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

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

Day 5: Chapters 40 - 56

20. Cade goes to each of the other travellers and has final words with them. Do you think he learned any new information about his travellers? Or did he learn something about himself?
It seemed to me that there werent' any significant changes, everyone is pretty much the same as the beginning of the story.

21. The journey to The Seven Brothers is full of many challenges. Did this journey remind you of any other quest you've read?
Mmm, not really. However I was thinking that some aspects of this book; band of misfits, quest, humor, etc made me think a bit of The Lies of Locke Lamora and Kings of the Wyld however I enjoyed those books way more than this one.

22. We now find out about the Pandorals, how they were using The Seven Brothers as vessels. Quite interesting how this was accomplished. Did this surprise you how they were formed ? What did you think of why they came to acquire the red soil?
I didn't enjoy the passage with the insect mouth and had to turn down the volume when listening to the audiobook because it was creeping me out haha.

23. It was determined that Cade be the one to use the apparatus. What attunement do you think he chose?
I was wondering about that but couldn't think about an attunement he would chose. I thought maybe in the end he would just destroy it and find his own path in life, it seemed poetic in my mind.

24. What was your overall impression of this story? What was your favorite part of the story? Will you read the next in the series or try one of the authors other series?
I didn't enjoy it honestly, my mind kept on wandering and had to relisten some chapters to make sense of it all.
This is the second book I've read by Sebastien de Castell and I wasn't impressed by the first one either (Spellslinger) so unless he tries something completely new I won't read another book by this author again.

Day 4: Chapters 28-39

15. The way the different characters react to the trek through the magic wasteland is interesting. With all the magic that flows through this world, why do they not have transport spells? Did this trek remind you of any other stories?
Yes, you would imagine they would be able to teleport. It seems that a lot of books and movies are guilty of this, especially where there's magic involved or stories with time travel, a lot of plotholes/confusion can inadvertently be created. The eagles in LoTR, the piece of wood Rose couldn't share with Jack etc. a lot of mysteries like that.
Yes, the trek reminded me of the trek of Sam and Frodo because it felt equally long and annoying.

16. We keep being reminded (by the narrator) that the wanderists are not good guys. Do you agree with this assessment?
Not at all. They are just human beings with human motives. I would have preferred to author not telling me that but rather show me through the characters' behaviour. I usually like morally grey characters but didn't feel that any of them really qualified or was likeable.

17. What is your impression of the seven brothers? The Pandorals are benevolent? Really? Do we believe that?
I would say no.

18. So. We get to see the apparatus. What would you have done with that temptation?
I would honestly have destroyed it in order for no one to benefit from it, it wouldn't seem right. Unless you use it to help someone like Cade tried to do but if not, just get rid of it or else people will keep looking for it.

19. Is anyone who they say they are? Did you expect Mr. Bones?
Not at all - this was unexpected.

Gwen|| Bookish Blondie wrote: "Just finished book number eight, getting ready for my first audiobook. I have to mow around 6 hours each weekend so I listen to audiobooks while I’m on my riding mower."

I've being doing that today :) I've listened to an audiobook while working in the garden the whole day and half of that was mowing. I've recently came back from Belgium to my house in France after a month and I think I cried a little bit when I saw how fast the grass grew :')
However 6 hours - hats off to you !

I loved reading about fellow teammates jobs, I'm in the middle of job hunting myself due to lack of horizontal let alone upwards mobility and overall being undervalued amongst other things. It has not been easy due to the recession and a lot of companies 'don't have the budget at the moment' or 'can't afford to hire more experienced candidates'.

Wishing you all the best Judy and Fiona, hang in there !

DQs - Day 2

6.) Did Galass turning into a blood mage and Fidick being the cause of Lucian's death (I assume that's what the black cloud that left the tent did) surprise you? Or were you expecting their bit in the story to be over and just a footnote about Cade's character ?
No, I didn't really surprise me, I was kind of expecting them to play a larger role as they were introduced as characters with proper names and background.

