Vagabond Treehouse (2023) [Beware of Chicken 3 - December 4th] Showing 1,651-1,700 of 5,829

[Nirkatze]

TT Dominick Davidner through chapter 42--gah! When you combine time travel and love, everything gets messy. Always. Always. *bangs head against wall*

[Soo]

Nirkatze wrote: "TT Dominick Davidner through chapter 42--gah! When you combine time travel and love, everything gets messy. Always. Always. *bangs head against wall*"

That story is a homage to the author's wife & romance. lol

[Nirkatze]

Soo wrote: "Nirkatze wrote: "TT Dominick Davidner through chapter 42--gah! When you combine time travel and love, everything gets messy. Always. Always. *bangs head against wall*"

That story is a homage to th..."

I was thinking that--I found an interview with him where he talks about having met his wife, being chased off by her parents, then meeting again a decade or more later and finally marrying her.

Still, the owchie chapters made me think of every time travel romance that has gone wrong--Eureka, About Time...more I can't remember.

I really enjoyed how TW popped in near the end.

And I'm 10 minutes away from the end, and (view spoiler)[he hasn't told her the truth--their entire relationship in his fourth life is kinda based on a lie....and the book ended. And he never told her. (hide spoiler)]

Judgment day Chapter 62. (view spoiler)[Makes me think of all the active shooter trainings I had to go to in school. They changed from a "hide and hope" model to a "evacuate if you can, barricade, or swarm and attack if you can't" model--made more sense. If the shooter is a student, it's not like you're going to fool someone who attends the school that there's no one home... (hide spoiler)]

I like the threads that connect through each book. (view spoiler)[Emily being the pixis lady from the first one. Thomas showing up. Zach being a gym teacher. Carrie working in the pixis factory. (hide spoiler)]

#2 is still my favorite. This one I didn't like as much, but it was still compelling and feel-good.

[Nirkatze]

Were we planning on doing AV#3 today? I've forgotten. Trying to decide if I should jump into that or if I should try to get through TT#4 before Mon so I can join #5 with y'all.

[Julian]

Random question but are there any books (or series) that anyone has read where the protagonist changes either halfway through the book or at some point in a series?

I was just thinking about a comment I read someone mention in the Cradle BR about worrying that the protagonist wouldn't have something happen to him. It got me thinking that more often than not in books that deal with a single protagonist I never worry about anything truly serious happening to them since they are always bound to eventually prevail.

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Spelunking 33%: [spoilers removed]"

Oh yeah (view spoiler)[ 100% I do not trust that guy. I feel like he's using Alice as some sort of experiment.. And that comment about him casually mentioning bounty hunting as a way to make extra cash... He's definitely profiting off her somehow, I don't see him just casually healing her/renewing her body for nothing. Also since she knew Naga from a young age its got strong grooming vibes to me..

On another note, the way Alice travels using her memories is super messed up. I think we've only seen memories from before Thomas was taken too.. And the way her memories are vivid before the dimensional hopping and blurry while she's been working with Naga... (hide spoiler)]

[Soo]

Julian, do you mean 180 kind of change or gradual character changes of growing up?

There are series where the character seems to change 180, but I can't think of one that's done well.

The Wandering Inn is a good example of characters that seem to be one way and they become more as we see them in more situations/events. In that manner, there are lots of stories that show more than one side of a character and balance the 'good/bad' aspects.

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Little bit further: "

(view spoiler)[ Yeah Alice has always been a mysterious character so it's weird getting her perspective. And once we actually do she seems a little more naive than I would have expected? Also quick to kill... definitely agree seems like Naga's influence.


Also 100% the Autarch has to be Thomas right?? I haven't confirmed yet, but that's definitely what I'm thinking. The perspective of Alice and the harem seems like its trying to force opinions on the reader about the Autarch before meeting him... (hide spoiler)]

[Julian]

I mean like we are following one person whom we believe to be the protagonist and suddenly a different character takes over as the main protagonist.

