Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Hi all, just a quick reminder - planned Buddy Read for the Greatcoats series is starting soon. We'll be starting on the 14th of Feb with Knight's Shadow. Who else will be joining Bryce and I?

And if people are wanting to, we can set dates later to continue reading the series :)

To clarify - Knight's Shadow is the SECOND book in the series.

okay so we are starting the buddy read in 2 days, out of curiosity how are we going to do this? also is anyone else interested in joining us for this book or its two sequels later on?

I wasn't that impressed with the first book, but I notice I bought 1-3 in the series when they were on sale for 99¢ two years ago, so since I have it on my Kindle, I may give it a look-see, if you don't mind a third.

the more the merrier. i think the second book is a bit faster paced and less setting things up. also book two is longer then book one so hopefully things seem less random or fewer plot threads are left hanging at the end

okay the buddy read will start this afternoon today. quick question, should we have a reading schedule or read at own pace and discuss?

Bryce wrote: "okay the buddy read will start this afternoon today. quick question, should we have a reading schedule or read at own pace and discuss?"

Was I not supposed to have started reading yet? Ooops.

Let me begin with my cavil about the first book, Traitor's Blade, and why I didn't continue with the series. The writing, for the most part, has a certain fluid charm, especially with the 3-way badinage, and sometimes made me even chuckle out loud (though Brasti can be a bit excessive.) But the plot seemed... well, bluntly, dumb.

First, we have this Great King, who's dead, but who had a Plan that was to continue after his death to bring Truth & Justice & Rainbows to the Kingdom, a feat that would make Hari Seldon jealous. (Messianic, much?) Furthermore, he didn't tell anyone his Plan, gave 144 Greatcoats secret individual instructions (like some sort of scavenger hunt), and the instructions weren't even clear ("my Charoites"?)

Then, though somewhat less a concern, there's the Purge (was it called Blood Week?), which is no way to run a kingdom. Aside from the disruption to quotidian commerce (you're not going to just pop a frozen dinner from the fridge into the microwave while everyone's hiding in their root cellar), who'd stay in such a place?

its fine if youve started reading. not entirely sure how buddy reads work hence my comment. i will probably start at some point today. how are you guys finding the second one so far

Hi guys, my apologies for being AWOL - some personal life things have come up and book-reading is on the backburner atm. I'll join in as and when I can.
Also re: reading schedule etc - the only other buddy read I've done was the Summer Tree recently which was also in this group, and people just read at their own pace. I would say I would be unable to read at a scheduled pace because generally speaking I read very quickly and would find it very frustrating to be limited! But as I said above, book reading isn't on the cards atm. I'll touch base when I can.

Knight's Shadow starts off with some slightly awkward exposition (characters telling each other things they already know to remind us what happened in the first book.) I can't quibble with the need for that exposition, though, since it's been over 2 years since I read the first book.

There's still the generally light banter among the three musketeers greatcoats & smooth writing style.

We are, of course, still stuck on the Great Dead King's Master Plan, but that seems to be the series premise, so, stuck with it.

Goal: keep Aline alive & put her on the throne. Complication: The Dukes like the relative autonomy they currently have. Question: In an era with DNA tests, it beats me how people could figure out if the unacknowledged, alleged bastard child of a king really was his heir, or really care. (The same question of possible lineage pertained to the Furies of Calderon, our current group series discussion.)

how are you finding the story though? are you enjoying book 2 more then book one? i quite like it so far from what i have read but need to get stuck into the novel. keep getting sidetracked by Furies of Calderon so have read only a little of Knights Shadow

Bryce wrote: "how are you finding the story though? ..."

Not buying it.

1. Too many "we're all going to die" / "the cavalry is here" moments. You can't keep doing that over and over.

2. Too many people betray & switch sides, on all sides, and some more than once, because they're secretly spies (or double-agent spies.) If everyone is an undercover agent for someone else, what's the point?

3. Too many dead little girls. I get it, the bad guys are bad. The author lazily substitutes dead kids for actual motives.

4. Don't kill him yet, we want to torture him for a week. Takes monologueing to a whole new level. "When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." - Tuco

5. The "King Hari Seldon has a master plan to win after his death" is still dumb.

The strength of this novel is the lighthearted banter between the three caballeros, which sadly disappears at the midpoint, making it a really tedious read to the end.

Hi, back again. I just finished this last night and I have zero intention of continuing the series.

I didn't mind that it was all impossible situations/miraculous escapes/ridiculous plot situations. It's like one of those action movies where, no matter what, the hero/heroes are always going to win. Have you ever thought about how badly the bad guys shoot in films?! Anyway, I digress. That was fine, gets a bit repetitive and boring but fine (generally why I don't tend to watch too many action films in a row, same issue). Could easily, EASILY have cut down on how many times it happened, but oh well.

But then it just got dark, really f-ing dark. I did NOT like that torture scene towards the end, especially not (view spoiler)[ the eighth day of Dashini torture with Trin for some weird, messed up reason (hide spoiler)] that was horrific, drawn out, messed up and completely and utterly unnecessary. That really spoiled it for me. I'm reading a silly book for fun, don't thrown in horrific torture.

I don't plan on continuing this series. That piece of torture really spoiled my enjoyment of it (even though I was getting bored and wishing the book had been cut down from 600 pages to 400, that sounds about the right length for an action-movie book, maybe even 300, let's not pretend there was much substance). Plus, I felt like the end point that he chose didn't leave any cliffhangers that I'm curious about. It felt like a good end point. Further story seems unnecessary at this point - I don't feel the need to know what happens next.

wow im now kind if curious to see how this book ends since both of you didnt like this book, i dont mind the impossible situations and impossible escapes or the fact that it feels like an action film but then again i am not that far in. looking forward to what happens next. it sucks though that you did not enjoy the book.

Cat wrote: "But then it just got dark..."

Yeah, that's the biggest mistake. As long as it was a relatively light, easygoing narration it was easier to just go with the constant last minute improbable escapes from certain death. Then the author decides to try out grimdark, like a change in fashion, and that just doesn't fit with the wacky plot.

i think it might just be the authors writing style. his other series does a slightly similar thing where it starts off light fantasy but switches to dark after book one. maybe the later books in both series will work better as grimdark. i will probably keep reading the series since i'm quite enjoying it so far and not having any issues with tone. the tone maybe fixed in later books

Well I just checked the percentages - G33z3r and I are in the minority of 1% who rated it as one or two stars. So it's really quite a coincidence that both of us didn't like it that much.

i still need to get around to finishing this. been sidetracked reading furies of calderon which is continuously ending chapters on cliffhangers which dont get resolved or mentioned for a couple of chapters due to multiple narrators. should be finished by tomorrow then i will tackle this which i have enjoyed what ive read so far