7.) We learn about more magic types and there's pretty much any type of magic you can dream up. What type of magic you like to have or what animal would you like an affinity with?
I'm not that creative - either I would like to be able to shapeshift in any kind of animal at any time or telekinesis (I'm so done with getting up 10 times in a row because I forgot something again, especially after finding my comfortable spot in the sofa or in bed).

8.) Is anyone else's favorite character Mr. Bones? Just me? mkay.
Haha, I understand, at this point I don't have a favourite character at all. I think I like Galass the most so far.

9.) At this point I think it's clear Cade is a fallen Glorian of some sort, likely a Justicar. Do others agree with my guess here or do you have other thoughts?
I think you're correct. I presume he was involved in a scandal or didn't abide by the rules and was kicked out.

10.) Assuming my guess in Q9 is right, why do you think Cade got the heave ho from the Glorians? Maybe he fell for someone he shouldn’t have.
See my answer above.

Half way through the BOM however my mind keeps wandering while reading. I've started The Tokaido Road: A Novel of Feudal Japan in parallel to compensate. I've recently watched Shogun and gladly want to emerge myself in feudal Japan a little while longer :)

Will read the rules and mini challenge over the weekend, my brain is too tired from the week at the moment. Looking forward to the long weekend, extra long weekend for me as I took a couple of days off for a day trip to Saint-Malo with my sister. And lots of reading time as well !

DQs - Day 1: Chapters 1-8 (pages 1 -71)

1. The book has the MPG Dark Fantasy. Do you like this genre in general? If so, do you have any favourite authors or books?
I used to read and enjoy fantasy books before but the last couple of years not anymore. I find them too formulaic (although same could be said of YA/Romantasy). Re: MPG Dark Fantasy, I’m only familiar with Joe Abercrombie’s books (The First Law series). It was ok, my enjoyment of these books depend on the characters as I’m less interested in the intricate magic system etc.

2. The book starts with the quote above. Is this your mental image of a wizard, too? Or something different? :)
As someone else mentioned it, in the end there has been so many different depictions since Disney’s Merlin that I don’t have a particular mental image. However I would say the robe is kind of mandatory by now 😊

3. And the author lands us in the middle of a siege (ideal for the Book Games, right? ;) with 2 of the main characters Cade Ombra and Corrigan Blight. Cade is narrating what is happening and offering us his views on good and evil, the part they are playing and how they "win" this particular siege.
Do you think it's a strong start to the book? Has it got you intrigued?
I thought it started strong yes. Personally I like morally grey characters but it should be balanced enough in order for me to understand the characters’ motives and have some insight into their behaviour (it shouldn’t be gratuitous). It got my intrigued however I find the pacing to be rather slow.

4. As an extra incentive & entertainment, the Ascendant Lucien offers young girls and boys (sublimes) to the wanderists after the siege. We get introduced to Fiddick and Galass and learn that Cade decided to kill Lucien. We can actually start putting some pieces of Cade's character together. What do you think about him at this point?
See above. It seems that he wants to do good but due to circumstances and his entourage he needs to pretend.

5. Some demonic highlights to this introductory part: Tenebris the demon, with whom Cade as an "infernalist" mage trades with to get his spells.
What were your impressions of Tenebris? How do you find the "religious/magical" system of the Infernals and the Celestines?
Euuhm, interesting... ? I have no further thoughts worth sharing.

I normally prefer brunettes but I'm afraid another vote for Chris here :)

The Skarsgard brothers also have good genes indeed.

Judy wrote: "I'm four chapters into the first BOM and unsurprisingly I'm not vibing with it, but anything for the points"

Same :'/ not my cup so far.

Christina wrote: "Here's what I want to know- what is everyone's favourite ice cream flavour???"

Always going for either chocolate-mint or hazelnut/praliné as they call it here :)

Let's read, team ! I will start with the BOM (not really my type of book but will see) and then I will tackle some bigger books on my TBR.