I don't think I've ever seen this happen in any book (series with many different character povs are hard to consider here). It would be an interesting twist to see

[Nirkatze]

I remember one series I was reading--I think Farlander--the character who I thought was the main character dies at the end of the first book, and I never finished the second one because I wasn't expecting the change and I wanted the MC back. Always planned to go back and finish one day.

Mistborn Era 1 kinda feels like that on the first read. A lot of folks would say GoT. I don't really count those though.

I feel like I should be able to name a few more that have a pass-the-torch moment, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

[Tonari no Emily]

RachelG. wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Spelunking 33%: [spoilers removed]"

Spelunking 35%/Chapter 9 ."

(view spoiler)[ Yeah her decision to abandon her children to go on a wild goose chase for decades essentially is a very.. foreign idea to me? Idk I just don't agree with that decision. Maybe its just cuz she was grieving at first, and then kept going due to influence of Naga and her slowly going mad because of the flensing, etc. (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Spelunking beginning of chapter 10 (view spoiler)[ Okay I thought Alice was just being naive/willfully blind with not know the Autarch is most likely Thomas, but then she made the comments of the "man she knew" wouldn't do that.. so I think she knows, she just doesn't know how the meeting will turn out. That makes me feel better about Alice's intelligence haha (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Julian wrote: "I mean like we are following one person whom we believe to be the protagonist and suddenly a different character takes over as the main protagonist.

I don't think I've ever seen this happen in an..."

The only thing that comes to mind is Divergent trilogy (major spoilers obviously if you ever want to read this.. YA dystopian) (view spoiler)[ But it happens in the last book because the MC dies and the MC's bf finishes the story or something like that. It's definitely been a while since I read (hide spoiler)]

I feel like a similar situation happened in another series I've read before but it's not coming to mind..

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "I remember one series I was reading--I think Farlander--the character who I thought was the main character dies at the end of the first book, and I never finished the second one beca..."

Oh yeah I was thinking of Mistborn!

[Nirkatze]

Emily wrote: "Julian wrote: "I mean like we are following one person whom we believe to be the protagonist and suddenly a different character takes over as the main protagonist.

I don't think I've ever seen th..."

I thought of that too, but I wasn't going to count it since (view spoiler)[she doesn't die until the end of the last book. (hide spoiler)] Though Mistborn's rather like that too. I was thinking of (view spoiler)[Kelsier (hide spoiler)] for book 1 initially, but the whole thing's really Vin, and then there's the whole book 3 thing...

Not sure if I can count Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle either--major characters die at the end of the series, and then the sequel series has new main characters. It doesn't feel like a major departure or shock surprise though, like I feel you're looking for. Cinda Williams Chima's Seven Realms does similar things with a sequel series.

There's lots of series out there with multiple POVs where a POV will be killed of at one point--but I'm hard pressed to think of a single main POV that dies, and then swaps perspectives to a side character. Though again, I have a niggling feeling that I have read something like that. Currently scanning through my book list to see if I can figure it out...

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "Emily wrote: "Julian wrote: "I mean like we are following one person whom we believe to be the protagonist and suddenly a different character takes over as the main protagonist.

I don't think I'v..."

Yeah (view spoiler)[Kelsier (hide spoiler)] was what I was thinking of for Mistborn.. but (view spoiler)[Vin was definitely MC from the beginning anyway.. but the book 3 thing is almost the whole switcheroo? lol (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Sara Douglass' Axis Trilogy moving into the Wayfarer Redemption does some interesting things with changing focus, death and life, and not going where I expected it.

Dune kinda does that, between Dune Messiah and Children.

I keep thinking of things where the main character (or A main character) dies near the end of the series in a big climactic moment (Powder Mage, The Interdependency, Legends of the First Empire, to name a few), but I don't count those.

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "Sara Douglass' Axis Trilogy moving into the Wayfarer Redemption does some interesting things with changing focus, death and life, and not going where I expected it.

