Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan starting on May 5, 2024.


Happy Reading!

Thank you!

Schedule:
1. Age of Myth (May 5)
Shorts: Pile of Bones & Little Wren and the Big Forest
2. Age of Swords (June 5) [link]
3. Age of War (July 5) [link]
4. Age of Legend (Aug 5) [link]
5. Age of Death (Sept 5) [link]
6. Age of Empyre (Oct 5) [link]

Audio: 1-4 are on Hoopla (both regular and Graphic Audio), 5-6 are Audible Exclusives
Ebook: cannot find any library/subscription copies.

Yay!

Aaahhhh I’m so excited about this one and I’m still a 3 week wait at my library. Both this and Jade City are killing me. But I’ve been able to catch up on Discworld and Stephanie while I wait so I guess that’s good.

I just picked this one up from the library but I can wait for more people to read it before I start.

Running late but excited!

I’m upset! I just discovered this is free on audible and I’ve been waiting on a library copy. Looks like the first couple are free. Starting now.

Yay! I've been waiting for others to start in order to start it myself. I am juggling 2 other audiobooks right now but hope to start it this weekend.

I was thinking I would start this next and this settles it! Should be here at some point today :)

I’m about 15% in and it’s interesting. I haven’t read any of his other series which he explains isn’t necessarily to understand. So far so good.

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Yay! I've been waiting for others to start in order to start it myself. I am juggling 2 other audiobooks right now but hope to start it this weekend."

Been clicking through all the BR links for this same reason. Don't want to be the first one to start and now I don't have to, yay!

I'm curious--one recurring... gag? maybe? in this series is (view spoiler)[very common words being "created" and origins explained--like say, the word "book." (hide spoiler)] I actually found this kinda jarring and annoying, but I'm curious what others think... also curious to find if I still find it so on a reread. Not really spoilery but putting it in spoilers just in case.

Through Chapter 3--(view spoiler)[It's interesting seeing how Sullivan manages to tech-down the medieval-style tech era of the Riyria Chronicles... all the way down to almost literal Bronze Age... or earlier? People living in dirt, superstitions about fireflies and bears, and swords made of copper... Clannish separations...

Hints of even earlier events--like Dureyans fighting in the Freys' war...

Malcom becoming Rafe's spokesperson... and completely rewriting the narrative. And before that, the little girl who wanders into Persephone's village, decrying an end to all people...

I often wonder at the choice of the name Persephone--marrying Hades? (hide spoiler)]

Rereaders only, spoiler thoughts. (view spoiler)[Malcom is the god, right? My hind brain is scratching at me but I don't remember exactly. His actions in this opening--making decisions and actions outside what you'd expect of a slave... and also how he acts that suggests he is used to much better and higher manners... again more than probably a slave... makes me think this was pretty early in his cycle of redemption... (hide spoiler)]

Nirkatze wrote: "Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Yay! I've been waiting for others to start in order to start it myself. I am juggling 2 other audiobooks right now but hope to start it this weekend."

Been clicking thro..."

It’s not my favorite part of the “lore” but I don’t mind it that much

I just started. I love the reactions Malcom has to Raith’s superstitions.

Nirkatze wrote: "Through Chapter 3--It's interesting seeing how Sullivan manages to tech-down the medieval-style tech era of the Riyria Chronicles... all the way down to almost literal Bronze Age... or earlier? Peo..."

Answering your question. Spoiler for the series. Rereaders only(view spoiler)[ Yes. Which is why I find his reactions to the simplistic things Raith says so funny. He pops up in the other series as well (if you’ve read any of the others). He’s the Hoid of Riyriaverse lol (hide spoiler)]

Thank you @Diana! I thought so--rereader spoiler reply. (view spoiler)[I've only read this series & the Revelations... just enough to know to keep an eye out for him. :) Hoid is a good comparison. (hide spoiler)]

I'm through Chapter 13 now, and mostly just floating and enjoying. (view spoiler)[Getting the Cenzalor name. Watching Penelope & Rafe... Go Pen, with a younger suitor! M-dude still an ass as a child.

Very magical setting... (hide spoiler)]

I’m at chapter 18. I’m definitely enjoying this but I’m getting character names mixed up. I had to go to wiki to confirm what’s happening. I wish everybody had normal names. Sam is the God Killer and Mark is the slave dude who helped him, etc.

So far I think this book has good characterization. I’m not remembering names but based on how people are acting and what they are saying, I know who they are.

Felina wrote: "I’m at chapter 18. I’m definitely enjoying this but I’m getting character names mixed up. I had to go to wiki to confirm what’s happening. I wish everybody had normal names. Sam is the God Killer a..."

I loled at “Sam is the God Killer and Mark is the slave dude”. The names are def easier to remember as you get used to them. I have this issue a lot with audiobooking fantasy books and keeping the characters straight.

Felina wrote: "I’m at chapter 18. I’m definitely enjoying this but I’m getting character names mixed up. I had to go to wiki to confirm what’s happening. I wish everybody had normal names. Sam is the God Killer a..."

I thought the God Killer was named Rafe? Ugh, I definitely need to look at a character list!! Looking for that list...

