Invision (CoN #7)

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

***Please note if you haven’t read Instinct, there could be spoilers in the synopsis below.

One boy . . .
Many demons.

Think there’s a lot of pressure on your shoulders? Nick Gautier was born to bring about the end of the world . . . it’s not easy being the heir of a demon overlord.

But Nick is determined to thwart his destiny and get into a good college. To be more than his genetics and prophecy foretell. No one is ever going to tell this stubborn Cajun who and what he really is. Or how to live his life.

Not even the Fates of the Universe. But now that he and his team of ancient gods and demons have claimed the Eye of Ananke and he sees the missteps of the future, he has to battle the demons within that are far deadlier and more treacherous than any he’s battled before. All the while his arch nemesis is back and determined to reclaim his place as the harbinger for Armageddon. Even if it means killing Nick and barbecuing everyone he loves to do so.

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

Yeah, I know, I'm a day early ... but wanted to get this up because I'll be reading this in the morning! =)

And I'm sure we'll have LOTS to discuss with this book. XD

[Slick]

At least its a little longer than the last one XD

Nice one Charlotte always prepared :D Already got it preordered for the morning ;)

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

You and me both, Slick. Mine should download as soon as I get home in the morning, when I finally have access to wi-fi. XD

[david]

Can't wait for Intensity but we ll have to make do with Invision can't wait for the year that when we get a double release or a book with 1k or more pages(Nick's DH book?).

Also why does audible always release on Tuesday and always a hour or two late?

[Myst]

Rawr, none of my libraries are ready for Invision. I'll have to wait and see if/when they get it.

[K-Gorgeous]

WOOOWWWW, What a ride! OMG that book was unbelievable:D!

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Heeey I'm reading and wanna discuss lol
Just started yo

[Genea]

My copy of Invision was just delivered. Yaaaaayyyyy!!!!!

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

Okay. Wow. That ... was MIND-BOGGLING!!

So much going on in this book, and while it answered a number of questions, it raised a whole slew of others.

And it appears that we have a LOT more to add to the family tree. XD

[david]

Really liked the book especially the epilogue

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

Yeah, that ending really threw me for a loop, lol. XD

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Yall finished already!? Dang lol

I must catch up

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Ok so just got past the (view spoiler)[ Cherise's death not being a pith point. Her death not being what is necessary to send Nick to the dark side. So do yall still believe that she'll die no matter what!? (hide spoiler)]

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

I really love when Nick refers to Xev, one of the most badass warriors to ever be born, as Mr. Fuzzy Boots. Lol

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

Um ... to that, I say keep reading, Shari. Let's just say that there's one helluva twist that I don't think ANY of us saw coming. ;)

(view spoiler)[I'm pretty sure that Cherise is still going to die, though. (hide spoiler)]

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Also love that in every single book when zombies are mentioned, everyone is concerned if Madaug has been doing any programing

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

Yeah, poor Madaug ... I don't think he's ever going to live that down. XD

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Charlotte wrote: "Um ... to that, I say keep reading, Shari. Let's just say that there's one helluva twist that I don't think ANY of us saw coming. ;)

[spoilers removed]"

Must. Read. Faster!

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Ha!!! We were right (view spoiler)[about Bubba's daddy being a hellchaser. Super hyped we got that tidbit right (hide spoiler)]

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Ok Charlotte, now I understand why we need to update out family trees. Geez why is everybody related to everybody!?

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Ooooh snap (view spoiler)[So Jaden is Verlyn but it's more of a title or a type of power. Not another person. Thank goodness he doesnt have a split personality like I was thinking. (hide spoiler)]

[K-Gorgeous]

Charlotte wrote: "Um ... to that, I say keep reading, Shari. Let's just say that there's one helluva twist that I don't think ANY of us saw coming. ;)

[spoilers removed]"

Yes but just in this case it looks as if she might die either naturally(if we keep the time span in mind) or together with other current and future characters.

(view spoiler)[Btw I am glad Sherri finally cleared up what I speculated that Cherise dying, although sad, is not a big enough reason for Nick to go Apocalyptic.

Further How in the hell did Nick father a child with Laguerre?! I KNOW that there is twist somewhere in there. There just has to be. Maybe stolen/adoption? or maybe they did the same thing to Nick that Azura did to Jaden? Cyprian definitely did come from the future though.

I thought it was sweet to find out that Xevikan is Nick's great-grandfather:) and that Jaden is his son. Side note: If he and Myone had black hair were did Jaden's red hair come from?
Btw I knew that I had an inkling that Jaden and Jared were family, not lovers.

