Reading Wednesday meme

[frayadjacent]

What I just finished reading

Spirit Gate, by Kate Elliot. It was pretty good but I might have given up on it had I not liked Black Wolves (the first in a trilogy set in the same world) and had I not re-read coffeeandink's review (which is what first put the books on my radar, but I didn't get around to it until much later). It has a lot more violence, including sexual violence, than Black Wolves, although the sexual violence isn't graphically described and the survivors' points-of-view are generally prominent.

What I'm reading now

Shadow Gate, by Kate Elliot. It's going much better than Spirit Gate (which I didn't dislike, but I also didn't love) thanks to having a much-expanded set of points-of-view and relationships. It's also introducing some exciting storylines that are sucking me in nicely. There is still a lot of violence and possibly more sexual violence than the last book. I have a few specific qualms but on the whole I'm fascinated by the story and can't wait to see how things get to where they end up at the beginning of Black Wolves.

I'm also still listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In fact I've made very little progress since my last reading meme post. I'm about 3/4 of the way through. I just need to get through, but the torment Harry undergoes at the end of this book is one of the most upsetting sections in the series for me. Add that to my general meh feeling about The Goblet of Fire, plus the fact that I haven't been running which is one of the main times I listen, and, well. I'll finish eventually.

What I'll read next

Traitor's Gate, by Kate Elliot. But I also purchased these books recently and I think the NK Jemisin will be the first one I read.


[photo of four books: Spin State by Chris Moriarty; The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin; The Thinking Person's Guide to Climate Change by Robert Henson; and The Very Best of Kate Elliot]

Comments

[luzula]

Woohoo, Spin State!

The Jemisin is also on my list of books to check out.

[frayadjacent]

I will read it soon! :D

[umadoshi]

*perks* To avoid spoilers, I've deliberately avoided seeking out much info about how Spirit Gate etc. connect to Black Wolves. But I'd been thinking I should read the older trilogy first, and then Black Wolves...except Black Wolves is the one everyone's been talking about. Are you finding that reading it first spoiled anything for the older books?

[frayadjacent]

Yeah, there are definitely Crossroads trilogy spoilers in Black Wolves. You find out, in a general sense, what the final outcome of the trilogy's story arc is. You find out what happens to three of the main characters in Crossroads (though you only find out *much* about one of those three).

But the Crossroads trilogy has a *lot* of characters and separate but interlocking threads, and most of those characters and story threads aren't spoiled at all by Black Wolves. It's not like the spoilers ruin the story -- there's still a lot to find out. It feels more like I'm reading a prequel, and am going to find out how things go to the point they were in BW.

I sort of wish I hadn't read Black Wolves first, but on the other hand I probably wouldn't have finished Spirit Gate if I that hadn't been the case.

By the way, the backs of the books all have spoilers too! Maybe that is a common thing and you knew that -- I think I've been reading kindle books for too long!

[umadoshi]

Ahhh, okay! That's all really good to know. Thanks!

[dolorosa_12]

If spoilers are a problem for you, I would strongly recommend against reading Black Wolves first.

(And if you want someone to talk to about the Crossroads trilogy, I am always happy to do so. It's my favourite of Kate Elliott's series, and one of my favourite series of all time.)

[umadoshi]

If spoilers are a problem for you, I would strongly recommend against reading Black Wolves first.

I think I'm going back to that plan after my brief flicker of thinking I might read Black Wolves first.

(OHMYGOSH, I don't think I've ever used this icon before!)

(And if you want someone to talk to about the Crossroads trilogy, I am always happy to do so. It's my favourite of Kate Elliott's series, and one of my favourite series of all time.)

I will keep that in mind! ^_^ I don't know when I'm going to be getting to it, since I'm very random when it comes to choosing what to read next at any given time.

[dolorosa_12]

Oh, there's no rush - the books will still be there when you're ready, and I'll still be here with opinions!

[renay]

I loved both The Fifth Season and The Very Best of Kate Elliott, although there were a lot of Crossroads short fiction in the latter. One day I'm going to finish Shadow's Gate and Traitor's Gate! They're just so BIG. XD

[frayadjacent]

Yeah, I won't read The Very Best of Kate Elliott until I finish the Crossroads trilogy. Which you should totally finish too! I like Shadow's Gate a lot more than Spirit Gate. (I'm not sure I like it as much as Black Wolves. The story is just as engrossing, if not more so, but Black Wolves had so many characters I adored, like actually all of the POV characters, I think.)

[dolorosa_12]

I love, love, love the Crossroads books, but I often think I must be the only person for whom they are favourite works of Elliott's. People seem to have trouble warming to them, for whatever reason.

I think I love them so much because they gave me the character of Mai, who was a character type I didn't even realise I'd been wanting, but whose personality and story I found incredibly resonant. I loved that her talents lay in bargaining, diplomacy, and quietly, carefully forging connections between people, and that this kind of flexibility and compromise was depicted as heroic, valuable and important.

I also really loved the setting, the sense of chaos and transition, and the power of the story's ending. I have a lot of spoilerish thoughts about that, but I'll hold off in going into more detail until you've finished the series.

[frayadjacent]

Yeah, Mai is a wonderful character, and I agree pretty unique. I haven't found a character quite like her either. She was definitely what got me through Spirit Gate -- I was ambivalent at best about Shai, Joss, and Keshad (though now Shai is one of my faves).

You're the second person to point to the ending of the series as particularly powerful (coffeeandink also did). I'm looking forward to getting there!

If you have any thoughts that don't spoil book 3, which I just started, I'd love to hear them! Otherwise we can chat when I finish. :)

[dolorosa_12]

Most of my thoughts are pretty spoilerish, but I would love to chat about the series as a whole (including the ending) when you've finished book 3, so please do ping me when you're done.

[frayadjacent]

Will do!