Vagabond Treehouse (2023) [Beware of Chicken 3 - December 4th] Showing 2,951-3,000 of 5,829

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Emily wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I really liked the Clocktaur War, but it's really just 2 halves of a single story... I had to continue almost immediately...

Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking was a fun YA s..."

The whole premise for the book reminds me of this trailer I saw for one of the Magic the Gathering product storylines... check it out... the story is a wild ride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JZ-e...

I haven't played MTG in a decade... I think youtube recommended that random vid a few years ago...

[Nirkatze]

WORM & Defensive Baking sound interesting... will have to add to list. :)

@Emily, re: Red Rising--I totally sympathize! I did a reread last year and stalled out halfway through Dark Age... still haven't finished it. It's just too dark with everything going on right now... and I say that even as I read WoT, Malazan, Faithful and the Fallen, and more grim books.

The St. Mary's books are a nice humorous break.

[Choko]

Iain, that review makes sense on its own, but I have no idea if it can be applied to that particular book or any books as a whole... Of course you have to have a certain maturity level to read some things, this is a given. Even I have been temporarily scarred by books, if I hadn't been prepared or mature enough for them... But to say that a book, particularly one that is obviously fiction, can throw your life on a path of crime and destruction, this goes too far, and especially with the examples he gives... It is too much, but still has made me interested in listening to the book though:))) Thanks for bringing the example here!:)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

It was like the guy/gal wrote an essay for class on how kids are impressionable, and just pasted it in a book review...

The other reviews are all: my kids seemed to enjoy this in the car...

[Narilka]

Well crud. I was planning to join the July Red Rising BR but maybe not. I'm really not in the mood for anything too dark right now. I ended up skipping the Jonathan Maberry book for now because it's grimdark.

[Choko]

The stuff going on in our country right now... I understand why you guys don't want anything dark and depressing... It feels like we are marching backwards...:(((

[Nirkatze]

True words. I keep hoping that the current age of close-mindedness will spawn a next generation of super open-ness in reaction...

[Nirkatze]

Just finished St. Mary's 4.5 Christmas Present.

The first few shorts--The Very First Damned Thing and A Child is Born I could take or leave--they seemed more like deleted scenes than proper short stories. But the latter ones--Roman Holiday and Christmas Present I really like!

My favorite turn of phrase in this short was "he was built like a brick shit-house." Going to have to remember that one.

I just started book 5, No Time Like the Past, and the events of this short story cover a change at St. Mary's that is mentioned in the first chapter: (view spoiler)[the reappearance of two missing historians and the revival of Guthrie's love life. (hide spoiler)]

One thing that is bothering me somewhat about these books--has history ever actually been successfully changed? It seems like the safeguards--whether it be deadly happenstance (established in the very first story) or Cleo using St. Mary's, are pretty effective. Which argues that history cannot be changed, and anything they do is as it is written, etc. etc... but Max spends a disproportionate amount of time worrying over the logicalness of things in illogical ways. Book 5, Chapter 6ish, (view spoiler)[Max worries about the paradox that would be caused if Ronan kills Dr. Barstow--oh no, he wouldn't found St. Mary's!--Ronan counters with, oh, anyone could found St. Mary's!

But, um, that's not the only action that could cause a paradox. Like, everything that Dr. Barstow did in his life wouldn't happen--lots of paradoxes yo! Not to mention--she doesn't once think about if Ronan kidnaps Alice, then Alice won't die, and Ronan won't go on his rampage to kidnap her! All the obvious stuff, she doesn't think of, and almost wants to agree to letting him save her life. (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

I haven't gotten there yet, but as we have been saying all along, I think the series mostly gives us possible outcomes with time travel and not that many answers... If you really start thinking about any series about time travel, you would be in trouble... It is too speculative of a problem to have many good solutions....

[Nirkatze]

I think my issue with it is less the loopholes and potholes with time travel, and more the amount of time the main characters spend thinking about it--and thinking wrong. I could ignore it if they didn't bring it up themselves!

