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Written in Red / "The Others" Series Discussion SPOILERS
Yay! I'm gonna have to catch up now, don't want to be left behind!
WOOT!I'm going to tell a friend to see if shes interested in a re-read buddy read, too.
Nice!! :)
Sweet! Wow, there are so many things about this book that I love that I nearly sent Mrs J a PM at midnight just to express it. LOL Instead, I spent that time reading. :DFor now, I'm just gonna bow out of this thread until I finish the book.
But first, I just gotta say. Sam. And the ponies. And Jack the Crow with the pens and pencils. And... and... and... I've had so many "moments" in this book so far, my eyes tearing up, or laughing out loud, or just getting a stupid smile on my face... I was expecting a decent book, but I was not expecting this. Amazing.
Christa wrote: "Sweet! Wow, there are so many things about this book that I love that I nearly sent Mrs J a PM at midnight just to express it. LOL Instead, I spent that time reading. :DFor now, I'm just gonna bo..."
YES!!!!!
It's all so !!!! GREAT !!
There are some thoughts I'd like to get out...1. (view spoiler)
2. I didn't realize how much Jack amuses me with the pens until you mentioned it.
3. Of course the ponies & Sam! :)
4 Has anyone else developed a fondness for Henry or Jester as well?
5. I'm sick of Asia already.
6. (view spoiler)
Okay, now back to reading!!
1. No comment because spoilers.2. It's little details like that which make me love the book.
3. Yes!
4. Yes. Henry Beargard seems like the level-headed one, balancing out the very reactive Wolves. And Jester works with the Ponies, so what's not to love? :)
5. Yeah. I hope she ends up as Special Meat.
6. Well, it's a series so there are bound to be misunderstandings and fuck ups to keep things moving. But I really like the human police characters in the book. Monty is smart and sensible but cautious.
#5 O_Oyes!! Christa!
Christa wrote: "5. Yeah. I hope she ends up as Special Meat."MrsJoseph wrote: "#5 O_O!"
LOL!!!
The scene where The Meg calls the butcher shop, I was laughing so hard I had to put the book down. I'm seriously thinking that Special Meat might become a part of my regular vocabulary. :D
"and the TSTL Special Meat award goes to...""So-and-so would make a prime cut of Special Meat"
"I don't talk to Special Meat".
"Call the butcher, a delivery just walked in".
"Oh look, Special Meat walking..."
Nyssa wrote: ""and the TSTL Special Meat award goes to...""So-and-so would make a prime cut of Special Meat"
"I don't talk to Special Meat".
"Call the butcher, a delivery just walked in".
"Oh look, Specia..."
haha! Yes! I don't think I need to be a cannibal to appreciate and make use of the sentiment that some people are only fit for eating. :D
I love being around people who understand me.
Christa wrote: "The scene where The Meg calls the butcher shop, I was laughing so hard I had to put the book down. I'm seriously thinking that Special Meat might become a part of my regular vocabulary. :D"(view spoiler)
LOL!
ROFL! Yes! That one cracked me up, too. :D
Nyssa wrote: "Christa wrote: "5. Yeah. I hope she ends up as Special Meat."MrsJoseph wrote: "#5 O_O!"
LOL!!!"
Damn! It was all fun and games before, but shit just got real!
I'm now hoping to see her name as the Moonsday night special!!
(view spoiler)
I finished the book last night. Wow. Almost went straight into the next one but decided to put at least one book in between.
So. There are a couple of things I want to bring up, and they're pretty safe for Nyssa spoiler-wise because no details. First of all, I love that some of the usual shticks were avoided. Specifically, with the human police.
I've lost track of how many times I've read books where the sympathetic police character has a moronic Captain or Chief that he reports to that refuses to listen to him, etc, and it usually comes across as "bullshit conflict made up for no reason other than bullshit conflict". It usually ends up with the police character being in a bind or in danger or even becoming the "target" because his hands were tied by his boss, red tape, whatever. It's annoying.
So, I absolutely LOVED that Monty's boss actually listened to him, trusted him and more importantly, was an intelligent character in his own right. Yes, there were things working against them, but those things didn't gridlock them or make them into poor little "victims of the system". Ya know? So yeah, I really liked the human police characters and how all of the dynamics were portrayed.
Second, there were a lot of named characters but they were unique enough that I had no trouble keeping them straight, AND most of them were fleshed out enough to make me feel invested in what happened to them.
Also, I like that Asia was clearly portrayed as an overconfident, greedy, stupid asshole. In a world where good guys / bad guys isn't all that clear depending on where you're standing, it's important to have someone universally hateable. To do otherwise would have just seemed contrived.
Come to think of it, the author never really took sides here. Yes, we tended to get attached to and feel for those we got to know the most while reading, but she never went overboard with pointing out the good / bad / ugly of Others or Humans. The Earth Natives were... just who they are, really. The humans, likewise. Both "sides" want peace for similar reasons, which is sensible as well as self-serving. Both sides contain assholes who can put that peace at risk, and they also contain good people who are capable of seeing the other side, within reason, as individuals and allies.
