Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for Unboundby Michael R. Miller starting on August 10, 2024.


Happy Reading!

I finished this today and I liked it well enough, bit less than the first. (view spoiler)[I liked that Osric got POV chapters and I was not sad to see that he survived and is (hopefully?) starting a redemption arc. I really liked how Holt used his cooking skills to develop the jerky stuff to increase their powers and Abernath was my favorite of the new characters introduced. I found quite a bit of Talia's POV kind of boring, the politics was not fun to read. Very happy she kept her bond with her dragon though, that would have been terrible to lose it. I enjoyed it but definitely didn't love it. (hide spoiler)]

Bummer. Looking forward to it anyway.

1. Ascendant (July 10) [link]
2. Unbound (Aug 10)
3. Defiant (Dec 10) [link]

Finished this over a week ago and agree--I liked it okay, but was a bit bummed out by how much page-time was given to the bad-guys... I'd even say Holt got the least chapters of all the POVs. (view spoiler)[So I guess I was opposite of you, @Ann-Marie--while I didn't actively dislike Osric's chapters, he was my least favorite! Though I would like him to get a redemption arc--and seeing how abusive the dragon was too him was an eye-opener.

I think I might have liked Talia's POV the most (more opposites!) I liked the politics--or should I say, all the attempts to push her away from her dragon and cut their bond made me grrrr! And I like a good grr--as long as it's followed up by comeuppance!

Holt's cooking was also a highlight--it really made me think of Cultivation/LitRPGs, especially Beware of Chicken (I think?). Yeah, definitely Beware of Chicken. Very cozy!

I like how there were so many more dragon characters introduced, and I find it interesting how... people-like they are. Not really much distinction, writing-wise, between people and dragon characters. Which, considering that this is maybe the third or fourth book series I'm reading right now with sentient dragons, is an interesting difference, though it almost more highlights how the other series differentiate the species than how this one doesn't. Temeraire, The Bound and the Broken, Echoes Saga, even Wars of Light and Shadow--all the dragons feel different from the human characters. (hide spoiler)]