yourself to the Dark Lord and turning your back from the Light. I wonder if that is a tempting enough deal for Rand? But he seems to have accepted that he has to die one way or another. The only way I see him accepting that deal is if it meant he gets to keep his friendships and relationships (which he won’t get to keep if he became a Darkfriend, of course).

Another big thing that happened is Nynaeve besting Moghedien in a one-to-one fight. She shielded Moghedien and then held her down, all while being hurled at with balefire. Before that, she was able to resist Moghedien’s mind control (how?!). This could be confirmation that Nynaeve is as strong as the Forsaken, that or the Forsaken are not as strong as they used to (yet). Because she’s Nynaeve, it could also be that Nynaeve just managed to (almost unconsciously) learn something she’s seen only once before.

There is still a lot we don’t know about the Forsaken. For one, how did they become Forsaken? Why were they initially called Chosen? In a flashback from Rhuidean, an Aiel named Charn claimed that Lanfear wasn’t always evil. I’m sure these are questions that will soon be answered as the story moves forward, but it’s an interesting piece of lore to ruminate on in the meantime.

Other notes

“I’ll thump you so you think you’ve had an adventure!”

— Nynaeve to Birgitte, famous hero of a hundred tales.

Egwene and Tel’aran’rhiod

There is still very much the Egwene that we met in the prologue of The Eye of the World. Egwene has always been an achiever. Her next goalpost? Become the Tower’s first Dreamer since Corianin Sedai.

I got the impression that Egwene is both scared and protective (or possessive) of Tel’aran’rhiod. She did not want Elayne and Nynaeve to explore it the way she did, but it felt a mix of fear and possessiveness. I think she wants the knowledge for herself, but at the same time I believe she is concerned for both of the girls’ safety within the world of dreams.

I realize Egwene is not very well-liked in general (at least from forums and discussions I’ve read), and that is baffling to me. I love her thirst for knowledge. She keeps moving the plot forward, even when the thing that is currently happening is not centered around her at all. She’s always in some complicated, scary, amazing, weird stuff and I appreciate that.

The distant hypothetical future of the Tower

Okay, I know there are some current happenings within the Tower that makes sense to talk about, but this is not about that.

As I read through the Wheel of Time, I have taken note of the progress and development with Nynaeve and Egwene (and it is not a secret that I like them both the most out of all characters so far). The contrast between the two has been mostly obvious, with Nynaeve being a stubborn, hot-headed prodigy where Egwene is a persevering, diligent student. I cannot help but imagine what a future White Tower would be like with these women at the head.

Nynaeve has a very strong inclination to stick to her own idea of justice. Twice now she has refrained from inflicting harm on a person in favor of her stronger desire to see them face justice (once when faced with Egwene’s sul’dam, then again when faced with Moghedien). Despite her hot-headedness and tendency to be quite rude, she is very much a good, responsible person at the core.

Egwene meanwhile is a very empathic person and has always shown kindness especially towards her friends. There is a soft side to Egwene that to most Aes Sedai would translate as naive. I think there is potential for Egwene to be one of the more level-headed characters in the book, she isn’t too blinded by her goals to disregard other people’s feelings and emotions.

Given how strong both of these women are with channeling, their goals and motivations could very much sway the story in directions we don’t expect. We definitely don’t want either of them to be on the opposite side of the battle field.

When the sun shines on you, it is my smile. When you hear the breeze stir through the apple blossoms, it is my whisper that I love you. My love is yours forever.

No spoilers beyond The Shadow Rising in the comments please! Tip jar.

Note: This was originally posted on Substack.

Rage Reads The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time #3)

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Hello! It’s been a while since you last heard from me, and that is because work stuff got in the way and I became very busy for a while. It took me two months to finish reading this book.

Without further ado, here are my thoughts on The Dragon Reborn. Warning for spoilers ahead.

Rand is a stranger

Rand is unrecognizable in this book. He has become a stranger in his own story. I do not know this guy whatsoever.

There is very little of his POV scattered across the chapters of The Dragon Reborn, so we don’t really get to see much of what is happening inside his head. But I think Rand has a one-track mind and he is dead-focused on Callandor since he started dreaming about it. He is also very suspicious of everything and everyone.

In one scene we see him killing a band of travelers (maybe assassins but who knows) before they even got the chance to introduce themselves. I think this means Rand is not a good person… anymore, or yet—or maybe he doesn’t have to be a good person, maybe he just has to be the person who defeats The Dark One.

“Just because fate has chosen something for you instead of you choosing it for yourself doesn’t mean it has to be bad.”

Perrin, the blacksmith and nothing else

There is much more of Perrin in this book than the previous ones. His story focuses more on his internal struggle with his identity as a Wolfbrother. He is very much going the same way as Rand did in the beginning: avoiding destiny. Perrin is very determined not to let the wolves in, he is pushing back thoughts and whispers to the very back of his mind. (But, curiously, he seems to have given up fighting against the tide that is Rand al’Thor. He seems to have accepted Rand’s ta’verenness but not his own.)

Very soon we get to see one justification of why Perrin shouldn’t succumb to the wolves. They meet another one of his kind, named Noam, in one of the villages. However, unlike Perrin, Noam went to the deep end. He has gone insane and Moiraine claims there is no path leading back to humanity. Now Perrin has all the more reason to block out the wolves from his thoughts.

Come to think of it, I still kind of don’t know how Perrin ties in with Rand. We know his life is bound to Rand’s (he mentions seeing it happen over and over again when they journeyed through the Portal Stone) but at this point of the story it is not yet clear to me what his role would be. We know Mat sounded the Horn, and he would be needed again at The Last Battle (unless he dies and somebody has to replace him). We also know about Faile, the falcon from Min’s viewing of Perrin that she says could be someone important in Perrin’s life. We know Perrin can learn things via dreams, much like Egwene, and he has Hopper to help him. But right now I don’t see a clear direction for Perrin.

Mat rolls the dice

The Amyrlin and several other Aes Sedai manage to Heal Mat from the evil of the Shadar Logoth dagger. Mat is still trapped between a rock and a hard place: he needs to stay alive so he can sound the Horn during the Last Battle, the Darkfriends mean to either hunt him down so they can take the Horn for themselves or use him for their own cause. He is still very much in the thick of it, and the only way out is to die.

Selene shows herself to Mat. (I am no longer sure if she is Lanfear.) She hints at a third choice that Mat can take but doesn’t elaborate. I’m not sure I know what that path is as the reader. My guess is that the Forsaken or some other force do not serve the Dark One but mean to usurp him.

As soon as Mat leaves the White Tower, assassins are after him. He kills three men in one night, the first time he has ever killed another human being (unless they were Grey Men, which I think they were).

When Mat arrived in Caemlyn, he discovers that Gaebril (Morgase’s new advisor) means to kill Elayne (with Nynaeve and Egwene as collateral). Now Mat has a new motivation: to save Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne from the assassins sent for them. Friendship-driven storyline.

Nynaeve the powerhouse

Nynaeve continues to get stronger. She only has to see or sense something done once in order to replicate it. She can Heal more effectively now after having seen it done to Mat in the White Tower. In an encounter against three Myrddraal it seems like she… summoned a balefire? Something that is apparently forbidden and I believe is mostly unknown to current living Aes Sedai (with the exception of Moiraine, who also summoned one against Darkhounds in Illian and against Be’lal in the Stone of Tear).

However, even with all that strength Nynaeve still has the block: she has to be angry in order to channel. To be honest, she needs the block. I think she would be too overpowered otherwise. If she eventually gets over the block at some point, I’m sure there are even bigger fish to fry that Nynaeve’s strength with the One Power would not be too out of place.

Nynaeve acknowledges that her hate for Moiraine for putting her and the other Emond Fielders through all of this is what keeps her going (as I call it, hate-driven storyline). I wonder what will happen if she—if ever—finds out she doesn’t hate Moiraine as much as she thought she did? I think eventually she’s going to realize there are bigger problems out there, bigger than her or Moiraine. Would she re-prioritize? Find a new motivation? I’m still thinking about those thorns piercing through her hands.

