Vaginal Fantasy Book Club discussion
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Lord of the Fading Lands
Jun 2013: Fire Lord's Lover
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* Official Discussion Thread for Lord of the Fading Lands *SPOILERS*
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May 28, 2013 10:05PM
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Just read the prologue. "Nei!", this looks like a bad one. I was going to try reading the alt first this time, but I'm rethinking that.
Oh man, I love this series. The covers are ridiculous and I have the hardest time explaining these books to people without making them sound silly. Flying cats! But I love the world and the characters and the romance. It's another romance with a really old, but young looking hero, and a young naive heroine. It really shows in the first book, but I think Elly did a lot of growing up throughout the series. I liked watching her grow into her powers.
Nita wrote: "Oh man, I love this series. The covers are ridiculous and I have the hardest time explaining these books to people without making them sound silly. Flying cats! But I love the world and the charact..."is that a fire-breathing ferret on the cover?
I have every book in this series and Lord of the Fading Lands is the one I've read most often. Mostly because I would pick up the next book and have no clue what went on in the previous ones, so I had to do a reread, but still! Loved this book and this series so much and I can't wait to read it again this month.
Oh Lord, on page 116, and have slapped my face no less than 10 times so far. Having a hard time with this alpha male business. I guess I always wonder why fantasy had to go there. If this was really fiction,I could see totally passive and submissive female characters. But this is a made up world, with made up characters. why can't girlfriend be clever and in charge along with her clever and in charge love interest? What do they call these characters, Mary Ann's? I will keep playing along I guess.
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Finished both the alt and main picks and once again I think the alt was much better. I really liked the story in general and have just accepted as a given the dominating male and weak female characters for the genre. No point bitching about them. /sighStill the story itself was engaging and left enough mysteries unanswered that I am resigned to reading the rest of the series... Not that I mind!
I agree Marion - I was totally caught off guard by the end! But I got the next one from the library today... phew!
I am currently one the third book in this series & I don't even know how it happened. I agree with @Ariel about the main characters
Overall I liked the story although the ending made me wonder if my book was missing the last chapter.I loved the magic in it and the Fey.
Bel and the fey that were guarding Ellie were fun.
I loved the king and even the queen.
I loathed Den, he was creepy.
It ended rather abruptly and felt unfinished. Perhaps it will pick up where it left off in the next book.
Not sure if I'll continue with the series.
Marion wrote: "The ending did not feel like an ending to me, more like the middle of a book. And the women in the story! Yeeesh, they were either back-stabbing and conniving or simperingly naive. The mother act..."I think books 1 and 2 were originally in one text and it had to be split up because of length.
Yeah, you can tell this was intended as a hella-long book. There's no real payoff to speak off, the ending is kinda anti-climactic. And it felt kind of unnecessarily long, too. With the way it switches perspective so the reader can see what the bad guys are doing behind-the-scenes, it just felt like a bunch of the main plot was thrown in there just to break it up between bad guy scenes. It seems like there could've been a better way of handling this.
The ending annoyed me... Attempting to force me to read the next book to get the ACTUAL ending. I will not give in and buy another book! Fight the power!
Marion wrote: ""is that a fire-breathing ferret on the cover?"My husband asked last night, "Why are you reading a book about a fire-breathing otter ... with fangs?!""
HAHAHHA. You have a great husband!
About 100 pages into this one and liking it so far -- there is a bit of a dominance thing going, but when is there NOT a dominance thing happening in these books we read? It doesn't bother me that much, to be honest, but I am hoping that Ellie will show some backbone and badassery soon.
I agree that the ending of the first book is abrupt. It feels like the editors & publishers divided the story into multiple books. Their technique worked, I am now on the fourth book.
Laura wrote: "I agree that the ending of the first book is abrupt. It feels like the editors & publishers divided the story into multiple books. Their technique worked, I am now on the fourth book."I also agree. (And I am starting the third book.) I seem to remember the author writing in the acknowledgement section of book 1 a "thank you" to someone who took a chance on a 1,000 page fantasy story.
Regarding the cover:
My husband wanted to know why Kevin Sorbo was on the cover of the book. Now I can't look at it without thinking about Hercules: The Legendary Journey.
I'm only about a third of the way through but am having trouble focusing. I think I know what's bothering me: lack of dialog! I need some kind of connection between them that I can relate to that doesn't have anything to do with magic. So far, tor all of the agency Ellie has shown, it does seem like YA
I really didn't like this book. Creepy patriarchal BS. It's fine if you are writing a historical novel and exploring how a heroine navigates an unfair social structure, but why the hell do that stuff in a fantasy setting where you can be more creative with the limitations she must confront.
