Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan starting January 10, 2022.


Nik's Notes: This is my very favorite series EVER. Okay, maybe second to Elderlings. But if y'all like it even half as much as I did, we're in business.

May need to join for this one. It's been on my list for awhile.

in :) I think I am over "booked".

Rob wrote: "in :) I think I am over "booked"."

haha - FBR is being renamed soon to "Rob reads all the things" (and niki helps)

Now, if I only read as quickly as Niki I might keep my sanity.

Rob wrote: "Now, if I only read as quickly as Niki I might keep my sanity."

Haha if only! I feel like I talk a good game, but I'm lucky to actually finish 4 books a month. Now your daughter, that girl puts us all to shame...

She's so into her podcasts and web-based fan fiction, I rarely see her reading anything new these days. She'll be old enough for a good reads account in about a month. Maybe seeing all the reading goals and recommendations will inspire her :)

Trying this for the 3rd time. Not sure why I drop out the book everytime.

It interest me, too.

I've had this on my Audible wishlist since 2016(I want to capitalize this but alas you can't capitalize numbers).. I think this this buddy read is a sign I need to finally read it.

Emily wrote: "I've had this on my Audible wishlist since 2016(I want to capitalize this but alas you can't capitalize numbers).. I think this this buddy read is a sign I need to finally read it."

Same boat Emily. Call me nuts but I just downloaded all my early year audible buddyreads to my phone upon seeing this message. (Unsouled and Waking Fire). I'm scurrying to finish The Night Angel Series before the clock strikes midnight on New Years (and of course know that I won't be reading new years eve evening)

I have been wanting to finish this series a long time ago but I want to restart! This buddy read is the perfect push! I am in!!!

Possibly in, if I can recover my reading mojo.

Had these on my shelf for a while. Looking forward to jumping in! I've enjoyed Ryan's other works.

Rob wrote: "Emily wrote: "I've had this on my Audible wishlist since 2016(I want to capitalize this but alas you can't capitalize numbers).. I think this this buddy read is a sign I need to finally read it."

..."
Ha yep, ive been trying to finish up my reads for the year and prep for next year.. just finished a book ive been reading since May, and i think I have all my early year buddy reads now.

@Nirkatze I absolutley loved Blood Song but the sequels were meh in my opinion. Looking forward to give another work of his a try!

Rob wrote: "I absolutley loved Blood Song but the sequels were meh in my opinion. Looking forward to give another work of his a try!"

I've been meaning to reread those, since the sequel duology is out, but haven't gotten around to it. I remember enjoying it but feeling like the ending wasn't an ending. I actually really love his SF short story/novella collection the most. It's very grungy P.I. style.

I never read anything by him but this was on sale on the Kindle store so i may jump in

Is the plan to read the whole trilogy? I read this one and need to continue. =D

The audiobook wasn't the best format for me on this one. Have to make time to read the print vs listening. Though, I ended up doing both.

I'm starting next week. I want to read the whole trilogy. It's my third attempt for the first book, so I want to continue to the end, haha!

It took me a while to get used to the switches in POVs. I tried reading the POV I was the most interested first, but that's not a good plan because the plot lines do connect and that threw off the story flow more.

POV changes are clunky, but it ended up creating a cool story with characters with depth and complex world setting.

I'd like to read the whole series as well. This is my first crack at it. Niki has raved enough times about that I am finally giving in. :)

I'm aiming to start on the tenth, but trying to finish up the Night Angel series beforehand.

I'm excited! I'm trying to cram in finishing The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny this weekend so I can start Waking Fire on the 10th too. Definitely interested in going the distance with the series.

Soo wrote: "It took me a while to get used to the switches in POVs. I tried reading the POV I was the most interested first, but that's not a good plan because the plot lines do connect and that threw off the ..."

Hmm glad you brought that up.. might need to get a copy of the ebook too then.

Started reading this one yesterday... And I think I'll have to go full eBook. But loving it so far!

