Danielle’s
Comments
(group member since May 19, 2014)
Danielle’s
comments
from the Danielle L. Jensen's Reader Group group.
Showing 121-140 of 359
Pili wrote: "1.-I didn't usually re-read books in a series before reading the latest installment, but I started doing it last year, and I found that I do enjoy it very much, I remember LESS than I thought and w..."HI Pili,
I haven't read Dances with Dragons, and I've decided I'm not going to until the series is finished, at which time I'll probably reread the prior books. I was the same with Wheel of Time - I got so sick of rereading them in order to keep the million characters straight. I still haven't read the last book, but I know some of what happens, and frankly, I probably won't bother.
Angouleme is a dangerous troll – you are right to have some concerns about him :)
Annah wrote: "1. I don't reread books when waiting for a sequel, especially if they are a year apart. And I have never had to wait more than a year for a book, but there have been times when I have not picked up..."Hi Annah!
Genevieve is not a pleasant woman, that is for sure. Hopefully she makes us all appreciate our mothers more ;)
Most people seem to think that Anais being alive is maybe not such a good thing, because it probably involves the King and his schemes.
Ashley wrote: "1. I don’t usually reread books before a sequel comes out. I might flip through it to remember some key things, but I rarely do a proper reread of books I’ve already read. I might read the synopses..."Hi Ashley!
Looks like there are quite a few people who are reading Hidden Huntress for the first time as part of this read-along, which is great. I love seeing reactions as they happen :)
Great answer for #2, and yes, that Genevieve drugged Cecile certainly doesn't inspire much trust, does it?!
Kelsea wrote: "1. When I read YA series I usually don't re-read between books. I feel like the time frame is short enough that when the next book comes out and I'm able to read it everything comes flooding back, ..."Hi Kelsea
You are starting to sound like Tristan in believing that everything that happens is part of the King's plan...
Mi-Mi wrote: "1. Very rarely, do i reread a book before the next one comes out. I usually read like maybe the last 50 pages or so as a refresher? Sometimes I try really hard to look for a summary lol2. Yeah, I..."
Genevieve certainly wouldn't win mother of the year ;-)
Makenna wrote: "#1 If the book is about a year apart I find I don't re-read the books because I have an amazing memory. If they are more then a year apart I sometimes read a summary posted online or choose to re-r..."Hi Makenna!
I'm jealous - I have the worst memory. I frequently have no idea what is going on when I start subsequent volumes in series if more than a few months have passed.
Perla wrote: "1. I almost never re-read in preparation for a new installment coming out. I usually re-read at random for fun. I do an annual Harry Potter re-read religiously, and I'll do an Outlander series re-r..."Hi Perla!
I'm going to mark this one as a spoiler for anyone who hasn't finished Hidden Huntress, because I know quite a few people are reading it for the first time.
(view spoiler)
So this little piece I originally considered as an epilogue for Stolen Songbird. Then I considered using it as a prologue for Hidden Huntress. Then it got thrown in the electronic desk drawer, only to be brought out now for your reading pleasure!The carriage pulled up in front of the new enclosed theatre and I wrapped my velvet cloak tighter against the chill fall air.
“Mademoiselle?” The coachman had opened the door and stood with his arm out, waiting.
My heart pounded as I slid out onto the street and arranged my skirts. Part of me wanted to climb back into the carriage and flee back to the country, but that would never do. I had come too far, endured too much to turn back now. Handing the coachman some coins, I walked steadily up the steps and through the doors.
Immediately the sound of a woman’s voice rolled over me, the words of her song haunting and foreign. The heels of my shoes sunk into the carpet as I walked forward, captivated by the sound. I could not understand the words, but I knew instinctively she sang about lost love. Such was the power of her voice.
I stood in the shadows and watched her sing the final notes of the song, her head lowering in sorrow as the music faded away. Then I walked down the aisle to the stage, aware that everyone in the company was watching me, and a riot of whispers echoed through the air. I passed by Madame Delacourte, saw her eyes widen in surprise. But the singer did not look up. I stopped in front of her and cleared my throat.
“I understand you are holding auditions for the lead.”
