The Vlad Taltos Series [Reading: Phoenix] (August 2024)

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I'm finished with 3&4 - liking this book a lot more!

How are we feeling about pacing? I keep getting off on the weekends and reorienting on Monday. Would 5&6 by Thursday work?

[Tammie]

I forgot about reading 3 and 4, but I think I can do all 4 chapters by Thursday.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I've ignored BRs for the past week... hopefully get back on track soon...

[Chris]

I should be able to catch up by Thursday too

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

sometime between ch 3-5: (view spoiler)[ so there's a scene where he's at a battle and kills someone and the text reads "...with my blade and hit him in the neck. He went down. I don't know if I killed him. I hope I didn't." It strikes me that this is the second occurrence where he deals a seemingly lethal blow then is vague on the outcome (as an adult. He described knocking the soldier off the wall as a kid without difficulty). I wonder if it's an extremely creative inclusion from the author to indicate that his character can't handle thinking about causing death now. If it's more than an accident, I'm wildly impressed!! (if it's not, then it's just poor description still haha) I'm now eager to see how he handles the next encounter. (hide spoiler)]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Skip the interlude, let's shoot for through 7&8 (+catchup if needed) to discuss Monday.

[Chris]

One thing I liked about Chapter 6 was (view spoiler)[ how Vlad explained how difficult it is to throw a knife and have it hit point first. That's something we almost take for granted and in the movies everyone can do it. But it makes sense. (hide spoiler)]

[Tammie]

@Chris, I liked that too.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Finally started

[Chris]

I'm way behind, though not sure how much exactly. I know that I was caught up until the skipped interlude but then last week was a mess and I read nothing....ugh

[Tammie]

I read up to 10. With Thanksgiving coming this week I'll probably get behind.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I’ve been behind all month…

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I'm in the middle of Ch. 8. I got lost last week when work got busy. It seems like the chapter or two every couple of days works great on the days that work great, not so much the other times lol. Any suggestions on how we should continue? Do we like this format still? Maybe just converge every few weeks to read the whole book outright? I'm fine any way we do it.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I dunno... having a schedule helps keep some of us from getting too far behind... I mostly go on where you guys are at, and where my reading preferences lie... don't want to see the series BR completely fall apart

And we just need to finish whatever we're reading in December by the 31st ;)

Competition points matter!!!

[Chris]

I was actually worried about the Dec 31 too, to start something fresh on Jan 1.

I think we have enough time even with the stall and upcoming holidays to finish Dragon, Yendi, and go back to wrap up the Interludes in Dragon before wrapping the year....

At the current pace, yes.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Okay, as long as it's still fun and not feeling like an obligation. Let's strive to have this book done at whatever individual pace you want by the end of November, then we'll set a reasonable schedule to get the next one + interludes wrapped up by the end of Dec. :)

[Tammie]

I finally got back to this book. I should be done in a couple of days and then start on the next one. I liked the part in chapter 11 when (view spoiler)[Vlad hit the guy with the dart and he thought something bit him! That part was pretty funny. (hide spoiler)]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Tammie wrote: "I finally got back to this book. I should be done in a couple of days and then start on the next one. I liked the part in chapter 11 when [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I laughed too, especially at the argument that followed about the bugs lol. (hide spoiler)]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I finished it yesterday, admittedly in a rush. Overall I liked it better than the first one but still got confused when we switched past/present again. I'll be expecting that in the next one. Anyone else doing audio? The narrator makes Loiosh sound like a small Hispanic man - eh, gancho? (haha I'm just now realizing Sanderson used spanish, if I was hearing that right). Anyway, I don't like it. lol

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

4 - Yendi 1
5 -Yendi 2
6 -Yendi 3
7 - Discussion
8 - Yendi 4
9 - Yendi 5
10 - Yendi 6
11 - Discussion
12 - Yendi 7
13 - Yendi 8
14 - Yendi 9
15 - Discussion
16 - Yendi 10
17 - Yendi 11
18 - Yendi 12
19 - Discussion
20 - Yendi 13
21 - Yendi 14
22 - Yendi 15
23 - Discussion
24 - Yendi 16
25 - Yendi 17
26 - Catchup
27 - Discussion
28 - Dragon, Interlude 1
29 - Dragon, Interlude 2
30 - Dragon, Interlude 3
31 - Discussion

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Assuming there are 17 chapters in Yendi, how about that for a guideline schedule to get both Yendi and Dragon done by the end of the year. 3 ch before discussion rather than 2. Then we can relax a bit with it in Jan?

