Status Updates From The Way of Thorn and Thunde...

More than for an immediate plotted story, the book feels put together for the fun of imagining and reciting it's histories / cultural notions (and character concepts).

Not necessarily a bad thing at all in on itself (plot is rarely the attraction), but in this case missing some hook.

What I think could improve this a lot is dialogue; there's hardly any wit or charm anywhere - in the narration or the interactions.

This time for real; end of chapter 37.

“Men are less trusting of the Folk these days, more willing than ever before to see difference as deficiency."

"For a moment he thought about ignoring the question, but he was lonely, and there was a sudden surge of need, a longing to speak and to be heard, to feel someone respond to his living presence. He needed to know that he was really still alive."

"It’s not enough to be a warrior if your heart is burdened by hate."

Ah! I have finally found my actual bearing. Cycle 4 read.

The fact that this evokes a bit of Elfquest might be partly to blame, BUT I keep thinking this could work in graphic novel form. The text itself doesn't do much to paint affecting sceneries or atmospheres, but does as if give action direction, the panel to panel flow easy to imagine.

"Something terrible attacked us tonight — it seemed to change, becoming something different each time we fought back."

This keeps having certain lingering, vague sense of Elfquest about occasional aspects of it. First time it jumped out this precisely, though.

(I still have no idea how far I am; somewhere between 40 to 80 %?)

Finished the first Cycle and I'm already torn between wanting to rush on to see what happens next and wanting to take my time to savor the richness of this book.

"They would die, Men and Women would die, the land would be torn and broken in the conflict, and everyone would suffer — all but the politicians, those Men who’d set this conflict into motion to begin with."

Finished ch 2 for buddy read

Sneaking in some reading during my lunch break. Would love to just stay with this book or the rest of the day.

Ch. 1 has definitely whetted my appetite. But I need to sleep, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to really dig into this.

A slow start, but 2 chapters in it's a pleasant read so far.

"Vald was indistinguishable from the hundred other Men she had seen in the past few days, except for his fine dark garments, neatly trimmed peppered muttonchops, and broad, ink-stained fingers that were free of callus and wear."

What ever.

or something

So, I have the text converted and chopped up in pieces to allow read-aloud, and now have absolutely no way of telling how far I am at any given time. Whelp... this, tho:

"This story comes from the days of the Eld Green, when all the People could talk to one another. It weren’t like today, ye know, where most folks don’t know how to share words without losin’ their understandin’ of each other."

Backing up a bit.