Lost Lore Readalong! discussion

I dropped the ball on this one - sorry for not posting the topic earlier! Even more fitting than usual, feel free to post in here after the date :)

Even though the ending felt a bit abrupt, I thought this story was incredibly well-written. I liked the world--a nice change from so much epic fantasy. And that twist at the end--sure didn't see that one coming. To me, this felt like a story that needed to be much longer. I wanted to find out what happened after that great serpent broke free of the earth!

Really liked this- Love the setting and the characters. It had some almost creepy moments and a glimpse of a what looked like would be a larger story I’d find pretty cool (even if you didn’t let the nice Prince live). Though this felt more like a prologue to a big epic story than a short I still enjoyed it and am curious where it fits in The Raveling series? Or is this from something else?

A great way to close out the anthology. One of my favorites. Really loved the depth of the world we got to experience. As Jennifer mentioned, it does feel a bit like a prologue to a longer story and it definitely left me wanting more. Looking forward to continuing with the series, to see where this might fit into it.

Well, this was indeed a great way to end the anthology. I liked the Asian kind of setting (the only thing I don't get, why choose Jhenna as the name for the female MC? It has a western ring to it, unlike all the other names), the story, and really want to know what happens next. It was a well written story, with some unexpected twists and interesting characters.

Altough, I have some remarks to give:

1. A few less mention of fingers would have been good. Pink fingers of sunshine, red fingers of blood, fingers touching everything. I found it a bit creepy, but it might be only me who noticed this.

2. Since I mentioned names. Now, I am a proud Hungarian (I might have mentioned this in my introduction) and when you say Puli, my mind goes right to this:



A hungarian breed of herding dog, which is very agile, intelligent and loyal. Thought I'll leave this here as interesting info. Okay, that's it.

All in all, I think I'm going to check out Mr Hutson's other work later.

Finally made it to this lovely story that anchors the anthology. Very nice choice for a final story. This was refreshing with the Asian-feeling world building. I think leaning on a few tropes in that regard worked pretty well in the short story format.

I want to compliment the prose on this story. I thought it was fabulous - rich and descriptive without getting in the way of the story. I would definitely seek out more of Alec Huston's work based on the quality of the prose. Luckily for me I think I have his novel on my Kindle already!

The shamans that move from one season to another as the eldest one dies (or is sacrificed) was a nice take on similar magic traditions, as was the subverting of tradition because one shaman didn't want to sacrifice himself. The ending was pretty fabulous too, I like my short stories to end with a twist!

This was a great story to end the anthology. I loved the Asian-inspired setting and the writing style. It pulled me in immediately and felt different than the stories that came before.

I felt the ending was a little abrupt, though suitably awe-inspiring. I suspected something similar as soon as I heard the place was called the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon.