"Reap the Wild Wind" First Impressions *No Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Come talk about your initial, general impressions!

Please save all discussion of particulars, details from the story, character choices, plot questions, etc. for the full spoiler thread.

Content warnings for those who want them: (view spoiler)[ loss of a loved one, falling, eaten by animals, animal cruelty and consumption, on screen animal death (hide spoiler)]

Please note that this is a prequel series, and can be read without reading the other books first, but the author's notes at the beginning include spoilers for earlier published books.

[Christi]

I am so confused about everything. Everything. I've only finished the first chapter and all I know is that there is a brother and sister, but other than that I've got almost nothing. My difficulty lies in understanding their world and what it looks like and how it works. I did have to split up reading the first chapter and maybe that pause/delay caused me to miss or forget some of the details. I suspect I may have to re-read the chapter.

[Meredith]

I've read the first 3 chapters (~10%). There's a lot of world-info very densely packed in there, but it's intriguing and I want to know more about how things work and what is going on.

[Eva]

Does anyone know if it's easier to understand if you're reading this series in publication order instead of starting with this prequel? I'm very curious about the whole series but would like to start at the perfect point. :-)

[Anna]

I was kind of planning on reading in pub order but since I haven’t started yet I have no answers. And I might jump straight into this one. The research we did says you can start here, but I know some people, points to self, are strict about pub order.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

This one so far at least contains its own mystery, worldbuilding and character development. I haven't felt like I'm lost to things I should know, only to the things we're still discovering. If anything, I feel it explains too much, honestly.

[Anna]

AMG wrote: "That being said, the author's notes at the beginning include spoilers for the publication order books"

That is not good :) Thanks for the warning, I'll add it to the starting post.

[Eva]

Thank you all for your help (and for the warning regarding the author's note)!

[Bonnie]

I read the prologue and first chapter before realizing it was the wrong book... Survival: Species Imperative #1 by Julie Czerneda. That opening was quite clear!

Now I shall start the proper book

[Meghan]

So far I'm also finding it slightly confusing. I'm around chapter 15 and still haven't totally grasped the concept of everything. I am enjoying it though and wanting to push through.

[Martin Lowther]

I finally got the book and I'm only 10 pages in (got it just before going to work) . I must say I skipped the authors note and I'm really getting absorbed in the story.

[Cheryl]

I've got to page 50 and going to have to dnf. I keep drifting off into a dream loosely inspired by what's on the page, so there's a lot of world-building from my synapses confusing what the author already put on the page.

I mean, I felt wide awake when I started, but I think the writing is doing things to my mind, and I don't particularly like that.

It also reads both prequel and YA to me, and I'm not in the mood for either. I've read the other GR reviews and, yeah, it's just not going to work for me.

[Ann]

Finally got to this, read ch. 1 last night. Seems like an interesting world. I read that the author is also a biologist and I think it shows in how the world is built as far as how plant structures are really thought out. I look forward to getting it to it more!

[DivaDiane]

Just received this today. Chances are good that I’ll read it. Sooner or later!

[Oleksandr]

Started it today, so far not too far, but a worldbuilding is a bit too heavy, at least of a background audio-'reading'

[Robert]

I read the other six books in the nine book series some years ago and enjoyed all of them. I skipped this three book prequel series in the assumption that I would find it too YA for my taste (based perhaps on the cover picture.) I am pleasantly surprised to find I was wrong. World building, plotting, character building: all are excellent. I especially enjoy the quality of the writing. LOL, I say this despite Aryl "releasing a breath she did not know she was holding" at around the 16% point. (Hope this is not a spoiler.) Per Anna's comment, I think having read the other six books did help me better understand the background and setting of this book.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

hahaah! I like the breath part. Okay, so it sounds like we have a vote for starting with the first in pub :)

[Mareike]

Started this last night. It feels quite unique so far and it’ll be interesting to see where it goes.

