[Abyss]

My reactions reading the rest of

Spoiler

Mustang's

chapters in Part 2...

Spoiler

This is going to go horribly wrong.

This is going to go horribly horribly horribly wrong.

Hey, maybe this will actually work....

Oh.

Oh fuck.


OH FUCK.

Even knowing full well something was going to happen, Brown still managed to make it magnitudes worse.


Well into Part 3 now.

Spoiler

Ephraim, high as fuck, just charged a pack of hunterkiller bots.
Hee... At this rate he's going to end up as King of the Obsidians.




Lysander does not suck any more. And is some kind of Gold ninja.
I'm curious what Appolonius is plotting.


Darrow not being betrayed by his people was a nice touch.

[Abyss]

Up to Ch 59 of 92

Spoiler

Wow, the Obsidians are ambitious.


Hey, Mustang, not dead! ...which was obvious, but even so, kind of a relief. And hey, here nutfuck brother is back! And a clone! And Lillith is his bodyguard also his mommy and also... ew. And... ew. Ew.


Cool escape Mustang. Bummer about the Howlers.


Volga is Ragnar's daughter! Whoa. Did NOT see that coming.


Oh wow... the Obsidians are kind of fucked.


Lyrea taking a couple levels in badass... FINALLY. Nice to see her move up from perpetual victimhood.


Cool escape Ephraim and kids. I love how he has managed to kidnap AND rescue Pax and Electra six times or so already.


These new mutant Obsidian pirate baddies are either brilliant or ridiculous, i can't quite decide. I AM very curious who is behind them tho'.


Heh... Darrow in Severo's rooms... Severo is one of those rare characters who can dominate a scene without even really appearing in it.


Lysander... dude can't catch a break. Fascinating exchange with Fear Knight Atlas.


And hey, Alexander not dead!

VERY enjoying this.

Knowing there's another book to come, VERY VERY fearing a cliffhanger grimpocalypse of an ending.

[Nicodimas]

I have been seriously sidetracked these past.. 2 years ..so picked up these last two and reading mode on

[Abyss]

Ch 65ish,,,

Spoiler

Atlas The Fear Knight Who Atrociously Impales People just did something selfless for the greater good. Whoa.

Cool escape to Hellios. Got to love how Lysander is becoming this utterly sneeky fucker.
I may love Viktra just a little.

[Abyss]

Chs 72-77.

Oh.
Gods.

From that
....to
....THAT ??!


DID I JUST READ THAT???

[End of Disc One]

On page 481, chapter 50-something. I'm going to have to slow down now due to real life stuff.

This book is amazing and probably my favorite Pierce book to date. By this point it's a totally different beast than the first trilogy. The story is much bigger and more complex, and I'm now enjoying every POV. Darrow is still my favorite but Ephraim has a solid plot going on, Lyria's has started to get interesting, Mustang's chapters are awesome, and Lysander's too. The Mustang chapters that I just read--wow. Fingers are crossed for some of my favorite characters.

Hopefully I can finish this before the next Abercrombie comes out.

[Abyss]

End of Disc One, on 19 August 2019 - 01:49 PM, said:

On page 481, chapter 50-something. I'm going to have to slow down now due to real life stuff.

This book is amazing and probably my favorite Pierce book to date. By this point it's a totally different beast than the first trilogy. The story is much bigger and more complex, and I'm now enjoying every POV. Darrow is still my favorite but Ephraim has a solid plot going on, Lyria's has started to get interesting, Mustang's chapters are awesome, and Lysander's too. The Mustang chapters that I just read--wow. Fingers are crossed for some of my favorite characters.

Hopefully I can finish this before the next Abercrombie comes out.

Yeah, i know where you are and what's coming.... odds are Abercrombie will have to wait.
This book... this is like the Memories of Ice of this series.


CH 89 now and my reactions to the last few events amount to....

DID THAT JUST HAPPEN THAT DID NOT JUST HAPPEN
HOLY FUCKING FUCK WHAT NEXT
OH FUCK
OH BLOODY HELL
THEY ARE SO FUCKED
FUCK
WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK????/
HOW? WHO??????? WAIT, WHAT?????
Oh hell that is just not fair.
Oh, hey, good one, that was clever.

[Abyss]

Just finished DARK AGE.

I'll block spoilers just in case...


SPOILERS
SPOILERS
BLOODY DAMN SPOILERS MY GOODMAN
YES SPOILERS THAT WILL CARVE YOU LIKE A ROAST
AND
IMPALE YOU
AND SPOIL YOU IN THE
SPOILER

DESERT

SOMEWHERE

SPOILERS

Spoiler

Fuck me, that was exhasuting and brilliant and depressing and glorious and just.... fuuuuUUUUUUUuuuuuuuck.

