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Should I read a Brightness Long Ago and Children of Earth and Sky before starting this one?
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All the Seas of the World,
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Arwe Thereyet
I think you should. Especially A Brightness long ago. There are so many characters returning in this, and the emotional impact is so much more knowing the back stories, and the future of some. Children of Earth and Sky takes place after this, I believe.
Brok3n
I'm somewhat conflicted on this question. I agree with VT Dorchester that the book works as a standalone. Like them, I read /A Brightness Long Ago/ and /Children of Earth and Sky/ and even /The Lions of Al-Rassan/ long ago and the details are now lost to memory. However, the familiarity of the world helps. Moreover, I constantly find one detail or another of /All the Seas/ tugging at my memory and wish I remembered the other books better. I plan to go back to reread them after this.
I guess I would say that if you're eager to read /All the Seas/, you should plunge right in. But you won't be wasting your time by reading Kay's other works at any time.
I guess I would say that if you're eager to read /All the Seas/, you should plunge right in. But you won't be wasting your time by reading Kay's other works at any time.
DS25
It's not a direct sequel to those books, but I think you should. The references are more than simple Easter eggs, you could miss some hints, expecially about Folco D'Acorsi psychology and, more importantly, about another character that appears in the latter parts of the novel.
Canaan Merchant
I've only read A Brightness Long Ago before this and never felt like there was anything obvious I was missing. I had no idea Children of Earth and Sky was in the same timeline even.
Some of the stuff going on with Folco may be unappreciated but it's not super integral to the story or plot overall.
Since Children and Earth and Sky is set after this book I think it'll be neat to see how things ended up playing out.
Some of the stuff going on with Folco may be unappreciated but it's not super integral to the story or plot overall.
Since Children and Earth and Sky is set after this book I think it'll be neat to see how things ended up playing out.
VT Dorchester
I don't think you need to. I have read Children of Earth and Sky, but it was several years ago and I don't remember it very well. I am about half way through this book at the moment and am not having any trouble.
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