Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Nolyn - Michael J. Sullivan

August 3, 2021.

I set the thread up for today as the start date, but I will probably begin tomorrow or the day after. :)

I thought this was coming out next Tuesday! So glad to see I was wrong! I’ll participate too!

I'm doing another buddy read now over on the Mystery Book Club thread, but I'll try starting this one tomorrow and swapping between them. I'm also out of town visiting with family so I'll probably be pretty slow.

I want in on this one, but it snuck up on me.

Already started other print & audio books, but could move this up behind whichever I finish up first.

I'll follow along for the discussion. This one was so good!

Following for discussion. Next in my TBR but need to finish current read first.

Chapter 1

(view spoiler)[I relate too much to Nolyn not being able to remember anyone's names. I have already forgotten every single name of the squadron he is with.

The First Spear....something something the Prophet (I would check the book for the name normally, but I'm listening on audio) is badass. I like the dynamic he and Nolyn have. Their banter in the first chapter reminded me of a bit of Royce and Hadrian. (hide spoiler)]

Read up to chapter 3, and I just have to mention how much I'm enjoying it after reading Legends of the First Empire. I know MJS said you could read this series first and he sets up all his series so they could be read out of order. However, there are so many references to characters and events from Legends that I would definitely recommend reading that series first.

There are a bunch of Easter eggs for Riyria as well so that has been fun :)

Chapter 3

(view spoiler)["Age doesn't endow an idiot with intelligence."

What a great quote from Nolyn. He's afraid of snakes, willingly accepts that he's probably mad, can't remember anyone's name, and hates Nephron. 3 chapters in and I love him already. (hide spoiler)]

Jenna wrote: "Chapter 1..."

Amicus, I really like him too and I agree about their banter. I'm in chapter 9, 33% into the ebook. (view spoiler)[So far I have mixed feelings about Nolyn and Sephryn. I don't dislike them, but they feel like weak characters compared to their parents, but I guess that is the way things can end up even in real life with the children of legendary people. I think they will both come into their own eventually though. Also, I should have known that mysterious voice that kidnapped Sephryn's son was Mawyndule. (hide spoiler)]

Ah, yes - Amicus! Thank you!

Tammie wrote: "Jenna wrote: "Chapter 1..."

Amicus, I really like him too and I agree about their banter. I'm in chapter 9, 33% into the ebook. [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ He is in the middle of everything. (hide spoiler)]

Jenna wrote: "Chapter 1

I relate to

Just started this today. Sullivan gets better with every book. Only finished Chapter 2 so far but already I know I'm going to finish this in a couple of days, and probably do nothing else until it's done. I have a better memory for Legends than Rirya but I'm really glad i read Legends first. All the little details wouldn't mean anything otherwise. (view spoiler)[ Moya the Magnificent...i love it 😂 I also recognize Killian's triple blades as the same that Hadrian wears...I can't remember though, is his name Hadrian Killian? Or does he get the blades a different way? (hide spoiler)]

Up to chapter 22 (view spoiler)[I'm enjoying this book, but not as much as the other books I've read by MJS. I feel like there's a bit too much telling and not enough showing. My favorite character is definitely Amicus. I'm more interested in him than I am Nolyn or Sephryn, but unfortunately the book isn't about him.

Both Nolyn and Sephryn have good intentions and I admire that they are fighting for humans to be treated right, but they are still weak characters compared the other leading characters I've read in Sullivan's books.

I'm a little disappointed that Sephryn dislikes her Mother so much, although I understand why she does. It made me sad, and it made me sad that things ended up the way they did for Moya, but those are things I wondered about after finishing Legends. How would they deal with the fact that Tekchin wouldn't age and she would grow old? I also was surprised and saddened that Sephryn doesn't believe any of the stories her own mother told her. Didn't her father back them up, or tell her any of the stories himself?

Mawyndule drives me crazy! I really hated him in the legends series and nothing has changed here. I'm disappointed that he has been able to manipulate Sephryn and Nolyn as much as he has. I was happy when Sephryn realized that it was just a Mariyalith (I probably spelled that wrong) that was speaking to her. But I feel like it took her too long to come to that realization.

On another note, I'm not crazy about some of the real world words and phrases that have been incorporated into the story, like protests, and "social justice" and "equal doesn't mean the same" etc.. For me it makes the story feel like it's a thinly veiled commentary on what's happening in the real world, instead of a story that stands on it's own, and I would rather forget the real world when I'm reading a book. (hide spoiler)]

I finished the book and I liked parts of it, but I never felt very attached the characters the way I usually do when I read a MJS book. I thought everything felt a bit rushed and we didn't have the opportunity to dig deeper into the characters and who they were. I really would have liked more about Amicus and the other Teshlors. I also would have liked more about Arvis as well. (view spoiler)[Her story really is heartbreaking. In the afterward at the end of the book, Robin tells us to go back and read the first two paragraphs of chapter 10. I did that and it was heartwrenching to read after knowing what the "bread" was and everything that happened to her. I also realized why she lived under the butcher's stairs across the street from the bread shop. I had wondered why she didn't live with Sephryn like all the other's that Sephryn had taken in and helped. I was glad she ended up ok in the end and got her daughter back. I was also glad that she was able to rescue the baby, but it wasn't a surprise. I figured as soon as we cut away from that scene in the sewers and didn't return that she would pop up at the end with the baby. (hide spoiler)]