Darrow - Darrow's arc is sheer military sf genius. The entirety of the Mercury campaign, from the opening ambush of the blockade fleet to the near complete rout at the end when the EMP goes off, each bit was nailbitingly glorious.
Also have to give Brown credit for novelty, each engagement was different from the last, the stakes kept going up, and while Darrow only slightly seemed at risk, the writing so engages the reader with him that the threats to the supporting cast, who are very, VERY much at risk, are just as bad and the deaths just as cutting. Alexander... fuck but that was brutal. The way that one character's relationship with Darrow evolved through the book, the fact that he almost died as many times as he did, and ultimately getting taken out the way he was... by that point the reader is all but in tears on Darrow's behalf before Darrow even knows it happened.

Mustang - the fact that Brown made Mustang's purely political segments as attention holding as they were, given how much action is happened elseplot, is pretty amazing. Of course when the action does break out it's also great - the massacre at the senate was disturbing and her escape from Ant-clone-ius was brutal and reminded the reader that whatever else, Mustang is still very much a peerless scarred gold. Her return to Mars and reuinion with Pax and Viktra were emotionally draining. I've seen some readers whining about the Jacklone but it didn't bother me and given how the Jackal made all kinds of use of tech that was ahead of everyone else, it even made sense. And his Boneriders were great baddies so this plot made logical and solid use of them.
Mustang's story also gave us Sevro and most of the Howlers and then went and fucked them six ways from Saturn.... captured, tortured, some dead, the rest probably mindwiped... I don't know where that will go in the next book but i suspect it will be horrible (can't wait).

A word about Sevro... i loved how without appearaing anywhere in the the book, every mention of him was either funny, terrifying, or usually both. Great character. Pairing him with Viktra, who chews scenery nearly as well, was a brilliant stroke of plot.

Ephraim - not my favorite part of IRON GOLD, i loved this character here. he gave deep and fascinating background on the Obsidians, his motives were complicated, his backstory fascinating, and each time when he finally took action it was great. he also provided most of the perspective on Pax, which did a lot for that character who was mostly a blank slate last book. And the attack on the torch ship... fuck me but that was some brilliant writing and putting it through Eph's perspective was completely effective.
And then he died. I think he kind of had to... after all the false deaths in this book for Mustang and Darrow, we kind of needed at least one major character to keep the stakes high. And i loved how he went out trying to take down the new Obsidian King, and failing, which did a lot for both characters.

Lyrea - my least favorite part of the last book, Lyrea was leaps and bounds more interesting to read this time. As a perspective on crazy chit going on around her, she was a treat. As a character who gets a power-up, but had already decided to take control of her life, she totally worked. Am very curious about the Figment parasite. Her interactions with Volga and Viktra were a treat and did tonnes for both of those characters' arcs.

Lysander - another weak link from IRON GOLD made more interesting here. His path from pawn to player was interesting, well reasoned and written, and the denouement where he finds out his fiance/dictator happened to have killed his mother was a very very nice twist. My only complaint was that his turn to condescension for the lower colors towards the end came out of nowhere and was not consistent with his feelings towards the Grays earlier. His revelation of being some kind of Gold Ninja thanks to his gransmother's training was a also bit out of nowhere but worked well enough and i like that it didn't make him a match for Darrow and Atlas basically threw the fight. And fuck him for taking out Alexander like that, tho i have to admit it was an entirely effective story beat. I am VERY curious to see how his plotting with the Minotaur plays out.

Misc -
Fear Knight. Great character. Sick fuck, but great character.
I think the snipers who saved Darrow were Lyrea's brothers. Which would mean she has one left.
There is no way, no fucking way at all, that that was the real Cassius.
Var is a great baddie and i love that he's an admitted spy who took over the mutant Obsidians because his master told him to.
Also... Mutant Obsidians... like the ordinary kind weren't bad enough.
But also an effective reminder of little things like how amped up Golds really are... see the unnamed Gold in a bathrobe fighting them off during the attack on the Pandora.
Alas Love Knight we hardly knew ye. And i don't buy for a second it was Darrow who poisoned her.

Loved the book. Moved Brown up my author list from 'pre-order' to 'write faster damn you!!!'.

[End of Disc One]

Finished yesterday, incredible book. Every POV was great this time...if I had to pick a least favorite it would be Lyria, but her chapters were still really good. Mustang's POV was a highlight despite having fewer chapters. I never really cared about her before, but her POV made her one of my favorites.

I LOVE seeing Darrow in action from the opposing POV. Dude is a beast. And as Abyss said I also love hearing about Sevro. He's my favorite character, but I think he's at his best when he's off doing his own thing (like in book 1 when he's off gathering Howlers, hiding in horse carcasses, and fucking with other Houses).

And between Fear Knight, Fa, and Abomination, there are some awesome, scary as fuck villains. I know some people aren't happy with Abomination, but I love it and can't wait for the next book.

This post has been edited by End of Disc One: 03 September 2019 - 02:17 PM

[champ]

So I've finished the first trilogy (LOVED IT) and have Iron Gold/Dark Age to read... does Dark Age end on a cliffhanger?

Thinking about holding off reading the second trilogy until all three books are out.

I've avoided the second trilogy posts in this thread so far.

