#will I actually read priory of an orange tree or just keep talking about it

[hermioneswifeee]

okay people and also witches/demons/dragons/goddesses/and other mythical creatures that i hope follow me, it’s fucking go time. i have put off being a person for enough of today. i need to finish work for today, clean up, walk my dog, shower, do laundry, cook dinner, and then i can relax.

[peachesofteal]

i would love a book recommendation list from you whenever you have the time to write one up :-)

Hi! I put together a list of everything I've personally read and enjoyed. Please remember these are my personal recs. To each their own. These are fantasy/high fantasy recs only, and one science fiction because I cannot resist talking about Dune.

Mistborn (7 books split into two eras) and The Stormlight Archive (4 books) - Brandon Sanderson - Just read them. I can't even begin to cover the way I have consumed the Cosmere (his multiverse). Complex magical systems that make sense. These are my number one recommendation.

The Poppy War (and it's two subsequent books)- R. F. Kuang - technically it's military-ish fantasy. The magic blends really well and I didn't put these down. I loved how Rin was more morally grey. It teaches, too.

Wheel of Time (sixteen ish books) - Robert Jordan with an assist from Brandon Sanderson at the end - one of my favs. Typical hero stuff but I love the world and the magic system. I watch the show too, and would recommend if you want to get a little excited about reading them. This series ruined me for a while, it was really hard to get into anything else.

Malazan - ten books - Steven Erickson. I read these a while ago but they’re very engrossing.

The Priory of the Orange Tree (and A Day of Fallen Night) - Samantha Shannon - I devoured these! Really liked them. Sometimes the pacing is a little weird but… would recommend.

All Souls Trilogy - Deborah Harkness - okay it’s historical fantasy but definitely check these out. Witches, vampires, demons… dark haired love interest and Deborah Harkness really weaves the history so well, I loved them. She has an additional book in this universe that I didn’t like so much BUT she has a new one coming out soon and I’m excited.

And finally... Dune - Frank Herbert (only, NOT the books his kids wrote. So six titles, ending with Chapterhouse: Dune) - Science Fiction. If you’ve seen the first movie you more or less than know the premise but I promise you there is so much more. I am aware that some interpretations of this story reduce it to a white savior narrative but that’s simply NOT the case and you would have no idea unless you actually read the full six books.

Last thing: I don’t recommend jumping from series to series. Take a break or read a romcom. These stories are deeply detailed and very engulfing. Learning new worlds, magical systems, religions, races, etc when you change books can be confusing and do a disservice to the book and yourself. “The first book” in a lot these can be hard to chew or digest because you’re learning so much, so keep that in mind! 🩵

[laxibbeb]

Don’t worry, it’s truly been a week for us all. And not to flood you with asks, I just happened to have this ready at the same time as your snippet:)

I’m a fan of those Greek mythology retellings (although I haven’t finished Song of Achilles because I know how it ends and I’m scared of getting hurt). And I don’t know if you’ve ever read Gods of Jade and Shadow, but it was interesting.

Ninth House is fun, it has that mystery vibe to it while still being dark urban fantasy. Which is a genre that I don’t typically enjoy?

Also I enjoyed Too Good to be True. It was interesting trying to figure out each character’s motives throughout the book.

Have you read Priory of the Orange Tree? I loved it, but I ran into the same problem as you. I had a massive book hangover and haven’t been able to get into the second one yet 😂

I…am hesitant to tell you one of the things I’m pretentious about. I think it might give me away. I can tell you it has to do with one of my hobbies, though! For the other, I can be a bit of a snob about wine. I love a good Sauvignon Blanc. Truly immaculate. (But YES! Let’s be pretentious bitches together. That’s truly the dream. It’s also what Mor x Nesta could have been but anyway) haha maybe I’ll indulge both of us and write that someday 😊

Ooh the weaver? I see the appeal! It’s hard to pick one for ACOTAR because most of the characters are already hot. Andras, maybe? Dying for the sake of the plot? What a guy. Although I guess he’s not special in that regard, if you think about it.

I’m so sorry I just started talking😂

For non ACOTAR? I’m going to be honest I didn’t think about this either, so I’m doing the same as you. Uh, this is definitely a popular one, but that one fish from finding Nemo. Gill, I think his name is.

I can verify I am not one of the two people in the fandom who can understand that reference. Unsure if that narrows anything down for you (so I’m going to narrow it down even further and tell you I’m American)

I feel like these asks keep getting longer and longer. I don’t know what that says about us.

Anyways!

Do you have any favorite fics? They could be for any ship, honestly. I also enjoy Nessian and sometimes Feysand, and am open to other ones too.

Do you play any instruments? (I don’t think I asked this already?)

santa ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 i hope you flood me with asks, i love them

oH MY GOD i do that too, where i leave a book when i know it'll get bad 🫢 i'm scared to proceed with other books form "The Poppy War" for an example, because i have a vague idea of what will happen and i just. i just can't i've not read "Ninth House", i wanted to but not gonna lie, i'm scared i won't like it.. leigh bardugo hasn't ever done it for me before

i wanted to give something new of hers a try, though! so maybe?

"Too good to be true" is actually going on my tbr now, especially since i promised myself i'd read more thrillers (and haven't but shhh)

i HAVE read priory, (i have like, 80 pages left, but i'm GETTING TO IT so let's say i read it for a moment) it was so good! but yeah, the second one is gong to have to wait

(i would absolutely read an 800 page long, day to day account of tané's life, though)

---

OKAY, a wine snob??? that's so classy and sophisticated of you, santa (might i say - hot) i'll wait for your other pretentious thing, that's ok see! you see the mor x nesta potential for what it really is... divine and so, so sexy if you ever decide to write mor x nesta i'll owe you my firstborn, actually

---

OH MY GOD, THE ANDRAS SHADE (i wish the most important man in the acotar series had a single speaking line, not gonna lie)

okay, here's the thing - i've watched nemo one time and, stupid me i thought that was it, so i deleted all the memories i had of this movie. little did i know people would be referencing it for the rest of time i googled gill the fish from finding nemo and you know what? i GET IT. it's his slutty fin swoop

---

you know what, if you said that you recognized what i was talking about, only then would i have IMMEDIATELY known who you are

i now have 3 pieces of information that could possibly help me in figuring out your identity, and let me tell you, it doesn't narrow it down that much 🤣 so you're in the clear

---

I BRING FORTH MY FAVOURITE FANFICTION:

i cannot have a favourite fics list without mentioning @separatist-apologist, as she's the reason why i'm even in this fandom to begin with, so even though we all know this already -> take your pick and it's my favourite ever

what lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why by @foundress0fnothing THIS ONE IS SO MUCH FUN, and it has bi lucien; what more could you want

Springtide by @clarafae i've been really enjoying this one and i'm not done with it yet but it belongs here, ok i did not think i could like high lady of spring!elain but turns out i just needed a good fic

also, i've started A Blaze in the Dark by the famous @the-lonelybarricade and i can already tell you it belongs here as well

lately i've been reading a lot of azris, actually!

Just Enough Light to Cast Shadows by @jules-writes-stories (if you're reading this because ot the tag, jules please know i haven't forgotten about you, I'LL COME BACK) anyway, i love this one and i've been having so much fun reading it

i'm due a reread of Kerosene by @chunkypossum which is my absolute favourite and changed my life, actually

AND there are so many more but i need to finish replying to you before i turn 80 years old, unfortunately

---

i do not play an instrument :(( i used to really want to play the violin when i was a kid but when i asked my mom if i could attend music school she got war flashbacks and said she wouldn't put me through that (she also said i have no predispositions for doing music, which wow, thanks mom (she was right) 😋) so no instruments for baby laxi but i like to sing in my car when i'm driving 🤣

---

we're writing love letters to one another from across the sea and as the time passes they get progressively longer we just need to embrace it

it got to the point when i'm putting dividers whenever i change the topic to make it easier to read 🤣

as always, santa tell me your answers too, please!! and have a

[asexualbookbird]

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon ⭐⭐

I followed this book from it's conception, through it's editing, and hyped it's publishing date on twitter. I was genuinely excited to read it, and really thought and hoped I'd enjoy it. I wasn't a huge fan of what I read of The Bone Season, but everyone assured me this was different! And to be fair, it was! I think in my heart, though, I knew the truth because I waited so long to read this and I'm sorry to say I did not have a great time.

