Alysa’s Comments (group member since Jun 27, 2015)

Alysa’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

I just posted my answers to your DQs :)

I only have like 30something pages left of the book, so I will definitely finish it tonight before I go to sleep!

Day 2: Chapters 8-13

6. I think we all had a feeling (including Gideon) that Harrow wanted her ring - & of course, she got it. What do you think was her purpose of stealing the ring from Gideon?

Harrow is afraid at this point that including Gideon on, well, pretty much anything would provide too much opportunity for the revelation that Gideon isn't a real cavalier.

7. Gideon has never seen modern technologies such as a sink with running water, or a toilet. She didn’t even know the difference between night & day... nor had she ever had a hot beverage before. This, in itself, tells us more about the Ninth than we knew before, but could also leave room for speculation. Would you consider this book to be speculative fiction? If so, what are some of the different things you could speculate from this or other parts of the story?

It actually seems to be "ancient" technologies, which we would consider modern, that Gideon has never seen. The running water thing was because they wash with some sort of sonic dirt-removal technology or something, wasn't it? This world seems to take place in a sort of far far far future time from now, though of course in a universe where necromantic magic exists. Possibly other types of magics on other worlds too. But as far as hot beverages and such... let's say the Ninth is a barren place for sure.

I've always tended to think of the expression "speculative fiction" is like an internalized form of genre bias. Painting readers of various types of fantasy and sci-fi with the same brush has both good and bad sides, but I feel like... if you like fantasy and/or sci-fi, just own it. No need to dress it up with a fancier name.
Anyway, "speculative fiction" really just means fiction with elements that don't exist in real life, but considering that the "speculate" part is like a big giant "What if?" question (e.g., what if there was a planetary system of necromancers? what if the Confederacy had won the American Civil War? what if dolphins could talk?)... it could practically apply to any work of fiction.

8. Somehow the Third twin knew Gideon was hiding in the stairwell eavesdropping, even though she couldn’t physically see her, & told her that isn’t the way to start things off. Will this encounter affect Gideon & the Twins in the future? Is it a sign of what’s to come?

I've read ahead, but at this point in the book I felt that those twins seemed a little off. I couldn't tell if the attractive blond one was actually nice or just faking it, and the other one seemed weird and creepy even in a book full of people who are all weird and creepy. That scene with the stairwell was a good example.

9. What do you think Dulcinea’s motive is when talking to Gideon? She seems to be the only one really “intrigued” by Gideon, to the point of wanting to be around her a lot. Is this just normal, friendly interest? Or is there something bigger at play here?

Again, I've read ahead, but I couldn't work out Dulcinea's motivations either. At this point in the book, I was thinking she just liked how different Gideon was from all the rest, and a sick/dying person like her doesn't have much to lose in terms of befriending people that she otherwise probably wouldn't.

Just saw that wren put a book on the planning spreadsheet as "Brown Cover according to TinEye." The edition does indeed have a brown cover, but...

FYI ALL:
The Mods decided in Caps Group that we are not actually using TinEye!
* We are using eyeballs and common sense. Ask your team if you're not sure about color.
* If we're still not sure, caps can ask in Caps Group for additional votes.
* TinEye and all mention of it have been banned from TT VII.

I am pretty sure Jessi posted about this here last week, after the issue with Dark Age as yellow VS brown, but, well, here it is now :D

I cannot imagine attempting to do audio of Gideon, really.
This is a book that would definitely not be its best in that format.

It's making me feel a little bad for the author, frankly, that so many people (now that Audibooks have become such a Big Thing) are going to come away with a negative impression.

I have about 6 chapters to go. Got some RL commitments this evening, but will finish it after, or in the morning.
I had BETTER, since the digital loan will expire tomorrow and I DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY AT WHAT TIME! Yikes.

I'm gonna switch to majority audio for The Pillars of the Earth. I like it so far but I don't think I'll be able to get through the print ed quickly enough, and it'll slow me down too much re reading other stuff. Library has audio hold available now, and cover is still brown (even more brown!!!). :D
Note to Self: default ed is 973 pgs

I haven't tried the Audio at all, but I suspect that for me this would just be one of those books that doesn't translate well to the format.

Hopefully it doesn't leave "listeners" with too bad an impression, because the writing in the actual book is pretty great.

It's too bad that people are having that problem, because actually I've been impressed by how well the author manages to make all these people into distinct persons with unique character voices.

Sometimes in books with large casts (or even small cast), all of the characters have basically the same personality. Tends to be a factor in making a book boring.

