Instruments of Control (Revanche Cycle #2) (First Story Universe)[February 15, 2025]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for The Instruments of Control by Craig Schaefer starting on February 15, 2025.


Happy Reading!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

First Story mega-series: Ebooks available on Kindle Unlimited

Revanche Cycle -- political fantasy, papal setting, multiversal ties to rest of this mega-series

1) Winter's Reach (Jan 15) [LINK]
2) The Instruments of Control (Feb 15) [LINK]
3) Terms of Surrender (Mar 15) [LINK]
4) Queen of the Night (Apr 15) [LINK]

Daniel Faust -- Urban Fantasy, criminal elements

1) The Long Way Down (May 15) [LINK]
1.5) The White Gold Score (May 15) [LINK]
2) Redemption Song (Jun 15) [LINK]
3) The Living End (Jul 15) [LINK]
(BRs not requested yet, past this point)
4) A Plain-Dealing Villain

Start inter-weaving the spin-off Harmony Black Books (mostly for Easter Egg timeline stuff, I think, been awhile) -- UF, law enforcement:

Harmony Black -- Harmony Black #1 (audio included on Kindle Unlimited)
The Killing Floor Blues -- Daniel Faust #5
Red Knight Falling -- Harmony Black #2 (audio included on Kindle Unlimited)
The Castle Doctrine -- Daniel Faust #6
Glass Predator -- Harmony Black #3 (audio included on Kindle Unlimited)
Double or Nothing -- Daniel Faust #7
Cold Spectrum -- Harmony Black #4 (audio included on Kindle Unlimited)
The Neon Boneyard -- Daniel Faust #8

Wisdom's Grave -- Mega-Series finale trilogy

1) Sworn to the Night
2) Detonation Boulevard
3) Bring the Fire

Post Mega-Series Daniel Faust and Harmony Black Books:

Right to the Kill -- Harmony Black #5
The Locust Job -- Daniel Faust #9
Black Tie Required -- Harmony Black #6
Down Among the Dead Men -- Daniel Faust #10
Never Send Roses -- Harmony Black #7
Dig Two Graves -- Daniel Faust #11
Snake Oil Bullet -- Harmony Black #8

Availability: all the ebooks are on Kindle Unlimited, Audio available on KU for Harmony Black 1-4

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Oops, I did it again :D

Started this on the drive to work this morning... did some shopping after work... finished before I got home..

I don't really have too too much to say about it, really... I wrote a review the first time I read it, and it's like 3 words: "momentum's building"...

You guys read the first book, and kinda know what to expect... it's more of the same... it's kind of like a game of cat's cradle, with the threads in crisscrossing patterns... things happen, characters die, plots converge/diverge, and think are setup for round/book 3... nothing's gonna fully resolve (outside of deaths), until book 4...

(view spoiler)[there's definitely a feeling of thing snowballing beyond the expectations of The Owl & Ludovico Marcetti here, as Felix and Lydia do things, and Felix's lover and the Mouse witch do things... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

I read this yesterday and really enjoyed it!! Took me a while to get my head screwed on again and remember who was doing what where with who and how, and I still don't remember names, but I felt like I followed things better in this second book than the first. Definitely goes some very dark places--(view spoiler)[I was so sad that the knight-dude died!! And Marie is stuck with the manipulative mask-lady!! Noooooo! I hated seeing her twist Marie into those murders...second ones more than the first, with that one kid begging mercy.... And then when the knights (?) rejected her without her mentor... She needs to get away.

My favorite story was the two women--Hetta and R? I was so glad to see that they became friends, and Hetta refused to abandon R. It was also nice to see them being so resourceful--managing to trick and manipulate the bandits, and then taking them out. The spoon scene was brutal, but also satisfying. He deserved it.

The pope's daughter's story was also interesting... But kind of felt secondary-ish? It was a lot more center in the previous book. Her asshole brother's out of the picture now--I thought that would have been harder, after how big it was last book. But now, she's between a rock and a hard place... will she be forced into a holy war?

Meanwhile... Felix? Is that his name? I was thinking it was another L name... I enjoyed seeing him fence with his father-in-law and coming out not so bad... but then at the end, when his wife kills her father and frames him... his own family and people all dead... man, dark place!! I'm glad he's staying to "take care of business"--yes please, take them ALL OUT. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

(view spoiler)[Ludovico is the Machiavelli of the piece... the one Felix's wife is with, now... the one that sent Simon in book 1...

Pope's daughter was definitely secondary here but takes center stage again later on... which made the asshole brother secondary... I don't think he's dealt with, yet...

