[Mentalist]

Scarab Path is different. Tchaikovsky finally learned ho to do characterization by this point.

Seda's thing gets explained eventually. Thalric has very goods reasons to be scared shitless.

[Macros]

I think thalrics fear of seda is pretty well handwaved in the start of the book, if you didn't catch it you need a seriously strong set of glasses

[Andorion]

Macros, on 24 October 2015 - 07:29 AM, said:

I think thalrics fear of seda is pretty well handwaved in the start of the book, if you didn't catch it you need a seriously strong set of glasses

No my issue was there were only hints, no specifics. I was wondering what would terrify a hardened Rekef veteran like Thalric

[Andorion]

27 chapters into Scarab Path.

Spoiler

Thalric is seriously the most screwed over chap in the series. I feel bad for him. I also agree completely with his characterization of Che. Honestly I feel like the author just uses Che's bumbling as a mechanic for plot progression

Totho is being Totho... sigh..

Ammon's attempts to seduce the female scholar are pretty hilarious.

So the big secret of Khanaphes is that centuries ago it was ruled by the Inapt and the current rulers, through their aptitude have lost their old culture? Then what killed Kadro? Clearly more to come.

[Macros]

I think its fairly obvious what about seda terrifies him, I mean, its literally printed on the page about her nocturnal habits, and its not much of a logic step to get where that comes from and extrapolate what she's at

[Andorion]

So I have finished Scarab Path and Sea Watch

Spoiler

Scarab Path ended very nicely. I liked the book, as always I loved the battle descriptions and the Slug-kinden bits added some extra background and depth to the world though I doubt if they are going to be ultra-important to the series. Nice Malazany touch with how long-sleeping Gods were handled. I also loved the idea of Che and Thalric going off together. Thalric is easily the most interesting character so their joint adventures should be interesting.

Sea Watch

Spoiler

An entire book from the PoV of Stenwold. I was not very sure about this because frankly I have never liked Stenwold that much. He isn't really very good at a lot of things and mediocre in diplomacy

I felt this book was rather tangential to the entire story. An entire world introduced, and they clearly have no connection to any previous events. I was hoping for some link to the lake-beetles of Jerez but nothing was forthcoming. The Lyess-Stenwold charm thing was predictable, I saw it coming several chapters in advance. Similarly the romantic connection to Paladrya was not a surprise for me and ever since the Heir returned I thought there was a high probability he would take over the giant octopus and he did.


I didn't really like the middle part of the book and I was anxious about how Teornis' line was going to turn out. his death was really sad. I would have liked more from him

I really liked the last portion of the book, the way Stenwold stood down the spiders. But this is an unsustainable defense and frankly the Wasps now have a huge advantage.

[Mentalist]

You're into the "intermission" books now. Wait until "Air War" where everything explodes again.

"Heirs of the Blade" is also kinda tangential, but it's working on the second major theme of the story-the inAptness making a bit of a comeback.

[Macros]

Started sea watch yesterday but work was far too hectic today to get much reading done

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 27 October 2015 - 06:25 PM, said:

Fuck you read fast.

Sea watch is one of my favorite of the 10. It's the acid trip book.

I wanted to like it.

Spoiler

The basic idea of there being underwater civilisations of Kinden is awesome. The giant octopus is awesome. Stenwold getting repeatedly swallowed by huge creatures is hilarious. But I just kept on thinking that none of this is going to prove very useful against the wasps and Sten is just wasting his time.

[Andorion]

About 6 chapters into Heirs of the Blade.

Nothing much has happened.

Spoiler

If I was uncomfortable about having a book from Stenwold PoV, I am now extremely sceptical about having one form mopy Tynisa PoV. I hope things pick up soon

[Mentalist]

Andorion, on 28 October 2015 - 01:36 AM, said:

Briar King, on 27 October 2015 - 06:25 PM, said:

Fuck you read fast.

Sea watch is one of my favorite of the 10. It's the acid trip book.

I wanted to like it.

Spoiler

The basic idea of there being underwater civilisations of Kinden is awesome. The giant octopus is awesome. Stenwold getting repeatedly swallowed by huge creatures is hilarious. But I just kept on thinking that none of this is going to prove very useful against the wasps and Sten is just wasting his time.

It's not totally useless. I'll leave it at that, b/c spoilers.