Egwene the methodical learner

Of course, Egwene is also getting stronger. She and Elayne gets raised to Accepted early on in the book. Egwene went through the trials, where she faced fears relating to Rand and becoming the Amyrlin Seat without touching the Oath Rod.

The main difference between Nynaeve and Egwene is that Egwene works through her learnings more methodically. It seems she can sense the different flows more vividly than Nynaeve or Elayne, and she is able to deduce how flows interact with each other to achieve a particular outcome. Although there are some moments in the story where Egwene just does things without really knowing how she did it, just having a vague idea of it theoretically.

I can definitely see how this sets her up to becoming a great Aes Sedai (maybe even becoming the Amyrlin). Egwene likes knowing the how and the why—if not at the moment then later when she gets a moment to think on it—whereas Nynaeve often just goes with what she feels and lets her emotions sway her actions. They are certainly motivated differently—Egwene doesn’t share Nynaeve’s hatred towards Moiraine, but she is very much invested in helping Rand, however that will look like in the future.

Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain.

Other notes

Something that may have just slipped through or might be hinting at something else: when Egwene was in the trials to become Accepted, she asked Sheriam about Myrddraal and Dreadlords forcing Rand to turn to the shadow. Sheriam then tells Egwene that there is weakness in being able to channel: it leaves someone vulnerable and open to other things. She basically just admitted that she knew Rand could channel… that or she very quickly deduced that that is what Egwene meant. If I recall correctly, among the Aes Sedai only the Amyrlin, Moiraine, and Verin knows about Rand al’Thor. But that may have changed after the battle at Falme. Maybe everyone knows about Rand now.
In the first few books we keep hearing of Rand looking like an Aielman, in this book there’s more and more talk of him looking like Tigraine. I’m not sure who exactly Tigraine is or what her lineage is, but that’s an interesting detail to keep note of.
I still don’t have much of a read with Moiraine and Lan, but I should have realized sooner that Moiraine is very much as ta’veren as the three boys, or at least it certainly appears so. She seems the type to just go with wherever Rand pulls the thread—she would still try to pull those threads herself, although she can only do so much—but with the surety of someone who knows it will all work out at the end. She expects the people around her to do what she says and do as she wishes, and they do—even Perrin admits as much. I wonder if it’s an Aes Sedai thing, or a Moiraine thing, or a Moiraine being ta’veren thing. Well, we don’t really know much about Moiraine’s past at this point in the series, so I might just be saying shit.

Note: This was originally posted on Substack.

Rage Reads The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time #2), Chapters 25-50

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Hello there! Last week I took a short break from Wheel of Time and wrote about other things I’m reading. This week, I will yap about the second half of The Great Hunt! I promise I’ll try to make this sound less of a summary this time. Also, as always: this will contain spoilers for The Great Hunt.

Rand’s transformation

In a short amount of time, Rand was able to transform from a mere sheepherder trying to run away from all his problems into someone who might actually be ready to face at least some of those problems.

There were a few events that forced Rand to have a bit of character development, including: (1) having to keep the Horn of Valere safe after they’ve successfully pilfered it from Fain’s grasp, (2) having to pretend to be a Lord when they came to Cairhien, and (3) having to take on the role of leader for Hurin and Loial. Rand was thrown into the pit against his will, and it has done him well. When Mat and Perrin meets Rand again, Rand feels like a different person. He even instinctively takes on the role of leader even in the presence of Ingtar.

I have a suspicion that Moiraine may have set everything up the way it is set up just for this specific reason: for Rand to be molded into the person he needs to become. But then again, with this talk of ta’veren maybe the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills and Moiraine has nothing to do with any of it. But there certainly was an outside force who helped: Selene, who we later learn is Lanfear, kept urging Rand to go after the Horn, to touch the Source, to chase the glory.

The sul’dam, a’dam, and damane

Talking about transformation and progress, Egwene had a bit of that as well. We get glimpses of Nynaeve and Egwene in the White Tower, where progress seems slow because novices are only allowed to practice touching the Source in the presence of an Accepted or an Aes Sedai. Egwene and Elayne feels that they are capable of more but they cannot be given special training.

We then learn that Liandrin serves the Seanchan army—or at least they serve the same master—when she lures Nynaeve and Egwene into a Seanchan trap where Egwene ends up as a damane. We learn that becoming a damane is a horrible, horrible thing to experience. Egwene is effectively made to be a tool who has no free will. On the up side, damane are trained hard and quick, and Egwene learns many things despite her suffering.

I had been wondering about Aes Sedai perception in the previous issues of Rage Reads Wheel of Time, and this damane system is a perfect example of what could have happened. It’s like Robert Jordan heard me contemplating about the Tar Valon system and how it could be better or worse and told me, here’s how it could be much worse (or better, depending on perspective). This is a contrast to Tar Valon—where the women hold themselves accountable and take on responsibilities they could have easily walked away from. This is the other side of the spectrum, where the people take into their own hands the responsibility of stifling women with the Talent: the women are now slaves without their own free will, they cannot act on their own wants, they cannot use their Talent for their own agenda.

It is a horrible system, and Nynaeve, Egwene, Min, and Elayne might be forever changed for having known it. They know there were people years and years ago who have created a’dam to be used for this purpose. There was a short bit where Nynaeve contemplates about justice versus revenge, what do the sul’dam deserve for treating other women this way? Nynaeve chooses her interpretation of justice: the sul’dam having known what it feels like to be damane is justice enough.

I wonder what people from Caemlyn or Baerlon would think of the damane? Would they agree with the practice of having women with the Talent chained to keep them in line? Would they prefer to have control over Aes Sedai, instead of feeling like the Aes Sedai are using them as pawns to their game?

How do you deal with being a normal person in a world where other people are much more powerful than you?

The battle at Falme

Surprisingly, Rand and the gang has a very easy time sneaking into High Lord Turak’s house—where the Horn of Valere and Mat’s dagger is kept. I wonder why the Seanchan seem to be very lax rulers, but the people are extremely scared to break their rules? Right now I’m thinking it might just be a choice that Robert Jordan made so he can place Rand where the Horn is, but there must be more to it.

After Mat takes the Horn and the dagger, Rand defeats High Lord Turak—who, it turns out, is a real blademaster—in a one-on-one duel. Rand apparently becomes a blademaster in the void. Ingtar reveals himself to be a Darkfriend, and in a last attempt to come back into the Light he sacrifices himself so Rand and the gang could get away safely. Instead of getting away, they decide Mat should blow the Horn and Perrin should fly the banner. The Heroes are summoned—Rogosh, Gaidal, Birgitte, Artur, and many others. They battle the Seanchan army and the Children of the Light—which I don’t think I’ve ever talked about because they just feel like annoying ants to me at the moment, who even are they and what do they want to do? Why do I want to know who Geofram Bornhald is? Who is Byar aside from the guy who really hates Perrin?

Anyway, Rand battles Ba’alzamon again. Everybody sees it in the sky. They see Rand with the banner of the Dragon. Rand manages to pierce Ba’alzamon in the heart in a stance that left him open so Ba’alzamon got one on him as well. Min finds Rand unconscious in a tower somewhere. Egwene follows and then they talk about who gets to be Rand’s wife—girls, Rand might be dying right this minute, I do not care who gets to be his wife. Lanfear, who was Selene, reveals herself to Min.

The gang separates while Rand heals—Nynaeve, Egwene, Mat, and Hurin to Tar Valon with the Horn and Mat’s dagger; Min, Loial, Perrin, and Rand with Moiraine, Lan, and the soldiers of Fal Dara flying the Dragon’s banner.

And that’s how the book ended. The Dragon Reborn has been proclaimed, and Rand can no longer run away (although he still seems like he wants to, and thinks that he could). I think Rand might forever be thinking about running away, and his friends will forever be involved in all kinds of trouble, so Rand is forced to save them from those troubles. It seems like Rand’s biggest motivation is his friends and family—even though he has kind of made peace with the fact that Tam is not his father, he still considers Emond’s Field his home. He is also always thinking Oh, Light, Egwene! which is cue for I need to save Egwene or I need Egwene’s help which also means I cannot leave this web until all my friends are safe.