Typing up a little list for reference, some spoilers for first half of book or so: (view spoiler)[

Humans/Rune:
Persephone--wife of former chieftain, better leader than current
Suri--human wild-child, with wolf Minna, apprenticed to dead wise woman
Raithe--god-killer, Dureyan
Malcom--ex-slave, joins Raithe after his master is killed.
Moya--hot woman with fiery temper. Hit on her and lose a finger.
Roan--skittish former slave
Brin--young, training to be a Keeper.
Gifford--pottery/tech genius, crippled body, mouth won't let him say "r" sounds. Sweet on Roan.


Fhrey/Elves/"Gods"
Nyphron--Fhrey commander who was exiled, father was killed in an unfair duel
Arion--Fhrey mage teacher, sent to confront the god-killers
Mawyndule--Fhrey leader's brat being taught magic by Arion
Gryndal--flashy mage dude
Trilos--old Fhrey obsessed with Door and magic. (hide spoiler)]

Up through Chapter 18 now--(view spoiler)[Very curious about Trilos staring at the Door... making me wonder what is on the other side. Another realm? God's realm? When was it opened before, and why is Arion--or Suri--the one he is looking for?

I really loved the string scene with Arion & Suri. Arion is a good teacher. (hide spoiler)]

Reread spoilers--(view spoiler)[thinking that Trilos might be the same level of being as Malcom (don't remember) and that they might be on opposite sides of the Chess game... Trilos exiled, and the Door a way home? (hide spoiler)]

Awww this is turning out to be quite a lovely book to read on Mother’s Day. 😭😭😭

Felina wrote: "Awww this is turning out to be quite a lovely book to read on Mother’s Day. 😭😭😭"

Um... that is sarcasm, right? I'm not very good at telling... I mean... (view spoiler)[all the dead children and bereft mothers... (hide spoiler)]

Through Chapter 22--(view spoiler)[The twist--double maybe triple twist of Grin the Brown is interesting--and very nice timing for the revelation...

Was literally listening to this section when Felina made her Mother's Day statement and was like "um....." Secret babies left to die and murdered by or changed into bears grow up eating dead bodies and then murder another character's son... I guess it has motherly devotion in it... of a kind...

But then on the other hand, there are some good surrogate mother relationships, especially with Suri and Arion, or Persephone, and a lot of good female characters in Moya, Brin, and Roan too...

Darn there was a specific line I came to comment on that made me snort in laughter and I ... nope, I remembered it--ish! something like "if you can't trust a tree, what can you trust?"

Kind of wondering if the Tree might not be a conduit for Muriel, or something... (hide spoiler)]

No, I’m not being sarcastic. (view spoiler)[ What that mother went through being forced to leave her baby out in the wilderness and thinking it had turned into a bear. Her pain touched my heart and made me think of what I’d do for my son. (hide spoiler)]

But yes, lots of dead kids. 🫤

Ha ha. I read your spoiler and we are talking about the same thing.

And I also laughed at that tree quote. I really like that character. That girl with the wolf. I also like when her and the other lady have conversations and she keeps getting confused about when to use I and Me.

And Chapter 24--(view spoiler)[More twists! Okay, this can be a Mother's Day story... Maeve learning that Suri is her daughter... and giving her life for her... but that Suri doesn't realize it... so sad... (hide spoiler)]

Finished! (view spoiler)[Oh whew! Persephone & Suri put it together... sad that Maeve realized but Suri didn't, in the end though...

Love that Malcom named his spear "Pointy."

M is such a whiner. Was very happy to see Gryndal eat it.

Dun dun duuuuuun... Malcom's (supposedly) been following Nyphron's orders.... Nyphron playing a double game... (hide spoiler)]

Felina wrote: "Ha ha. I read your spoiler and we are talking about the same thing.

And I also laughed at that tree quote. I really like that character. That girl with the wolf. I also like when her and the othe..."

LOL ditto! I love how Suri says "are you sure?" My students ask me that sometimes on language things and I'm like "um... yes. You're doing it wrong. Me and my 30+ years of experience are very sure."

I also appreciate your perspective on the mother-aspect in the book... I was focusing too much on the death and not enough on the feelings...

Yeah. The essence of motherhood is manifest in the difficult things. Moms are great for the fun and games but there’s a reason a soldier injured in the battlefield calls for his mother. And I, sadly, feel my love so much stronger for my son when he needs comforting or when I hear stories of loss from other mothers. Wesley is 8 now and 50% of the time he annoys me to death but I love the little turd so much.

I love how you put that, Felina... such an experience full of contradictions and extremes....

I am still only about 20% through. But I love the reaction Malcolm had when Raith used the Tetlin Witch in his slang swear (series spoiler) (view spoiler)[since she's his daughter and all. He was just like, no. Never say that again. Pick someone else to curse on. (hide spoiler)]

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "I am still only about 20% through. But I love the reaction Malcolm had when Raith used the Tetlin Witch in his slang swear (series spoiler) [spoilers removed]"

Those little bits make rereading such a treasure.

I have no read the series but I do read spoilers especially when I feel like I’m entering a world I’m going to really like.

