Mic Breaks Only discussion

***Open discussion of Books 1-6 below, no spoiler marks needed. Be sure you have read through these sections before reading! Note: if this is your first visit to this topic I recommend you read this post about discussion ideas, then skip down and post your initial response, then read and respond to other people's posts.***

At the very least check in here when you finish this section and tell us if you are enjoying the book. I'll post specific discussion ideas below, along with some general topics you'll see repeated throughout the book.

Mic Breaks discussions:

1) Who was Tom Storey going to leave the camp with? What did they do to deserve exile?

2) What did John Rookwood do to gain control over the infection?

3) You have dragonscale and are at the camp in a neutral role. What actions (if any) would you take at this point in the story? Feel free to flesh out the details of your character a bit.

General Discussions:

1) Share your favorite quote(s) from this section.

2) Share your favorite word(s) used in this section.

3) Do you have a favorite or most intriguing character at this point in the novel?

Location reminder

If you are returning to this topic after having continued past this section, here is a plot reminder:

The Fireman tells part of his story (up to but not including Sarah's death).

GO!

At this point I have high hopes that Hill has twisted this narrative with false info while telling us what he is doing all along. Implausibly we were led to understand early in the story that most media outlets fell to the chaos of the outbreak. The only regular "news" source at this point is the Marlboro Man who we know is not only biased but believes he has supernatural powers. What is going on in the rest of the world? I hope we find out and I'm betting on some surprises.

Hill managed to keep up the intensity in this middle portion of the book - the explanation for and subsequent chaos erupting in the main group was superbly handled. Things are at a boiling point and I'm hard pressed to guess what's going to happen next.

Exile: It has to be Carol. I think her father found evidence that tied her to either her sister's death or possibly Harold's death. Furthermore she is the culprit taking items that are tied to people's individuality in her crazed (and often successful) attempt to improve the group mentality. I'm not positive she directly attacked her father - but it would put a neat bow on the whole thing.

Firestarter: Even though he is very evasive John never denies that other people could learn to master the infection. It's interesting that John keeps himself the most physically distant from the rest of the group. So far we know that the fungus normally wants a secure environment which it deduces based on chemical levels in the body. It is spread to other hosts when they burn. The missing link seems to be a way for the fungus to spread while keeping the original host alive.

Additionally John seems to have another "power" in that he can find people who are infected and in distress. A missing link in the story is how/when John's powers started working. I feel like he may have been out with Allie on a recovery and ended up saving her life at the risk of his own. The fungus was able to interpret the situation chemically and evolved inside him giving him the powers needed to actually create new tribes of people (and defend them).

I think Harper will end up with the powers using the knowledge she has gained from Harold and John but by virtue of her own action.

What'll I do? Who came up with this horrible question?! I'm going to beat it, but where to and how? I escape by getting on the guard crew - seems like the easiest way to get past the patrols is to be assigned to them. Next, get out of the vicinity because I know there is little left but craziness here. I'm heading towards Maine, where the worst fires have been. This area seems like the most exploitable in terms of finding abandoned houses/cars/food/etc. After finding a safe haven and some food priority #1 is to get connected to people who know what's going on. If the internet is truly down it might be time to find a short wave radio.

I think the game of survival will be a series of short term battles. The camp commune is clearly a dam about to burst and would be a quick way to lose everything.

Quotes: Harold's juvenile anger is great: "The girls in this camp are a back of lesbian bit**es and if they all burned tomorrow I wouldn't give a smoky fart."

"In retrospect, Harper supposed it did not pay to be too impressed with a man just because he could ride a unicycle."

"We did dishes together more than we ever made love. What kind of life is that?" "Real life."

When talking about the fungus during a conference (pre-breakout in the U.S.) it is noted that over 6 million acres could end up burned in the states. As a reference this year Alaska alone has lost over 5 million acres to fires. The numbers just aren't quite right on these bits.

"Harper thought it would be a toss-up, which term for women she hated more: bitch or hen. A hen was something you kept in a cage, and her sole worth was in her eggs. A bitch, at least, had teeth."

Words: fusspot, incarnadine (pink-red)

Character: Let me start by pointing out that I completely failed to note that Hill is Stephen King's son - a factoid I'm sure I knew once upon a time. My character choice here is the sibling duo - Nick & Allie. Nick is another homage to a character from The Stand (in that novel Nick is a twenty something male, is also deaf and mute, and dies at the hands of Harold). Allie is caught in an unenviable position right now and I think Hill has caught her teenage stubbornness deftly. Nick seems like a Bran (Song of Ice and Fire) character who knows the secrets of the world but for a variety of reasons can't share them with everyone else.

Exiled
I think Carol Storey is the person Father Storey was going to force out of camp. Maybe for being a kleptomaniac? In reference to the person stealing even Allie says "I think we should send the bitch away..find out who she is and pack her shit. No excuses, no apologies."

My choice of Carol for exile may be colored by my extreme dislike for her. She is a little too delicate while still acting as the effervescent singing cult leader with ulterior motives. Carol puts on a fake face in public and is actually a horrible power hungry monster. By the end of this section some of her true colors start to show, particularly during Father Storey's injury and subsequent incapacitation.

When Father Storey speaks to Harper about the exile he says "The person of whom I speak would never leave willingly. Could you-if you had to-administer something? To pacify a person if she was-hysterical? Dangerous? To herself or..or others?" No one else matches this description for me in camp other than Carol.


John's the Boss
My only thought is that John can control the infection because he is not scared of fire. Most people's reaction to fire is panic and fear which is the opposite of John's control as he harnesses and directs the infection. Although we see John's talent for controlling the Dragonscale in full display, both as a devil with a braided whip and then as a Phoenix, we don't actually get details about how he executes his performances.


Neutral?
It is hard for me to know how much a neutral secondary character actually knows about what is truly going on in camp. That property and food is being stolen seems like public knowledge. When Father Storey is injured most people would know about that. I'm not convinced people know Harper is being forced to stay at the infirmary. I also don't think most people know about Carol's threats to keep Harper's baby and send her away. Carol and Ben are primarily responsible for sequestering Mazz and Gil and Ben assaulted the prisoners in private.

It seems that the inner circle of evil is actually quite small. I would like to hope that if I saw something morally gray in person that I would either speak up in protest, confront the offending party or leave camp if the situation became threatening enough.


Favorite Quotes
"Her cheekbones protruded in a way that made a person quite aware of the skull under her skin."

"The mist parted before them, curling from the bow in luminous feathers."

"All firemen are wedded to cinders, in the end."

"Goosedown flakes of snow floated about, couldn't decide if they wanted to fall or rise."

"Fear does not incline people to be moderate in their use of extreme tactics."

"When you're gone, the ones you've left behind get to keep the same part of you they always had."

"I hid under dead bodes less cold than you."

"The people in charge can always justify doing terrible things in the name of the greater good."

"Nothing created a sense of harmony, it seemed, like a communal act of homicide."


Favorite Words
Elfin good looks, schlopp, narthex, scarper, wintry discotheque, dendritic, tromped, trepanation, iambic pentameter, and brittle personality.


Favorite Character
Harold Cross for writing the most amazing diary. How can you resist a title such as "PRIVATE NOTEBOOK OF HAROLD CROSS MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS AND PERSONAL INSIGHTS WITH SOME OCCASIONAL POETRY." Reading Harold's diary was definitely my guilty pleasure during this section of the book.