Jenny wrote: "Wow. That hadn't occurred to me. Can you imagine the sex scenes between them? I'm guessing a lot of jockeying for the best position. And a lot of name calling."

The book is not explicit about it, but I gather they are both virgins, too. It'll be so awkward and hilarious when they hook up.

Jenny wrote: "My thought on the children was that they were being used for body parts. Perhaps I am getting into the spirit of the Ninth."

Hah. Maybe. But that would be way too... Laini Taylor.

Jenny wrote: "I think Harrow killed them. Not sure why I think that."

Maybe someone else who wanted Harrow to be in charge sooner?

Trinia wrote: "@Joanne- I’m listening to the audio too, it’s so hard to keep track of all of the characters with unusual names 😲"

I cannot imagine how hard that is on Audio, what with pretty much each character being referred to in multiple ways: name, honorific, nickname, epithet (“the necromancer said”... um, which one? There are like 5 in the scene...)

Day 1: Chapters 1-7

1. I love the world building this author does for her universe. I find it helpful in epic fantasies when authors give a little narrative upfront about the main characters in the story and their interrelationships. The world is very grey where Gideon lives - even her porridge is grey. Her arrival in this house as a baby from a woman that fell into the world was very auspicious. Gideon attempted to run away when she was four, and tried 86 times to run away by the time she was 18. What were your initial impressions of this world?

Very odd, but cool. There’s a lot left up to the reader to infer, rather than having everything spoon fed to us, but in a way that is also somehow rich with detail. This feels like an old, lived-in universe, like the author must have millennia worth of backstory living in her brain.

2. Harrow tricked Gideon when she talked about her offer of freedom. Gideon seemed to have the upper hand, but then Harrow won the fight through her earlier planning and planting that day. What do you think that says about their relationship?

They know each other super well, and as much as they claim to hate each other, they clearly thrive off of their mutual antagonism.

3. So Harrow wants Gideon to be her guardian as she travels to the other houses. Seems like a good opportunity to get off the Ninth, and become a Cohort. Gideon does take the position. Do you think that was a good choice for her?

Yes. If she were forced to remain on the Ninth, she’d have just kept trying to run away, which would have been futile and to her own detriment. This way at the very least she gets a chance to see what else is out there.

4. I liked when Gideon’s sword instructor said “anyone can learn to fight, not anyone can learn to think”. Do you think that Gideon needs to do more thinking than fighting?

Yes. I love this character and I like when she does both, but it’s great when she starts thinking with her upper brain, so to speak! Maybe some of her bravado is masking low self esteem, and when she uses smarts she also feels better about herself.

5. What do you think about the House of the First? The world seems like the exact opposite of the ninth in terms of light and sky, rather than everything grey. All the houses are there - do you think Gideon is going to get into trouble or save Harrow from trouble?

Soooo much opportunity for trouble. I’ve read ahead, but at this point in the book I was thinking: Gideon and Harrow are going to need to band together, or just put up a united front.

I’m kinda jealous of people who got the print, it sounds gorgeous,

I’m on Chapter 22, really liking this book!

Ah, okay. On the book page, under your entry (cuz we're GR Friends) it just says:
cheap-on-kindle, adapted-to-film, adventure, buddy-reads, childrens, classics, fairytales, fantasy, fiction, nbrc-lava

But I guess it's getting cut off because you have so many tags on it! When I go to your "book review" page it says:
cheap-on-kindle, adapted-to-film, adventure, buddy-reads, childrens, classics, fairytales, fantasy, fiction, nbrc-lava, nbrc-tt19, read-in-2019, young-adult

Consider me schooled.
[and next time I should just check people's tt shelves directly ;D]

Jessi & Alysa : always typing at the same time...
;D

[[ Frankie ]] - Punkins & Pages! wrote: "Can someone double check the planning spreadsheet & make sure I input my book correctly? Thank you in advance! :]"

I added the name of the player on Team Envy who read it.
Also, it looks like you shelved the book for Lava instead of TT ;D
Fix that, and you are good to go.

I started The Pillars of the Earth, on top of Gideon BOM, but there's no way I'll finish it during week 1.
It'll just be going along on the side of whatever else I'm reading.

After I finish Gideon I'll need to see whether I should try for another longish one for Week 1, or if I need to do multiple shorter ones instead, in order to keep my numbers close to sign-up. I realize that the sign-up totals thing is collective, not individual, so I guess it depends on how everybody else is doing then :D

Suzanne wrote: "I read Dune a couple of months ago and enjoyed it!"

Aw, too bad it's too soon for a re-read! Sin Bingo!

Ditto! Thank you!

Happy Monday!

*took break from reading on way to work*
* goes back to book now*