Judy wrote: "Fiona wrote: "Judy wrote: "we've got a link to the audios (this goes for everyone btw) 😉"

Would be interested as well, Judy. I'm planning to join the BOM discussion for The Malevolent Seven. Unfortunately I've already read Salt & Broom during UNO so won't be able to help out there.

Nice to meet you, team ! I'm Audrey from Belgium (near Brussels) but live in France (Normandy). I split my time between these two countries. I currently work for a management consulting firm. I’m Dutch & French speaking however, despite being one of the national languages, my German is a little bit rusty 😉 However I have lots of lovely German speaking colleagues so can practice.
As a history buff my favourite genre is historical fiction and any derivative of that genre. Occasionally I also enjoy retellings. My favourite reads so far this year have been The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World and Mara, Daughter of the Nile.

Currently taking a break from reading post UNO and concentrating on work instead but will be up and running when the games begin – looking forward to play with you all :) !

My shelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Same here. Liked the book but reading it alongside you all made it more enjoyable. Thank you for joining the discussion ! Now hopefully a question about the Merovingians will pop up at a pub quiz ;) See you around !

Audrey's DQ tracking post

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

DQ4 - Chapters 28-end

15. I ended up getting the hardcover from the library and I found the photos and 'family tree' at the start really helped to bring this book to life for me in a way the audio didn't.
How about you? How did you read this?
I read it on my Kindle. Kind of wish I had the hardcover for the family tree. Once I'm reading I'm fine with all the names however when I picked up the book again the next day I had to place everything back in my mind (the names are all so similar). Anyway, I Googled a couple of times.

16. Brunhild's execution seemed to happen rather quickly. Maybe just because the whole book she had been this dominant force and then boom. I also found the idea of getting a camel ("a public ritual for humiliating deposed tyrants") does go to the theory that she was no 'ordinary' queen. How did you find this chapter?
I'm glad the author kept it brief as I already knew Brunhilde was going to have a gruesome death. The whole camel episode is just adding insult to injury. I can't get over the fact that she's 70 years old and that's what they decided to do. They all really needed to find a new hobby asap.

17. I found it amazing that there have been at least 5 discoveries of Merovingians in the 21st century and how the author describes how they were supplanted and almost written out of history by Charlemagne and his Carolingians. What were your thoughts?
I can vouch for that as their history was part of my highschool curriculum, I'm more familiar with the Carolingians than the Merovingians. We only learn about Clovis and his conversion to catholicism and then yadda yadda yadda Carolingian Dynasty !!! :D and especially Charlemagne is put on a pedestal. What I mean by that is that they succeeded in their intent. The Mayors of the Palace (=Carolingians) were really powerful at that time and the Merovingian king was only king in title.

18. Final thoughts on the book? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, I thought it was quite readable and I think written in a way that everyone regardless of their knowledge can follow. 4 stars for me as well. Will recommend.

DQ3 - Chapters 20-27

11. Do you think you’ll read anything else written by Shelley Puhak? They have a book of poetry so I’ll be interested to see what that’s like. If they release a new historical nonfiction I’d be on board too.
If I'm interested in the next subject Puhak chooses to cover, I will definitely read another history book written by her.

12. What were some of the ways society tried to control women during this period? How did both women subvert these?
Agree with Melinda and Karen's answers. They both had agency as princess/queen/regent however at the end of the day, they were both anxious to produce sons and most of all a living heir. Not only that but you can easily be disposed of if the king no longer desires you as a woman.
Puhak also mentions that women were limited to their reproductive organs. According to Salic law, a woman of childbearing age is worth more.

13. The pregnancy that disappeared from the record, this really intrigued me. What do you think happened? Like Puhak mentioned it could have been an unfortunate miscarriage, an error and that she wasn’t really ever pregnant, or a calculated ploy? (or something else?)
I agree that it could have been any of these.

