Kenyons Minions discussion
This topic is about
Born of Fire
The League: Born of Fire BOTM
Some general questions to help incite discussion. Feel free to answer as many as you'd like.•Did you enjoy the book? Why? Why not?
•Did you feel that the book fulfilled your expectations? Were you disappointed?
•What did you think of the characters? Could you relate to them or no?
- Who were your favorite characters?
- Who were your least favorite characters?
I love this book so much. I think it's my favourite. But for my friends who had given me it as a b-day present, I wouldn't know SK. I felt so sorry when I was reading Syn and Sharara's story, their life was so painful and terrible. Of course, I needed lots of hankies in the end, the last scene was soooo lovely, so moving.
I think I liked this one moderately better than the first. I still struggled with the heroine. The world building and the adventures was definitely my favorite.You find out a lot about Syn's past, including his family. And I remember my heart breaking for him. I can see why him and Nykyrian bonded so well. They had such tragic lives.
Q: Who is Jullien the fraternal twin of?Clue: Sometimes your lover is just like you and sometimes they aren't...
Quick question and meant to ask in the Born of Night thread. How old is Darling at this stage in the series?
About 22. He is 23 when Adron is born which happens near the end of born of fire (If I remember right Nyk mentions it near the end) don't think that's a spoiler...
Yeah I remember Darling being a bit young. I'm not sure of the age.
Oh no prob, on it being a spoiler. I just recalled that Nyk had said that he was legally considered a minor. So although I had thought he was in his 20's and just his culture's ideals about men and women. But also recalling how his uncles people treated him, he read like he was 15 or 16 or something.
If I'm remembering right Caronese are considered minors until they're like 30. Which is why he's helpless against his uncle and none of the Sentella can help him fight back. All the details of it are in Darling's book.
Rachel's got it! I honestly couldn't remember what culture had the men considered minors until their 30s. I was getting it confused with Jayne's people. Thank goodness, Rachel remembers the details with this series. lol
That's the kind of brain I have. It's full of little stuff like this related to the books I read, and the ones I write.
Yea I remembered he was Caron and what they had said about his uncle. I was just curious if he was like 25 or so if he was in the crew and drinking at the club. And yet from the abuse and how he read as getting taken like that, he just seemed much younger than his 20's to me.Side note too. I see what you mean Shari about Shahara and the action of the story. The action makes me like this one a bit better than the first book. But dude I want to buy "Sara"(totally mentally renaming some of these peeps)a clue. I mean where Kiara was demanding in her questions. Sara is like, I don't want to say a dimwit per se. But dude, if she couldn't fight and wasn't a bounty hunter, I would have to say it's a stone cold miracle she is even alive at all in their world. Heck even a wonder at how she is older sibling, when it sounds like she can barely get with the program herself.
In addition to that, what is up with these chicks and the 21 questions? I swear are the undercover Census Bureau workers? Geesh.
Oh my gosh, Vik is my baby now. I just love him. "I will stab you in the penis if you leave me again." And then has nerves enough to go to sleep to conserve is energy. LMAO!
That's just the culture of their people. With him being considered a minor, it's no surprise they would treat him like an insolent teenager. He would have no choice but to take it.
Haha, Shahara. I wish I liked her a bit more. There were scenes where I did enjoy her character but for the most part, yeah.
So in essence be treated like a child, then become one? I mean I get that it's their culture true enough. But dude I guess I expected him to be swifter and a wee bit more savvy than he was. Not quite on par with Syn per se. But since he knows that they are coming for him anyway, have like some loop holes and means to come and go when on the streets. As I'm pretty sure he uncle would beat him either way once he came home.
I don't think he wants to make it any harder on himself. When you get his full background, you'll know why.
If Darling's full story doesn't make you cry your heart is made of stone. I was in tears several times whenever Maris revealed another facet of what he'd been through at his uncle's hands. But it also reveals Darling to have the kindest, most beautiful heart of them all. Despite everything done to him the man knows how to love with all his heart.
Well to be honest with you Rachel. I'd be happy to feel a little more something. Book 1 was a heck of a meh feeling for me. And that really messed with me cause it's SK. I know everyone is entitled to have a dud story at times. But dude, after as many tissues I went through for some of the DH books. To barely feel much for that one was just wow.And definitely shall see when I get there. Have up to his book checked out anyway. Fingers crossed I can get into it.
