I actually love the fact that if you take away all the magic, it would still make sense; in the idea of Ronan’s mental issues throughout it all, as well as Adam’s dealing with trauma because, as you pointed out, of the way Maggie used metaphors that could be both symbolic and literal.
Haha! I'm always talking about Adam too! I love Ronan and Adam, they are both my fave characters. It was so interesting to get all the background info about TRC! Thank you so much! 💜I totally agree about everything you said about Kavinsky. He is such a tragic character. "The Dream Thieves" was definitely one of my fave books too.
So glad to have another Pynch fan around! 🙏 It's my OTP, unbeatable! Thank you so much for your comment! Are you excited for Graywaren? Have you read the dreamer trilogy?
@@obviouslyqueer Same! They are my OTP too! 💜 I'm currently reading "Call Down the Hawk" and I love it so much. Maggie's writing style is so amazing. 🥰
I totally agree about the sword not having responsibility. It’s a pretty adolescent comment. It’s a very NRA argument. Guns don’t kill people, etc. as if a tool isn’t constructed with a purpose anyway, and then attach the idea to a sentient person and it’s completely null. Such a fantastic break down. I’m SO excited for the last booooook. I can’t decide if I want to read them all before it or after it.
Right? I thought so too. It's an interesting topic to explore - a hit man, but this rhetoric feels a bit cheap, and the gray man as a whole never got passed shallow for me. Thank you! 🤗 I know I'm so excited!!! I'm glad to have you around here when the time comes!! I think you should re-read them! If not all six then at least cdth and MI
I like how you talked about how weird the stuff with the Gray Man is. I love it when there's someone who loves something wholeheartedly but still openly talks about its faults. I feel like extremism has invaded fandom and makes people so defensive that they refuse to acknowledge a book's or character's sloppy areas or parts you just personally dislike. And I get why, because the extreme haters try to use those faults as a reason to dismiss the story's value. I think it's so much more powerful to discuss what you don't like or what is sloppy and say "yes, but I still love it anyways because of x, x, and x." Because that means you know and accept the faults and still decide to love it anyways, otherwise I think you're just blinded by hate or some kind of honeymoon phase.
Right! I agree! The fact that I think the books have flaws or aspects I don't agree with doesn't take away from my love for it or the quality that it have! I do think Maggie's biggest weakness is writing villains, and trying to ignore doesn't do it for me. It would feel unfaithful to all the things that are extraordinary. The rest is great, the series as a whole is wonderful, but unfortunately I think the villains are quite bad, but I still love it ofc, just as you say
@@obviouslyqueer Villains and endings Character arcs and relationships end perfectly, but the plot stuff . . .but her characters and prose and overall just feel is unbeatable.
I like your take on the sword being just a tool in the hand of a killer, because I actually think differently, but I don't fully disagree. More like, if it wasn't that sword, the killer would pick another one, and in the Gray Man's case, I'm glad he was the sword, because he knew how to act decent later and try to protect the Lynch brothers. And I like the fact that Ronan refuses to acknowledge the Gray Man but doesn't openly confront him later on. But on the other hand, I read somewhere (can't remember where) something (can't remember what exactly but it left a strong impression in me) about how you can use a sword as a piece of decoration, something inoffensive, but you can't make it stop being a sword, as in you can't make it stop being a dangerous weapon. And I like that because, indeed, there is something that makes a sword a weapon and not a toy. When the sword is a metaphor, when it refers to a person, it is most often a deep trauma, and I guess I just feel too much empathy for traumatized people (especially for childhood traumas). I guess I just hate Greenmantle so much for wanting Ronan's father dead over a business disagreement and the Gray Man's brother for twisting him so much that I end up forgiving the absolute sociopath that he is. Anyway, I'm getting my copy of Greywaren in an hour and I CAN'T WAIT! Hope I can hear your opinion on it soon!
Thank you so much for the comment! It was a really interesting take, and I like the metaphor with the sword decorations, it suits how I'm thinking. And also I wanna tune in to your discussion about trauma and get on the record that in real life I'm a big fan of redemption haha. I strongly believe that people should get second chances. Bc often violence come from trauma, but that's an explanation and not an excuse. And with the Grey Man I belive that line wasn't clear enough, and especially since his lack of remorse -even in the end of the book - is lacking something is just off for me. But again - completely understand your take! And I know a lot of people love him!
@@obviouslyqueer I don't like him that much, tbh! But I don't hate him either. It's true that he didn't change much between the end of the Dream Thieves and the end of the Raven King and, although his goal of making the magical artefacts market more ethic (?) was really cool, and sounded like character development, he didn't actually change his way of thinking / doing things in the inside. I'm pretty sure that he will kill just as much as before, but with his goal in mind and not because others pay him for it. That's the only difference.
It’s true that the Gray man is pretty shallow and is essentially let go because of the argument for weapons not being the killers; he is different however to Ronan’s nightmares because in Ronan’s case, he is the one doing it to himself. It can be justified because the nightmares have no known separate consciousness but that of the creator in which case it is a very suitable quote. The Gray man however is quite poorly written in overall perspective and I don’t even know what his purpose was, except for some scenes. In the end, Ronan and Adam get rid of Greenmantle and I suppose he is there to “monitor” the market?
Agree with you! I like to quote when it comes to Ronans story, it works. But for Gray Man ... Not so much! Haha that's so true what you say, she could have just taken him out and it wouldn't have changed anything of value? 🤔
Here I am, moved to tears by a TH-cam video and the mere thought of a book
Bitch me too ❤️
I actually love the fact that if you take away all the magic, it would still make sense; in the idea of Ronan’s mental issues throughout it all, as well as Adam’s dealing with trauma because, as you pointed out, of the way Maggie used metaphors that could be both symbolic and literal.
