Spoiler Warning!!!
Ah yes, the other day I managed to finish up "The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm" with the final tale in the book called 'The Worm'. This was by far the longest of the three tales and it was quite nice. It was about a woman Urgal named Ilgra and how her father, and clan and town in general, got ravaged by a large dragon named Vêrmund. It was a rather straight forward, humbling, yet intriguing tale.
Ilgra tried and tried for years to get revenge on this dragon that destroyed their lives so significantly. The dragon had the audacity to sit upon a mountain overlooking everyone. A daily reminder to everyone. Definitely pretty irksome. Interestingly after years of attempts by herself and many others, she ultimately could not defeat this magical beast although she did come quite close.
It's a humbling tale as I mentioned already. The dragon pushes her and the town to be great though I will say that, and resilient which is a nice idea of course. It also of course leads one to realize that some battles are virtually unwinnable and that sometimes you just have to accept fate. Oddly enough, as the dragon pushed her to her limits over the years, the strength and skill she acquired actually helped save the town and even the dragon itself from a practically equally powerful, and more sinister foe in the Lethrblaka. After the first really awful attack, the dragon itself didn't really do much terrible damage when he did come down from the mountain. He mostly just ate the cattle. Odd.
So all in all it was a bit of a wash. She didn't get what she wanted when she first sought revenge, but ultimately the dragon and herself gained a somewhat reluctant mutual respect. Definitely a pretty interesting tale.
The story apparently took place 'across the sea' which makes it all the more interesting. I assumed it took place in The Spine.
The Urgals are one of the most intriguing magical peoples in the series I swear.
Realizing that these tales take place in the future rather than some distant past makes everything way more interesting as well. I wonder what we know about time as humans.
All in all I think I enjoyed 'The Fork' the most, followed by 'The Worm', and then 'The Witch'.
This book was pleasant for sure. I love how you could just waste a day away and read this. With the four 'Inheritance Cycle' books to think on, these tales are just so smooth and wonderful.
I was surprised at how it felt like a genuine addition to the series, but also felt like a simpler, kinda more elegant version in a way. Just a real joyous treat.
I really am looking forward to 'Murtagh' now!!! This book was the perfect interlude!!