Marie is/was being manipulated on all sides... The Owl wants revenge for the death of her apprentice, but is slowly growing attached to what she's creating in Marie...

Marie's mentor was kinda just as bad as The Owl... he got her family killed in The War, and then started messing with Marie's mind with drugs to try and create some warped redemption for himself... he made up lies about the Knights as a holy order, when they were little better than bandits, fitting nicely into The Owl's plans... they were never going to accept Marie, and the mentor was worried about Marie finding this out and ruining everything...

Hetta and Felix's fiancee were definitely the feel good storyline of the book, in a weird way... (hide spoiler)]

[Ann-Marie]

I started this and couldn't get into it so I put it aside to go to something else and will give it another chance in a bit. I have to re-read DCC #1 for book club Sunday after all lol

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Ludovico is the Machiavelli of the piece..."

Mmm, good point about (view spoiler)[Marie's mentor--I guess I didn't equate them as Owl seems to be manipulating Marie to destroy her and get back at the both of them--even saying something like "I hope you can see what I do to her after you die"--and while her mentor was yeah, essentially brainwash raising her, he obviously cared about her and was trying to protect her the best he could... I was hoping that some of his bad decisions would come to a head and they'd have a relationship break and have to work it out, but then he died and now that will always be unresolved... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Fair... I'm coming at it from the other end, and knowing how everything ends, too... which is probably coloring my interpretation...

[Tonari no Emily]

I read this a few days ago and had similar thoughts to Nirkatze here. Took me a minute to figure out who is who and sometimes the Italian sounding names all sound alike to my ears. I wish audio books came with a cast of character names so I could see how they were spelled because seeing and hearing the name helps me distinguish the characters better... (view spoiler)[ Super enjoyed Hetti and Renata getting out of their situation unharmed! And poisoning the bunch of murderers and rapists was satisfying.
I was also surprised at how brutal some of this book was...

Re Marie/the Owl/Werner... Both of them were manipulating Marie.. But I do feel like Werner cared more about her or at least felt guilty for the situation she was in... The Owl just has an agenda she can use Marie for.. Also why do I want to say the "Knights" they met were just hired by The Owl? I dunno something about that meeting was just fishy to me.

I hope Felix can get some revenge on.. I do appreciate the revenge/vengeance themes we seem to have going on here (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I read this a few days ago and had similar thoughts to Nirkatze here. Took me a minute to figure out who is who and sometimes the Italian sounding names all sound alike to my ears. I wish audio boo..."

OMG So true!! We need a Dramatis Personae at the start of everything. (view spoiler)[This did have a LOT of brutal moments--both emotionally and physically...

I also don't know how I didn't notice revenge/vengeance as a theme going on in almost every plotline... (hide spoiler)]

Iain's ominous comments are making me very curious to see the ending...

[Ann-Marie]

Re-started this one just now, my goal is to get it done today :)

[Ann-Marie]

Finished and I liked it well enough. I dislike more characters than I like which made this a super fun read. Even the "good characters" are flawed! Who are we supposed to be pulling for here? I think there are too many characters as well, it took me a while to get things straight.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I appreciate what Schaefer is doing here... but for the most part, especially on my first readthrough, this was my least favorite Schaefer series... once we finish these 4 books and have the important context for later, we'll be moving on to 12 UF books, before the SF/UF mashup finale trilogy (which, sadly is my contender for 2nd least favorite series/trilogy by Schaefer, but it has it's moments)...

The UF stuff is my favorite Schaefer stuff... Ghosts of Gotham / Midnight Scoop / Midnight Jury / Daniel Faust / Harmony Black...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'll talk some about why these 4 books are important to the larger narrative, once we've read all 4, and I see what's revealed here and how much I'll be spoiling or not...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I'll talk some about why these 4 books are important to the larger narrative, once we've read all 4, and I see what's revealed here and how much I'll be spoiling or not..."

Definitely looking forward to that discussion.

@Ann-Marie--Hetta & Renatta(?) were my favorites here...

[Ann-Marie]

Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I'll talk some about why these 4 books are important to the larger narrative, once we've read all 4, and I see what's revealed here and how much I'll be spoiling or not..."

D..."

Renatta for sure, Hetta is TBD because we don't know how her story will play out lol

[Nirkatze]

That's true... since Marie's has taken such a >.< turn, I don't know whether to hold out hope that Hetta will be able to balance her...

[Ann-Marie]

The Marie turn was so sad!

[Nirkatze]

I know!! Iain pointed out that her previous situation wasn't that great either, but I feel like it got loads worse.