[Tammie]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "I finished it yesterday, admittedly in a rush. Overall I liked it better than the first one but still got confused when we switched past/present again. I'll be expecting that in the next one. Anyon..."

I finished it a couple of days ago. I liked it about the same as the last book. I'm not listening to the audio, but that description of the voice for Loiosh made me laugh. I kept forgetting that we were switching from past to present again too.

I'm pretty sure I can manage the schedule you've set going forth.

[Chris]

I stalled out with Dragon, but if I can get back into it soon I can catch up without too much trouble...

Damn reading slump is affecting everything..

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I read Dragon chapter 4-end today, to catch up...

I think I prefer the main timeline books more than these prequels... hard to quantify why... the writing style isn't really different, or anything, I don't think... maybe there's less time jumps?...

[Tammie]

I just finished chapter 3 in Yendi, and so far I like it better than Dragon. I think I just got a little tired of all the war stuff in Dragon. Also, no switching from past to present so far. At least I don't think so...lol.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I breezed through the first three chapters as well - soooo much better! Chris, mayhaps just leave Dragon behind and skip to this one. Trying to slog through a dud when behind schedule never helped any slump.

[Chris]

I don't have far to go, Niki. I got through a good chunk this weekend and enjoyed it well enough. I'll finish soon and start Yendi.

And The Dragonbone Chair as well..

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Chris wrote: "I don't have far to go, Niki. I got through a good chunk this weekend and enjoyed it well enough. I'll finish soon and start Yendi.

And The Dragonbone Chair as well.."

Haha, nothing like stacking your commitments. I'm glad you're enjoying it still.

[Chris]

Finished up Dragon main chapters. I was about to read the Epilogue but then it looked like it was part of the Interludes so I held off.

Yendi up next

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Awesome! Per the schedule (I had to look because I forgot what I was supposed to be reading), we're slated to be through ch 6 by Saturday.

[Tammie]

Finished chapters 7-9 (view spoiler)[Ugh! The instalove is killing me. She was just trying to kill him and now they are trying to rip each others clothes off? Couldn't they have gotten to know each other first? On the other hand, she is very interesting character. (hide spoiler)]

[Chris]

I got a bunch read yesterday, through chapter 6 or 7...

I've read this one before, but it's been years. Some of it is coming back to me...

I do like it quite a bit more than the others we've hit so far.

[Tammie]

Chris wrote: "I got a bunch read yesterday, through chapter 6 or 7...

I've read this one before, but it's been years. Some of it is coming back to me...

I do like it quite a bit more than the others we've hit ..."

I'm liking it more too.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Only took us 3 books to get to one where Vlad is doing what he's good at, instead of what Morollan is forcing him to do...

I read the first 23% this morning... in chapter 5 somewhere... and I parrot the "this is better" that everyone else has... including myself before I even started :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tammie wrote: "Finished chapters 7-9 [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Good ol' Cawty... I haven't even reached it yet, but I know what you mean... it's the weakest element of the series for me... but it doesn't intrude much, either... too many other things going on, most of the time... (hide spoiler)]

[Chris]

Finished Yendi last night, then read the Interludes in Dragon this morning...

Honestly, with my reread of Yendi I was doubting the wisdom of a first time reader doing this chronologically. If I had read Taltos & Dragon to start it off I probably wouldn't have continued. They're okay, but not as good as what hooked me in Jhereg and Yendi. This reread reminded me how good this series can get.

Then, on the flipside I was glad to have read the Interludes after reading Yendi. They made great sense in context and had I read them within Dragon I would have been lost.....nothing spoilery there...

[Tammie]

Chris wrote: "Finished Yendi last night, then read the Interludes in Dragon this morning...

Honestly, with my reread of Yendi I was doubting the wisdom of a first time reader doing this chronologically. If I ha..."

