Fantasy Book Club Series discussion

Welcome to the discussion of Mistress of the Empire - for those of you who have finished, please MARK YOUR SPOILERS in respect for those who have not!

This is a sort of free for all comment space - how did you find the full sweep of the series, which were your favorite characters, did the plot turns surprise you?

Also if you wish to put forward points you'd like to discuss, I'll make the threads.

Love love love these books. Have re-read them so many times I've lost count. They are on my favorites bookshelf within easy reach at all time.

I thought the character growth and the interaction between all the different societies and cultures were fascinating. But I have to say I have a special place in my heart for a certain red head.

Just started today. Very interested to see what happens!

This one is so different than the first two. It starts with a huge bang and than it keeps banging, more adversities, villains, trials. Mara is going through some tough times.

I'm worried about Arakasi. With all the tasks that Mara has given him, I don't know how he can survive, especially with Chumaka on his tail.

I also really like Hokanu. I'm so glad he was able to be there for Mara after Kevin returned to Midkemia.

I'm not quite halfway through the book yet but I have a suspicion of something that might happen.

(view spoiler)[ When Mara is healed after the poisoning and the priest comes, Hokanu is told that she will only be able to have one more child and that it won't be enough. Then not too much later someone mentions how good it would be for Ichindar to sire a son. My suspicion: the one child will be Ichindar's son and not Hokanu's. :-( I really wanted Hokanu to have his own child with Mara. Of course I could be very wrong. (hide spoiler)]

I have to agree with Amelia, bang bang bang! Wow. Loved it.

Hokanu is a favorite of mine. Totally my kind of guy. A feminist and socially progressive (at least compared to his counterparts).

(view spoiler)[I was certain (o.k., 98%) that Kevin would be back in Mara's life and learn he had a child. I just could not figure out how or when. Thank you, thank you, thank you Janny and Raymond for finding a way to do this without killing off my Hokanu or making Mara and Hokanu hate eachother. (hide spoiler)]

Since there aren't any other threads to discuss the book in yet...

(view spoiler)[Maybe I'm being overly sensitive, but was anyone else annoyed by the fact that the cover is a spoiler for events that occur late in the story? In particular, Justin being crowned the Emperor? This is the cover I'm talking about...

(hide spoiler)]

So, (view spoiler)[ my suspicion has already been proven wrong. I just had to read a couple more chapters and now we have a baby girl. (hide spoiler)]

Dawn, (view spoiler)[ I haven't finished yet, but I did just barely look closer at the cover and realized who was actually sitting in the chair. It took me a bit to realize this, but I was already getting a bit suspicious about what was going to happen. It was a bit spoilery, but I don't know how it happens, so in some ways I'm a bit more intrigued. It would have been nice to have the picture as an illustration inside the book where it becomes pertinant though. (hide spoiler)]

Dawn wrote: "Since there aren't any other threads to discuss the book in yet..."

I spend/t too much time staring at the cover. Besides the fact I'm fascinated by Don's art ability, I do pickup story/plot clues (as you noted in your spoiler, Dawn).

I had to put it down for a while after that achingly sad funeral scene in the beginning. I'm up and running again, though.

Dawn wrote: "Since there aren't any other threads to discuss the book in yet...

[spoilers removed]"

I didn't think anything about it. Is it a spoiler?

That's kind of what my statement implied...

This book has gone in directions that are totally unexpected for me. Am loving it. Couldn't put it down yesterday. Am on p. 458.

Dawn until your comment (view spoiler)[I didn't think anything of the cover. The emperor is described as slight, so, it didn't occur to me that it's Justin. At any rate, the story along the way is not really about that, so to me it didn't spoil anything. (hide spoiler)].