[Abyss]

pat5150, on 13 June 2023 - 07:48 PM, said:

... relies on big info-dumps disguised as conversations....

[Tiste Simeon]

I'm finally getting a bit annoyed by the constant monologuing now.

Spoilers for The Uncrowned King chapter 12:

Spoiler

So that's a whole scene where Kirriel and Aurelius are hunting one of the kin and they go to a tavern. The kin is somehow hidden from her and spends ages rambling about stuff. Then Aurelius spends ages thinking about stuff. Then there's a tiny bit of dialogue with Kirriel because she is looking to kill a boy who is controlled by the Kin but Aurelius just sees a scared boy. Then someone else rambles about a bunch of stuff. Basically the two of them have entered a pub, some people got scared and left and she has stood by a boy and that whole sequence has taken about 30 minutes listening time. I like that this is an in depth book but man sometimes I wish the pace would pick up just a tiny bit!

[JPK]

Tiste, push through. The pacing issue gets better in the back half of the book.

I'm starting The Shining Court and will likely start a read-through thread later today since I'm pulling ahead of Abyss and Tiste.

[pat5150]

The Shining Court is next level and Sea of Sorrows is even better!

40% into Skirmish and it's much better now. Everything that has to do with House politics/business is rather boring. But everything that has to do with the greater scheme of things is good. It makes for a decidedly uneven reading experience so far, but at least there are some interesting portions that help you go through the boring stuff.

It will never help that Jewel is now the sole star taking center stage (the Sun Sword really benefited from its diverse cast, all of whom having a role to play in the outcome of the series), but it can't be helped. Hopefully new/old faces will appear/return to help carry the story further. There's only so much Finch/Teller office clerk work scenes one can endure. . .

[pat5150]

Approaching the halfway point of Skirmish and some pretty cool stuff has been happening.

Still not as good as the Sun Sword, but not far behind.

[JPK]

That's good to hear, Pat. Would you be mindful about name-dropping survivors though? A big point for Jewel at this point is the threat to her Den and now we know at least two of them that survive to the later part of The House War.

I'm making progress on The Shining Court. I'm about to start chapter 9. A couple brief thoughts:

Spoiler

Statue Man's sudden but inevitable betrayal is obvious.

Seeing the Voyani expanded upon is nice. The Matriarchal structure juxtaposes the Dominions Patriarchal very nicely, as clearly intended.

"Here, have this sword.". Obvious cursed item is obvious. That was quite stupid of him.

Jewel... Maybe, just maaaaaaaybe you should have asked a couple more questions about your Domicis there. Just saying.

Crazy magic lady is awesome. She clearly needs to be used more.

More Kialli that actually have a brain, please? These mooks are stupid and obvious.

[pat5150]

JPK, on 16 June 2023 - 03:47 PM, said:

That's good to hear, Pat. Would you be mindful about name-dropping survivors though? A big point for Jewel at this point is the threat to her Den and now we know at least two of them that survive to the later part of The House War.

I'm making progress on The Shining Court. I'm about to start chapter 9. A couple brief thoughts:

Spoiler

Statue Man's sudden but inevitable betrayal is obvious.

Seeing the Voyani expanded upon is nice. The Matriarchal structure juxtaposes the Dominions Patriarchal very nicely, as clearly intended.

"Here, have this sword.". Obvious cursed item is obvious. That was quite stupid of him.

Jewel... Maybe, just maaaaaaaybe you should have asked a couple more questions about your Domicis there. Just saying.

Crazy magic lady is awesome. She clearly needs to be used more.

More Kialli that actually have a brain, please? These mooks are stupid and obvious.

Sorry about that. My bad. The den is so inconsequential in the Sun Sword that it never occurred to me that this might be considered a spoiler.

The Voyani and their secrets are pretty cool.

Sadly, Anya only returns at the end.

Regarding Skirmish, I'm now more than 350 pages into it and new revelations about and surrounding Jewel and her entourage have added new layers to an already multilayered overall story arc.

This post has been edited by pat5150: 17 June 2023 - 03:07 AM

[JPK]

This past week has been pretty rough and I haven't made the progress I thought I would due to life. I'm a little under halfway through The Shining Court now and all I can say is that Jewel's story has become much more compelling suddenly. I expect to be back at work starting Monday and I will likely have the book wrapped up on Wednesday or so.

Spoiler

With this Winter King stuff, am I on the right track to be thinking of the Faerie Courts?

[pat5150]

JPK, on 24 June 2023 - 04:39 PM, said:

This past week has been pretty rough and I haven't made the progress I thought I would due to life. I'm a little under halfway through The Shining Court now and all I can say is that Jewel's story has become much more compelling suddenly. I expect to be back at work starting Monday and I will likely have the book wrapped up on Wednesday or so.

Spoiler

With this Winter King stuff, am I on the right track to be thinking of the Faerie Courts?

Yrs, Jewel's storyline takes quite a dramatic turn and becomes extremely compelling.

Spoiler

Too early to say anything about courts, plural. But there is a Winter Queen and she leads the Wild Hunt.

