Bryan’s Comments (group member since May 26, 2012)

Bryan’s comments from the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

Kivrin wrote: "Tell me about Tower of Thorns. Saw it in a bookstore and it looked really good. Then I couldn't remember the name of it when I went to add it to my "to read" list. "

You should start with Dreamer's Pool. The plot of each book is fairly transparent no big surprises here but what I like about the books is the storytelling and character development.

I'm currently reading Tower of Thorns. Next up is a reread of Darkspell and the The Foundation Trilogy. If I don't get sidetracked, every time I go to the library the list gets reorganized.

Spooky1947 wrote: "Behold, the face of Spooky...."

Wait.......is that the same mask from the fishing hole?

I received the Hobbit/LOTR boxed set for Christmas when I was 10 and I haven't stopped exploring new worlds since.

G33z3r wrote: "Bryan wrote: "I liked the story but the middle and end felt rushed and chaotic...."

Except for the occasional "Dear You" interruption, I was okay with the pacing. It's a pretty common to have a st..."

I'm curious, how do you think the author can keep us interested in Myfanwy?
While I liked the story and Myfanwy I wasn't intrigued enough at the end of the book to eagerly await a sequel. That's also what I was getting at when I said it felt rushed and chaotic. The pacing was good and all the information coming so quickly adds to the feeling of Myfanwy's life rushing forward but I was left without a hook. I needed a bigger cliffhanger or give me more of Myfanwy, show me why I want to know more of her life.
I also really liked the last few letters. I was sad I didn't get to know the first Myfanwy longer.

G33z3r wrote:I'm a bit skeptical where O'Malley can take the story now. The original Myfanwy is presumably done with the "Dear You" letters (I suppose they could continue, but with the same urgency?) The clever story with a uniquely interesting premise seems to have finished nicely, and while I can certainly see writing more stories about Myfanwy and the Checquy, the freshness of that dual-character will be hard to maintain.

I agree. I liked the story but the middle and end felt rushed and chaotic. I feel like we could have spent the whole book getting to know Myfanwy and the Checquy then wrapped up the traitor/grafter storyline in a sequel. I think the info dumps in the middle of action scenes wouldn't be needed if the story was stretched out to two books also.

G33z3r wrote: "I clipped this from reddit a couple of weeks ago, just couldn't figure out what to do with it... Hello, Gandalf

"
I can't decide if I'm amused or horrified by that.