I'm very biased when it comes to The League. Nyk is almost an alternate version of my SFR hero. My guy was protected from all the things that tried to destroy Nyk.I don't read for the heroine, either. I'm all about the hero. I'm known to skim her sections if I think they're going too long, so I can get back to him faster.
Yea, I share a bias for all things DH as well. I may not get every fact and detail correct. But seriously that is the first series I've ever read that talked to and related most deeply to me. As so many others never seemed to ever speak about levels of familial and even betrayals of life before. Unless it was on such a superficial level. So kind of why I rarely find SK's books just purely entertainment value. As she is truly an author that really gets it a times.That is interesting you say that Rachel. About not reading for the heroine. Do you feel that is do to being able to relate more to a masculine energy/presence in your personal life as opposed to a feminine one? I'll say for myself though, some romantic heroines do leave much to be desired at times. But I do try and read for both the hero and heroine. Because although I may not like the terminology about someone being another person's better half. I do still like to see there being a level of improvement and emotional growth brought out in both the hero and heroine as the story progresses. Similarly if I'm reading a M/M or F/F story to be honest with you. It really bugs me if the characters meet, have plenty of hot sex, and nobody is growing in a deeper way because of it.
I was a tomboy growing up. Most of my friends were boys, the cousins we played with all the time were boys. My first "real" books were The Hardy Boys, and to this day I still love them and read them. My first book crush, at nine years old, was Frank Hardy. My first TV crush is tied with Tom Selleck as Magnum, and Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard.I've always preferred books from his POV, and devoured a ton of Tom Clancy starting when I was 14. I went through a phase where military/spy thrillers was about all I read, and I loved it. I still actively look for new stuff that hits my interests in that genre.
I've also never identified with the common issues most women struggle with, because I'm so far outside the norm for women. I've never struggled with identity or body issues, I've always been confident in who I am, I've always been encouraged to pursue whatever I want. I don't relate to the struggles of most romance heroines.
If I have to choose between reading women's fiction/chick lit, or a guy POV thriller of any kind, I'm going to pick the thriller every single time. Because whatever the women are dealing with is more foreign to me than whatever the guy in the thriller is dealing with. Despite me having never been in the military.
Gotcha. I'm curious what led you to begin reading romances? Rec'd some with just as much action or a particular one that you came across?
It was actually through reading historicals. History is my favorite subject, and since I was going through kid/YA books so fast by the time I was 11, my mom started giving me some of her Christian historical romances to read that coincided with things we were studying in school (I was homeschooled). I was hooked from page two of the first one, and have never looked back. Lori Wick, Gilbert Morris, and Judith Pella--titans in the Christian romance world--created my love of romance. The latter is partly responsible for my love of all things Russian.As I got older the hero preference started showing up, and when I started writing fiction about 15 years ago that's how things came out. The first original characters I ever created were a group of brothers, and the first historical character I ever created was a young man living in late 19th century Russia. All of them still live in my head.
The first writing I ever let other people read was Hardy Boys fan fiction, co-written with my sister. And even when going through my teenage girl horse phase and reading the Thoroughbred books, I lived for glimpses of two particular boy characters and actually sketched out a backstory for one of them.
It's been awhile since I've read much in the thriller department, because I fell so in love with romance. One of my BFF's made me read Born of Night in March, 2013 because she knew Nyk hit every single hero requirement I have, then talked me into trying the first DH too. I've been exploring PNR for the last year and a half and finding lots of strong heroes and quite a few books that meet my need for a hero worthy of falling in love with. Basically any variation of Ash is going to make me fall madly in love.
A year and a half later I own all but three DH, am acquiring The League, and Styxx was my very first novel pre-order. Even though I wasn't even to Val and Tabby yet when it came out. I'm down to three books between me and Styxx and I'm excited about getting Max's story next year. And of course as soon as the next League books are up for pre-order I'm getting them too!
That's wicked cool and interesting how you got into romance, Rachel.
I second what Shari said Rachel. That is really awesome, how you came around to romance and even a touch of fan-fic writing there as well. Always amazed me how different genres of books and people can lead us to our one true reading loves and passions. I too, used to read quite a bit of teen and YA books from 12-13ish age range. Then my first book was one of the Anita Blake books in my mid-teens. And around that time my older cousin gave me my first ever set of Harlequin romances. So that was my intro into romance. So yea, interesting how reading progressions go.
Hhhm should we create a thread to see how other people got into the romance genre!? That would make a interesting topic
We could or post it as question under Question of the day. That way save on creating a brand new thread.
Oh yeah. Lol I'll post that now.