Even with all its cheese, this book won me over. It's Anne of Green Gables + Beauty and the Beast + after Cinderella when she has to face the disapproving court + a dash of Scott Westerfield's Uglies. So many bad things:
*One of the worst prologues ever
*Such bad writing in the first chapters I stopped reading and re-wrote whole paragraphs
*Alpha++ male who wants to stop her from doing anything, and she meekly goes along
*Creepy 1000+ year old stalker who breaks into her bedroom to smell her hair while she sleeps
*Lots of repeating the plot to each other
*Poorly defined hand wavy magic system
*One True Love That Cannot Be Denied
*Bad guy POV that takes away any mystery or suspense
*Strange replacement of simple words. They have "chimes" and "bells" instead of minutes and hours but kept "seconds." For the longest time, I could not keep them straight, so when the mother left the room, I thought she said she'd be gone for hours. I was very confused.
*Annoying man=warrior, woman=healer gender roles. "Women can't kill because they're too empathetic"?!
With so many faults, I shouldn't like this book at all, but it sucked me in. This book is pretty much one big makeover after beauty and the beast get together to face the snooty court. I liked the guards, her spending time with her sisters, the fact that the museum is open 24h, the court categories of "Brilliant," "Gem," and what was she? A dud? Like @3Nita says, I can't really describe what I liked about the book, I just did. Though there's so much to snark at.
My biggest eyeroll were the cat-things. This is the Mary Sue of monsters. It's huge! and fast! and can fly! and has venom?! and a spiked tail! and is a cat! and lays eggs!?! and is telepathic! and breathes fire!!! There's nothing left to throw at this thing. They Fey were also a little too much. They're beautiful and the best warriors and immortal and can run forever and super rich and the perfect gentleman and have fancy magic and are telepathic and the best lovers. A mortal can't compete.
I did get through book 2 and am glad they finally addressed teaching her how to use her magic instead of forgetting it existed and ignoring it which they did all of this book.
I agree with @15Shannon, there could be a lot cut out to make this book more streamlined. Like all the sexist bs and any Den POV.
Not a bad story over all. Just badly edited/published. The series should have been no longer than three books, not five. I should not have had to read three books to find a stopping place. And the titles had nothing to do the the book they were on. All in all, ok story completely sucky presentation.
I hate how it just stops. Just over. They share one intimate moment and then its done. I get really tired of hearing everyone complain of the dominant male and seemingly helpless female in each book we read. Its a critical part of the genre thats why it keeps showing up again and again. So just ssssssshhhhh, it will be OK.
Seriously though the characters get you drawn in and when you hear about the heroines past and why she runs away from what she is I think its more valid than a lot of the things we have read so far. Shes not just helpless and scared, she took a beating and went into self preservation mode. I really enjoyed this book in the end. I think as annoyed as I am with the end I will read the others. Mainly because the character building was deep and I got highly attached to all of the sub characters in addition to the main.
Hah, I do have to agree that I don't get why everyone is complaining about the alpha male. That's sort of the standard for this genre. So far, I am liking this still! Of course, Rain is still dominant, but he's also trying hard to be kind and Ellie has shown a bit of backbone. They seem very three-dimensional to me.
I'm reading the second book now, and (no spoilers), there's a scene where the fey are combining their magics (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit) and I couldn't help but wonder when they were going to summon Captain Planet...
Did anyone else see a strong similarity between the main characters in this book and the psy/changling novels of Nalini Singh, particularly "Slave to Sensation" that we read for this book club last year? I mean, even down to the "I change into a cat thingy" and the ridiculously over powering "mate bond". Just an observation.Definitely enjoyed this though. Planning on reading the rest of the series.
Also, I concur...CAPTAIN PLANET indeed. lol
Ha ha ha Captain Planet! Classic :) I loved this book! I know there are a lot of criticisms of the male-dominated world that coddle and protect their females. Yes I would hate it in real life... but I agree with @Richelle- it is a part of the genre and it is also usually associated with the pseudo-historical structure of the world (no electricity, peasant clothes, class divides etc).