Who d you guys think that Simi's husband is? We have more details now:D

And also Cheris really does have a supernatural magnet on her. I mean seriously first the malachai and now a dormant Hell hunter??:p

And that about finishes my ranting...for now:P (hide spoiler)]

[Cindi]

Shari-amor wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "Um ... to that, I say keep reading, Shari. Let's just say that there's one helluva twist that I don't think ANY of us saw coming. ;)

[spoilers removed]"

Must. Read. Faster!" Must.Find.Book!

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

If you cannot find, you must steal the book. It is worth stealing!

[blackd0vey]

I am soooooo confused. Could someone refresh my memory on when and how we find out about Xev (view spoiler)[ being related to Nick? (hide spoiler)]

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

blackd0vey wrote: "I am soooooo confused. Could someone refresh my memory on when and how we find out about Xev [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Xev is the father of Jared. Jared is the father of Cherise. And of course Cherise is the mother of Nick. We found out about Cherise and Jared in the last book. It was confirmed about Jared and Xev in this one ^_^ (hide spoiler)]

[blackd0vey]

Shari-amor wrote: "blackd0vey wrote: "I am soooooo confused. Could someone refresh my memory on when and how we find out about Xev [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"
Thanks!!
I think I missed where it was announced Xev is (view spoiler)[ Jared's father? (hide spoiler)] Was it established in the previous book and I skimmed over that tidbit?

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

blackd0vey wrote: "Shari-amor wrote: "blackd0vey wrote: "I am soooooo confused. Could someone refresh my memory on when and how we find out about Xev [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"
Thanks!!
I think I misse..."

(view spoiler)[ I only remember it mentioning that he had a son. I dont think it came out and said Jared was his son in the last book. Just the Cherise and Jared tidbit. I'm pretty sure I would have at least remembered Nick's reaction to finding out that he was related to Xev and Caleb (hide spoiler)]

[Misty]

Ok, I was all excited to start Invision but now I'm just pissed off with something that was explained as early as chapter 1.

(view spoiler)[ Seriously, author? Really? You couldn't spare a line, a paragraph, something, to SHOW us how Xev found out Cherise is his granddaughter? To have him explain Nick that Jared is his son? No, we're just TOLD.
Just like we're told that Nick knows Ash is an atlantean god, without a single line showing us how he connected the dots.
Just like we were told that there was a female spirit in the Grimoire, a spirit named Nashira, without a scene showing us how the two talked.
Just like we were told that somehow Caleb and Kody found out what happened with Zavid and Zarelda at the end of Inferno.

I'm starting to be really tired of it. Sherrilyn Kenyon might be a good author with a very complicated story that I enjoy, but someone needs to remind her that the first rule of a writer is: SHOW, DON'T TELL. (hide spoiler)]

Seriously, these kind of things are what makes me less and less interested in reading a book.

[Slick]

(view spoiler)[I know what you mean Misty but it's been mentioned that there was a spirit inhabating his Grimm for a while and Xev knew that Jared was his son, when he found out Cherise was Jareds daughter in Instinct that's why he was so shocked also Nicks suspected for a while Ash was a God and i think Livia told him in the previous book that when Nick finds out Ash is a God that's when he dies. When she was info dumping and twisting facts to screw with him.

Who the Hell is Nathan? He gives me the creeps.. Also this Lucien getting all touch feely with little Charity...

Cyprian is god damn hard core... Total bad ass..Loved that epilogue..

Nicks future mystery woman is.... Mysterious... Whats interesting is that Nick fought Cyprian and his powers didn't wane?

Laguerre once told Dev he wasn't his type... Guess now we know who is... XD XD

(hide spoiler)]
So much shit went down here don't even know how to process...

[Misty]

I know there were hints. But it's not enough.
I mean, when I read about that in chapter 1? It had the same effect of "the sky is blue". Ok, well, nice. Great revelation. Big impact.
It left me totally cold and uncaring. And since it was something pretty big, it shouldn't have that kind of effect! I wanted to be all "hey, look here what happened!"

I'm trying to go on with reading, but honestly, she just took I don't know how many pages to tell us the story of Kyrian's past (AGAIN) but she couldn't spare a scene for the other thing? It's ridicolous.

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

I definitely agree about pages on pages about Kyrian and his past. I actually skipped all that because we KNOW about him already. At first I tried to chalk it up to maybe because he's full Malachai now, he's starting to get a whole lot more info but once the relevation about (view spoiler)[ Xev and Caleb being related without more info, I dismissed it. I thought I was going crazy thinking that I missed it in last book. Now I'm convinced I'm not. We never saw Nick find out it. Like I said in another spoiler, I would definitely remember that reaction. Nick would have flipped!!! I kept trying to think how in the world was Caleb, Nick's uncle and Xev, his great grandfather. It just confused me so much then I sighed and moved on. I dont really care for important info being in background scenes (hide spoiler)]