[Oleksandr]

I'm 1/3 thru and while it keeps my interest, there is too much worldbuilding, with all those characters, plants, animals. It feels a bit overwhelming

[Carro]

Bonnie wrote: "I read the prologue and first chapter before realizing it was the wrong book... Survival: Species Imperative #1 by Julie Czerneda. That opening was quite clear!

Now I shall start the..."

One of my favourite series - the characters are varied and likeable, the scientists are really well done. So often fiction written by non-scientists gets them so wrong but Czerneda is a biologist and knows what she is talking about. So even if you turn out not to like the right book - finish the one you started by mistake. :)

I've read all of Czerneda - and with this series I read in publication order (mostly as they came out) and from memory, I wasn't so keen on these prequels. I am however going to try re-reading it after a gap of a few years, but I am noting some people being not entirely engaged. Though her worldbuilding is pretty special.

Incidentally, for A Turn of Light in the trade paperback edition I bought, there was an extra in the back of how she built a model of the village in which pretty much all the action is set - with pictures of her model. Not in the end all that keen on A Turn of Light - struggled to get into it as didn't like the initial tone, then roared through it and bought the sequel, tried to re-read it and couldn't.
Anyway, I'd better go and start in on the book I'm actually supposed to be reading.......
(Have been on a Kim M. Watt re-read as wanted an easy, warm hearted and mildly dotty read. With cake.)

[Mike]

I'm about 1/3 of the way through the book. I agree, the world / universe is very alien. It's a completely different world and thus I've had to reread a few areas. Overall, I enjoy dense, complex stories. This isn't a book I think you can read a few pages at a time. No verdict on the story overall, but the story seems exceptionally well written.

[Mitch]

I do like this because the world building is fascinating, but this could definitely use a glossary. Also, I have all sorts of questions about the physical reality around these characters. They live in the "trees", but they have no wood? How do these plants support themselves? How high in the air do the Om'ray live? Do they live in the canopy but beneath the very top of it? The cover makes it looks like they live at the top where the M'hir should be a problem. Last, I think the Om'ray are human but they seem to have psychic abilities like telepathy. I think so based on the cover, but the cover itself doesn't seem to answer much about the setting except for what humans look like.

I just read Carro's post. I'll look for that edition of A Turn of Light to make out how the village works. My mental image is a rope-based cross between Tolkien elven treehouse and Ewok village. And again, really no wood?

[Ann]

Mitch wrote: "I do like this because the world building is fascinating, but this could definitely use a glossary. Also, I have all sorts of questions about the physical reality around these characters. They live..."

Hi Mitch,
My impression is that the Om'ray are very small in size, like the Borrowers or something like that. So the rastis aren't trees but more like plants, maybe 5 or so inches high. I could be totally wrong, I'm only to ch. 11, but that's what I picture.

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

Just a reminder that we have the Full Spoiler thread for more detailed discussions of the books contents.

[Mitch]

Oh wow. That fact would explain a lot. Thanks Ann!

[Mitch]

Sorry about that, Ryan. I avoided using plot points but I'll move major world building points to the full spoiler thread next time. I wanted to give an impression of how confusing the start of this book was.

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

No worries. When I get around to reading the book I'll pretend that I came up with Ann's observation all on my own though I'll still have much to do to claim that the book is predicable.

[Oleksandr]

Mitch wrote: "this could definitely use a glossary. "

I agree and I suppose there is at least one by fans, but I haven't searched it afraid of spoilers

[Bonnie]

Ann wrote: "My impression is that the Om'ray are very small in size, like the Borrowers or something like that. So the rastis aren't trees but more like plants..."

I also imagined them quite small, not as small as The Borrowers but small. Long-lost humans or humanoids.

@Cheryl, I would not have minded Aryl being a few years older, myself. I don't think it is YA but as she's 16 or whatever, it does read young sometimes.

[Robert]

I would not have minded Aryl being a few years older
That is my exact feeling as well.