Joe Kessler > Recent Status Updates

I am enjoying all the Dark Tower stuff in this book, though. And it's way better than the first two Gwendy stories, so that helps a lot too.

"It's the middle of the night on Mars." Wh- What does that even mean, spoken by somebody not on the planet? Where on Mars??

Man, assigning a supernatural cause to Covid-19 is in such poor taste. This is even worse than when King wrote 9/11 into the Dark Tower books after the fact.

Tell me you're in a Stephen R. Donaldson novel without telling me you're in a Stephen R. Donaldson novel... It's taken 5 full chapters just to move on from that extended confrontation that was already just a continuation of the closing scene from the book before ❤️

The Ardent! I had almost forgotten all about that guy

The Ardent! I had almost forgotten all about that guy.

"I'm not sure what exactly happened. I'm not sure if it was all a dream or if it was real." Well, do you have that new scar on your leg or not??

Otherwise, the extended Thanksgiving trip has been the highlight of the book so far.

This incest plot point is so unnecessary.

Both versions of this main character (interacting, because time travel) are absolutely insufferable.

Best part of the story so far has been them comparing their situation to the novel Replay... but that's really only reminding me of how great a book Replay is.

‪This book is not good. I know I just gave Stoner a 3, but..... sometimes the gulf between two stars and three is a whole damn galaxy‬

"And he was more nearly a mother than a father to his daughter. He changed her diapers and washed them; he chose her clothing and mended it when it was torn; he fed her and bathed her and rocked her in his arms when she was distressed."

Oh, fuck you.

None of these people act like real human beings. It's like reading Ayn Rand.

This is a bit late for the horror/fantasy element to become overt. Reminds me of the Montague Siblings books in that way.

This is such a soothing and heartfelt read. I can totally see all the comparisons to The Goblin Emperor, although that book is downright action-packed compared to this one.

"Come now, what's a reviewer?” I reasoned. “One who reads quickly, arrogantly, but never wisely."

Wow, rude 😂

This is good, but I feel like it's way more straightforward in structure than I've heard people say. It's a pretty simple sequence of nested narratives so far.

"Séverin seized her lips, felt her yield, tasted her. She tasted impossible, like candied moonlight."

You okay, guy?

Wait, the bad guy's plan is WHAT

This is like... Six of Crows meets The Da Vinci Code. And I can't decide yet if that combination is really working for me or not.

Also: this character remembers the Fibonacci Sequence from a *linguistics* class? Either the alternate-history worldbuilding here is weirder than I realized or Roshani Chokshi maybe doesn't know what linguistics is.

Séverin: Remember, he's a master illusionist. Don't believe anything you see within his house.

Also Séverin, later on: What do you *mean* that vision he showed me of my friends in danger wasn't real??

A binary code of ones and zeroes supposedly represents God bringing matter out of nothingness? That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?

"It cannot be done. Nevertheless, we will attempt it."

Good God, I love this scene with the earthblood.

"He had spent his lifetime working within an ancient, complex, and corrupt bureaucracy and court. He no longer believed one could legislate out of existence greed, or stupidity, or sheer perversity of will.

It reassured him that neither could one legislate out of existence love, or hope, or the desire for beauty."

This is really late in the book to be introducing aliens and the sinking of Atlantis.

This is such a masterclass in balancing vastly different timeline settings, separated by literal thousands of years but still connected. I wouldn't call it nonlinear -- each timeline progresses steadily on -- but they amplify one another well, with clear impacts that nevertheless keep the resolution of each subplot a mystery for readers as we go along. The casual dropping of later clues is just expertly done, too.

I love this so much already. Obviously things could fall flat, but sometimes you just feel a five-star from its earliest pages.

Seriously? We've jettisoned so much of the original Romeo and Juliet framework by this point, but the guy-mistakenly-believing-girl-is-dead-and-presumably-killing-himself element is staying in? Ugh.

How is there still so much of this book left, tho