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Ramayana book 3 report --
Note to self: this is the sort of epic that's not consistent about things like times and ages. It's also the sort where drama is more important than logistics: a bound prisoner is going to run to the body of a would-be rescuer, because it's dramatic. Which, when you think about it, is nothing more than an extension of the convention that long speeches happen during battles.
For a book that's supposedly is the original beginning, the start is structured oddly: almost on page 1, we get suddenly action, a battle with a giant demon who's been terrorizing (read: eating) some hermits, and after it's disposed of with a Hercules Solution* we get ... a ten year timeskip.
Er, yeah.
Eventually, though, comes an extended battle, as in it has multi-part staging: a giantess flirts with Rama and his brother Lakshmana, and who cuts off her nose and ear for the lulz. She comes back with 14 strapping young giants,** only to have them curb-stomped by Rama. There are 14,000 more where they came from, though, and they come back for vengeance -- starting with a vanguard of a thousand converging on Rama to attack him simultaneously. His response: more dakka -- a thousand arrows at once. At which point, the remaining 13k learn their lesson: drop back for ranged attacks. The resulting battle must make developers of bullet hell games envious, as it includes a level boss with just as much dakka to the point that there's so many arrows there's no air between shafts and we enter a space-packing nightmare. Level boss manages to break Rama's bow with an arrow, but fortunately, Rama got a disc one nuke back in book 1 and could pull Vishnu's bow as a spare from his hammerspace pocket.
All through which, the gods watch on with buckets of popcorn. As does the reader.
Anyway, from there things escalate (!) to the Sita's abduction by Ravana, king of all the giants and, more importantly, brother of the giantess this started with. Thus launching the main plot.
I'm not happy with how Sita is handled during the abduction. The plot required that mistakes be made by Rama's party, and apparently since the designated heroes aren't allowed to make them, the task was dumped on Sita -- and to pull this off she was made stupid and petty. The inconsistency is bad enough, but the narration even gestures at a way that could have made it work for me, without making her take the idiot ball, but halfheartly, and after the fact. Until that point, I liked her characterization, and was even kinda charmed by her in book 2 -- and after it's too late, she goes back to being brave and clever. But that bit -- bleagh.
Oh, and here's a sign, in case you had missed all the others so far, that this is a tropical epic: this lovely description (warning: large pageload) of why winter is the best season.
Ninjas needed so far: Sita. Totally Sita. Fighting Ravana would have made for a nicely entertaining abduction scene, even if she failed -- which she would have 'cause, dude, the guy routinely shakes down gods for their lunch money. Not to mention, her being a ninja would improve the mistakes leading up to it: "No, really, Lakshmana, go check on Rama. I can take care of myself -- " *throws a dozen shirukens at once into a tree-trunk fifty paces away* " -- See?"
Additional takeaway lessons so far: Even a paragon of all womankind who's made of complete virtue can be as stupid and petty as all women are.
* Being impervious to arrows and swords is not proof against being pummeled to death.
** Or so this translation renders rakshas. "Demon" is another possibility.
---L.
Note to self: this is the sort of epic that's not consistent about things like times and ages. It's also the sort where drama is more important than logistics: a bound prisoner is going to run to the body of a would-be rescuer, because it's dramatic. Which, when you think about it, is nothing more than an extension of the convention that long speeches happen during battles.
For a book that's supposedly is the original beginning, the start is structured oddly: almost on page 1, we get suddenly action, a battle with a giant demon who's been terrorizing (read: eating) some hermits, and after it's disposed of with a Hercules Solution* we get ... a ten year timeskip.
Er, yeah.
Eventually, though, comes an extended battle, as in it has multi-part staging: a giantess flirts with Rama and his brother Lakshmana, and who cuts off her nose and ear for the lulz. She comes back with 14 strapping young giants,** only to have them curb-stomped by Rama. There are 14,000 more where they came from, though, and they come back for vengeance -- starting with a vanguard of a thousand converging on Rama to attack him simultaneously. His response: more dakka -- a thousand arrows at once. At which point, the remaining 13k learn their lesson: drop back for ranged attacks. The resulting battle must make developers of bullet hell games envious, as it includes a level boss with just as much dakka to the point that there's so many arrows there's no air between shafts and we enter a space-packing nightmare. Level boss manages to break Rama's bow with an arrow, but fortunately, Rama got a disc one nuke back in book 1 and could pull Vishnu's bow as a spare from his hammerspace pocket.
All through which, the gods watch on with buckets of popcorn. As does the reader.
Anyway, from there things escalate (!) to the Sita's abduction by Ravana, king of all the giants and, more importantly, brother of the giantess this started with. Thus launching the main plot.
I'm not happy with how Sita is handled during the abduction. The plot required that mistakes be made by Rama's party, and apparently since the designated heroes aren't allowed to make them, the task was dumped on Sita -- and to pull this off she was made stupid and petty. The inconsistency is bad enough, but the narration even gestures at a way that could have made it work for me, without making her take the idiot ball, but halfheartly, and after the fact. Until that point, I liked her characterization, and was even kinda charmed by her in book 2 -- and after it's too late, she goes back to being brave and clever. But that bit -- bleagh.
Oh, and here's a sign, in case you had missed all the others so far, that this is a tropical epic: this lovely description (warning: large pageload) of why winter is the best season.
Ninjas needed so far: Sita. Totally Sita. Fighting Ravana would have made for a nicely entertaining abduction scene, even if she failed -- which she would have 'cause, dude, the guy routinely shakes down gods for their lunch money. Not to mention, her being a ninja would improve the mistakes leading up to it: "No, really, Lakshmana, go check on Rama. I can take care of myself -- " *throws a dozen shirukens at once into a tree-trunk fifty paces away* " -- See?"
Additional takeaway lessons so far: Even a paragon of all womankind who's made of complete virtue can be as stupid and petty as all women are.
* Being impervious to arrows and swords is not proof against being pummeled to death.
** Or so this translation renders rakshas. "Demon" is another possibility.
---L.