My problem with Samantha Shannon seems to be she creates these wonderful worlds full of interesting magic systems and characters that are fun to follow, but there's too much crammed into the book as a whole. In The Bone Season, I felt the Rephaim were unnecessary. In Priory there are too many points of view. There were things I liked, this wasn't a complete waste of time, but wow they were hard to come by in the end.

What did I like?

-Ead! Ead was clearly the main character and I think it would have worked better if it was just Her Book (I'd also settle for her and Tané, please Tané deserved more page time than she got) -Sabran. I'm surprised, but not really, that people didn't like her. She's complicated! She's mean! She loves deeply! She's a person! People just hate women who are mean lol -MAGIC! Magic comes from fruit that comes from the stars? It's fire and water and ice and air? NEAT! COOL! Cool magic systems seem to be SShannons strong point! -High fantasy with no sexual assault or threats of sexual assault. There was a little misogyny with the way Sabran and her line is treated for their ability to give birth (and no, one throw away line of "This is bad actually!" doesn't fix it lol) but it fit in context and considering no one was mean to women for being women I'll let it slide!

What didn't I like?

-LACK. OF. DRAGONS. yall there are dragons on the COVER, every time someone talked about this online, they added dragon emojis. So why, in the more than 800 pages, did dragons show up for maybe five pages TOTAL. Like if we went line by line and pieced all those lines together, it would maybe take up five pages. Ten if I'm being generous and include the dragons that are The Enemies. Which, by the way, -Dragons are Mean. I've discovered that I prefer dragons to be neutral to allies, I don't like dragon books where we are slaying dragons. It's nice that we have both here, no group of people? Creatures? Are a monolith, but I want more of the eastern dragons! They were pushed aside and we hardly saw them! We hardly saw any of them! If you promise me dragons, then deliver! The! Dragons!!!! -Writing style. I'm thinking maybe SShannon's writing style and I do not vibe at all. I'm not sure what it is about it, I know she doesn't like writing action scenes and so avoids them, and I love reading action scenes, but that didn't feel like the entire problem here? But something about this writing detached me from the characters. Yes I liked Ead, but I felt nothing about Tané, other tha wanting MORE of her. SShannon spent a lot of time saying not much at all, it's really rather impressive. -Tané in general. Part of the writing problem is the way the POVs were split. It was most obvious in Tané's storyline. She has everything stripped away from her, but the emotional impact wasn't there because we hardly spent any time with her. -The Priory. The book is named after it, but we're hardly there at all. I spent a good chunk of the first half wishing Ead would go back to the Priory, but once she was there, I wanted her to leave. The Prioress' motives also seemed iffy to me? Ead was right, why spend nearly ten years trying to keep Inys afloat and then go "actually! Nevermind! Let it burn!' -Plot....holes? Not so much holes but Convenient Plot. I was ready to ignore some of it, suspension of disbelief and all that, but nah I"m going to be picky now! The scene that stuck out the most was Ead being chased and hunted down and CONVENIENTLY wyrms attacked her pursuers and she was the one who got away. Or how about Niclays at the LITERAL LAST MOMENT deciding to have a change of heart because......plot has to move forward? Also. What the fuck happened to Ishari lol Tané noted Ishari was disappointed to be sent to Feather island, but said she hoped their paths would cross again one day! And then! Tané goes to Feather Island! And NO MENTION OF HER AT ALL! Or how abut Loth learning a VERY BIG VERY IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE NEIGHBORING KINGDOM AND THEN NO ONE MENTIONS IT UNTIL NEARLY THE END LIKE "OH YEAH BTW THE PRINCESS THERE IS COOL LOTH SAID SO" -Wrap Up. I didn't really mind the final Big Fight. I know even fans of the book have been disappointed, but honestly it's one of the strongest stretches of the book, even if it was a little hard to follow at times. What bothered me was after. I know I tend to be impatient when reading the final chapters of a book, the What Happened Next bits, but never have I been so annoyed as to have to read a wrap up from the POV of someone who WASN'T EVEN CONSCIOUS. I suppose it's better than a book where a single first person POV character is knocked unconscious mid battle and then the next scene is "and then everything was over" but come ON.

I know she had to edit this book down a LOT, which. Girl. It's 800 pages how was there MORE. So maybe my questions were answered in things that were cut, but I could not physically handle any more of this book. I got fatigue from her writing, I cannot handle more of it at once, but considering how long it takes her to finish a book (not a complaint! Everyone has a different pace!) I also would not have wanted to wait that long for a conclusion. There's no winning for me here. We were simply not meant to be. It's just that if I'm going to read a book that takes hundreds of pages to say nothing at all by an author that puts out a book once every few years at best, I'd read VE Schwab or Patrick Rothfuss.

[butchkaramazov]

A Shade Darker Than Red: Chapter 8

Chapter 7

A week passed by. Paro was eerily quiet when she was with me, and I thought of what I had said that day. Had I really, truly ruined all my chances of saving even our friendship?

A million thoughts rushed through my head as I turned restlessly in bed, staring at the ceiling.

The ceiling of our bedroom was painted with blue fluorescent stickers shaped like stars. Papa had done that. I had asked Maa to take them off if they bothered her, but we never did.

Beside me, Maa tossed in her sleep. They say if you think of someone, they can’t fall asleep. Could she hear my thoughts?

I had nothing to distract myself with. No phone, no book—nothing. Just me, my thoughts and the stars on the ceiling.

A sudden, vivid memory flashed in my mind. We were six. A year had passed since my meeting with Paro. We were running around like hooligans in the park while our mothers talked about work, pados-wali aunties and whatnot. I still remember what Paro was wearing: a frilly, white frock with Minnie Mouse sewn onto its sleeves. The sky was red and so was our laughter, until Paro bent down and ripped a flower right off its stem. “For you,” she had said, clumsily tucking the flower behind my ear. When she touched my earlobe, the flower was white. When she let go, it was red.

Another memory. We were nine. She sat with me on the bed while I rambled on about my latest hyperfixation: dragons. She listened to every single detail I had mentioned and, by the end of the afternoon, showed me a drawing of a wyvern.

Twelve. I was reading The Priory of the Orange Tree, sitting on the windowsill. I took a sip from my milk tea, letting out a contented hum. I wasn’t on the windowsill anymore. I was Ead, pressing a kiss to Sabran’s brow. Sabran was someone who looked uncannily similar to Paro.

An annoying ding! from my phone forced me back to reality. I heard Maa’s grunts and snores: the coast was clear. 

I climbed off the bed, taking care not to put extra weight anywhere that would make the mattress creak. I walked towards the desk and picked up the phone.

WhatsApp: You have 3 messages.

It was Paro. I checked the time: 3:49 a.m. Paro was a morning person, what was she doing staying up all night?

Paro<3: hi renu are you awake? —00:27 do you wanna hang out on the roof like we used to?  —02:01 its ok if you dont wanna. go back to sleep you have a big day tmrw. actually, if ur awake rn i’ll kill you —03:48

Oh, Paro.

I glanced at Maa, slowly increasing the fan’s regulator. Please don’t wake up soon.

I walked out of the room and closed the door. Thank goodness I’d oiled its hinges last week. 

The main door was locked—opening it meant creating a ruckus. “Shit,” I muttered under my breath. No wait, actually not shit. This meant I’d have to take the old way around. Jeez, fourteen-year-old me was fun.

I opened the door to the balcony and hoisted myself up on its railing. It was an easy jump. I tumbled onto the grass, praying that a grasshopper wouldn’t find its new home in my ear. The grass was wet and the air smelled of petrichor. 

