Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Buddy Read starts 27th April.

Sweet. Been meaning to get around to reading the post-trilogy stand-alones. 90% sure that I'll join these.

Just booking my place in here - only on the second book now but I'm confident I will want to read these after finishing the First Law.

Been meaning to read this for a long time

Eeek it's next month! Can't wait! :D
I've been reading the Shattered Sea, but I still miss First Law.

I'm really looking forward to this! :) My copy arrived a few days ago! Yay!

3 months flew by fast... only 1 to go...

Yay, Anni! :D

I know, Iain. It really has flown by!

Yikes, I'm still halfway through Before They Are Hanged - haven't picked it up since Christmas! I'll try get the series squared off in the next few weeks as I was enjoying it. Just sort of got sidetracked and never went back to it!

Question for the group:

I own Red County, and have for quite a while. I know that Best Served Cold and Heroes occur chronologically prior to Red Country, but they're all still kind of stand-alones. So if I don't have time to participate in the Best Served Cold and Heroes buddy reads, do you think I could still read Red Country? Or would reading it spoil the other two?

I've read spoilers for the standalones... and there's a pretty big reveal in Red Country... but I don't think you will be hurt too much, since like you said, every story from Best Served Cold through Red Country focuses on different characters... you'll just know something the characters don't when you loop back around...

Iain wrote: "I've read spoilers for the standalones... and there's a pretty big reveal in Red Country... but I don't think you will be hurt too much, since like you said, every story from Best Served Cold throu..."

Awesome, thanks Iain. I'll still try to do all three buddy reads, but I won't fret too much then if the only one I can for sure do is Red Country.

Well I just bought the book, so I'm officially in!

I do have a request for the rest of you. It's been years since I read the original trilogy, so I only really remember the main dozen or so characters from Blade Itself/Before They Are Hanged/Last Argument, while everyone else has blurred together over the years. And my undertanding of these three stand-alones is that they essentially invert the character roles from the trilogy. Or in other words, main characters from the first three books might get a cameo here and there in the stand-alones, while some of the main characters in the stand-alones were minor characters in the first three books. So my request is this--can someone point out which characters are continuities from the previous books?

Haven't read the book, but just looking at the list of characters on GR, I think the repeat characters are : Shivers, Nicomo Cosca, Carlot dan Eider and Vitari.

Starting this one today. Can't wait :-)

Barry wrote: "Haven't read the book, but just looking at the list of characters on GR, I think the repeat characters are : Shivers, Nicomo Cosca, Carlot dan Eider and Vitari."

Thanks! I remember Shivers and Cosca, but had to look up Vitari and Carlot to jog my memory.

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Starting this one today. Can't wait :-)"

I started early, as well. I'm super busy at work right now and knew I'd have less reading time each night. Started early to make up for that.

Starting today too. :)

20% in and enjoying it. Reminds me a bit of The Lies of Locke Lamora.

I just started... read the first chapter... comes out swinging... and already peppering in cameos... Mauthis is the same agent of Valint & Balk that interacted with Glokta in the original trilogy...

I actually wanted to back out of this one but I need it for The Ladies's Armoury so I'll read it. Don't know if I'll like it as well as the first trilogy though.

Chapter 4: Bone Thief: (view spoiler)[Quite the Doctor Frankenstein... is he using magic?... I don't quite understand how he's fixing Monza...

I mean... I thought she had a spinal injury... never mind all the other things he fixed with gold coin implants and bone shaving... (hide spoiler)]

Iain wrote: "Chapter 4: Bone Thief: ..."

He kind of reminded me of Glokta with all the instruments. I was expecting that chapter to go differently.

This one sure started with a bang. Damn! How can somebody survive something like that! That prologue was gruesome.

Iain wrote: "Chapter 4: Bone Thief: ..."

He supposedly used only good old-fashioned (view spoiler)[bone transplants from one dead body to another live one?! And the gold coins?! I don't know whether to be happy she's alive somehow or sick over the whole business. And was it mentioned that she slept for a few months? How the heck did the good old doc manage that?! Oh never mind!!!! I don't think I even wanna know that.
The description of her body when she saw it that first time... oh man! (hide spoiler)]

And if I could ask a favour Iain. Can you do that magic again and post a chapter list? I think I had considered prologue what should have come for chapter 1.

Oh - about my previous comment about not liking this - scratch that!