She looked up. Crimson curls framed a porcelain face dominated by eyes as cold and blue as the depths of winter. She tilted her head and spoke, her words even and measured. “Welcome back, Cécile. I’ve been expecting you.”
Reflexively, I touched her necklace, which hung warm against my neck. “It is good to see you too, mother.”
She smiled. “Now, shall we begin?”
Chapter summaries for those who need them...(Anyone just joining in, their are chapters summaries for Stolen Songbird in the Stolen Songbird Read-Along folder)
Chapter 1
Cécile has moved to Trianon where she works for her mother preforming on stage. She is still on the hunt for Anushka, and she has her friends, Sabine and Chris, on the lookout for the witch as well.
Cécile has just finished a performance with her costar, Julian, and she makes her way back to her dressing room. Everyone compliments her, but her mother is upset because her voice lacked passion, and they quarrel. In her dressing room, she reflects on her failure to free Tristan and the ceaseless despair she sense from him. Sabine, who works as her assistant, arrives, and she voices a similar concern that Tristan has stolen Cécile’s passion for singing. This has been an ongoing argument for the past two months, as Sabine struggles to understand how Cécile can remain committed to her kidnapper. Her views have caused a rift in their friendship that wasn’t there before. Although Sabine doesn’t agree with Cécile’s choices, she still keeps her ears open for anything to do with witches or Anushka.
Cécile remains in her dressing room until everyone has dispersed, then goes out the back door of the opera house, where Chris is waiting for her. Like Sabine, he hunts down leads on witches, but thus far, they’ve mostly encountered charlatans. They go to a tavern where Cécile’s brother, Fred, likes to spend time.
They discuss their failure to find Anushka, and Chris suggests maybe Cécile should give up, because Tristan doesn’t even want the trolls to be freed. She grows angry and accuses him of being selfish. He retorts that she’s the selfish one, because she’s willing to sell the world into slavery for the sake of a love affair. She starts to drink heavily while she contemplates Chris’s words. There haven’t been any leads since she reached Trianon and she’s becoming frustrated. But she drinks too much and runs out of the bar to throw-up in the gutter. A hooded man approaches. When she asks what he wants, he tells her that wishes to deliver a message to “To her Royal Highness, Princess Cécile de Montigny.”
Chapter 2
The messenger has been sent by the King, but he assures Cécile that he is not here to kill her. Chris comes out of the bar looking for her and rushes to her defense. The messenger says that the King has requested a meeting tonight. As quickly as Chris says no, Cécile says yes.
They make their way by moonlight to the entrance of the River Road. However, instead of being greeted by the King, she is greeted by Roland. She tries to hide her fear, but Roland toys with her. When she demands to see Tristan, Roland informs her that Tristan is in a prison and he is now the heir to Trollus.
The King arrives and sends Roland back up the road to Trollus. She asks him what he wants, and he tells her that she already knows. Instead of elaborating, he watches her, and she cracks, demanding to see Tristan. He mocks her, then proposes an exchange as they both have something the other wants. He tells Cécile that he has no desire to see the destruction of humanity, and that he intends to take the Isle peaceably. Despite knowing he can’t lie, she isn’t convinced, but she plays along, revealing she’s already looking for Anushka. He suggests that her search would be aided if she were to use her magic.
He offers her the grimoire in exchange for her word that she’ll use it to hunt the witch, but she refuses to help until she is allowed to see Tristan. Unsurprised by her demand, the King orders guards to bring his son. Tristan arrives bloodied, shirtless, and miserable. Instead of being relieved to see Cécile, he says, “I told you never to come back.”
Chapter 3
Cécile is horrified that the King would treat his own son this way. Tristan invokes the promise Chris made to protect Cécile in order to get him to take her away, but she fights back with her own magic until he relents. Cécile tells Tristan of the King’s plans to take the Isle peaceably, which shocks him. But he quickly tells her to agree to nothing.
Cécile asks what will happen if she refuses, and the King orders the guards to whip Tristan. Unable to stand his pain, she yells for them to stop. But they do not. So she cracks and makes the promise the King demanded of her: to find Anushka and do whatever it takes to bring her here. Despite her having saved him from further torture, Tristan appears angry, turning his head. The King gives her the grimoire and tells her to get to work.