I stood up, smoothening my pyjamas. Staying out late at night was a risky thing, especially in our neighbourhood. Plenty of TicTac-shaped pills here and there, and men on the prowl. I didn’t give a damn. I was eighteen and probably feeling some feelings I wasn’t supposed to be feeling. (That’s a lot of ‘feeling’s, I know.) What could possibly hurt me?

A lot of things, I realised, as I walked up to Paro’s house. Like that mad dog Rathode had warned me about. The creepy guy who keeps children in his basement (just a speculation, but when Madhu speculated about something, it was most probably right). An overspeeding motorcycle that could crash into me any minute. My own mother, with her pots and pans, once she realised I was gone.

Oh well, the damage was done. I found myself opening the gate on instinct, as if I knew Paro’s house better than I did my own.

I stepped into their garden, careful not to trample on any beetles—and made my way to the window of the woman who lived below Paro’s flat. Madame Fosco, I called her, in everything but her looks.

The tin shade Madame Fosco had installed last year was probably on its deathbed by now. Rust had made its edges creaky, but Fosco was deaf, anyway. I grabbed onto it and hoisted myself up, finding myself staring right at Paro’s face, our faces a millimetre away from each other’s. She screamed.

I screamed.

My foot slipped and I fell off the tin shade, tumbling onto the grass once again. At this point, I would be surprised if a grasshopper hadn’t found its home in my ear.

“For Whitman’s sake, hush,” I hissed.

Paro peered out of the window, her mouth forming a perfect ‘o’. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed. 

I shook my head (in case a grasshopper had organised a nice family dinner in my hair) and climbed onto the tin shaft once again, pulling myself onto Paro’s windowsill.

“Come in,” she whispered, switching the lights on. 

I felt comfortable squatting on her windowsill like a failed Spiderman and grumbled as I walked into her bedroom.

Paro switched her phone’s torchlight off. “I’m gonna kill you.”

“What?” I stared at her retreating figure. “What did I do?”

“Why are you still awake?” she snapped. I followed her to the door.

“Why are you still awake and staring out of your window like Oscar fucking Wilde?” I snapped back. Paro flipped me off while trying her hardest to pull the gates across the door. Sweat shone on her forehead, her eyes illuminated in the moonlight.

“Hold on, let me help,” I offered, gently grabbing her wrist. Paro grumbled, stepping aside.

I pushed the gate back and pulled it in again, keeping the screw in with my thumb. It glided into the opening on the other side, miraculously not making a single noise. I turned towards Paro. She was staring at my arms.

“What?” I asked her, incredulously. One moment she said she wanted to kill me, and the next she looked at me like I was something she couldn’t quite wrap her head around.

“N-Nothing,” she muttered. My heart fluttered. Dammit, these butterflies in my stomach had turned into fucking bats at this point.

Paro walked up the stairs while I followed her footsteps in the dark. “Just like the old times, huh?” I heard her say.

I smiled weakly. “You make it sound like we're old.”

Paro opened the door to the roof, the tensed line in her jaw glinting in a sliver of moonlight. God, she was as beautiful as ever.

“Come in,” she said, her words echoing in the marble walls.

I followed her to the railings, leaning against the cool surface. A light breeze rippled through, making her hair fly for a brief second. Dear God, she was poetry herself.

“Where are Auntie and Uncle?” I asked, trying to break the silence.

A light breeze caressed my cheeks. “They won’t be back before tomorrow. Business trip,” Paro explained, edging closer to me.

“Oh.” I was suddenly aware of the pen still tucked behind my ear.

Silence.

“So we’re—we’re all alone, then?” I asked her, hoping she wouldn’t hear the slight quaver in my voice.

Paro nodded. “We are.” Silence, again.

She leaned against the railing. “You’re going away in three weeks.”

I nodded, not quite knowing what to say.

“I asked you a question.” Her voice was cold and harsh, harsher than I deserved. 

“That was a statement,” I snapped. “And don’t use your CEO voice with me.”

Paro frowned. “I’m not.”

“You are.” I glared at her. “And you know it.”

She stared at me, scrutinising my every feature. “I’m sorry,” she finally said, letting out a sigh. “I’m sorry. It’s just been—you’ll be gone—and—”

“I know, it’s okay,” I heard myself murmur, edging closer towards her.

“I—I’ve got that Poe book with me,” she said. “Do you want it now or at the graduation party?”

“Now,” I said, without thinking. “The party will be too loud. And too crowded,” I added as an afterthought.

Paro bit her lip so hard I was scared it would bleed. “Alright,” she nodded. “I’ll get it.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

I watched her retreat into the shadows, taking the white along with her. The night was a pool of blood, again.

I hummed. Did she know about the history of ‘OK’? Probably not. I’d tell her. Not knowing things I wouldn’t be able to tell her before we drifted apart wasn’t a good idea. At least she’d be able to tell her children that their Renu Auntie had told her about the history of ‘OK’. Maybe she’d sigh and think of me, again. Words were a certain but clumsy way into a person’s mind. 

Papa had told me that. Maybe that’s why I can’t stop thinking of him.

Did Paro know about Jinnah? That Netaji might’ve actually been alive? Did she know that birds came from lizard-hipped dinosaurs? There was so much I had to tell her before I vanished from her mind. It was pathetic. Scrambling onto every crumb of unrelated information I could find, just to hang onto her thoughts, stay on in her mind for a little while longer.

“I’m back,” Paro said, stepping into the moonlight.

She looked like Aphrodite, the goddess of love born from love itself, in all her glory—clutching a book of Edgar Allan Poe, the letters of which shone in the lamplight or moonlight, that I do not know.

“For you,” she said, handing me the book.

“It’s beautiful,” I gasped as I ran my fingers along the edge of its spine. It was a leatherbound book, The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe written in shiny gold lettering. I opened the first page. To Renu, it said. Keep me in your mind, always. From, Paro.

I chuckled, flipping through the pages. “Of course I’ll keep you in my mind, Paro,” I laughed. “What a silly thought!”

Paro looked at me, hope faintly glimmering in her eyes. “You will?” Her voice had softened down to a murmur.

I looked at her incredulously. “Well, duh, Paro, I can’t just forget my best friend of thirteen years now, can I?”

Paro’s lower lip trembled. “You promise?”

I smiled. “Always.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

A comfortable silence followed and as we looked at the stars, I knew we were both smiling.

@avani-amulya @manujanolavu @nirmohi-premika @lovesickpdf @arachneofthoughts @sonilaalbindi @desi-yearning @alhad-si-simran @thatpagalchokri @trashmeowcan @waitingforthesunrise @vellibandi @thesunandstarss @chanda-chamke-cham-cham @damnn-dorothea @the-unhinged-fanwinggg @watchingblsnowandforever @disproportionatelysculpting @bundle-of-glitter @bibliophile-dendrophile please let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist <3

[yasartmeme]

Okay listen I know A Day Of Fallen Night came out in like January and I did buy it then but then life stuff happened but I’m finally sitting down to read it and I’m gonna put all my thoughts here and post it when I finish it

Okay that was just the PROLOGUE? It slaps but also that was like a story of its own

Okay so I’m like a quarter through now and I have thoughts

Kanifa is adorable and Samantha Shannon if you touch one hair on his head you will be hearing from my nonexistent lawyers

Is Wulf actually the child of Kalyba? That would be wild

Also, I genuinely have completely lost track of all the people in Wulf’s storyline apart from his Inys family and Regny I don’t know who the fuck the rest of these people are and I’m not sure if I’m supposed to

The conclusion I’ve come to is that Hroth is fantasy Iceland. Am I wrong?

