The Core [Mar 15, 2020]

[Margret, Caladan Brood Face]

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[Soo]

Anyone reading this? I started today.

[Anni]

We delayed the BR to wait for the second group to catch up :)

[Rob]

Well feel free to relay your thoughts Soo. We'll jump back in later.

[Siobhan]

Hey guys! Just realised I finally caught up and forgot to let you all know.
When would you like to start The Core? :) I'm free anytime from about 15th. Edit: and after!

[Rob]

ooh....hmmm. I'm scheduled to read the new Suzanne Collins then. Maybe later in the month like the 20th? (hunger games books don't take long....usually).

[Siobhan]

Yeah sure, no hurry! Just saying I'm free any time after that :)

See what Anni and Shannon are like too.

[Anni]

20th sounds good to me :) I'm in no hurry tho, if another date works better for anyone.

[Rob]

I finished two books in the past couple of days. So I'm game to start this at any time.

[Siobhan]

I can also start any time :)

[Shannon]

Sounds good! I'll jump in and start too! :)

I keep forgetting to switch to the new book discussion. I'm still hanging out in The Skull Throne thread, lol!

[Siobhan]

I'm glad Rob thought of leaving a message for you in the last thread!! :)

Anni are you ok to start soon?

[Rob]

My library opens next week for pickups on the 6th. I had a put a request for the Core in just before we got locked down in mid-march and I can see that it is still sitting in the library waiting for me :)

[Siobhan]

Rob wrote: "My library opens next week for pickups on the 6th. I had a put a request for the Core in just before we got locked down in mid-march and I can see that it is still sitting in the library waiting fo..."

If you want to start on the 6th then that's totally fine by me!

[Shannon]

The 6th works for me too! :)

I'm glad Rob left a message too, Siobhan! I'd like to think I would have picked up on it eventually, but there's really no telling, lol. :)

[Anni]

I'm struggling a bit right now, but I'll somehow make it 😅

[Rob]

Thanks for waiting! This is a crazy week for me. I have two-night meetings this week. One where I'm just assisting other people in my department and then running my own. So lots of prep to do!

[Siobhan]

We can take it slow, Anni :) I'll be reading a few books at the same time.

No problem at all, Rob! Hope your meetings go well.

[Shannon]

I'll have to take it slow as well. We'll get it finished though eventually! :)

[Rob]

One meeting down, one to go :)

[Shannon]

Woohoo, Rob! :)

[Rob]

Have any of you started? Upon going to the library on Monday I quickly found out I had to have an appointment and I won't be able to pick up my copy until tomorrow. Not that it matters, I've made a lot of progress towards finishing the Licanius trilogy in the meantime.

[Anni]

I started it yesterday :) I'm around 8% I think and I'm still trying to figure out what to think of the story 😅

[Siobhan]

I haven't started yet, had a slumpy week so I'm a bit behind. Will start soon as I can.

[Shannon]

I'm slowly listening to it. I'm on chapter 7, I think. So far I'm liking it! Curious to see what you all think! :)

[Anni]

Just finished Chapter 5... (view spoiler)[ and I'm afraid that I'm a bit annoyed by the book... as I already said befor, the storyline somehow lost it's momentum for me, I don't have the feeling, that we're working to reach any goal here. I don't care enough for the characters to be invested in all their relationship drama.

The magic system also lost it's magic (wordplay level 30 :D), I don't know, but to me it seems as if they are now able to heal anything and the demons seem to be a lesser threat, compared to the war going on.

And seriously, now we have a forest-community that throw sexparties every other night? I'm not prude, at least I don't think so... but the moment Stella invited Briar to a threesome with her and her uncle, because she has "two holes to fill" made me uncomfortable.

Not sure what to think of Leesha's baby. Maybe it's just me being annoyed and therefor judgy, but I'm afraid the author created a character with two sex, to have even more adventurous sexparties in the spin-off series... (hide spoiler)]

Haha sorry, I guess my update evolved to a little rant :D

[Shannon]

I know what you mean, Sir Anni!

(view spoiler)[ I'm just starting chapter 10, and I'm really torn about how I feel. I think sometimes I love the idea of the series more than I actually love the series. I despise Hasik, and so much of what is taking place in the book involves him at the moment. I'll be happy when he goes bye-bye.

The sex is starting to just fill like filler. It's gotten to the point where it's like, okay, enough all ready.

I like Briar a lot and he's quickly becoming my favorite character.

Leesha's baby...I'm not sure what to think about that! I really hope you're wrong though!! lol! :)

I'm really hoping this book will surprise me. I love so many things about the series. I just hope it can end well! (hide spoiler)]

[Rob]

I just finally got my copy yesterday. I may be playing catchup. thank god for spoiler tags :)

[Shannon]

Glad you got your copy, Rob! It's going to take me forever to listen to this massive thing, so I'm sure everyone will have plenty of time to catch up. :)

[Anni]

I'm not that fast eigher, I'm sure you'll be able to catch up in no time. I'm relly curious what you think!

[Siobhan]

I started! Chapter 1 - (view spoiler)[ it's not been that long since I read the last book but I'd forgotten nearly everything! :(
Why is Leesha's baby some sort of devil spawn? Jardir is just a man right?! What is going on! (hide spoiler)]

[Shannon]

Yay, Siobhan! :)

I felt the same way you did when I first started! (view spoiler)[ Things started coming back to me the more I read though. I think maybe Leesha's baby is like that because of all the magic she used while pregnant, or maybe just the huge combination of magic between her and Jardir. I'm not sure! I'm curious to see what happens though! (hide spoiler)]

[Anni]

I think you're right Shannon, later on she told Amanvah (view spoiler)[ that she has to be careful using magic while being pregnant, because it heavily affects the baby. (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Ahh yeah you're right guys, that makes sense!