Chapter 4
Tristan is dragged back through the streets of Trollus. Except instead of going back to his prison he is brought to his old rooms. Marc is waiting there for him. He is the only person who wants to see Tristan. His half-blood servants want nothing to do with him, and the twins have been sent to work in the mines as punishment.
Tristan has given up and he tells Marc that it is pointless speculating and plotting their next move. Everything he does hurts those around him. In an attempt to rally Tristan, Marc draws his attention to the construction going on in Trollus. The King has provided the half-bloods with the plans for a stone tree, and is allowing them to build it. He has also relinquished control of magic tree – a duty that has always belonged to the King – to the Builder’s Guild. Tristan is confused by his father’s actions, and his mind begins to turn as he puzzles through them, noticing as he does that the half-bloods aren’t following his plans. He goes into his courtyard and finds the documents dusty and hidden with Cécile’s piano music, indicating his father has given the half-bloods false information. Marc asks who hid the plans, and Tristan tells him that it was Anaïs before she died. Marc is taken aback, and quickly tells Tristan that Anaïs isn’t dead. And not only isn’t she dead, she’s claiming that the King saved her life.
Chapter 5
Cécile dreams of Tristan being tortured. She awakes in a panic, and when she can’t get control of herself, uses her singing to calm her fear. Her mother, Genevieve, storms in, demanding why she’s making so much noise. Cécile turns to her for comfort, but her mother is cold, telling her that crying makes her unattractive. Then she softens, and asks Cécile to accompany her downstairs for some tea.
Cécile enquires where her mother has been all night, and Genevieve divulges more details about the nature of her relationship with her patron, the Marquis. She explains that his money is what pays for all that they have, and suggests that one day Cécile might take her place when the Marquis desires a younger woman on his arm. Cécile finds the notion off-putting, and snaps that the Marquis must not have very high regard for Genevieve to put her aside for ageing. Her mother informs her that is the nature of men, to which Cécile retorts that it wasn’t the nature of her father. That it was Genevieve who cast him aside.
Genevieve grows upset, and implies that Cécile has been lied to. She tells Cécile her version of events, which focus around Cécile’s father forcing her to choose between her dreams of the stage and her family. Despite knowing that she shouldn’t, Cécile feels sympathetic to her mother, as she understands how difficult that choice would be.
As they talk, Cécile’s thoughts and words begin to feel fuzzy. She starts to drift off to sleep when her mother asks her where she went during the months she was missing. Cécile reveals that she was taken by the trolls. When Genevieve asks what they wanted, she tells her that they wanted her to set them free. Then Cécile drifts off to sleep.
Fun Facts!!!Chapter 1 – The first paragraphs of all three books begin in a similar fashion.
Stolen Songbird: My voice rose an octave, resonating through the Goshawk’s Hollow marketplace, drowning out the bleating sheep and the hammer of the blacksmith down the way.
Hidden Huntress: My voice faded into silence, though the memory of it seemed to haunt the theatre as I slumped gracefully, trusting that Julian would catch me, however much he might not want to.
Warrior Witch: My voice, the one thing about me that had always been valued, suddenly seemed inconsequential in the cacophony of voices filling the courtyard.
Chapter 2 – When I first started drafting Hidden Huntress, I didn’t know who the messenger would be, or if he’d be an important character at all. For about the first half of the manuscript, he remained nameless.
Chapter 3 – I found this chapter very difficult to write. Watching torture on television or reading about it in books really troubles me, but after some thought, I decided it was the most realistic way for the King to force a promise out of Cécile. Also, I really wanted Cécile and Tristan to see each other early in the novel, so it had a double purpose.
Chapter 4 – This chapter is one of my favorites, because Marc manipulates Tristan for once. Tristan has hit rock bottom. He feels broken and hopeless. But rather than pleading with Tristan or giving him encouragement, Marc points him in the direction of something that will catch his interest and get him thinking. He’s smart, our Marc.
Chapter 5 – I have a few references to the consumption of absinthe in this novel. I wanted to include it, because I felt like it had such strong association with the art/performance scene in Paris during the time period that inspired the setting of Trianon. And as luck would have it, my mom was in Amsterdam while I was drafting, and she brought me back a bottle. It’s… gross.
