Amph Sara Douglass's books

Threshold was good, if fairly predictable.

I look forward to seeing how they all get brought together in the new series.

 

That new series sounds really good. I haven't been able to find a release date, though

 

First book has just been sent to the publisher, I assume for editing (since major writing/rewriting is complete). I guess a few more months still.

 

Awesome Not that I can read it until the last Wayfarer book comes out next winter, anyway.

 

Unlocking and upping

Pixie, how are you enjoying the fourth WR book?

 

Made it through, now reading Pilgrim, the Demons are rather intriguing at this point, and I love how Farrady is so mean to Axis now. Although, I was a little weirded out by the whole spaceship thing..I thought I was reading fantasy, not Sci-fi.

 

Yeah, that was really weird.

 

Yeah, this second series goes on some bizarre tangents. Still worthwhile though.

 

Meh. I stopped partway through book 5 and decided to re-read all of them because I was totally confused. I think she should have ended it with the first trilogy and changed it so there weren't any questions or any need to create sequels. Actually, I'm not fond of her more recient books -- don't get me started on the second half of that quartet she wrote about the people who kept getting reborn. She ruined that series.

Nevertheless, I'm finding myself interested in the new book, and so I'll just finish that second trilogy so I can get to it.

Though why they call him "Maxim" or something instead of just "Max" like in Beyond the Hanging Wall just confuses me.

 

You mean the Troy Game series? I haven't read the last one yet, but I admit that the third book fell off for me.

 

Yeah, that's the one. Very disappointing

 

See, I think that this is the problem with the way that they've been marketted to you guys over there in the States. The Axis trilogy (Battleaxe, Enchanter and Starman) are a self-contained story that the ending leaves a small glimpse at possible future tales because of WolfStar and his last scene.

The Wayfarer Redemption trilogy (Sinner, Pilgrim and Crusader) is also a self-contained story that doesn't automatically rely on having to know everything from the past to read (although it does help). Both have different voices and styles, and trying to jam them into one big series just doesn't do them justice.

 

The way it ended for us was leaving WolfStar's story completely untold, wuth hints of Zenith being Niam (?) reborn. So it could be stopped there, but makes the reader want more.

They used to be my favorite books, but not any more. Axis is an extremely flawed hero (I hated the way he treated Faraday) and I know that people love Azhure and Faraday wasn't even supposed to be in the story as more than a minor character, but she's always been "meh" to me because of the Axis/Faraday thing. She really drew the short straw. And the Icarii are like Axis -- selfish and self-absorbed. I know that's intended to make the characters more "real" since they've got flaws, but Axis is just too mean.

 

I read Battleaxe, Enchanter, Starman, and the Wayfarer Redemption trilogy a while back. I quite enjoyed reading them. I do however, agree that it should have ended with the first trilogy though. I don't see the point in writing a trilogy where the land etc is restored, only to have it destroyed within the lives of the next generation.
I've also seen that see's got a new one coming out that's set after the Wayfarer one.

 

Ugh, it is taking me forever to get through Pilgrim. I'm going to have to set it aside for a few weeks now, it's time to start re-reading HP again before Deathly Hallows comes out.

 

She just keeps going with this -- She ignored "Quit while you're ahead" and has passed "Quit whilwe you're behind before you become more behind" and has gone all the way to WTH??? Nevertheless, I still find myself wanting to read it. Why?? Why??

And why does she have to bring Axis, of all charaacters, back? I hate him!!

 

I just finished Crusader. Wow, in many ways.


First, I spent the entire trilogy doing exactly what the characters were doing: wondering what the hell the point of the previous three books was. That was supposed to be an epic battle and had all of those struggles . . . and then we find out that the entire point of that was for a child to be born. That's it. As Faraday points out, if Gorgrael had won, it wouldn't have made a difference because DragonStar had allied himself with him and would have lived.

The story as a whole was very weird. Her writing style is fastly different now than it was when she started writing this series; WR/B was her first book.

I think I like the way that DragonStar and Faraday's story ended. She's right when she says that she could write a whole new trilogy just about the two of them, but I think that the way she ended it was good. I also like that God is a girl, but that's just me as a girl speaking

I'm a little sad that Tencendor was destroyed (I knew it was going to happen because I read the cover of the next book) but the Garden, while good, wasn't quite the same as a Tencendor reborn.

I was sad that Zenith and StarDrifter's story never had a satisfactory ending, and that he survived. I guess that'll be explored in the next books, but I felt that it should have had a better ending. In fact, I think (once again) that the story should have been ended and that if she wanted to create another story, she should create another world. Though WolfStar's end, IMO, was fitting, and I like the Butler.

I think it's sad that Axis will be pulled out of the Garden in the next book; if he's content, he should just stay there with his family and friends.

