Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Foundryside

Thank You Scott!

Been meaning to read this this year... almost started it last week, actually... so I'll join...

In

Read chapter one. Good beginning. Sancia seems to be a fun character.

Glad you're liking it so far Daniel. My brain isn't quite sure how to pronounce Sancia, I'm thinking like San-see-a?

I'm excited to start this tomorrow. It's been on my kindle for ages and I've been trying to prioritise books I own either physically or on ebook rather than buying new ones or getting books from the library/ Scribd.

Charlie wrote: "Glad you're liking it so far Daniel. My brain isn't quite sure how to pronounce Sancia, I'm thinking like San-see-a?

I'm excited to start this tomorrow. It's been on my kindle for ages and I've b..."

I'll share my expert knowledge once I start the audiobook ;)

I may have started this on my lunch break and read the first chapter. Sancia seems a little odd, but I like odd. I'm not convinced about the writing, it seems a little clunky. Of course I've only read a few pages so time will tell.

Good call Charlie about the writing, it is a hair disjointed. Not bad, but noticeable upon occasion. I think it is pronounced Sahn-cee-ah...lol...
The magic system is pretty cool. Only through 5 chapters, but the story is sucking me in, which is a very good thing!

Chapter 6 various comments
(view spoiler)[So the seemingly old empire magic key Clef is an interesting item. Technology, magic or whatnot. The interplay between Sancia and Clef is pretty good, might be best part of book thus far. The backstory/world building is interesting. Agree with Charlie, an occasional sentence here or there is clunky and pulls you out of the story for a bit. The haves versus the have nots seemed to be be social commentary before the addition of the Occidentals...ancient empire who REALLY had the good magic!! Continuing on... (hide spoiler)]

5 chapters in and I'm enjoying it. (view spoiler)[ I love Clef, I like it more than Sancia even! I really enjoy magic objects in fantasy stories so this is a great addition.

The world is starting to come together and I'm getting a better picture of Sancia's life. I'd like to know how she came to have that plate in her head. (hide spoiler)]

Aha you hit the nail on the head!!! Wow that is truly awful but I just could t resist.

Interesting chain of events in chapter 7
(view spoiler)[So Gregor a self styled law abiding policeman(sorta), uses vigilante style justice to get info from Antonin the scumbag. Now child rape/prostitution is so far past reprehensible that nothing Gregor did would have bothered me. Just curious if everyone agrees with street justice?
Then of course the aftermath when the kids were basically going to kill each other. The angst of the overall depravity is brutal. 😔 (hide spoiler)]

Chapter Nine
(view spoiler)[So Sancia and Gregor meet when Sancia saves his life and then she knocks him unconscious. Several moving parts with the different campo factions. Not quite sure who is who yet. The guy with the gold object that turned off the scrivings seems to be kinda important...lol
The plate in Sancia’s head is really important. She doesn’t know where it came from. Crux of the story? (hide spoiler)]

Hi there peeps! I've been travelling and couldn't start on time.
You seem to be linking it a lot, so I'll start reading now to open those spoilers! :)

Tis a good (not nice) fun read so far! Really enjoy the magic system.

😂

Daniel wrote: "Tis a good (not nice) fun read so far! Really enjoy the magic system."

😅🤣You're not letting that go is it?! :D

Well, I'll log off from here and start reading the GOOD read, cause if not I'll end up chatting instead of reading! 😊😊

Nah, just a gentle little tweak...!! All gone now..
Chapter 10 (view spoiler)[foundation to the magic system...and it turns out to be basic computer language with chained algorithms...lmao.
Kinda weak chapter, mostly an info dump. Necessary, but more than one way to give the reader the info. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 12
(view spoiler)[nice little action packed sections. Gregor is a complete self righteous pompous asshole...and I am sure I will love him by book’s end 😂😂 (hide spoiler)]

Daniel wrote: "Interesting chain of events in chapter 7


Chapter 7 complete!