I think all of the Emond Fielders are in each other’s traps—at one point Mat says “Saving Egwene isn’t wasting time!” It seems that what will keep them moving forward, deeper and deeper into the web, is their care for each other. None of them are willing to leave the other behind for long, even if they have to part ways every now and then.

“The Dark One can have the Horn for all I care! What does finding the Horn count if I abandon Egwene to this? If I did that, the Horn couldn’t save me. The Creator couldn’t save me. I would damn myself.”

Other notes

Ingtar

You were ready to give it up to save a friend. Think not of glory.

All throughout the hunt for the Horn, Ingtar was very obsessed with needing to have the Horn in his hands. In the end we do discover that he was a Darkfriend, and he thought that sounding the Horn would be his salvation.

There is something to be said about Ingtar—who has fought Trollocs and Myrddraals probably every day of his life—and Rand—who only ever knew sheep. Ingtar was obsessed with glory, he did not want to see his suffering bear no fruit. Being on the frontline had made him desperate, as if not having glory is an unthinkable end. Something about having victory barely within arm’s reach had made him hungry for it. It made him unfit for the Horn. But Rand, and by extension Mat and Perrin, being mere farmboys and sheepherders, had no desire for glory—it was a foreign concept to them. What was important to them were each other and their friends and family back home. And maybe that is why they were the perfect candidates to blow the Horn.

Nynaeve

Nynaeve is still somehow the Wisdom of Emond’s Field. She hatched a plan to save Egwene and—even if she was shaking and sweating doing so—she was successful. She would not have forgiven herself if it did not work.

I admire Nynaeve’s determination and bravery. She never hesitated to help her friends, and she is wise enough to know that she has to want to learn things if she wants to save them from trouble. To me, that is the divide between Rand and Nynaeve. Rand is unwilling to play the game while already being in the front and center of it, but Nynaeve studies it, manipulates it, and plays it with the goal to get out of it.

It is kind of funny that she can only channel when it absolutely counts. Hearing her doubts and fears make her so human. Her threats and promises are also hilarious:

If he is any harder to handle than the Village Council with their backs up, I will eat this coat.

The conversation between women

I have multiple notes and highlights where I just wrote, “Why is this a conversation right now?” Yep, it’s a lot of the conversations between Egwene, Elayne, and Min. They talk about Rand so much. He cannot be that important. I don’t care if he’s ta’veren and this is his show. He cannot be that important. Talk about something else, talk about something else please.

It was especially incredulous when Egwene and Min was talking about who gets to be Rand’s wife while Rand was unconscious and probably almost dying. No, I just refuse to believe this is a normal conversation. I want to block it out of my memory. I don’t care if Rand is going to have three wives, I don’t need to hear Egwene and Min and Elayne discuss it every other conversation.

(I can slightly forgive the Galad conversation, because it was the only way (as of now) we as readers could know what kind of person he is. He is a rule-follower, and he will do the right thing every single time even if it meant hurting a person. Got it.)

Rand’s other lives

There was a moment (four months) where Rand transported the Bordermen from Stedding Tsofu to Falme, and in between he lived (or had a glimpse of) many different lives—of what he could have become if his choices were different. We only ever see the ones where Ba’alzamon wins, but in all cases Rand is Lews Therin.

There was one life in particular that interested me. Egwene was the Amyrlin Seat, and she led the initiative in gentling Rand. Surely that’s not foreshadowing… surely. Egwene has spent a lot of time away from Rand, and because of that she has harbored feelings toward him being the Dragon Reborn—feelings that might be negative. She knows what it might mean for his future. She knows he will go mad and his body will rot while he’s still alive. She knows he will be a danger to himself and the people around him. I can kind of see a trajectory where Egwene ends up deciding that gentling Rand is the best decision she could do to save him from himself. That will be an interesting end.

That concludes The Great Hunt. What was your experience reading the second book from the Wheel of Time series?

Next in line is The Dragon Reborn, which may or may not come next week. I might take a week or two off from Rage Reads, but I will keep you updated through Notes.

Rage’s tip jar.

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Note: This was originally posted on Substack.

Rage Reads Maharlika Komiks and Wednesday Addams Fanfiction

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I’m taking a very short break from the Wheel of Time series, so I have something new to share this week! No spoilers for either of these so read on if you want to know more about what I’m reading this week.

Maharlika by Rexy Dorado and John Ray

Maharlika is a dystopian science fiction comic series about The Republic of Maharlika—a nation founded when the Philippines gained independence after a victory against Spain. The story revolves around old friends Yari—a mercenary—and Mal—an infamous detective—rekindling their friendship after a bounty mission puts them on the same team. There’s robots, mercenaries in flying vehicles, drones that deliver your food right at your balcony, and a lot of cool stuff.

Except for the dialogue, much of the text written in this comic makes use of Baybayin—an ancient Philippine writing system that was widely used in the Tagalog-speaking regions of the Philippines before colonization. I used to be able to write full diary entries with this script when I was in high school, and it is so cool to be able to see it in Filipino works today! It is not as sophisticated as the spoken Filipino language, since it did not evolve with the culture, so some words—especially borrowed English words—are harder to write than others.

I discovered this comic series via a YouTube livestream replay that was on my recommendations page on a random Tuesday. I had been meaning to read more from Filipino authors after my brief Lualhati Bautista phase last year, and this is a perfect start for this year.

If you’re interested in giving it a look, I have great news for you: the first full volume is available for free right here on Substack—they have it published at Maharlika. They also have the digital volumes available for purchase on Gumroad.

Chaos for the Fly by LaylaJeffany, A Wednesday (TV 2022) Fanfiction

Chaos for the Fly is a work of fanfiction published in AO3.

I have been reading this in bite-sized chunks the past two months after stumbling upon it on an X thread. It became viral-ish after one user tweeted about it (I no longer have the tweet link, sorry) having a word count of over one million. It has 32 chapters, so about 44K words per chapter. Yup.

I was intrigued, and because I actually really liked the show, I gave it a try. It picks up after the first season, so if you’re looking to read this fanfic I recommend watching at least the first season of the Netflix show. It follows Wednesday Addams and the gang in the new semester after Season 1. The main mystery of the story is one that is very much a spoiler for the first season, so I will avoid talking about that. But the fanfic is full of other mysteries and plot points as well, including Enid accidentally summoning an evil spirit.

The pacing is a bit slower than I’m used to, but each scene is packed full of details and dialogue that moves the story forward bit by bit so I never felt like any particular chunk is a filler scene. Apart from Wednesday solving mysteries, we also get to see Wednesday’s personal and emotional journey to opening herself up to people and new experiences.

I haven’t finished it yet, so this isn’t my opinion after the fact, but the time investment on this one is worth it so far. The pay-offs at 250K words in are already satisfying despite there being a bigger mystery yet to be solved. If you like your mystery sprinkled with a lot of interpersonal and intrapersonal rollercoaster, I definitely recommend.

Other works I enjoyed

Until The Last Ragged Breath

The Doctor

Rage Reads Wheel of Time is back next week with the second half of The Great Hunt! More yapping soon.

Note: This was originally posted on Substack.

Rage Reads The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time #2), Chapters 11-25

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In the previous issue, I wrote about the first ten chapters of Robert Jordan’s The Great Hunt. This issue picks up where we left off up until the halfway point of the book.

Padan Fain transforms to something else

The start of the hunt for the Horn of Valere sees Ingtar and his men following Padan Fain’s tracks. They can never quite reach him, and the smell of murder grows ever stronger with each village they pass by. It is alluded to that Fain is something other than a Darkfriend now, and he has the dagger from Shadar Logoth to himself.

I wonder if Fain is no longer the Dark One’s hound. If that is possible, how did he find his way out of it? And what is he now? Did the dagger infect him like it did to Mat? That means he might now be Mordeth, no? And Mordeth is something even the Trollocs and Myrddraals avoid.

Rand uses the Power

Rand finds himself, Hurin the sniffer, and Loial the Ogier transported into an alternate reality after unconsciously channeling the One Power. There they meet a woman named Selene, who is apparently very, very beautiful. It’s kind of iffy how that is what distracts Rand from bigger problems at hand. It might be that the woman has some sort of power over men that make them stumble and stutter and forget who they are.