[Siobhan]

Sir Anni wrote: "Just finished Chapter 5... ."

Hahaha! (view spoiler)[ I somewhat agree with you, I'm wondering where the plot and momentum has gone! And now I'm scared Leesha's baby is going to be in sex parties! 😭😂

There's definitely a fixation on sex at the moment, that scene with her uncle was bizarre. (hide spoiler)]

[Anni]

I finished Chapter 24... just want to be done 🙈 It gets better, but I'm still not satisfied. There are a few storylines now. And to me they somehow feel like stories on their own, but on the same topic, somehow glued together to get a super long book and drag out the ending...

[Rob]

On the other end of the spectrum I finally just got started, through chapter 1 and (view spoiler)[that was not a twist I was expecting with the impacts of magic and babies..... (hide spoiler)] Scribd finally released this as an audiobook so I'll be reading and audio booking to catch up. Previous installments I felt needed.....trimming and this is quite the paperweight, so I'm not sensing the editing I desire :)

[Catherine]

omggg scared the baby is gona have sex parties???
wow. k I get some of the comments about the warded children scenes...buuut let's get real here. it was one scene. Meant to shock and really drive home the idea of these kids getting drunk on power.
I am a huge fan of these books. Just finished my 4th reread of the series, and I am still just blown away.
The decent into the core is one of the best 'moments' in the book, and the ending was perfect for this series. There is no other way he could end it. His story goes full circle. Everything led up to that moment. And it was perfect - in all its agony.

[Rob]

glad you really liked it Catherine, that encourages me to dig in and read on. .. Up to chapter 3 now and am glad everyone is bonding strongly with Olive. Guess I have some "interesting" scenes coming up.

[Catherine]

You do!!!!!! I am so excited for you. I remember feeling like I was so close to the end. How could he possibly wrap this up. How could he possibly give us a worthy ending???? Then he just wraps it up soo beautifully that you're just like of course. Of course! how else could you have ended this?!

[Anni]

Catherine wrote: "omggg scared the baby is gona have sex parties???
wow. k I get some of the comments about the warded children scenes...buuut let's get real here. it was one scene. Meant to shock and really drive h..."

I was talking about the sequel, where "the baby" will be around 16 years old. I'm not saying you shouldn't like it, I'm glad you did, I'm afraid it just isn't my cup of tea...

[Anni]

Siobhan wrote: "Sir Anni wrote: "Just finished Chapter 5... ."

Hahaha! I somewhat agree with you, I'm wondering where the plot and momentum has gone!

I just read Mayim's review and she describes very well what's bothering me...

[Anni]

Rob wrote: "glad you really liked it Catherine, that encourages me to dig in and read on. .. Up to chapter 3 now and am glad everyone is bonding strongly with Olive. Guess I have some "interesting" scenes comi..."

You're doing great Rob! :) The audio also helps me a lot to make progress.

[Catherine]

Oh no!! I totally get what you meant lol :) It is a very divided book. A very much love it or hate it. I find myself getting defensive, I just fell so inlove with his characters and his world. The underlying religious conflict throughout the whole book just really spoke to me. I am also a morbid soul. I love a good villain. I liked how fucked up some things got. This was a harsh ugly unforgiving world...but there was also beauty and salvation at the core ;)

[Shannon]

I'm listening to this one on Scribd as well. Almost done with chapter 19. I find myself getting sucked back into the story pretty easily, and there is so much that I still love about it. I still get annoyed by things, but overall I really enjoy the world he's created.

I have no idea how this is all going to end! (view spoiler)[I know someone is going to die! Inevera threw the dice and said they all wouldn't make it out alive. Who's it going to be?? I was really bummed out when Rojer died, so I'm guessing it's gonna be like that again. I need to not get so attached to characters in books, lol. :) (hide spoiler)]

[Catherine]

I will never be over Rojers death!

[Shannon]

Catherine wrote: "I will never be over Rojers death!"

Yeah, Catherine, it was pretty sad!

[Rob]

I'm up to Chapter 29. Overall, I'm pretty into the novel and am merrily overlooking the fact it took 400 pages to really start advancing the plot at all. Everything felt necessary and tying up loose ends for even bit-player characters.

(view spoiler)[Mostly focused on who is going to die and who is not. I am prepared and girding myself for any outcome, but I know its going to be brutal and perhaps book-throw worthy though I typically have saved those moments for Sirius dying in Harry Potter 5 and when i read the red wedding (yeesh) twenty-years ago. I feel like the Miln choir is going to play a huge role and am waiting for an epic moment there. (hide spoiler)]

It is a bit refreshing to have a book where all things are revealed and advanced more in the moment as opposed to mostly received through data dumps and intricate reveals of the Licanius trilogy. So i guess I'm enjoying this series more that, but feel like Licanius is more deserving a reread just to try and unravel all its intricacies. (I doubt I'll ever do it though - I'm far more likely to do reread Sanderson and Martin).

[Siobhan]

I'm still reading Rob, I'm about 40% through, not sure what chapter I'm at. I'm enjoying it though despite the slow start. :) I'm hoping to finish this by the end of the month, wish me luck! 😅

[Rob]

Heh, good luck. I've had a lot of time to read/listen lately (wife had to go for a procedure and they wouldn't let me into the outpatient/waiting room/or go back with her until it was all over), So I ended up driving around town listening on audiobook or sitting in a park reading while drinking my coffee on Thursday.