St. Mary's #5 No Time Like the Past

Chapter 8 (view spoiler)[Eddie's back! LOL! And what a great bet! Trading services--or "services"--for 7 days. (hide spoiler)]

Bitch-Face Barkley aftermath (view spoiler)[Wow. That's quite a twist. Is Barkley really Max's sister? Or was it all a ploy to get her to turn around? I'd vote yes, St. Mary's is so chaotic and they've let folks slip through the cracks before, I wouldn't be surprised if they missed her being adopted by a stepfather. OR if the "Barkleys" were married, but she was the child of an affair. She doesn't really get into it at all.

I was surprised that she died so quickly in this timeline. (hide spoiler)]

And finished! Nice bit of history in the ending!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I mean... that's St. Mary's in a nutshell...

#4 is definitely better on the romantic drama front that 1-3, but there's still the hiccups, like when Max jumps to "throw me out" instead of "remove the tracker"...

Or has random thoughts of "Leon left me again" when it was for a perfectly valid plot reason this time...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

My headcanon, that makes about 90% of the series "logical", is that Maxwell is some special Avatar of the Fates, and basically anything she does, is for the betterment of the timeline... but it doesn't explain the few times that is contradicted...

I guess you can write off the first jump, when the rock fell, as still being in training, and not really having met Mrs. Patridge yet, and being given carte blanch?...

Or (view spoiler)[the Maxwell from this second timeline taking Helios... but then, maybe that can be explained in other ways... (hide spoiler)]

On the topic of actual changes to the timeline... it comes close once or twice... I can't remember if the Shakespeare thing counts with the horny rapey dude... but I think there's another instance later on, where they're fleeing fog that represents the end of an old timeline, as they try to fix the timeline before it's completely rewritten? I think (view spoiler)[they accidentally change an important British battle with a split-second thing, and have to rush to make sure England stays England, and isn't conquered by Scotland or France or something? (hide spoiler)]

I think there's also a Time Cop plotline (not to be confused with the Time Police... I mean the Jean Claude Van Damme movie)... where the MC returns to St. Mary's and things have changed... specifically (view spoiler)[the Weasely / Professor Umbridgey guy has taken over... one that we'll meet soon, working for the mysterious group that wants to use St. Mary's for profit... (hide spoiler)]... but I can't remember if that's a timeline change, or just something that happened while Maxwell was away on a jump... I think that's book 6 or 7... the one where Maxwell revamps the training program...

Let a timey-wimey series run long enough, and all the tropes will be toyed with... it's like fantasy shows and "you were in a mental institution all along" episodes...

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Emily wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I really liked the Clocktaur War, but it's really just 2 halves of a single story... I had to continue almost immediately...

Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking ..."

I keep getting interrupted trying to watch that! But yeah I kept thinking about the gingerbread man from Shrek and those gingerbread people look so much like the one from Shrek :D

[Tonari no Emily]

Narilka wrote: "Well crud. I was planning to join the July Red Rising BR but maybe not. I'm really not in the mood for anything too dark right now. I ended up skipping the Jonathan Maberry book for now because it'..."

I was planning on taking the Red Rising read nice and slow if that helps.. One book per month to put us on schedule for the new release at the end of the year..
But I can definitely understand, it's a struggle right now.

[Narilka]

I only own the first Red Rising book so how I liked it would determine if I wanted to continue the series. I haven't fully decided. I could read a couple chapters and if it's darker than I'd like just set it aside for later.

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "My headcanon, that makes about 90% of the series "logical", is that Maxwell is some special Avatar of the Fates, and basically anything she does, is for the betterment of the timeline... but it doe..."

I like your headcannon, Iain, I will steal for my own peace of mind.

[Choko]

Iain, that actually makes sense to me too. I like it:)))

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Happy to help... it's an idea that's been floating around in my head for awhile, but became fully articulated a few weeks ago... not sure I typed it on here before now, tho...

[Narilka]

@Iain - I saw Anne Bishop revealed the cover of her next book. It's going to be another Black Jewels novel :( Maybe she'll swap back to The Others in 2024.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Narilka wrote: "@Iain - I saw Anne Bishop revealed the cover of her next book. It's going to be another Black Jewels novel :( Maybe she'll swap back to The Others in 2024."

She really seems to be back on a Black Jewels kick... I wish she'd just left it ended... or not gone so scorched Earth the first time she ended the series, because it's the root of all the problems with the new books, in my opinion... if not how history is basically repeating itself, with the corrupt world vs the main characters...

