Name of the Wind 82 - 84

Chapter 82

Kote wakes up wrapped in bandages at the inn. The townspeople believe he is some sort of holy man who destroyed the demon that attacked the town. While he was unconscious, they burned the draccus and buried it. He searches for Denna but she is long gone. The mayor and constable interview him, but he gets more info out of them than they do from him. He intimidates them into sending out for anyone who knows what the Mauthens dug up on Barrow Hill - an urn decorated with symbols of the Chandrian. He gives a girl a coin that he says will protect her from demons and enjoys the heroic feeling of having comforted her, which he says is what motivated him to be a hero.

Kote now uses his smarts to get the better of the townspeople who are not quite as grateful as they maybe should be.  We do see that he gets a thrill from being a hero again -- will this lead him to try to fill that role?

Chapter 83

Kote returns to Imre and has some explaining to do to friends and teachers. He trades the lodestone to Devi to cancel out the 20 talent debt. Only Wil and Sim get the full story.

I expected a more involved storyline of how he unloads the lodestone, but luckily for him Devi accepts barter. 

Chapter 84

Kote runs into Denna, but she is with another guy now. It is not the mysterious patron, code name Ash. Later Wil and Sim question him about it. Ambrose shows up, grabs Kote's lute, and plays a mocking song. He tosses it back to Kote, but it crashes on the ground and it is destroyed. Kote is pissed. In his anger, he inadvertently calls the wind and hurts Ambrose. Kote's mind is a little scrambled. His friends take him to Kilvin's office. Elodin shows up, whispers a word in his ear, and he snaps out of it.

Yay! Kote finally calls the wind, as he's always wanted too. Not a sastifying enough revenge on Ambrose, for any of us, but it's a start. I'm feeling like Wil and Sim only exist to ask Kote what he feels about Denna.

Name of the Wind 82 - 84

Chapter 82

Kote wakes up wrapped in bandages at the inn. The townspeople believe he is some sort of holy man who destroyed the demon that attacked the town. While he was unconscious, they burned the draccus and buried it. He searches for Denna but she is long gone. The mayor and constable interview him, but he gets more info out of them than they do from him. He intimidates them into sending out for anyone who knows what the Mauthens dug up on Barrow Hill - an urn decorated with symbols of the Chandrian. He gives a girl a coin that he says will protect her from demons and enjoys the heroic feeling of having comforted her, which he says is what motivated him to be a hero.

Kote now uses his smarts to get the better of the townspeople who are not quite as grateful as they maybe should be.  We do see that he gets a thrill from being a hero again -- will this lead him to try to fill that role?

Chapter 83

Kote returns to Imre and has some explaining to do to friends and teachers. He trades the lodestone to Devi to cancel out the 20 talent debt. Only Wil and Sim get the full story.

I expected a more involved storyline of how he unloads the lodestone, but luckily for him Devi accepts barter. 

Chapter 84

Kote runs into Denna, but she is with another guy now. It is not the mysterious patron, code name Ash. Later Wil and Sim question him about it. Ambrose shows up, grabs Kote's lute, and plays a mocking song. He tosses it back to Kote, but it crashes on the ground and it is destroyed. Kote is pissed. In his anger, he inadvertently calls the wind and hurts Ambrose. Kote's mind is a little scrambled. His friends take him to Kilvin's office. Elodin shows up, whispers a word in his ear, and he snaps out of it.

Yay! Kote finally calls the wind, as he's always wanted too. Not a sastifying enough revenge on Ambrose, for any of us, but it's a start. I'm feeling like Wil and Sim only exist to ask Kote what he feels about Denna.

Name of the Wind 49 - 51

Chapter 49

The term ends and it's time for admission exams again. Kote can't cheat this time, and Hemme is out to get him. His tuition is set at a few jots more than he has available. He goes off looking for a loan shark across the river in Imre.

A bit of discussion at the beginning about the woman he has been referring to. Keeps up the suspense by not naming the mystery woman. 

Chapter 50

Kote gives in to temptation to buy a used lute at a pawnbroker. He drives a hard bargain and is able to get it for an affordable price. But now he has no choice but to borrow from Devi. She reassures him that she will seal the vial so he can be sure she doesn't hasn't tampered with the vial, but he still has misgivings.

So Kote now has a lute, hopefully he can earn some money playing to pay off Devi. Would hate to see him get into a bad spot with her now that he has given up his blood sample.

We're approximately at the halfway point here. A couple of halftime observations:

•   I'm still not 100% in Kote's corner at this point. Despite the fact he's had some major tragedies and setbacks in his life, and has shown grit in overcoming them, I'm still not completely sympathetic to him. I think the main reason is that he comes off a little arrogant (on top of just being too good at everything and having every skill come too easily to him) and an almost complete lack of humor. Seriously, for a trained performer his worldview strikes me as a bit ... humorless, even before his major tragedy

Other than the Chadrian attack on the troupe, very little dramatic action has happened in the first half. Still hoping for the action to kick up a few notches in the second half.

On another note, why are all female character names two-syllable, two consonant, two vowels?  Dena, Devi, Mola, etc?

Chapter 51

Kote goes to a secluded quad to practice his lite and discovers a mysterious grate guarded by runes. He later gets the idea to set the names and functions of the runes to music, which allows him to remember them easily and pass the test for the next level of his training. He continues his training under the tutelage of Manet.

A confusing chapter in one spot there, not sure what it was that the gate did, but it seems like it teleported him? I'm sure it will come into play later.