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[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Princess

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Finally pulled up the epilogue on Royal Road to re-read the last page, and figure out who the POV was... it's (view spoiler)[the anti-magic spider that ate Silverlake, who had a Primordial contract active... so the spider momma gained Primordial power and is passing it to her offspring...

Powder Keg waiting to erupt... (hide spoiler)]

There's also an Afterword & mini Q&A with the author, explaining his writing process and future plans at the time...

I also confirmed, through reddit, that he started posting chapters to fictionpress 11 years ago, 6 years before he finished the story...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

My old TV keeps trying to freak me out... it's falling apart, internally... dark circle on screen... then one day last week it failed to swap to an HDMI input and I had to unplug to reset functionality... now it takes 2 tries to see the internal clock with the correct time zone adjustment... when I wake up and check it, it tells me what time it is in Greenwich Mean Time (+/- 0hrs)... which screws with me, thinking it's 5hrs later than it is... happened to me one work day recently, and again tonight when I thought it was 1am instead of 8pm... not a big loss, but still half my day gone if true...

[Narilka]

Mother of Learning: ARC 4 through ch 7 (view spoiler)[I'm glad that confirmed that Zack was, in fact, the original looper. Whew!

And the primordal wants out of its prison. I guess I should've seen that coming. It's a good twist though :) It really ups the tension for Zorian (and everyone else) now. This is their actual last chance. (hide spoiler)]

[Narilka]

Timelord Iain wrote: "My old TV keeps trying to freak me out... it's falling apart, internally... dark circle on screen... then one day last week it failed to swap to an HDMI input and I had to unplug to reset functiona..."

TVs are pretty cheap these days. Maybe it's time for a replacement.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

it is... I just need to swap out... a 40 inch vizio is $140 and good enough for me...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

This has just been my year for everything breaking and needing replaced... from PC and iPod to soup pot handle to my recliner to my legs/knees... to TV to bedsheet tear... I feel like a new item breaks every week...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Narilka wrote: "Mother of Learning: ARC 4 through ch 7..."

Waaaaaaait For It

[Narilka]

I forget which thread you guys mentioned Once Was Willem in. It was on sale today for Kindle so I grabbed a copy. Did you put a BR together or is it part of Spooktober?

[Narilka]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Narilka wrote: "Mother of Learning: ARC 4 through ch 7..."

Waaaaaaait For It"

Oh yea. This is pretty crazy lol I'm half way through chapter 8 (long ass chapters) and they've, (view spoiler)[through sheer overwhelming force, convinced QI to actually help them with their exit plan, though the lich has no idea that's really what it is lol And kidnapped all the cultists to work for them too! It's brilliant, audacious and hilarious. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yea... things ramp up hard here in ARC 4... author admits it can feel a bit rushed, in the series Afterword on Royal Road...

The time limit is looming large... (view spoiler)[and now Silverlake has gone rogue (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I actually came to kinda like the Lich, through volumes 3-4... he's clearly a baddie... but he has a hard code of honor... if he gives his word, he keeps it...

In alot of ways, he's just a crotchety old (undead) wizard... with patriotism for his kingdom... but willing to cross alot of lines on other things...

[Nirkatze]

Narilka wrote: "I forget which thread you guys mentioned Once Was Willem in. It was on sale today for Kindle so I grabbed a copy. Did you put a BR together or is it part of Spooktober?"

We're reading it this month in the Sales thread! Sept 25th [here]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Good catch... another time the notification link tricked me into thinking there was only 1 new comment...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Narilka wrote: "I forget which thread you guys mentioned Once Was Willem in. It was on sale today for Kindle so I grabbed a copy. Did you put a BR together or is it part of Spookto..."

Starting spooktober early...

[Narilka]

Nirkatze wrote: "Narilka wrote: "I forget which thread you guys mentioned Once Was Willem in. It was on sale today for Kindle so I grabbed a copy. Did you put a BR together or is it part of Spookto..."

Thanks. I'll see what happens with my reading lol

[Nirkatze]

I hope you can join us!

[Narilka]

Mother of Learning: ARC 4 I don't mind the faster pace. I think it's good to give it the urgency the story deserves. I'm a few minutes in to Ch 11 (view spoiler)[I'm very surprised that Zorian exited the loop before the half way point of the book. Holy crap they have a lot to do now that they're out.

I'm sad that it seems like only the two of them made it out.

Zorian is almost like he's back at the beginning, keeping himself low key while he sends his simulacrums out to do things. It's interesting. I am happy to have the original spiders back. That's nice.