Y’know I was expecting Dumai’s story to be a whole thing of the Emperor being evil and trying to kill her for being an illegitimate heir or something but my expectations have been subverted and now I love him

Update

Hot damn like half of this book’s side characters just bit the dust in about half a page

Listen I know their deaths were mentioned in Priory and I knew it’d happen but Glorian’s parents dying still hurts

Poor Glorian

Also where is Wulf? Is he dead? Lost at sea? Is he okay? I need him to be okay

Siyu’s run away again

That girl is a Grade A flight risk

I honestly did not see Nikeya as a love interest coming but its clearly heading in that direction and I think its gonna cause all kinds of chaos

Update

KANIFA NOOO Samantha Shannon what did I just say

This is almost as bad as when Kit died, all these poor loyal friends dying for dramatic effect

I love Wulf’s family so much. Mara gives me Meg vibes

Glorian is a badass and her and Wulf are suprisingly cute together

Okay I do not trust Canthe at all, I feel like she’s lying about everything

I’m trying to figure out who she is. I’ve got a running theory that she’s Kalyba (the Lady of the Woods) which I know is kind of insane but hear me out: who else do we know that’s seemingly immortal and ate from the hawthorne tree, who can also shapeshift into whatever form, who has been married and has lost a child? Plus they keep drawing attention to the loveknot ring (which is gold which Wulf said is for royal marriage) and I feel like that can’t be just a coincidence. The only question is why she’d be helping the priory. Maybe she wants to earn their trust so they’ll let her eat from the orange tree? That’s what she wanted from Ead in the first book.

I’m trying so hard to figure this out but I think I’m losing my mind

Aaaand the Emperor is dead

Someone should keep a kill count going on the number of dead leaders/royalty and authority figures in this book, if you took a shot every time like a drinking game you’d be hammered by this point

Or dead

I’ve said it before but I love Wulf, he’s so earnest and sweet and he’s just trying to be friends with everyone

He had every reason to refuse to believe in the priory or be suspicious but he just welcomed them as family with open arms

Y’know I wasn’t that invested in Nikeya and Dumai earlier but they’ve really grown on me, they’re super cute

I WAS RIGHT I WAS RIGHT OH MY GOD I WAS RIGHT MY PREDICTIONS ARE NEVER RIGHT SHE’S THE LADY OF THE WOODS!!!!!

AAAAAAAAHHH

I literally almost threw the book across the room in excitement 

I’ve never felt more alive that was insane

Should I become a detective?

I feel like a genius

Update

God these battles are brutal

SUZUMAI???? SHE’S NINE HOW COULD YOU

I’m distraught

That bit where Wulf is talking to baby Sabran is so cute I might die

Dumai better not be dead, I won’t cope

Okay well I’m interpreting that epilogue that she’s completely fine living her new life on the mountain and Nikeya can go and visit her and everything is fine

In conclusion, this was amazing and also I read about half of this book in the past few days reading as much as possible and now I think I need to like sit and stare at nothing for a bit

Or maybe a nap

[in-arlathan]

Get To Know Me

Who dis? It's me! Been a hot minute, hasn't it? This year has been a pile of dung up until now, if I'm being completely honest, hence my absence from Tumblr and most social media. I had an accident in December and have been feeling like dirt ever since. But: I'm back now! Mostly thanks to my beloved @johaerys-writes and the amazing @mogwaei who tagged me for this game. Thanks to you two! ❤ It's been a please reading your posts.

And now: Let's dive in!

Share your wallpaper: I'm a very boring person who has her own artwork as a wallpaper on her phone (talking about this study I did last year). XD It reminds me that (every once in a while) I do create something that I actually enjoy without any self-doubt or regret, and I like that.

Last song you listened to: "Eyes Closed" by Ed Sheeran. I'm a very basic person, lol.

Currently reading: Let me check Goodreads real quick... Yeah, I'm reading far too many books at the same time again. So here's the top 3 of books I'm reading and enjoying the most atm:

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

There's also a bunch of fanfic I need to catch up on but my mind has been all over the place.

Last move: "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves". My P&P podcast party had been invited to a preview 2 weeks ago and we had a fun time watching that movie.

Craving: Time off. I've been working non-stop for the past 8 months or so (with Christmas being the only exception) and I'm feeling super drained right now. Luckily, there are a few short trips coming up in April and July, so there is that!

What are you wearing right now: Basic black jeans and a white knitted sweater. It's spring but it's still flipping cold in my apartment. Ooph!

How tall are you: 168 cm or 5'5 feet (I guess?)

Piercings: Just the two for my earrings. As I said, I'm *very* basic. :')

Tattoos: Currently I got two but I plan on getting more later this year. Gotta save up some money first.

Glasses? Contacts? I got 3 different glasses (transparent, gold and brown frames) and contacts because I like to switch things up.

Last drink: I'm currently having some coffee with oat milk aka The breakfast of Champions. Or so I keep telling myself XD

Last thing you ate: Chicken wrap with lots of cheese. It was amazing.

Favorite color: My taste in color(s) shifts constantly but I'm currently obsessed with green in various tones. I keep getting back to like a warmer green because it makes me feel very cozy. But I also adore a good color combo of orange and violet/lilac or yellow and dark blue. It depends on my mood.

Current obsession: Truth be told, because of the current state of my mental health, I have a hard time being obsessed about anything. It's not like I can't enjoy things (I know that that feels like and I don't want to get back to *those days*) but there's not hyperfixation that lives rent-free in my head. And you know what? It feels terrible! I miss the feeling of being utterly obsessed about something. I crave that level of excitement, honestly!

Unrelated Obsession: Okay, I guess this means non-fandom obsessions. I do have one of those! A short while back, I read a book by the title "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World" which was fascinating. I loved that it was not Euro-centric and instead focussed on the achievements of Genghis and his successors. I've been gobbling media with the same or similiar topics – including finally playing "Ghost of Tsushima" which send me reading up on the Mongol invasion of Japan. It's been an intriguing ride!

Any pets: I'm too allergic to have cats, dogs, and other animals and I hate it. I want a little doggo so badly... 💔

Do you have a crush on anyone: IRL? Not anymore. I used to have a crush for most of last year but since he started ghosting me a few months back, I decided to focus my attention elsewhere. I'm *done* with dating and have been for the past couple of years. As for fictional characters... I have to go with Solas, although (as I mentioned) my excitement has died down somewhat. I still love that boy to death but I'm not as obsessed as I used to be.

Favorite fictional character: How dare you make me chose one?! I have a trillion fave characters and they're all precious to me ;_; No, I will not pick one because I truly can't!

The last place you traveled: I went to Cologne, my hometown, three weeks ago, but I assume that doesn't count as traveling. I think my last real vacation was in 2019 when I travelled to the Leipzig Book Fair. Oh my... 😅 (And I was wondering why I felt so drained all the time, lol. Dang... what a reality check. This hurts!).

That's it! Hope you enjoyed the read :3

Time to forward some tags. As always, please feel free to join in or ignore the tag: @serial-chillr @faerieavalon @thebookworm0001 @ohmypawsandwhiskers @pikapeppa @oxygenforthewicked @fiadhaisteach @noire-pandora @ellie-effie. Sending all of you lots of love. I hope you're doing great!

Until next time, lovelies! <3

[llycaons]

first of all someone said 'um yeah it's called having taste' or smt to that effect and it was so fucking pretentious and I know I posted something similar to that the other day and I'm sorry for subjecting you all to that is IS super annoying

tlt is obviously the big one. one person simply tagged: #there has to be some other fantasy series with lesbians

a long way to a small angry planet I thought was SO boring so I'm gratified seeing ppl who dislike it lol. this is by becky chambers, who a lot of people also criticize for being too 'cozy' and for poor sf worldbuilding and for not involving...stakes. and nuance

I never finished that book but I did get that sense lol

SOMEONE VAGUING MOBY DICK IN THE NOTES?:

#the fucking book about a sea journey but the guy keeps infodumping about sealife so fucking much for PAGES ON END that you can barely rememb

YOU DON'T LIKE PAGES OF FAKE CETOLOGY? AWOOSH?

the person going [redacted] about the book they hate. even here in the tags you remain vague...mysterious

about priory of the orange tree: 'how a book so long be so shallow?'

brando sando haters. I liked mistborn but it also sucked so I feel you. his prose is honestly really clumsy

the babel hate, which I respect

someone says they actively rec it but also explain in-depth everything it failed to do which actually lines up pretty well w my experience of reading it

"#do i even have to say what my number 1 haterism book is........" can you. for me? the person in the tags? one hater to another?

