The Dragon's Path Group Read discussion
Week 2 Discussion, Q&A
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Well that was a surprise
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Awesome! Absolutely awesome!I got so used with predicting the way the stories go that I cannot say that it is a brilliant turn-out. Cruel, but soooooo unexpected. This I believe seals it with me, Daniel Abraham is on among the high-ranked authors of my pantheon of writers. ;)
I enjoyed the twist...horrendous as it was...now I wonder if anyone survived...Magister Imaniel, Cam or someone unexpected.
I get why he did it. I think in a way it sort of makes sense. I just don't think he's calculated everything. I'm glad that he figured out that he was basic ally a pawn, I wish he would have taken the time to understand that there will be a next move and at least attempted to guess what that next move will be. It was a bold move for someone who is constantly underestimated.
I spent quite a bit of time discussing this with my bookish friends over the weekend because I was so surprised by it.However, I agree that it was an amazingly awesome move because it totally surprised me and has pushed the plot and one major character in a totally unexpected direction. There are few writers who can pull this off without you wanting to throw the book at the wall and walk away, but I am now even more intrigued by Geder and I want to know what reaction his behavior gets when he returns to court. I love books that make me turn to my husband and say "You are not going to believe what just happened!" and this is up there with killing Ned Stark as a jaw-dropping move.
Bring it on, Mr Abraham! :)
To be honest I'm totally gobsmacked! My family could literally hear my bottom jaw as it hit the floor. Never, did I see that move coming and in that respect I have to hand it to the author! Geder on the other hand - OMG - how awful is he. He's totally detached from reality - in fact I think he's insane! I was thinking, like Starr, that it was pretty cool that he figured out he was being used but then his reaction. Over the top and then some, barbaric and just frankly unbelievable. What is he really expecting to happen now? He's like a child who has had enough of a game and instead of just putting the game away throws it in the bin.
I could see the author was setting up Geder's path for one of two ways: A hero who figures things out or a beaten up, pushed around too long villain that needs to be put down. Seems we saw in this installment which way Geder went. Along the same lines, I have to speculate about Kit. I mean, Wester really did rely on Kit's opinion when it came to his decision on Opal. Could Wester have misplaced his trust? We shall see.
For me, knowing the way Abraham likes to write, seeing the way Cithrin's path develops, and seeing that Geder is a scholar (and what SFF writer isn't sympathetic to scholars?), I naturally assumed that Geder would dig into his books, figure out The Way Things Work, and start turning the occupation around. Obviously, this is not what happened at all and I was very shocked. Thoughts?
(This overlaps somewhat with the "Geder" topic I suppose.)