Selene is suspiciously obsessed over the Horn, and that Rand should be the one to retrieve it. She is very much convincing Rand to use more of the One Power. And I don’t like saying this but she honestly sounds like a… glory digger? Like a gold digger but for glory instead of gold. You get what I mean. I sound like Mat when he was infected with the dagger but I am very wary of Selene. I am giving her a big side eye. Meanwhile, Rand is willing to be trained like an obedient little pet—maybe against his will, but still.

They eventually get out of the alternate dimension and back to the current world after Rand uses more of the One Power. I’ll give it my best attempt to read Rand a little deeper than I have been. I’ve been a little mean to him thus far.

It seems that Rand is an unwilling Chosen One, even after going all the way to the Blight to fight Ba’alzamon (and succeeding) he still does not, or refuses to, realize the gravity of the situation he’s in and the responsibility that has been put on his shoulders. He’s young, so I get it a little bit. But what does he think would happen after he runs away? How would he forget the events that transpired within the past few months of his life? The Shadow is threatening the peace of the human race, and he had just been told he might be the only one who can truly stop it from happening. How do you say no to that? How do you turn your back on that?

But I do know he is at least motivated by the people he cares about. He is willing to stay to retrieve Mat’s dagger and to see him safe. I also believe there is a part of Rand that is willing to be the Chosen One just to save Egwene from all the mess that could come if he didn’t. Perhaps it’s the thought that he might not even be alive for all of it, if he does save the world, that makes him feel helpless. He is in a losing game, whether he runs away or not.

Egwene the good pupil and Nynaeve the problem child

I am a little surprised that the Amyrlin Seat is hands-on with teaching their trainees. I was expecting other Aes Sedai to do it, given the amount of problems Siuan must be facing at any given moment. They were on a ship to Tar Valon, though, so maybe the Amyrlin is just bored with not much else to do.

Nynaeve is temperamental, and most of the Aes Sedai know this by now. For some reason, she can only effectively channel when she’s angry. Siuan decides to see it for herself by goading her. And it worked. Nynaeve used the One Power on the Amyrlin herself, which no novice or Accepted would probably ever try to do. To be honest, I am very impressed with Nynaeve’s abilities. I know they said she was strong, but I didn’t know that she was really strong.

It seems the dynamics have shifted a little bit with Egwene and Nynaeve. Between the two, Egwene is now the star pupil, progressing as she is expected to and following her lessons closely. Nynaeve, on the other hand, is a problem child. The Aes Sedai have to convince her that she needs the training every time they come for lessons. Egwene even finds herself silently praying that Nynaeve rein in her temper.

I thought that was interesting. How does Nynaeve feel about her apprentice being praised more than she is? I don’t know if she cares about who is better behaved, though. What she cares about is not losing control, not surrendering to anything if she can help it. She’s stubborn and refuses to let anyone (maybe with the exception of Egwene) see even a glimmer of a chink in her armor. She did, however, lower her pride a tiny bit when asking Sheriam Sedai to please take it easy on Egwene. It seems like she still sees herself as the Wisdom of Emond’s Field and she sees it her responsibility to make sure that the people she cares about are safe.

A Warder’s bond

When I had begun reading this series, it always stumped me why there was so much hatred for Aes Sedai in most of the places in this world. I thought, why would they hate the people who vowed to only use their power against evil? It’s not like the people were being taxed in exchange for the protection (that we know of). And while I still don’t completely understand why that is, I think I’m starting to get the idea.

There are some… questionable practices within the whole Aes Sedai and Warder setup. Warders are effectively the muscle, and Aes Sedai are like squishy wizards. If I understand correctly, the Warder is bound by oath to protect the Aes Sedai, and the Aes Sedai can compel their Warder to follow an order if they choose to (which Moiraine mentioned she has not and never chosen to do). I feel as though there is definitely a power imbalance in that relationship, nevermind the fact that one of them has powers. Could this be one of the reasons why Aes Sedai are so hated? Do the people see Warders as men who have given up their life to be personal hound dogs for women?

In the conversation between Moiraine and Lan, there are a lot of hints and promises of plot points being made that could be revealed and fulfilled in the future. Moiraine mentions briefly the history of how she and Lan met, and she alludes to knowing about Lan’s fraying loyalty by allowing himself to be captivated by a village girl. In this conversation, we also become privy to Lan’s reasons for teaching Rand like he’s a Warder apprentice when Rand went to meet the Amyrlin. Lan had felt like Rand needed someone on his side, to not look like a puppy in front of a wolf.

With all that has been said, Moiraine feels a little bit of jealousy towards Nynaeve (although she did not reveal this to Lan). She felt that Lan was captivated by the Wisdom of Emond’s Field, and Nynaeve’s concerns became his concerns.

Nynaeve becomes an Accepted

Back in Tar Valon, Sheriam Sedai initiates the trials by which Nynaeve becomes an Accepted, a step above novice, and one step towards becoming an Aes Sedai.

In the trials we get to see Nynaeve’s fears and doubts, and which of those she can walk away from and which she cannot. In the first trial, the trial of the past, she finds herself running from Aginor, the Forsaken from the previous book during the battle in the Eye of the World. Nynaeve’s fears slowly turn into anger, which is a common theme with Nynaeve, but in this case it helps her channel the One Power to use against Aginor. The tables turn quickly around with Aginor running away from her.

When Nynaeve steps out of the first trial, we learn that women who go through the trials are not supposed to remember that they can channel, and if they do, they come out of it having been stripped of the Talent. This did not happen with Nynaeve, luckily for us readers (me especially), and she is still able to channel. However, Sheriam Sedai did not make such a big deal out of this information. It may just be an Aes Sedai thing to brush it off, but I feel that this topic will come up again later. Nynaeve had just done something nobody in their known history has ever done before.

In the second trial, the trial of the present, Nynaeve is faced with a dilemma of helping the Emond’s Fielders or walking away. It was evident to me that Nynaeve truly did want to help, she still considered it her responsibility to help the people of Emond’s Field. She did not use the One Power in this trial, and she was able to walk away. I believe this marks a turning point for Nynaeve, she is no longer the Wisdom of Emond’s Field, and she may never be able to go back to that life ever again.

The third trial, the trial of the future, was surprising to me, but I guess I should be used to it by now. Nynaeve was Queen of Malkier after marrying al’Lan Mandragoran. The third trial is supposed to be the hardest to walk away from, and now we know as readers that this is something Nynaeve holds close to her heart, closer even than being Wisdom of Emond’s Field. She missed the doorway to step out of this trial, which Sheriam Sedai says comes only once, and then never again. In a surprising move, Nynaeve—because she’s Nynaeve—channels the One Power to create her own doorway and walks out of this alternate reality.

An interesting little detail, after Nynaeve walked out of the third trial: both her palms were pierced through with black thorns. Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But I cannot wrap my head around this correlation. Why were Nynaeve’s palms pierced, where did it come from? What does it symbolize? It could simply be a symbol of sacrifice—her sacrificing the life she could have had in order to save her friends. But it can also imply and indicate quite a big role in the salvation of the human race—one where she sacrifices her life for the sake of many. There could very well be a ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ moment for Nynaeve in the future.

Other notes

“I’d rather one of the Warders taught me how to use a sword,” Nynaeve growled. She swallowed convulsively, and opened her eyes. “There is someone I’d like to use it on.” — Okay, hands up for those who want to see Nynaeve with a sword. Nobody? Just me? Okay. I am just a girl.
“I’ve studied the Prophecies enough to know we dare not gentle him first. If we can gentle him.” — We know that Tar Valon means to gentle the Dragon Reborn after the Last Battle, and it will likely take every woman who can channel to do so. Is this going to become Elayne’s, Egwene’s, or Nynaeve’s role? Are they going to be the only Aes Sedai strong enough to cut the Dragon Reborn off from the True Source?
A warded Draghkar attempts to take Moiraine’s life. This is an implication that a woman who can channel has access to the Shadow’s hounds. The Black Ajah?
Egwene meets Elayne, Min, Galad, and Gawyn for the first time in the White Tower.
Rand discovers Thom is alive!