Here are the discussion questions! You can answer as many or as few as you want, and you can also pose questions about these chapters to me!Unlike with the Stolen Songbird read-along, there are quite a few people who are reading Hidden Huntress for the first time. If you think your answer might spoil things for them, please mark it as a spoiler using html like so: (view spoiler)
TO UNLOCK EXTRA CONTENT #2 I need 20 different people to answer at least one question!
One participant on this thread will win a signed copy of WARRIOR WITCH, courtesy of my publisher, Angry Robot Books
All Stolen Songbird/Hidden Huntress read-along participants are entitled to one WARRIOR WITCH swag pack. It's not a contest - if you participate and then email me (once), I will mail you swag. Details here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
1. Most traditionally published YA series have about a year between books. With adult fantasy novels, it’s often several years between books. Do you reread the prior novels before starting the next installment? What about summaries of the prior novels – do you ever look for/read those?
2. If you were Cécile, how would you go about hunting for Anushka?
3. Roland is the first troll waiting for Cecile and Chris when they get to the River Road entrance. What did you think about him being there?
4. Marc drops a pretty big bomb on Tristan when he tells him that Anaïs is still alive. What were you thinking?
5. Factoring in only what you’ve read so far, what did you think about what Genevieve told Cécile about their family history? Were her tears genuine?
The grand prize winner of the signed and annotated copy of Stolen Songbird is THISSI! Email me your full name and mailing address at danielleljensen @ outlook .com
Selection criteria: I wrote down the names of participants for each week they answered questions. So if you participated every week, you had six entries. If you participated only one week, you got one entry. I then assigned each entry a number. Then I used a random number generator to select the winner.
Nicole wrote: "“They aren't ugly." I bit my lip, trying to find the right words. "more like beautiful things that have had the misfortune of being broken.”I LOOOOOVE THIS QUOTE so freaking much. Danielle, you h..."
Nicole! You have won the Stolen Songbird & Hidden Huntress audiobooks via Audible. Send me an email and I'll get you all set up :)
danielleljensen @ outlook.com
I'm going to choose the winner of the grand prize (the annotated copy of Stolen Songbird) tomorrow, so get your answers in if you want to be entered!
Al wrote: "I've wondered about this, why did the ball of light seem to have a mind of its own? Will we find out more as to why in Warrior Witch?"The ball of light was the one Tristan gave to Cecile in the labyrinth when he thought he was going to die from the sluag attack, and it serves its purpose at the end of Hidden Huntress, so you won't see any reference to it in Warrior Witch :)
Kelsea wrote: "Has there been a grand prize winner selected yet?"I'll pick the winner tomorrow :)
So as I mentioned in the fun facts, STOLEN SONGBIRD originally ended with Chapter 37, but that was deemed too much of a cliffhanger. What I DIDN’T mention was that I actually wrote TWO more chapters to give the ending somewhat more resolution. That last Tristan chapter ended up being deleted, then resuscitated as the first chapter of HIDDEN HUNTRESS, and then deleted again. Here it is for your reading pleasure.[Note: As this chapter didn’t make it into the books, there are some small inconsistencies between it and the direction Hidden Huntress/Warrior Witch ended up taking. For example, in the novels, the King did not execute all of the half-blood revolutionaries.]
Chapter 39
I stared at my manacled wrists with a detached sort of interest. The iron bracelets would have itched abominably on their own, but these restraints were designed for trolls, not humans, and as such, they had the added luxury of metal spikes skewered through my wrists. Blood caked my hands and arms, some of it old, black and crusted, and some of it fresh, its crimson brilliance visible even in the dim light. Skin tried to build and reform around the spikes, but the poison metal would allow no such thing, raining droplets of blood on the already damp stones beneath me. It was, I thought, going to leave a rather dreadful scar.
The pain was excruciating, like tongues of fire licking up my arms. Burning, burning, for four days now. It would have been enough to separate a lesser troll from his magic, but I was not a lesser troll. Which was why three guards sat outside my cell, their magic focused on blocking me from mine. It still wouldn’t have been enough; if she had died, no power on this earth would have stopped me from taking my vengeance on those who were to blame. My father. Angoulême. Myself.
