Indie Book Club discussion

Sir Edric's Temple, a tale of the eponymous bounder and his efforts to elude a probably lethal mission, is July's Other Book of the Month.

I hope you give it a crack, and enjoy it if you do.

Let the discussion begin.

I think I have this. I'll bump it up my TBR

Added to the club homepage.

I just caught up with some other projects and downloaded Sir Edric. I will provide feedback as I make my way through. First impression - nice cover, Thaddeus.

Cheers. It took a little while because I wasn't sure if smoking+crossbow or drinking+crossbow would work better. (The initial sketch of the drinking version looked a bit like a beer commercial parody :p).

I think I might have said this before, but I absolutely love this book! I've never read a book that got me to laugh aloud as this one did. Cannot wait for the next one!

I finished the book and left a review. Some thoughts on the book:
- Did you write Sir Edric as a hero that the reader should root for or against? I found myself going back and forth during the book, depending on the scene.
- The humor was good and there were some very funny spots but the humor seemed to hit the same notes over and over. As a man in my mid-40s I think there could have been a goldmine of material just in the aches and pains that set in at that age.
- What's up with Dog? Why is he loyal to Sir Edric (who re-named him 'Dog' of all things)? If he is nothing but a lowly peasant how did he become so adept with the sword? And why did bad guys refuse to look him in the eye?

All in all it was a fun read but I would have liked to see more depth in the main characters.

Hey, Christian. Thanks for your review and rating.

Annoyingly, I have good answers about Dog, but I can't tell you as it's a cunning twist I'll reveal sooner or later.

I was aiming to make Sir Edric a likeable bastard. Being for *and* against him is absolutely fine with me.

When it comes to aches/pains, did you have any specific ones in mind? I've just finished the first draft of the second book (Sir Edric's Treasure) and whilst I won't be making wholesale changes I will be going through it amending, redrafting and occasionally adding sections, so any thoughts you might have, as well as being useful generally, might help improve the second book.

Cheers for taking the time to read it, and for the constructive comments. Whilst it's always nicer to hear unblemished compliments, it's very useful to get tips on areas to improve.

I don't know if my aches/pains are typical, but I think they'd be similar to that of a knight. The main aches/pains are in the major joints - knees, elbows, shoulders, and hips. There is a lot of creaking and noise when I go to stand up these days. My kids think it is quite funny. It also takes a lot longer to build up momentum once I have found a comfortable resting place. The other big area is back pain. Walking for any length of time, or any other form of extended exercise usually leads to quite a bit of pain in the lower back. I keep a healthy stock of muscle rub products (icy/hot, etc) throughout the house.

I hope this helps - I'd like to read how Sir Edric would deal with a band of marauders raiding his camp while he is having difficulty getting up off the ground :)

Hmm. He tends not to do walking but I think there's a bit where he has to walk for a while (ground too rough to ride), and a spot of swimming. I'll see if that sort of thing would fit.

Difficulty arising could be perhaps included as a small scene, or woven into an alternate scene I decided not to include but may revive for a later book.

Also worth bearing in mind that over 40 is old for the world he's in, so if anything he'd probably have his share over aches and pains.

Thanks for suggestions, they're much appreciated.