Also now (view spoiler)[ All those visions Nick had of the future (before the Eye), he was actually in Cyprian's mind and not his own!? The timelines are really starting ro confuse me. Ambrose and Cyprian are both in the past but Cyprian is the one actually messing with the timeline. (hide spoiler)]

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Oh (view spoiler)[ Now I'm set on Nathan and his sister being Cyprian and Laguerre in disguise. (hide spoiler)]

[Misty]

Shari-amor wrote: "I dont really care for important info being in background scenes"

This. And it makes me mad. I'm thinking about putting down the book for a while, until I can start reading again... I keep thinking stuff like "ok, next time we'll be TOLD that Kody is actually Nick's great-great-aunt".
It's ruining the experience for me -.-

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

I admit, I was more than a little surprised about (view spoiler)[Xev being Jared's father. I imagine that we, the readers, were expected to connect the dots with Jared drawing power from the primal source and Xev having to give up his son. (hide spoiler)]

But I agree, a line about that would have been nice. Or even a stronger hint.

Shari, about your Simi question ... (view spoiler)[I went back and reread the scene in the future, paying close attention to Lucien's appearance. I'm going way out on a limb here, and I'm probably wrong wrong wrong, but I'm gonna guess that Simi's husband is...

THORN.

Lucien's eyes, hair, and name is what leads me to think this. It also meshes with the fact that Kody remembers in her timeline that Thorn used to rock her to sleep. But once again, this is just speculation, so take it with a grain of salt. ;) (hide spoiler)]

Furthermore ... (view spoiler)[ I'm with y'all on Nathan. I do NOT trust him. At all. So far, the theory about him and his sister being Laguerre and Cyprian in disguise, sounds good. (hide spoiler)]

Now, about Cherise ... (view spoiler)[So it would seem from the timeline we see here, that perhaps Cherise didn't die violently like she did in Seize the Night. Which, in a way, kind of disturbs me, because it's starting to sound like Kody will be gone before too long. Which, I suppose, will make the Kody haters feel a lot better. =(

And yeah, it certainly looks like Nick hooked up with someone else who is NOT Kody. =( (hide spoiler)]

One more thing ... (view spoiler)[ In the scene with Bubba's dad, anyone else think that the name Kaiaphas seemed familiar? =) Turns out, that was Xypher's brother. =) (hide spoiler)]

[Misty]

Ok, I haven't read any spoiler so far but one theory is poking at me since the beginning of Invision and now that I'm at chapter 3, I can't stop thinking about it:

(view spoiler)[ Since the beginning of the book it was mentioned a lot of times that now that Nick took the sword and chose his Generals, he can only die if his son kills him, like every Malachai.
Then in chapter 3 he loses his powers and he feels a sense of deja-vu and lose track of time. Exactly what happened in Instinct when Chronus messed with him.
And again it's mentioned that Nick is weak exactly like Adarian was when Nick visited him.
So, I'm going to put here for future reference (or laughter!) that there is a son of Nick who came back through time to kill him while he's still young in his powers because he couldn't do it in the future. And since this all started when Nathan came into the story (and curiously Nick saw his eyes red but couldn't see if he was a demon), and both him and Kody experienced a deja-vu toward him, I'm going to point the finger to him as the Malachai's spawn :P (hide spoiler)]

Now I'll go back to read.

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

I KNEW IT!!! (view spoiler)[ I knew that Kaiaphas sounded familiar but I couldnt figure out why. It bothered me for awhile. Then I was thinking he's related to someone but who!? Thank yoooou Charlotte and that excellent memory of yours. (hide spoiler)]

Ah (view spoiler)[ Well it would make sense that he hooks up with other women. Kody is very young compared to him before she even meets him. So yeah definitely makes sense that he'd meet someone else (hide spoiler)]

About Simi (view spoiler)[ That is actually scary to think about. Simi and Thorn!? Thats a whole lot of badass in a relationship. And sense Simi's husband is the only one who would be to control her and not spoil her rotten. That definitely sounds like Thorn. So I might be in there with you with this one......Also, I laughed when Thorn asked Simi if she was still hanging out with the loser with a surfboard. (hide spoiler)]

[Slick]

(view spoiler)[I can't believe Jaden is such a bastard though..
That one vision from Inferno thats constantly being misconstrued by everybody though.. Nick saw him kill himself then kody.. then Kody tells him it's him killing her brother and her, then it's his future son killing him and a woman he doesn't know.. who I'm assuming is Charitys mother..

Im not sure what future Kody's been preaching about for seven books.. and apparently despite fighting along side a woman future Nick apparently loves i thought he was with Artemis the day he flipped out and went Malachai.. It's always been the Ambrose Malachai, the Ambrose Malachai.. then were blindsided by the fact its the Cyprian Malachai.. How was everybody so wrong?