#people who hate books designed to be unobjectionable from concept to execution are my brothers and comrades. lovers even - SO real. nothing more suffocatingly bland than an adult work trying to be flat and tame and niceys about everything

ppl talking about the owl house? the children's show?

SOMEONE ELSE WHO HATES THE GOBLIN EMPEROR ❤❤❤❤❤

the ppl getting recced sjm when asking for books with gnc couples or no romance. hello?

lot of madeleine miller. I actually enjoyed tsoa but was it good? idk

the house in the cerulean sea, naturally

#me seeing people recommend name of the wind#girl the blatant misogyny and poor character development..... - YOU GET IT

fourth wing author is a zionist and the ideas are clearly present in her work apparently. also I tried reading that book and the literal first page I was like. this sucks shit

ERIN MORGENSTERN HATE. JANA!!!!!!: #doctor: read erin morgenstern the famous hack. she sucks shit and uses whimsy the way a landlord uses white paint she's so bad it's funny #erin morgenstern: but doctor #doctor: i know who you are - like her writing is literally so flat and lifeless and empty of heart and nothing in her story has any emotional of plot weight to it and it's sooo shallow and obsessed with aesthetics but the aesthetics aren't even good and I've read better and more beautiful prose in a fanfic. I hate her so much

#i have this problem with she ra fanfic#no that fic does not handle the catradora act 2 break up well - incredibly specific but I have the same struggles in my fanfic journeys so I can't judge

#it always makes me think like What Makes A Good Book and how it really just depends on the person. - this person loves tlt and I don't wanna be mean about their taste but like, it IS possible to objectively assess the quality of a written work. some books are simply objectively bad. like yeah ppl have different tastes and takeaways but sometimes quality is undeniable, you know?

someone in all caps yelling abt how they hate pride and prejudice. rip

someone saying LES MIS?

#not 1:1 but that one time my wife asked for recs for books with interesting even unusual prose#and no joke got a legends and lattes reply

'JRR Martin" who? 😭 probably grrm

CONCLUSION: #the moral of the story is to never vagueblog just be a hater on main !!!!!!

the tags on that post are delicious btw. yes wot is extremely bioessentialist no they are not 'doing cool things with gender' I haven't seen s2 btw I'm just talking abt the books

[lucyshypemaster]

the last good book I've read is Gallant by V.E. Schwab. ever since then, I've been picking up books and dnf-ing it. i hate it when I experience this. i don't want to be committed to a series due to upcoming exams but all the books that are highly in my tbr are book ONE in a SERIES. idk what to do

[mayakern]

Hi! I love Spitfire and I was wondering if you have any recs of similar works that maybe inspired you or that also feature dragon romances? What sort of books do you like to read? Thanks, keep up with the good work!

thank you!

honestly the book that finally inspired me to write spitfire was Kushiel’s Dart, which i cannot honestly say is a similar reading experience and neither can i whole heartedly recommend it to people, even if they love spitfire.

it’s really not similar stylistically or in content, other than the fact that it’s extremely horny and full of wlw. if you want a very sex positive book with plot centric BDSM with a heaping of court intrigue and a heroine who finds strength in softness in a genuinely compelling way, kushiel’s dart might be for you.

however it’s also a book i would really strongly recommend looking up a trigger warnings list for. especially if you want to read all of the first trilogy and not just the first book. the third book contains some of the most genuinely upsetting material i have ever read, second i think to Kite Runner, to the point where i would honestly recommend most people to just read the first book, or to read a synopsis when they get to The Bad Place in book 3 (and trust me, you’ll know where that is).

now that i’ve finished talking about kushiel’s dart, here’s some other books, tho unfortunately none of them are all that similar, which is part of why i decided to write spitfire in the first place.

in other lands by sarah reese brennan, if you want teen queer romance with a bratty protagonist. this is one of my comfort books and i think the fact that it was first posted/published serially online gives it a similar feeling, in some ways, to spitfire.

for other books i enjoy that are not necessarily spitfire adjacent: gideon the ninth, sunshine (robin mckinley), mistborn, the traitor baru cormorant, the fifth season, ninth house (leigh bardugo), seven blades in black

for books that spitfire readers seem to enjoy (that i haven’t read yet but are next on my TBR once i’m in the headspace to read again): iron widow, hunger pangs, priory of the orange tree

for other books that did actually inspire spitfire but are definitely not similar reading experiences in the slightest, but iykyk: the golden compass/his dark materials trilogy, the pern books, the hero and the crown (or basically any book by robin mckinley)

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

i know you mean well by rewording the advice and whatever but actually if somebody's writing advice doesn't work for you, you can just... not reblog it and instead make your own post with advice that you do like, just as i did with this one rather than adding mine as a comment on the posts i disagreed with. because imo it's fairly rude to be like "your post is okay, but i didn't get some of it, so here's a better one" 🤷🏻

anyway when i say rhythm and beats of story, these are not technical writing terms. i mean, literally, the rhythm of the story. the way it speeds up and slows down. the gentle lulls with quiet character moments and the tense action scenes where you can't look away. the ups and the downs. the gut feeling of "oh, can't go straight into that, let's take a moment to breathe" that you internalise over time and don't have to consciously think about. the beats of the story are what give it that rhythm: the plot points that spark the change, the big decisions that signify the character development. like music.

i use the term beats in this way in part in response to those who have paralysed themselves reading "save the cat" and trying to draw up beat sheets (which IS a formal writing term, and one i find utterly unhelpful as a writer) and plot everything by percentages. this advice is for those for whom that means something: it's saying "relax and feel the story, let go of the graphs". it is, quite simply, not intended to be the first writing advice anyone ever reads, because it is directly responding to and acting as a counterpoint to existing advice that i think people are getting fixated on at the cost of just letting themselves be led by the story

and when i give advice about finding books that have a similar mood to yours, i'm specifically talking to people who are looking to publish original fiction. if you want to publish a book, you need to have a vague sense (yes, even if you're not a plotter!) of where it would fit in the market. what genre it might be shelved under. and the way you learn that is by reading, and keeping a mental note of the authors you like who do things with their stories that you want to do with yours. the books that make you want to write in the first place. if you want to write a book with a huge, epic fantasy vibe with tons of intricate worldbuilding, picking up a literary novella is probably not going to teach you how to do that, but picking up, idk, "the priory of the orange tree" as a starting point might give you some ideas

pacing in fanfic and short stories is a completely different kettle of fish and this particular advice is not intended for those writers, it's for people who are trying to write a book and are asking every agent with an open askbox what the wordcount should be for that genre. i'm saying: if you know the sandbox you're trying to play in, it'll be easier to build things. if you read in your genre, you'll have a better sense of how to write in it, what the expectations are, what conventions you can break and what you should probably stick with

if this advice was not useful to you, then that's fine. writing advice is always a tool and not a rule: take what's useful and yeet the rest. that doesn't mean it's bad advice, it might just mean it's aimed at somebody other than you

i see a lot of young writers asking questions like "how do I structure a chapter" "how many words should be in X" "how do I join up these plot points" etc and the truth is. there is no answer. there are no rules you can follow that will turn your painstakingly thought out list of plot points into an actual story. it is at least as much about vibes and gut feelings as anything else and at some point you just have to jump in and stop looking for a template to follow to do it "right"

how to structure a chapter? go read the first chapter of five books. notice any common threads? probably more differences than similarities, right? i mean they'll all probably give you some basic info about the characters and world you're dealing with, but they're not each going to follow the same formula of "two paragraphs of X, three of Y, a dash of Z", because that's not how it works! what do those opening chapters think we need to know about the story ahead? what do your readers need to know? great now you know what needs to go in that chapter

how many words in X? go find five books that have the same kind of mood and pacing as what you're trying to achieve – that make you, as a reader, feel the way you want your readers to feel. read them. get a sense of their rhythms. look up how long they are if you have to, but once again: writing isn't maths. it's about knowing in your gut where the beats of the story fall, and you learn that by doing: by reading and by writing, over and over again. how long is a piece of string? stories take the words that they take. sometimes they need trimming or lengthening in edits but i cannot stress enough how much "before you've written a single word" is not the time to worry about that. the more stories you read and the more you understand those intangible vibes, the closer your first draft is likely to be to the length the story needs to be, but it's okay if it's not, because that's what editing is for!

