SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Picking this up on a whim! Please use spoiler tags and some identifying marker if you'd like to join in.

Is this the one with the squirrelcats, or is that the other SdC series?

I don't know! :D

I'll read anything with squirrelcats. Whether this has 'em or not, I'm in and starting today.

Anna wrote: "Is this the one with the squirrelcats, or is that the other SdC series?"

that's the Spellslinger series which is more of a YA series. The Traitor Blade is more adult

Oh :( I won't mess up my very important, non-existent reading schedule for something sans squirrelcats.

This is in my TBR but I have too much going on this month.

I’m so excited to see this as a buddy read. I don’t have time to reread right now but I’ll follow along.

This is not the squirrelcat book but I liked this one better in the end.

I'm not even a chapter in.

That started with a bang!

(view spoiler)[ You can't make me feel bad about that pun! Also, a strange coincidence that I just finished a book about a person with no memory and now a naked forgettable woman appears! Or disappears, depending on how you look at it. (hide spoiler)]

Through ch. 5

(view spoiler)[Ugh. I didn't need that backstory in order to give Falcio depth as a character.

I'm enjoying the narration, though. And the history outlining all the inter-nobility tensions they're having to navigate is great. (hide spoiler)]

Yeah this was...exactly the sort of use of this trope I despise.

Which is a shame because the rest is fun.

The rest *is* very fun.

It's gay porn. There're some characters and there's some plot -- but only just enough to hold together lots of scenes in which men thrust swords into one another.

Yeah, haha! I had a similar thought, but I think you are much more couth than I was going to be in how you said it.

End Ch 20

(view spoiler)[

I'm enjoying it, but it really is just too too. I really can't compare this to anything that isn't somewhat sexual. It's every fantasy all rolled into one. Bottoms want him, tops want to be him, doms want to break him, a little role reversal to keep it exciting...

And it IS exciting. Buckles getting swashed left right and center. I imagine heaving bosoms abound. It is just also a bit farcical I think is the word I'd choose? (hide spoiler)]

Gay porn. Hahahahahah~ I laugh each time I read this. LoL

There are so many superficial things to like about this book. The cover, the blurb, even the author's name, etc.

The actual reading left me scratching my head a bit. I was excited about most of the book, but I lost steam by the end.

Farcical! Good word.

I liked this book, but then I read the second book in the series and it made me rethink why I liked the first one. I prefer his other series.

Allison wrote: "End Ch 20"

Acs! You're ahead of me!

Faith wrote: "I liked this book, but then I read the second book in the series and it made me rethink why I liked the first one. I prefer his other series."

Spellsinger?

Travis wrote: "Faith wrote: "I liked this book, but then I read the second book in the series and it made me rethink why I liked the first one. I prefer his other series."

Spellsinger?"

Yes, Spellslinger. I read the whole series. I especially loved the squirrelcat. Maybe my experience with that series led me to be too generous to Traitor's Blade.

I was the opposite. I liked the gay porn. But then I read lots of that. It’s my favorite genre.

Oh, I'm enjoying it! I guess it's just I was expecting a romance and I got erotica and was surprised.

Sarah wrote: "I was the opposite. I liked the gay porn. But then I read lots of that. It’s my favorite genre."

But is it a genre or a sub-genre? :)

I really am enjoying this.

For me, it’s it’s own genre.

This has erotica? Romance? What? Am I even thinking of the right series?

No no, it's the book equivalent of the 80s bicep porn in movies. No actual sex, just lots of badass men reveling in each other's strength.

Am I going to have to read this?!

There isn't any romantic undertone...I'm trying to think, maybe it's like Fast and Furious? Or John Wick or something? Travis, what am I trying to say?

I'm so confused. It sounds like something I'd hate, but also like something I'd be all over. I have to read some reviews! :D

I'd only go into this book if you don't plan on reading the rest of the series. I started book 2 and dropped it.

Listen to the audible sample. It opens with pretty much a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

Allison wrote: "No no, it's the book equivalent of the 80s bicep porn in movies. No actual sex, just lots of badass men reveling in each other's strength."

