Rhom Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Got notice that it shipped and will arrive tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 I finished it earlier on. I'll hold off on comments till a few more people have it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illrede Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Nook'd it. Page counts were deceptive, like 11% was promo chapters for other works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Just bought mine today. Looks like The Wise Man's Fear will be taking a break for the next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 On 3/10/2016 at 0:12 AM, polishgenius said: I finished it earlier on. I'll hold off on comments till a few more people have it though. Without spoiling anything,as the final book of a series,did it meet your expectations in tying up all the plots ? What rating would you give it out of 10 ? I read a comment on another forum by a fan of the series that it was a disappointing conclusion (bland and predictable with no real emotional moments or twists). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illrede Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 38 minutes ago, AncalagonTheBlack said: Without spoiling anything,as the final book of a series,did it meet your expectations in tying up all the plots ? What rating would you give it out of 10 ? I read a comment on another forum by a fan of the series that it was a disappointing conclusion (bland and predictable with no real emotional moments or twists). Well, I can safely say I was getting emotional moments and twists in all plotlines right up until the end of the book, and that the book was in no way a disappointment. Rating it on the high side at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 46 minutes ago, AncalagonTheBlack said: Without spoiling anything,as the final book of a series,did it meet your expectations in tying up all the plots ? What rating would you give it out of 10 ? I read a comment on another forum by a fan of the series that it was a disappointing conclusion (bland and predictable with no real emotional moments or twists). I wouldn't go so far as bland and predictable, and certainly there were emotional moments but... no, it didn't really meet my expectations. Sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 33 minutes ago, polishgenius said: I wouldn't go so far as bland and predictable, and certainly there were emotional moments but... no, it didn't really meet my expectations. Sadly. Thanks for your honest input polish.I'm sorry to hear that,i might have to push this down the reading list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd still read it. But the expectations were high and it didn't quite get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. X Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 3 hours ago, illrede said: Well, I can safely say I was getting emotional moments and twists in all plotlines right up until the end of the book, and that the book was in no way a disappointment. Rating it on the high side at the moment. 3 hours ago, polishgenius said: I wouldn't go so far as bland and predictable, and certainly there were emotional moments but... no, it didn't really meet my expectations. Sadly. I suppose I fall somewhere in the middle of the two of you. If you come in this looking for a super dramatic, out-of-nowhere twist ending that reconfigures how you see the world, you'll be disappointed. I wasn't expecting something like that, and this largely met my expectations. Like polishgenius, my expectations were really high. I can only speak for myself here, but it's fair to say my expectations were unreasonably high. The conclusion of the Long Price Quartet might be my favorite ending to a series and is one of my favorite book endings period. And I still abandoned all of my Friday afternoon plans to finish reading the book once I got home today. In terms of Ancalagon's original question, it certainly met my expectations in terms of tying up all the plots. As a final volume, I think the book as a whole and the final chapters in particular feel very true to the series, if that makes any sense. Oh, and I totally had a "FUCK YEAH!" moment on the subway while reading this today. If I'd been watching a movie or a TV show with a bunch of friends, we would have all been screaming and punching the air in delight. Thought about doing the same on the train, but didn't really want to spend Friday night in a NYC transit holding cell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Welllll, I just finished it. Spoiler-free thoughts: good but not great, somewhat predictable but also at times tensely unpredictable. Now, this is a spoiler's thread, so beware SPOILERS FOLLOW!! . . . . . The first third or so of the book was slow and, to be honest, pointless. I mean, this is Daniel Abraham, so it was readable and well-written, but still--nothing happened. It just felt like restating what the status quo was and a lot internal monologuing about it. Once the final plot started moving, things went quickly. So the overall feeling I got was that there wasn't quite enough material here for a full book and it was kind of stretched out to make it full book-length. As far as that final plot--that was great. Was it a little too easy to get Geder on their side? Yep. But at the same time--no, because it did suit his character exactly. He was either going to kill Cithrin on the spot or re-fall in love with her, and it worked for me that he did the latter. And of course he would lash out and feel the justified dupe. That all felt spot on. His ultimate ending in the tower was, I have to say, a little predictable but also thematically quite appropriate (think how he started with the burning of Vanai). The subplot with Inys was unsatisfying and, I suppose, a leadoff for a potential future series. I was a little disappointed, though not surprised, that Kit survived. I also really thought Clara was going to go through with sending away Vincen and soooo glad she didn't. Especially after that last convo with Vicarian. I found it implausible that *every single* spider priest was gathered up in the Kingspire. I wish that had been fleshed out more, as Basrahip seemed to think it fit in with some prophecy or other that he was expecting. Okay so that made it sound like I didn't like it. I did, I just didn't love it as much as I wanted to. Solid finish to the series but not the highlight. I didn't really enjoy the first two books much, so I think for me this series peaked in the middle. For me the ending finished it out fine without ruining it but also without lifting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altherion Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 4 hours ago, Starkess said: Okay so that made it sound like I didn't like it. I did, I just didn't love it as much as I wanted to. Solid finish to the series but not the highlight. I didn't really enjoy the first two books much, so I think for me this series peaked in the middle. For me the ending finished it out fine without ruining it but also without lifting it. I completely agree. That said, there were some great moments. Geder's reunion is the obvious one, but I also liked: Spoiler "You cannot win. You have lost, now and always. Everything you love is lost to you. Everything you do is doomed. Empty. Meaningless." "Old news," The setup for that was all the way back when we first learned the mantra the priests use to subdue combatants and we had heard both it and the philosophy of Marcus throughout the books, but it did not occur to me that it would be used in this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jurble Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Book was really short. Felt predictable. Dunno, didn't enjoy it as much as the previous