A Time of Dread (Of Blood and Bone #1)[July 20, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for A Time of Dread by John Gwynne starting July 20, 2023.
A Time of Dread

[Johanna]

Yessss

[Nirkatze]

Whoo hoo! I feel like the band is getting back again. :)

[Chris]

My spot

[Vickie]

Awesome, looking forward to it!

[Julian]

I'm currently reading this series and I can't get enough of John Gwynne's books! I'll probably be down to reread it this summer

[Nirkatze]

LOL that's awesome Julian! I don't know if I could stomach a 6 month turnaround on a reread. :) Kudos to you. Looking forward to it!

[Julian]

Honestly I kind of regret not reading these books immediately after finishing the original Faithful and the Fallen series. These are pretty much a direct sequel to the point that in the months that it had been since I finished the original set of books I had forgotten about a couple of details and some of the minor characters. Some of the giants in particular whom weren't that important in the original Faithful and the Fallen become much more relevant in this trilogy

[Nirkatze]

That is good to know! Thank you Julian--may be bugging you for a first 4 recap. XD

[lorii (Loriidae)]

julian, I see what you are saying, but I was put off from starting right away when I read that this trilogy is set a hundred years later, I didn't like the idea of saying goodbye to all my favourite human characters. Having said that though, I am thinking about a reread before july.

[Julian]

While the majority of the original characters are now dead since its been over a hundred years there's still a good amount of references to them. Throughout the trilogy you read about what certain characters did after the events of the faithful and the fallen. Also you discover in the first few chapters that some of the new characters are descendants of characters from the original Faithful and the Fallen.

I'm now almost halfway done with the last book and I kind of wish that John Gwynne had gone with 4 books instead of 3 since there's just so much going on. That and I don't want to say goodbye to the banish lands again.

[Navi]

I'd love to join in on this buddy read! I've been meaning to start this trilogy ever since I finished Faithful and the Fallen last year :)

[Nirkatze]

Navi wrote: "I'd love to join in on this buddy read! I've been meaning to start this trilogy ever since I finished Faithful and the Fallen last year :)"

Ditto that! I'm really curious how the world has grown...

[Emily]

I’m in! I read The Faithful and the Fallen last year, thoroughly enjoyed it, and had been waiting for an excuse to start the next series.

[Chris]

Started today...

[Nirkatze]

Going to be late... running late on everything, especially eyebooks. ^^

[Felina]

I probably won’t be able to start this until this weekend. I have it on audio and I have a bunch of meetings this week. But looking forward to it.

[Chris]

I'm 35% in but no worries. My listening is slowing down as I am distracted by shiny things...

Mostly Vikings and good music...

[Felina]

I was able to get 30 minutes of audio in last night and it’s fantastic. Steven Pacey is great. He also narrated the First Law trilogy by Abercrombie and nobody does Glotka like Pacey.

[Chris]

You have an edition with Pacey reading? Whoah...

Mine is Damien Lynch. I like him too but Pacey is top level

[Felina]

Yeah. I didn’t know there were two options for narrator. I just bought what audible showed.

Pacey is one of my favorites.

[Vickie]

Starting this today, but I'm reading the physical copy so I'll probably be slower.😏

[Felina]

Nope Chris, I'm a liar. I was looking at the wrong book. I do have the one by Damian Lynch. I was looking at A Little Hatred.

[Nirkatze]

Damian Lynch sounds familiar. I just went through my list of audio though and I can't find what I've heard him narrate before... but I swear I've heard something...

[Chris]

Felina wrote: "Nope Chris, I'm a liar. I was looking at the wrong book. I do have the one by Damian Lynch. I was looking at A Little Hatred."

I thought that might be the case but I wasn't going to call you out on it lol

[Chris]

Nirkatze wrote: "Damian Lynch sounds familiar. I just went through my list of audio though and I can't find what I've heard him narrate before... but I swear I've heard something..."

He did the first series as well, starting with Malice..

He narrated Empire of the Vampire, which is one reason I jumped in on that upcoming read.

[Nirkatze]

I read Malice but didn't listen, and I'm looking forward to Empire of the Vampire... I just swear I've listened to something else by him... ah well, someday I'll find it!

[Felina]

Is this a second trilogy? Should I wait to read this until after I’ve read the first trilogy?

[Nirkatze]

So, this is what Gwynne himself says about this series:

A TIME OF DREAD is set in the Banished Lands, 130 years after the events that take place in Wrath, so all that happened in the Faithful and the Fallen is now the history of this new series. But I have written Of Blood and Bone as an entirely new series, with new characters and plot. There are references to the Faithful and the Fallen, but you do not need to have read it to understand or enjoy this new series.

[Felina]

Perfect! Then I will press on.

[Vickie]

So far I'm enjoying the chapters of Drem the most.

[Chris]

I admit I struggled a bit early on, but something clicked around the halfway point...I'm at 79% now

[Chris]

I finished it last night.....

Wow, It really picked up more by the end....Definitely looking forward to the next one..

