[pat5150]

JPK, on 08 May 2023 - 10:40 PM, said:

I'm approaching the 40% point on The Broken Crown.

On a completely totally unrelated note: I just ordered physical copies of each of the Sun Sword books.

So yeah, I'm in this for the long haul. I'm loving everything about this. Thank you for the recommendations QT and Pat.

Another satisfied customer!

I'm now a little over 300 pages into The Riven Shield and you can see that it's the final set-up for what promises to be a grand finale.

[Tiste Simeon]

Chapter 19 oh wow. I was grinning like a buffoon

Spoiler

when Callesta and the general turn up to interrupt the council deciding on Valedin's fate. Like I totally knew it was going to happen but man I was so happy when it did! That whole sequence was just amazing. And the invasion by the demon where everyone thinks Kirriel is about to assassinate Valedin and it's all basically in slow motion until the demon arrives is so well written!

Speaking of, Kirriel is the best, I love her every time she's in the scene.

Khallandaras is likewise so cool, the scene where he comes into the meeting of the Ten and tells them the legend of the Sun Sword is fantastic!

I am so into this now. It took some time and took a bit of head scratching by me as I found it hard to follow initially but I'm so glad I stuck with it.

Non spoiler version: Pat and QT and the others aren't lying when they say the first book gets better as it goes along!

[champ]

Life got in the way so only got around to City of Night a day or so ago...


170 pages in and we've just found...

Spoiler

The Sleepers... dun dun der! Or that is the speculation...

I'm guessing this is going to be a long drawn out tease over multiple books?

[pat5150]

Tiste Simeon, on 09 May 2023 - 07:40 PM, said:

Non spoiler version: Pat and QT and the others aren't lying when they say the first book gets better as it goes along!

And the best is yet to come! The endgame and the finale of The Broken Crown is amazing!

[Abyss]

pat5150, on 09 May 2023 - 08:04 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 09 May 2023 - 07:40 PM, said:

Non spoiler version: Pat and QT and the others aren't lying when they say the first book gets better as it goes along!

And the best is yet to come! The endgame and the finale of The Broken Crown is amazing!

It took nearly 2/3rds of the book, but I'm in!

Spoiler

It was Kiriel, and the Ospreys, that finally, finally, gave me something I wanted to read more about. Honestly the info dumps and bluntly obvious plans were slow going til then, but the pace has picked up nicely. The demons are not exactly brilliant enemies so far but the maneuvering between the Dominion and the North has been fun, and while the Dominion has the more interesting culture the Essaylians are far more interesting characters.

About ten hours/chapters to go.

[pat5150]

Abyss, on 10 May 2023 - 01:57 AM, said:

It took nearly 2/3rds of the book, but I'm in!

Should be smoother sailing from here on out!

[Tiste Simeon]

Abyss, on 10 May 2023 - 01:57 AM, said:

pat5150, on 09 May 2023 - 08:04 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 09 May 2023 - 07:40 PM, said:

Non spoiler version: Pat and QT and the others aren't lying when they say the first book gets better as it goes along!

And the best is yet to come! The endgame and the finale of The Broken Crown is amazing!

It took nearly 2/3rds of the book, but I'm in!

Spoiler

It was Kiriel, and the Ospreys, that finally, finally, gave me something I wanted to read more about. Honestly the info dumps and bluntly obvious plans were slow going til then, but the pace has picked up nicely. The demons are not exactly brilliant enemies so far but the maneuvering between the Dominion and the North has been fun, and while the Dominion has the more interesting culture the Essaylians are far more interesting characters.

About ten hours/chapters to go.

Agreed. I hate most of the (male) characters in the Dominion but the world she has crafted is a fascinating one.

[Abyss]

Tiste Simeon, on 10 May 2023 - 06:14 AM, said:

Abyss, on 10 May 2023 - 01:57 AM, said:

pat5150, on 09 May 2023 - 08:04 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 09 May 2023 - 07:40 PM, said:

Non spoiler version: Pat and QT and the others aren't lying when they say the first book gets better as it goes along!

And the best is yet to come! The endgame and the finale of The Broken Crown is amazing!

It took nearly 2/3rds of the book, but I'm in!

Spoiler

It was Kiriel, and the Ospreys, that finally, finally, gave me something I wanted to read more about. Honestly the info dumps and bluntly obvious plans were slow going til then, but the pace has picked up nicely. The demons are not exactly brilliant enemies so far but the maneuvering between the Dominion and the North has been fun, and while the Dominion has the more interesting culture the Essaylians are far more interesting characters.