I will take a short break from Wheel of Time next week, but I will share (spoiler-free this time) some new exciting things I’m reading apart from Wheel of Time!

I will be back discussing the second half of The Great Hunt after next week. Please feel free to read along with me and drop your thoughts and opinions in the comments! No spoilers beyond The Great Hunt please.

Rage Reads will always be free. But if you find my writing useful or just want to support my work, please consider giving me a tip.

Note: This was originally posted on Substack.

Rage Reads The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time #2), Chapters 1-10

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Rage Reads is a book journal where I write about my thoughts and opinions on the books I’m currently reading. In the previous two issues (#2, #3) of Rage Reads, I discussed the first book in the Wheel of Time series: The Eye of the World.

This week, I am writing about the first ten chapters of The Great Hunt which is the second book in the series. You can read along with me, I will probably talk about the Wheel of Time series for most of this year. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions too!

And as always, a warning: there will be The Great Hunt spoilers in this issue.

Where we left off

The Great Hunt picks up about two weeks after the events of the first book, where Rand al’Thor has severed Ba’alzamon’s tie to something (the One Power?) and has weakened him a considerable amount. They also found the Horn of Valere which summons heroes from the legends of old to fight the Last Battle. Right now we don’t really know yet what the Last Battle is, or who exactly the horn will summon. But it is important; in fact, Moiraine insists that it be sent to Illian where The Great Hunt of the Horn is held every few hundred years.

Apart from the Horn of Valere, they also found the Dragon’s banner and a small broken disc that Moiraine says is one of the seals used to keep Ba’alzamon where he is held. Supposedly, the disc cannot be broken by any force known to man, and yet they found it in pieces.

Rand tries to run away

The first thing on Rand’s agenda is to run away. He is scared about many things. He just learned that he can channel the One Power, and that in itself had lots of implications that could scare a sheepherder. Firstly, he will most likely go insane. Because the male counterpart of the True Source was tainted by the Shadow, there is evil that covers the source and every time a man tries to channel the One Power he will feel the evil within it and it will eventually consume him. Rand knows this, from countless stories and myths and legends.

Secondly, he can channel the One Power. The only men as of late who could channel the One Power are false Dragons, who are hunted down to be taken to Tar Valon and gentled. Gentling is a process that severs a man’s tie to the True Source, preventing him from channeling with the One Power. It is also said that men who are gentled eventually succumb to death’s embrace as they lose their will to live. (Surely these are all only Rand’s worries and not at all a foreshadowing to his future, right?)

Thirdly, the Amyrlin Seat is coming to Fal Dara. The Amyrlin Seat, who leads all Aes Sedai–Aes Sedai who can either gentle him or use him as a puppet in this big game of power. And last but not the least, Rand is a danger to those around him. Because no living man can train him in using the One Power, he can be a danger to himself and others even when he does not mean to be.

So understandably, Rand is afraid of many things. Mostly he just wants to be alone, where he’s not a danger to anybody but himself and where no Aes Sedai can control him. He wants to run far, far away. However, things don’t always work out the way we want them to.

Rand is self-destructive

As with many a youth who is fearful or anxious or angry, Rand is also self-destructive. Instead of saying goodbye to his friends and declaring he’ll go out for an adventure (as you do), he instead pushes them away by making them think he wants to be rid of them, that they’re a burden to him because he always has to look out for them.

But I know it’s not always easy saying goodbye, especially if you don’t really want to. He reminds me of myself when I was a teenager; I used to push people away all the time because I didn’t know how to deal with the fact that they care about me or that I care about them. So I get it, I do.

But Rand either does not get it, or just doesn’t know how to make sense of his feelings. Even in his POVs we only hear about his worries or his fears, surface-level reasons for his actions. A worrying trend here is that Egwene comes to save the day and tells Rand about his own feelings.

What is hiding except running away? And after you hide, you’ll run away for true. And what about hurting Mat, and Perrin, and Loial? And me? I know why. You’re afraid you will hurt somebody even worse if you let them stay near you.

I mean, thank god for Egwene. I don’t think Rand can think for himself most times. Am I being harsh? He is a woolheaded farm boy.

The witches of Tar Valon

Okay, I sound Aes Sedai-phobic with that section title, but believe me I say witches with utmost awe. In fact, I would want to be a witch. Anyway, the Amyrlin Seat arrives at Fal Dara along with a dozen Aes Sedai and their Warders. This is the first time in the series that we get a tiny little glimpse of the inner workings of Aes Sedai.

I won’t take it personally, but the way women are written in this book… I’ve heard some things. A great many things, stereotypes I believe they’re called. I’ll attempt to give Robert Jordan the benefit of the doubt; I know nothing about him or his personal life, but I do know that the Wheel of Time series is an old series, despite it lasting past 2010.

The women in this book are prideful, and very bitchy towards each other. Egwene and Nynaeve’s allyship with each other is a breath of fresh air, when it should be the norm. Liandrin Sedai is immediately hostile towards Moiraine, and while yes it might just be because Moiraine is Blue Ajah and Liandrin Red, still I had expected a modicum of civility among women who have managed to establish an organization such as Tar Valon. Rome isn’t built in a day, or however the saying goes. Like, it takes a village to raise a child. What? No, I mean, they have to have been at least civil with each other about many a things despite disagreements, otherwise Tar Valon would have swallowed itself from the inside.

With that said, it is revealed to the reader that Moiraine and the Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche, are keeping a little secret in the form of three village boys, one of which can channel. A secret that can get them both stilled, which is the female equivalent to being gentled. I know a lot of the details of the secret are yet to be revealed, but we know that they plan for Rand al’Thor to declare himself Dragon Reborn after returning with the Horn of Valere in Illian.

They also discuss Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve, mentioning the fact that all three have great, great potential to be very powerful Aes Sedai. It kind of makes me think that the current Aes Sedai all suck—and maybe they do, and maybe we’re building towards Elayne’s, Egwene’s, and Nynaeve’s future in this journey.

The Shadow stirs

Many things happened upon the arrival of the Amyrlin Seat.

We see Liandrin doing some very sketchy things, maybe even sketchier than the usual Red Ajah shenanigans. She has effectively threatened Lady Amalisa who runs the dorms of Fal Dara and is also sister to Lord Agelmar. She has the ability to bend somebody to her will, is what I gathered. A dangerous ability to have, especially in secret.

Padan Fain broke out of the dungeons under Fal Dara keep, and it is apparent that he had the help of someone within the walls. Egwene and Mat are caught in the chaos and fall unconscious. They might be two out of the only four people who have witnessed what happened under the keep, but neither could remember anything when they awoke. Again Liandrin acts suspiciously like she knows what’s happening.

Rand meets the Amyrlin

So the Amyrlin calls for Rand al’Thor, and he is in shambles.

Lan is a tad bit funnier in this book, which I am not mad about. I thought he was too serious in the first book, but I attributed it to him being a Warder and that maybe all Warders are a little too serious about anything and everything. I thought it was funny how he tried to teach Rand what to do and how to act in front of the Amyrlin Seat. It sounds like a circus act. Lan and his little Warder-in-training.

The Amyrlin reveals that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, which is not a surprise to the reader (I hope) but it is a surprise to Rand. His world was turned upside down just then. And then Moiraine and Suian proceed to tell him about his true lineage, his origin. He is not his father’s son. He is an Aielman, born on the slope of Dragonmount, and he burns like the sun.

Understandably, Rand breaks down in front of Moiraine and the Amyrlin. In the first book, Rand’s whole thing was that he is his father’s son. I think learning that Tam is not his father is more devastating to him than learning he’s the Dragon Reborn. And because Lan told him to face his fears on his feet, we don’t really get to delve into Rand’s feelings on the matter as much as I’d like as a reader. He’s devastated, is all I know.

Lan makes a promise

Here we are again, in the Lan and Nynaeve side story.

