[Abyss]

so, my peoples, we have conferred and we have discussed, Polishgenius and I have thrown gloves and challenges and wedgies around and now a bunch of us have bought begged borrowed or otherwise acquired copies of Rachel Aaron's THE LEGEND OF ELI MONPRESS series, at the very least book 1....

THE SPIRIT THIEF

....and now we're going to read it. Some of us. Others like me are just going to comment and nod knowingly and occasionally tell you you're wrong about the literary value of giant dogs.

And just to complicate life, for all the same reasons a bunch of us are in parallel going to be reading Davinia Evans THE BURNISHED CITY trilogy bk 1 NOTORIOUS SORCEROR ... as we seem to think the two series have similar themes and tones and oh i dunno, i was drunk when PG suggested it and a bunch of you thought it was a good idea and here we are look don't blame me for this stuff i'm making it up as i go....

....thus i have no idea how this is supposed to work so just mark/block SPOILERS clearly so people know where you're at in the books and have fun!

[QuickTidal]

I own the trilogy in ebook (Monpress that is), maybe I'll join in too.

[Tiste Simeon]

The first omnibus trilogy is on Kindle for £8.49 here: https://amzn.eu/d/05CjlSgP

[polishgenius]

Three chapters in on my first chunk of reading:

Spoiler

Strong start. After having met the protagonist, what I assume is the antagonist in Renaud and Coriano, and what I feel like is an antagonist to Eli in particular but will probably be a good egg in the long run, in Miranda.

I like her dog.

There's something almost Hitchhiker's Guide-ish to the way Eli persuades the cell door to open. Early signs are this is gonna be pretty whimsical.

[Abyss]

polishgenius, on 27 March 2026 - 08:27 PM, said:

Three chapters in on my first chunk of reading:

Spoiler

Strong start. After having met the protagonist, what I assume is the antagonist in Renaud and Coriano, and what I feel like is an antagonist to Eli in particular but will probably be a good egg in the long run, in Miranda.

I like her dog.

There's something almost Hitchhiker's Guide-ish to the way Eli persuades the cell door to open. Early signs are this is gonna be pretty whimsical.

the whimsy factor is high but i found the author never lets it get like Flintstones/Sesame Street level ridiculous.

And the dog

Spoiler

is awesome.

[polishgenius]

Through chapter 11: wow, that's a lot of factions.

Spoiler

Renaud and Coriano are dastardly bastards. I did enjoy the part where Miranda gave us an exposition dump about spiritualists never being able to control humans that is, if not neccessarily a lie, clearly wrong, giving Renaud's control of the Butcher's wife.


The lady in the white void room is a very different type of fantasy concept than I was expecting from this book. Cool though. I love that kind of 'beyond the world' shit.


I really wanna know if Eli's scheme has anything to do with bringing down Renaud on purpose.

[Abyss]

/nods knowingly

[polishgenius]

Through chapter 14.

Spoiler

Okay, no sneaky plan, Eli just fucked it. Man, Renaud is a baaaad dude. The scene with the captive sandstorm was really good. Coriano's fight with Josef felt like a whole separate thing, and I'm at this point not as 100% certain that Coriano is as much the bad guy as he's making himself appear. Not a good guy, but maybe not a real ol' villain either?

Inevitable team-up is inevitable. But fun.

The conspicuous mention of the moon to close chapter 14 makes me think maybe the lady in the white room place is in or associated with the moon, but the fact that that was stated as another world makes me doubt that.

Yeah this is entertaining.

[Abyss]

Glad you're enjoying. Bk 1 doesn't lay down a tonne of worldbuilding but what's there pays off down the road and it's pretty great.

[polishgenius]

15-finish


Yeah, as advertised, that was a heap of fun. I've got the first three in ombnibus so I shall be moving on shortly. In many ways quite an old-school style of adventure, quite classic swords-and-sorcery, quite a loose structure to it.

Spoiler

Oh Eli, you devious rascal. But he still came to the end of the reach of his deviousness when the big ol' spirit hit him. I still wanna know what Creepy White Lady's deal is, doesn't seem like she's necessarily a good person... and neither are the League of Storms chappies.

Miranda's cool, and I can't wait for her understanding of the world to crumble out from under her... she's the main character though, as much as Eli's name is on the title. He's too flighty and smirky and all round Silk-meets-Quick-Ben to be the audience's guide to the story.

Poor Nico, but I need to know what her deal with the Heart of War is.

[Abyss]

polishgenius, on 13 April 2026 - 06:11 PM, said:

15-finish


Yeah, as advertised, that was a heap of fun. I've got the first three in ombnibus so I shall be moving on shortly. In many ways quite an old-school style of adventure, quite classic swords-and-sorcery, quite a loose structure to it.

Spoiler

Oh Eli, you devious rascal. But he still came to the end of the reach of his deviousness when the big ol' spirit hit him. I still wanna know what Creepy White Lady's deal is, doesn't seem like she's necessarily a good person... and neither are the League of Storms chappies.

Miranda's cool, and I can't wait for her understanding of the world to crumble out from under her... she's the main character though, as much as Eli's name is on the title. He's too flighty and smirky and all round Silk-meets-Quick-Ben to be the audience's guide to the story.

Poor Nico, but I need to know what her deal with the Heart of War is.

You're asking the right questions! I give the author credit for telling a complete story without getting wrapped up in worldbuilding, but still dropping some fun hints, esp towards the end.

Miranda is absolutely as much of a protagonist as Eli and same goes for Nico and Joseph as the story advances. It's absolutely an ensemble despite the title, and they're all pretty great.

So glad you enjoyed!