In the Shadow of Lightning (Glass Immortals #1)[April 8, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan starting on April 8, 2023.


Happy Reading!

[lorii (Loriidae)]

I'll be driving all that week. I will look for the audio. I really enjoyed his powder mage series.

[Siobhan]

Loriidae wrote: "I'll be driving all that week. I will look for the audio. I really enjoyed his powder mage series."

Great idea! Hope you can join :)

I loved the Powder Mage series too!

[Rob]

I'll be there.

[Chris]

Spot..

I'll be doing audio. It's the same narrator that did The Faithful and the Fallen.

[lorii (Loriidae)]

Chris wrote: "Spot..

I'll be doing audio. It's the same narrator that did The Faithful and the Fallen."

Oh excellent - he's brilliant

[Nirkatze]

Anyone else get the short story too? Montego?

[Rob]

Yep, I backed it.

[Chris]

Nirkatze wrote: "Anyone else get the short story too? Montego?"

Yes

[Nirkatze]

Coolbeans!

[Silvana]

I happen to be (slowly) reading this book!

Nirkatze wrote: "Anyone else get the short story too? Montego?"

where to get this?

[Nirkatze]

There was a kickstarter for Montego a while back--I'm not sure where it is in general vendors, or if it is out yet.

[Chris]

Here is the listing on Kindle USA: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B...

Out to public May 23

Montego: A Glass Immortals Novella

[Jarom]

This is my first buddy read. Sign me up

[Silvana]

I almost finished with this and look forward to know your thoughts.

Chris wrote: "Here is the listing on Kindle USA: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B......"

Nirkatze wrote: "There was a kickstarter for Montego a while back--I'm not sure where it is in general vendors, or if it is out yet."

thanks, both!

[Nirkatze]

Welcome Jarom!

LOL Silvana, you early bird! ^_^ Looking forward to chatting with you next month...

[Silvana]

Nirkatze wrote: "Welcome Jarom!

LOL Silvana, you early bird! ^_^ Looking forward to chatting with you next month..."

Actually I did not know about the BR - just so happened I was reading it this month.

I gave it 3.5 stars. Powder Mage & Gods of Blood and Powder have better first books, especially character wise.

[Nirkatze]

Interesting... looking forward to seeing how that works out...

[Chris]

Has anyone else started?

I got going on it and I've listened to a couple of hours. Pretty good stuff as we get to know the world and main players.

[Tammie]

I haven't started this yet. I'm really behind on all my buddy reads.

[Rob]

Going tobe a few weeks push back for me. I did get my copy of Montego kickstarter in the mail last week.

[Siobhan]

I'm behind schedule, sorry! Going to be a bit late.

[Nirkatze]

I just got my Montego in the mail today! I'm about two books behind right now, so if I'm lucky I might be here by the end of next weekend...

[Chris]

Don't worry about me getting off to an early lead. As slow as I go, I'll still probably be the last to finish it lol

[Rob]

The kickoff on this wasn't supposed to have started until the 18th anyway, so we're all good :)

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Oooh I must have missed this thread when it was posted. I have this sitting on my shelf and I've been waiting for the right time to start reading. :) I'm in!

[Chris]

Rob wrote: "The kickoff on this wasn't supposed to have started until the 18th anyway, so we're all good :)"

I ended up confused. I got an email today saying it was starting on the 18th, but the thread title has the 8th....

Either way, I'm claiming buddy read points for group read :)

[Chris]

Jenna wrote: "Oooh I must have missed this thread when it was posted. I have this sitting on my shelf and I've been waiting for the right time to start reading. :) I'm in!"

Glad to have you join!

[Tammie]

Chris wrote: "Don't worry about me getting off to an early lead. As slow as I go, I'll still probably be the last to finish it lol"

That's usually what happens with me too, lol.

[Siobhan]

Chris wrote: "Rob wrote: "The kickoff on this wasn't supposed to have started until the 18th anyway, so we're all good :)"

I ended up confused. I got an email today saying it was starting on the 18th, but the t..."

I thought it was the 8th, and we planned it :D haha!

[Siobhan]

Tammie wrote: "Chris wrote: "Don't worry about me getting off to an early lead. As slow as I go, I'll still probably be the last to finish it lol"

That's usually what happens with me too, lol."

And me!

[Nirkatze]

LOL I was thinking it was the 8th too...

[Siobhan]

So sorry I didn't get to this yet, I had such a slump this month 😩

[Rob]

I'm up to chapter 4- started a few days ago. So far so good. Enjoyingthe characters, pacing, and world-building seems interesting. Definitely reminding what I liked about Powder Mage as there is an intrigue/mystery element to it as well.

[Nirkatze]

I started yesterday! I'm up to Chapter 9. I like how everything is coming together... at first the switching between different POVs was a bit disorienting since I was far enough in to the story that I didn't think we were getting more, but once they were established I was in for the game. ^^

Interestingly, I'm feeling more of a connection to Brent Week's Lightbringer series than the Powder Mage--probably because I'm also in that BR--but the magic system and its technological aspects are strongly reminding me of the light & luxin system in Lightbringer. Also, the whole political scene--though I think McClellan's writing is tighter than Weeks'.