[Choko]

I didn't even realize there were new books in the Black Jewels novels!!!! When did that happen???

[Choko]

St. Mary's #5... Up to Ch. 9... (view spoiler)[ Everything was going fine, all the expected calamities were happening, and then those bastards, Ronan and Bitch -face Barkley killed this lady and stuffed her in the ground... I am so sad for her and her lover, and so totally angry that those two are still running around up and down the timeline, destroying people's lives!!! This is just so vexing! At least the rest are still awesome and fun to read about... I love Markham and Peters:))) (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Last couple years... they're not good...

Anne Bishop kinda can't make up her mind what she's trying to do... because fans don't like what she tried to do...

First she had Daemon & Surreal together, with Jaenelle dead after #9, in the first new book... then she scrapped that, which leaves Daemon in a situation where he kinda loves this child that is the reborn soul of Jaenelle...

And new weaker versions of the big bad from the original series are cropping up, trying to bring back the old days of controlling men with magic and sexually traumatizing strong magic women to keep power...

I only read #10 and watched the trainwreck as some people read #11...

Narilka can probably give a more coherent answer as to what's going on... or Soo, if she was around...

EDIT: actually... it looks like Soo never read #11... and Narilka DNF'd around 40%?... but Nirkatze rated it 5 stars... so it'll be interesting, next time she visits :D

[Choko]

Wow! Now I am intrigued to see how I would feel about it... Such different reactions from people always makes me read it myself to see what leads to them...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "St. Mary's #5... Up to Ch. 9... [spoilers removed]"

Markham only gets better and better... he finally gets his own POV short story/novella around book 7-8... My Name is Markham... the best cliffhanger ending too... drops a humdinger of a personal reveal on Maxwell and the crackpots...

[Tonari no Emily]

Nirkatze wrote: "Just finished St. Mary's 4.5 Christmas Present.

The first few shorts--The Very First Damned Thing and A Child is Born I could take or leave--they seemed more like deleted scenes than proper short ..."
A Child is Born definitely didn't have any main plot points for the series, but I'm so glad I listened because I couldn't stop laughing at the liver part!!! I think my coworker thought I was going crazy 🤣
(But we did have another instance where "history" made sure an important event happened.. **just going with it**)

And yeah Christmas Present is pretty important to the story because (view spoiler)[ all the sudden new characters show up in the next main book (hide spoiler)]


I understand what you mean by the characters dwelling on the time travel paradoxes and whatnot-- it brings my attention to the illogicalness of it all... And for people who are supposed to be really smart, they sure do overlook a lot of things.. And is mostly 'splained away by "Oh that St. Mary's bunch" lol
But I like Iain's headcanon :))

[Choko]

I love all the short stories so far, and Christmas Gift was definitely the best! But as Emily said, the placenta moment in the first story was priceless:))))

[Choko]

Iain, I am looking forward to Markham 's story:))) He is one of my favorites and I plan on not missing even a single short story:)))

[Choko]

St. Mary 's #5... Up to Ch. 12... (view spoiler)[ I am so glad Bitch -face is dead, but what do you guys think, is she really Max's sister, or was she truly just fucking with her mind? Nirkatze, I see you think she really might've been her sister, but I am not sure.... She was evil enough, having found out that she had been abused as a child, finding a way to bring that up just on time for Max to recall all that horridness for what Barkley thought were going to be her last moments alive... I don't know. I wonder if we will ever be given an answer. I think the author knows how much our own imagination makes things worse than anything she could possibly put on page, so she keeps doing it, counting on that and doing a great job at it... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'll reserve my vote until I re-read the scenes, but if it's true, that's some real soap opera writing right there...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

UGH... I'm so hard to satisfy, these days...

I tried some more of them Audible Originals, and abandoned the push to clear old backlog, because they all seem to have sound effects and short rushed stories (shorter when sound effects replace plot space)...

Then I started Jake's Magical Market, but didn't make it very far... the fact there still isn't a second book in the series doesn't seem like a good sign to me, either... LitRPG authors usually churn out content fast... it's a weird LitRPG Card Battler hybrid... seems ripe for comic book, with the card visuals...

