Audrey Jane’s Comments (group member since May 27, 2014)

Audrey Jane’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

DQ Set 2 - chapters 7 - 12

5. We launched into the action in this section! Did you enjoy it? Or do you prefer a bit more world building?

No, that's fine, my imagination does the world building. For the moment it's heavily copy/pasting Guardians of the Galaxy's worldbuilding because planet Earth exists in both worlds so they are quite similar. As much as I appreciate world building, I like fast paced, action heavy stories more.

6. Kal's interactions with his fellow elves (I'm never going to be able to think of them as Slyvadilvathans (sic), or whatever. They are elves!) are interesting - a take on prejudice seemingly built on both historic actions and genetic abilities. What do you think of the glimpse of their society, and how that reflects on your thoughts about Kal?

Haha, Slyvadilvathans ! For some kind of reason you gave the species a more complicated name than they already had :D I had to concentrate on the word but it does sound really nice saying it out loud. You should copyright it, Cat, it's too good.

The race is quite exclusive, everyone belongs to a certain faction/clan since their birth. That ultimately creates prejudice amongst themselves and towards other species. Kal seems to be more open-minded than the rest of his race.
I agree with Eldarwen, I like him so far. I wish to know more about what he thinks of the situation though.

7. And despite the elves being bigoted, humans are inevitably even bigger a$*holes than them! Did you expect these misfits to pick up on the eeeeevilness of the men in black so quickly? Have they made a successful break out or are we into a chase sequence?

Oh yes, you can always count on humans to show their superiority over anything and everyone else. I wonder if they came to retrieve a failed experiment or test subject (I'm still on that theory).
I expect they will catch on pretty quickly that you cannot trust the Terrans especially if they have an agenda. I read further so will keep the rest to myself.

8. Auri... Hallucinations are future visions, not from the past! And she has psy-powers! Is this because of her time in the Fold? Or something else? And it seems like we have cross-species instalove with Kal - with the elves having some sort of bond with their soul mate (or did I misinterpret that? ). Do we predict more complex love geometry now? Not just Auri-Ty- Cat??

I'm still 99% sure it's not because of the Fold. I would ony believe it's from the Fold if other passengers woke up like her with the same hallucinations or visions. But honestly what are the odds that 1 passenger out of thousands wakes up with special powers. I think she's special in some kind of way: a) she's a 'experiment' of the Terrans b) she's not humans and she belongs to another species (her parents not being her real parents or something).

Regarding Kal-Auri-Ty-Cat; I completely agree with Eldarwen on this. Kal's bonding with Auri made me think of shapeshifters mating bond as well. I thought it was kind of unexpected because at first I thought Kal was simply being grateful that Auri saved his live but turns out it's romantic in nature so don't think there will be a love triangle. As for Cat, same. One of my pet peeves is woman on woman hate especially when a guy is involved. It's so sad when that happens; instead of lifting each other up. She doesn't need to like Auri but she has been through so much, a bit of empathy would go a long way. Cat needs to have a serious talk with Ty.

Eldarwen wrote: "Anyone ever seen the movie "Down Periscope"?

Tyler, the Goldenboy, and his crew of discipline cases, nowhere near stupid though, reminds me so much of the crew in that film!"

I didn't but watched the trailer and see what you mean. Will have to watch it during a movie night with a healthy amount of popcorn ;)

@Louise: I'm truly sorry for your loss! Sending strength your way. I concur pets are just the best.

I saw Jenny nominated (525 pages) for June BOM, I was planning to read it during this TT so will vote on that one.

Re: Discworld: If it can help I'm using the reading guide Stacie posted in the Mended Drum - this one

I've just read Wyrd Sisters (book 6 in Discworld - book 2 in the Witches sub-series), it's a quick, fun fantasy read with laugh out loud moments. It wasn't difficult to follow despite not having read the previous books.

Eldarwen wrote: "That's what I was wondering as well. That brilliant white flash? But then there's brilliant flashes all over the place where Auri is concerned,..."

Yes yes, that brilliant white flash. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I immediately assumed it blew up but then afterwards Aurora received letters from her father's girlfriend so I was confused but with everything happening afterwards I wonder if she's trustworthy. If she did not die I won't be surprised if she pops up again later...

Welcome, Cilla ! Wow, 2 000, that's impressive. I 'try' to keep my TBR list manageable and sometimes delete books but they increase again during these kind of reading challenges ;)

I think except for Rina I haven't been on a team with any of you yet. But some of you I have seen around. I recognize Louise cute little dog :) and Jenny as well.
Like Filipa, I'm slightly puzzled by the Jackanory but I'm very curious how it will turn out. Looking forward to play with all of you.

Cat wrote: "DQ Day 1: Chapters 1-6

1. We have met the crew. And what a crew it is. I couldn't help bursting out laughing when Tyler was introduced to the last one and simply burst out "Nooooo". Loved it!
What..."

I hope so too! Cat has clearly been friendzoned. As long as it doesn't turn out to be a Aurora-Ty-Cat love triangle.

Definitely liking what you're suggesting regarding her visions and that stuff happened on the planet like a failed experiment. That would be interesting.

@Eldarwen: Hope you're feeling better today !