I really have no idea how this is going to wrap up. The fact that they haven't found Silverlake yet makes me nervous but I also wonder if she's planning something to survive the death pact? Assuming she did take it like everyone thinks. (hide spoiler)]

[Narilka]

You can tell it's a school holiday - Nirkatze is on an comment spree :)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "I hope you can join us!"

Pause all the September BRs we're delaying for Choko/Beena, and catch up on Mother of Learning!!!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Narilka wrote: "Mother of Learning: ARC 4 I don't mind the faster pace...."

(view spoiler)[them Simulacrums got so OP... remember when he was learning and warned to not overdo it?... I think Zorian is specially tailored to get the most value out of simulacrums... willing to sacrifice, just trolls himself with dates and stuff or his sister... strong mental mage...

Definitely alot going on... so much was lost from the time loop, but learned plenty about rolling with the failures to pull things out on a time limit...

The ending is pretty epic and full of surprises...

And oh man, Silverlake... Time Loop Silverlake AND unchanged old Silverlake... a trip and a half when a Primordial pulls you out of the loop... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Nirkatze wrote: "I hope you can join us!"

Pause all the September BRs we're delaying for Choko/Beena, and catch up on Mother of Learning!!!"

Really really hoping I can... Sept is lighter than August, so I should be able to...

[Nirkatze]

Whoo! Tracker updated, pokes and requests made through January, and it only took SEVEN HOURS. *whew*

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I tell ya... reading alot requires alot of makework to manage efficiently... and we like to do it all in one day, instead of 5 minutes every day...

I spent like 5hrs catching up on 3 months of mini-reviews last week... and still haven't gotten back to copying them from the posts I made into actual reviews, a week later, after my first batch of 20-30...

Need to be in the right mindset...

[Nirkatze]

Analysis & Creation takes mental energy

[Narilka]

Nathan Lowell had a great update - he's almost done with the first draft of the Wizard's Cat!! Obviously it will need to go through a couple more drafts and then edits but this still means we'll get a follow up to the Wizard's Butler :D We'll have to plan a reread once the new book has a release date.

If you want to read the post: https://nathanlowell.com/showing-up/

[Nirkatze]

Oooh!! That should go in Fantasy News!

[Narilka]

Nirkatze wrote: "Oooh!! That should go in Fantasy News!"

Cross posted over there.

[Narilka]

Mother of Learning: ARC 4 Through Ch 13. Woah. (view spoiler)[Silverlake finally found Zorian. That was a doozy of a reveal. Changes the direction of things yet again! Oy. Like things weren't bad enough to figure out. Plus it's for real this time. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

work was rough last night, ended up going for a (personal) record-setting 11.5hr shift...

I read 1/2 of a new book BR... then went for re-reads that I could just zoom through and not feel like I'm missing anything... Aftermarket Afterlife BR, then opened the Audible library and downloaded Kate Daniels #1 and Mercy Thompson #1 for re-read... lotta books read in a single work shift... 2 books and 2 halves...

[Nirkatze]

Dammit Iain, don't go starting good series rereads without inviting people...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I used to read them yearly...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

My rereading is down like 75% this year, and I like reading fresh stuff more... but some days... I just need something simple...

And today, I was looking at my options and it was like Noah the Red (too much kitchen sink)... Damned King (the recap was going in one ear and out the other on the drive to work)... Society of Unknowable Objects (didn't want to miss details)...

Could have probably read Circles of Hell or Joe Ledger or Empire of Man or Pyper Rayne, but most of those would be me jumping far ahead to next week's books...

[Nirkatze]

waaaaaaa now I want a Mercy reread....

Full Mercyverse reread chronological with all shorts and Alpha & Omega weaved in...

I won't bug you about a Kate Daniels reread though. Still too recent for me to be ready for that...

How far did you get in your Wandering Inn sidequest?

And for a second you gave me a heart attack with "My rereading is down like 75% this year,..."--I read it as "My reading" instead of rereading, and was thinking WTF how much do you usually read???? Here I thought I was doing good almost keeping up with you...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yea... I don't always catch ALL the short stories, but I definitely do mostly chrono... Mercy, AO0-1, Mercy2, AO2, Mercy3-6/7, AO3 my fave, etc...

Started doing that tonight, just started AO1...

I read TWI1-5 and will continue sooner than later...

For like the past 5 years until this year, rereading has been like 50% of my reading... This year it's down around 15-20%, and I ly because I joined some rereads recently like Joe Ledger and Garth Nix, after finishing Orphan X... 2-3 monthly series at a time plus TWI

[Nirkatze]

I have a mega-ebook like what I shared with you for Toby, that has all the stories in order and what to read next for Mercy... I used to reread each time a new book was released...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I have the anthology and the AO prequel... Books release less often since Mike Briggs died

[Nirkatze]

That's so sad... I don't think I was aware of that.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I mostly knew cause he ran the website/blog... I think he passed 5 years ago from heart stuff...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I paused Cry Wolf just after Anna/Charles sorted their relationship and are about to head off into the snowy mountains...