Speaking of comic books... I think I want to read Any Minor World soon... very soon... no news on Audible, and I checked the book out on Kindle Unlimited over a month ago... maybe as soon as later today...

[Choko]

I will read Any Minor World with you, Iain. I am sorry about the rest of the stuff... Today for some reason I decided I would like to rewatch the Firefly series and eventually get through the movie, Serenity, too... it has been a while since I have watched them...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I started Any Minor World... something I saw in a review had me on high alert... and then early events in the story got me suspicious...

When the name of the author of the manuscript was given, I did a quick Google search and confirmed...

This series isn't a new standalone series/universe... it's connected to everything in the Faust/Black/Revanche/Wisdom's Grave series, however loosely... possibly continuing the story of the big baddie of overarching story... the original story arc ended, but there were clearly some loose threads floating around in the multiverse (and this could easily end up being in another dimension)...

(view spoiler)[the author of the manuscript is the oracle from the main series... the one that was writing fictionalized versions of Faust's life, and knew about the big bad and the story loop "prophecies"... (hide spoiler)]

I think you guys' can read this, even if you haven't read the other stuff... it's a bit noir, and a generally separate story suitable for new audiences... just a bit of an Easter Egg for Schaefer fans, so far... unless that changes later on...

Mr. Smith (view spoiler)[sounds like a manifestation of the big baddie, or one of his forgettable henchmen that can rewrite reality... or maybe the rejects from the Garden of Eden world that scientists were accessing, with that weird herb smell coming from the alcohol? (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Read up to chapter 8 now...

Mr. Smith (view spoiler)[gotta be the reality altering guy, I think... with the way it kinda jumped to the MC just taking the job... unless that feeds into my later theory (hide spoiler)]

Saunders: (view spoiler)[I had multiple theories on this, when it said she abandoned her Donatello series (Faust) and plaguerized the comic... either she was the story author of the comic... or she's playing a long game we don't know yet... or the publishers plaguerized a ghostwritten story, because Saunders has been gone longer than we were told... the first 2 theories seem more viable... I'm also not 100% sold that she's dead... (hide spoiler)]

Roy: (view spoiler)[his backstory is wild, but my theory is wilder... I'm starting to think maybe he's a character from the comic, and doesn't even know it... we know the baddies are going to start coming into the real world, so why not Roy?... that makes the obvious guess the missing Midnight Jury vigilante... (hide spoiler)]

Connections: I've already connected this series to Schaefer's main series with Faust and the gang... but I dunno what to make of the fact the book used the word Hungry and Dreaming so close together at the end of chapter 6... that's the title of a spinoff book to another Schaefer series that is 100% NOT connected to Faust (as far as I know)... but which DOES kinda have similar ideas to this, with a malleable storybook world (only more mythological and timey-wimey)...

This book is also going all over the place... 6 states in 8 chapters... 7 if you include the 2 comic book chapters set in Noir York / New York (and that's another thing... it took me half a chapter to realize we'd jumped into the comic book story for a bit)...

[Tonari no Emily]

Choko wrote: "St. Mary 's #5... Up to Ch. 12... [spoilers removed]"

I'm so torn on that! I was convinced up until Leon said it wasn't true... (view spoiler)[ On the one hand I can totally see Barkely being that cruel.. because that's really all we've seen from her... And maybe this is me just projecting because I wanted her to be a bit more multidimensional of a villain, but I kind of want her to have more reason to be so.. evil? lol
Also with the way the series is going, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole truth wasn't kept from Max as well... (hide spoiler)]

[Narilka]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Last couple years... they're not good...

Anne Bishop kinda can't make up her mind what she's trying to do... because fans don't like what she tried to do...

First she had Daemon & Surreal togethe..."

I still have #11 sitting on my desk unfinished. It's in 2 star territory. I'm debating skimming it to the end. The Lucivar family slice of life scenes are great. The Surreal/Daemon/Jeanelle Satien is not so great. I went and opened some spoiler reviews and doesn't seem like it's going to get much better but I hate giving up on an author I normally like.

[Choko]

Emily, I hear you on that... I kind of was hoping she isn't, because otherwise it is horrible...

