The Not a Book Club Club discussion

This is the second 105 pages or so (in my edition).

Please keep all discussion to the events and speculation from the chapter: Small Crimes to the chapter: Necessary Evils.

No spoiler tags required.

Please do not discuss events from later chapters/books. Referring back to events from a previous section is fine.

Oh, yes.. West is pretty much screwed..

I'm liking this reread more than the initial read a bit over a year ago. I gave it an overall 4 stars and I'm almost certainly going to upgrade to 5 by the time I'm finished.

And I'm actually enjoying Glotka's most of the three threads.

Poor West. I was excited to see Logen's friends ally with him, but I can't say I blame them for bailing. The Prince is such a tool.

I'm with Jerry, Glokta's story is the most interesting. Why am I rooting for a torturer?

Logen the reluctant leader is slowly gaining respect from the others.

And I've said this before, but Bayaz is scary badass. Of course he overdid it.

I'm really loving this book.

Rob wrote: "I'm with Jerry, Glokta's story is the most interesting. Why am I rooting for a torturer?"

This whole Glotka thing is so interesting to me. I wish I could explain it or someone else would.

This is a character that should be the most hated of them all. A torturer. A loyal member of the Inquisition. And yet I hear again and again how readers are drawn to Glotka. It's an interesting conundrum.

Oh.. And I love the man.

I agree on the Glokta and Logen/Ferro/Jezal parts. It's great to see Logen use his experience to bond with Ferro and Jezal.
And I like Jezal's development. Especially the rain scene was great.

Glokta seems to have solved his traitor business, so let's see what happens when the fighting starts.
For a guy sent away from the main party, a large amount of influencial people take an interest in him. (Yulwei, tha bankers)

Although I like West and the northmen, this is my least favourite part.
It's kind of annoying that everyone in charge just seems to be an idiot. It's a bit overdone.
On the other hand, I invented a new drinking game, where I alwways stand up and have a drink, when Ladisla or one of his guys says: "Capital!"

Oh, and of course I have a new crazy theory. How strange was Quai acting after Bayaz got hurt? He was very insistant on continuing on his way and seemed to know a lot more than he shares.
Maybe he isn't an apprentice after all. Maybe he's even a devil in disguise working with or controlling Bayaz. I'll have an eye on him from now on.

I'm not sure I buy into your crazy theory, apart from the fact that yes, he's acting strange and probably hiding something.

Click, tap, pain. Click, tap, pain.
How very Glokta! Love it.

Loved how Glokta turned the tables on the conspiring traitors. Don't think he's out of the woods quite yet though.

Seems like Bayaz has some kind of hold over Quai beyond apprenticeship, with Quai imagining killing Bayaz while he was vulnerable. Quai seemed irritated when Bayaz told the others that Quai was a native of the Old Empire...and what about the mysterious digging that was done that Bayaz doesn't want Quai telling the group about...might have something to do with why they are there.

Still alive.

My favourite storyline is definitely that of the merry band of brothers, hardly surprising since Logen and Jezal are my favourite characters. Jezal is developing just along the lines I figured he would, and I'm loving the father-son relationship that is coming along with him and Logen.

Quai is clearly not what he seems to be, and I wonder what hides behind those eyes of his, hm. He's not an ordinary apprentice. That might explain why he wasn't studying as hard as he should earlier - perhaps he already knows and found it difficult to pretend. How intriguing!

Kat wrote: "My favourite storyline is definitely that of the merry band of brothers, hardly surprising since Logen and Jezal are my favourite characters.

It's the same for me. And I found it quite interesting to see Logen's different approaches to bond with each companion individually. You can see his expertise here that he earned with the Northmen.

And Jezal keeps being a delight to read about. :)

Yes! He seems to read people's character and needs quite well.

He IS a delight to read about, isn't he? Love him!

I really liked this part. Along with pretty much everyone else, the Glotka parts are my favorite. He may be a torturer but he's smart, clever, and funny. Easy to root for.

I have no idea how West will fare with Ladisla being a complete moron (thought I chuckle every time Ladisla says, "Capital!"). I also wonder where the 5 Northmen with Dogman will go now that they split from West.

I'm liking Logen and crew's trip more and more. It's nice to see Jezal and Ferro warm up to him and accept him as a leader. Never trusted Bayaz no Quai.

All three story threads are pretty cool at this point. Seeing Bayaz go super saiyan with rocks flying all over was pretty cool.

West's story is like watching the Jerry Springer show or watching a slow train wreck...fascinating in a gloomy way.

Glokta's story is just interesting as he roots out the traitors. I want to see how the defense goes!

Lol. Super Saiyan.

Rob wrote: "Lol. Super Saiyan."

You know, when I read that section, I was wondering what the scanner said about his power level...

IT'S OVER 9000!