And comparing the lengths of their swords!

Haha! For shame, Travis, he very clearly says it's not always about length, but also about how you use it, how much practice you've had, and the quality of its construction.

He's a man of depth

No, no I mean, he is able to penetrate to the real issue.

Sigh.

I mean he's a pillar of modern strength, like an obelisk.

Allison wrote: "There isn't any romantic undertone...I'm trying to think, maybe it's like Fast and Furious? Or John Wick or something? Travis, what am I trying to say?"


Just as plot and character in porn are props for stringing together f*** scenes, so too plot and characters in this fantasy genre are for stringing together fight scenes.

It's specifically gay porn because all of the fighting is about intimacy, proximity, and just-below-the-surface erotic energy between men (frequently triangulated through the exchange of women).

Something like that?

I love this thread. I feel like I should make popcorn and snack. These comments make me chortle. =D

Yes, I think that captures it well, Travis. I think I'd change erotic for virile energy, but I think that's a distinction without much difference.

Also related but tangential, Lorenzo is to Falcio what Bennett is to Matrix in the movie "Commando."

Soo wrote: "I love this thread. I feel like I should make popcorn and snack. These comments make me chortle. =D"

Glad to amuse! The wit of the book is contagious!

Allison wrote: "Listen to the audible sample. It opens with pretty much a perfect example of what I'm talking about."

I did. I get it now :D

I, for one, loved book two. But I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t more gay porn.

Also this is the best thread ever.

Allison wrote: "Yes, I think that captures it well, Travis. I think I'd change erotic for virile energy, but I think that's a distinction without much difference. Also related but tangential, Lorenzo is to Falcio what Bennett is to Matrix in the movie "Commando." "

I haven't seen Commando, but the way Falcio admires how Lorenzo's chain mail clings to his sculpted torso. I mean, get me a fan (!), that was seriously steamy.

That's it, I need to read this.

Anna wrote: "That's it, I need to read this."

Even better, the way his ELVIN chain mail clings to his sculpted torso. :)

*swoon*

Travis wrote: "Allison wrote: "Yes, I think that captures it well, Travis. I think I'd change erotic for virile energy, but I think that's a distinction without much difference. Also related but tangential, Loren..."

You need to see it. Jon wrote an essay about how it's a metaphor for the violence men do themselves when they cannot express admiration for other men and/or the violence of a system that does not allow men to express attraction to other men.

Allison wrote: "You need to see it. Jon wrote an essay about how it's a metaphor for the violence men do themselves when they cannot express admiration for other men and/or the violence of a system that does not allow men to express attraction to other men. "

Wow! Adding to the tbv list (though I still haven't figured out how to do that -- where's the GoodReads for movies and tv?).

I originally found GR by searching "IMDB for books". Not that it's the same thing, but I do use their list function to keep track of things I might want to watch.

Note: Commando is not good. But it is very...good for allegory. Also, maybe moviechat.org?

Faith wrote: "Travis wrote: "Faith wrote: "I liked this book, but then I read the second book in the series and it made me rethink why I liked the first one. I prefer his other series."

Spellsinger?"

Yes, Spellslinger. I read the whole series. I especially loved the squirrelcat. Maybe my experience with that series led me to be too generous to Traitor's Blade."

I'm the other way around, I didn't like the first Spellslinger book so I didn't carry on with it. Hmm, I wonder if the same people who liked Spellslinger also liked Week's Lightbringer series? And the reverse, like me who preferred the Greatcoats and Night Angel series?

I found Spellslinger to be too YA for me and the squirrelcats annoyed me.

For some reason, I missed the gay porn bits. I didn't think the series was exceptional, but it was entertaining.

Has anyone looked at his author page on Amazon? He looks like the epitome of his Greatcoats heroes: https://www.amazon.com/Sebastien-de-C...

Bothers me.

Geas is pronounced gesh.

Wait what????

Chapter 22

(view spoiler)[

Did she just literally magically heal him with a fuck? No...

What? 😂

Also, kinda rapey.

(hide spoiler)]

I will say I am impressed with all the different ways the author finds to use his sword.