Heirs takes a while to pick up. Che chapters are good, though. And Heirs is the last "set-up" book, and then lots of insane stuff happens.

[Mentalist]

I liked "Heirs". But it was mostly for reading about the Commonweal, not the characters.

[Andorion]

9 chapters into Heirs. I really like the Empire storyline. Could have used more Seda.

[End of Disc One]

I'm not that far yet, but from browsing various forums and reviews, I never got the impression that Heirs was less liked than the other books. Air War actually seems a little more divisive, despite it being very well liked on this forum.

[Andorion]

Thirty chapters into Heirs and overall things have picked up a lot

Spoiler

Che and Thalric are still the most interesting but I also like Angved

I think the last three books basically got set up through Angveds new petrol powered air force and Che and Sedas magical discoveries

I wish somebody would explain why the Commonweal is in decline. It seems to predate the wasp war. They seem to be in demographic collapse and the nobility seem to be failing totally.

[Mentalist]

Commonweal is like Imperial China-it got too big to ru efficiently. Combined with a very romantic view of the nobility, and the inability to "let go of the old ways", the whole society is undergoing apathetic self-destruction. The Wasp War, against an Apt peoples, further reinforced this "our ways are not good anymore" mentality, but instead of proactively doing anything about about it, the nobility is pining away about the good old days.

[Andorion]

Mentalist, on 29 October 2015 - 04:31 PM, said:

Commonweal is like Imperial China-it got too big to ru efficiently. Combined with a very romantic view of the nobility, and the inability to "let go of the old ways", the whole society is undergoing apathetic self-destruction. The Wasp War, against an Apt peoples, further reinforced this "our ways are not good anymore" mentality, but instead of proactively doing anything about about it, the nobility is pining away about the good old days.

I got the China analogy, but what I don;t get is how this pessimism seems to have affected everybody, as in the entire country. Its one of those times when I wish the apt/inapt differences were not so rigid

[Mentalist]

Andorion, on 29 October 2015 - 04:39 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 29 October 2015 - 04:31 PM, said:

Commonweal is like Imperial China-it got too big to ru efficiently. Combined with a very romantic view of the nobility, and the inability to "let go of the old ways", the whole society is undergoing apathetic self-destruction. The Wasp War, against an Apt peoples, further reinforced this "our ways are not good anymore" mentality, but instead of proactively doing anything about about it, the nobility is pining away about the good old days.

I got the China analogy, but what I don;t get is how this pessimism seems to have affected everybody, as in the entire country. Its one of those times when I wish the apt/inapt differences were not so rigid

It's not necessarily the Aptness (though it's probably a factor). But also, culture.

Majority of Commonweal are peasants who are born into blind respect for the nobility. Nobility are born into position of privilege and blind respect for tradition and the Emperor (or w/e the title was). And the Emperor is born into being the tip of this pyramid of belief, and convinced from birth that changing anything will make it all collapse, and as "the father of the nation" it's his responsibility NOT to do that. So, rather than risk change and potential collapse, the Commonweal chose stagnation and eventual collapse. Diffusion of responsibility-no one can be blamed, b/c no one can be expected to bring change. The system is rigid (again, see China. Major thing that shook it up was being conquered by barbarians... who, 3 generations later, got fully assimilated into Chinese culture -like most of Mongolia, or Manchuria). It's odd, but it's not unprecedented.

[Andorion]

Finished Heirs. The book ends well,

Spoiler

I thought that Tynisa was going to die, especially when Che tried to treat her face before her hip.

Felipe seems to have a rather lenient attitude towards bandits

I really liked Jarven and the Pride of the Sixth storyline. Good to have a sympathetic Wasp other than Thalric

Che's vision: The Seal of the Worm the final book and big-bad set up?

[Mentalist]

Andorion, on 31 October 2015 - 02:37 AM, said:

Finished Heirs. The book ends well,

Spoiler

I thought that Tynisa was going to die, especially when Che tried to treat her face before her hip.

Felipe seems to have a rather lenient attitude towards bandits

I really liked Jarven and the Pride of the Sixth storyline. Good to have a sympathetic Wasp other than Thalric

Che's vision: The Seal of the Worm the final book and big-bad set up?

Spoiler

Esp. after Bk 9 I thought the same thing, and was worried that I'd be terribly dissapointed by it... but I wasn't

Tchaikovsky sticks the ending. That's all I'll say.