I started this morning. Listened a bit while I got ready and commuted and (read a little at the office to finish off the chapter I was reading.).

Gave us a lot of key info and action in that prologue. Nicely done.
(view spoiler)[Capturing dragons to harness their blood for special powers and people who don't like that and schools that train people in its use. A mystery, conspiracy and tracking onto chapter 1 that intrigue continues. I'm here for this. (hide spoiler)]

Does this book qualify as steampunk or gunpowder fantasy or both :)

Rob wrote: "I started this morning. Listened a bit while I got ready and commuted and (read a little at the office to finish off the chapter I was reading.).

Gave us a lot of key info and action in that prol..."

Prologue
(view spoiler)[Right? I don’t know how an official/formal document can be so captivating.. But I was drawn in almost immediately. We’ve got dragons and apparently drinking dragon blood can give you powers? Okay sounds good to me. (hide spoiler)]

I was thinking both :)

I'm enjoying the story so far, but I'm listening to it and the narrator hasn't grown on me yet.

Through Chapter 10 (these comments are kinda chaotic so be warned lol)
(view spoiler)[So far I’ve gathered the Iron trading company has a secret division for which Lizanne is working for.. Kinda like a spy? I’m absolutely loving the spy aspect of this, we even have a guy who has the gadgets! Like the secret room full of spy weapons.. But steampunkesque, and I’m living for it. And using the red to withstand cold temperatures is so cool (heh)
So Clay was there at the event in the prologue.. And was able to evade whatever ceremony that identifies the blood-blessed hmm.
Who is Silverpin to go out of her way to collect Keyvine’s head. I hope we get more of her! That was satisfying considering what he did to Derk and Joya, he no doubt had worse atrocities behind him.
I’m not getting much from Hilemore at this point, but his story seems to lag a bit behind Lizanne and Clays…
The Blue trance is pretty cool allowing them to communicate from far away!
So, it seems like something happened with Clay’s father and Loriabeth and maybe even Braddon blames Clay for it. I’m sure we’ll get more of that later on. Also. Clay seems so rash! Thats gotta get him into trouble. (hide spoiler)]

@Elizabeth I had to abandon the audio, the narrator just wasn't doing it for me.

Yeah, it's weird. Normally, Steven Brand is a good narrator, but his narration for this series seems to kill the life in it. lol

That or maybe he was auto tuned too much in production? I'm not sure, but I have a hard time listening to his narration for this series. I ended up reading most of Waking Fire and listening to parts.

Rob, a bit of both. =D

That prologue is great.

I've read this one but would like to join in for book two. I've been needing a push to get me going after losing momentum so this BR should do the trick. Ideally, a reread of this one would be great but I don't think I can squeeze it in so I'll just have to rely on people's comments here to refresh my memory. :-)

@Rob (view spoiler)[i ended the prologue and i was just: " so......where is the child?"

Currently on chapter 2 and it seems there is a time skip between the prologue and the current events.

Also, loving some of the titles used like a Shareholder (hide spoiler)]

@Soo it may just be a production issue. I don't listen to audiobooks much these days but i did pick up some with good narrators that just had a bad performance

5 chapters in and enjoying it so far.

I like the idea of the dragon's blood giving special people temporary boosts - a genuinely different sort of magic.

Given the dragons and magic I'm inclined to think of it as gunpowder fantasy rather than steampunk for now; I think of steampunk as being more about the machines, less fantasy.

I always felt badly for the dragons.

Filipe, unfortunately, Brand's narration is the same for all three audiobooks. Iol

Makes it tough to listen.

Tempted to re-read this book! I do want to continue & read #2 & 3.

Just cracked the book open. Through the prologue. @Rob, couldn't put it better myself. (view spoiler)[Enjoying the Victorian style prose and epistolary opening. Quite the action sequence to start things off with! Was it just me, or did the voice, setting, and description of capturing a "Black" set off slavery vibrations? I definitely came out of that scene on the side of the dragon, for all that the letter-writer came across fairly badass.