Cry Wolf was my least favorite entry in the series for a long time... the series is really hit or miss in general for me, honestly, except for Fair Game, which is my favorite book in the entire Mercyverse, no matter how many times I read it...

Cry Wolf is so secluded, lots of snowy travel and the woods guy POV that got turned werewolf (view spoiler)[and dies in the end (hide spoiler)]

Dead Heat has all the horse stuff...
Burn Bright ruins Sage and tries to ruin Bran (view spoiler)[finding out Sage is evil, and implying Bran loves Mercy sexually (most people I know just try to ignore that part)... (hide spoiler)]

I think I liked the newer ones after Burn Bright, but I've only read them once...

With Mercy, River Marked was my leave favorite for a long time, cause all the side characters are left at home for the book... and in general I've liked the first 7 books more than later books, which have turned into a real kitchen sink with the lava god and personification of Faerie and Bonarata's continuing interference, and then whatever you want to call the newest one where Fae sent Mercy to Montana for cosmic stuffs (I forget all the details, but it involved a marriage?)...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Anyway, I went off and read We Few and started King of Plagues, instead, to get back to BRs...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I also read Greenblood the other day, after Overgrowth... part 2 of My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror...

The magic school doesn't really feel like it's populated with anyone of note other than the MC, his female dorm mate that he's recruited into Eldritch shenanigans, their mentor who is either in possession of an Eldritch companion of his own, or has those weird Harry Potter teacher vibes where they care about child safety way too little...

Same with the interim principal that made a deal with them late in the book...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I paused Cry Wolf just after Anna/Charles sorted their relationship and are about to head off into the snowy mountains...

Cry Wolf was my least favorite entry in the series for a long time... the..."

Mmm, your least favs are probably my least also, but they don't bother me enough to really notice on rereads... just a slight drag in the air resistance. The thing that has started to make me .... itchy though, is the general feeling that there's no plan or end game in sight, that Briggs is mostly pantsing the story as she goes along... and I really want there to be an endgame. For some reason this doesn't bother me with Penric or Miles, but... maybe it's because it feels like everything in Mercy's world is escalating, or that there're more secrets revealed each book, but without a sense of a bigger picture? I still enjoy each individual entry on its own though.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yea... Ive been waiting for the Seeing Eye witch book for like 10 years... About the witch from the short story and AO2 that's blind, married to a werewolf and does magic using her own body including her eyes

[Nirkatze]

Yes! I like her! Mm... Mary? And Tom? I think...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Those names sound right... especially Tom... I think her name is Moira actually, now that I think about it...

I'm in a bit of a nostalgic book 1 re-read-fest... finished Cry Wolf... re-read Daily Grind litRPG...

[Nirkatze]

Yes! Moira! I got close. Maybe if I catch up this month I can join you in some rambles... FIRST priority once I'm not two weeks behind is *hem* MoL.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

My workplace is bringing back 7 day overnights in a few weeks... they brought back 5 day overnights 5 months ago, and this is the full transition, with a 100% shift by January...

This means I get to pick/adjust my days off, and most likely go back to being off on Tuesday/Wednesday... if not those days, it'll be Monday/Tuesday, but I have enough seniority and reasoning, that they're willing to adjust the days off to accommodate my preference if possible... also, as the minority weirdo that actually prefers being off mid-week for appointments/etc and doesn't care about weekends, it's likely to be accomodated... and opens up another Sunday off for people that care about that, since my days off will be an adjusted Monday/Tuesday, and they'll adjust a Wednesday/Thursday to Sunday/Monday to balance it out...

Win/Win for my coworkers... there's 8 of us on this shift, and only 4 can get weekends off with the 7 day adjustments... 5 if they add that Sunday/Monday to give me Tuesday/Wednesday...

except for the past 5 months, I've been off Tuesdays and Wednesdays for most of the past 15 years, and schedule all my appointments for those days at 8am, when possible...

Also tend to find people online to talk more on my days off mid-week vs weekend :D

[Narilka]

That's great news Iain :)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Work's been on an upswing, since I dealt with the disciplinary action they tried to pin on me in July/August... had a couple meetings and had my record cleared, and company did some safety training to fill some gaps... kinda been on cloud nine since, since my "work nemeses" had been escalating some things that past few years at inopportune times, seemingly in a concerted effort to get me fired bureaucratically inside the action expiration window (12 months)...