Okay, that's as specific as I can get for now. :)
Yes!! To everything you said. Thank you for keeping it "Nyssa-friendly", I really appreciate that! I'm almost done!
Nyssa wrote: "Yes!! To everything you said. Thank you for keeping it "Nyssa-friendly", I really appreciate that! I'm almost done!"
Yay! I've gone ahead and updated the top post to show that this discussion will now be Open Spoiler Season for the first book in the series. Once you've finished, I think we'll have A LOT to talk about! :)
Book completed, a review was written, and various threads updated... so let's discuss! :D
First! I laughed so hard when Meg shared our thoughts for Asia's possible outcome, even though it didn't really come to pass. I'm guessing too much freezer burn! *Wicked Grin*Secondly, I love the slow burn attraction going on, although it does seem to be one-sided at the moment. But what a cute family they would make.
Three, I was pleasantly surprised that Winter carried justice all the way to the top, even though the main culprit is still out there.
Four, I think I love everybody at Lakeside Courtyard.
Christa wrote: "I finished the book last night. Wow. Almost went straight into the next one but decided to put at least one book in between."I think I'm going to do the same.
My buddy read of the Rivers of London series was interrupted by real life. So, I think I'm going to start over and then switch between the two series.
Yes to all of the above. :)Speaking of Asia's demise, I really, really like how Tess was portrayed. We didn't learn a lot about her in terms of facts (at least, not until near the very end, and even there, we only know a general "what") but we did learn a lot about WHO she is by how she acts. It was clear that she was a mystery even to the other Earth Natives, but they accepted her nonetheless, and she was grateful for that and protective of it, and was only willing to put that at risk because the Courtyard was threatened. That's why Henry has made it clear that he won't discuss it even though he knows - the only reason he knows what she is, is because she did it for them.
I still kinda wish she'd been Special Meat, but the varied and interesting ways the other bad guys died made up for it. :D
The slow developing feelings Simon has for Meg give me the warm fuzzies. I'm looking forward to seeing where that goes.
Winter. Man, the Elementals are amazing. They do not fuck around at all, but they aren't out of control, either, which is something that the Courtyard residents were concerned about. Since they mostly keep to themselves, no one was really sure what the backlash from them would look like. But they proved to be about more than vengeance. Just the Elementals alone could wipe out humanity if they really wanted to, but even at her most pissed off, Winter is too smart for that.
I teared up when Ferus was shot. I love how the author chose the grouchy asshole in the bunch just to prove that yes, we got attached to ALL of them.
There were so many things where seemingly small decisions or interactions had so much more meaning. To me, Meg taking Sam to Erebus was so symbolic of... everything, really. Among the Earth Natives are beings with powers we can't even imagine. Think about it - when humans go to war, we need to build shit, get organized, etc. In the Courtyard, Winter could take out everyone there by herself nearly instantaneously if she wanted to. Humans have never really been a threat to them, it's conflict among themselves that holds the biggest potential threat (well, until the thing that's being set up for the next book, apparently). They continue on by cooperating and having faith in each other.
So when a human Blood Prophet shoves a Wolf pup into the arms of probably the most powerful vampire that's ever existed anywhere and then she runs off knowing she's probably going to end up sacrificing herself to save him, it's a really good example of that.
You hit so many nails on their heads! With Meg and Erebus, I liked that she asked for his help, and waited to be sure she'd receive it, instead of making assumptions as to whether he would or wouldn't.
I liked that she was cognizant enough to know that Winter would help her in her time of need, therefore running to the lake.
I appreciated how each character got to know Meg in his or her own way, and how they were able to understand and explain her Megness to Simon. It was especially great to see him fall for her instead of the other way around (not that she doesn't like him, I just don't think she's had the luxury to even consider it).
Nyssa wrote: "With Meg and Erebus, I liked that she asked for his help, and waited to be sure she'd receive it, instead of making assumptions as to whether he would or wouldn't. "Yes! And she quickly made it clear WHY she knew he could protect Sam.
"It was especially great to see him fall for her instead of the other way around (not that she doesn't like him, I just don't think she's had the luxury to even consider it).
She also doesn't yet have the context to consider it. The only sex she's seen was in the form of others being abused and possibly other types of images during her "eduction". The arousal she's experienced has been from cutting. And Simon also has a lot to learn, which I think he's starting to realize. It's going to be very interesting to watch this develop. I predict lots of growling and little misunderstandings along the way. :)
That's true too! I hope Simon has patience with himself during the process. I can see him freaking about not making her happy for one reason or another, especially since he's already wary about his claws on her skin.
I can't remember the last time I had this much stuff to say about a book. LOL
I know what you mean. There are a lot of books that are fun to read, but that don't offer much in the way of discussions later. This and Rivers of London have been the exceptions so far.
Heh, after rereading both of my reviews, I noticed that I enjoyed Rivers of London and Written in Red for the same reasons! That probably explains why I found both books so easy to discuss.
OMG I JUST FINISHED AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH I CANT EVEN!!!Finally caught up here as well, I've been keeping away in fear of spoilers!