Dune kinda does that, between D..."
Oh! Was also remembering the Interdependency...

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "RachelG. wrote: "Spleunking - Chapter 10 [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

About the assassins (view spoiler)[ I was guessing the crossroads... But Naga kinda makes sense too. So it would force Alice to keep looking for Thomas by interdimensional travel and Naga would keep getting to essentially harvest Alice for the magic.

Like Naga sucks and I hope they kill him/get some sort of revenge because man did he wring every last bit out of Alice.

Agree with Iain that I was definitely not liking Alice in this one.. I'm glad we haven't had a POV from her until now in a main novel because she really isn't likable from her decision making.

Also, is this the first novel where McGuire is using quotes from Healy family men along with the women when its a Healy woman POV? (and vice versa) (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

@Nirkatze

AV3: I think I'll have to wait till next week some time for that one.. I guess we'll see

TTDD: That has been my least favorite one I think probably because some of the things you said... The time travel and romance thing is mostly an ick for me (view spoiler)[ an adult in a teenage body (well YA) pining after a teen... The maturity levels are just not the same and yeah I was definitely not liking their life being a lie.. Just.. not for me.

Also didn't like the reliving the military academy aspect.. too much of the same and didn't add anything to the book. (hide spoiler)]

[Julian]

I guess in a way yeah Mistborn and Divergent both kinda pull it off although in both cases it happens nearly at the end of the story. GoT, Malazan, etc don't really count either since they have so many different main viewpoints that there's not such a thing as a main protagonist in my mind.

Also on a completely unrelated note, I struggle to put down Skyward each time I sit down to read it! There's so many things that I want to find out in the story

[Tonari no Emily]

Oh! And maybe Newsflesh..

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Finished: "

I very much agree, not my favorite..
(view spoiler)[ And yeah I think Alice's character/attitude has a lot to do with it. Perhaps a lot of that was intentional with Naga messing with her head and her already single minded obsession.. But it still wasn't very fun to read about haha

I'm glad we found Sally though and I'm looking forward to the reunion between her and James.

Yeah I agree about the end with Naga, very anti-climatic. The whole book almost felt anti-climactic to me though.. Throughout the series we knew Alice was searching for Thomas, but we didn't really know the specifics of her travels. We get to find out how she didn't appear to be aging (which was quite horrific).. But as soon as I knew it was Alice's book I knew she would find Thomas in this one and that they both would get home... So nothing was really that surprising. Also we could assume Sally would be there because of things we learned in previous books.
So the ending with Naga was super anti-climactic.. We already have Thomas, Naga really won't be that much of a threat and his death wasn't showy/entertaining? Although being burned alive from the inside is also quite horrific.

I'm also hoping to get back to Earth-locales and I want there to be more Covenant showdowns of some sort haha (hide spoiler)]

[Soo]

Newflesh is SO GOOD! I don't know why it's not more popular.

I had thought of a good example for what Julian is talking about and promptly forgot it as I read all the posts. XD

Here's to hoping I remember it again. Hahahahah

Honestly, I don't think I've read a successful story where the MC is switched within the story and it's done in a manner that doesn't disrupt the flow or come across as jumping the shark.

[Tonari no Emily]

Soo wrote: "Newflesh is SO GOOD! I don't know why it's not more popular.

I had thought of a good example for what Julian is talking about and promptly forgot it as I read all the posts. XD

Here's to hoping ..."
Right?? I love Newsflesh! It's my favorite zombie book/series

[Soo]

Emily, did you watch Newsroom? Cause Newsflesh was like Newsroom with zombies for me. lol

I loved Newsroom!

[Narilka]

Julian wrote: "I mean like we are following one person whom we believe to be the protagonist and suddenly a different character takes over as the main protagonist.

I don't think I've ever seen this happen in an..."

Hmm. Not sure that's actually happened with Cradle yet. It's been more like an added POV character. Though I'm only 75% through so now I'm not looking forward to the switch (view spoiler)[if we are to only follow Jai Long the rest of the series (hide spoiler)]. There's a high probability I'll finish the book tonight so guess I'll be finding out soon.