Chapters 1-6

1. We have met the crew. And what a crew it is. I couldn't help bursting out laughing when Tyler was introduced to the last one and simply burst out "Nooooo". Loved it!
What do you make of the set-up of the crew? Ty, Scar, Cat, Zila, Fin, Kal?

I like that each chapter reflects their personality. Ty is definitely the serious one of the bunch (poor him). Zila's chapters are spot on - short and to the point haha. As crew they complement each other. I'm most curious about Zila, Fin, and Kal's background so far.

2. There is a lot of mystery surrounding our other important character, Aurora. Do you think the hallucinations she's having are due to her overly long exposure to the Fold or are they maybe visions of something that may come in the future? How do you think she's holding up?

I think they are real visions. However I think it's not related to the fact that she's been in the Fold so long since she's the only survivor I think there's more to her; this is weird and I want to know why. Maybe she was a test subject sent on the ship. It's also odd that her name was given to the planet and academy/legion.

At some point when she's communicating with her father, I thought the planet blew up (but I might have read that wrong).

3. We have learnt very little about the actual setting of the world as of yet. Bits and bobs here and there that let us piece together quite a bit of it but not all that much detail. Do you like what you've seen and heard so far?

I'm a bit further in the book so I must be careful what I write but I only gathered that it was set in the future.

4. The question with the obvious answer, I'd assume: what is their precious cargo? And following off of that one: What could possibly be go wrong with their mission?

Without a doubt, Aurora, since their battle leader de Stoy said she should go to the docking station not trusting the Terrans (Global Intelligence or something). Most probably an altercation with the Terrans.

Hi team ! I'm Audrey, a belgian living in France, Normandy (not far from the D-day landing beaches). Last TT I participated in was in 2017 - afterwards I had to take a 3 year long break from GR due to RL. Glad to be part of the fun again.

Love our team name (we will be robbing those points ;)). Don't know much about him but I remember reading that he dislikes lawyers (rightly so :)).

I will most likely be concentrating on reading BOM's, Discworld books, and try to make my other books work for the tasks and bingo. My nomination for BOM won so I'm writing DQ's by default. More points for our team :)

Captains, here's my shelf if you need it : discworld-tower-teams-viii‎

Keely wrote: "I may be being blind, but I can't see my teams thread. The spreadsheet says I'm in team "Oook" but I can't see one with that name and I have also looked in all the other team's threads for my name..."

Check Team The Librarian ;)

Fyi, for the ones who are not familiar with it yet, this website might be helpful for providing summaries for other books/series (mainly YA and fantasy) : https://recaptains.co.uk/

Cynthia, glad you're joining in on the fun :) !

Sophie wrote: "I completely get this. Waiting on both of these and the continuation/completion of the Lies of Locke Lamora"

Oh no, I forgot about Lies ! I've come at the point where I'm dreading the release of the 4th book since I don't want to reread.
I learnt from it since then and now with some books I write small reviews for myself written in bullet points with all the plot twists etc

Half way through my 3 hours read. Currently reading the hardcover version of The Girl in the Tower; read 51 pages so far.

This book has been gathering dust on my nightstand for a while now (after several failed attempts of starting it). Glad I picked it up again for this sprint, I'm enjoying it !

Also The Foundling caught my attention as I was reminded of 'les tours d'abandon' that were used in France/continental Europe. That turnstile system where parents for various reasons would leave their baby behind. After pulling the lever it turns inwards and a nun would pick up the baby. This way ensuring the anonymity of the mother or father : (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Sometimes mothers would leave small tokens with their baby in case they want to claim them again during 'better times'. The tokens had to be able to prove that the person was indeed the parent of the abandoned baby.
A while ago I visited a museum in France (Rouen) and can still vividly remember all the tokens left behind (coins, piece of papers and cards ripped in two, handkerchiefs, etc).

No idea how they handled it in London though. Curious to read about the Foundling Hospital in this book. I hope the author also includes an historical note like she did in her previous novel.

So glad this book won. Definitely writing DQs :)
I've read the author's debut novel The Familiars a couple of months ago and loved the story and her evocative writing style. Especially since it's inspired by historical events.

Also the artwork for the covers is so pretty !

Edit: Team Rob Anybody

My day works for me as well. Thanks, Mods.

Saar The Book owl wrote: "So, I've tried previously to read the first book of the Discworld and as much I love fantasy, I stopped reading. I've felt so ashamed, so I'm going to try again ;)

But the books that we're reading..."

You may read whatever you want, it's the most relaxed team challenge I know.
However you're free to volunteer to read, discuss and/or write discussion questions (DQ) for the Books of the Month (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...). Not mandatory but they will grant you more points during the TT challenge though ;)

Regarding the Discworld; most fans here agree that you shouldn't start with book 1 & 2 but instead with the first of the sub-series: Equal Rites, Mort, and Guards! Guards!. The Mods said they will organize BOM's for those. The thread for Equal Rites has already been created :
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hope this helps !

I will participate as well :)

Start : 12th of April at 2AM CET
Goal: Read for a minimum of 3 consecutive hours

Reading The Girl in the Tower
Pages read: 116

I liked Wobble as well, a true masterpiece ! I remember that I loved the team names.

Stacie wrote: "I like this chart for reading order because it traces the character and not necessarily the chronological order."

That's indeed a nice looking chart. I will use it as base when reading the series. Thanks a lot, Stacie !

Also I'm Awfully Wee Fergus :)