About ten hours/chapters to go.

Agreed. I hate most of the (male) characters in the Dominion but the world she has crafted is a fascinating one.

SPOILERS UP TO BROKEN CROWN CHAPTER 23

I do give the author credit for

Spoiler

making Alesso and Sendari ambiguous in their ambitions. They are borderline sympathetic, almost heroic to a point, and Sendari gains a lot of sympathy to the extent that his part in their plot could be said to rescue his daughter from an unwanted marriage. And this despite the sheer obvious 'evil so very EEEEVVVIIIIILLLLL' evil of Isladar, the Shining Court, the 'Lord of Night' (seriously?) who are stated, repeatedly, to reign "in Hell" (FFS seriously???) We first meet Isladar as he kidnaps and rapes a random woman because reasons... subtle, this is not.

More subtle and therefore more interesting are Teresa's games to support Diora, to oppose ALesso and maybe/not Sendari...? That relationship is interesting, i am curious how that plays out esp since Teresa just gave Alesso's connection to Isladar to the Radann.

So the good has (finally) outweighed the not so good and i'm enjoying this and engaged now.
Thanks gods because one more multi-page inner monologues about the burdens of honour / role of women / innate superiority of the Dominion and i was going to bookthrow... which is awkward with an earbook. Not that the onset of monologues about the Empire are substantially better... *sigh*.

[QuickTidal]

champ, on 09 May 2023 - 07:48 PM, said:

Life got in the way so only got around to City of Night a day or so ago...


170 pages in and we've just found...

Spoiler

The Sleepers... dun dun der! Or that is the speculation...

I'm guessing this is going to be a long drawn out tease over multiple books?

HAHA....oh dear....RAFO...

I'll say nothing.

Abyss, on 10 May 2023 - 03:09 PM, said:

SPOILERS UP TO BROKEN CROWN CHAPTER 23

I do give the author credit for

Spoiler

making Alesso and Sendari ambiguous in their ambitions. They are borderline sympathetic, almost heroic to a point, and Sendari gains a lot of sympathy to the extent that his part in their plot could be said to rescue his daughter from an unwanted marriage. And this despite the sheer obvious 'evil so very EEEEVVVIIIIILLLLL' evil of Isladar, the Shining Court, the 'Lord of Night' (seriously?) who are stated, repeatedly, to reign "in Hell" (FFS seriously???) We first meet Isladar as he kidnaps and rapes a random woman because reasons... subtle, this is not.

More subtle and therefore more interesting are Teresa's games to support Diora, to oppose ALesso and maybe/not Sendari...? That relationship is interesting, i am curious how that plays out esp since Teresa just gave Alesso's connection to Isladar to the Radann.

So the good has (finally) outweighed the not so good and i'm enjoying this and engaged now.
Thanks gods because one more multi-page inner monologues about the burdens of honour / role of women / innate superiority of the Dominion and i was going to bookthrow... which is awkward with an earbook. Not that the onset of monologues about the Empire are substantially better... *sigh*.

Spoiler

Sendari ESPECIALLY gets the "sympathy" brush because you can feel his reluctance to do the thing...but yeah, that doesn't make them good either. It's a nice ambiguity.

I will note this, there are people in book 2 onwards who are from the South, but do not exemplify those tenets and they are amazing. In fact I'm convinced that West intentionally spends a lot of time in the first half of the book hammering at how much the Dominion sucks and that most of it's people suck, and it's women are trapped in that life...only to juxtapose them against the North/Essalieyan's...and you haven't even really met the Voyani yet (Matriarchal, and go entirely against what the Dominion is)....so it's a spectrum and she wanted to establish the bad first.

Also, how is Isladar pronounced in the audio books? I always have left the "s" silent in my reading and called him "Eyeladar"....am I wrong? Do the audiobooks pronounce it IS-ladar? Curious.

Be aware that BROKEN CROWN really is the GOTM of this series, it's kind of a table setting outlier, and the story takes off properly in book 2.

[pat5150]

QuickTidal, on 10 May 2023 - 03:30 PM, said:

Be aware that BROKEN CROWN really is the GOTM of this series, it's kind of a table setting outlier, and the story takes off properly in book 2.

While I agree that TBC is the GotM of the Sun Sword series, in my opinion the story does take off in the second half/last third of the first volume. The Northern plotlines take off in The Uncrowned King, yes. But the Southern storylines really take off in TBC. If only West had been able to convey what she needed to in less pages that make TBC, at least its first half, feel like one long prologue, it would seriously help the novel. Alas, it was not to be. But like GotM, TBC is a necessary evil that must be read in order to get to the really good stuff that comes after. But unlike GotM, TBC ends with an exclamation point and sets the stage for everything that comes after.