I really enjoyed this story and the book kept me reading. Sometimes the overprotectivness got a bit tiresome but I like Ellysetta and I think it will be great watching her become a queen. Mostly i am excited by the Tarien- and maybe thats why I immediately bought the next book- I want to know why they are dying and how Ellie will save them all :)
Also- while this has the cliche "They have no choice in being together", at least they both seem to want it and it doesn't get rapey (for Ellysetta anyhow- Jiaden or whatever her name was gets a worse deal). Looking forward to them actually getting together though- I want that smut :P
So thanks for this pick- makes 'Fey' a little more palatable when most of the time when they are a bit too do-goody... I think its neat that Rain once destroyed thousands... We all like a bit of a bad boy right?
Excellent Choice Ladies :) x
Rain Tai-ren Soul,He's our he-ro!
Gonna take the Mages DOWN TO ZE-RO!
Ok.... we got Kevin Sorbo on the cover ( what was seen, can't be unseen), captain planet inside the books... I hope tere are no thundercats, but since there's a big cat on the cover....
Michelle wrote: "I think its neat that Rain once destroyed thousands... We all like a bit of a bad boy right?..."my question is, did he felt guilty and helped repopulate the world?
Kamil wrote: "did he felt guilty and helped repopulate the world?"It's a dirty job, but...
Kamil wrote: "Ok.... we got Kevin Sorbo on the cover ( what was seen, can't be unseen), captain planet inside the books... I hope tere are no thundercats, but since there's a big cat on the cover...."Tried to suppress the urge to comment about being on the lookout in the next books for a sword that grows when summoned and failed. Tried to rewrite that in a way that doesn't lend itself to the dirty joke you're already making in your head...double fail.
Elizabeth wrote: "Kamil wrote: "Ok.... we got Kevin Sorbo on the cover ( what was seen, can't be unseen), captain planet inside the books... I hope tere are no thundercats, but since there's a big cat on the cover....."Once he had scorched the world.
Scorching jets of semen, anyone?
Once he had loved with such passion, his name was legend...
How was that song? 'I'm just a gigolo and everywhere I go, people know the part I play"
and a new voice beckons him--more compelling, more seductive, more maddening than any before.
Old guy that can't resist a young woman? where did i read that before? twilight?
The tairen must claim his truemate and embrace the destiny woven for him in the mists of time.
Did they switch 'claim' and 'embrace'
as you can see all i needed to make dirty jokes is the blurb
So, I have not finished the main pick (as of yet) but the alt I could not put down. At the beginning I did a few issues for a bit, as it felt like I might have picked up a book that was not book 1 but 2 or 3. I stuck with it and then was fine and I loved this book. If I had not already known that there was more than one book I would have been really ticked off at the end. There were points I did not like:
1. Why do the covers always have to be so weirdly cheesy?
2. Why do they have to keep reminding us how young, and in-experienced Ellie is?
3. Once again, what is this "I saw you first, I need you now, you are mine" BS?
4. Really that rapey sorta scene they just kinda threw into the middle was really unnecessary. Well, I thought that it was.
5. If you got this on audiobook, then you probably agree with me, the narrator SUCKED!
Overall though I really, really enjoyed this book and have already gotten the second one. Fey magic mixed with ordinary people is kinda neat, and it was a romance but not so yucky gross graphic. I do not particularly care for the ones like that!
@Miranda1. because dah!Covers must attract the gaze of the reader like a cow dancing the riverdance.
2. because she's really young and in-experienced, she's so young and in-experienced she could be his grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand daughter(and knowing his past. she might be)
3. totallyt aggre, and besides he didn't call dibz
You know, I have never understood why they are always so much older that it is even past "creepy old man" stage. I mean, really?!?! Tuck!
Are you talking about the scene with Kolis? (OMG, is that how you spell his name? I am way too lazy to go check.) I sort of thought that scene was very appropriate, because it shows he is searching for dominance in all ways, not just through political maneuvers. I thought that scene was well done.The thing that's making me the most annoyed is Ellie constantly putting herself down. If she says she's plain and unattractive and not good enough for Rain again... I am going to slap a bitch. I mean, seriously. Grow the hell up.
I just got to the end of the Kolis rapey scene and I have to say, I like this book. Ok, so it's predictable, cheezy, and stereotyped perfectly but hey...what romance books aren't half the time. I like the struggle between Rain and his kitty/otter/ferret thing. I also think that him being the bad guy at one point gives him that "he's controlling her" factor that Den sees...oh yeah, hate HIM! I will say one thing though - I was way confused about who was Kolis and who wasn't. He is half the characters in this book! Sorry for the grammar, when I get going I can't be bothered with things like that :)
@ErinI was confused with Kolis too!! Really weird!
