Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

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I will probably join.

Book is in my audio TBR. =)

In!

In...

In too! Is it April yet??? lol

Gonna try. :-)

Ya know, you guys make me more excited about this BR because of who will be in it. =D

Yay!

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I'm a quarter through. Good so far. How does one pronounce nkosi?

I'll be a few more days. Need to finish up my current read.

Ryan wrote: "I'm a quarter through. Good so far. How does one pronounce nkosi?"

You can hear it here, Ryan, at about the :40 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-Eg1...

I'm juggling a few reads right now, but managed to grab it from my library online.

V, that is a very cool link!!!

I read the prologue and that was crazy and fun! A lot to take in, there are so many different abilities that I will have to get straight, it seems like. I'm very excited to see where this will go!

That pronunciation is much cooler than the one in my head! Thanks for the link. I didn't realize the foreign words were African in origin.

By the way, should we use spoiler tags in this thread?

I'm a third through.
So much happens in the beginning, then we get the back stories of several characters.
Wonderful descriptions (view spoiler)[ especially Tau our protagonist, his fighting in the ring and subsequent training, all for avenging his father. (hide spoiler)]

Ryan wrote: "That pronunciation is much cooler than the one in my head! Thanks for the link. I didn't realize the foreign words were African in origin.

By the way, should we use spoiler tags in this thread?"

People will generally state what chapter they've read through and then mark the rest of their story specific content with spoilers. That way others will know if they can open the spoiler tags or not. If you're just making general observations about the story, characters, pacing, etc. then no need to spoiler tag.

Omg, thanks for that link, Veronica! I watch a tiny bit of South African television, but it's hardly enough to know how to pronounce some of these words. I really thought the "k" in "Nkosi" was silent, haha. There's tons of other names and phrases that are also strange, though, oh boy. This will be a trip xD

I'm also really bummed there isn't a glossary. It would REALLY help.

Yeah, a glossary would be most helpful.

In Chapter 3...

(view spoiler)[What was the deal with Tau going into Lekan's room and NOT expecting violence? He already knew Lekan was after his blood, and Tau was planning to tell him he would kill him eventually? I can't anticipate any OTHER outcome than a violent one. It doesn't make any sense to me what Tau was thinking. (hide spoiler)]

My eyes have been hurting me lately, so I've switched to the audiobook and it's been really great. The narrator's accent sounds legit!
I'm through 2 chapters (20%) and despite all the strange terms, this has been really easy reading. I like who I'm supposed to like and dislike who I'm supposed to dislike. (view spoiler)[I'm not exactly sure where the story's going yet. Based on the book blurb, I'm sorta expecting a lot of people to die soon, but I don't see how it will happen.

Lekan is … oof. (hide spoiler)]

Just passed chapter 2.3, after the part named "Done" and holy moly (view spoiler)[I'm sorta getting really tired of the dead dad trope in epic fantasy. It always happens and I'm sick of it 😣
But in other news, the Petty Nobles are named that way for a reason, seems like. Garbage people. (hide spoiler)]

Ryan wrote: "In Chapter 3...

[spoilers removed]"

This is exactly when I realized (view spoiler)[Tau's not all that smart. I was actually really astonished he didn't think that through some more. I had higher expectations of him, I guess, and he let me down haaarrd. He barely got out of that alive. (hide spoiler)]

I'm midway through chapter 6 and this book is starting to lose some points with me now. It's just that I feel like I've read this exact story a hundred times already.
Plus, this hardly has any dragons in it and that's really disappointing 😞

(view spoiler)[That's not just not being smart, that's being outrageously stupid. I also realize that Tau isn't very smart, but it still just doesn't fit. (hide spoiler)]

Ryan wrote: "[spoilers removed]"

You speak no lies. (view spoiler)[The only thing it could be is that his father's death made him completely irrational. But still, come on man. He skipped the thinking part and went straight to the doing part. Smh (hide spoiler)]

I'm trying hard to not say anything cause I don't want to color anyone's opinion of the story. lol

I rated this one 4 stars because the narration was excellent. For the story itself, it would be 3 stars. When I finished the book, I read the book blurb again and I was like, "How did I read a whole book and still barely have an idea of what the place was?"

Still, even with the flaws, it was an okay setup for a series and there's potential for a lot to be explored in the next book. I do want to know more about the magic aspects and see if the MC grows into someone who learns to think before reacting.

I have to say, it's refreshing to have a single-viewpoint 3rd person past tense narrator. So many of the books I've read recently in SF/F narrate in different styles, which is fine, but it's nice to go back to the narrative style I grew up with.

Soo, the narrator is absolutely incredible! And I have to agree with you on the story. The world-building is sorta nonexistent at this point, lol. I'm halfway through and the magic hasn't really been explained at all.

Tau: I can believe in a person being stuck on "reacting to events" because that's not an unrealistic point of view based on real life experience. Lots of people are like that but there's enough internal questions thrown into the story that I feel like I'm lead to believe there will be more? Or maybe it's due to the way others act within the story?

I know why I put this book on my TBR when it came up in my feed and it is TOTALLY because of the review written by an author I like. Except, I've had a few "okay" reads based on that assumption (same author) and I'm going to be a bit more choosy about it next time around. Overall, not a bad start to a series but not as tightly written as I was lead to expect.