Table of Contents: (view spoiler)[

1) Benna Murcatto Saves a Life

Part I: TALINS

2) Land of Opportunity
3) The Bone-Thief
4) Fish out of Water
5) Six and One
6) Bloody Instructions

Part II: WESTPORT

7) Poison
8) Science and Magic
9) The Safest Place in the World
10) Evil Friends
11) Two Twos
12) Plans and Accidents
13) Repaid in Full

Part III: SIPANI

14) Fogs and Whispers
15) The Arts of Persuasion
16) The Life of the Drinker
17) Left Out
18) A Few Bad Men
19) The Peacemakers
20) Cooking up Trouble
21) Sex and Death
22) That’s Entertainment
23) What Happened

Part IV: VISSERINE

24) Vengeance, Then
25) Downwards
26) Rats in a Sack
27) The Forlorn Hope
28) Mercy and Cowardice
29) The Odd Couple
30) Darkness
31) The Connoisseur
32) Vile Jelly
33) Other People’s Scores
34) The Fencing Master

Part V: PURANTI

35) Sixes
36) The Eye-Maker
37) Prince of Prudence
38) Neither Rich nor Poor
39) Heroic Efforts, New Beginnings
40) The Traitor
41) King of Poisons
42) No Worse
43) Harvest Time
44) The Old New Captain General

Part VI: OSPRIA

45) His Plan of Attack
46) Politics
47) No More Delays
48) All Business
49) The Fate of Styria
50) To the Victors …
51) So Much for Nothing
52) Shifting Sands

Part VII: TALINS

53) Return of the Native
54) The Lion’s Skin
55) Preparation
56) Rules of War
57) One Nation
58) All Dust
59) The Inevitable
60) Thus the Whirligig …
61) Seeds
62) All Change
63) Happy Endings

(hide spoiler)]

Generally, the first chapter could be called a prologue, like you said, but my audiobook doesn't do that, and neither does the wiki...

I got confused with that 1 from part 1 - hence I called that first chapter prologue. :)

Thank you for the list.

Laura wrote: "Iain wrote: "Chapter 4: Bone Thief: ..."
..."

(view spoiler)[ How would using dead people's bones not cause an infection? That doctor has to be like a god. Did I miss who he was? Just some random guy who found a body (cuz that's apparently what he does) and decided to try to save it? Lucky break for Monza. (hide spoiler)]

I really like Shivers. It's probably left over remnants of my love for Logan.

I'll be making a start tomorrow! Would ideally like to finish WoK first!

Laura wrote: "I got confused with that 1 from part 1 - hence I called that first chapter prologue. :)

Thank you for the list."

I think my audiobook called Part 1: TALINS chapter 2, even tho it was like a one page interlude or something, from what I remember...

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Laura wrote: "Iain wrote: "Chapter 4: Bone Thief: ..."
..."

[spoilers removed]

I really like Shivers. It's probably left over remnants of my love for Logan."

I think we just like the Northmen of this series :D

Iain wrote: "Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Laura wrote: "Iain wrote: "Chapter 4: Bone Thief: ..."
..."

[spoilers removed]

I really like Shivers. It's probably left over remnants of my love for Logan."

I think ..."

Very true :-) I loved The Dogman, too.

Iain wrote: "I just started... read the first chapter... comes out swinging... and already peppering in cameos... Mauthis is the same agent of Valint & Balk that interacted with Glokta in the original trilogy..."

Oh, I totally forgot that Mauthis was the representative of V&B in the original trilogy. Thanks for the reminder, Iain.

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Laura wrote: "Iain wrote: "Chapter 4: Bone Thief: ..."
..."

[spoilers removed]

I really like Shivers. It's probably left over remnants of my love for Logan."

Yeah. I was thinking exactly the same. In this case it feels like Abercrombie wrote the whole gruesome part without backing it off with the least bit of medical background. Unless they had some really strong (view spoiler)[secret herb that you could make into a brew and pour down someone's throath and it could work as the most powerful antibiotic ever. And the story failed to mention that. (hide spoiler)]

And I like Shivers too! As Iain said - we do seem to like the Northmen here. They do have a certain irresistible savage charm. :D

Part 3 was a mess of an assassination... quite fun...

Monza/Costa: (view spoiler)[ reminds me how murky everybody is in this series... her betrayal was shitty, but it's not like Costa has been the most likeable/trustworthy character either... (hide spoiler)]

Poor Shivers: (view spoiler)[ being "corrupted" by harsh reality despite his attempts at a moral life... (hide spoiler)]

Day: I envy her food habit :)... has her priorities straight...

About halfway thru, I think... maybe a bit less...

Part 4: I'm seeing a trend here (view spoiler)[ this was like 10x worse than the last section... my comments about Shivers were premature... can all Northmen become true Berserkers, given the right trigger?... (hide spoiler)]

Part 5: (view spoiler)[Everything seems to be falling apart, at this point...

Coska is dead (100%?)... Friendly left... Monza's backup plan for the poisoner failed, leaving Day dead and the "King of Poisons" seeking Orsa... I even believed Shivers' treachery for a second, considering how erratic he's become...

And the evidence keeps piling up that Monza/Benna were more than brother/sister... Coska's comments early on... these more recent ones from Faithful... and a bunch of little things along the way... (hide spoiler)]

It'd been so long since we read the initial trilogy back in December, that I forgot Eaters are a thing in this world... (view spoiler)[I wonder if their healing powers has anything to do with Monza's recovery... (hide spoiler)]

I'm near the end of part 5 at the moment: Chapter 42 -- No Worse

EDIT: Almost forgot: Interlude before Part 5: (view spoiler)[this put a whole new spin on things with Coska... Monza didn't even WANT to betray him... and then later on (view spoiler)[this parallels with Faithful's predicament... (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

End of Part 5: I KNEW IT: (view spoiler)[Nicomo Coska just doesn't know how to die :) ... (hide spoiler)]

Something I love about these books are the sex scenes. They're not erotic and magical. They're dirty and awkward and more real than most books.