Overall I was a bit disappointed in this book. What I liked the best about it was the way things ended and the lessons that were learned, albeit some of them a bit too late. (view spoiler)[But why did it take 800 plus years for Nolyn and Sephryn to grow up? They felt way too juvenile and naive for their ages. I think some of these realizations that made the ending so good should have happened much sooner in their lives. (hide spoiler)]

Oh no... that seems to be a common thread in the 3 star reviews I saw on the front page of the book page...

And just when I was considering joining

Timelord Iain wrote: "Oh no... that seems to be a common thread in the 3 star reviews I saw on the front page of the book page...

And just when I was considering joining"

You could have a completely different opinion than me. Other people have loved it.

Emily wrote: "Jenna wrote: "Chapter 1

I relate to

Just started this today. Sullivan gets better with every book. Only finished Chapter 2 so far but already I know I'm going to finish this in a couple of days, ..."

Not sure how he got the blades, but he was Hadrian Blackwater.

Tammie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Oh no... that seems to be a common thread in the 3 star reviews I saw on the front page of the book page...

And just when I was considering joining"

You could have a complet..."

I'm leaning towards my initial plan of waiting for more of the trilogy to release... I've got a ton of things to read and that I'm already reading, at this point...

I’m with Iain. Sullivan is one my fav authors and he writes fast so I’m inclined to wait til closer to completion. I am following here tho and excited to get to it.

Tammie wrote: "Emily wrote: "Jenna wrote: "Chapter 1

I relate to

Just started this today. Sullivan gets better with every book. Only finished Chapter 2 so far but already I know I'm going to finish this in a co..."

Right! Thanks. Blackwater. I loaned those books to my uncle so i couldn't check. I do wonder how he got them. Just found out about the significance of the biggest blade. Super cool. 🙂

Yeah I thought that was cool too.

Im around 100 pages in and enjoying it but already a bit upset at how the memories of my favorite characters from LotFE are being forgotten haha

Tammie wrote: "Amicus, I really like him too and I agree about their banter. I'm in chapter 9, 33% into the ebook. [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I definitely more of a fan of Nolyn than Sephryn. I feel the same way - I don't dislike her, but I just loved the characters from Legends.

About Mawyndule - I couldn't believe I couldn't figure it out either. It fit so well when he finally showed up. (hide spoiler)]

Tammie wrote: "I finished the book and I liked parts of it, but..."

I finished as well. It wasn't my favourite MJS book either and I agree with a lot of the things you disliked about it, but I still enjoyed it overall and I really liked Nolyn's POV. I was between 3 and 4 stars, but I'm still going to give it 4 stars for now. :)

Amicus also ended up being my favourite of this book, but a close second was Nolyn. I just loved how they interacted with each other. I would also love a book with Amicus as the main POV. He reminded me of a bit of Ben Styke from McClellan's Powder Mage world.

about Sephyryn (view spoiler)[I was so sad about her relationship with her mother. Every time she complained about her or talked about how her stories could only be tall tales, I just thought about how much I loved Moya in Legends. I had that same question as you, Tammie - why would Tekchin not confirm the stories? (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Mawyndule is the worst. I didn't mind that Sephryn didn't figure it out right away that he was Mariuyalith (I didn't know the spelling either, so I just copied you haha) because after being alive for 800 years, I feel like there would be a lot of bad blood with at least a few people, especially as she's been in politics for 400 years. I was disappointed that it was revealed to readers so early and we just watched her stumble to figure it out. I wish she would have explored more options of who it could have been, maybe add a few more politicians or Nephron's cronies as secondary characters. (hide spoiler)]

I also wish it could have been longer so (view spoiler)[we could find out more about Amicus and the Teshlors. Maybe a future book idea? I wonder if they'll be in the next one in this series since it's supposed to be three separate narratives. (hide spoiler)]

Arvis (view spoiler)[ I loved Arvis' story. It was so heartbreaking, but I'm glad she had a happy ending. At first, I didn't really know how to feel about Arvis, and when her POV came up, it wasn't one of my favourites, but when everything was revealed about the "bread," it was just so emotional. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[I completely agree that Nolyn and Sephryn did not act like they were 800 years old. I know Nolyn had that comment about age not gifting anyone with intelligence, but there is a certain wisdom that comes from experience, and I also felt they were both very naive. (hide spoiler)]

I'm just over halfway through this, looking forward to reading all your spoilers. I'm definitely not getting through this one as quickly as I normally would a MJS book but I am still enjoying it. I feel like this will also fall short of a 5 star for me. I'm thinking around 4 at the moment but we will see.