Almost as though they had a power of their own, my eyes flickered down to examine the bonding marks tracing the fingers of my left hand. Black. My heart lurched, terror shoving pain and logic aside. “No, no, no!” I frantically rubbed away the blood, stabs of pain knifing through my arms from the movement. Gold shone through the smears of red and black blood and I sighed deeply, trying to control my ragged breathing.
Cécile. I closed my eyes, the ache of our separation far worse than the sting of iron. She was so faint in my mind now, physical distance and the witch’s magic numbing our bond so that there were times I was certain I’d lost her entirely. She was angry, probably with me, but I’d take that over the terror of the delirium-filled dreams that had plagued her for what seemed an eternity after I’d taken her to the barrier.
“Get up.”
I raised my head and appraised the troll standing at the gate. “Get up, my lord,” I corrected, keeping my voice mild.
The troll, who I recognized now as one of Angoulême’s peons, spat into the corner of my cell and jerked the door open. “His Majesty wants to speak with you.”
“Now?” I glanced down at my filthy clothing. “I’m hardly at my best.”
The guard ignored me. Unlocking my manacles from the wall, he jerked me to my feet, the iron spikes tearing at the bones in my wrist. I bit back the scream that rose to my lips – those days were over. There would be no more shows of weakness, not anymore.
***
My escort took me not to the throne room, as I had expected, but to my father’s private chambers. Tension crawled down my spine with icy fingers – my father preferred to do his dirty work out of the public eye. Did he intend to kill me himself, or was this only to be a private conversation? The side door opened, and my father came into the room.
“Leave us.” He gestured at the guards, who reluctantly dropped my chains to the floor and left the room.
My father looked old; his face was tired, drawn, and sweat dribbled down his jowls. Aunt Sylvie told me once that I looked like my father when he was young, but I couldn’t see it.
“She lives.”
It was a statement of fact, but I answered it as though he posed the question. “Yes. She could have been living down here, if you’d let me get her help. But...” I shrugged. “You didn’t leave me much choice.”
“And why do you suppose that is?”
He was too calm; these were no idle questions. “You hated Cécile for failing to break the curse, and you wanted to see her die.”
“I didn’t hate Cécile, Tristan, nor was her death my ultimate purpose.” The smile on his face did not reach his eyes. “A human girl is not worthy of such a profound emotion as hate.”
“Then why did you try to kill her when you thought I was dead?”
“Because with you gone, she was useless. Her life was worthless.”
I thought I saw a faint flicker of emotion in his eyes, a slight furrowing in his brow. “But you still threatened her life after you knew I was still alive.”
“Did I?” My father settled himself on a chair, motioning for me to sit across from him. My chains rattled against the ground as I moved, jerking painfully against my wrists. Part of me wanted to perch on the edge of the chair to keep from getting it filthy, but that was what he was expecting. He wanted me chained, filthy, and weak; so instead, I sprawled backwards, resting my bloody arms against the velvet upholstery. By all accounts, he’d been overwrought with grief over my death, but apparently that was only a cover for his machinations. “You wanted me to believe you’d kill her eventually, regardless of what happened to me.” I clapped my hands together, splattering blood over the carpet. “Quick thinking, all things considered.”
“Merely a reversion to my original plans.”
“Which were?”
He shook his head. “If you aren’t clever enough to figure them out for yourself, then you don’t deserve to know.”
Cécile’s ball of light floated over and landed on my knee. It had been following me about ever since she left, but I had no control over the magic anymore. “You created a circumstance that would force me to show where my loyalties lay if her life was in danger,” I said, ignoring the sweat that trickled down my back. He’d been playing me the entire time.
“Which you did, although I must admit, it all happened far quicker than I anticipated. One moment the girl was fine, and the next, well.” A crystal decanter rose from the sideboard, invisible hands carefully filling two glasses, which floated over to settle on the table in front of us. “Did you think I didn’t know what you were up to, boy?”
“If you knew, why didn’t you stop me?”
“Because instigating violence creates ill will with the people,” he said, sipping the wine. “It was better that I provoke you into action before you were ready and capable of defeating me. You started the battle; you attacked your own father.” He drained the rest of his glass. “Now they all see you not only as a traitor, but as a loser. It also gave me an excuse to round up all your revolutionaries, your half-bloods, and remove their heads.”