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Something I love about these books are the sex scenes. They're not erotic and magical. They're dirty and awkward and more real than most books."

I agree... but after awhile, I do kinda wish SOMEONE could have a halfway happy ending... after the initial trilogy, I don't have high hopes for any of these characters being too happy in the end...

Iain wrote: "Part 3 was a mess of an assassination... quite fun...

Monza/Costa: [spoilers removed]

Poor Shivers: [spoilers removed]

Day: I envy her food habit :)... has her priorities straight...

About hal..."

That was smth like a bloodbath.

Monza (view spoiler)[was that brother of hers a bit more than just 'family relation'? She seemed to be hinting at that one time. I do wonder if she and Shivers will get a happy ending. He does seem to be completely taken with her but she's not sure about it. (hide spoiler)]

Vitari - I had forgotten about her being in the first trilogy. And she does seem like her old self.

I don't know why but Monza seems to me sort of - a female version of Glokta. (view spoiler)[with that broken body, her pain and her ruthlessness in stabbing and mashing faces. (hide spoiler)]

Day - boy that woman can eat! Don't know how you can do that while contemplating cold blooded slaughter but ....

Shivers seems to get his good intentions smacking him right back on the face. I do feel sorry for him also.

And Costa seems like a walking disaster. Nothing he does seems to go right. I'm not really fond of him.

Friendly is a puzzle to me - with his dice and numbers. A pretty unique character.

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Something I love about these books are the sex scenes. They're not erotic and magical. They're dirty and awkward and more real than most books."

I enjoyed those from the first trilogy but these here seem a bit too much for me. Too dirty and 'stoned'.

Part 6: (view spoiler)[ the whole point seems to be for Monza and Shivers to flip their moral compasses by the end... Shivers moreso than Monza... he's getting scary bad...

That sex scene... I thought it was Shivers/Carlot at first, then Monza was named, then he flipped it and made me right and Monza was with the general... and then he had to throw in a pee fetish...

At times I like Coska... but 90% of the time I don't... that acting job after killing the 2 guys was ridiculous... with his reputation, nobody should believe him... I think that guy just wanted the hush money... (hide spoiler)]

This is my most favorite Abercrombie ever. Great characters.

Part 7: Preparation Chapter: (view spoiler)[ The King of Poisons seem to suck at everything but surviving... probably why his successes include ao many collateral kills...

I'm kinda hoping Coska dies, but I doubt he will...

Ishr'a dead brother was a reference to Ferro I think... makes me wonder if she is one of the 2 Eaters that nearly killed Ferro back just before she was recruited by that Mage friend of Bayaz...

Shivers is definitely continuing his downward spiral... (hide spoiler)]

That last interlude before Part 7: (view spoiler)[ What part of Monza's ruthless reputation DIDN'T Benna cause?... I'm really not thinking very highly of him at this point... he sounds as bad as Shivers is becoming, and Monza just coddled him when he acted contrite... (hide spoiler)]

Thus the Whirligig: (view spoiler)[At this point it's hardly a surprise to learn everything was Benna's fault from the get-go...

I DIDN'T expect everyone on the early team to be trying to kill one another by the end, tho, but here we are... (hide spoiler)]

Iain wrote: "I just started... read the first chapter... comes out swinging... and already peppering in cameos... Mauthis is the same agent of Valint & Balk that interacted with Glokta in the original trilogy..."

Just read the first chapter /prologue and thought it was great! Way to start with a bang. :D

Laura wrote: "This one sure started with a bang. Damn! How can somebody survive something like that! That prologue was gruesome."

Totally gruesome! Just what we signed up for xD

Laura wrote: "Iain wrote: "Part 3 was a mess of an assassination... quite fun...

Monza/Costa: [spoilers removed]

...."

In regards to Monza's brother (view spoiler)[ I totally got the idea there was something incestuous happening there (hide spoiler)]

So after the sex scene around the half way part (view spoiler)[ Comes a scene of massively gruesome torture. Talk about a cold shower. Putting those scenes right next to each other is a shock all on its own. (hide spoiler)]

I haven't gotten further than 50% cuz weekends are kid time. Hope to get back to this on Monday.

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "So after the sex scene around the half way part [spoilers removed]

I haven't gotten further than 50% cuz weekends are kid time. Hope to get back to this on Monday."

I agree
After So Much for Nothing
The way Shivers (view spoiler)[smashed that guy's head gave me the shivers. It's like he's going mad. (hide spoiler)]
This book seems way more gruesome than the first trilogy.

And regarding the sex scene (view spoiler)[I actually backtracked to see who's with who cause it didn't make sense. And then only I got it that there were 2 scenes described at one time and it became clear. And it was all so ...... It's good at least she didn't pee on the guy. That was...🤐 (hide spoiler)]