I was right about Lan being much older than Nynaeve. He must be in his 40s or late 30s, while Nynaeve is in her early 20s. Nynaeve is a little bit jealous of Moiraine for having Lan as her Warder and because Lan’s loyalty lies with Moiraine. I honestly did not think Nynaeve would be so shallow enough to say “She has everything I want, the Light burn her!” It’s not convincing enough for me that a Wisdom who refused to leave her charge behind, who refuses to let them carry their burdens alone, who had carried the burden of a whole village, would be so… shallow about matters of romance. Lan is not everything.

And then Lan gives her a ring, a promise ring. A ring that represents many things, mainly to provide aid when Nynaeve needs it.

Send it to me, or a message marked with it, and I will come to you, without delay and without fail. This I swear.

I wonder if Lan can actually keep this promise, knowing how big of a responsibility he has not just as any Warder but as Moiraine’s Warder. This sounds like a promise that is made to be broken.

Okay, I have to admit, if Lan were a woman I might not be saying all these things. So I’m giving Lan and Nynaeve just a tiny bit of a side eye, just a little tiny bit. It’s fine, they can love how they want to. Who am I to argue?

The hunt begins

Chapter 10 prepares us for the Great Hunt of the Horn. The Horn of Valere was taken from Lord Agelmar’s office, and they assume whoever freed Padan Fain during the ruckus underneath the keep also took the Horn and Mat’s dagger. Rand decides he should stay at least until they find the Horn, which also means retrieving the Shadar Logoth dagger, thus saving Mat’s life. The hunt is led by Ingtar, with a sniffer called Hurin who can track the smell of murder. Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Loial are all along for the hunt, while Egwene and Nynaeve travel to Tar Valon with Moiraine and the Amyrlin Seat to begin their training to become Aes Sedai.

Other notes

Mat’s luck with the dice is mentioned for the first time! The trickster with his lucky dice.
Leane is a little funny. She’s surprisingly… flirty? Playful? She can still be as intimidating as other Aes Sedai but I didn’t expect to be laughing at her antics.
The Red Ajah do not have Warders, because they hate men. To that I say: have you considered women Warders? (The male Aes Sedai must have had women Warders, no? Is that too woke?)

I got a little too summary-heavy with this issue. I will try to move away from sounding like a Wheel of Time summary and instead lean more towards my thoughts as a reader about the story as it unfolds. However, I cannot promise to lessen the Nynaeve talk—she is my favorite character at this point.

Thanks for reading this issue of Rage Reads. If you’d like to read along with me, please feel free to do so! Drop your thoughts and opinions in the comments or message me. No spoilers beyond The Great Hunt please!

Next week, I will discuss the rest of the first half of The Great Hunt (that is, chapters 11 through 25). If you want to be notified, please do subscribe to my newsletter!

Rage Reads will always be free. But if you find my writing useful or just want to support my work, please consider giving me a tip.

Note: This was originally posted on Substack.

Rage Reads The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1), Part 2

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In a previous issue I had discussed my thoughts and opinions on the five from The Eye of the World. This issue is a direct continuation of that, where I will be discussing my thoughts and opinions about everything else. Again, note: there will be spoilers for The Eye of the World.

Moiraine and Lan

Moiraine is an Aes Sedai, which means she can channel the One Power to do magical things. There are a lot of promises, hints, plot points alluded to, with the introduction of Moiraine Sedai. Only a few of them are resolved by the end of the book, two of which is the Eye of the World and the Horn of Valere.

The first time I read this book, I thought Moiraine was the coolest ever. She had powers, and she kept the boys safe, and she knew so many things. But I was naive then. On the second read, actually Moiraine wasn’t all that. She is frustratingly secretive and vague, and coolly nonchalant about most things. (The nonchalance may have been part of her upbringing in the Cairhien Royal Palace, which was mentioned towards the very end of the book.) She’s also not above manipulation to get what she wants.

It doesn’t help Moiraine’s reputation that she’s claimed two young women to have enough potential to be very, very strong Aes Sedai.

With training you might become even more powerful than Egwene, and I believe she can become one of the most powerful Aes Sedai we have seen in centuries.

The two young women she’s just met, and she already thinks they could be stronger than her. Maybe she’s just humble, but why would she inflate Egwene and Nynaeve’s heads like that? Is that part of the training? Lan also at some point had spoken to Nynaeve like she was already Aes Sedai.

“You see, Nynaeve, you are welcome to come.” There was a hesitation in the way Lan said her name, a hint of an unspoken “Sedai” after it.

Isn’t that kind of crazy? Or are Warders also trained to “sense” women who have already touched the True Source? It’s certainly not just vibes, right? I know that this is the author’s way to establish promises, events to look forward to, and hooks that the reader should hold on to, and it is proving to be effective. I want to see Egwene become Amyrlin Seat, and I want to see Nynaeve become one of the most powerful Aes Sedai in recent history.

Also a side note, I’m pretty sure Lan almost broke his oath (whatever it is) to save Nynaeve when they went to rescue Perrin and Egwene from the Children of the Light. That is a big thing, coming from a Warder. Lan was a very serious character, and his demeanor does not invite anything other than rigidity, battle-ready.

Lan being king was curious, and it expectedly put a barrier between him and Nynaeve. Lan’s story sounds like he could be the chosen one instead of Rand, it is certainly more interesting so far. But I wonder if Lan ever will claim the title and fly the banner again. A Warder and a King.

I, however, did like that Moiraine does not always treat Nynaeve like she’s a child. Even when Nynaeve kept on antagonizing her, confronting her at every opportunity, she made Nynaeve see reason by explaining her thought process on certain decisions that Nynaeve disagreed with. In a way I think this is her way of “training” Nynaeve to keep a clear head when faced with difficult decisions. A skill that may be useful in Nynaeve’s future?

Padan Fain

Padan Fain’s introduction to the series was weak. He was a peddler that regularly visited Emond’s Field to sell his wares. On the night of the Trolloc attack, he vanished.

But soon after, the reader learns that Padan Fain very much has a big role in the journey of Rand becoming who he is supposed to be. In Fal Dara, when Padan Fain was caught and interrogated, he admitted that he has been following Rand—that, in fact, he was made for that purpose. Padan Fain is the Shadow’s hound dog, Find My Rand tracker, and a filthy little thing.

We might see more of Padan Fain. Moiraine felt that he is hiding more secrets.

Thom Merrillin

The gleeman! I don’t really have much to say about him, apart from the fact that it’s a nice thing for the boys to learn practical, non-world saving skills while on the road running away from evil, evil creatures. Imagine a Dragon Reborn who could pass as a gleeman playing the flute and juggling balls as a fun little hobby.

Anyway, I don’t fully believe Thom is dead. I’m not going to spoil future books (I don’t remember much of them anyway), but I feel like the fact that Rand still keeps Thom’s things has to mean something. And also didn’t Min also see the gleeman as part of the Pattern or something like that?

Trollocs and Myrddraals

Evil little not-cute kittens. (That’s genuinely my notes on them. They hate deep water and they can’t swim.)

Others

A quote from Elyas that I really liked, when Perrin was about to throw away his axe into a lake:

You’ll use it, boy, and as long as you hate using it, you will use it more wisely than most men would. Wait. If ever you don’t hate it any longer, then will be the time to throw it as far as you can and run the other way.

I think that’s accurate for any weapon that can destroy and harm.

In my head there was whooping and a round of applause when Loial was introduced for the first time. Of course, this didn’t happen in my first read. In my head Loial is like a beloved character in a sitcom appearing on screen for the first time in the series, for some reason.

Elayne Trakand was also introduced, and we saw very, very little of her in this book. Sounds like she knew what she was doing, but Gawyn alluded to her not always being taken seriously and being treated like… a princess, or a child. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.

“It is not right,” Elayne said. “She asked if I wanted to pick out the one farm she could do the same for, while all around it the crops still failed, but it still isn’t right for us to have flowers when there are people who do not have enough to eat.

Elaida is scary. I don’t have any opinions on Queen Morgase and Gareth Bryne.

A quote from Moiraine that sounds nice but probably isn’t useful in real life:

A tool made for a purpose is not demeaned by being used for that purpose.

We create our own purpose, and we choose to make ourselves tools for that purpose.

That’s the end for The Eye of the World. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the book, or your thoughts and opinions on my own thoughts and opinions. No spoilers beyond The Eye of The World please!