(view spoiler)[ I really like Gregor! I think he absolutely did the right thing. If vigilante justice is all that exists in this world then I'm all for it.

The writing is getting better and I'm getting sucked into this world.

The magic system is very cool. The more I learn about it, the more impressed I am honestly.

I'm convinced the Key was actually a person, or a person's personality got trapped in a key, or something of that sort. (hide spoiler)]

Charlie wrote: "Daniel wrote: "Interesting chain of events in chapter 7


Chapter 7 complete!

I completely agree with most everything, (view spoiler)[Gregor has issues but I loved the beatdown of the child abusers!!! Don't ask me what i would have done, cuz I would go pure medieval nasty on their sorry asses..whew okay.
Gregor does have some personality quirks which become more apparent later..have a sneaky suspicion about him which you will read about in chap 12 spoiler.
interesting idea about the key, never considered a real person trapped inside-thought it was some version of AI..... (hide spoiler)]
Happy Reading All!!

@Daniel I forgot to mention I love his magic truncheon!

@ Charlie yeppers me too..:D

This is another series that reminds me of Rachel Aaron's talking spirits or Seanan McGuire / October Daye's ability to talk to Faerie knowes...

Then chapter 10 comes along and explains it like computer programming...

Charlie wrote: "@Daniel I forgot to mention I love his magic truncheon!"

That sounds dirty...

I've been sucked into the book as well... binging it this morning, after I went and watched John Wick and did some gaming prep online for the new Path of Exile league this weekend...

For much of the first half of the book, I was distracted trying to figure out how these characters would settle into a scenario allowing future books... nobody was getting along too well... but by chapter 24, I think that's all sorted at least in the short-term...

(view spoiler)[I'm really worried about Clef, tho... I hope they find a way to save him... which will require more trust from Sancia than she has, so far, I think... (hide spoiler)]

I think it's San-sha, by the way... I usually think about it and want to write it down when I'm not actually listening to the book...

Timelord Iain wrote: "I've been sucked into the book as well... binging it this morning, after I went and watched John Wick and did some gaming prep online for the new Path of Exile league this weekend...

For much of t..."

Glad you're enjoying it! I loved, John Wick, 2 hours of continuous mindless violence, it was fantastic.

San-sha makes sense though I've already started saying San-see-ah in my head!

Somewhere she phonetically spells it out.
@ Iain yes identical to a chained computer program. Oldies like myself lived and computed in the dawn of the PC age. Floppy disks used to hold 256 bytes of information!!! Twenty five PERCENT of one kilobyte!!! You would have to chain floppies together to write any kind of decent program. Programmers had to be mega concise with zero fluff. This is exactly what the magic system reminded me of as well. The hardware technological explosion preceded the software explosion. Windows never happens unless hard drives become virtual libraries in your hand...everyone takes all this stuff for granted now.

Chapter 14
Major and minor reveals much of the world building is expanded on. (view spoiler)[So now not only does the scrivings approximate computer programs, now it turns out there are more than one languages the scrivings are written in....okay then.
The gravity explanation makes sense after this chapter (if you don’t care about physics, then the explanation is superfluous).
Maybe Gregor will pull his head out of his ass with regards to Sancia’s supposed crimes. If you treat people like vermin, you must expect them to bite you-common sense. (hide spoiler)]

Daniel wrote: "Chapter 14..."

Yea... the gist of the worldbuilding is (view spoiler)[if cavemen found a working PC, and had to try and use it... every time someone figures out a more complicated program/command, there is a drastic power shift... (hide spoiler)]

Yes with the backstory (view spoiler)[being 1000 years ago, certain people were expert code writers...not sure how all this will come together. (hide spoiler)]

That pocket watch (view spoiler)[is like someone found the reset button on the PC (hide spoiler)]

And Clef (view spoiler)[is just a pesky customer/user that's good at finding bugs in the code ;)

BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) (hide spoiler)]

I love your analogies Iain! Going to start reading again.