Narilka, that sucks. This is still one of those series I have very fond memories from. I don't want it to go bad... But obviously there are issues with it:(((

[Choko]

Iain, I am up to Ch. 5 of Any Minor World... (view spoiler)[ I recognized the name of the Oracle - Saunders. I think she must have been the author of the comic book series and just had it written under a pseudonym.

I like your theory about Roy being a character from the comic, and speculate he is the main Jury dude.

You were better than me in realizing we had jumped into the comic books with Ch. 4-5. I actually thought that the characters had somehow jumped into Reality and this was happening right now... I am intrigued! (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I need to go to sleep soon, but it's hard to stop reading... I'm loving everything about this book... I've always been a big Schaefer fan... up to chapter 22 and 40-50% now...

[Choko]

Wow! You are reading it on the Kindle too, right? How are you doing it so fast? You are amazing:)))

I love Schaefer too:))) I haven't read everything, but I have made a pretty good dent... And this is very much what we have come to expect from her, haven't we? It is good to be back in her universe:)))

[Choko]

St. Mary 's #5... I really enjoyed it! I am so glad they (view spoiler)[ finally got married!!! Yay! It was so cool that the Boss gave her away and I love their relationship! Found it hilarious how Markham was the gate keeper - ready to do anything to keep her from running away and making sure she gets married:)

The jump to Leonidas ' last battle was awesome! Talk about the paradoxic thingy... In the end they were responsible for the betrayal of the Spartans, and who is to say that it would have happened if it wasn't for them to begin with... Same with the rapy dude a couple of books ago... But as we have been saying, just go with it and don't go down the rabbit hole of Time Travel... (hide spoiler)]

Overall, another really enjoyable read! So happy we are reading the series!!!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Just no distraction, which is kinda rare for me and why I don't do ebooks much anymore... if a book isn't gripping me good, it's too easy to pause and waste time on the internet/etc...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Last couple years... they're not good...

Anne Bishop kinda can't make up her mind what she's trying to do... because fans don't like what she tried to do...

First she had Daemon & Surreal togethe..."

I hated #10, but #11 was more in line with her usual writing, I thought. And Jaenelle Jr. is definitely not Jaenelle's soul reborn... #11 fixed most of the problems #10 had, I thought, and made some interesting choices. I think my rating system has gotten harsher since joining FBR, so I don't know if it'd stand up to 5 stars today, but I do remember devouring it with normal gusto rather than the pained feelings I had with #10.

As for the Black Jewels side novels, I really liked the Shalador Nehele ones, and was ok with the other standalones. I really love the world concepts, but would like to see more stories like Shalador ones.

[Tonari no Emily]

Choko wrote: "St. Mary 's #5... I really enjoyed it!"

(view spoiler)[ Yes! Also loved how they were treating her as a runaway bride. And basically forced her to carry through because if no intervention I'm sure she would have come up with excuses to not get married.. even though she obviously wants to be with Leon! (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Nirkatze, thank you for the info on the Black Jewels! I have to catch up with it eventually...

Emily, Right?! That was hilarious:) She is such a hot mess, everyone knows she is totally irrational when it comes to emotions and plan for contingencies, just in case:)))

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Still halfway on Any Minor World... got home from work yesterday, got sleepy, and lay down and slept for most of 12hrs...

[Choko]

Iain, same here... I can't get enough sleep for some reason... I think it's our Midwestern heat, it just leaches the energy out of you..

[Brian]

You both should move to Western Washington State. It’s 55 degrees and cloud with a chance of rain . Perfect July weather. Lol

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Brian wrote: "You both should move to Western Washington State. It’s 55 degrees and cloud with a chance of rain . Perfect July weather. Lol"

That's like the only place getting that weather...

I think depression causes extra sleeping, too... not saying that's the thing, but I've been known to sleep prodigious amounts sometimes... I tend to balance/ruin it with days I stay up way too late and only get 3-5hrs of sleep... or nap and then stay up through the night...

It's better and worse now that I work 4am to 12:30pm, vs the decade I spent working 9pm to 6am or some variation of that (+/- 1hr, it shifted as they tried different inventory systems/strategies)...

[Choko]

Brian, that sounds awesome! However, I don't think I can afford the price of living in WA or Alaska... Homes are insanely high...