Underfoot

I think that's still speculation.

Yes, but I hope we get some sense of the aftermath. Either way, book 3 hopefully covers more about the other gods and how they fit into things.

Finished this one up today! Coming right on the heels of an Age of Ash re-read, it was almost shocking how different this book felt. The themes around love (in all its different aspects) and the POV characters we spend time with make the story and the city much less bleak and seem much less cruel. There's beauty and wonder in the heat and in the cold when you're in riverport and green hill, instead of suffering and death when you're in Longhill. Spoilery commentary Overall greatly enjoying this series, hoping the next book comes out in a year so it's not too long of a wait! Maybe it's time for a long price quartet reread, too...

I just re-read Age of Ash and am through the first couple chapters of Blade of Dream, and I am pondering the identity of the bearded man with he red stone in the intro. Speculation...

Took me longer than expected, but finally finished my re-read of Age of Ash today to be ready for Blade of Dream. It is so much bleaker than I remembered, as dark and devoid of humor as kithamar on the longest night. That feels like quite a departure from Abraham's other books, where there was warmth and sometimes humor in character interactions even if the world was in trouble. Kind of a tough read for me at the moment, though maybe that says more about where I'm at right now than anything. Good to reread it though. Lots of little details to watch out for in the next one. I've also been listening to the Farseer trilogy on audiobook, for the zillionth time. It's such a comfort series for me. Finished Assassin's Quest today as well, and if I had to define a "bittersweet" story ending, I'd just quote the final words of the book.

What's wrong with podcasts?

I'm still on my Age of Ash re-read. So many little things I'm picking up on that I hope are clues for Blade of Dream Can't wait to dive in!

Ten years of random and often debilitating stomach issues, inclusive of two colonoscopies (I'm 30!), many trial diets, multiple primary care doctors and gastroenterologists, and handwavey blame of stress causing IBS has culminated incredibly anticlimactically with a short, impersonal note at 11 pm on a holiday from my new primary care doctor that recent lab work indicates I'm positive for celiacs disease and to schedule a gastroenterologist appointment. That's it. No advice, no further information, nothing to mark this as a major diagnosis that both validates and invalidates simultaneously the issues I've been experiencing for over a decade. Bizarre and anticlimactic and kinda funny, and also frankly infuriating to think no one thought to order this test years ago that's life I guess!

That was a great first season. I think consistent in quality throughout, and didn't mind that some episodes were "slower" than others. If I hadn't read the books already I'd be dying right about now! Quite a cliffhanger.

I read the first two of the Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tasha Suri, The Jasmine Throne and The Oleander Sword. I quite enjoyed book 1, even if the pacing was slow; it introduced a really interesting world and some interesting characters, and hey it's just setting the stage for an exciting trilogy so a slow first half is fine right? Wrong. Book 2 was a huge disappointment- terrible pacing, the worldbuilding fell apart/stopped making sense, whole pages were wasted on over-explaining intra and interpersonal dialogs to (poorly) explain motivations, I could go on and on. Overall feels like a romance trilogy with fantasy trappings rather than a fantasy series with romance elements - but the romance isn't even that good! And I - as a lesbian - should have loved it! Alas. Super disappointing and feels like I wasted too long just trying to push through. I should get better at dropping books I don't enjoy; life is too short.

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed though!

Watched the first three episodes, pretty good adaptation so far from what I remember of the books. This is gonna be a fun series. Question though, are they purposely doing weird accents (a la Belter in The Expanse)? Otherwise I can't explain what Rebecca Ferguson is doing. Some of the other characters seem to have slightly odd diction / unplaceable accents as well, but it's super inconsistent and doesn't seem to reflect location in the silo.

Took me longer than expected, but I finished The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri. Promising start to a trilogy. Love the worldbuilding and the hints of magic and religion and lore. Some really dark moments sprinkled throughout, too. Overall the book seemed most interested in building up characters and relationships and motivations, some of which fell flat to me, but others worked really well. The pacing was a bit uneven, with a little too much time spent on the central romance in the first half, trying to build it up organically when you really knew exactly what was going to happen the moment they laid eyes on each other. Big plot moments felt rushed by comparison. Hopefully the pace evens out in book 2 - looking forward to getting my hands on a copy. In the meantime, I picked up Clockwork Boys by T Kingfisher at the library, which so far is exactly what I need right now. Suicide Squad but make it fantasy. Thanks again for the req @dog-days

god that cult is so weird

The Armourer gave off suspicious vibes this episode for sure. Why would she not want to be with the group the reclaims The Forge? Maybe the reason for the "don't take off your helmet" thing is because she's not actually the original Armourer, and then people would know

Thank you! The Raven and the Reindeer looks really fun

Where would be a good place to start with T Kingfisher?

My eyes will be peeled for references when I get my hands on the next one (I can't believe I didn't catch the actor/spider reference! I should get my act together for a reread)

Interesting! I didn't pick either of those up; I didn't get any vibes that this was the same universe, as the two "races" mentioned in Age of Ash bore no similarity to the races description-wise in Dagger and the Coin (nor did any of the magic), but there was a whole continent we didn't see in DatC (along with 3? races) so I suppose it's possible Has Abraham ever mentioned wanting to write more in the Dagger and Coin universe? I feel like he did

On the topic of layoffs - my company abruptly and seemingly randomly cut thousands today too, which is terrifying. No notice, you just wake up locked out and unemployed. I'm very fortunate to not be affected, but it makes me very nervous. What are the types of things to think about doing to be prepped for a sudden layoff, aside from the baseline of having enough money to survive unemployment for 3-12 months. Thinking of, what types of records should I keep hard copies of, how to prep my 401k, etc.

That makes sense. I've been surprised at how similar Ashley and Bella look, comparing still photos doesn't quite do the resemblance justice

Adrian Tchaikovksy has been on my list for awhile, and the Guns of the Dawn discussion here nudged me into picking it up. What a great read! Thanks to everyone who suggested it. Super well-paced - didn't waste any time but still did enough world and character-building to not have the story beats feel rushed, unearned, or out-of-nowhere. Emily's arc was indeed excellent, and I'm not mad that it ended where it did (even though the fallout would've been fun to see). The prose was good and drew me right in. I liked the world and how natural the magic and fantasy elements felt, even though they weren't the focus. Overall a really great foray into his books. Any recommendations to follow up Guns of the Dawn? Anything else in that world? Not feeling sci-fi right now.

Ah darn, I was both assuming + hoping the next would be published a year after the first (his usual MO). If it's still WIP, that doesn't sound likely

Interesting - I didn't know this, but there were many times as I was reading that I was so completely struck by the idea that the other person a main character was interacting with, Abraham had a POV chapter written for them just to make the interaction feel more real. This now makes a lot of sense. I hope the last book circles back to everyone. Anyhow, great review! I loved the book but opinion seems pretty divided. Spoilery: