Wars of Light & Shadow--Discussion format and other details

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I am the snail in the group read of this series. The end of The Ships of Merior is in sight (I think I'm starting Chaper XII of XIV) but I want to read The Mote in God's Eye before taking on the next book. So a week off won't make a bit of difference to me. :-)

[Sandra]

I don't do as much as I used to around the holidays, so it makes me no difference either way.

[Kerry]

I wouldn't mind a break, but I think I can manage without one. So I'll go with the flow.

[orannia]

I was the person that asked the question - thank you Janny for raising it in the correct place :)

I would like a break, but I'm happy to go with the majority :) If I fall behind I will just try and catch up in January.

[Janny]

A note to series readers, and a request for your input:

Peril's Gate is the 'tipping point' of this arc, and the series proper; the pace WILL pick up, and increase at a furious pace with the latter half of this volume, and through the next two.

I'd like to remind you: there IS a full spoiler thread for the series - if you must speed to the end, please use it. You'll find it (as of today) on Page 2 if you click to see all topics in the Wars of Light and Shadow folder.

Opinions wanted: as Peril's Gate picks up pace, let me know if you need a spoiler thread, early, for the entire volume - and Stefan, what you think if they do - a lot happens in the latter half that would stunningly spoil for a reader behind you - let's look at this ahead and decide what to do.

Thanks!

[orannia]

Since I'm behind I just wanted to check that what I think is the correct timing is, in fact, correct :) The plan is to finish Peril's Gate by next Thursday (EST), yes? And start Traitor's Knot straight away? If so, I have ~200 pages to read by then to catch up.

All this has taught me that I prefer not to get behind, because playing catch-up is hard!

[Janny]

orannia wrote: "Since I'm behind I just wanted to check that what I think is the correct timing is, in fact, correct :) The plan is to finish Peril's Gate by next Thursday (EST), yes? And start Traitor's Knot stra..."

Orannia - next Thursday, yes, the final 2 chapter sets go up for Peril's Gate. One week later, the first three sets for Traitor's Knot.

[orannia]

Thank you Janny! I'm going to try really hard to catch up by next Thursday (Friday for me :)

[Janny]

orannia wrote: "Thank you Janny! I'm going to try really hard to catch up by next Thursday (Friday for me :)"

You have plenty of time; people are at all stages - some ahead, some in the earlier books, some just starting out. Relax. :)

[orannia]

Thank you :) Unfortunately, I'm not very good at relaxing (I'm working on that) and I stress if I'm behind. I have ~160 pages to read so hopefully I should make it :)

[Kerry]

I've had to give up for the immediate future. I'm loving the books, but I'm absolutely exhausted. School has just started for the new year and I'm now trying to recover from caring for an over-active 7 year old for six weeks of summer. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so doing that pretty much runs me into the ground. It takes me most of the first term to really start to get back to my usual baseline (which is lower than the general public anyway).

The point of that ramble being that my brain simply isn't up to the kind of in depth reading I want to give these books. If I didn't care about all the depth and details it wouldn't matter and I could skim along the top and not worry. But I do care and I want to get as much out of them as possible. I don't want to get too far behind as I have loved all the discussion, but I have to take a break for at least another month, if not more. (Right now, I'm on chapter 2 of Peril's Gate.)

I do hope I'll be back. I certainly want to be back, but I have to look after my health and family first.

[Janny]

Kerry - (hugs) - take care of your health and your family 100 percent!

Books don't have crises, age, get exhausted - they wait on the shelf for you, every single word frozen in time for the moment to be right for you.

Your insights all along the way have been wonderful - everyone here has been enriched by that participation, so it's my turn to thank you for each contribution.

I love GoodReads, and as this volume turns in, will surely be sharing my reading here - so any late entries or new posts will be picked up. There's not any pressure on timing.

[orannia]

What Janny said :)

And Kerry - I'm always happy to discuss when you get around to picking up the books again :)

[orannia]

I was just wondering what the plan was for Traitor's Gate. There are, from Thursday, four chapters left to read. I was just wondering if we were going to read three one week and one the next or some other distribution? (My OCD nature is so coming out, isn't it? :) Thoughts?

[Janny]

Hi Orannia, tomorrow will open chapter sets seven through nine. Next week, ten through twelve, which leaves two for the following week to finish out that volume.

Then the first three sets of Stormed Fortress.

[orannia]

Sorry Janny, I can't count. There is a 14th chapter set! YAH! Glad to know I'm on track :)

[Janny]

orannia wrote: "Sorry Janny, I can't count. There is a 14th chapter set! YAH! Glad to know I'm on track :)"

Hey, last time it was I who failed to count - posted a whole set a full leap week early. ;) Now that I am drawing, it could get worse...grin.

[Kerry]

Since we seem to use this for general stuff on the series, I'll toss this question for Janny/rant (NOT aimed at Janny) in here.

I was delighted to see Janny's comment on Twitter than the series is now all available as ebooks. For health reasons as well as preference, ebooks are so much easier for me to read these days, especially for big books like these are. I'm trying to replace/duplicate a lot of favourites and keepers as ebooks.

I actually already had 6 of the 8 WoLaS books, which were in the Whitcoulls ebookstore here in New Zealand (an unusual occurance). I was very happy I'd now be able to complete the set electronically.

Having attempted this, I now find myself totally frustrated.

For some reason, Whitcoulls has Warhost, but not Ships. I am likely to go ahead and buy Warhost anyway, but am kind of nervous about it, with Ships being missing.

Amazon US won't sell me anything because I'm not in the right geographical location (I hate geographical restrictions on ebooks with a passion that cannot be put into words).

Sometimes I can still get such books from Books on Board, but they're not showing up anything by Janny at all.

Amazon UK have the books for Kindle but won't sell them to me because I don't live in the UK (although NZ is in the UK "zone" for publication).

Janny, do you know if the ebooks will be available internationally or only in restricted locations?

As a totally rhetorical question I don't expect you to have the answer for, if your UK publisher will send me a book to NZ as a competition winner, why won't they let me buy the freaking thing in the format I want?

Grrrr.

[Janny]

Kerry, thanks for telling me it's not fixed, yet. This is an oversight...and a royal nuisance. I am working on it from my end; if you have the stamina to pursue it (write to HarperCollins) pressure from the customer end helps speed things along.

I will write again and let them know this needs to be cut loose for your area; it's the last such incidence, and I hope it resolves quickly.

Rest assured that the plan is to have all the books on the list for your region.

[Kerry]

Brilliant. Thank you so much. I went ahead and bought Warhost, so I'm just waiting for Ships now. Is there a particular address at HarperCollins that is the best to direct such requests to? (Oh, that's bad grammar.)

While we're on the subject, any chance of your backlist coming out as ebooks. You're one of the authors I'd like to have in my collection for easy rereads.

Thanks again for the quick answer. I really appreciate your participation in this group.

[Sandra]

That's really odd, Kerry, because here in the US, Ships was available long before Warhost. I have them all now in all available formats, but always read them in eformat.

[Kerry]

Sandra, geographical stuff with ebooks is totally illogical and insane.

Hopefully, instead of regional rights, they will slowly shift to language rights instead, so you can buy an English edition anywhere in the world, or a German edition anywhere in the world or whatever.

But it sure isn't going to happen overnight.

[Sandra]

I know. And it's the same with audio and video rights. I've gone insane trying to find the Lymond Chronicles in audio format, and always listen to Kermode and Mayo film reviews and the videos on their website is unavailable to watch here. ARGH!