I will probably be writing about Wheel of Time for the rest of the year, but I will try to read other books or series in between. You’re welcome to suggest books you think I should read.

Rage Reads will always be free. If you enjoyed this piece and want to support my work, please consider giving me a tip.

Note: This was originally posted on Substack.

Rage Reads The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1), Part 1

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

More than a decade ago when I was but a young child, my godfather had gifted me a book. By then I was already a reader, and I would ask my parents to buy me this book or that whenever we would pass by a bookstore.

On that particular birthday, my godfather who was a fan of all things sci-fi and fantasy decided to introduce me to the Wheel of Time series. Now, by that time I was only reading Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson, and The Mysterious Benedict Society, which are all easy enough reads for my relatively untrained mind. I had never heard of the Wheel of Time series before that.

But I still read it. And it was a daunting task. I remember finishing the book months later and only kind of vaguely knowing what happened in the book. But I remember enjoying what I understood, so I went on to buy and read the next five books in the series. And then I stopped. I moved on to other things.

This year, I decided to re-read Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World in hopes to actually understand what is happening, and also to finally finish the series this time. These are my thoughts on the first book of the series. Please be warned: there will be spoilers for The Eye of the World in this review.

Don’t be surprised, but I’ve never read any Tolkien book, nor do I remember what happened in Lord of the Rings when I watched it with my siblings (I think I was asleep for most of it). But I have seen reviews of this book, and this series as a whole, and a lot of them mention Tolkien. I am here to say: there will be none of that in this series of issues, because I know none of it.

The Eye of the World, despite being a full-length book, is a short introduction to a long, long series. In this first book, we meet for the first time Rand al’Thor and his friends Matrim Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, Egwene al’Vere, and Nynaeve al’Meara. We also learn about very many things about the world that Robert Jordan has created: the people and the culture of Emond’s Field, Aes Sedai and their Warders, Trollocs and Myrddraals, and many other myths and legends.

Egwene al’Vere

Egwene al’Vere is the mayor’s daughter, and basically betrothed to Rand al’Thor. Egwene is apprentice to Nynaeve al’Meara who is the Wisdom of the village.

Reading the book as an adult there were unsurprisingly many things I had missed the first time. First, I did not understand Egwene’s character as much as I did this time around. Even before the prologue we see Egwene as a child, Egwene who had always persevered, and pushed herself to break limits and set new records. The best to ever carry water from the river. The youngest ever to be allowed to braid her hair. An apprentice to the youngest Wisdom Emond’s Field has seen.

She’s an achiever, and we may not have seen her achieve anything extraordinary in this book but she’s been set up for greatness. Moiraine even mentions she may even become the Amyrlin Seat one day, which is high praise coming from an Aes Sedai. I don’t know (or don’t remember) what those amazing feats are yet, but I am excited to find out as we read on.

One thing I am curious about is why Egwene even showed interest in becoming an Aes Sedai at all. I know she was craving for adventure like the other boys, which is why she wanted to come with. But I wonder if becoming an Aes Sedai is just another check off the bucket list for her.

Nynaeve al’Meara

Another character I had severely misread was Nynaeve. Reader, I hated Nynaeve when I was a young teenager reading this book. She’s so… I don’t know. Uptight? Always angry? Always wanted to be in control, always wanted to be one step ahead. Always insisted that she’s correct. And, back then, teenager me always sided with Moiraine Sedai, who was cool with awesome powers and knew everything and everyone. Boy was I so wrong.

I don’t know how I had completely missed the gravity of Nynaeve’s upbringing. She was an orphan at such a young age, and the youngest Wisdom the little village has ever seen, and she’s gone through the unpleasant effects of touching the True Source by herself, alone with nobody to guide her. She had the whole world on her shoulders, and teenage me had no idea how that can affect a person. But now I understand, now I see. She had to learn how to be independent at such a young age. She holds herself to such a high standard, to such high expectations, she cannot bear to fail her people.

(Okay slight spoiler: I also remember Nynaeve becoming my favorite character later on in the series. I don’t remember exactly why, I just know I’m going to love her eventually.)

The one thing that caught me completely off-guard even on my second read was the romance between Lan, who is Moiraine Sedai’s Warder, and Nynaeve. I thought it came out of nowhere, although I can kind of see why Nynaeve would be attracted to somebody who she cannot outsmart or outplay or out-strategize. If Moiraine wasn’t an Aes Sedai I think Nynaeve would have liked her too (maybe a love-hate relationship). Also, I don’t know how old Lan is exactly but I know they have an age gap that was significant enough for me to not even entertain the idea of romance between the two—hence my surprise.

She cares enough about Lan to let her guard down and look vulnerable in front of Lan, which is so unlike Nynaeve that it really doesn’t help me accept the relationship between these two. But love does make people do crazy things, I guess?

Nevertheless, I’m most excited to follow Nynaeve’s story in this series, however big or small that may be.

Perrin Aybara

Ah, little wolf boy. Perrin Aybara is an apprentice blacksmith of the village who works in Master Luhhan’s forge. He is friends with Rand al’Thor and Matrim Cauthon.

Perrin was not enough of an interesting character for me on the get-go to really pay attention to his story. In fact, I often looked out for reasons why he’s one of the three. It was not immediately obvious to me what sort of promises come with Perrin other than the fact that he is Rand’s friend. It wasn’t really until the journey to Caemlyn that we get an idea of what the future might hold for him.

There’s a part of me that is just excited with the idea of humans psychically communicating with wolves, and that may be why I have taken a small liking to Perrin as the story went on. I think he has a good head on his shoulders, but I cannot imagine him in any leadership position or any position of greatness. He seems very meek and timid, even more so after he killed two men.

The most interesting tidbit that made me pause while reading Perrin is that he, at some point, a very small point, had considered mercy killing Egwene. That’s interesting, and something I believe not a lot of people will consider if they were in his position. Would you rather kill your friend, by your hands, to save them from a more gruesome, more painful fate?

When he is not around his friends, Perrin sounds like a young man grappling with control and leadership or gentleness and level-headedness. Throughout the book he had often been just a second, third, or even fourth opinion. When left alone with Egwene in an unfamiliar forest with Trollocs hot on their heels, he takes it upon himself to take on the role of the leader, which is an unfamiliar role for him.

Matrim Cauthon

The trickster. Like Perrin, I did not find Mat interesting. He did seem like the typical boys will be boys type—pulling pranks, never serious about anything, probably only cares about himself. But very early on we know that the Old Blood of Manetheren (a name they called Emond’s Field many, many years ago) runs strong within him. That may be an important part of his story, and why he’s one of the three.

Mat can be very self-centered, he likes to show off when with friends. He is also greedy, when presented with treasures from Shadar Logoth he could not help but take a ruby-hilted dagger that would eventually be something his fate is tied to, even when he was warned not to take anything from the cursed place.

The most interesting thing about Mat, on the journey to Caemlyn after he’s been infected by the evil in Shadar Logoth, is how much of a friend he still was to Rand despite the fact that he was… not himself. His mind was likely poisoned with evil thoughts, and he was always looking over his shoulders. He was suspicious about anything and everything, and yet he still took care of Rand when he was sick. He trusted Rand to a certain point. From that I know his relationships with people aren’t as shallow as it appears.

I wish we could have gotten more POV from him during the time he and Rand was running from Whitebridge to Caemlyn.

Rand al’Thor

And the chosen one. Most of the book was in Rand’s point of view, and how unfortunate is that? Okay, a little bit harsh but I didn’t think he was interesting either. None of the boys were interesting enough, none more than the myths and legends, the history of the world Robert Jordan created. Rand is a sheepherder, who looks nothing like his neighbors but insists he is his father’s son. That’s the biggest part of his story in this book, which wasn’t enough to convince me that he is interesting.

Maybe I’m too quick to judge. Maybe all I’ve ever known are chosen ones who are very obviously chosen ones. I know that Rand being not his father’s son is a big part of who he is, but also I thought he should have had something else going for him. He’s a sheepherder but he’s a sheep. I wanted him to be somebody else, but maybe I’m too impatient and maybe we’re building towards that. Maybe he’ll be interesting enough for me to care as the story progresses. After all, this is his journey.

