Tim Jackson > Recent Status Updates

There is not a single character I do not find absolutely compelling in this book. Except for Brother Longfoot. That guy needs to shut up.

Not sure how I feel about how the first section of the book is structured, but so far it’s still great. The world building and characters are still 10/10

The thing that is scary is this series will live and die by its ending. Everything has been building and pointing to this moment. If he sticks the landing this will for sure be one of my favorite series but if he doesn’t, it will be difficult to return to.

Prince Ladisla is Zapp Brannagan from Futurama are the same character. Change my mind.

Trying really hard not to picture The Dogman like the cartoon character of the same name. It’s tough.

The tricky thing is that I really genuinely like all of the characters but there isn’t a feasible way for all of them to stay alive. So I feel like I’m just waiting to find out who dies next.

I’ve only had Brother Longfoot for a few chapters but I would absolutely throw myself in front of a train for him

Getting kind of nervous about Ardee and Jezel. Last time I was this invested in a couple my heart got absolutely broken and this universe is way too cruel for something this cute to exist in. So just waiting for the shoe to drop I guess. 😭

So far we’ve got a Viking, a cripple,a nepo-baby, and a ripped wizard.

So yeah so far so good lol

I HATE HATE HATE Alice. Completely and utterly terrible choices and behavior imo. To be fair though, I hate most people in this book. It’s rough.

I really like this book so far but I’m beginning to question if the things that I love about it were accidental on the authors part. Like, there is a lot of interesting psychology (attachment theory for instance) in here that I find fascinating but unless the author was really up to date on that stuff I doubt he was aware of it when it was written.

absolutely floored that this was written when it was with such empathy and (for the most part) subtlety

The only part that I think feels like it’s aged a bit is the exploration of sexuality.

Charlie only really starts having these feelings after the operation which I feel is a naïve view on how these things work. But then again the plot works better that way so who knows. Gotta take creative liberty somewhere

I feel my heart breaking in real time but I also can’t put it down. So……

I was so naïve thinking that it couldn’t get any more insane.

I really appreciate how Koja never bothers with scenes that don’t matter. Scene transitions aren’t a thing. It’s all free flowing stream of consciousness from the narrators brain. It’s a mad poetry scrawl. It puts me into a crazy trance and it’s freaky because I just feel so inside the head of this absolutely insane person that the author has crafted peice by piece.

Genuinely Kathe are you okay? How does one even get into the mindset to write something like this?

Mom please come pick me up I’m scared

The thing I thought was going to happen at the end of the book happened in chapter 2 so now I have no freaking clue what’s going to happen ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Dude where does she even come up with this stuff? It’s so twisted.

So excited to read this. Bad Brains was one of the best books I’ve ever read so it’s got big shoes to fill but I’m excited to see if Koja can blow my mind a second time.

I read the first page and was like:
WAT DA HEC AM I REDING (complimentary)

I was going to say “that escalated quickly” but that would be inaccurate because it didn’t escalate at all. It was just, already there.

Just read chapter 19. I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read? It’s hard to even explain why? It just…really hits? Rudy is an incredibly well drawn character. He feels so real. I feel like I could reach in the pages and touch him. That’s why the chapter was so good. The character work was just….

So far the part I enjoy the most is the surprisingly deep melancholy paired with such an absurd story (I mean that’s his usual deal but he still makes it fresh. This one doesn’t have as much humor so it feels like a new balance.)