Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy #1)[May 1, 2023]

[Tonari no Emily]

Mel wrote: "We'll see how well I can distract myself until then. :)

And fair enough. Having already [spoilers removed]"

Yeah (view spoiler)[ I think the only problem I have with the kiss is that its a bit on the nose. It didn't feel right at the moment I guess. But I was starting to feel a bit of chemistry between them. The blushes from Berenice, and then when Sancia could touch people without being in agony there were some lingering moments of contact. (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

I'm excited for the next book. This one set up a bunch of stuff (view spoiler)[ The rise of a Merchant house that is owned by the workers..
Whatever Greggor's mom is up to with her Mothman
Valeria and whatever she will be up to now..
Will they able to bring Clef back online? (hide spoiler)]

[Mel]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "OMG All the candle talk in this book. I hate that euphemism so much."

Oh my goodness yes, isn't it the worst?? All waxy and oily sounding.

[Ann-Marie]

Starting this today, the in person book club I had to read was not for me, took way longer than I expected because I kept putting it down, I ended up hate reading it sadly.

[Mel]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Mel, I always love reading your comments! Its almost like reading the book again but with colorful commentary :D"

Why thank you! Glad I can help refresh your memory and entertain.
Honestly, when there is a long gap between books, it can help me remember as well, what happened in the previous one. And if there is a mystery, it's fun to see what I thought along the way.

I remember for some early BRs, getting really into themes and analysis. Nowadays I'm mostly stream-of-consciousness, "Ooh, this part! And this? Wait, what's up with that? Love that though! Ach, that line! Just listen."

[Mel]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I'm excited for the next book. This one set up a bunch of stuff..."

Yes! Power to the People! Seize the Means of Production!
And very ominous about the Big Bad for the next book.
(view spoiler)[It sounds like it was Mothman (love the moniker) who put out the stars? Although it's put in a different light, once you realize that Valeria was using the power of the stars, and it was a defensive measure. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 14 (view spoiler)[It reminds me of SheRa, with Etheria losing its stars. Or I suppose The Matrix, blotting out he sun. Also makes me think of how someday we'll lose the light of the stars. The most distant ones are already lost I suppose. In Neil Degrasse's Tyson's book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry I think I remember a line about his fear of the stars rushing away from each other so that in some distant future, there would be empty skies, no way of anyone in the universe knowing that others existed. No reason to look up and wonder in the first place. Sad, indeed." (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Mel wrote: "Tonari no Emily wrote: "OMG All the candle talk in this book. I hate that euphemism so much."

Oh my goodness yes, isn't it the worst?? All waxy and oily sounding."

The way I just cringed... LOL

[Mel]

Ann-Marie wrote: "Starting this today, the in person book club I had to read was not for me, took way longer than I expected because I kept putting it down, I ended up hate reading it sadly."

Aw, sorry to hear about the flop. Yeah, for my in-person book club I admit only read some of the books, but will still show up anyway for coffee and chatter. The last one had some triggering themes of mental health, homophobic families and repressive religious figures, so I decided to pass, but the conversation with the group was good. I sort of love that I'm not the only one who doesn't always read them. The organizer's partner famously almost never reads them, but makes some hilarious comments. And makes grabby hands to flip through the book if there is mention of a sex scene. Others will show up with, "Well, I didn't read this one... but I did read these other fabulous books! Very freeing.

Looking forward to you starting on this one! Hopefully you like it better!

[Ann-Marie]

Mel wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Looking forward to you starting on this one! Hopefully you like it better! "

It would have to be absolutely awful to beat Dirk Gently lol

I haven't always loved the books for this in person book club, sometimes it's books that have problematic parts or views (the women in Rivers of London can be summed up with the word boobs for instance) but I haven't rated any 1 star until today.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Ann-Marie wrote: "Mel wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Looking forward to you starting on this one! Hopefully you like it better! "

It would have to be absolutely awful to beat Dirk Gently lol

I haven't always loved the..."

I watched 1-2 episodes of the show... about what I expected, from the author of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, honestly... weird Holistic Detective stuff... mental hospital, pseudo-superpowers, etc...

I listened to the first Rivers of London book, but didn't like it enough to read the whole series... it's one of those oft-mentioned UF books I feel like I should have liked, tho...

[Ann-Marie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Mel wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Looking forward to you starting on this one! Hopefully you like it better! "

It would have to be absolutely awful to beat Dirk Gently lol

I haven'..."

I remember being excited to watch the show and I made it 2-3 episodes tops and stopped and the book was worse. We had 12 people at book club today and the reviews were all over the place, I think the ratings were split along the lines of Are you a fan of the weird version of British comedy, of which I am clearly not one lol

As far as Rivers of London I liked the universe and the narrator was pretty terrific so I gave book 2 a chance and noped out of continuing after that, it was just not for me. I understand that older SFF isn't always going to have the best portrayal of women but this was particularly egregious. Seriously, it was all BOOBS.....