There's all this talk about how the story is based on blah blah culture and I'm like, "Sweet! Excited to see how that's done."
... (waiting)
... There's a tiny input there!
... (waiting)
... (elevator music)
lol

Rosewater Trilogy did a better job of weaving a variety of cultures into the story.

I'm starting today. Can't wait to open up those spoilers.

Narilka wrote: "I'm starting today. Can't wait to open up those spoilers."

Glad you can join!

I don't know what to call these subchapters! I'm just going to go ahead and say I'm at chapter 8.5 after the part named "Duel"
(view spoiler)[The fight with Kellan is exhibit #74 on how Tau doesn't think before he acts. A little forethought, Tau, come one!
He's killing me here 😔

There was also some very heavy info-dumping in the last chapter and it was certainly … a lot. But Tau going into Isihogo? I think that was exhibit #72
smh (hide spoiler)]

lol - I am enjoying the commentary. =D
Thanks, Twila!

Alright, so what's the deal with Chinedu's coughing? He's always doing it, but (spoilers) there is never any obvious meaning for it in the whole book. The only thing I can think of is to distinguish him as a character who lacks other distinct traits, but the coughing seems to me a pretty poor way of doing that.

Through chapter 1. We sure are thrown right in the action!

Twila wrote: "My eyes have been hurting me lately, so I've switched to the audiobook and it's been really great. The narrator's accent sounds legit!
I'm through 2 chapters (20%) and despite all the strange term..."

I agree, this has been an easier read than I thought. After the intro and first chapter, this is almost starting to feel a bit YA.

I'm at Ch 3.2 (view spoiler)[The queen's visit was oddly short. I'm surprised more time wasn't spent on it since it was a pretty big deal for the town.

Lekan is a piece of work. He just couldn't be happy with banishing that family and had to murder them anyway. Hopefully he gets some comeuppance later in the book.

And now it's on to the testing. I am not liking Tau's plan to fail, though I can understand why he feels that way. Ahh, young love. (hide spoiler)]

Finished Ch 3 (view spoiler)[That was fast for Lekan! And Tau's plans are all different in the space of a few pages. I'm surprise Zuri is a Gifted. That will probably be important later in the book and/or series.

Guess this is a good old revenge tale now :) This has me interested. (hide spoiler)]

Twila wrote: "Ryan wrote: "In Chapter 3...

[spoilers removed]"

This is exactly when I realized [spoilers removed]"

Agreed. (view spoiler)[Tau is not that smart. Kind of makes sense given that he is still a teenager. Perhaps that will change in time. (hide spoiler)]

Narilka wrote: "Agreed. [spoilers removed]"

We can only hope it will change in time. It's not looking too good on that front so far, lol.

Finished chapter 10 (view spoiler)[I wish there were more prominent female characters in here. I would have welcomed Zuri's POV. Her training sounds more interesting than Tau's. And seriously, it's not even clear why she likes Tau. She just does. I would really like to know her thought process through all this.
Also, the queen has yet to really make her presence known and I really want to see her do something. (hide spoiler)]

Unfortunately, the focus is on Tau but you will get some of answers on the female POVs.

At Ch 6.2 (view spoiler)[Tau's training is going well. Somehow I bet that him learning to fight left handed will be a big strength, possibly can dual wield in the future and not use the shield that he's not very good with yet.

As interesting as training is I'm kind of ready for him to put his revenge plot in motion :) (hide spoiler)]

lol - Yup

Soo wrote: "Unfortunately, the focus is on Tau but you will get some of answers on the female POVs."

It's just strange that there's so little women around.

Narilka wrote: "At Ch 6.2"

You have a good eye! I did not immediately jump to that conclusion :D

Finished! Generally speaking, the book was very entertaining, but at times it really bored me. I believe that's because it was a pretty standard revenge plot. It's definitely not a bad book, it was fair, it just wasn't brilliant, imo. I don't think I'll be trying book 2 since (view spoiler)[Zuri died. Book 2 has "vengeance" in the title and I am sincerely tired of reading about Tau's single-minded determination to get revenge. Him becoming champion was very predictable and I don't find myself very interested in what happens next. Still an enjoyable read, though. (hide spoiler)]

I noticed throughout the book that Tau had some of the most cringeworthy taunts and lines that he would say while fighting. I started highlighting them when I noticed and here are my favourites in chronological order:
(view spoiler)[ The two remaining Indlovu came on, and Tau smiled at them. "I will give you pain."
...
Tau pointed the ends of his dual swords at the man's broad chest. "I am a Common of Kerem and you will beg me for mercy."
...
"Your name, Initiate?" Kellan asked him.
"Death." (<-- my fave right here)
...
"Get up, Kellan Okar. Time to die."
...
"Die!" Tau screamed in the demon's face as his weakside sword snapped in two, unable to penetrate the Ingonyoma's flesh. "Die!"
...
"You will pay, Dejen!" Tau taunted. "You will die, Dejen! You will burn blind in Isihogo with Ukufa for eternity, Dejen!"
...
"Do you bleed?" he spat, words daring and voice weak. "Shall we see?"

Lol, come on man 😂 (hide spoiler)]