because if you do it "wrong", which is to say, if the story on the page doesn't look like the one in your head? if the pacing's wrong or the chapters feel awkward or the plot doesn't turn out as neat as it did in the outline? that's literally part of the process, bro. you do it wrong first and then you either try again with a different story and get it closer to right, or you edit the first story, but either way it's a process of doing it wrong until gradually, with practice, it becomes easier to do it right. doing it wrong is not something to be afraid of. it's a thousand times more useful than not doing it at all because you got stuck on the need for perfection

you can ask all the questions about How To Write that you want, but you're not going to learn a damn thing about writing until you actually sit down with a blank document and try to put that into action. and that's not a flaw! that's a feature! writing is something you learn by doing – no prior qualifications needed, no rules to memorise, just a chance to explore what a story is through taking it apart and rebuilding it

how to learn to write: read, and write badly, until eventually you write well. that's all there is to it. stop being afraid to start and you'll be 50% of the way there already. the other 50% is learning to finish what you started. then you just keep doing it.

sorry and/or you're welcome

[radicalfembabey]

🤝, 📚 , 💕 and 👀 for the radfem ask game?

🤝 - What introduced you to radical feminism?

[small tw for sexual violence mention] Okay this is gonna sound kinda weird but I first started seeing radfem takes on Pinterest! In like late freshman/early sophomore year of high school I was getting a lot more politically conscious; I had just taken AP Gov during the 2016 election, so it was a bit of a 0-60 kind of year for that. I remember scrolling through my feed looking through different posts related to reproductive rights and male violence, and a loooooot of posts that convinced me for a while that the libfem idea of gender was the "right" one.

I was a pretty raging TRA for a few months, but by the end of junior year I had been seeing more radfem takes - that just sort of happened by default when I saw gender-related posts, and then I started intentionally seeking them out to gloat about how dumb the radfems were. Then radfem posts started making a hell of a lot more sense than libfem ones.

I made this tumblr account and didn't even post anything, just really quietly followed some radfems on here and started looking through their blogs for a more comprehensive overview of radical feminist beliefs and also to see if anyone happened to have PDFs of radfem theory (again, all I really had to go off of was Pinterest, so not exactly the pinnacle of academia). In particular, I was looking through @rad-chocho 's posts, and saw one that was just a metric shit ton of TIMs expressing their desire to sexually harass, violate, or even brutalize and impregnate radfems. I peaked immediately, found all the radfem theory I could've wanted in a very convenient Google folder, started actually posting on this lovely blog, and haven't looked back since!

📚 - Any books to recommend?

In terms of radfem or related texts, I can't recommend "Invisible Women" by Caroline Criado-Perez enough. It's about 400 solid pages of statistics and research that dive into just how deeply misogyny is ingrained in societies worldwide, to the point that we don't even notice it the majority of the time. I would also totally recommend "The Myth of the Female Brain" by Gina Rippon; she's a highly esteemed neuroscientist and this book pretty much destroys the idea that a brain can be scanned and categorized as belonging to a man or a woman, and why. It's decently dense, and there's a lot of technical jargon, but she does an excellent job of explaining what terms mean and why it's important!

For other nonfiction texts that aren't radfem-related, if y'all are interested at all in paleontology, I've been really loving "Dinosaurs Without Bones" by Anthony J. Martin! It talks about trace fossils like footprints and burrows and how we can use these fossils to reconstruct what the lives of dinosaurs might have looked like, migratory patterns, predatory or pack behaviors, and a whole slew of other stuff. He even goes into these really vibrant narratives trying to imagine a holistic view of what the age of the dinosaurs might have looked like, based on trace fossils found during the same eras! Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but if you're a bit of a dino nerd like I am, you'll love it!

I have a love affair with fiction and I've been reading a ton of specifically lesbian fantasy! I've absolutely loved "Gideon the Ninth" and its sequels by Tamsyn Muir; she's hilarious, the worldbuilding is INSANELY interesting, and its a very slow burn about lesbian space necromancers, but if you're not ready to cry your eyeballs out of your skull then maybe wait on this one. I also really enjoyed our classic lesbian fantasy "The Priory of the Orange Tree" by Samantha Shannon, but that one's a maaaaajor commitment - like 800+ pages, with a lot of fascinating worldbuilding to understand - so definitely keep that in mind!

Also, if y'all have any recs for me, please don't hesitate to tell me!! I'm always looking for more material ❤️

💕 - Fave mutual?

Definitely on the @rad-chocho train today; I'll always be very grateful to have found her blog, and she's very sweet and knowledgeable!

👀 - Fave radblr blog you follow?

Gotta give it to our beloved @opabiniawillreturn , seeing her deactivate TRAs with a single application of the Socratic method never fails to make me laugh!!

[snarktheater]

hey, do you have any tips on getting into the WoT or the realm of the elderlings? weird question, probably: I don't keep stuff like that in mind for my favourite media but idk I figured I'd ask. I've always wanted to get into them but they're rlly dense compared to what I'm used to and even the first WoT book is longer than the longest book I've ever read, and that was Priory of the Orange Tree, so-

Well, with Wheel of Time, my main tip would be: be aware that the series changed a lot as it developed. Robert Jordan set out to do his take on Lord of the Rings, as in: take the same premise (kids from an idyllic countryside forced into a quest for the sake of the world) but with his own twist on it. That's book one, and as such, a lot of the universe's rules aren't fully set in stone. This isn't to say it's completely incoherent with the rest of the series, just that after book one, things change dramatically in terms of what the books are. Even just the PoV distribution is wildly different, for instance.

Past book one, people might argue similar turns happen around book 3 and somewhere in the middle books. There is also the infamous "slog", a few books after the midpoint (which books are included depends on who you ask, but somewhere around 8-10) where Jordan is juggling so many plot threads that a few of them don't seem to meaningfully advance. It never felt as bad to me as many other people, and in fact I tend to think of Winter's Heart (book 9) as one of my favorite, but I'd rather people be warned than let them go in blind. By the time you get to those books, you'll either be invested enough that you'll probably want to keep going or you'll already have given up from earlier books because it's Just Not For You, so I don't think being aware of it is a negative.

That said, at this point, I would say the show adaptation by Amazon [obligatory retching noises] is actually stellar so far. Not a replacement for the books, because it puts its own spin on the story and characters, but it's faithful enough to the spirit of the books that I would say it could be a good idea to check out the show first, then go read the books if it seems like something you'd enjoy. At least it's something worth considering.

As for the Elderlings books, first it's important to note that there are five series in publishing order:

The Farseer trilogy/Royal Assassin in some places

The Liveship Traders trilogy

The Tawny Man trilogy

The Rain Wild Chronicles quadrilogy

The Fitz and the Fool trilogy

Plus a couple short stories I'm not even really going to talk about here. Of these, three center around the same protagonist (Farseer, Tawny Many and Fitz&Fool) and are told entirely from his first-person perspective, while the other two are third person with switching PoVs.

I'd say it's fine to start with the first two Fitz trilogies (Farseer then Tawny Man). Maybe it's my bias showing, because they were in fact packaged as a single series by the French publisher I got them from first, but reading them back to back really does feel like one continuous narrative, even if there's a clear break between the two with a time skip and everything. They also have the advantage of focusing on one place and set of characters, and it's really only by the end of the second one that you can start seeing the thematic and overarching narrative that Robin Hobb is building there.

After that, Liveship Traders is set between the two (and was also published in between) but can definitely be read afterwards. There's a couple cameos in the Tawny Man trilogy but the order is somewhat interchangeable as far as I'm concerned, even after rereads, but it's only post-Tawny Man that this series doesn't feel like a standalone that just happens to share one (major) character. And even then, you can only guess that it's the same character until Tawny Man.