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Ann-Marie wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Mel wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Looking forward to you starting on this one! Hopefully you like it better! "

It would have to be absolutely awful to beat Dirk..."

lol... my memory of book 1 is hazy... I honestly wasn't sure, at first, if you were referencing Male Gaze, or the British definition of a boob (blundering, ignorant, foolish)...

[Beena]

Woah!! You whizzed through this Mel!

I'm just starting this one, completely new to me. so fingers crossed!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Makes me feel better about my zoomie tendencies... inevitable, i guess, when I've read nearly 200 books, and done nearly 150 BRs, already this year...

[Mel]

Yeah, I have two settings: ZOOM! and Weeks Late.
Hm, that's why I should probably start the sequel before I get too distracted. ^_^;;

It's nice when the timing perfectly syncs up, but it's also nice to spiral though the book, revisiting moments, having spoiler treasure boxes waiting for you.

I remember the first time I tried to do a BR in another Goodreads group, and the other person want to set the start time. Like... read through on the same afternoon. I think they were a romance binge reader. I mean, I love my in-person reading dates I've had with friends where we do parallel reading, but on GR, that's what tags are for.

*crosses fingers* Enjoy!

[Mel]

@Ann-Marie

Ah, thanks for the warning about Rivers of London. That can totally put me off a book. I had it on my TBR and downgraded it to maybe.

I had that happen with The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. So disappointing since I had high hopes, but tit--- (typo or anticipatory Freudian slip?) --- It starts out with the guy casually objectifying the woman's tits and ass, while she's at work in her overalls just trying to do her job. Ick and Ew. Not a good look.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I have similar problems with BRs that try to schedule chapter by chapter... I'm either binging or closing the book and forgetting...

[Mel]

Ohhhh, that harkens back to school days! Where we would read a class book and we weren't supposed to read faster than the rest of class. That was a rule I never obeyed.

[Ann-Marie]

Mel wrote: "@Ann-Marie

Ah, thanks for the warning about Rivers of London. That can totally put me off a book. I had it on my TBR and downgraded it to maybe.

I had that happen with The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy"

I had that on my TBR so will likely go way down on my radar. Oh well, it's not like I don't have 1 million other books to read.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Mel wrote: "@Ann-Marie

Ah, thanks for the warning about Rivers of London. That can totally put me off a book. I had it on my TBR and downgraded it to maybe.

I had that happen with..."

Me & Brian read When Christmas Comes last year... short mystery, about a college professor on sabbatical that solves crimes... kinda seemed to have a Jack Reacher vibe... but a bit of a sociopath with a troubled past... it grew increasingly ridiculous how every female character was attracted to him, and would totally fuck him... even the lesbians and his therapist and I think a widow/married woman (not that he'd act on any of this)... no plans to continue with that series...

[Ann-Marie]

I am through chapter 8, I am not sure what I was expecting but this is exceeding my expectations so far. I didn't re-read the blurb before I started so I went in cold and I have been engaged with the story. Solid world building so far and I love a good heist story.

[Ann-Marie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Mel wrote: "@Ann-Marie

Ah, thanks for the warning about Rivers of London. That can totally put me off a book. I had it on my TBR and downgraded it to maybe.

I had that happen with..."

Me & Brian..."

That sounds terrible lol

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I actually searched up my comments, and it was the dead victim, the MC said he could have loved... it seemed like such a nice quaint story, when Brian picked it up, I read the blurb, and checked it out off Hoopla...

[Beena]

*crosses fingers* Enjoy!

Thanksss!

I wholeheartedly agree that planning to read chapter by chapter is just waaay too much! Would never work for me!

Only made it to Chapter 3; (view spoiler)[ A talking key?! How odd! Lol. (hide spoiler)]

It's ok so far, hasn't reeled me in yet, though the little bits of humour are striking me as pretty dorky and I already HATE "scrumming". Just whyyyyy? Can't be dealing, lol.

[Ann-Marie]

Finished part 1 (view spoiler)[Very glad she found some people even if it is in the early stages. I don't think Orso will end up being a jerk...maybe.....hopefully? I really like Dandola & Bernice though. Clef is awesome and I hope that he isn't destroyed, maybe he will bind with Sancia? Or she will somehow find a way to heal/help him. Unique magic system and good bloody action scenes? Loving it so far! (hide spoiler)]

[Mel]

Beena wrote: "I already HATE "scrumming". Just whyyyyy? Can't be dealing, lol."

I regret to inform you that scrumming will make many further appearances.