And i TOTALLY agree with EVERYTHING :P
Christa you mentioned how there are a lot of characters, but they are easy to keep apart, I didn't even realise how much I agree until I read that! I have so much trouble with names normally, more than 5 characters and I tend to start mixing them up, at least in the beginning. Here there were no such problem AT ALL :D
I love them all. Except for those I hate :P
:DWell, okay, there apparently was one character that slipped by me. On my way to the airport, I was just sitting there in the taxi and suddenly thought, "Wait. Who the fuck was Lorne?" LOL
Christa wrote: ":DWell, okay, there apparently was one character that slipped by me. On my way to the airport, I was just sitting there in the taxi and suddenly thought, "Wait. Who the fuck was Lorne?" LOL"
Lorne is the human that runs the Three Ps (but I don't remember what the 3 Ps stand for).
Oooooh! Okay, yeah, I remember now. It hit me that when all hell was breaking loose, Simon was telling Lorne to do something or go somewhere and I couldn't really place him correctly. I was pretty sure he was human but that's all I could remember. LOL Thanks!
It is now driving me nuts that I can't remember the actual store name for the 3Ps. Even Bishop's site refers to it as the Three Ps, instead of the full name, and x-ray on the Kindle didn't help either.
:-DYall don't even know how happy this - and this book - makes me!
MrsJoseph wrote: ":-DYall don't even know how happy this - and this book - makes me!"
:D
I'm gonna be starting the second book soon. Yay! :)
I will most likely start book 2 on Thursday or Friday.
Let me know when you start and I'll start too :D
Yay! Will do. :)
*runs off to buy the next book*:D
haha this is amazing! I love how into this we all are! And y'all know me, I'm not much of an activities joiner so I'm surprising myself here. I'm only a little over halfway through my current read (Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex) so I need to kick up the pace. And for the record, it's not as spicy as it sounds - the stories in it are much deeper than I expected. Sort of "sex as metaphor", examinations of power dynamics and social inequalities, that sort of thing, and the "alien" is more in the dictionary definition sense, not extra-terrestrial sense. Very good stuff.
I started the 2nd book! :D Oh, and there did end up being a couple of stories with actual extraterrestrials in the book I just finished. Pretty good ones in fact. But there was also a tale with some bears... I don't know how I feel about that. Well, I mean, I do know how I feel, but the thing is, it seemed like an odd choice for this collection aside from it being... what it was.
Alien bears? :PI'll prob start tomorrow of the plane :D
Nyssa wrote: "I will most likely start book 2 on Thursday or Friday."Umm, make that tonight.
Paper, Printing, and Postage!! The 3Ps!!
Nyssa wrote: "Paper, Printing, and Postage!! The 3Ps!!"LOL! I actually highlighted and shared that when I was reading last night. :D Unfortunately, I forgot to make it public until now.
https://www.goodreads.com/notes/17563...
Murder of CrowsDid anyone else find it odd, (yet endearing) that (view spoiler)?
Part of me couldn't believe that he didn't get the issue, and part of me found it sweet how unassuming he was about the whole thing.
Then there was poor Heather in the shop.
Yes. At first I thought, there's no way he doesn't get it, but then as it went through his thought processes, it made perfect sense. It fits with the whole approach to "shifters" in this series. It made me think of in the first book, where there was discussion (between Monty and Burke, maybe?) about the theory that many, if not all, of the Earth Natives were not originally what they became, that they at some point had learned to become these things that were around them, and over time so strongly identified with these forms that they took on the characteristics of them. Later, they learned to also take a human form, but it will never feel as right to them as their animal forms, and some in the Wild Lands can't even fully take a convincing human shape. Those that can, still have trouble holding their human shape when under stress, as we've seen with frightening but also rather hilarious results.
The theory makes sense, and it's a clever approach to shifters. Simon isn't a werewolf, he's a fully sentient, sapient, intelligent being that so strongly identifies with being a wolf that he IS one. An Other-Wolf, but never a man-wolf. So in that light, it does make sense that he rarely thinks of things the way a man would, and when the Wolfgard are in Wolf form, they're basically big doggies.
The whole first scene was set up pretty well, too. First I was like, Woah! then I was like, wait... then Awwww! then I was all Uh oh.... LOL
Oh, and it looks like I might have been right about Erebus being most Vampirey Vampire to have ever Vampired, though even Simon isn't entirely sure, but like me, he suspects that the old man is Top Fang.
"Vampirey Vampire to have ever Vampired"YES! And I really like him. And I feel that the Lakeside Courtyard holds things that are much more dangerous than even Simon thinks.
And I love the part about the shifters! It's like the way that Henry is Henry but he is also Bear - and his first shape is Spirit-Bear that is basically invisible.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Vision in Silver (other topics)Marked in Flesh (other topics)
The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (other topics)
Murder of Crows (other topics)
Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex (other topics)
Here is where we will discuss Written in Red and its series, The Others. Spoilers are allowed, as this is meant for discussion after reading. Once we've moved on from Written in Red, I will try to remember to update this top post so that people trying to avoid spoilers can see that we've moved on to the next book, etc. Or something. Yay!