[Tonari no Emily]

Soo wrote: "Emily, did you watch Newsroom? Cause Newsflesh was like Newsroom with zombies for me. lol

I loved Newsroom!"

I haven't but I think I'll have to now! :D

[Choko]

Julian, I have been looking for someone to read Skyward with, so I can catch up and read the next two books... Is there a BR or are you doing it by yourself?

[Soo]

Emily, the writing & acting in Newsroom was great! It's the kind of news that used to happen and still (sort of depending) happens. Another of the shows that everyone wanted more of and it faded into cult fav like Firefly.


Julian & Choko, if you guys BR Skyward, I'll add it to the Vagabond BR shelf. =D

[Choko]

I really would like to! Thanks, Soo... I missed the BR last year and they had gone all the way up to the new book last month...

[Tonari no Emily]

I've really been wanting to read that too! Bit overbooked at the moment though..

[Soo]

Skyward - My recommendation is to stop after #1 and wait until #4 comes out. #2 & 3 are transition pieces.

[Choko]

When is 4 coming out? Maybe we should push it closer to the release time?

[Soo]

#4 is slated for Spring/Summer of 2023.

I'm hoping that will be a more complete story than #2 & 3. All of them have been good to read, but the first book was the only one that was a solid arc within the overall arc.

[Soo]

I'm about halfway done with A Deadly Education. I was happy to be able to get that one from the library. Waiting to finish to see how I feel about it, but it's pretty good and I can see why people would ref M-bot.

[Nirkatze]

@Emily & Others doing AV--totally ok with doing AV3 next Saturday.

I haven't heard of Newsflesh or Newsroom--I found Newsflesh and added to TBR but couldn't find Newsroom. What is it?

I loved Skyward, and I do agree that the next two weren't quite as magical--great, but just a tad...less. But I really liked the novellas. Would love to hear y'all's thoughts if you BR here.

@Soo--I also loved Deadly Education. I gave the books to my friend for Christmas, and she called me to tell me she just picked it up yesterday and couldn't put it down.

[Julian]

@Narilka there isn't any switch like I mentioned in cradle. Regarding cradle I meant that since such a switch is so uncommon I never once feared for Lindon

[RachelG.]

Spelunking - Final thoughts. (view spoiler)[ I actually enjoyed this one in the series. It always takes me time in the beginning of these books to get into the story. I REALLY disliked the last story arc with Sarah’s POV. It took me three tries to get through book 10 and I had to push myself to keep going.

I do agree that Alice was naive and a jerk. I was glad that Thomas took out Naga although I wish it was more dramatic. I can see the year long trek to deposit the people back into their worlds being a part of the next story but perhaps that would just be a short story instead. Regardless of what’s next I hope to have the Aeslin Mice be a part of the story. They are my favorite characters. (hide spoiler)]

[Julian]

@Choko I've just been reading Skyward by myself but I'm not done with the book yet! I'd love to have someone else BR this series with me since there's so much I want to discuss

[Nirkatze]

Started TT Nathaniel Moon--oof what a start!

Through Chapter 9 (view spoiler)[Cyrus & the Preacher made me so mad! Anyone who would support kidnapping a child from a loving home is evil, and they can't hide behind a god as an excuse. So glad the Preacher decided it wasn't right.

I was worried for a minute that V would go along with it, and so relieved when it turned out she was planning on running and was just buying time. Glad too that Andi is going with them. (hide spoiler)]

Through Chapter 12 (view spoiler)[Interesting that Andi is a repeater. (hide spoiler)] An interesting different chapter in the story so far.

[Soo]

Skyward - Whether ya'll BR it or not, you can talk about it here. Most of us have read it. Just use spoilers for those that haven't.

Nirkatze, Newsroom is a TV show that aired a while back. You may be able to find it streaming online. It was a well written show with great actors.