Chapter 16. More players on the battlefield are shown.

Charlie wrote: "I may have started this on my lunch break and read the first chapter. Sancia seems a little odd, but I like odd. I'm not convinced about the writing, it seems a little clunky. Of course I've only r..."

Yes. The writing is different. But once you advance in the story it seems to be approproate for the story. And I agree with both the odd and liking odd. :)

Daniel wrote: "Good call Charlie about the writing, it is a hair disjointed. Not bad, but noticeable upon occasion. I think it is pronounced Sahn-cee-ah...lol...
The magic system is pretty cool. Only through 5 ch..."

I keep pronouncing it the Spanish way. :D

Charlie wrote: "5 chapters in and..."

Yes Clef (view spoiler)[is the best part of the story for me also so far. Though I must admit I find it a bit odd that he uses modern day slang and phrasing when he is supposed to be centuries old. (hide spoiler)]

Daniel wrote: "Aha you hit the nail on the head!!! Wow that is truly awful but I just could t resist."

I'm joining you on this one. :D I too am really curious about it.

Charlie wrote: "Daniel wrote: "Interesting chain of events in chapter 7


Chapter 7 complete!

I really like Gregor! "

I was thinking the same about the key. Because (view spoiler)[he remembers the taste of wine and how could he if he never actually tasted it?

And I'm joining the Gregor side too. :) (hide spoiler)]

Daniel wrote: "Interesting chain of events in chapter 7
."

It's brutal but real. (view spoiler)[I have personally seen cases in real life where young kids were so used to a fucked up existence that they preffered to go back to it even after they were freed. So that scene was so head on!! I was actually expecting it after that background. (hide spoiler)]

Laura wrote: "Charlie wrote: "5 chapters in and..."

Yes Clef [spoilers removed]"

I assume it's from his awareness... he's been able to hear people forever... just nobody could hear him...

Laura wrote: "Charlie wrote: "5 chapters in and..."

Yes Clef [spoilers removed]"

I'm just assuming he's adaptable. That's how I justify it!

chapter 17 halfway point and things are getting awesome
(view spoiler)[So Gregor loses some of his priggish snobbish nonsensical elitism when he hears about Sancia's travails when a slave. The fearsome foursome of Berenice, Orso, Gregor, and Sancia are going to become the avenging army....lol. Not sure what is coming, but it is a great read! (hide spoiler)]
Still on the fence about what Clef is or is not.

Finished... (view spoiler)[Not sure how this could have ended much worse for the team... Clef and Gregor need fixing, Orso and everyone have a target on their head... Valyria and "The Prophet" are much bigger threats than the one they stopped at the end of this book... (hide spoiler)]

Now I gotta wait until February 2020 for Shorefall...

10 chapters complete (view spoiler)[ Now things are getting exciting! I like the crazy Scriver, he seems a bit batty but it's kind of endearing.

I also really like Gregor, he genuinely seems principled, which is rare for a family like his. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next, though I'm rooting for Sancia so I don't want him to catch her. (hide spoiler)]

need to wait until you read a bit more to comment lol.

Timelord Iain wrote: "Finished... [spoilers removed]

Now I gotta wait until February 2020 for Shorefall..."

I am so stooopid. At first I thought Shorefall was a book in another series...lmao. Well better nine months than 3 YEARS for Stormlight!!

Chapter 11 (view spoiler)[ So I agree with Daniel, Gregor is a pompous ass! I still like him though. I'm enjoying the action and the excitement.

I also liked the flashback into Sancia's past. So it turns out she was a salve and she was illegally experimented on. I was thinking she was abducted by the houses and operated on against her will so I was kind of right! (hide spoiler)]

Charlie wrote: "Chapter 11

AHA...anyway. Gregor seems to be the Author's play toy. Readers will vacillate from dislike to like etc, etc. There is a paragraph around the 68% mark when it SEEMS he realizes what an ass he has been. I have hopes for Gregor, although he fills me with despair as well..lol