I can see what you mean. I'm a first time reader and the books we started with weren't as good as Yendi. If I was reading these all on my own, I may not have continued. I still have to get to the interludes, and knowing that Cawti is in them, I'm glad I didn't read them first.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I'm in the same boat - I wouldn't have kept reading if I'd initially started with the chronological order. I overbooked myself and got way behind this month, so I haven't picked it up for a couple of weeks. I should be able to function again in January. I'll catch up by then.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I've been spending alot of time on spreadsheet and GR maintenance (ratings/reviews/book-keeping)... just not the actual competition sheet... good thing the sheet should be 99% functional with minimal effort... just not pretty without a couple hours of colorizing and meeting customization requests...

I'll get on it once the teams are announced, at the latest...

So, my december reading is the lowest in forever... only like 15-18 books?

[Tammie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I've been spending alot of time on spreadsheet and GR maintenance (ratings/reviews/book-keeping)... just not the actual competition sheet... good thing the sheet should be 99% functional with minim..."

I love that 15-18 books is low for you, haha.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tammie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I've been spending alot of time on spreadsheet and GR maintenance (ratings/reviews/book-keeping)... just not the actual competition sheet... good thing the sheet should be 99%..."

I had a "bad" year and only read 250-280 books this year... 20-30 per month...

Last year I read 500 books... and 350-400 of them were before the pandemic got serious in April/May... then I just kinda slumped and did re-reads the rest of the year, including tomes like Wheel of Time...

If I never slowed down, I could have given Soo a run for her money with 1000+... 500 was still a record, for me... old record was like 400ish...

I've been updating my Incomplete Series spreadsheet all day, and finding a scary amount of new releases I didn't know about... I think I could fill most of a year with the list of books I'm going to have for the January challenge...

Between 2020 books I didn't get to, 2021 books I'm looking forward to, and 2020/2021 books I'd be looking forward to if I wasn't 1-2 books FURTHER behind...

[Tammie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Tammie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I've been spending alot of time on spreadsheet and GR maintenance (ratings/reviews/book-keeping)... just not the actual competition sheet... good thing the shee..."

Yikes! That's a lot of books to read in January. I guess you will be working on that challenge all year.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

On re-read, after readin 7+ books in the series, there are some definite elements that are funny, knowing things Vlad hasn't figured out...

Now that I've been suitably vague/mysterious, I'll fade away... :)

(I'm working on finishing this, again)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tammie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Tammie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I've been spending alot of time on spreadsheet and GR maintenance (ratings/reviews/book-keeping)... just not the actual competition sheet...."

For sure... I finally collated my list, and I think it was worse than even I was expecting...

Just counting the 2021/2022 books in the first 2 lists, it's ~60 books... add in the Criminally behind books, and it's ~80... add in the Low Priority stuff and it's 99... and I'm sure I missed a few, since the list is so big...

[Chris]

Have we decided when to continue, with Tiassa?

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Chris wrote: "Have we decided when to continue, with Tiassa?"

I'd like to. I think I need a break for the month though. I found myself with too many things going on. Reconvene in Feb?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Chris wrote: "Have we decided when to continue, with Tiassa?"

I'd like to. I think I need a break for the month though. I found myself with too many things going on. Reconvene in Feb?"

it's never-ending... I've signed up for so much stuff, and keep finding other things to BR...

[Chris]

Feb sounds good. I'm taking it easy in January :)

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Chris wrote: "Feb sounds good. I'm taking it easy in January :)"

Me too. Went rogue and started something not even on my list. Flaked on some BRs (whoops) and am firing myself from writing for Audiofile Magazine. New year, new attitude lol.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Chris wrote: "Have we decided when to continue, with Tiassa?"

I'd like to. I think I need a break for the month though. I found myself with too many things going..."

I don't thrive under BRs with the way I'm going unless I'm really, really loving the series (Wayward is the only one that doesn't feel like an obligation atm).

I also weirdly feel like I can't just up and start new series unless I start a BR for it. Like, that's the only way I have permission. Bizarre.

I'm reinventing my experience right now. It's kinda fun...