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fandomsecrets2016-06-26 03:10 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2016-06-26 03:10 pm
[ SECRET POST #3462 ]
⌈ Secret Post #3462 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 45 secrets from Secret Submission Post #495.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Book club: Dragon Thief discussion post!!
A couple of things before I start the discussion:
1. I'm going to try a slightly different format. I'm going to post a few questions, but I'm going to post my own reactions in a different comment and shorten it a little. I think when I respond to the questions myself I tend to make really long teal deer-ish posts and I don't think that necessarily helps discussion. As always, feel free to respond to any and all questions, make your own reaction posts, or respond to my reactions/others' reactions. And - again, as always - feedback is appreciated!
2. I definitely want to read the last book in the trilogy. I will read it whether or not we do it together, but was wondering if there was any interest in reading it together as a club? If so, I can put it on the rec list for August. If not, I'll eventually read it on my own and then just talk about it in GC or something.
3. Start thinking about August recs; I'll start asking for those soon! (Possibly tomorrow)
4. Quick reminder that we're reading Para Handy by Neil Munro for July! Discussion date TBA. Whether or not we do it on a weekend again will depend in part on general feedback and in part on how today's discussion goes.
Discuss away!~
Some questions...
+How do you think this book compares to Dragon Princess? How well do you think it functions as a sequel? Did any of your predictions post-Dragon Princess come true?
+What are your thoughts on the major characters (Frank, Lucille, Grace and Co., Forsythe, Snake, Nâtlac, Lysea, Oliver)? Did any of those thoughts on the recurring characters change a lot from the first book?
+Any predictions for the third book?
+What do you ship? Do you like Frank better with Evelyn or Lucille? Someone else? Any ships not involving main characters?
+What do you think an ideal ending for Frank and Lucille would be? (What bodies would they have, would they be together or not romantically, what would their political position be, etc.)
+Did you agree or disagree with Frank in his argument with Lucille at the beginning of the book? In lieu of his hasty and drunk decision to use Nâtlac's necklace of dubious design, what alternatives do you think Frank should have considered? How would you respond if he wrote into an advice column about his situation?
+If you could be a human or a dragon, which would you pick? What if the alternative to being a dragon was being a human in the body of someone of a gender you don't identify with?
Re: Some questions... possible spoilers for book three, but I'll try not to.
(Anonymous) 2016-06-26 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)+How do you think this book compares to Dragon Princess? How well do you think it functions as a sequel? Did any of your predictions post-Dragon Princess come true?
-->This was a very different book t what I expected when I first got it. I expected wacky adventures of Frank and Lucille in Royalty land, and while there is a definite aspect of that, it is more about Frank learning to engage brain before leaping into action. Frank learning that, yes, his life sucks but that he still has to think about others. I think it is the Empire Strikes Back of the trilogy. It is darker, although never quite losing its comic tone, and it delves a lot more into the background of the world as well as upping the stakes on both the personal and big picture level. I really enjoyed it though, and still enjoy it.
+What are your thoughts on the major characters (Frank, Lucille, Grace and Co., Forsythe, Snake, Nâtlac, Lysea, Oliver)? Did any of those thoughts on the recurring characters change a lot from the first book?
---> I ended up feeling sorry for poor Sir Forsthye. He got screwed, I always said religion was bad for you. The deities themselves continued to bear out the old saying that whomever the gods would destroy they'd first hand a fizzing stick with "acme dynamite" written on it. Deities are assholes. I also had too many feels about the girls, and Chris, many of those feels ended me with putting down the book for a little while to go make a cup of tea until the sense of horror wore off. I'm glad they got somewhere, relatively, safe at the end and they are so Frank and Lucille's kids by the end.
Frank is still an idiot, of course, but by the end of the book he is an idiot who is learning to think more and manage his idiocy better. I think he showed real character growth over this. It is telling that while, given opportunity, he immediately reverted to his pre-princess lifestyle that he just could enjoy it. The whole rest of the book was one slow motion explanation to him as to why that lifestyle sucks. Redemption is a journey, indeed. Lucille, has changed too but I cannot say more because, y'know sequel. Heavy foreshadowing is heavy.
