Fantasy Book Club Series discussion

This folder is for discussing the last third of the second book in the first Omnibus version: Theft of Swords. It includes chapters:

LOST SWORDS
GILARABRYWN
SMOKE AND ASH
ARTISTIC VISION
AS DARKNESS FALLS
THE HEIR OF NOVRON

Oh, I should mention...that I would like to keep the spoilers limited to what people up to this point would know about. If you feel a strong desire to comment on something "farther into the story" please make it vague as to not spoil any surprises for those reading in sequence.

I really want to know who the heir is! All I'm left with are suspicions.

Helen wrote: "I really want to know who the heir is! All I'm left with are suspicions."

Can't help you there Helen...well at some point you'll find out but it's too soon for that to be "revealed".

One of the things I like about this series is that not everything is as it seems. For instance in the first book you told that Braga killed King Amrath - and of course the "evil chacellor" is always the one to suspect first. Which I actually use to my advantage as I point the finger right at him. The reality is ... it was Esrahaddon who had Amrath killed so that Alric would come and release him from Guitaria - Not a bad accomplishment seeing as he was locked up at the time.

I do like Esrahadden, revealing small parts of his knowledge only when necessary. Who does that remind us of!

Helen wrote: "I do like Esrahadden, revealing small parts of his knowledge only when necessary. Who does that remind us of!"

I like Esrahadon as well. In Crown you weren't so sure whether it was a good idea to let him out or not. I also like that he didn't "join up" with the party in that book but go off to do his own thing.

His conversation in Avempartha when at the well with Royce when they first arrived was very entertaining.

Helen wrote: "I do like Esrahadden, revealing small parts of his knowledge only when necessary. Who does that remind us of!"

Who indeed ;-)

Esrahadon is a great character...very mysterious. One of the things I really appreciate about this series is how he is used sparingly....also that he is essentially castrated. Don't get me wrong....I loved Gandalf from LOTR but I could never figure out why with all his power why didn't he just "make it so" in some respects.

In Riyria if he was around "too much" it would have slanted things. I think Michael struck the right "balance".

There was actually a "version" of the story (only in my head - never made it to paper) where Esrahaddon gets back what he is missig and that sends him into interesting situations. I'm glad I ended up not going that way.

Eek! - I'm not sure I would want to see what happened in this situation. I can't wait to see what the "final conclusion" is Only nine more days to the 16th. Do I sound like too much of a "fangirl"?

Elizabeth wrote: "Esrahadon is a great character...very mysterious. One of the things I really appreciate about this series is how he is used sparingly....also that he is essentially castrated......."

Yes, I thought losing the hands was a great way to limit Esra's powers and keep things interesting and not too easy. Always annoying when you have a seemingly ultra-powerful character who doesn't utilize his powers as he probably could.

Michael wrote: "Helen wrote: "I really want to know who the heir is! All I'm left with are suspicions."

Can't help you there Helen...well at some point you'll find out but it's too soon for that to be "revealed..."

I'm glad to hear that the answer probably isn't as simple and obvious as I first assumed. I liked being jerked around a bit, at the end of Avempartha, on the topic of the heir -- first when Esra describes the amulets, etc., when he's about to use the powers of Avempartha to find them. I remembered Hadrian's amulet and so was already anticipating the results. But then, when Royce and Arista come out of the tower, we find out nothing about what they saw!! After that (because I assumed Royce would obviously have a reaction to his partner being tied up in the business of the heir), I started to doubt my initial assumption. And then, of course, the ending leaves Hadrian's amulet square in the middle of the readers' minds. So my assumption was re-validated.

I wondered about that ending. Did Sullivan think we didn't pick up on the amulet earlier, to leave off with such an obvious pointing finger at it? Or was he just jerking us around even more? Leading us astray? I'm not sure how I feel about the possibility of Hadrian being the rightful king. Of course, and based on his fighting abilities, it's possible he is the descendant of the fighter guy (sorry don't have my book to reference) that was tasked with protecting the heir. But, if that's the case, what happened to the heir?

After The Crown Conspiracy and even halfway through Avempartha, I was doubtful that I would immediately continue on with the series. But Avempartha got enough into the larger, overarching plot of the series that I will definitely pick up the next one some time this month.

Another convincing factor was reading Sullivan's author interview at the end of the book. I can forgive all the things that I didn't like about the books after learning that at least he did them on purpose. I can definitely appreciate a good book written purely for entertainment's sake. Write on!!

All I *should* say to you Margot, about the ending of Avempartha is that you might be letting what you think will happen cloud the facts that were presented to you.

You are not at all alone in this. Huge numbers of readers ended up where you are now. When I wrote it I did not expect any ambiguity to remain in the reader's mind, but, of course that does not mean that the conclusion I was driving you to was the correct one. Still at this point you should think you know what is going on with few misgivings.

I know I must sound like Esrahaddon. Read on!!

Michael wrote: "When I wrote it I did not expect any ambiguity to remain in the reader's mind, but, of course that does not mean that the conclusion I was driving you to was the correct one."

Yes, exactly. And it's great. I love being fooled. :-)

Margot wrote: "Yes, I thought losing the hands was a great way to limit Esra's powers and keep things interesting and not too easy. Always annoying when you have a seemingly ultra-powerful character who doesn't utilize his powers as he probably could.

Actually I think Michael does that well with many characters in the series...Royce and Hadrian are definitely good at what they do - but there are reasons they just don't "let loose" at the drop of a hat.

As for Arista post Avempartha (view spoiler)[she also becomes pretty powerful with her magic but its ability to suduce and corrupt makes her have to use it sparingly which is a good way to go. (hide spoiler)]

Margot wrote: "After The Crown Conspiracy and even halfway through Avempartha, I was doubtful that I would immediately continue on with the series. But Avempartha got enough into the larger, overarching plot of the series that I will definitely pick up the next one some time this month...."

Well I personally loved all the books - but I do think that they get better with each one so I can see where some might drop out early. It is SO WORTH reding the whole thing - I kid you not one of the best reads I've had in years an probably in the top 3 of all time!