[champ]

QuickTidal, on 10 May 2023 - 03:30 PM, said:

champ, on 09 May 2023 - 07:48 PM, said:

Life got in the way so only got around to City of Night a day or so ago...


170 pages in and we've just found...

Spoiler

The Sleepers... dun dun der! Or that is the speculation...

I'm guessing this is going to be a long drawn out tease over multiple books?

HAHA....oh dear....RAFO...

I'll say nothing.

Dammit, QT! I think you enjoyed that way too much haha but fair play, I'll accept the RAFO! It was the one tease in the first book that I hooked onto immediately wanting to know more about and now after that section it is a case of ARGH!

[Tiste Simeon]

Oh QT is definitely enjoying his West fount of knowledge status

[QuickTidal]

It's nice. I'm usually well behind everyone else on book series knowledge! LOL

[pat5150]

500 pages into The Riven Shield and you can see a lot of the storylines starting to come together for the final endgame of the series. I'm still concerned because it's essentially the first half of what was meant to be a single novel and I'm not sure how well it will stand on its own. I doubt that there is something significant enough happening around the halfway point of the original manuscript to make the end as good as the prvious ones. Because say one thing about Michelle West, say that she knows how to close the show with style.

But it's all coming together nicely. . .

[champ]

Page 290ish City of Night spoilers...


Man, these simple words hit me so hard...

Spoiler

Fisher did not come home.
Not then. Not later. Not ever.

Reading up to that point was edge of the seat stuff as you knew shit was about to go down...

[QuickTidal]

champ, on 11 May 2023 - 06:24 PM, said:

Page 290ish City of Night spoilers...


Man, these simple words hit me so hard...

Spoiler

Fisher did not come home.
Not then. Not later. Not ever.

Reading up to that point was edge of the seat stuff as you knew shit was about to go down...

Yep...and funnily enough this is where you reap the smaller benefits from not having read the Sun Sword books first....

Spoiler

Cause obviously, Fisher is not in them cause he's no longer part of Jewels Den.

[Tiste Simeon]

Okay I'm enjoying this so much I'm thinking in a few months time when I've finished Sun Sword I might get the House War series too!

[champ]

QuickTidal, on 11 May 2023 - 07:06 PM, said:

champ, on 11 May 2023 - 06:24 PM, said:

Page 290ish City of Night spoilers...


Man, these simple words hit me so hard...

Spoiler

Fisher did not come home.
Not then. Not later. Not ever.

Reading up to that point was edge of the seat stuff as you knew shit was about to go down...

Yep...and funnily enough this is where you reap the smaller benefits from not having read the Sun Sword books first....

Spoiler

Cause obviously, Fisher is not in them cause he's no longer part of Jewels Den.

Aye, agreed I can see that for sure. I loved the slow build up of the world and characters in the first book knowing nothing going in. No idea of who would make it through to later books...


With the second book, after the start and introduction to new characters I was expecting a similar build up and flow of the story...


But... damn, half way through and this book has certainly ramped up a pace not seen before.


City of Night spoilers:

Spoiler

Jewel finished her three dreams - WTF - and went to Rath. Rath is now off to see the Exalted with Sigurne!


I'd kinda guessed Rath would send Jewel to Terafin before that info was dropped, that is something I'm looking forward to... meeting Rath's sister...


And dude... when Old Rath bites the bullet that is going to be hard. I'm not sure if something will happen to change it but at this point we're getting hit over the head with his fate...

I really appreciate West's writing in that she let's her story flow with no breakup, meaning that most authors would get to a key bit of tension and then jump to a new POV to keep you hanging... here you get to what is a key bit and she just keeps going with it.


Or that is how it is in these two books so far.

This post has been edited by champ: 11 May 2023 - 08:46 PM

[champ]

Tiste Simeon, on 11 May 2023 - 07:35 PM, said:

Okay I'm enjoying this so much I'm thinking in a few months time when I've finished Sun Sword I might get the House War series too!

Mark Lawrence one of my top 2 fav authors... his new book just dropped but I can't put down this book... I definitely recommend you do that good sir!

[JPK]

I'm beginning to wonder if we need to split this into two threads. It's hard enough seeing spoiler tags for how much more awesome Sun Sword is in a few more chapters, let alone a bunch of tags for how awesome House War is shaping up to be.

My goal is to catch up to Tiste asap. What chapter are you at now?