The rest of the royals are varying degrees of suckitude, even the competent ones. Snake is a complete and utter bastard of the sort you want to blow up with a bazooka while rock music plays. Like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kakblvktqdg
+Any predictions for the third book?
-->It contains words, and feels, but despite this one being the Empire of the trilogy, no Ewoks.
+What do you ship? Do you like Frank better with Evelyn or Lucille? Someone else? Any ships not involving main characters?
-->I'm a fan of a bit of light BDSM and role play as the next girl, but I don't think Frank is as into it as Evelyn there. Thankgoodness their safeword was help a dragon is outside. Frank and Lucille all the way for me there. Although a little bit Frank Sir Forsythe too, just because.
+What do you think an ideal ending for Frank and Lucille would be? (What bodies would they have, would they be together or not romantically, what would their political position be, etc.)
--> I think they worked well together, and obviously have feelings for each other, but they need a lot of time to talk about it. Preferably when the fate of a kingdom is not at stake and lives do not hang in the balance. However, they are off to a good start. I also think they probably need to be at least in the same rough definition of species.
+Did you agree or disagree with Frank in his argument with Lucille at the beginning of the book? In lieu of his hasty and drunk decision to use Nâtlac's necklace of dubious design, what alternatives do you think Frank should have considered? How would you respond if he wrote into an advice column about his situation?
--> My advice column would be written on a piece of wood, which I would use to smack both of them upside the head with. It would read "talk to each other before acting, dumbasses". Frank did have, without knowing what was going through Lucille's own mind because she never told him, a point. However Frank should have talked too. Just because it looks like a dynastic political marriage, doesn't mean you can fool around in public like that and not have consequences. I mean it was a sucky situation to get trapped in, and a gilded cage is still a cage. I think on the back of my bit of wood would be "objects "blessed" by evil gods will never work to your advantage" too. Then again, Frank was drunk.
+If you could be a human or a dragon, which would you pick? What if the alternative to being a dragon was being a human in the body of someone of a gender you don't identify with?
--> I choose... Hey, is that a demon duck over there? ::runs away::
Re: Some questions... possible spoilers for book three, but I'll try not to.
I like your advice to Frank and Lucille too. Communication is SO IMPORTANT, guys! I would also add that it's a bad idea to make hasty decisions while drunk, and one should find a way to not have access to devices created by deities while intoxicated...seriously, it's like driving.
I like my body but I might still choose dragon. However, if I were stuck in Lucille's situation - a political figurehead subjected to a political marriage with no way out and no way to alleviate the boredom - I'd probably have made the same choice she did.
Oh, also, if the Teen Thief Brigade doesn't get a happy ending I'm gonna be so pissed :( I love them
my own reactions:
I actually enjoyed this book even more than the first, and thought it did a very good job as a sequel. I definitely plan on finishing the trilogy and since the author has already done a lot of unexpected things I'm pretty sure I have no idea how it's going to end, so I think it will be fun! The worldbuilding is kinda okay but the characters are really good. I appreciate that a good chunk of the main characters are female and they're varied and interesting.
One of my favorite aspects of the book was the way Krys was written. I don't necessarily expect medieval fantasy to touch on current social issues, but Krys definitely read as trans to me and I liked the examination of how something like that might be handled in a world where there was no concept of such a thing existing.
In general though the teenagers were really cool. Some people bitch and moan about how ~hard it is to write female characters, but it's really not. Swann does a good job. They're just people, with strengths and flaws. And while definitely flawed and imperfect and immature (being teens) they were pretty badass too. :)
Basically I thought it was a good adventure, a little cheesy in some parts, surprisingly dark and enjoyable overall. I love Frank's sense of humor as a narrator.
Re: my own reactions:
(Anonymous) 2016-06-26 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)Re: my own reactions:
Re: Book club: Dragon Thief discussion post!!
(Anonymous) 2016-06-26 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)The Para Handy book is a specific edition, don't forget.