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Blood Red Road
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Tatiana
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Jun 04, 2012 03:50PM
What is your overall impression of the books and are you interested in reading its upcoming sequel - Rebel Heart?
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Tatiana wrote: "What is your overall impression of the books and are you interested in reading its upcoming sequel - Rebel Heart?"Was extremely entertained, and I loved Saba's character. Definitely interested in Rebel Heart (however I'm not really into the title. Sounds like some western romance).
Entertaining and Saba is one of a kind. I'm definitely exciting about Rebel Heart. Quiet upset about the title, not as lyrical as "Blood red road". But this is just a first impression.First I was ripped in pieces to wait until October 30th (publication date according to goodreads) and then I found this.....
marion wrote: "Entertaining and Saba is one of a kind. I'm definitely exciting about Rebel Heart. Quiet upset about the title, not as lyrical as "Blood red road". But this is just a first impression.First I was..."
I didn't know it will come out earlier in UK.
Overall, I really enjoyed Blood Red Road. I found some things to be derivative; other things were predictable. But I'm hooked by the story and can't wait for the sequel to find out what's going to happen next.
I really had fun reading this book as my friend joined me in reading this book. I am really looking forward for the sequel which I will get in August..
It took me a little while to settle into the book but suddenly about halfway through i just got absorbed and spent all of today around work finishing it. Definitely a good read :)I think i might pick up the sequel, more curious to see where their path leads them next :)
Mod
Like Angie, it took me awhile to get into the book but once Saba acquired the "red hot", I did too. I enjoyed the development of the characters, the amount of action, and many perspectives that Saba considers (fate, reading stars, listening to the wind, the heart stone, etc). I feel like there is much to learn about Jack and it seems that 'Rebel Heart' will focus more on him...I am excited to read it and I am a little bit heartbroken that some people will have the opportunity to read it in August, I'll be anxiously waiting for October.
No one commented on Saba's dreams about things that haven't happened yet. She seems to have a talent similar to her father's. He would tell her and Lugh about things that were going to happen explaining that he saw them in the stars. Saba sees things in her dreams and uses her foreknowledge to help her. For example, after dreaming about searching for someone in a fire she finds herself searching for Jack in a fire. She persisted with her search and found Jack and saved his life because of her dream.I'm hoping the next book expands on her precognitive ability.
Mod
First I was..."
that is cool how you can copy twitter responses!! How did you do that?
Mod
oh yea! I liked that too. But this brings up another point. If her father knew this was all going to happen I don't understand why he didn't tell his kids... instead of looking at the stars. I guess he knew it was their destiny but at least prepare then without telling them. He could've help Emmi learn more. And why didn't he tell them more about the world?
Mod
I will read the next book. I am interested in what happens to everyone. Though I did think the end was odd with Jack just leaving without saying goodbye and then Saba having to have to chase him down. That part was a little dramatic for me. Who leaves without even saying bye?
Also, I read this about the names used in the book: Lugh is an extremely appropriate name--he is a Celtic god/mythological hero, often associated with the sun. Maev and Epona are also goddess names. So that is interesting. Don't know if Saba and Nero mean anything?
I am quite curious about the movie now. Ridley Scott picked it up?? That's pretty big. Of course sometimes it takes forever for a book to actually become a movie, just because the rights were purchased doesn't mean this will actually happen.
The no quotation marks in the book drove me nuts!! I had to re-read a lot of lines because of this.
Mod
My failed attempts to tell Saba's story conventionally over a period of more than three years forced me to start all over again, with a blank sheet of paper. As I sat there, not knowing what to expect, only knowing that I had to get out of my own way and stop thinking so much, Saba began to speak. Clearly, directly and really very much as you see it on the page in the finished book. I could hear her voice in my head.
It's not a dialect of any one place or time. I've used words that my husband's Nottinghamshire aunt used, phrases from my Cornish grandfather, my Scottish father, friends, people I overhear on the bus. And what I found was that in her cobbled together, scavenger world, Saba uses a cobbled together, scavenger form of English.
I tried to feel the rhythms and arcs in the simplicity of the language in order to urge the story on, so that the language of the book and the way it appeared on the page would match the pace of the story. So that we'd feel the sharp urgency of Saba's quest and how she is feeling inside.
That's also why I chose not to use quotation marks or closed word endings. I wanted the reader's eye to move across the page without interruption and without the insertion of a narrator (which quotation marks do). My main aim was to write a page-turner that would be hard to put down and I wanted the language to be part of that.
I guess that makes a little more sense now. But it did mess with my sense of reading.