Though it is nice to see a Victorian-style world with (hopefully) non-suffocating gender norms. (hide spoiler)]

@Emily--ditto on official document!

@Filippe--I agree! (view spoiler)[I definitely got the same sense! If there's no body, there's no proof of death, right? Will the child come back into things, or is this just a tease for us to wonder about "blood-blessed"? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter one (view spoiler)[I love the undertext Lizanne gives the opening conversation. She analyzes Redsel's every sally and ripostes with her own. Not only does it give insight into the culture of society, but also the education Lizanne must have received. I wonder if he will turn out to be an assassin. Seems like someone will, soon! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter two. (view spoiler)[Introducing a character mid-Victorian fight gives me Sherlock Holmes vibes. Then again, my steampunk repertoire is fairly shallow, so I'm probably drawing connections to the lowest common denominator.

It seems that blood-blessed are people who bring out extra enhancement qualities in drake's blood, but that most folk can derive some benefit from it. Blood-blessed don't burn? But why would the harvester have been sad for Lizette? Is the blood-lot a test, like Unsouled's test of spirit? Maybe any who show signs are government mandated to attend the special school our prologue letter-writer mentions and bound to a specific trade. I'm sure we'll find out soon--information seems to be rounding out the picture fairly quickly.

Starting to sound like maybe the woman who "jumped" into the vat might have been "pushed" by one using Black. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter three, open of Chapter 4 (view spoiler)[Nice! I'm glad we get a naval viewpoint. I enjoy military SF with the space naval aspects, now I get some military naval fantasy!

And that seems to be our main cast of viewpoints. (hide spoiler)]

Thoughts on geography. Where the heck is Feros? (view spoiler)[So...Feros isn't on the map. How rude.

Lizanne is on way to Carvenport, to track down a lead. She was born in Feros but schooled in Carvenport. Redsel, the incompetent assassin, came on board in Feros--and it is suggested he has "never seen Arradsia" which is referred to as "the continent."

Clay wants to go to Feros, but is likely kidnapped, maybe by the pirates of the Windqueen, maybe an Ironship company. Pressed into service? Also, no idea what city he is in currently. (edit--ha! It is Carvenport! Ch.4 confirms). Feros is six weeks away by normal ship--which we can assume travels at 3/4 to 2/3s the speed of Hilemore's ship, so say maybe 20 knots top speed.

Hilemore is leaving Feros, in pursuit of the Windqueen.

I'm thinking Feros is maybe on the little cluster of Islands to the north--not quite in Arradsia but close enough to be only six-weeks away at 20 knot speed from Clay's location (which I'm guessing is also Carvenport). That would also make Arradsia "the Continent" pretty easily. Is that where so-called "Islanders" come from? (hide spoiler)]

new word! "conurbations" -- Conurbation "an extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of a central city." In Chapter 4. "...the conurbations of the norther continents." I've not heard that word before!

through Chapter 4 (view spoiler)[Also just caught on to the fact that Lizanne's Madame Bondersil--mentor teacher at the academy--is the Prologue's letter writer. Maybe Lizanne was the girl student she stopped in the street--the witness?

Another mystery--the girl in the sketch. 19 y/o at the time. The "...most favoured pupil lost nearly two decades ago in pursuit of the impossible." Ethelynne Drystone.

Interesting that the mythical creature here is staying within the terminology of tradition. The White Stag. The White Whale. Now the White Drake.

Timeline wise--the prologue event was in 1578. The expedition was about 20 years ago. We don't know when "now" is in comparison to the prologue, though if the girl in the prologue is Lizanne, it suggests around 20 years ago or less. She's probably in her 20s-30s, and was 8 when sent to the academy. I also go the feeling, from when the sketch was introduced, that she knew Ethelynne in person. But it could just be that the legacy of the prize pupil was so pervasive that everyone knew who she was and how old she was.