Right! This is one of my favorite things with the series!
Haha! I'm always talking about Adam too! I love Ronan and Adam, they are both my fave characters. It was so interesting to get all the background info about TRC! Thank you so much! 💜I totally agree about everything you said about Kavinsky. He is such a tragic character. "The Dream Thieves" was definitely one of my fave books too.
So glad to have another Pynch fan around! 🙏 It's my OTP, unbeatable!
Thank you so much for your comment! Are you excited for Graywaren? Have you read the dreamer trilogy?
@@obviouslyqueer Same! They are my OTP too! 💜 I'm currently reading "Call Down the Hawk" and I love it so much. Maggie's writing style is so amazing. 🥰
I totally agree about the sword not having responsibility. It’s a pretty adolescent comment. It’s a very NRA argument. Guns don’t kill people, etc. as if a tool isn’t constructed with a purpose anyway, and then attach the idea to a sentient person and it’s completely null.
Such a fantastic break down. I’m SO excited for the last booooook. I can’t decide if I want to read them all before it or after it.
Right? I thought so too. It's an interesting topic to explore - a hit man, but this rhetoric feels a bit cheap, and the gray man as a whole never got passed shallow for me.
Thank you! 🤗 I know I'm so excited!!! I'm glad to have you around here when the time comes!! I think you should re-read them! If not all six then at least cdth and MI
yes
I like how you talked about how weird the stuff with the Gray Man is. I love it when there's someone who loves something wholeheartedly but still openly talks about its faults. I feel like extremism has invaded fandom and makes people so defensive that they refuse to acknowledge a book's or character's sloppy areas or parts you just personally dislike. And I get why, because the extreme haters try to use those faults as a reason to dismiss the story's value. I think it's so much more powerful to discuss what you don't like or what is sloppy and say "yes, but I still love it anyways because of x, x, and x." Because that means you know and accept the faults and still decide to love it anyways, otherwise I think you're just blinded by hate or some kind of honeymoon phase.
Right! I agree! The fact that I think the books have flaws or aspects I don't agree with doesn't take away from my love for it or the quality that it have!
I do think Maggie's biggest weakness is writing villains, and trying to ignore doesn't do it for me. It would feel unfaithful to all the things that are extraordinary. The rest is great, the series as a whole is wonderful, but unfortunately I think the villains are quite bad, but I still love it ofc, just as you say
@@obviouslyqueer Villains and endings Character arcs and relationships end perfectly, but the plot stuff . . .but her characters and prose and overall just feel is unbeatable.
@@toriwork8891 hahaha yes amen, story endings as well 😅
I like your take on the sword being just a tool in the hand of a killer, because I actually think differently, but I don't fully disagree. More like, if it wasn't that sword, the killer would pick another one, and in the Gray Man's case, I'm glad he was the sword, because he knew how to act decent later and try to protect the Lynch brothers. And I like the fact that Ronan refuses to acknowledge the Gray Man but doesn't openly confront him later on.
But on the other hand, I read somewhere (can't remember where) something (can't remember what exactly but it left a strong impression in me) about how you can use a sword as a piece of decoration, something inoffensive, but you can't make it stop being a sword, as in you can't make it stop being a dangerous weapon. And I like that because, indeed, there is something that makes a sword a weapon and not a toy. When the sword is a metaphor, when it refers to a person, it is most often a deep trauma, and I guess I just feel too much empathy for traumatized people (especially for childhood traumas). I guess I just hate Greenmantle so much for wanting Ronan's father dead over a business disagreement and the Gray Man's brother for twisting him so much that I end up forgiving the absolute sociopath that he is.
Anyway, I'm getting my copy of Greywaren in an hour and I CAN'T WAIT! Hope I can hear your opinion on it soon!
Thank you so much for the comment! It was a really interesting take, and I like the metaphor with the sword decorations, it suits how I'm thinking. And also I wanna tune in to your discussion about trauma and get on the record that in real life I'm a big fan of redemption haha. I strongly believe that people should get second chances. Bc often violence come from trauma, but that's an explanation and not an excuse. And with the Grey Man I belive that line wasn't clear enough, and especially since his lack of remorse -even in the end of the book - is lacking something is just off for me. But again - completely understand your take! And I know a lot of people love him!
@@obviouslyqueer I don't like him that much, tbh! But I don't hate him either. It's true that he didn't change much between the end of the Dream Thieves and the end of the Raven King and, although his goal of making the magical artefacts market more ethic (?) was really cool, and sounded like character development, he didn't actually change his way of thinking / doing things in the inside. I'm pretty sure that he will kill just as much as before, but with his goal in mind and not because others pay him for it. That's the only difference.
It’s true that the Gray man is pretty shallow and is essentially let go because of the argument for weapons not being the killers; he is different however to Ronan’s nightmares because in Ronan’s case, he is the one doing it to himself. It can be justified because the nightmares have no known separate consciousness but that of the creator in which case it is a very suitable quote. The Gray man however is quite poorly written in overall perspective and I don’t even know what his purpose was, except for some scenes. In the end, Ronan and Adam get rid of Greenmantle and I suppose he is there to “monitor” the market?
Agree with you! I like to quote when it comes to Ronans story, it works. But for Gray Man ... Not so much! Haha that's so true what you say, she could have just taken him out and it wouldn't have changed anything of value? 🤔