Once you're past that, the Rain Wilds Chronicles follows up on the Liveship Traders, with (mostly) a different set of characters but essentially continuing the narrative on that side of the world. It was published after the Tawny Man and should also be read afterwards, again for reasons of world developments and thematic setup.

Fitz and the Fool is a conclusion to the entire world narrative (so far? I don't think Hobb has any plans to keep going) so that one's definitely for last. It's also the one that most clearly connects all the existing characters.

So tldr: try the first two Fitz trilogies. If you like them, you're almost certain to like all the other books. If you don't like them, do consider trying Liveship Traders since it does kinda work as a standalone. You never know what might click with you.

[allthepresidentsmen1976]

tagged by @roderigho to share 6 books that i want to read this year and also as she's talked about her books, i'm going to talk about why these books bc i can

1. the eye of the world by robert jordan

firstly because it's been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years now, but also because the woman who recommended it to me wrote really well and said that was where she got a lot of her inspiration from! also because i love chunky fantasy books, though i don't know that anything can top the priory of the orange tree anymore

2. the sea by john banville

i simply can't keep reblogging gorgeous quotes from the book without having read it, so i'd like to read it! i also am just a big fan of anything about water so it's an easy sell

3. a psalm for the wild built by becky chambers

i read this short story by becky chambers last year and loved it, so i already wanted to read more of her work, and then this book was recommended to me by someone whose taste in books aligns very well with mine so i thought i'd give it a go!

4. moby dick by herman melville

okay so this is partially here bc alexandria reminded me i wanted to reread it because it's on her list. but i read this when i was 8 i think and didn't really process any of it, so i'd like to read it again and see if i can actually understand the words on the pages a bit better this time. also again, anything about water, i love it

5. middlemarch by george eliot

honestly, it just looks like it'd be an interesting read. i don't know much about it, but i know that virginia woolf liked it which is a good start?

6. amerika by franz kafka

i'd actually also like to read the trial by kafka as well because then i'll have read all three of his novels, but i think i'd like to read this one first. essentially, i read the castle last year and LOVED it so i'd like to get around to the rest of the poor man's work!

tagging @greatcomets @tabboulehs @ilovebritney @tesghosterone @testoster2 @tincanopus @therapture1995 @figtreeification but no pressure of course!!

[butchkaramazov]

A Shade Darker Than Red: Chapter 8

this is a repost because tumblr, being a jerk as always, decided to delete the former post. if you like this one, you could maybe check out the entire series using the masterlist i'll post in a few minutes.

A week passed by. Paro was eerily quiet when she was with me, and I thought of what I had said that day. Had I really, truly ruined all my chances of saving even our friendship?

A million thoughts rushed through my head as I turned restlessly in bed, staring at the ceiling.

The ceiling of our bedroom was painted with blue fluorescent stickers shaped like stars. Papa had done that. I had asked Maa to take them off if they bothered her, but we never did.

Beside me, Maa tossed in her sleep. They say if you think of someone, they can’t fall asleep. Could she hear my thoughts?

I had nothing to distract myself with. No phone, no book—nothing. Just me, my thoughts and the stars on the ceiling.

A sudden, vivid memory flashed in my mind. We were six. A year had passed since my meeting with Paro. We were running around like hooligans in the park while our mothers talked about work, pados-wali aunties and whatnot. I still remember what Paro was wearing: a frilly, white frock with Minnie Mouse sewn onto its sleeves. The sky was red and so was our laughter, until Paro bent down and ripped a flower right off its stem. “For you,” she had said, clumsily tucking the flower behind my ear. When she touched my earlobe, the flower was white. When she let go, it was red.

Another memory. We were nine. She sat with me on the bed while I rambled on about my latest hyperfixation: dragons. She listened to every single detail I had mentioned and, by the end of the afternoon, showed me a drawing of a wyvern.

Twelve. I was reading The Priory of the Orange Tree, sitting on the windowsill. I took a sip from my milk tea, letting out a contented hum. I wasn’t on the windowsill anymore. I was Ead, pressing a kiss to Sabran’s brow. Sabran was someone who looked uncannily similar to Paro.

An annoying ding! from my phone forced me back to reality. I heard Maa’s grunts and snores: the coast was clear. 

I climbed off the bed, taking care not to put extra weight anywhere that would make the mattress creak. I walked towards the desk and picked up the phone.

WhatsApp: You have 3 messages.

It was Paro. I checked the time: 3:49 a.m. Paro was a morning person, what was she doing staying up all night?

Paro<3:

hi renu are you awake?

—00:27

do you wanna hang out on the roof like we used to? 

—02:01

its ok if you dont wanna. go back to sleep you have a big day tmrw. actually, if ur awake rn i’ll kill you

—03:48

Oh, Paro.

I glanced at Maa, slowly increasing the fan’s regulator. Please don’t wake up soon.

I walked out of the room and closed the door. Thank goodness I’d oiled its hinges last week. 

The main door was locked—opening it meant creating a ruckus. “Shit,” I muttered under my breath. No wait, actually not shit. This meant I’d have to take the old way around. 

Jeez, fourteen-year-old me was fun.

I opened the door to the balcony and hoisted myself up on its railing. It was an easy jump. I tumbled onto the grass, praying that a grasshopper wouldn’t find its new home in my ear. The grass was wet and the air smelled of petrichor. 

I stood up, smoothening my pyjamas. Staying out late at night was a risky thing, especially in our neighbourhood. Plenty of TicTac-shaped pills here and there, and men on the prowl. I didn’t give a damn. I was eighteen and probably feeling some feelings I wasn’t supposed to be feeling. (That’s a lot of ‘feeling’s, I know.) What could possibly hurt me?

A lot of things, I realised, as I walked up to Paro’s house. Like that mad dog Rathode had warned me about. The creepy guy who keeps children in his basement (just a speculation, but when Madhu speculated about something, it was most probably right). An overspeeding motorcycle that could crash into me any minute. My own mother, with her pots and pans, once she realised I was gone.

Oh well, the damage was done. I found myself opening the gate on instinct, as if I knew Paro’s house better than I did my own.

I stepped into their garden, careful not to trample on any beetles—and made my way to the window of the woman who lived below Paro’s flat. Madame Fosco, I called her, in everything but her looks.

The tin shade Madame Fosco had installed last year was probably on its deathbed by now. Rust had made its edges creaky, but Fosco was deaf, anyway. I grabbed onto it and hoisted myself up, finding myself staring right at Paro’s face, our faces a millimetre away from each other’s. She screamed.

I screamed.

My foot slipped and I fell off the tin shade, tumbling onto the grass once again. At this point, I would be surprised if a grasshopper hadn’t found its home in my ear.

“For Whitman’s sake, hush,” I whisper-shouted, if that’s a thing. If it wasn’t, it probably is by now.

Paro peered out of the window, her mouth forming a perfect ‘o’. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed. 

I shook my head (in case a grasshopper had organised a nice family dinner in my hair) and climbed onto the tin shaft once again, pulling myself onto Paro’s windowsill.

“Come in,” she whispered, switching the lights on. 

I felt comfortable squatting on her windowsill like a failed Spiderman and grumbled as I walked into her bedroom.

Paro switched her phone’s torchlight off. “I’m gonna kill you.”

“What?” I stared at her retreating figure. “What did I do?”

“Why are you still awake?” she snapped. I followed her to the door.

“Why are you still awake and staring out of your window like Oscar fucking Wilde?” I snapped back.

Paro flipped me off while trying her hardest to pull the gates across the door. Sweat shone on her forehead, her eyes illuminated in the moonlight.

“Hold on, let me help,” I offered, gently grabbing her wrist. Paro grumbled, stepping aside.

I pushed the gate back and pulled it in again, keeping the screw in with my thumb. It glided into the opening on the other side, miraculously not making a single noise.

I turned towards Paro. She was staring at my arms.

“What?” I asked her, incredulously. One moment she said she wanted to kill me, and the next she looked at me like I was something she couldn’t quite wrap her head around.