Oooh, the gray haired lady of about 50 at the end of Clay's chapter was Madame Bondersil! And Clay is being pressed into the mission to the Red Sands! Oh fun! Nice turn!
(hide spoiler)]

Really enjoying so far. Lots of tidbits to chase down and connections to try to stretch into meeting. I like the characters so far too--though only 1-2 chapters apiece at this point.

Curious--does anyone know of any actual historical examples of a corporatocracy?

*grins* I have fun reading your posts.

Chapter 5 (view spoiler)[So Clay was in the mess at the prologue. Lizanne probably was too. I wonder if our third POV was as well? If so...was one of them the child tossed in the vat?

Ooh, and Braddon, Clay's uncle, was the marksman in the prologue! Should've caught that in chap 3. Neat connection! Though I am wondering who Clay's father was--or who he was thinking of when he looked at Braddon and thought "they could have been twins."

Hah! It was Madame B. on the roof!

Still curious about Hilemore's grandfather and Lizanne's grandfather as well. I wonder if they'll have connections somewhere too. (hide spoiler)]

Ditto Soo! Nirkatze, youre posts are so detailed and insightful :)
Regarding intro of Clay
(view spoiler)[ That was my feel too! I haven't read much steampunk so it all just feels very Victorian... which I guess is the time period steampunk is associated with. Idk about you, but I kinda instantly disliked Clay, and I'm not sure why haha.. hoping to keep my mind open though (hide spoiler)]
Regarding blood-lot
(view spoiler)[ I think it is some kind of test to see if you can utilize the product. Reminds me of that one test in Shadow and Bone (hide spoiler)]
About Feros, Nirkatze you are quite the detective!
(view spoiler)[ In the first chapter, Lizanne is going through the strait which would make sense for the departing place to be those islands to the North (Tyrell Islands). But I don't think that is where the "Islanders" are. In the prologue it looks like home office is at Feros (the sort of address of where Bondersil is sending the letter), so I don't think the "savage Islanders" would be at the same place. I would guess the Islanders would be from the Barrier Isles? (hide spoiler)]

Nirkatze wrote: "Chapter two. Introducing a character mid-Victorian fight gives me Sherlock Holmes vibes. Then again, my steampunk repertoire is fairly shallow, so I'm probably drawing connections to the lowest com..."

(view spoiler)[I got the impression that Feros was on the Mandinorian continent but i am still on chapter 4. This was mainly due to:

1 - On Hilemore's chapter, they clearly indicate the several Mandionorian backgrounds( North and South) which makes me thing they are prevalent in the Ironship
2 - When they mention the promotion, it was related to the Dalcian Emergency which points to a conflict between them. Assuming the world is round and taking Dalcia location into account the closest locations that could potentially have a conflict with them would be Mandinor, Varestia and the Corvantine Empire. The Corvantine can be rulled out because they already established an adversarial relathionship between Ironship and the Empire. This leaves Varestia and Mandinor.
If it was Varestia, then why so many Mandinorians on the crew?
3- They also mention that on Feros, the largest ship on at berth was the Consolidation, Flagship of the South seas Fleet which could potentially locate Feros somewhere on the south of Mandinor between Dalcia and Arradsia

But being on the Tyrell Islands could be an option since it could potentially controll access to the Arradsia strait which seems important for the trading, and it could also account for the number of Mandinorians as well as why he focused on mentioning this.

Ironship gives the same vibe as the East India Company

P.S.: The use of reds to power some ships just reminded me of the God Engines novella
(hide spoiler)]

Nirkatze wrote: "through Chapter 4 Also just caught on to the fact that Lizanne's Madame Bondersil--mentor teacher at the academy--is the Prologue's letter writer. Maybe Lizanne was the girl student she stopped in ..."

Oh my god. That went over my head. I blame listening to that bit in audio. I'm an urban planner and didn't know the word "conurbation" so I can tell you that is not a typically used technical term/jargon, but I'm going to use it for sure someday soon and confuse people at a meeting or some such.