I am through chapter 19 and liking it so far, although I do miss Royce & Hadrian. I agree that keeping the characters straight was touch & go for a bit but I am good now (I think). I am loving the strong female characters for sure! Definitely do not expect to finish tonight but should wrap it up tomorrow easily.

I just finished this a very much enjoyed it. I really liked all the characters and was very surprised at a lot of the reveals. I usually can sniff out a plot pretty easily and I didn’t see this one coming. Looking forward to the next one.

I actually thinking I like the women in this series more than in Revelations. Maybe it's Sullivan getting more experience... not that I don't enjoy Arista & Thrace especially, but they've always felt a little... off... to me. Can't put a finger on it. I like Persephone a lot though--especially at the end when (view spoiler)[she claims the chieftainship. It's really refreshing that it wasn't someone else nominating her and her being like "oh no, not me" and having to be convinced. (hide spoiler)] And Suri--Arion, Moya, Brin, Roan... a really nice selection of ladies.

Oooooh excited to see some strong female characters coming up!

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Oooooh excited to see some strong female characters coming up!"

Just brace yourself for some strong mother stuff.

Agreed. There are great female characters in this books.

I think in a lot of books or movies, writers think making a strong female character is just making a woman act like a man or making a woman a Mary Sue. Women are different than Men and exhibit strength in different ways. I felt like the women in this book were strong female characters because they were not interchangeable with our male characters. And, sometimes female characters are stereotypes of women instead of real women. These woman are also not interchangeable with each other. The characterization is excellent in this book because each character had its own voice. Like is said earlier, I couldn’t ever remember anybody’s name but I could always tell who I was reading about based on what they said, how they said it and what they did and how they did it.

Just finished and I really enjoyed it quite a lot! It was good from the start but by the end it was right there with the first series for me! (view spoiler)[What the hell is up with the ending??? Was not expecting that reveal at all! Loved that Persephone was installed as the leader and I agree with Nirkatze it happened in the best way possible, with her asserting her place with them and saying all of these new folks are to be welcomed in as well. The Maeve thing was so sad, the twists in this were very well-done and that one was only topped by the ending for me. Very much looking forward to the next! (hide spoiler)]

Felina wrote: "Agreed. There are great female characters in this books.

I think in a lot of books or movies, writers think making a strong female character is just making a woman act like a man or making a woma..."

Yes this! This book has great female characters who are female and great. It isn't just a rewrite of men roles.

I'm half way through and my god I forgot how much I absolutely loved Raith. He was legit my book boyfriend for a while. Series spoiler(view spoiler)[I really really wanted him to have a happy ending. I understand why it went down the way it did and I do really love books that are not afraid to keep it real, but my god did I love him (hide spoiler)]

This is my first reread of this series and boy am I catching a lot. He wrote the whole series before he got it published so the whole thing makes sense and is lacking the on-the-fly plot holes of a series written as you go (I'm looking at you ACOTAR) and you can really tell in the foreshadowing and small character reactions to certain things.

Hear hear! I love @Felina's character analysis, @Ann-Marie's ending reactions, and @Diana's book writing system comparison... also Raith is pretty awesome...

Just finished. Ugh. I love this book more than the first time. I absolutely loved the ending. How emotional it was. And absolutely adored how (view spoiler)[ Persephone took charge. Hell yes! (hide spoiler)]. So glad I decided to do the reread.

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Just finished. Ugh. I love this book more than the first time. I absolutely loved the ending. How emotional it was. And absolutely adored how [spoilers removed]. So glad I decided to do the reread."

Agree. I remember being lukewarm on the series the first read through--these definitely age even better with reread.

Nirkatze wrote: "Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Just finished. Ugh. I love this book more than the first time. I absolutely loved the ending. How emotional it was. And absolutely adored how [spoilers removed]. So glad ..."

Same. I liked the book the first time but I didn't love it as much as I do now. I think it was because I missed Royce and Hadrian. But the foreshadowing and easter eggs are absolutely doing it for me.

Nirkatze wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "Oooooh excited to see some strong female characters coming up!"

Just brace yourself for some strong mother stuff."

Thanks! I can't seem to escape that particular theme. I think it might be a more common thing people write about than I realized before now!

Will be back here after Fallen

WOW that was a pretty great read for me! The ending was pretty intense (view spoiler)[ starting from the bear chase! (hide spoiler)]Couldn't put it down.. I think I caught some of the twists like (view spoiler)[ Suri's precognition about "Grin" destroying the town was Gryndal and not the bear... But was not expecting anything else! And that Nyphron/Malcolm plot at the end! Hell yes give me intrigue! (hide spoiler)]

It always makes me happy to watch someone become a Sullivan fan. I love his books so much 😅

Yeah I really enjoyed the Riyria Chronicles, but I think I might have liked this one even more!

I'm just continually amazed at how much a reread has changed my feelings for these books--I keep saying it, but it keeps surprising me... I remember being lukewarm on first readthrough, both of Riyria and of Legends... but rereads... it's very rare to find something that ages so well--something where a reread is even better than first discovery.