Angie wrote: "oh yea! I liked that too. But this brings up another point. If her father knew this was all going to happen I don't understand why he didn't tell his kids... instead of looking at the stars."I think he was able to see only as far as his own death and he did try to warn them about that. He tried to prepare Saba by warning her that she would have to take care of Lugh and Emmi.
As for looking at the stars - I think that's where he got his visions - not in his dreams.
Angie wrote: "Who leaves without even saying bye? "Someone who's been told repeatedly that there's no room for him in a girl's life and who wants to just fade quietly away when that girl finally finds the person she's been looking for. Someone who doesn't want to intrude in a private, family celebration. Someone who feels he's not a part of things happening around him even though he has played an important part in making them happen.
Mod
Someone who's been told repeatedly that there's no room for him in a girl's life and who wants to just fade quietly away when that girl finally ..."
I can see that... but after everything they've been through you are going to just disappear? And hadn't they just expressed their love to each other? (they meaning Jack and Saba).
Mod
Angie wrote: "What do you guys think about Demalo?"Can you remind me who Demalo is?
Tatiana wrote: "Can you remind me who Demalo is?"DeMalo was one of the Tonton that had stayed by the King's side throughout most of the book. Saba had gotten weird vibes from him and almost couldn't stand to look at him. She claimed that it was clear that he despised the king, which is apparent later on when he sets Saba free at Pine Top Hill.
At first, I thought DeMalo would be Saba's love interest... Until I had remembered the heartstone and it went crazy near Jack. Like Ghirardelli had mentioned, I also hope to see more of DeMalo in later books. He was so mysterious and intriguing!
Oh yes, this man was quite a mystery. It would be interesting to know if he is a part of something bigger. I guess we shall see if he shows up in Rebel Heart.
Mod
Overall, unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of this book. The lack of quotation marks was distracting for me. I was continually trying to figure out if it was dialogue or internal dialogue and then who said it. It brought me out of the story.
Also, I didn't care for the dialect. If it was a degeneration of the language, how could sectors of the population, who had never been together, speak in exactly the same way? It also made the characters all sound the same.
I also had an issue with the worm scene. How can worms that live underground in a desolate and unfrequented desert be so plentiful? Would food not have been in short supply? Were there tons of people crossing this area that was noted to have few travelers? And if they were hungry, as they would have to be, why didn't the worms stop to feast when another of their kind was killed? Would they pass up a sure meal for the possibility of catching a fleeing skinny human? It didn't fly for me.
These issues, and others, made me not "buy in" to this world, resulting in a lack of connection to the characters.
I understood the writing style not as a sign of a degeneration of the language, but simply as a reflection of Saba's ignorance. In my mind, she simply doesn't know how to spell things.I also listened to audio book and when the dialect is actually read it's sounds almost exactly like our present day spoken English.
Mod
The lack of quotation marks was distracting for me. I was continually trying to figure out if it was dialogue or internal dialogue and then wh..."
This reminds me!!! I had a problem with the worm section. If they are sooo big that they break holes in the earth, where were the old holes? Dirt doesn't just fall back together hard and in place? I was picturing worms like the worms in the movie Tremors. I am pretty sure there were no holes there before Saba and the group walked out there... otherwise they wouldn't have wondered why Jack wanted to get across so fast right?
So do you think this story is like a diary of Saba's? Interesting to hear that in the audio version the words sound the same as ours... so that would mean that Saba just can't spell. I doubt the author would let the audio book be pronounced wrong. Too bad I didn't think of this question about the sounds of the words BEFORE the Q&A was over!! errr!!
You can sample audios here:US:
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?...
UK:
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?...
Mod
US:
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?...
UK:
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?..."
Since Saba was telling the story... was the whole book on audio in her voice?
Edit... well I just listened to the sample and I hear that she does. Funny thing is when I read it and a male spoke I heard it in a male voice.
Angie wrote: "I do hope that Demalo is NOT a love interest... I loved how there was a mysterious character. He seemed to know her ..."I got the impression that something about Saba was familiar to him - not so much that he knew who she was but that he knew about her although not specifically who she is.
I think he may sense that she has hidden abilities - her precognition. Maybe he has precognitive abilities too and has had visions of her.
I really liked this. It's funny, when I read the novel I heard an Appalachian-type dialect in my head (it's where I grew up), but in the author Q & A, Moira Young mentioned British influences on the language she used. I wonder what the character's will sound like in the film.I am also intrigued by the connection between DeMalo and Saba. She seems to feel like he can read her thoughts or feel her emotions, and her precognition through the dreams about Jake and Epona definitely makes me think they have a psychic connection.
Mod
I think I'm in the minority here. I just could not get into this book, at all. I think for me the way it was written never worked for me, and rather gave me a headache. Props to Young for taking that risk, but it wasn't for me.
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