/r/Fantasy Discussion Group discussion

Discussion for the 1st half of the book. Spoilers for first half are welcome and expected. The idea is that after reading half the book, come join in this discussion. Comments for the second half should go in the Discussion 2 on the full book. I really enjoyed this one and look forward to seeing what people have to say about it.

Ok, so I'm not finished with the first half yet, but I wanted to check something with whoever else is reading along.

On page 183 (hardcover) chapter 14 starts off. Adamar has had the talk with Bo about not breaking Kresimir's promise, and Taniel had the fight with the Privileged at the University. Anyways, in this part, Tamas is standing on a balcony thinking about how he should be focussing on the Kez ambassadors, "yet he could not keep from looking to the southwest. South Pike Mountain smoked."

Isn't South Pike Mountain southEAST of Adopest? Is this an error or am I missing something here?

I think you are right...at least according to the maps.

These things happen.

Luckily I am directionally challenged and almost never notice these things.

Cool, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything weird.

It really didn't bother me, just kind of jarred me for a second and I lost some of the immersion for a second. After that, it was right back into it.

Peter wrote: "Cool, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything weird.

It really didn't bother me, just kind of jarred me for a second and I lost some of the immersion for a second. After that, it was ri..."

Things like that do. :)

Coming up on the halfway point and I'm mostly impressed with the pacing and the "roll out" of history and backstory. The big picture stuff is not only interesting, but it didn't come on really quickly and overwhelm me. And yet I still feel like I'm not missing anything big enough to leave me clueless as to what's happening currently.

Along with that, I'm impressed with the politics of the world created in the book. It seems realistic, down to the timeline of everything. It's clear that this isn't happening in some action-packed week. These kinds of things happen over longer periods of time. The military coup wasn't just some country-saving event that fixed everything. Halfway through the book we're still dealing with it, but it's still fresh and interesting and doesn't feel played out as a plot arc.

Overall, I'm really happily surprised with the depth of the world and way the world is presented to the reader.

^ could not have said it better myself.
Never feel overwhelmed/ clueless, the pacing is just impeccable.

Yes, I am really enjoying this book. Taniel is a great character...but, so far, Olem is my favorite.

I don't have a whole lot to add, but I heard Peter was lonely in this discussion.

Olem is great! I also like the Adamat/SouSmith duo (But mainly SouSmith). And someone needs to hold an intervention, Taniel Two-Snort has a problem.

Additionally, not going to lie, I kind of felt bad for the "candidates" that were up for "Election", although a fair amount of them probably deserved to be "nominated". Which reminds me, did Timmy (I forget his actual name and I'm too lazy to go back and find it in my kindle) actually die? After he was taken from Nila, I don't remember reading about him again. Did he get killed and I just forgot about it? If he was still alive, would that affect Bo's gaes?

Sorry, this actually turned into a bit more than I originally intended

Timmy (? whatever his name was) was never mentioned again! I think Bo's gaes will subside if Tamas reinstates the monarchy with the kid (assuming he is still alive).

Tanial Two-Snort, hah.

Jakob? The duke's son...He's in Tamas's camp. They got him when they stormed the barricade. I'm only about 60% through the book, but I don't think Tamas would kill him.

The gaes works on the privileged and the annointed king, right? So, if Tamas crowned the child, the urge to kill Tamas should desist?...hmmm, maybe a question I should post to the author.

I'm about 40% done, and so far I am very much enjoying this book, and can see that crazy stuff is about to happen soon.

Though, I read The Girl of Hrusch Avenue first, so it's a bit confusing to me why that backstory book was all about Vlora, and yet in almost half of this book and all that I've read so far, Vlora has barely been in it. The backstory supposedly to get us to know and like her, and yet in this book it seems the opposite. I'm assuming things will unravel more in the 2nd half of the book though. It still feels weird, but I'm guessing that is the point?

^ Yeah maybe Vlora plays a bigger part in the rest of the trilogy. Or that the author wanted 'Promise of Blood' just that action packed and left some of the character development to the 'supplemental' books.

I think this was asked in the Q & A section (or maybe I read it elsewhere) and McClellan said that Vlora originally played a bigger role in this book but subsequent edits diminished her role. I think he hinted at her being a bigger factor in later story arcs.

Oh okay, I was planning on checking out that Q&A after I finished the book for fear of any spoilers, but that is good to know we will see her fleshed out a bit more.