It's interesting how some in-world curses can be so fun and satisfying, and other ones are a total turn-off. By all means, it sounds appropriately nasty, with that similarity to "scum" or "scoundrel" or "screw." But it's also used a lot. And we're subjected to a full definition.

Hehe, it got me thinking of different fantasy curses, and how I have a fondness for old pompous ones like, "By the First Egg!" from Pern. Reminds me of other silly ironic exclamations like, "By Riker's Beard!" or "Holy Fandango Batman!"

[Mel]

Ann-Marie wrote: "Finished part 1 [spoilers removed]"

Yep, gotta love a good heist. And why stop at one? I love how different magic systems influence action scenes to get creative. :)

[Mel]

The Astronomy Picture of the Day today gave some serious Foundryside vibes for a certain scene. IYKYK.



https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230510.html

[Nirkatze]

Just started today! I also didn't even read the book blurb and am going into this cold... seen this book on a lot of lists and the cover was pretty so had it on TBR for a while...

I got up to chapter 3 and had same reaction as Beena... and I think that was about when I got hooked and started not wanting to put down.

Through Chapter 5 now (view spoiler)[Really enjoying Clef... reminds me of M-Bot in Skyward a bit. Hoping this will be a "Girl and her Key" story. Just what's needed for some heist-y-ness!

Definitely curious about Sancia's past... and I was grateful for the sneaky name-pronunciation guide in there.

I love the conversation Clef had with the Candiano door--it reminded me of of the Bridge of Death scene in Monty Python.... "What is the airspeed of an unladen swallow?" "What do you mean, African or European?" (hide spoiler)]

Absolutely gorgeous APOD!! Thank you for sharing Mel! I used to have that as an alert... I need to set that up again...

[Olivia]

I'm moving slower than anticipated. Loved the first few chapters. The magic system is intriguing. I like when they're not super hard. I enjoy a bit of chaos in my magic.

[Ann-Marie]

Mel wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Finished part 1 [spoilers removed]"

Yep, gotta love a good heist. And why stop at one? I love how different magic systems influence action scenes to get creative. :)"

Exactly!

[Beena]

I regret to inform you that scrumming will make many further appearances.

@Mel, haha, I gathered I'd be seeing a lot of it unfortunately!

Totally agree how made-up cursing can be a complete hit or miss. But this one just completely sounds like a kid made it up to me, it's that ridiculous, so I'd have to disagree on it sounding nasty lol.

I'd also add that sometimes the made-up curses can be more or less effective depending on how completely sold/immersed you are into the world building. As, thinking on it, "Storming" sounds pretty ridiculous on it's own, but in context, I bought it.

"By the First Egg!"

I actually love this! Hahaha!

[Beena]

Beautiful Astronomy pic too, I'll see if I can suss it out when I get to the scene...

[Beena]

I'm up to Chapter 7, not got much to say spoiler-wise.

It's ok, it's easy to read so far which says something for the writing, but I'm finding the characters and their actions a bit stereotypical and predictable.

I will say, I'm also not fond of heist/thief type stories (really did not get along with Lies of Locke Lamora and The Final Empire only worked for me because the real story revealed itself fairly quickly). Which might beg the question of why I picked this up if I knew the premise was based on a thief, but I don't want to dismiss a whole load of books just on that one thing, plus one might actually surprise me.

I'm also not keen on the world building and mythology, but I do wanna keep reading and give it a chance.

[Ann-Marie]

So Sancia saw 2 people having sex and she referred to it as "coupling" and not "scrumming"? lol

[Mel]

@Nirkatze
Chapter 5 - Haha, I can totally see the Monty Python sketch!

@Olivia
Yeah, I can handle plenty of hand-wavium magic, as long as it doesn't try to get too into the weeds with it. My annoyance is when the worldbuilding tries to explain the magic system logically, but... there are... gaps... in... the logic. All mush or nothing!

@Beena
Ah okay I getcha, it's the silliness more than crudeness. Yeah, it sounds a bit like "crummy" I suppose. Both childish and a bit old-fashioned. "That was a right crummy thing to do..." as a mild chastisement. I know I'm harping on, but I guess I'm trying to figure out why it doesn't work based on association. "Scrummy" to me is slightly better than "scrumming," because I could see it being a variation of "cruddy" more easily than a variation of "fucking."

And I'm with you on Locke Lamora. Was not a fan. But of heist stories in general? I hadn't thought about it much before, or at least hadn't thought to seek them out as a genre, but yeah, I suppose I do like a good heist.

@Ann-Marie
Hahahaha!!
*dramatically rolls eyes* They weren't fucking, they were "making love," obviously!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I definitely like a good heist... I liked Lies of Locke Lamora the most of the series... more than all future entries by a fair margin, and it just kept going down...

Rogues of the Republic...
Mistborn #1...
Dresden #15...
Alex Verus #7 or 8 or 9, I forget...
Pax Arcana #5...
Quantum Magician...
bunch of TV & movies...