Hahaha i can't picture Laguarre as a 10 year old XD But Cyprian i can definitely picture as Nathan.. first time he appears is when Nick loses power IIRC. (hide spoiler)]

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Oh and also (view spoiler)[ Noir knows about Cade. I remember Thorn saying that neither his father or grandfather knew. And if they did, it would be bad. Whelp, guess somebody should Thorn know that the cat is our of the bag (hide spoiler)]

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

And now (view spoiler)[ With reincarnation. So Styxx and Bethany are reincarnations of Bathymaas and Aricles. Nick and Kody are reincarnations of Monakribos and Rubati!? I wanna make sure I got that right. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

Truthfully, Slick, that's the part I'm trying to figure out. It's kind of giving me a nasty headache. O.o

But ... (view spoiler)[ either the timeline changed, or else Kody was planted with false memories. Which is entirely possible. I'm also beginning to wonder if perhaps the only way to stop the Cyprian Malachai is to let Nick become the Ambrose Malachai, which would then mesh with what we're seeing on the DH side of things.

But yeah .... to think that this whole time, we've been expecting the Ambrose Malachai, and it's really the Cyprian Malachai ... that is truly mind-boggling. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

Shari-amor wrote: "Oh and also [spoilers removed]"

Yeah, I caught that too, Shari. Guess Thorn hasn't been as sneaky as he thought, lol. XD

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Slick wrote: "I can't believe Jaden is such a bastard though..
That one vision from Inferno thats constantly being misconstrued by everybody though.. Nick saw him kill himself then kody.. then Kody tells him it'..."

(view spoiler)[ So maybe it's like Nick guessed and Jaden wanted to confirm. Maybe Kody is from an one of the alternate timeline. Or it could be Cyprian is messing with Nick with the Eye. Nick and crew are questioning everything now. They don't know for sure of anything and it has them distracted from other things like Nick's ex buddies being dead. Cyprian is doing a great job of keeping them off balance. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

You know, I'm thinking along the same lines, Shari. (view spoiler)[Because it's also possible that Cyprian is messing with Nick's "memories". (hide spoiler)]

[K-Gorgeous]

I personally do not think that (view spoiler)[Kody and Nick are the "regular" type of reincarnations. I consider it more like a continuation of their essences.

And YEAH what is up with here dropping the bomb of Xev and Jared just like that. I felt like there was this big elephant in the room that she just skipped. Further I did not have a problem with the flashbacks of e.g. Kyrian because I think she included that one for people that ONLY read the CON series. What I am NOT happy with is that she keeps just telling, instead of showing big revelations. (hide spoiler)]

But all in all the book was pretty awesome;)

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

The one good thing out of all this, though, is that I finally have answers to a couple of things that have been sort of bugging me since Styxx's book. And they both have to do with Bathymaas.

(view spoiler)[ First ... coincidental, was it not, that Bathymaas appeared when she did? Fully formed? I've wondered about that, since she seemed to have appeared right after the Primus Bellum. So to find out that she was a shell of Rubati ... surprising, but not really.

Second ... remember at the end of Styxx, when Noir was thinking that wherever Bathymaas was, the Malachai couldn't be far behind? See, when I first read that, my initial thought was that perhaps Bathymaas was a balance to the Malachai. So to find out that was true ... Wow. O.O

And I've also been wondering since Illusion if Kody's birth was ... deliberate, in a way. And not just in the let's-have-another-baby way, either. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlotte, Cheesy Cakes]

Kimmy, I like how you put that, about Nick and Kody. I'm in agreement there. =)

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

KimmyGorgeousBliss wrote: "I personally do not think that Kody and Nick are the "regular" type of reincarnations. I consider it more like a continuation of their essences.

And YEAH what is up with here dropping the bomb of ..."

Charlotte wrote: "Kimmy, I like how you put that, about Nick and Kody. I'm in agreement there. =)"

Yes that sounds better and makes so much more sense to me. I had to reread the scene again and Kimmy sounds like she's got it right.

[Shari-amor, Doll Cake]

Charlotte wrote: "The one good thing out of all this, though, is that I finally have answers to a couple of things that have been sort of bugging me since Styxx's book. And they both have to do with Bathymaas.

Fir..."

(view spoiler)[ Never really did give much thought to Bathymaas appearing after the Primus Bellum. I did question whether she really belonged to Rezar though. That made no sense to me. Supposedly she was to balance his rage. Uh that woman felt absolutely nothing. How do you get nothing from rage!? Monakribos feeling empty after Rubati died then Bathymaas springing up from that makes sense.

And I'm starting to see that Cam and crew were trying to fix things from the very beginning. They knew they fucked up with Monakribos and they've been trying to make it right ever since. Cause that declaration he made was a huge one. (hide spoiler)]