Bile burned up my throat, but I tried to keep my hands steady as I reached for my wine to wash it down. Dead. All because I hadn’t had the courage to kill him when he lay helpless at my feet. Wine slopped over the rim of the cup.
“You’re making quite the mess.” His lip curled back with disgust.
“You may have to clean it up yourself,” I said. “It seems your servants no longer have heads.”
He roared with laughter while I stared at my boots. How had everything gone so dreadfully, dreadfully wrong? “You don’t really expect me to believe you’d been planning all of this from the beginning?” I asked.
“I’ve been looking for a way to force you to play your hand for some time,” my father said, wiping the sweat from his brow. “At first Cécile was only a tool for breaking the curse, but when bonding you to her failed to achieve our freedom, I saw that she could be used for another purpose.”
“Bravo,” I said. “It seems everything has gone according to your plan. Now what do you intend to do?”
My father bent his great bulk forward and met my gaze. I barely suppressed the shudder his icy silver eyes induced in me. “If she’s served her purpose, there isn’t much point in keeping her alive, now is there?”
I had been waiting for this threat – for him to state his intention to send assassins after Cécile. “If she dies, I’ll tear away the tree and let Forsaken Mountain finish its work. Most of the magic is mine – it will come when I call.”
He didn’t even blink. “You’d kill your friends and family for the girl? Eliminate what’s left of your race because of a human?”
“Yes.” I didn’t hesitate.
“You really love her, don’t you?” His eyes searched mine. “You’d do anything for her. Sacrifice countless lives and sell your soul to the proverbial devil to save her, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes!” I shouted. “Haven’t I done so already?”
“You have indeed,” he agreed. “The question is, will she do the same for you? Will she risk countless lives, the lives of her friends and family to save you? Does she love you enough to do all of that?”
I froze.
“To break the curse, the witch must die,” my father said softly. “The foretelling did not say the act of binding would kill her, it said bound as one the witch they’ll slay. The witch is outside.” He gestured with one hand. “Cécile is outside.”
“No,” I croaked, my throat tight. “She knows what will happen if the curse is broken. She’ll never do it.”
“Not even to save your life?” He leaned back in his chair. “Are you sure?”
I wasn’t sure. This was my unpredictable, fiery-tempered Cécile, who’d already risked her life for mine. There was a very good chance she’d act without thinking and suffer the consequences later. “What makes you so sure she’ll succeed where hundreds of others have failed?”
“Because,” my father said, “the girl has both magic and motivation. I think she’ll find a way.”
My wrists burned, but ice ran through my veins at his words, because in my heart, I knew he was right.
Nicole wrote: "Just checking: the chapter summaries haven't been posted yet, right? I sometimes have a hard time finding messages on Goodreads groups.On to the questions!
1. I hate and love cliffhangers. They ..."
Hi Nicole,
I still have to post the summaries. My agent's intern drafts them for me, but I haven't had a chance to proofread them yet. My to-do list is too long !
Moving to another country with your husband is a really good comparison, especially if it will be a very long time before you have a chance to visit home. I think the big difference is that you can still communicate with them as often as you like through all our glorious modern technology, so you aren't completely cut off from them.
It's true that Roland has the capacity to become quite the villain, as he IS intelligent. In a way, he's a perfect villain, because the fact that he's an eight-year-old boy makes everyone more reluctant to do him any harm, even if he deserves it. I don't know about you, but in horror movies/books, I always find the child-monsters the absolute worst for this very reason.
I LOVE the King. Trying to puzzle out his plots was one of my favorite parts of writing this series. He's just so darn complex compared to any other character.
Mi-Mi wrote: "Cliffhangers always make me frustrated but not necessarily in a bad way! If it's reasonable, I'm still sad but excited at the same time. If the author just cuts off like mid scene randomly, we migh..."Hahah, I've seen books end mid sentence. Now THAT is annoying!
Nicole wrote: "Cliffhangers are SO frustrating, but I love them. When books are wrapped up really nicely at the end, I often feel like I don't even need to read the next book. Like with the last Throne of Glass b..."But the next book is called EMPIRE OF STORMS, so you KNOW it's going to be crazy exciting, right?!
