Mic Breaks Only discussion

***Open discussion of THE WHOLE BOOK below, no spoiler marks needed. Be sure you have finished the book before reading any further! 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 and tell us if you enjoyed the novel. I'll post specific discussion ideas below, along with some general topics we've seen repeated throughout the book.

Full Book Discussion:

1) What expectations did you develop over the course of the book for Martha Quinn's island?

2) What are your feelings about the ongoing relationship between John and Sarah? Do you think there are parallels between John's relationship with Harper?

3) Did you read "What if There was Just a Bit More Story?" If so, did it change your impression of the ending?

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?


GO!

Martha Quinn's Island
I had the constant nagging sensation that Martha's Island was too good to be true. When our small band of misfits finally arrived at the check-in for transport to Martha Quinn's island there was a pavilion, Christmas lights, yummy food (cocoa, cookies, soup, coffee, and even milk) and kindly helper ladies. There were real estate assignments, pamphlets, pictures, and maps of the town. I had to grudgingly admit that I was wrong and that Harper Et al. were nearly to their ultimate destination - Shangri-La.

Everyone boarded the dirty, smelly boat and people started passing out from drugged food and firearms were brandished by the boat captain and I started to get pretty excited. Yes Mr. Hill you did not let me down! My only regret is that John Rookwood was the person to get shot. I would have preferred Harper get shot (maybe in the neck) and immediately deliver the baby. The rest of the group would take amazing care of her child and would continue on their way to the future, telling fond stories of brave Nurse Willowes. The baby could learn more about his mom through the Portable Mother. Shouldn't there be an actual use for that damn thing? After all it, an inanimate object notwithstanding, had basically attained secondary character status in the plot.


John is My Boyfriend
I was confounded by John's relationship with Sarah for most of this novel. I understood why they were together when they were living. I didn't fully understand what their relationship was now or why it wouldn't end. Was it true love that wouldn't die, or a living purgatory of loss and grief, or guilt that was to blame for what seemed like a futile future. I couldn't put my finger on how much communication actually transpires between a flame lady who lives in a wood stove and a living person. Do they talk? Can they touch? Are they happy? Does Sarah get jealous when Harper is "tending John's wounds"?

John and Harper's relationship was likewise confusing to me. I didn't find the chemistry between them believable. They seemed like people that should be best friends and nothing more. Maybe I feel this way because I really liked John Rookwood and really disliked Harper.


More at the End
I loved the epilogue. Maybe because it was buried in a place where people might not find it. I appreciated the sense of global perspective it gave because the book was focused on a very specific part of the United States. It made me wonder what this book might have been like if told by someone living on idyllic Martha Quinn's island through experimental drug testing, a revolution, and ultimately a bombing. The epilogue also made me question how the flame ball maintains its fiery status since Sarah in her post-human form seemed to need fire at all times in order to survive.


Favorite Quotes
"Writers were as parasitic, she supposed, as the spore itself."

"Arson is almost as good as Prozac."

"What pestilent, flyblown bullshit."

"Jamie Close was a harsh little savage, but she was nobody's fool. She could grasp the situation as well as they could and had shifted her loyalties to the most likely survivors with the businesslike efficiency of a bank teller making change."

"Gil's expression was the disinterested look of a seasoned poker player who might be holding a full house or might have a handful of nothing-you just couldn't tell."

"Finally he found what he was hunting for-the moon, an ice-colored button pinned to the black cape of the sky."

"It would always look splendidly like the past's idea of the future, and the future's idea of the past."


Favorite Words
Sycophants, malice, ebullience, whickered, fricative, abattoir, gobbets, inchoate keening, Dijon-colored fog, and miasma.


Favorite Character
Michael Lindqvist for pulling the wool over my eyes so completely. I was completely skeeved out by his cheating on Allie with her aunt Carol. I was shocked at the drastic turn of events starting with Michael pointing his gun at Nick and Harper and admitting murder and unbelievable levels of deceit. He turned out to be a fantastic epic turncoat of a villain - I grossly underestimated him.