Vagabond Treehouse (2023) [Beware of Chicken 3 - December 4th] Showing 1,751-1,800 of 5,829

[Nirkatze]

Happy late birthday Iain!

Happy early birthday Soo!

(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Choko wrote: "Skyward #1... Ch. 32-33 [spoilers removed]"

re: cowards (view spoiler)[Yeah, you would think with how strapped they are for pilots that they'd encourage more care with their own frickin' lives--you can always build more ships. Not more pilots. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Soo wrote: "The Broken Room - Started & it's got a great intro! I even slowed down the narration to 2.25x. =D"

lol, you're such a speed demon Soo!

Are we BR-ing The Broken Room?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "Babel: That relationship was the best setup for failure I've read in a book. LoL

You don't know each other well and rely on superficial and mostly wronfpg understanding of the person... yeah. DOOO..."

Basically sheltered in a small town... go on honeymoon into the Wide World Beyond... and not just anywhere... Babel is a crazy concept... like something out of your webcomics...

[Nirkatze]

TTVM Chapter 49--(view spoiler)[Finally, a relationship where the couple aren't lying to each other! They actually tell each other before getting married!

AND SHE ACTUALLY THINKS ABOUT HOW SHE KEPT IT SECRET IN TWO OTHER MARRIAGES AND HOW THAT BUILT A WALL WITH FOLKS! (hide spoiler)]

Now I really want to see a Time Travelers Anonymous group--with all of the repeaters in one room, sharing their stories.

[Nirkatze]

TTVM Chapter 52--I really like how Veronica has taken completely different paths each life--unlike the Dominick, who stayed really close to the original most times.

[Narilka]

Soo wrote: "The Broken Room - Started & it's got a great intro! I even slowed down the narration to 2.25x. =D..."

I also got started. I'm 4 chapters in and liking the set up.

[Brian]

I will start tmrw

[Soo]

Nirkatze, yah! Several of us are fans of Peter Clines. So, we lined up to read the Broken Room when it came out. =D

Iain, Broken Room is a standalone right? Didn't we read a blog post or something about how he's writing different stuff and will return to Threshold later?

This one is hard to talk about without spoilers. A lot is happening, but it's not easy to discuss until you get there.

Also, Clines can write an action thriller! Woo! =D


TTVM: All of these stories show a different way of being driven, confused, scared and desiring more than what is. It's a nice range of simple to complex methods on what can be "good/happy/etc" for a person.

The summarization style worked well in Veronica's story. I really liked the (view spoiler)[romance that she has at the end.

AND it was a nice circular point for her to end up with cancer again and dying. Except this time she had a lot of loved ones with her passing. (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Skyward#1... Finished and really enjoyed it! (view spoiler)[ The revelation that they are being kept prisoners, but now some politics have changed between their jailers has changed and now they might want to destroy them for real, was quite shocking at the end. I felt bad for Ironsides - she really is put in a no win situation, but she needs to chill a bit too... I hope they don't dissect M-BOT and let him and Spin be. I also hope they don't dissect Spin because of her "defect". I think as long as she can keep herself from the false vision that the aliens can impose, she should be their secret weapon.
Now I would like to get more information on all of that:) And of course, more M-Bot!! (hide spoiler)]

Julian, I am totally in for the end of the week tackling the second book:)))

[Soo]

Iain, we're almost ten years apart. Short of that by a few days. lol

Thanks, Nirkatze. It will be another quiet bday. =)

[Soo]

Brian wrote: "I will start tmrw"

This is very different! I'm gonna bet you'll like it.

[Soo]

Broken Room:

The aspects of psychological creep, gross, disturbing and etc are all there. Eep!

Clines has gotten really good at crafting the scenes & making me care about the characters.

[Brian]

Soo wrote: "Iain, we're almost ten years apart. Short of that by a few days. lol

Thanks, Nirkatze. It will be another quiet bday. =)"

Yay! excited to start it

[Julian]

@Choko let's do it!!! Also wow you breezed through skyward in a single day!

[Julian]

Also happy late birthday to Iain!

That and happy early birthday to Soo!

[Nirkatze]

Hey Julian & Choko! If you haven't read the short story Defending Elysium, I really recommend reading it, at least before you pick up book 3. It's actually the first story set in the Skyward-verse, and was his first imagination of the setting, but a couple hundred years earlier or so. I'd actually recommend reading it between books 2 & 3, just plugging it in when you read the novellas. You can read it for free on Sanderson's website (https://www.brandonsanderson.com/defe...)