Excellent! I look forward to reading how everyone else came to it, and I'll copy mine over there.
Finished this one.
And how did you like it overall!?
It was more likable than Born of Night for sure. Although I still wanted to shake Shahara for all those questions. And in a sense being so naïve in regards to Merjack. And even her saying I love you as soon as she did. Knowing she was betraying him. But in the end was happy she was able to finally have a baby and someone to make her feel special and same for Syn after a while there.
My friend responsible for hooking me on SK likes Syn best.
I loves Syn. He just seemed like the jack of all trades. A thief, a doctor, computer wiz, and a bad motha-shut-yo-mouth
I did wanna punch Caillen with the way he acted towards Syn when he walked in on him and Shahara.
And actually Syn could have made a better tracer than Shahara. I think I might have found her character a little better if SHE was actually a bodyguard type than a bounty hunter. As she could throwdown when she needed to. But for all else, she just wasn't as street smart as she needed to be to me.
You know, this is the first SK story I've read where I actually had to force myself to finish it. At best, I had an extremely difficult time connecting with Shahara (okay, I'll admit it, I didn't like her for much of the story, until the very end). I agree, she was incredibly naive, not to mention ... well, she just didn't strike me as being all that bright to begin with, and certainly not very street smart. (Didn't she nearly get them both killed on more than one occasion?)I guess I expect more from bounty hunters, lol. XD
Syn, on the other hand, I absolutely loved. Loved, loved, loved that incredibly smart and sexy man.
I'm right there with ya Charlotte. The naivete and all the freaking questions was killing me with her and Kiara. I swear they were meant to work with the Census Bureau or IRS. Good lordy I wanted to throttle them both for that. And "Sara" needed so much more smarts than she had. Heck I was actually even amazed she was the oldest sibling even. When she needed someone to look after her even more so than her other sibs.
LOL, the Census Bureau. XDKiara, though, I could almost expect that from. When I read Born of Night, she struck me as somewhat sheltered, in spite of her past. Maybe that's why she didn't bother me quite as much as Shahara.
I did feel badly for Shahara when I found out what had happened to her in her past. Gah, that is something that nobody should ever have to go through.
But after reading this book, I gotta say, I wonder about the qualification requirements for bounty hunters. XD
Oh yeah, and I also absolutely loved VIK. :D
Yea, I felt for "Sara"'s past as well. But indeed, I guess it doesn't take much to be a bounty hunter. Kind of like can you fight a little? Look good holding weapons? know how to somewhat track down the bad guy? Then come on down and sign up. No brains or experience required.And yes soooo loved VIK all the way. Such a hoot.
I feel like smart isn't necessarily a requirement for a bounty hunter. Maybe a bit clever but not smart. Lol I would think street smarts would be a definite factor though. I mean you're going after criminals who make a living evading authorities
Yes, but that is what I'm talking about Shari. I mean her "brother" C something, totally blanking on his name right now. Had far more savy than she did. Even the one sister that was in the hospital has more street smarts. But "Sara" sounded like Kiara's long lost best girlfriend or something. That had no savvy whatsoever.
Axel is proof there's no requirement for being smart, to be either an assassin or a bounty hunter. If he had smarts he'd have left Nyk alone a long time ago and not ended up dead.
Tis very true. I think as long as you're ok with killing and kicking ass, you're in.
Axel, Axel... Who was he again?
He's in Born of Night, one of the guys after Kiara and Nyk. Nyk's step-brother, I believe.
Ooooooooh, I think I mentally renamed him something else and forgot what his real name was.
Lmao stop renaming characters. You're confusing yourself
Description
In a universe where assassins make the law, everyone lives in fear - except for Syn. Born of an illicit scandal that once rocked a dynasty, he always knew how to survive on the bloodthirsty streets. But that was then, and the future is now...
He takes no prisoners.
Syn was raised as a tech-thief until his livelihood uncovered a truth that could end his life. He tried to destroy the evidence, and has been on the run ever since. Now trained as an assassin, he allows no one to threaten him. Ever. He is the darkness that swallows his enemies whole.
She offers no escape.
Shahara Dagan is the best bounty hunter in the universe. When Syn comes back on the radar, she’s the only one who can bring him to justice. There’s only one problem: Syn is a close family friend who’s helped out the Dagans countless times. But if she saves him, both of their lives will be on the line. Is Syn’s protection worth the risk? The only hope Shahara has is to find the evidence he buried long ago. Now it’s kill or be killed - and they, the predators, have just become the hunted...