[Mel]

Only one of those I've read is Mistborn. Honestly I forgot that was a heist. It was so long ago when I read it.

Also, I shall have you all know that I have had Destiny's Child stuck in my head for the past week! because of Chapter 30. Damn you, repetitive pop music!

[Ann-Marie]

Just finished Part 2, still unsure about one of the folks in the gang, a certain someone/thing was just revealed to the group, I have 5 hours left in the audio and it seems like there is a lot left to happen so we'll see how this plays out.

[Nirkatze]

Up to Chapter 10 now, (view spoiler)[Enjoyed getting the new POV--straight-laced contrast to our thief. I'm curious to see how the POVs will intersect... it's fun when you want both people to succeed... but one succeeding of course means the other failing... (hide spoiler)]

I like me a good heist story too... though I'm curious now, in chapter 10--(view spoiler)[does this mean the heist part isn't over? 'cuz right now it seems more like an OMG RUN part of the story... (hide spoiler)]

Looking forward to chapter 30 and upcoming Destiny's Child on repeat... I think the only song I know by them is the Waterfalls one...

[Mel]

@Ann-Marie
I'm curious as to which reveal you are referring... I think I know. But I could be wrong, since it's so easy to get suspicions swirling about all sorts of things.

@Nirkatze
Isn't that sort of the format of a heist story though?

Okay, here's the plan. We're going to sneak veeeery sneakily.
*everything goes wrong*
Ohshitohshitohshit! Run!!
*finds safe place to catch breath* *pants*
Okay, but this time...
*sirens blare*
Ohshitohshitohshit!!

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

I would draw it out as comic panels, but I am a lazy person so you'll have to envision your own.

[Ann-Marie]

Mel wrote: "@Ann-Marie
I'm curious as to which reveal you are referring... I think I know. But I could be wrong, since it's so easy to get suspicions swirling about all sorts of things."

(view spoiler)[When Sancia revealed Cleff to the group. And we get his story in the beginning of part 3, poor guy! (hide spoiler)]

[Ann-Marie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I definitely like a good heist... I liked Lies of Locke Lamora the most of the series... more than all future entries by a fair margin, and it just kept going down...

Rogues of the Republic...
Mis..."

Is the Locke Lamora one of the series that is not finished and is unlikely to ever be finished? Because I am VERY BITTER about GRRM and would like to avoid another incomplete series. I refuse to read that Rothfuss or however you spell it series, he is kind of a dick lol

[Mel]

Grr, battery died and deleted my comments. Hate it when that happens.

But ah yes, that bit. (view spoiler)[I had already suspected as much about Clef, but it was good to get the full story all the same. I hope he felt some cathartis by sobbing through Sancia's body. To be able to cry. Although it was mentioned that his sight is not determined by her physical eyes, so it's all rather vague what he actually feels. (hide spoiler)]

I'm also curious of whom you are feeling unsure....
(Among Us vibes) *shifty eyes* Who here is an Imposter??
*starts tossing characters out the airlock*

[Mel]

And yes, Locke Lamora is one of the ones with a long hiatus. Fortunately I'm not invested in any of those series. No interest in starting GRRM, quit Lynch, and told my friend about 15 years ago I'd read Kingkiller once it was finished. I only regret that stupid book got packed and unpacked through at least 5 moves.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yea.. been about a decade since the 3rd Locke Lamora book… 6-7 planned… depression and author drama abounds there… I’m not holding my breath… book 4 has had a cover for like 7 years…

[Ann-Marie]

Mel wrote: "I'm also curious of whom you are feeling unsure....
(Among Us vibes) *shifty eyes* Who here is an Imposter??
*starts tossing characters out the airlock*"

(view spoiler)[Orso has struck me as sketchy but I am thinking it is his attitude coming from his privilege that may have given me bad vibes. I agree about Clef's tale, so sad but now that I am into Part 3 maybe there is hope that there are still people who knew that technique around who can help him?

Also poor Gregor, Orso's ex is awful apparently. (hide spoiler)]

[Ann-Marie]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Yea.. been about a decade since the 3rd Locke Lamora book… 6-7 planned… depression and author drama abounds there… I’m not holding my breath… book 4 has had a cover for like 7 years…"

Yeah, I read somewhere that you can read the first and it has a satisfying conclusion but I am leery of starting anything that is unlikely to be finished, George scarred me.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The first is pretty satisfying… ends with MC and buddy on the run… future books try to setup in new locations… hijinks ensue… I think the plan is to return to home town in final book…

[Beena]

So Sancia saw 2 people having sex and she referred to it as "coupling" and not "scrumming"? lol

I understood scrumming as anal rather than vaginal sex...

Soz for the detailed analysis guys lol