And keep up the comments! So glad you enjoyed it Choko! (view spoiler)[Can you imagine what Spin would say if you called her the Secret Weapon? XD (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Going to start Broken Room and jump in with y'all today! This will be my first Peter Clines.

[Soo]

The Broken Room is a very different kind of story from the other stuff you've been reading. Hope ya like it! =D

I'm almost done and not sure how it's all going to conclude.

I have many, many jump jacks thoughts.

[Julian]

@Nirkatze I actually read it before I reading Skyward a while back! I want to reread it soon though since I think I'd probably appreciate a few things moreso nowadays. I think that the krell are (view spoiler)[varvax and that m-bot belonged to the phone company. (hide spoiler)]

[Julian]

As for the other novellas I'm waiting for April when they release the all in one hardcover edition! I've got all the Skyward books (aside from defending elysium) in physical book form and want to keep the entire series that way

[Soo]

Broken Room: Okay, going by the author's note that is at the end of the book, this is a standalone and not part of Threshold. At least, that's my takeaway.

BUT it totally felt like a Threshold book!

Disturbing and charming are my two words for the story. Can't wait to see what ya'll think.

[Tonari no Emily]

Hooray for fellow March babies! Happy Birthdays Iain and Soo! Mine is on the 31st. I also have a lot of birthdays in my family in March/April.. what holiday was 9 months ago?? lol

[Tonari no Emily]

I want to read the Peter Clines book but I'm all out of credits till the 23rd so I'll be starting late.. But that gives me more time to catch up on all the books I'm behind on xD

Time travel... Hmm If I lived life over again I think I would make a lot of changes.. Not because I'm unhappy now or anything but why do the same thing over again?
Would deffo do two years at community college then Uni bc the one thing I am unhappy about is student debt... Would definitely like to have less of that tyvm haha

But I don't have kids so that's a hard choice.. but I would think its really hard to get the exact same set of circumstances leading to the exact same kid.. That's essentially impossible by my reckoning.. So I think I would recognize already that my kids in the past life were lost to me? Maybe idk. lol
But I can't judge VM for trying to bring her babies into the world again
If she tried for the same choice on life 3 then yeah I'd be like wth are you doing with that awful man again??

[Choko]

TTVM #5.. Ch. 37 ... I feel terrible for VM... So far... (view spoiler)[ The first time she came back, she chose to try the same thing, but hoped she was experienced enough to make a difference and make the marriage better. That didn't happen, as I thought it wouldn't, and I was actually kind of mad she even tried. I wonder why she wasn't able to carry her child to term...

The second time at least she started having a better relationship with her mother and friend Ruthie, but her marriage was once again lacking and no children... The interesting part was her meeting the young man who created the help group for time travelers:) I also liked the way she cut off Christopher right off:)) I only feel sorry for Ruthie being left behind like that... Now I will see what happens this time around... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Soo wrote: "The Broken Room is a very different kind of story from the other stuff you've been reading. Hope ya like it! =D

I'm almost done and not sure how it's all going to conclude.

I have many, many jum..."

It's really fun so far! Definitely started with a bang! In Part 2 now. Chapter 12 (view spoiler)[Yech. The clapping hands and yelling whenever kids got the word wrong--and the girl who compares how they are being treated to how her family treated cattle. So jarring.

I think it was in Chapter 1 or 2 where Hector compares Natalie's attitude to Autism or PTSD--the matter of fact way Natalie narrates Part 2 makes me think of PTSD--and another book: The Silence of the Girls. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Emily wrote: "Hooray for fellow March babies! Happy Birthdays Iain and Soo! Mine is on the 31st. I also have a lot of birthdays in my family in March/April.. what holiday was 9 months ago?? lol"

Mmm.. June? Prime vacation time, June. Lots of June weddings...

[Nirkatze]

Choko wrote: "TTVM #5.. Ch. 37 ... I feel terrible for VM... So far... The first time she came back, she chose to try the same thing, but hoped she was experienced enough to make a difference and make the marri..."

Wait! (view spoiler)[The time traveler dude she met actually made a group for time travelers? I missed that! Darnit! So easy to loose stuff when listening to audio. I'd been looking forward to seeing an AA-style help group for repeaters. Like "Hi, my name is Joe and this is my 4th repeat..." (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Emily wrote: "I want to read the Peter Clines book but I'm all out of credits till the 23rd so I'll be starting late.. But that gives me more time to catch up on all the books I'm behind on xD

Time travel... Hm..."