books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickster Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 I liked it. Is this the strongest book of the series? No. I would probably rate it as better than the first book but not quite as strong as the previous two. Spoiler Geder's death was a little anticlimactic and Kit's survival seemed like plot armour. But overall a good ending with a few loose ends that can be picked up for a sequel series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 10 hours ago, Starkess said: I found it implausible that *every single* spider priest was gathered up in the Kingspire. I wish that had been fleshed out more, as Basrahip seemed to think it fit in with some prophecy or other that he was expecting. I thought we got a little explanation of that earlier - when Kit and Marcus were bringing Jorey's army through the pass and Kit revealed that the priests weren't immune to the power of their own voices. Over the course of the series Basrahip has managed to convince himself that Geder really is the chosen of the goddess, and so when Geder says he has something important to tell the priests, Basrahip believes it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illrede Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 15 hours ago, Starkess said: Welllll, I just finished it. Spoiler-free thoughts: good but not great, somewhat predictable but also at times tensely unpredictable. Now, this is a spoiler's thread, so beware SPOILERS FOLLOW!! . . . . . I found it implausible that *every single* spider priest was gathered up in the Kingspire. I wish that had been fleshed out more, as Basrahip seemed to think it fit in with some prophecy or other that he was expecting. Not as much as you would think- as stated the Basrahip convinced himself that the ingathering was absolutely appropriate and most of the effort of "containing" the priests, the priests were themselves doing. It's not for nothing that their cult survived as long as it did without cascading throughout the world as in the days of the Righteous Servant; they had mechanisms for it and they used them (heck, they even kept around Culling Blades). The Basrahip had total control of the Cult when it was working as designed. The potential for disaster existed where the Cult's control frayed- as was pointed out. At the moment of defeat to an external party in specific areas and "leakers" from their own culling efforts. There were two very close shaves- that was luck. The rest was design working as designed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Right, I get that, but like when the messenger gets back to the original temple he says it's the "third oath"--if that is supposed to mean something to me as a reader, I've forgotten, but clearly it meant something to the priests. And Basrahip was so excited about it immediately. It seemed like Geder was doing something that Basrahip had been expecting, but then that didn't really go anywhere. And we've already seen that the priests can schism and fall into apostasy. So the fact that every single one would be 1) found in the first place and 2) return as ordered seemed overly neat and tidy to me. Like there was a piece missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 2 hours ago, Starkess said: Right, I get that, but like when the messenger gets back to the original temple he says it's the "third oath"--if that is supposed to mean something to me as a reader, I've forgotten, but clearly it meant something to the priests. And Basrahip was so excited about it immediately. It seemed like Geder was doing something that Basrahip had been expecting, but then that didn't really go anywhere. And we've already seen that the priests can schism and fall into apostasy. So the fact that every single one would be 1) found in the first place and 2) return as ordered seemed overly neat and tidy to me. Like there was a piece missing. I just assumed the third oath was something that meant if Basrahip summoned the priests they had to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 3 hours ago, Starkess said: Right, I get that, but like when the messenger gets back to the original temple he says it's the "third oath"--if that is supposed to mean something to me as a reader, I've forgotten, but clearly it meant something to the priests. And Basrahip was so excited about it immediately. It seemed like Geder was doing something that Basrahip had been expecting, but then that didn't really go anywhere. And we've already seen that the priests can schism and fall into apostasy. So the fact that every single one would be 1) found in the first place and 2) return as ordered seemed overly neat and tidy to me. Like there was a piece missing. Yeah, I'm with you there. They went to all this effort to set up the schisms between the priests and how irrationally hateful they get when they disagree, and even at the end when they're getting ready to gather that's going on - and then nothing. I guess part of the schism stuff was thematic, a comment on religion in general, but it felt careless, setting up something that in the end proved distracting more than anything else. The whole ending just seemed a little too neat and tidy, that's what bothered me if we're getting into spoilers now. There didn't seem any weight to most of it; no real price. I mean, yes, Clara has to deal with losing Victarian but that's barely touched on all things considered- she allowed her son to walk to his death ffs, you'd expect her to be shattered but she's more concerned with Coe. Cithrin suffers no consequences in the end of coming back to Geder, Kit's not dead (that was the most annoying to me), but all of the other spider-priests seem to be, they make the decision about Inys but that's kind of skimmed over too... it's all just kinda tidy. I guess some of that will be dealt with in a potential sequel series but basically for everything that happened, I didn't feel the cost enough in the text. In a broad sense yeah it's there but we don't feel it enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illrede Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 4 hours ago, Starkess said: Right, I get that, but like when the messenger gets back to the original temple he says it's the "third oath"--if that is supposed to mean something to me as a reader, I've forgotten, but clearly it meant something to the priests. And Basrahip was so excited about it immediately. It seemed like Geder was doing something that Basrahip had been expecting, but then that didn't really go anywhere. And we've already seen that the priests can schism and fall into apostasy. So the fact that every single one would be 1) found in the first place and 2) return as ordered seemed overly neat and tidy to me. Like there was a piece missing. From context, it appears to be a mandate that they do what the Basrahip says without question when cited. And re: him latching onto Gerder's argument, Gerder was addressing the doubt that he saw in Bastrahip, which the man just wasn't equipped to handle- he offered a lifeline and knew how to make it irresistible- literally. Priest schisms and apostasy is something the the Spider Cult is prepared to handle to some extent- there simply aren't any unaccounted for priests when things are functioning as they ought to, and when one is made they get them incorperated quickly. With the armies engaging the Priest's armies forewarned about the Spiders, absent bad luck and given limited opportunities for disaster (there really weren't all that many priests) they could forestall disaster there. The incidents at Northcoast and Tauendak however were pure good luck; the matter could have easily have exploded throughout the world from either of those- both the result of the Priests' mechanisms breaking down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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