Book of the Ancestor trilogy by Mark Lawrence {spoiler thread}

[Rhom]

6 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

o.O

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Anyone catch the taproot call back to the character to his other trilogies? Makes one wonder.

 

Spoiler

One path my mind went down, the AI was Taproot and the book had spent quite a bit of time reinforcing the tree aspect of the Ancestor religion.  The concept of the taproot going back to the original ancestors.

Could survivors from our planet have gone there and then Taproot started a religion based on himself?!!?

Watch me!!!!

 

[Rhom]

Got a couple replies...  

 

 

 

[Darth Richard II]

Ha, nice.

Anyway I looooved

Spoiler

the way Shezral went out.

 

[Rhom]

46 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

Ha, nice.

Anyway I looooved

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the way Shezral went out.

 

Spoiler

Yes.  The wire work was nicely done.

I was somewhat surprised that Lano Tacsis went out off screen.  I do wonder if the Singular will show back up.  He seemed too impressive to introduce and then kill off in a couple more pages.

How about Mistress Path going out with a bang!  Been walking the Path for 20 years straight and then straight walloped the Fist.

Really, all around I thought the book came off fantastically.

 

[Rhom]

Hey @AncalagonTheBlack if you're still around the board these days... think you could edit the original post title to something indicating the thread is a spoiler thread for the entire Book of the Ancestor instead of just Red Sister?

 

[Rhom]

Hey!  Thanks for the update!  

So spoilers abound now!  I liked everything about Holy Sister.  The flash back/forward I thought worked really well and I usually don’t like that trope.  Some really strong scenes in there and good exits for our main supporting cast.

[Darth Richard II]

Yeah it started out a little slow, which is unusual for Lawrence but was a great slow burn to start.

 

[BigFatCoward]

That's good to know. Really struggling with the early section. 

[red snow]

9 hours ago, Rhom said:

Hey!  Thanks for the update!  

So spoilers abound now!  I liked everything about Holy Sister.  The flash back/forward I thought worked really well and I usually don’t like that trope.  Some really strong scenes in there and good exits for our main supporting cast.

He seems to like that approach. He did the same with king and emperor of thrones.

Audiobook has arrived so i'll be starting this one soon.

[Rhom]

6 hours ago, red snow said:

He seems to like that approach. He did the same with king and emperor of thrones.

Audiobook has arrived so i'll be starting this one soon.

Enjoy!

[red snow]

41 minutes ago, Rhom said:

Enjoy!

Cheers! I just finished reading "one word kill" which was a great quick read so I'm primed for this one.

With his other series coming out almost monthly it's feeling like spring is mark lawrence season 

[Rhom]

2 hours ago, red snow said:

Cheers! I just finished reading "one word kill" which was a great quick read so I'm primed for this one.

With his other series coming out almost monthly it's feeling like spring is mark lawrence season 

So... I love everything I've read by Lawrence... so maybe this is a dumb question.  The premise to the Impossible Times didn't grab me.  You sound like you liked it though?

[red snow]

2 hours ago, Rhom said:

So... I love everything I've read by Lawrence... so maybe this is a dumb question.  The premise to the Impossible Times didn't grab me.  You sound like you liked it though?

The premise didn't grab me either particularly because it sounded like a "stranger things" cash grab but it being free to read on kindle meant there was no harm in trying it.

It's set in the 80s and features geeky teens but that's all they have in common. The approach is a lot more 'british" ( it's set in London for one) and it's not a game of "spot the 80s film reference". It's also about time-travel but handled in a way i really like. It's in the vein of "12 monkeys", "dark" and "predestination" in the sense you can't really change the past. 

There's also a villain in it who behaves a lot like Jorg but in the 80s. Which is kind of funny in terms of how context determines whether you can function or succeed in a  given world.

It helps tgat it's a really quick read. Short page count,plus a real page turner. I got through it in 4 sittings which is very rare for me.

[john]

They seem to have marketed it as a Stranger Things style premise, it’s really not. It’s very british feeling, as RS says, plus the kids are older, they’re worried about older kid things.