Removing student debt--that is a definite must. Gotta get in early on that facebook, google, and amazon stock...

I thought it was pretty cool how Veronica (view spoiler)[did her research--okay, PAID someone to do the research--but then memorized the stocks and other things like her locker combo. She went into her lives prepared. (hide spoiler)]

The kids thing at the end... that felt a bit like jumping the shark. Though I guess it's plausible considering the way the series treats souls and repeats. I just feel like you can't have both butterfly effects and the exact same people born.

I only just noticed we had NO (view spoiler)[Carrie in this one. And only minimal Carrie in Nathaniel's. There wasn't any pixis-pullers at all, were there? (hide spoiler)]

[Soo]

TTVM: Library Group - LOL, how did you miss that part? Veronica is definitely opinionated, and she doesn't really change her mind once she decides to do something. Whether it's a good plan or not. Like, if I was in her place and had met Joe, I would have spent more time talking to him.

[Nirkatze]

Fortunately, the next book is about Joe, so I should be able to catch up what I missed!

I miss a lot when I listen. Still need to practice more.

[Tonari no Emily]

TTVM ch 34: (view spoiler)[finally someone caring about the people being left behind if they decide to start over.. And actually making plans for their next life.. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "Iain, we're almost ten years apart. Short of that by a few days. lol

Thanks, Nirkatze. It will be another quiet bday. =)"

My mom passed when she was 39, right after her birthday, cancer, 13 years ago... so that feels like an age that's creeping up on me... 4 more years...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'll start Broken Room soon... cleared alot of my BRs...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

And like I've mentioned a bit, I've been creeping my reading speed up again... reading at 2.2-2.4x on all my apps that allow that... some stuff I have to read at 2x or drain my battery using a specific app that can go faster and play any file...

[Tonari no Emily]

TTVM finished.. I did like this one a lot. No crazy stuff happening in this one unlike the murders, etc of the previous ones haha

(view spoiler)[ I really appreciated how methodical Veronica was about her lives.. first trying to have her babies again and seeing if she did things different if her marraige would work out.. But boy oh boy did I want to strangle Chris

I feel like if she invested earlier in her last life she still could have made everyone rich and have her satisfying life with DJ.. But idk. (hide spoiler)]

Soo: (view spoiler)[The light attitude towards death be expected for the series, but I'm still not on board with how casually it's presented or done within the story frame work Yeah that is actually my main complaint. Didn't like how the more divine beings are treating it.. And how all of the MCs are so casually starting over by killing themselves(I mean those decisions weren't taken lightly for the most part, but still) .. The people they leave behind don't know how their universe works and pain is still pain. (hide spoiler)]

I just feel like you can't have both butterfly effects and the exact same people born.
That is also an area that I feel like is a big plot hole?

[Soo]

TTVM: Veronica isn't the only one. All of the characters cared in some fashion, but (view spoiler)[that doesn't change the fact that none of them are really detoured by death/suicide. It's like reincarnation made them think they're 100% invincible. (hide spoiler)]

Iain, remember to do what makes you happy & have fun. When I saw all the BR's I'm in between 2/27 to next week, I was like, huh, well... I'm going with whatever doesn't feel like work. XD

Cause it should be fun. =D

[Soo]

TTVM: Lots of plot holes. Like, we haven't seen the point/reason for the new dimension made per death and rebirth, etc. And it's not like it's a real rebirth from babyhood like Nathaniel. Most of them get a jump start at some point right before a 'big event' within their lives.

I did enjoy the try different paths route and the little touches of showing the time/slang/events.

It's too bad that we can't deconstruct the stories more. If we went into it seriously, it would probably kill the fun. I feel like the author thinks about a lot of stuff, but doesn't necessarily have the grasp of those topics to make a complex weave for the story. These are solid YA books to me in how the stories are structured.

[Nirkatze]

Yea, I was thinking the same thing about death when reading these--and the multiple instances of life.

The overly cavalier attitude toward suicide is disturbing. The author does a decent (if not deep) job of probing other psychological trauma, but has not actually addressed dealing with suicidal inclinations--and the damage suicide does to those left behind--except to give his characters free do-overs. Not cool.

Also--how is it that all of the repeaters end up in the same version of reality? In book 1, Michael Hollister wasn't a repeater--but then later, Zach Weaver is in the same version as Dominick, who was in a reality with repeat Michael... there's no thought given to how the universe is put together on that level, besides "they go where I want them to go." Whole thing is plot armored.

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze, 100% plot hole to how the do-overs work..
I think in this one we also didn't get a dimension number? Did he give up or do I just not remember? lol

[Narilka]

The Broken Room - Is it me or is it weird listening to a Peter Clines thriller and it not be narrated by Ray Porter? LOL I like the narrator though, just miss Mr. Porter's voice.

Soo - Why didn't you leave some spoilers for us to look through????

[Soo]

Emily wrote: "Nirkatze, 100% plot hole to how the do-overs work..
I think in this one we also didn't get a dimension number? Did he give up or do I just not remember? lol"

There are dimension #'s but I stopped paying as much attention, because they have yet to be relevant as anything other than it's a part of the repeat process. I was all geeking out and getting the ebook to look at them, etc. Haven't done that for the last 2 books. lol

Like, knowing the repeat # doesn't necessarily tell us which repeat # the other characters that may show up are also in. Does and doesn't.

[Soo]

Narilka wrote: "The Broken Room - Is it me or is it weird listening to a Peter Clines thriller and it not be narrated by Ray Porter? LOL I like the narrator though, just miss Mr. Porter's voice."

You are totally right! No Ray Porter! It is weird. lol This guy was good though.

I didn't do spoilers, because I feel like this one doesn't have a lot of wiggle room & the pacing goes from fast walk to speed run.

Are you getting the Threshold vibes?

[Narilka]

The Broken Room - I'm through Ch 8. Mild Threshold vibe at the moment. It will go full Threshold (view spoiler)[when the cosmic horror part starts :D

It's a very mysterious set up for little Natalie. She's obviously psychic, seems to be a medium, and was being experimented on. It's reminding me a little of Stranger Things in this regard. I'm curious what military or government branch Hector was with. He's obviously a well trained operative. (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Gosh, Iain, you are a baby!!! Happy 35th! May you see many, many more and may they be healthy, joyous and filled with the love of all those who know you!!! ❤️
My mom and her family died early of cancer, but by early I mean in their 50's... I got it a bit earlier, but I am surviving so far:))) We are going to be OK, I am sure, dude:)))))

[Choko]

TTVM #6... You guys are exactly right of what bothers me most about the series - the cavalier attitude for suicide... Having had a family member and friends commit it and seeing the total devastation it leaves in the souls of those left behind, I even feel bad for having entertained the idea when I was a young adult... Because it goes so against our biological and psychological makeup, it leaves the grieving with much more baggage and the healing from the loss much more painful and long lasting... And the guilt that goes with it, no matter how logical you might be, is prevalent and devastating for those who have cared for the person the most...

Having said that, I agree that the author has decided not to involve those factors within his work, so when I take his story as he intended, I enjoyed it. Very unlikely outcome with the kids though - I think he went a bit overboard with that, but it was another pleasant read:)

[Julian]

@Iain what app are you referring to? I use Listen Audiobook Player sometimes and that allows for 4x speed but the fastest I've ever gone is 2x

[Soo]

TTVM: I liked the way V & DJ ended up having their kids together. It was a neat bow tie on pulling together two lives into one.

[Soo]

Scholomance - The Graduate #2:

Even knowing that there's a cliffhanger, I was still ticked when it happened! I crossed my fingers and hoped that the train wreck that I could see coming from miles away was a feint and that something cool would end up leaping over the train wreck with a dastardly AHA GOTCHA!

That didn't happen.

Plus, I am disillusioned by the whole status quo societal framework for power that's in place for the magic world. That lead to a bunch of plot holes that I was trying to ignore and couldn't after I finished the book.

I was cruising along and going, Yeah! Deathly challenges to inspire rapid growth! Darwinism punched along by magical humans. Throw in a hundreds of ignorant children.

It was never going to end well. *eyeroll*

Novik is a good writer. I was having a nice time going along with it all, until the story developed cool layers and my expectations for the story grew higher because of that. It's easy to turn your brain off and just go with it. That's what good writing does. But once my brain started thinking about the nifty, complex ideas--well, it was hard to turn my brain off?

Now, I'm all grumpy and thinking El and gaggle of kids are all dumb. The parents are more dumb for tossing kids into that mess and not teaching them better on how to survive being a part of the magical world.

[Soo]

Since I knew the cliffhanger was going to happen, I figured it'll be annoying but whatever. Then I realized what it was going to be and hoped that I was wrong. Ha!

Yet, it's not the cliffhanger bit that has me riled up so much as my expectations that grew for the books as I read them. The plot holes kept getting bigger, and that deflated a lot of the yay from my bubbly enthusiasm.