The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Part 2

Please keep all discussion and speculation to the events of Part 2: Chapters 10-14.

No spoiler tags required. Though it would be highly appreciated if you Uncheck Add to my Update Feed to avoid accidentally spoiling things for your good read friends.

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

Do we know who Mya is? I haven't read the first book, just 2,3 and most of this one.

Sara wrote: "Do we know who Mya is? I haven't read the first book, just 2,3 and most of this one."

I'm awful with names, so I can't help you with that. I don't recall a Mya, but I'm probably just forgetting the name..

Why did you skip the first book?

So I figured with me falling behind there would be lots of discussion for me to catch up on..

What a bunch of slackers! Or am I the only one reading this? It seems like these middle threads always need some love.

So let's see:

1) Winter hooked up with Sight!
2) Janis is poisoned by one of the Penitent Damned
3) That snow spell is OP and should be nerfed in the next patch.
4) Recina got Marcus to turn the army around.

I'm really enjoying this story, maybe as much as the 3rd book. I'm going to be pissed if Janus dies without us learning his true intentions though. Is all of this for revenge? He seemed to lose his shit at the idea of turning the army around.

Does he not care about a crown because he just wanted a big enough army to enact his revenge? I'm hoping we get some answers in this book since we're nearing the end..

Well, some of us just buckled down and finished the whole thing, Rob. Get on my level!

Anyway...

1) Cyte certainly seems more stable than Jane ever was, so good for Winter, she always deserved better.

2) That Penitent had a pretty wide variety of powers. Bolstering herself to withstand the frozen river, super strength, at least partial invulnerability to weapons, poison... seems like she was kind of wasted in a frontal assault like this, she would have been hell in the last book.

3) On the other hand, it doesn't seem like that snow spell is much use in personal combat. Maybe the Old Witch just needs to "Let It Go" and discover the power of love to melt her frozen heart!

4) Yep.

I had the feeling that it was less about revenge and more about him finding something that he was looking for, possibly finding a way to get this Mya back. It's never stated exactly in the book, but my money's on a demon that can resurrect the dead. Either that, or Mya was born with a demon and eventually fled on her own, and he's been looking for a way to find her, get her back, and free her, which would explain how the Infernivore factors into his true intentions.

Another thought I had: the first Penitent Damned they sent to Kandar had a very impressive set of powers. I'm wondering why the Order of the Black hasn't attempted to re-summon that demon, especially in light of the army coming for them. And if they did... what would happen? I'm assuming the Infernivore destroys other demons that it eats, so would the name just be a bunch of nonsense now? Would the summoning always fail, even if they said it perfectly? Would failure no longer be lethal? Or have they been trying to find a new host for the Beast this entire time, and haven't been able to really work on any other demon? Or are there just not enough trusted priests to become Penitent Damned to entrust with a major demon?

Where's Django Wexler, I have questions!

Sky wrote: "Well, some of us just buckled down and finished the whole thing, Rob. Get on my level!"

It would have been rude to my house guests if I did that. Not to mention the waste of money on my convention badge if I spent the whole time listening to this. I expect you to do the same thing during PAX. :-P

Sky wrote: "That Penitent had a pretty wide variety of powers. Bolstering herself to withstand the frozen river, super strength, at least partial invulnerability to weapons, poison... seems like she was kind of wasted in a frontal assault like this, she would have been hell in the last book."

I just took it indicate how seriously they took Janus as a threat/wanted him dead.

Sky wrote: "3) On the other hand, it doesn't seem like that snow spell is much use in personal combat. Maybe the Old Witch just needs to "Let It Go" and discover the power of love to melt her frozen heart!"

*groans*

Sky wrote: "Well, some of us just buckled down and finished the whole thing, Rob. Get on my level!"

So based on your comments, I guess Mya that Sara was asking about was the name Janus called out in his delirium. So I guess the answer to her question is no, we don't know who she/ she wasn't in the first book.

Sky wrote: "A bunch of speculation about Demons/The Penitent Damned"

I can post something on this in the next section, but it would be spoilery here.

Sky wrote: "Where's Django Wexler, I have questions! "

He just bought a house, so he's probably building more Ikea furniture based on recent twitter posts. I can ask him if he's willing to field more questions again though. You could just try posting a question in the Ask The Author thread and see if he responds..

Rob wrote: "*groans*"

If only someone had asked the other Penitent if she wanted to build a snowman earlier in her life, she might have turned out okay!

But yeah, I'll see if he's still paying attention in the other thread. That house stuff can take up a little time.

Haha that Frozen reference. Oh dear.....

I have a hard time commenting with audio because I don't know what part of the book I'm in. I kind of loved the part one theory that out good guys and bad guys are turned around.

I was wondering about Mya too. Janus seems so obsessed, and I kind of don't like the thought he has such a personal motive for things.

I really like Cyte. SUCH an improvement on Jane, who was always taking advantage of her relationship.

One small thing that bothered me was that they repeatedly left horses behind. Yet they were starving. I think they finally eat some but geez, I kept thinking 'eat the horses!". .

Suzanne wrote: "One small thing that bothered me was that they repeatedly left horses behind. Yet they were starving. I think they finally eat some but geez, I kept thinking 'eat the horses!".."

Here I was thinking you were upset about the horses being abandoned, then nope! Lol.

Haha.

I had like 30 minutes left in the audio for this section for the last 2 days but didn't want to come here in case of spoilers.

I am guessing that the Pontifax of Black has Mya locked up and that she is with demon. I am split on if I want this to be Janus's reason. On one hand at least it gives us some justification for his actions but on the other hand I am hoping it is for more than revenge.

Alex somehow brought Winter and her ladies to her summer house. Might be a good staging post for the rest of the army.