The only glimpse we see of Rand’s power was towards the end of the book, when he touched the One Power from the Eye to sever Ba’alzamon’s tie. Moiraine mentions that very few could have channeled that amount of One Power unaided without being destroyed. And Rand did it, against Ba’alzamon. So apart from Egwene and Nynaeve, Rand is also mega strong.

Aside from the Chosen One stuff, it has also been established early on in the story that Rand and Egwene are somewhat of a thing. It certainly seems like they care about each other that way, but the only eventful thing in their relationship is when the other talks to someone else—like Rand with Min and Else, and then Egwene with Aram the Tinker. Min did mention that they won’t be in each other’s life the way they expect, which I am curious about. If Egwene does become Aes Sedai, there’s a high probability she won’t marry, right?

Those are my thoughts on the five. I have more thoughts on everything else, which I’ll publish in a separate post next week. But I’d love to hear your thoughts on this series, and your thoughts on the five people I discussed. No spoilers beyond The Eye of the World please!

I will likely be talking about Wheel of Time the whole year, but I’ll try to read other books or series in between. You’re welcome to comment your suggestions for books you think I should read.

Rage Reads will always be free. If you enjoyed this piece and want to support my work, please consider giving me a tip.

Note: This was originally posted on Substack.

Rage against the dying of the light

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Note: This was originally posted on Substack.

This year I made a resolution to read more books.

To be honest, I had always made that resolution every year, but in the end I didn’t always read as much as I wanted. I didn’t make enough time for reading, or I was too caught up with work, or I was doomscrolling on TikTok instead of reading. I had many reasons why I didn’t read enough. But this time I am reading for a purpose: I want to be a writer, and in order to be a good writer I know I should read more than I’ve ever read before.

I had always loved reading, and had always been drawn more towards the fantasy and mystery genre in my younger years. I enjoyed reading about wizardry and magic in Harry Potter. I dove into the world of Greek gods and goddesses in Percy Jackson. I had enjoyed uncovering clues and solving puzzles in the Mysterious Benedict Society series, and I loved learning about the unusual in Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children universe.

And while I still kept up my fantasy reads, from Wheel of Time to Stormlight Archive, in recent years I have opened myself up to other genres. About five years ago I started reading romance for the first time with the Jericho series from Ann McMan. I hadn’t realized it was a genre I would enjoy if I only opened myself up to reading queer romance instead of straight romance (I’m queer, and all I’ve known in books growing up was straight romance – it was not for me). Science fantasy was another genre that I didn’t know tickled my fancy, and while yes it is a subgenre in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, I didn’t know it was a particular flavor that I would love so much. My 5-star rated series in the last five years remains to be the Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin and The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, which are both science fantasy and very well written in my opinion.

Now that I’m in my late 20s, I have been thinking a lot about my other passion: writing. I think I started wanting to write ever since I started reading the first book I’ve ever read: it was Diary of a Wimpy Kid in 6th grade (I know that’s a bit late, I didn’t grow up reading books, or speaking English for that matter). And the first time I ever wrote something that isn’t for school was in my diary. When I started reading in the fantasy genre, I realized I can write stories too and not just about my life.

But writing died when I went to college. Well, I killed it. I stamped it down deep inside me because I had signed a contract when I was eleven years old that basically forced me to forget about writing, about taking up any humanities major in college. I was legally bound to take a science or technology related course, and that was what my path will look like for the foreseeable future—or at least that’s what I thought at the time. The only formal writing I had done since then have been my technical project write-up, and a few technical articles about software engineering.

And now I am kind of done with tech. There’s much to say, but this field has died—has been dying—since it stopped being about nerdy little projects and started becoming a profit race. And I know most other jobs won’t be any different, everything is about profit and everyone is measured by how much money you can generate for a company. But programming has always been a fun hobby since I was eleven years old, and I underestimated how much capitalism can affect how I enjoy it. And now I understand why people say don’t make your hobby into a job. (And here I am again trying to turn another hobby into something that pays.)

Don’t get me wrong, I know a lot of people still love to problem solve and build solutions in the form of software. There’s a part of me that still wants to be a part of that, but I think there’s a bigger part of me that is just done with all of it. I think I had poured so much of my soul into something that didn’t give me the meaning I had been hoping to find, and now I want to spend my time doing something else. I want to be something other than a software engineer.

I’m still working in the field, I still have a full-time job. I know that realistically I can’t just drop everything and decide to write for a living. I know that writing, for most of us, is mostly a hobby that we would hope to someday pay, but until it does we have to just keep on keeping on. So that’s why I’m writing this today.

I thought I should hit two birds with one stone, so I decided to start this newsletter as a way to read more books and also exercise and improve on my writing skills. I welcome constructive criticism on my writing, as well as reader thoughts and opinions on the books I will be writing about.

I’m planning to post once a week on Sundays, and the first post after this will be about the Wheel of Time. If you’re interested, consider subscribing to my newsletter!

Against the Dying Light

5 Things I Read This Week

1. bawal mangarap nang malayo kapag sakto lang ang pamasahe pabalik by ænri؛༊

2. The Rise And Fall of the First—and Only—Filipino Emperor by Allen Severino

3. I’m a psychoanalyst. Social media is damaging children’s inner lives in ways we don’t fully understand by Robin Kirman

4. How to pay back a dopamine debt by Juliette Ryan

5. If we fix the phone, we fix society

5 Things I Read This Week

1. Reading strengthens brain health, lowers dementia risk

2. How we’ll fight the platform war against Big AI by Anil Dash

3. The Magic of Framing the Message by Judd Antin

4. All Those Metrics Bleed Your Obsessions by Aaron Ross Powell

5. A writing professor’s new task in the age of AI: Teaching students when to struggle by Kristi Girdharry

Rage Reads The Fires of Heaven (Wheel of Time, #5)

On Rand vs. Women

On Aviendha and Rand

On Moiraine’s Sacrifice and Siuan’s Plans

On Nynaeve vs. Martyrdom

On Egwene’s Readiness for the Seat

On Mat vs. Fate

Other Notes

Rainbow-colored glasses time! 🏳️‍🌈

5 Things I Read This Week

1. Sometimes you just plant the tree by Solarpunk World

2. Why I No Longer Read [Modern] Fantasy by E. Morgan

3. Malaya, Maharlika, and why the Filipino saga matters by Rexy

4. The End of Reading is Here by Rose Horowitch

5. Anne Rice vs. Fanfiction by The Book Baddie Diaries

Rage Reads The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time #4)

A collection of ta’veren

My rainbow-colored glasses and the one thing this book got right

Unpacking the Forsaken

Other notes

Egwene and Tel’aran’rhiod

The distant hypothetical future of the Tower

Rage Reads The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time #3)

Rand is a stranger

Perrin, the blacksmith and nothing else

Mat rolls the dice

Nynaeve the powerhouse

Egwene the methodical learner

Other notes

Rage Reads The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time #2), Chapters 25-50

Rand’s transformation

The sul’dam, a’dam, and damane

The battle at Falme

Other notes

Ingtar

Nynaeve

The conversation between women

Rand’s other lives

Rage Reads Maharlika Komiks and Wednesday Addams Fanfiction

Maharlika by Rexy Dorado and John Ray

Chaos for the Fly by LaylaJeffany, A Wednesday (TV 2022) Fanfiction

Other works I enjoyed

Rage Reads The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time #2), Chapters 11-25

Padan Fain transforms to something else

Rand uses the Power

Egwene the good pupil and Nynaeve the problem child

A Warder’s bond

Nynaeve becomes an Accepted

Other notes

Rage Reads The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time #2), Chapters 1-10

Where we left off

Rand tries to run away

Rand is self-destructive

The witches of Tar Valon

The Shadow stirs

Rand meets the Amyrlin

Lan makes a promise

The hunt begins

Other notes

Rage Reads The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1), Part 2

Moiraine and Lan

Padan Fain

Thom Merrillin

Trollocs and Myrddraals

Others

Rage Reads The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1), Part 1

Egwene al’Vere