14. Eek Fredegund's failed attempt to kill her own daughter was incredibly shocking. It was suggested that Fredegund was jealous of Rigunth, do you think this was the reason? She’s a loose cannon imo
Well, no wonder that she's been dubbed in French as the "bloodthirsty queen". There's a french comic book series about Frédégonde I stumbled upon years ago: Frédégonde la sanguinaire, Tome 1. The woman is completely unhinged.

Like Melinda, I'm puzzled that she gets away with everything compared to Brunhilde who is sentenced to death for most of Fredegonde's crime. Really ironic.

DQ2 - Chapters 10-19

6. Chilperic's blind devotion to Fredegonde is quite...admirable ? Isn’t it ironic that Fredegonde eliminates prince Clovis (Chilperic & Audovera's son) just in order to have to adopt Brunhilde’s son, king Childebert as the heir of Neustrie ? A miscalculation maybe ?
I thought it was a gamble to have left Chilperic without an heir (given that at that moment he had no more sons and no guarantee that Fredegonde will give birth to another son).

7. In these chapters Chilperic and Fredegonde lose multiple sons to dysentery. What were your thoughts about their ways of coping with their grief and depression ?
Chilperic's attempts were somewhat comical (new alphabet, failed poetry). However it struck me that there's a difference in grieving for Fredegonde’s children versus Audovera's (Prince Clovis and Basina). I can't recall him having any emotional response for Clovis & Basina.

8. What do you think of the practice of reading the letters out loud to the entire court ? “The letter would establish the overarching topic and indicate that the messenger himself was authorized to convey the rest of the information...”
I wonder what the purpose of that is except for more transparency and appease the nobles maybe. I also wonder in how far it's better to not know (and prevent possible speculations about the topic).

9. What do you make of the two women so far: Brunhilde and Fredegonde ? Do you have a sense of getting to know them better (even though it’s via biased accounts) ?
I sense that the thoughts of Fredegonde behind removing her potential rivals from the picture involves a lot of projecting herself on to other people (e.g what she ordered to be done to Clovis’ potential girlfriend and her mother, suspecting people of using poison etc). It's says a lot about a person. Regarding Brunhilde, I feel that she's a softer version of Fredegonde however the fact that she can survive in this political game/bloodfeud speaks for itself, everybody else dies in the crossfire.

10. During this section, is there an event or historical character that provoked a particular emotion or opinion while reading ?
My biggest frustration is how conveniently “witchcraft” is blamed and used as an excuse to torture & kill people. And how often it strikes women. Every time in history when I read about bad crops, epidemics or a series of unfortunate events, my mind goes “oh boy, here we go again, prepare the stakes and bonfire”. It’s always either that or the “Jews poisoned the wells again”.
Also imagine being a poor peasant living on the borders of two warring kingdoms ! The amount of pillaging. I would move asap.

A lot of interesting, unbelievable, and horrifying events happened during these chapters. I always try to keep in mind that everyone is a product of their time however I’m still fascinated.

DQ2 - Chapters 10-19

6. Chilperic's blind devotion to Fredegonde is quite...admirable ? Isn’t it ironic that Fredegonde eliminates prince Clovis (Chilperic & Audovera's son) just in order to have to adopt Brunhilde’s son, king Childebert as the heir of Neustrie ? A miscalculation maybe ?

7. In these chapters Chilperic and Fredegonde lose multiple sons to dysentery. What were your thoughts about their ways of coping with their grief and depression ?

8. What do you think of the practice of reading the letters out loud to the entire court ? “The letter would establish the overarching topic and indicate that the messenger himself was authorized to convey the rest of the information...”

9. What do you make of the two women so far: Brunhilde and Fredegonde ? Do you have a sense of getting to know them better (even though it’s via biased accounts) ?

10. During this section, is there an event or historical character that provoked a particular emotion or opinion while reading ?

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "DQ1 - Chapters 1-9

1. Just a general question for warming up: do you like reading non-fiction-history books in general? If yes, any specific eras you are more interested in than other?

I do, but ..."

I have The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century on my TBR - looking forward to read it :) !