I'm up to Chapter 6 just enjoyed a (view spoiler)[very James Bondian/Q scene which was a strange digression for our meeting with Clay. (hide spoiler)]

It feels like it is set to be late 19th century, on the verge of the car, but it has been eschewed for other means in this world.

@Emily, re: Clay (view spoiler)[I can see not liking him from introduction. I mean, he starts out trying to cheat his way into winning a fight against a guy who is initially being honorable. And then insults his family. Not the best first impression. (hide spoiler)]

Haven't read Shadow & Bone yet, but it's on my TBR! (then again, everything is on my TBR. It's why I've signed up for so many buddy reads!

re: Islanders (view spoiler)[Good point. The barrier Isles would make sense. Now I'm thinking of them kind of like New Zealand or Hawaii. Also, some remarks in Chapter 9 support that hypothesis. (hide spoiler)]

@Emily & Filipe, re: Feros (view spoiler)[It does seem like Mandinor is the primary cultural influence around here. The main language is Mandinorian. They talk of it as an "old colonialist empire." Mandinor could make sense!

I'm still thinking the Tyrrel Islands is a good option though--it's the only land mass that has not been referred to by name yet. And people have been identified by accent and ethnicity as Mandinorian, Dalcian, Corvantine, and Islander--which makes me think that there is an unspoken remainder which is just "us." (hide spoiler)]

re: East India Company--totally! (view spoiler)[The Dalcian Emergency makes me think of the Sepoy rebellion or the Opium Wars. Dalcia seems to be Asian-inspired.

I almost wonder if this series was inspired by "what if the companies of Britain became so successful they replaced the existing government?" (hide spoiler)]

And I totally see the God Engines comparison!

Chapter 9 (view spoiler)[Ooh, "the Shadow"--I wonder if this is the same shadowy feeling that Madame B. sensed influencing the Black Drake in the prologue? (hide spoiler)]

I may have to throw in and re-read the book. =D

Great discussions! Also, I don't think anyone was truly likeable for a good chunk of the book.

Rob wrote: "It feels like it is set to be late 19th century, on the verge of the car, but it has been eschewed for other means in this world."

Yes! In Chapter 4 (view spoiler)[when we meet Jermayah, Lizanne asks him about his "Plasmothermic-driven carriage" which has been "almost done" for the past seven years!! Maybe he'll have it figured out before the end. Something has to replace all that declining drakesblood (hide spoiler)]

@Rob, re: Ch.6 (view spoiler)[OMG! Totally Bond & Q! Great parallel! (hide spoiler)]

@Soo--We'd love to have you! I've been enjoying everyone from the start, so I'm really interested to see where they finally won you over Soo!

Chapter 11 (view spoiler)[We now have Upstairs/Downstairs, the Fantasy edition! Starring Jasmyne Bond.

Just to get my thoughts in order... Lizanne is there to look into the origins of a mysterious box, with a mysterious device in it--most likely an orrery/solargraph. The device is important because the box was marked with the phrase "The Path to the White Drake." The documents in the master's study suggest it was made by the "Mad Artisan" and may somehow truly be what the phrase says.

On the other end, Clay and folks are heading directly to the last rumored location of a real white drake.

And Hilemore is totally in the opposite direction. Except for the Windqueen showing up in Clay's chapter, it's hard to draw a line of connection between him and the others yet at this point. I wonder if his past is hiding anything.

And what an ending to the chapter! Excited to get back to Lizanne! (hide spoiler)]

Also, still haven't had more than a few mentions of salt shakers. I wonder if that's (view spoiler)[powdered drake bone? All we've dealt with so far is the blood, though there's mention of all parts having use.

And what exactly are the Spoiled? Another puzzle. Are they just interior tribesfolk? Or somehow genetically altered? Due to drakes or geography? (hide spoiler)]

Did anyone read the short story "Sandrunners" first? I wonder if it tells Ethelynne's story.

So, if y'all were in this world, what path of life would you take? I think I'd like to tinker tech like Jermayah or Lizanne's dad.