Essentially it’s about time travel, through the idea of the many worlds theory (main character is a physics genius, in fact there’s two geniuses in the group which is kind of pushing it).  That’s how the D&D comes in, every action is like a roll of the dice which means it’s very tricky if you want to change the past, or not.

Rather than “boy saves girl from odd events,” as they sold it as, it’s more like “boy is involved in complicated time travel events where he’s not sure if he even should save girl.”

[Varysblackfyre321]

On 4/20/2019 at 6:27 AM, Maia said:

I am not as down on it as you, but it did seem repetitive after the first volume, hitting pretty much all the same beats as it's predecessor spoiler:

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Nona again manifesting new super-powers/super-endurance in the nick of time to save the day, only now with Zole's help, except that it all blew up in the Abbess's face despite her technical win. Or did it?

  "The Holy Sister" is, thankfully, sufficiently different, genuinely surprising in places and provided a satisfying ending to the trilogy, as well as made me curious about what might happen in that world afterwards. I do hope that Lawrence works on more interesting and multi-dimensional villains in the future, though. Spoiler:
 

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I liked the twists well enough, but the whole attempt to be original about "the Chosen One(s)" felt unconvincing. I mean, they couldn't have possibly succeeded without their very rare and powerful heritage and Zole had already been already chosen by her people anyway. Really fortuitous how both girls just happened into Glass' reach too.

I also felt that a few things remained unclear - like, Nona just forgot to ask Joeli whether she had sabotaged Glass's medicines or worse. And, was the somewhat incongrous idyllic epilogue due to them having done some of the things that Nona had suggested about the more efficient use of the "moon"? Was the one embedded shipheart enough for her to retain her access to the command chamber?

Also, why are there so few lay people with convent/monastic education? You'd think that many nobles et al. would have jumped at the chance to turn their heirs into fighter/mages... Allowing people who passed their Blade/Shade/Mystic Tests to become normal nuns/monks and never touch those skills again seems like a massive waste, too.

Oh, and this is not a critique, but they really don't have much time left, do they? This was just a stopgap.

 

 

Yeah I plan on reading Holy sister without finishing Gray sister.  I genuinely cannot bring myself to finish reading Gray sister. Like it does start off fine but quickly goes downhill for me.

[Rhom]

3 hours ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

Yeah I plan on reading Holy sister without finishing Gray sister.  I genuinely cannot bring myself to finish reading Gray sister. Like it does start off fine but quickly goes downhill for me.

I thought the conclusion of Gray Sister was non stop action.   

[Varysblackfyre321]

7 minutes ago, Rhom said:

I thought the conclusion of Gray Sister was non stop action.   

Wouldn’t know. I always give up about just over a quarter or a little under a quarter away through. I’m not going to begrudge anyone for feeling differently but I hope they’d give me the same courtesy. 

[Rhom]

Just now, Varysblackfyre321 said:

Wouldn’t know. I always give up about a quarter or under a quarter away through. 

It’s a relatively short book... I think powering through that spot would be worth it.

[Varysblackfyre321]

14 minutes ago, Rhom said:

It’s a relatively short book... I think powering through that spot would be worth it.

I honestly don’t think it would man. If I don’t like reading something, and I don’t have to read it, I don’t see why I should keep reading it in hopes that I’d eventually like it. I’m fine just skipping to “The holy sister” Lawrence’s little recaps at the beginning are generally enough to get someone just getting into a trilogy of his at the second or third book all caught up to what they need to know to follow along.

[red snow]

I don't think there is a recap. I've been a little lost at the start as it does pick up immediately where the last one ended. In that sense I'm finding the story set 3 years later easier to follow. Structurally it's reminding me a lot of the last 2 thorns books.

"One word kill" is far more Accessible but that's probably to be expected in book 1 vs book 3. I'm also realising that part of abercrombie's appeal is that he tells straight-forward linear narratives (even if people constantly fret over the order in which to read them). It might be the split narrative here makes more sense as the story progresses.