Finished Skirmish and as expected I don't feel as though I've missed anything by skipping the first 3 House War books. That may change, of course, but this one is a direct follow-up to the point when Jewel's thread ends in The Sun Sword and has everything to do with what occurs to her in The Shining Court and Sea of Sorrows.

It's a good book, but not a great one. The second half of Skirmish is much better than the first one, but the plot suffers from spanning just 3 days. It's the weakest West novel I've read thus far, but it nevertheless move the tale forward in unexpected ways.

Will likely start Battle tonight. Checked the dates and this one covers a whole year, so I figure that a lot more will take place.

This post has been edited by pat5150: 24 June 2023 - 11:23 PM

[pat5150]

Ooops, I fucked up and it turns out that Battle only covers about a month. The last five House War books span about a year in total.

A little more than 150 pages into Battle and it suffers from the same shortcomings as Skirmish. Everything that has to do with the bigger picture is fascinating, but everything that has to do with the Terafin House politics falls, more often than not, on the somewhat boring side. On the one hand, you are reading about what could lead to the end of the world. While on the other, you're reading about the choosing of a new CEO for an important House.

As was the case with its predecessor, there is enough cool stuff to keep things interesting for the most part. In that regard, it keeps a number of storylines from the Sun Sword moving forward and the implications are far-reaching. But dealing with the minutiae of House business makes for tedious chapters. And since the series only covers a single year, House Terafin's politics will undoubtedly continue to be the backdrop of the tale. As such, it's not as multilayered as the war between the Dominion and the Empire, what with all the players involved, and that's detrimental to the series.

But what started in The Shining Court and Sea of Sorrows for Jewel continues to take her down unexpected paths and that's all to the good. But I'm missing the thoughtful perspectives of such flawed protagonists as Diora, Teresa, Kallandras, Margret, Valedan, etc. So far, no other characters have really stepped up to the plate, which means that the characterization is decidedly weaker in this series.

[JPK]

Life was a bit rough the last couple weeks but I did finally manage to finish THE SHINING COURT.

Thoughts below.

Spoiler

I'll list my pros first, in no particular order.

Anya is amazing and stole every scene she's in. Watching the reactions to when she "moved the chair" was just golden.

Jewel's storyline in this was fantastic, though I do feel it was less because of Jewel herself and more in spite of her.

Avandar. Holy shit Avandar. He and Kallor should get drinks and compare histories.

The Firstborn are all interesting and clearly we have more of them to come.

Again, there's some amazing character work in this one. Sendari and Theresa in particular. The scene where she tells him she's leaving is just ace.

The Kialli are finally getting smarter in their plotting. The masks were a very obvious betrayal plot, but the specifics were really well done.

I want more of the Radann like yesterday.

Diora saving Sendari and every interaction between them afterwards. Just fantastic.

Cons: I miss the AA crew.

I want to put a book between this book and the next but I should be into book 4 well before the end of July.

[pat5150]

Sea of Sorrows raises the bar even higher!

Just finished Battle last night and I won't get to read the next one until the end of the month because I'm on a hiking trip in the Rockies and didn't bring the other West books.

Jewel remains as infuriating as ever. But what she manages to do unconsciously opens the door for so many awesome things (and plenty of shit hitting the fan) and it's impossible not to get excited for what comes next. House business/politics continue to be detrimental to this series, however. As much as West seemed handcuffed by her editor in the Sun Sword, it feels as though she was given more leeway with the House War, which results in LOTS of extraneous scenes/plotlines.

When it's good, the House War can swing with the Sun Sword in almost every aspect. But when it's not, well. . . I now understand why many readers lost interest in this series. Especially those who hadn't read the Sun Sword beforehand.

[pat5150]

Michelle West's The Broken Crown is 1.99$ on Kindle.

And for once, that sale also works in Canada!

[Abyss]

pat5150, on 22 August 2023 - 02:37 AM, said:

Michelle West's The Broken Crown is 1.99$ on Kindle.

And for once, that sale also works in Canada!

WE WIN!

....sorry, eh.

[pat5150]

Don't you forget those taxes. . .

[Abyss]

pat5150, on 23 August 2023 - 12:17 AM, said:

Don't you forget those taxes. . .

Yes but my chances of being shot while reading the book are WAY lower and if I do, i can still afford it after the hospital stay.

Eh.

[Slow Ben]

Alright, I’m jumping in. Hidden City came in the mail today.

Let’s goooooooo

[pat5150]

Will start West's Firstborn today. Wanted to dive into Jim Butcher's The Olympian Affair, but I need to get back into the House War since it's been over a month since I read the last one.

[QuickTidal]

Slow Ben, on 24 August 2023 - 04:19 PM, said:

Alright, I’m jumping in. Hidden City came in the mail today.

Let’s goooooooo

Oh man, HIDDEN CITY is great! Enjoy!

[Tsundoku]

pat5150, on 25 August 2023 - 01:58 PM, said:

Will start West's Firstborn today. Wanted to dive into Jim Butcher's The Olympian Affair, but I need to get back into the House War since it's been over a month since I read the last one.

Nice flex there Pat.