The Not a Book Club Club discussion

Im in chapter 20, and the name of one of the constellations listed is Stranger-Come-Knocking. Isn't that the name of the leader of the mountain folk in the First Law books?

Just finished this part. Talk about a deal with the devil. The ending is going to be awesome.

I think Yarvi's finally grown on me. He finally acts like a king; I took about 75% of the book, but I finally find myself rooting for him, lol.

The whole battle scene was a bit cheesy, though. Onwards!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I seriously hope that's not a big spoiler for The Heroes, because I haven't read the other Abercrombie books yet!

About these chapters:

I've loved the character development. Particularly the slow acceptance and hint of friendship between Ankran and Yarvi. I like that most characters fall into a grey area, not good, not bad.

I also loved Shadikshirram's crazy misguided righteousness. I find myself smiling every time she says stuff like:

"I am once again disappointed by the wretchedness of humanity"

She's like some dark degenerate comic relief. I finally found who she reminds me of:
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic...

I was quite happy with the pacing of the novel, but after the last twist when they get taken by Grom-gil-Gorn (again!) I found myself wishing they'd get a rest already. (I never thought there would be a day when I would wish for a novel to slow down!)

I am conflicted now. I enjoy Yarvi's growth and all but why would he sacrifice his own people? You think after his experiences he would be hesitant about creating slaves especially of Gettlanders.

Does anyone else get the feeling that Nothing is Yarvi's drowned uncle? I have been convincing myself more and more as the novel has progressed. He swears the oath to put the rightful king on the Gettland throne but doesn't name Yarvi. He is a great fighter like his uncle was supposed to be. Finally he says he is a proud Gettlander and that Yarvi's payment is too much. Most of it is a stretch but think it could work.

Bill wrote: "Does anyone else get the feeling that Nothing is Yarvi's drowned uncle?"

Yes!! I thought I was wrong when he swears the oath to put the rightful king on the throne, because I was sure he meant Yarvi, but now that you point he doesn't name Yarvi I can keep this theory :D

@Alexa, sorry about that! Its not a big spoiler, just an event that occurs during one long battle scene. I'll delete it soon as I get on my laptop.

Him swearing that oath but not naming Yarvi was a big bell ringer indeed.

Rabindranauth wrote: "Im in chapter 20, and the name of one of the constellations listed is Stranger-Come-Knocking. Isn't that the name of the leader of the mountain folk in the First Law books?"

Heh...Yeah it is...Nice catch! I was looking for some easter eggs/cross-over references in this book to First Law. Anyone else find any others?

Bill wrote: "I am conflicted now. I enjoy Yarvi's growth and all but why would he sacrifice his own people? You think after his experiences he would be hesitant about creating slaves especially of Gettlanders."

I guess this is what make it YA grimdark :) It doesn't bother me much, I was expecting even more nuance from Joe... Yarvi is no San Dan Glokta, and definitely has more cajones than Jezal dan Luthar.

Bill wrote: "Does anyone else get the feeling that Nothing is Yarvi's drowned uncle?."

I didn't think it till now :) There is for sure more to him than has been revealed so far. He tells Yarvi that he's gone by 3 names, none of which brought him luck. If one name was the name under which he was the King's champion, I wonder what the other two were.

haha alex :)

Bill wrote: "Does anyone else get the feeling that Nothing is Yarvi's drowned uncle?"

I thought he was someone with a connection to the throne, but i did not think Uncle. This makes a lot of sense and would free Yarvi from being King and doing what he want to do. Nothing did say he was captured 20 years ago.

This section has picked up a lot for me. The characters are bonding and i enjoyed the survival wilderness trek.

I think Yarvi has something up his sleeve. He states he can give the kingdom over without Grom needing to scale the walls. Not sure what yet, may a hint or two will come when i start the next chapter.

I enjoyed this section more than the others so far. It is rather uplifting for an Abercrombie story but I actually think it would fare better with some more cynicism and bleakness. There are a few places where I could see this taking a very dark turn.

Probably. I thought someone would die in the ice and they'd be eating that person or Yarvi and Sumael might get frisky.

...this is what dark fantasy has done to me.

I didn't think about who Nothing is. What drowned uncle? I guess I don't remember that.

I'm not sure what everyone found uplifting.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It's OK, but not great. Glad I borrowed it I think.

I'm not disliking it, but it's not like it's hard to put down or calling me to pick it back up.

Another pretty predictable section, this time a 'hero trekking through the wilderness' bit. I thought this one dragged more than the previous parts, about half the time was spent with the heroes complaining about how cold, tired, sore they were. The fight picked thing up a bit but it wasn't particularly gripping or memorable. The ending was interesting though and has definitely set this book up for a strong finish.

I really liked Yorvi's deal with Grom. Historically, making a deal with your nations enemies was a very common method that deposed kings used to regain their thrones. I'm assuming Yarvi is planning to outwit/double-cross Grom at some point so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

I'm also now pretty sure that Nothing is Yarvi's uncle. It's also interesting that Nothing is determined to put 'the rightful king' on the throne. Does that mean he's going to come into conflict with Yarvi?

Rob wrote: "I didn't think about who Nothing is. What drowned uncle? I guess I don't remember that.

I'm not sure what everyone found uplifting.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It's OK, but not great..."

Towards the start of the book there were a few references to Yarvi's uncle whose ship was lost at sea and was presumed dead about 20 years ago. He was betrothed to Laithlin (Yarvi's mother) before his disappearance and is still revered by warriors as a peerless swordsman.

Oh right. I remember the wedding bit. Thanks Conor.

No worries bro. I've not had too many problems with this one but if I wasn't following the Malazan book club threads I'd have no idea who half the characters were :D

I've been sort of distracted this week. Sunday I drove up to Philly for a concert and didn't get back until 1:45AM that night then got up at 6AM for work.

So I didn't read Sunday or Monday and I guess I forgot that from last week's reading.

It sucks when you can't get into a proper reading schedule, makes it hard to keep track of names and plot points and stuff. Was the concert worth the lost reading time?:D

Definitely worth it.

I'm also guessing that Nothing is the uncle. I miss my computer, it's,much harder to comment from an app. I've liked how the side characters are turning out. But I don't like the deal Yarvi made

Suzanne wrote: "I'm also guessing that Nothing is the uncle. I miss my computer, it's,much harder to comment from an app. I've liked how the side characters are turning out. But I don't like the deal Yarvi made"

I just use chrome on my phone/tablet to do discussion. The Good Reads app is useless for all but book management stuff imho.

But elves are mentioned like, 3 times! It's fantasy!