Some thoughts through Chapter 9--(view spoiler)[I also like the sense of a murder mystery from the start... that then ties to a greater conspiracy... and an economics conundrum. The whole "cindersand is running out" thing reminds me a bit of world oil dependency--and I liked Montego's reaction to it too--kind of "Well, I don't use it, but I'll feel bad for all those folks who do."

I'm very glad the falcon was okay.

I like the way the characters' paths are slowly crossing and diverging, especially Kissen.

There's been several hints of creatures in the shadows--first the glimpse of the man-like creature in the window. Then Madame-under-Magna mentioning things moving in the shadows. One more mention after that, of folk tales and scare stories. Seems like that's something to keep an eye on, in addition to the political stuff--kind of like the god-issues going on behind the politics in Powder Mage.

I'm not completely feeling Demir's backstory. The prologue didn't hit me solidly, so I'm not buying into it yet... not sure what could make that better. (hide spoiler)]

[Rob]

Agreed - magic system is definitely closer to Lightbringer. I'm finding a lot of the things they have to go through so far a bit too convenient and easy. Still, perhaps we're just getting an illustration of how capable this veteran crew is until we reach a real obstacle/unearth the actual conspiracy. I'm up to 17 and so far I enjoy the whole cast of characters/always a fan of the many POV style.
Waiting to see what happens when (view spoiler)[Idrian and Montego meet and see who meets Tessa first. (hide spoiler)]

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

I'm about 15 chapters in -- there are a lot of similarities to Lightbringer's magic system, but I still feel like I'm reading a Powder Mage novel because of McClellan's writing style.

At 167 pages in, I don't feel as though anything of note has happened yet, but I also don't mind the pacing. I like all of the POV characters who have been introduced so far and I like the mystery aspect of it.

I totally agree with you, Rob, it seems like (view spoiler)[everything is a bit too easy (apart from the prologue with Demir's career being ruined), but I'm excited to see how the different characters are getting together so early in the book.(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

I've been zooming along this week. I'm up to Chapter 49, and I'm really enjoying it--but I definitely agree with y'all that the tone is very different from McClellan's earlier works. Not Grimdark--or at least not yet. Like, I keep waiting for the axe to fall. Conflicts happen, bad things happen, but none of them are heart-wrenching.... yet. It's actually almost a relief to read a story like this... I'm really enjoying the characters, the politics & economics, the bigger mysteries lurking in the background... but I'm not biting my nails. Kind of makes me think of some lighter Sanderson a bit... Like Tress or something. Then again, heading in to the endgame now and there's still plenty of time for everything to blow up in horrible ways.

I'm also becoming a huge Mondego fan, and am getting more and more interested in the prequel novella--which is nice, because I'm usually lackluster about prequels.

[Siobhan]

I just read the Prologue... Wow, what a start!! 😳

[Chris]

I finished it over the weekend...Pretty good, solid work, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series...

Including the prequel novella. Are we going to BR it?

[Rob]

I thin i'll jump right to it after I finish. I'm up to chapter 39 and have been really enjoying it.

[Silvana]

anyone thinks that the romance subplot is not that good? I found it boring tbh.

[Nirkatze]

I started Montego! Really enjoying so far...

@Silvana--the romance was okay--it didn't annoy me, and for that I'm thankful... but neither was it inspiring.

[Chris]

This book is currently on sale at Audible USA for $6.99

[Chris]

Silvana wrote: "anyone thinks that the romance subplot is not that good? I found it boring tbh."

I agree with Nirkatze. It was such a small part of things it was easy to forget about. It could have easily grown into a major annoyance though.

(view spoiler)[A bit of instalove though, don't ya think? After a shared "almost" moment, he's so attached that he considers his relationship with her at the moment he agrees to an arranged marriage that will prevent a blood feud? Nah.. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

re: Romance--(view spoiler)[I can see it being instalurvey. Just a little though... they had attraction, crush, and day-dreaming, but I do like that when Derim was faced with the arranged marriage proposal his thoughts were more about how gross it would be to have to get so close to someone he considered his sister...

How long of a time frame are we looking at here? Only a couple weeks, right? Yeah, that's pretty fast to be planning futures. But not too fast to feel attracted to someone, yeah?

Thank goodness it wasn't a focus! I actually like Kizzie & Montego's untold story better... (hide spoiler)]

[Silvana]

@Chris: agree. I was hoping they phased it a bit, but nope.

anyway, I gave this book only three stars since there were not much happening (for me) and maybe I was just too besotted with the Powder Mage and Gods of Blood Powder trilogies so I cannot help but compare with them.....

I do like Kizzie and Montego.

[Nirkatze]

It's interesting, Silvana--I think the same things you disliked about this book are some of the things I liked about it...

Finished Montego and really enjoyed it. The short chapters made it feel like a lot happened in the little novella. Nice getting some more Montego background, and seeing Demir & Kizzie as kids too. Also get to meet the famous mother, at least a little.

[Silvana]

Nirkatze wrote: "It's interesting, Silvana--I think the same things you disliked about this book are some of the things I liked about it...

Finished Montego and really enjoyed it. The short chapters made it feel l..."

that's the wonder of buddy reads, can have many different opinions :D

and I need to read Montego too

[Rob]

Finished and onto Montego.

I thought the romance part was cute/felt kinda realistic to me - the whole "sparks" thing which is indeed real. Sometimes you just know it when you know and very quickly, so hesitating to act, even though you know its probably inevitable just rings true to me (having been through it to a happy eventual conclusion irl).