[End of Disc One]

champ, on 01 October 2019 - 02:09 PM, said:

So I've finished the first trilogy (LOVED IT) and have Iron Gold/Dark Age to read... does Dark Age end on a cliffhanger?

Thinking about holding off reading the second trilogy until all three books are out.

I've avoided the second trilogy posts in this thread so far.

I wouldn't necessarily say cliffhanger in the sense that Golden Son did. But it definitely doesn't end with a whole lot resolved. You may want to wait if that's a problem for you.

Glad you enjoyed the trilogy!

[Abyss]

champ, on 01 October 2019 - 02:09 PM, said:

So I've finished the first trilogy (LOVED IT) and have Iron Gold/Dark Age to read... does Dark Age end on a cliffhanger?

Thinking about holding off reading the second trilogy until all three books are out.

I've avoided the second trilogy posts in this thread so far.

On the one hand coming off the first trilo you will only love the next two more.

On the other, while 5 doesn't exactly cliffhanger, yah, the wait for 6 is gonna suck.

[champ]

End of Disc One, on 01 October 2019 - 03:43 PM, said:

champ, on 01 October 2019 - 02:09 PM, said:

So I've finished the first trilogy (LOVED IT) and have Iron Gold/Dark Age to read... does Dark Age end on a cliffhanger?

Thinking about holding off reading the second trilogy until all three books are out.

I've avoided the second trilogy posts in this thread so far.

I wouldn't necessarily say cliffhanger in the sense that Golden Son did. But it definitely doesn't end with a whole lot resolved. You may want to wait if that's a problem for you.

Glad you enjoyed the trilogy!

Abyss, on 02 October 2019 - 03:51 AM, said:

champ, on 01 October 2019 - 02:09 PM, said:

So I've finished the first trilogy (LOVED IT) and have Iron Gold/Dark Age to read... does Dark Age end on a cliffhanger?

Thinking about holding off reading the second trilogy until all three books are out.

I've avoided the second trilogy posts in this thread so far.

On the one hand coming off the first trilo you will only love the next two more.

On the other, while 5 doesn't exactly cliffhanger, yah, the wait for 6 is gonna suck.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I will wait for the 6th book to be released before diving in to the second trilogy. I've got enough to read to last me a life time so I won't go without at least.

[Traveller]

Just finished Golden Son, next one downloading!

Haven't raced through a trilogy this quickly for a while.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 03 October 2019 - 12:56 PM

[Abyss]

BfuckinK, on 02 October 2019 - 04:41 AM, said:

Maybe one day but it won't be anytime soon I ll commit.

I respect waiting til a series is done. I try, oh how i try tho i break that vow often enough.

All i can say is if bk 6 lives up to bk 5 and ends the series, you will be cheating yourself by not reading this whole thing once it's out. It's really bloodydamn good.

[End of Disc One]

The series is fucking awesome. FWIW I had no problem with the tropey setup, but I know others did. The first book and trilogy are a very easy read.

This post has been edited by End of Disc One: 02 October 2019 - 10:07 PM

[Abyss]

BfuckinK, on 02 October 2019 - 09:41 PM, said:

Guess I owe it to try I just really don’t want to sit through that YAish start cause my reading speed is in the shitter these past 4 years and I don’t want that section taking me weeks or months to chip at.

It's not horribly long, or horrible by any means, but it is what it is.
You may actually enjoy it. Its for the most part more Hunger Games than Harry Potter.

[Traveller]

Abyss, on 03 October 2019 - 03:00 AM, said:

BfuckinK, on 02 October 2019 - 09:41 PM, said:

Guess I owe it to try I just really don’t want to sit through that YAish start cause my reading speed is in the shitter these past 4 years and I don’t want that section taking me weeks or months to chip at.

It's not horribly long, or horrible by any means, but it is what it is.
You may actually enjoy it. Its for the most part more Hunger Games than Harry Potter.

I can't say I thought of Potter once during the first book. Hunger Games, definitely, with some Prince of Thorns maybe. The first few chapters feel a little familiar but it ramps up so quickly!

What I like is that it doesn't create a setting and then stay there; it keeps moving and expanding and upping the scale and the stakes. It's a blast, I'm going through them as I can't stop, I'm even reading at work in my kindle app whenever I get a few minutes.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 03 October 2019 - 12:56 PM

[worry]

Yah, I'd say the biggest/best thing it has going for it is forward momentum. It's not a slow build series at all. It's basically on rocket skates. I didn't even really love it compared to many here, but couldn't deny its willingness to bash through walls to get to where it's going.

[Abyss]

Traveller, on 03 October 2019 - 05:38 AM, said:

...

I can't say I thought of Potter once during the first book. ...

Spoiler

From where Darrow is extracted from the mines, made into Gold, and then goes to the School For Elite Golds and everything is feasts and pinks and drunken revelry and yeah you're right, not very Potter but i kind of got the same 'from nothing to you're so special' vibe'... before all the murder starts, anyways.