[Vickie]

Great, Chris, I'm glad you ended up enjoying it! I remember his first series book, Malice, being a little slow early on as well. It's all that world building and getting all the characters straight that takes a bit of time. Since it's Gwynne, though, I just hang on and buckle down knowing that the pay off will be well worth it.😊

[Felina]

I’m like 5% into this one and while it isn’t captivating, it’s not boring. But I’m a sucker for a good Scottish accent so the audio is A+ for me.

[Chris]

I think my initial issue was simply getting used to the new world. That is, I was so into the first series that now we fast forward 136 years or so and things are very different. Took some getting adjusted to.

Felina, I think you might be having some of the same adjustment period there, though getting used to a totally new world...The societies and groups are a little more straight forward (tropish?) in the first series so it's a little easier to ease into...

[Felina]

It’s interesting because I didn’t read the first trilogy so they do touch on the past a little but I’m not sure if I should be paying super close attention to it or I’ll get lost and being torn between not really wanting to so when I do eventually read the original trilogy, I won’t be too spoiled. 😂

[Chris]

Felina wrote: "It’s interesting because I didn’t read the first trilogy so they do touch on the past a little but I’m not sure if I should be paying super close attention to it or I’ll get lost and being torn bet..."

You should be good. He's very general and brief with the history and with the 10,000 names you'll likely forget the main players in the series by the time you start it, keeping it fresh lol...Even still, the awesomeness of the first series is in the details and the journey so even with minor spoilers it would still be great...

[Felina]

Good. And I don’t mind spoilers anyways, generally. A Sixth Sense spoiler is rude but I remember on my second date with my husband I forced him to spoil what would happen to Joffrey from GoT.

[Felina]

I’m about 25% in and (view spoiler)[ my favorite characters are the trapper father and son. I’m doing the audio so I always lose names. I just read the part where those new miner guys are harassing that gal and the son steps in and they all start fighting him, which is the height of dishonor IMO, and then the dad steps in and takes them all. His line ‘I’m old for a reason.’ Made me laugh out loud. Badass. (hide spoiler)]

[Vickie]

Yes, Drem's chapters are my favorite so far, too.😊

[Nirkatze]

Whoo! Excited to be jumping in! Through Chapter 5 (view spoiler)[Kind of sad to see the Ben-Elim turn into ... not good guys. Kind of snobs. They sound little better than the arrogant Kadoshim.

And it makes me think that we never got an answer about what was up with the god, forget his name. Maybe we'll get an answer here.

Enjoying the new POVs so far, but they haven't really coalesced into individual flavors yet.

I was just noticing in two other BRs how I seem to be seeing characters with autistic spectrum traits all over the place. Drem and his father are twinging my sense too--the love of logic, the distance of emotion, and how Drem finds the sense of his pulse calming... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Felina wrote: "I’m about 25% in and [spoilers removed]"

That was a great line! It reminds me of another adage: "There are old soldiers, and bold soldiers, but very few old bold soldiers."

[Nirkatze]

Well, that went fast! I seem to really have a problem with first books in new series with new narrators. I feel like I have no idea what happened--but I still managed to call several twists beforehand. Enjoyed what I did understand! Might have to pick up the physical book too, when I have time.

[Chris]

Nirkatze wrote: "I read Malice but didn't listen, and I'm looking forward to Empire of the Vampire... I just swear I've listened to something else by him... ah well, someday I'll find it!"

Was it In the Shadow of Lightning?

[Nirkatze]

Chris wrote: "Nirkatze wrote: "I read Malice but didn't listen, and I'm looking forward to Empire of the Vampire... I just swear I've listened to something else by him... ah well, someday I'll find it!"

Was it ..."

Nah, I didn't listen to Shadow, same as Malice, I did the ebook... it might have been something at the end of a Hoopla "here's a sample of another book from this publisher..." for all I know.

[Felina]

I’m about 60% into this one, doing the audiobook and I’m set to finish today. I have really been enjoying it.

My favorite character is the son of that fur trapper dude (view spoiler)[ who used to be a warrior. I’m audioing so I always lose names of people and groups and places. Sorry! He’s a tender heart and I feel like they’re setting him up to be some kind of ‘chosen one’ which is a trope I tend to enjoy. We’ll see. I’m very interested to see what those monster bat things are up to. (hide spoiler)]

[Felina]

Chapter 35 (view spoiler)[ Huzzah! A Vampyre!! Intrigued! (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Felina wrote: "I’m about 60% into this one, doing the audiobook and I’m set to finish today. I have really been enjoying it.

My favorite character is the son of that fur trapper dude [spoilers removed]"

I know exactly what you mean about losing names of people on audio. I'm pretty sure that's (view spoiler)[Drem. He was my favorite too, though I also like the girl who was trying for the wing-guard but washed out because of her temper. Riv, I think. (hide spoiler)]

It helps that I have physical copies to refer to, if I remember to do so!

[Vickie]

Just finished and loved it. Typical Gwynne... fantastic! I think I might have to jump right in to book 2 as I don’t think I'll be able to wait. I love Drem the most and Riv is a close second. I had a hunch about her and figured out what was going on with her early on. Glad I was right. Ought to be interesting to see how both Drem and Riv's character arcs play out.