Holy Crap! I usually don't care too much for the fact that we read series's so often, but I just finished this book and already bought the second and am fighting the urge not to continue it now that it's just about midnight! I didn't miss the naughty bits as much as i thought I would and I found myself really drawn into the world and story. I'm really interested in the prospect of other races too! The only thing i could have lived without was them referring to Rain by his title all the time. He's a Tairen Soul...I get it...the man still has a name! Other than that, SUCH A GOOD PICK!!! I liked it MUCH better than the main pick.
Eeewww! She's this little girl being slobbered on by either the older lecherous creeper or the even older guy with no impulse control who spends half his time as a literal slavering beast. I've only just started but... just... ick. I want to pull her out of the book and introduce her to a nice, normal boy her age even if it means she never has any adventures. These extreme power imbalances make me very uncomfortable.
I couldn't put this book down and hated myself for it! I was intrigued by the world building in this book. I like how hints about the cultures of the different races and the political tensions between them were revealed gradually. The descriptions of the magic system as weaving elemental forces was with varying levels of skill and subtlety satisfying as well. I even liked the character of Ellysetta and could forgive her self doubt as she seemed to grow somewhat toward the end of the book, meeting challenges and trusting Rain enough to share her darkest secrets. On the negative side, and the reason for my guilt about liking this pick: my every feminist instinct was affronted by certain parts of this book. First, another innocent 20-something virgin being seduced by a thousand year-old super powerful man. Where are the sexually aware and empowered heroines in this genre? It feeds that age-old stereotype that women have to be "pure" and innocent to be of any value. The powerful women (queen, nobles, girl that gets pushed into the lake- can't remember her name) in the book are portrayed as evil, scheming, caught up in petty jealousy and have dark or lost souls. The good and true women are meek and Rain describes them as "naturally empathetic" and unable to cause any violence. Their true talent lies in healing and bringing peace to the souls of the men who are out there protecting them.
I can't decide if I hated or like this book. Can you do both at the same time? In any case, thanks for the choice ladies, it sure has made me think!
Sally wrote: "I couldn't put this book down and hated myself for it! I was intrigued by the world building in this book. I like how hints about the cultures of the different races and the political tensions betw..."doesn't it seem fishy? considering 90+ % of the authors are female
All right, finally finished today and just WTF is up with that ending? That is not an ending. That's just a cut off to leave you gaping like a fish and being all, "Whaaaa...?" There was a ginormous amount of attention spent to them mooning over each other and it just became a bit exhausting at the end. And the hell with her being born in Eld but Rain doesn't know yet? That one kind of drove me crazy, haha. Overall, I liked the book and will continue with the series, but someone should've kept this as one 1,000 paged fantasy novel so the ending wouldn't be so jarring. It really pulls you out of the picture.
I actually preferred many of the side characters in this series to the main characters. Bel is a favorite. So are Kieran and Kiel. Even the twins were adorable. One of the biggest fan favorites is a warrior-fey character who appears in book 2. I think he outdid Rain on many levels.
Also, what did people think of the scene closer to the end of the book (view spoiler) That scene amused me.
@Stacia - I think the queen got what she deserved...haha! Just put the book down and I MUST READ #2!People, I have too many books as it is, We need to pick things I don't love :)
Mirandia wrote: "5. If you got this on audiobook, then you probably agree with me, the narrator SUCKED! "Mmm, not the best I've heard but sadly not the worst. Once or twice a chapter I'd hear a pronunciation that would catch me off guard and I do wish she'd chosen to scale back her tone in some moments so that Ellie didn't sound quite so scared and breathy all the time.
While I've learnt to love how audio books free up your hands and eyes, they really expose repetitious writing. "Scorched the world" is actually "scorchedtheworld" - one word, no substitutes allowed. Hearing it over and over again really makes the phrase sound ridiculous. I keep thinking the scorching could have been avoided if he’s set his powers on something lower than the cotton/linen setting. His Esteemed Majesty, Rainier vel'En Daris Feyreisen, the Tairen Soul, King of the Fading Lands, Defender of the Fey Who ScorchedTheWorld.
PointyEars42 wrote: "Mirandia wrote: "5. If you got this on audiobook, then you probably agree with me, the narrator SUCKED! "Mmm, not the best I've heard but sadly not the worst. Once or twice a chapter I'd hear a p..."
good thing he didn't have to sign any documents
I completely agree with the tiredness of the evil slut/angelic virgin dichotomy...BUT: it does make her mom more interesting in the second book. No spoilers, though ;)
