Guest Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Of all the things to not like, I find the poses to be a really strange one. When I was kind of "meh-ing" my way through the first two books, I thought the poses were one of the coolest parts. Shinrei and DP - If you guys are liking them from the spot you're at, I think you're going to love what remains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 the posture stuff is great. managed to obtain a hardbound of volume four for $9.00, rather than the $900.00 that some vendors want, which signifies that the market for abraham books is sufficiently distorted to require a federal bailout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Plissken Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Just finished A Shadow in Summer.While I enjoyed it, and am looking forward to reading the next instalment in the series, I am somewhat confused by the event which the story revolves around.I got the impression that everyone knew Maj's baby was going to die before Heshai/Seedless pulled it from her body. Is this not what the Sad Trade is? If so, then why all the fuss? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I got the impression that everyone knew Maj's baby was going to die before Heshai/Seedless pulled it from her body. Is this not what the Sad Trade is? If so, then why all the fuss?Maj didn't know, because of a corrupt translator, and apart from the conspirators the others obviously didn't know that she didn't. Hence Heshai's guilt: it's over killing the baby against the mother's wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starbuck Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Wow, this series really is picking up speed with the second book. Abraham is constantly expanding the canvas of the Khainiverse, right now I'm in the middle of the third book and really hooked... what a difference to the rather "small" story of the first book.Now I understand why this series was recommended to fans of ASOIAF. Very exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Cicero Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I read the first a few months back, and am now trying to figure out whether to continue. The poses didn't bother me, and there was a lot to like. The end was fantastic. However, although they were well developed, the characters weren't really quirky enough for my preferences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galactus Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I always kind of felt that the concept of the Andat was way too under-used, oddly enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Okay, book two is done and it was on another level than the first. I'm 20 or so pages into the third and the prologue alone of that one was worth the price of admission...My one confusion from the second book though:What about Otah's brothers? Maati is meets them at the outset of the story and they never appear again together, but when we're done with the scene, it's not clear at all that they were looking to go into the killing each other business...yet one is dead and the other appears later on...did I miss something there? Or is there something going to happen later on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 It's been a long time, but as far is I remember, it was Idaan, the sister, who murdered them, and neither of them had really taken offensive measures against the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Wolf Bran Stark Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Not sure if it has been posted here, but the second omnibus (with books 3 and 4), titled The Price of War, will be released November 27 (according to B&N at least). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 It's been a long time, but as far is I remember, it was Idaan, the sister, who murdered them, and neither of them had really taken offensive measures against the other.The Galt agent got the first brother in the Prologue. The other two brothers are in the first chapter at the Dai-Kvo's meeting Maati. Then later one of those two brothers shows up to claim the seat of the Khai, having killed the other brother. My issue is that there was no indication that the two of them were prepared to kill each other at that point. Subsequently, their sister kills the claimant brother and her husband kills their father. I truly thought there was some other conspiracy in place for the longest time as the claiming brother showed so quickly after Otah was in chains. That his sister killed him and had their father killed spoke of a wrench in the plan. The other brother I expected to arrive at the end and be hale and healthy.I obviously missed something somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshwater Spartan Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I've read the first two books. I would say the series so far is good but not great. I think the best thing to say about the series is that it at least tries to be something new and different. It stays away from most of the old D&D fantasy/Tolkein style cliches that dominate genre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I honestly am not sure what I felt at the end of the third book. I know I wanted it to go further, for there to be some sort of Hollywood save ending to make things better. I know it went in a direction I didn't expect. I kept waiting for something grand to turn with Sinja, but it didn't, so I never got the chance to truly root for him, it was always on the edge of thinking he might become a legendary second tier character in fantasty lore (a la The Hound or Jaquen). It was good. It was really good. But like a lot of the characters of the story, I felt hollow after I was done. Needless to say I jumped right into book four... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I always kind of felt that the concept of the Andat was way too under-used, oddly enough.I could have read about the Andat forever, even though I understand why they were a dangerous, unpredictable and, therefore, unsuitable long-term weapon. Reading about their "prices" was absolutely fascinating too. I would have gladly sat at the knee of the Tai-Kvo to hear stories of failed Poets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I honestly am not sure what I felt at the end of the third book. I know I wanted it to go further, for there to be some sort of Hollywood save ending to make things better. I know it went in a direction I didn't expect. I kept waiting for something grand to turn with Sinja, but it didn't, so I never got the chance to truly root for him, it was always on the edge of thinking he might become a legendary second tier character in fantasty lore (a la The Hound or Jaquen). It was good. It was really good. But like a lot of the characters of the story, I felt hollow after I was done.Needless to say I jumped right into book four...Well the plot can be epic at times, the characterization in the series is very much quiet and turns on smaller things. It's not the series for grand epic epiphanies and catharsis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durckad Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 One of the best series I've read recently and certainly one of the best finished series I've ever read.I liked pretty much everything about the books, from the slow-to-deliberate pacing, the poses, the low-key worldbuilding, the cultures, the andat, the characters and how, while the main characters do err on the side of being flawed but good people, there are really no true villains either. I was actually rooting for the 'villain' (if you could call him that) in book 3, even if his methods were overly harsh, he had a point and he was right. Great series, I just wish I hadn't waited so long to jump in. I remember when I first read the blurb about the first book and I thought 'That sounds boring as hell. I'm not reading that.' Oh how wrong I was.I'm actually one of the weirdos who doesn't think the first book is the weakest. I really liked the setting of the summer city and the stories of these young kids just starting out their lives and getting caught up in something big. I'd actually say the second is the weakest, there are a few parts that I kinda had to slog through, but even then it was very good. Books 3 and 4 are pretty much perfect though.I'm really looking forward to doing a reread as I read the four books over the course of a year and a half, so it'll be interesting to revisit books 1 and 2 again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I think the first is tied for the strongest with the 3rd. The 2nd is by far the weakest imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of Godsgrace Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 IMHO it is very much an example of every next book being way better than previous one. I would say the order is 4,3,2,1 with rather significant difference in quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielAbraham Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 This is something I struggle with, actually. One of the things I hear a lot (not only on the Long Price books) is that my books in series get better as they go (See: Black Sun's Daughter). On one hand, I hope that means I'm getting better. A Shadow in Summer was my first published book, and I sure *hope* I've gotten better, right? :) On the other, I don't think An Autumn War or Price of Spring would have stood as well as stand-alone books. How much do y'all think the "lesser" first couple books are necessary for the second two books to function? Did anyone start the series at Autumn War, and if you did, what was that like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zcrow Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I couldn't imagine going into Autumn War without having read the first two. They were/are essential to the world-building; the concept of the andat, the tension between Galt, the society as a whole, with its poses and its unique feel. Personally, I loved the first two books. If you completely rewrote An Autumn War and the Price of Spring that included infodump flashbacks, it would work, but not nearly as well. I think the quartet is perfect. Besides, the Long Price duo just doesn't have that ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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