Deadly Education #1 - I would like to get to know El's Mom. I bet she's stronger than El or the same strength. Perhaps they had similar struggles growing up.

[Soo]

TTNM #4: It's a wacko start right? That seems to be the author's MO. Take a crazy situation and spin redemption. I like Nathaniel's mom. She's great.

[Soo]

Searching the Hoopla library for books to borrow. I have about 2 weeks to borrow on the current temp card & the full 10 credits to use.

Looked up Gregg Hurwitz (because of the book I'm going to read & apparently it's a series... so went looking for #2) and that lead me to check out the selection for Douglas Preston and then I clicked on this author, Andrew Mayne, because his pic makes him look like a bad guy. Like the evil magician or the dude that's going to swindle you out of your money & clothes before you sit down. Ya know, if you saw him on a show like Lucifer, obviously, he would be the more evil demon to Lucifer being Lucifer. XD

[Soo]

Question for those who have read Naomi Novik.

Does she have a habit of ending books on a cliffhanger?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "Newflesh is SO GOOD! I don't know why it's not more popular.

I had thought of a good example for what Julian is talking about and promptly forgot it as I read all the posts. XD

Here's to hoping ..."

The 2 examples I can think of, neither of which I've read/finished, are Malice (Faithful & the Fallen) (view spoiler)[one of the MCs thinks he's the Chosen One for the first book or so, only to learn he's the villain in the prophecy... and at that point he's too invested to stop... (hide spoiler)]... I read 2 of those books but wasn't very happy with it and moved on...

Other is the War of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts: The Curse of the Mistwraith... this one I want to read, but am hampered by the lack of audio... it's the story of 2 brothers who were raised very differently, and a series of events sees them shunted to another world... where they get swept up in prophecies and family feuds outside their control... this goes on for like 500 years, I think?... part of it is about how myths and legends warp facts, and how the character history thinks is the good guy is in fact the villain and vice versa, so it kinda fits?... this one still has 1 or 2 books left to finish the 10 book cycle...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "Question for those who have read Naomi Novik.

Does she have a habit of ending books on a cliffhanger?"

Depends on the book?... the fairytale retelling books were standalones... I think the Temeraire series tended to end on a hook for the next book, giving you an idea where they were going next (that and it's based on the real life Napoleonic wars + dragons, so history buffs shouldn't be too surprised anyway, maybe?)... I think Scholomance was a bit cliffhangery, with big stuff happening at the end... haven't read book 2 there, yet...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

RachelG. wrote: "Spelunking - Final thoughts..."

I liked the first Sarah book, for the most part, but didn't particularly like how alien world the cliffhanger and 2nd book went...

And the Antimony books were hit or miss, for me... I was unhappy with how similar she ended up, to Verity, thanks to what Verity did in Chaos Choreography... I loved the first 5 books or so...

Aeslin Mice are the best... The Recitation of the Most Holy and Harrowing Pilgrimage of Mindy and Also Mork was the best short story ever... made being a Patreon supporter worth it...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I read AV3 yesterday and today, since you guys said Saturday...

I almost didn't... the intro was a bit jarring...

But once it got going, I was sucked into the ridiculous antics again...

(view spoiler)[I spent most of the book assuming either Androidrea Vernon was the one with a kid, or The Big Axe gave up his mantle... (view spoiler)[turned out to be a bit of both, to the daughters dismay :D (hide spoiler)]

The Lady Founding Fathers were ridiculous... Androidrea was ridiculous...

Glare saving the day was ridiculous...

Introducing a more annoying superhero than Professor Well, Actually was ridiculous (Head in the Clouds)

But I loved it... and the door was left wide open for a slightly different continuation and future book possibilities...

And Nevermore showed up... (hide spoiler)]

[Soo]

Deadly Education ended on a mild cliffhanger. Looks like #2 ends on a bigger cliffhanger. I was thinking about getting #2, but I think I will wait until #3 is out and get them together. OR maybe the library will have #2 and 3 by the end of the year. =D