All in all, I've very confused about my feelings on the whole thing

I want to know how many books are in the Darkglass Mountain series, and how far apart the books will be published. One of my problems with this second trilogy was that I had read the first so long ago that I'd forgotten a lot, and so I was confused in the first book and sooooo confused in the second that I put it down and started the series over again. I won't be doing that again, but I hope I can remember enough from book to book

 

Not quite. If Gorgrael had won, then Drago wouldn't have existed and DragonStar would have been an Icarii Enchanter. Thus when the Timekeeper Demons broke through and destroyed the Star Gate that would have been it not just for Tencendor, but everyone. DragonStar would have submitted to his Icarii heritage and thus been unable to access his Acharite heritage unless he went through death (which was only discovered because of Drago).

Sara tends to take about a year between books in release dates here. It was good because they would come out the week before my sister's birthday so I had a present all ready to go each year.

 

True, but regardless, a lot of the time it seems like much of what they went through was a big waste.

Finished The Serpant Bride. I'm going to die waiting until next May for the next one

Really like Maxel and Ishbel, but what I really hate is that their relationship is basically dead by the end -- which is why I neeeeeeed the next one. Stupid Ravenna. I liked her in Beyond the Hanging Wall or whatever. Now she's just annoying and in the way and PREGNANT!?!?! Not cool. Maxel and Ishbel need to be together. He shouldn't have spelt with Ravenna. And Ishbel shouldn't have slept with Isaiah when she loved Maxel, or continued to. That was stupid and really was broke them apart for good.

I was sort of sad that Axis was brought back, even though I knew it would happen, because IMO the Tencendor stuff should be put to rest. Plus, he kept being attracted to Ishbel -- and Ravenna and her mother, for that matter. I kept thinking about everything he did to Faraday because he loved Azhure, and now that she's still dead and he's not, he's attracted to other people. As much as I like DragonStar and Faraday together, I was so mad in the first trilogy at Axis and Azhure for what happened to her.

I like StarDrifter and his new lady. Nice twist with Embeth being pregnant. It gave me chills a little to think waaaaaay back to the beginning two books, which are the only ones she's in. Sad, though. And I thought that Sara Douglass twisted the whole "if the Icarii baby's father isn't there, the mother will die" thing, because Rivkah lived -- and not only that, she survived being thrown out into the mountains to die. However, I think that the whole Zenith thing was a complete waste. They loved each other, but she couldn't get physical and she died and it almost killed him. She was his one true love. Now, a book later, he's found a new one true love.

I thought it was sad that Maxel is pulling away from Garth; I'd love to see more of him, and maybe him becoming friends with Ishbel. I don't get why they don't trust each other after the initial misinderstanding was over (though I think that Maxel not repeating that Garth thought Ishbel was a whore would have done heaps of good).

I like the title of Lord of Elcho Falls or whatever it is. Very cool/spooky. I maybe would have made it Echo instead of Elcho, but whatever.

Anyway, I want the sequel NOW!!!!

 

Wow, I just reread this thread and I was very interested to see myself going from "ZOMG Sara Douglass = AWESUM!!1!" to "yeah, this sucks"

And just as a reference, that third Darkglass Mountain book isn't out yet. There are reports of it happening this June, but this close to the deadline, I seriously doubt it.

I'll read it (and the second, which I never read) but after that, I think I'm done. Which is a shame, since she was my favorite author and my introduction to adult fantasy. I'll still always love Wayfarer Redemption/Battleaxe a little, but in general, her writing has just annoyed me for the past few years (which is a shame, and I did reread WR/B a couple years back, and her style was still really good).


Anyway, the reason I bumped the thread . . .

Troy Game

I liked the first two books, especially the second, when they came out (and when I was several years younger, which made a difference But it seems like in the middle of the third book, she decided that she didn't want the bad guy (whatshhisname, the Minotaur) to be a bad guy, because she started liking him. And this threw the whole series off. It seemed pretty evident that after all this time, Cornelia and Brutus were supposed to work through their differences and be together. Nope. And of course, she was giving little snippets of the fourth book in the previous three, and of course when things changed, that didn't work with the new plan. So they're snippets of a bad dream Brutus is having at the beginning of the fourth book.

I'm really surprised her editors let her get away with that. The twist wasn't done well, it was pretty evident what had happened (so it didn't look like a planned, Sanderson-like SURPRISE!, it looked badly done and awkward, and out of character for Cornelia, among other characters - and Swann - I think that was her second name? - too), and the series just goes badly. Actually, I've never run across a good review after that, though I haven't really been working.

And that's why I generally recommend against it.

 

In a bizarre coincidence, I just cleaned out my bookshelf and found the first 3 Troy Game books. I contemplated getting the 4th.


Instead I donated them to the Salvation Army.


I pretty much agree with your thoughts.

 

Did you ever read the fourth?

I have the first, in hardcover (back from the days when I had cash to spare - babysitting was an awesome gig ) but I got the others from the library.

 

I was really disappointed with the Troy Game series. It did start so well, but went off on a completely different tangent when shifted from 3 to 4 books.

As for Darkglass 3, don't hold your breath. Sara is barely recovered from her bout with cancer, and last I checked she hadn't gotten back into writing full-time yet.

 

That's what I figured.

 

I haven't finished the fourth yet, but so far she's on track to do the second best job I've ever seen at wrecking her own series (sorry, Goodkind's trashing of Sword of Truth still wins).