“N-Nothing,” she gasped. My heart fluttered. Dammit, these butterflies in my stomach had turned into fucking bats at this point.

Paro walked up the stairs while I followed her footsteps in the dark. “Just like the old times, huh?” I heard her say.

I grinned. “Just like the old times.”

Paro opened the door to the roof, the tensed line in her jaw glinting in a sliver of moonlight. God, she was as beautiful as ever.

“Come in,” she said, her words echoing in the marble walls.

I followed her to the railings, leaning against the cool surface. A light breeze rippled through, making her hair fly for a brief second. Dear God, she was poetry herself.

“Where are Auntie and Uncle?” I asked, trying to break the silence.

A light breeze caressed my cheeks. “They won’t be back before tomorrow. Business trip,” Paro explained, edging closer to me.

“Oh.” I was suddenly aware of the pen still tucked behind my ear.

Silence.

“So we’re—we’re all alone, then?” I asked her, hoping she wouldn’t hear the slight quaver in my voice.

Paro nodded. “We are.”

Silence, again.

She leaned against the railing. “You’re going away in three weeks.”

I nodded, not quite knowing what to say.

“I asked you a question.” Her voice was cold and harsh, harsher than I deserved. 

“That was a statement,” I snapped. “And don’t use your fucking CEO voice with me.”

Paro frowned. “I’m not.”

“You are.” I glared at her. “And you know it.”

She stared at me, scrutinising my every feature. “I’m sorry,” she finally said, letting out a sigh. “I’m sorry. It’s just been—you’ll be gone—and—”

“I know, it’s okay,” I heard myself murmur, edging closer towards her.

“I—I’ve got that Poe book with me,” she said. “Do you want it now or at the graduation party?”

“Now,” I said, without thinking. “The party will be too loud. And too crowded,” I added as an afterthought.

Paro bit her lip so hard I was scared it would bleed. “Alright,” she nodded. “I’ll get it.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

I watched her retreat into the shadows, taking the white along with her. The night was a pool of blood, again.

I hummed. Did she know about the history of ‘OK’? Probably not. I’d tell her. Not knowing things I wouldn’t be able to tell her before we drifted apart wasn’t a good idea. At least she’d be able to tell her children that their Renu Auntie had told her about the history of ‘OK’. Maybe she’d sigh and think of me, again. Words were a certain but clumsy way into a person’s mind. 

Papa had told me that. Maybe that’s why I can’t stop thinking of him.

Did Paro know about Jinnah? That Netaji might’ve actually been alive? Did she know that birds came from lizard-hipped dinosaurs? There was so much I had to tell her before I vanished from her mind.

It was pathetic. Scrambling onto every crumb of unrelated information I could find, just to hang onto her thoughts, stay on in her mind for a little while longer.

“I’m back,” Paro said, stepping into the moonlight.

She looked like Aphrodite, the goddess of love born from love itself, in all her glory—clutching a book of Edgar Allan Poe, the letters of which shone in the lamplight or moonlight, that I do not know.

“For you,” she said, handing me the book.

“It’s beautiful,” I gasped as I ran my fingers along the edge of its spine. It was a leatherbound book, The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe written in shiny gold lettering. I opened the first page.

To Renu, it said. Keep me in your mind, always. From, Paro.

I chuckled, flipping through the pages. “Of course I’ll keep you in my mind, Paro,” I laughed. “What a silly thought!”

Paro looked at me, hope faintly glimmering in her eyes. “You will?” Her voice had softened down to a murmur.

I looked at her incredulously. “Well, duh, Paro, I can’t just forget my best friend of thirteen years now, can I?”

Paro’s lower lip trembled. “You promise?”

I smiled. “Always.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

A comfortable silence followed and as we looked at the stars, I knew we were both smiling.

[moghedien]

Could you recommend some adult sff? Love your blog btw!

Thank you! 

And ok, I could give you better personalized recs if you give me some idea of what you’re looking for or what you like, but I’m gonna give you some general recommendations. Also I only really feel comfortable recommending books that I have personally read, and there are tons more out there than what I have read. If you want to find more, looking at recent Hugo nominations over the past few years might be helpful. Also one of the reasons why I know anything at all about the SFF world is that I’ve been listening to the Sword and Laser podcast for like, a decade. I never really mention that podcast, but its literally why I started reading at all and also they have a pretty active goodreads group as well. 

So recommendations: 

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie: 

This is one of my favorite books period. This is a far future space opera about an artificial intelligence who used to be a spaceship and now is only one human body, and she is ANGRY ABOUT that. I don’t really want to say more than that, but if you like AI shenanigans and being sorta confused as to what is going on the entire time, then this is the book for you! It’s the first book in a completed trilogy.

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan: 

Obviously I’m gonna recommend the Wheel of Time. This is the first book in a 14 (actually 15) book series and if you need something to do with the next 1-5 years of your life *motions toward EoTW*. 

So the Eye of the World, I think is uniquely good as a book if you kinda want to get into adult fantasy for a few reasons. For one thing, its kinda considered to be one of those “classics” of the genre but its not too old to be offputting to some readers. It’s a 30 year old book, so its not reflective of the genre now, but you can definitely see its influence all the place, even outside of just books. The Eye of the World specifically, also goes out of its way to make readers comfortable. It leans heavy on Tolkien references and tropes at first without being a straight up copy of Lord of the Rings like some classic fantasy books are. Its done very purposefully, in my opinion, to make the reader feel like they have some idea of what’s going on, and the series quickly drops the Tolkien references as soon as its established itself enough. 

Also the Gandalf parallel for the series is a smol bi lady and there is 24 year old rage healer who wants to fight everyone with her own two fists.So many women to stan. 

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

This is the first book of the Expanse, which is a nearish future space opera that takes place in our solar system. Mars has long ago been colonized and is a completely separate government entity than Earth, and conflict between the two planets has been stirring. The Asteroid Belt has also been colonized and have long been little more than tools of corporations that run their colonies. A group of ice haulers working in the outer planets get in the middle of one of the biggest secrets in the solar system and find themselves in all kinds of trouble. 

I don’t really want to say more than this, but this is probably the only SF series that I actively keep up on when a new book comes out. There are 8 books our currently, and the 9th and final book will be out sometime in the near future. There are also several short stories and novellas set in the world, and there’s a TV show that I really like though I need to catch up on it. 

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Hello, this book comes with content warnings for literally everything, but it is such a good book/trilogy. This is book about a woman trying to find her daughter again in the middle of the apocalypse. Definitely a heavy read but absolutely brilliant. The world has a magic system based on geology and the people that can use that magic....saying they’re discriminated against is an understatement. I don’t want to say much more about it, but if you have any kind of content you can’t read for whatever reason, I’d check before picking this up. This is the first book in a completed trilogy

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

So this isn’t really super SF heavy and is actually sold as a literary book, but it takes place after a flu pandemic has wiped out a large portion of the population...so maybe this is a bad time to read this book, OR its the best time to read it. Depends on how you’re dealing with *motions at the world*

The book flashes back to before and during the pandemic a lot, but is largely about art’s importance and is actually quite optimistic in its messaging, and this is another of my favorite books ever. But yeah, might be a bad time for you to read it of you can’t deal with the content now. 

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 

I just remembered that this book also has a plague, but its a subplot and not the major thing. So this is a big ol’ chonky standalone book that is high fantasy, deals with multiple cultures having to interact and work together, and has dragons. Also there’s a genunine slow burn f/f romance and *chef’s kiss*. I can’t really say much else, mostly because I struggle to explain this book, but its very good and probably my favorite book from last year. 

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal 

In this house we stan Mary Robinette Kowal, ok? 

So this is a science fiction that is more an alternate history that poses the question, hey, what would have happened if an asteroid slammed into the east coast in 1952 and the world had to scramble to colonize Mars so that everyone didn’t die on earth when the climate got catastrophic, because that’s the inciting action of the book. The main character is a Jewish woman who was a WASP pilot in WW2 and is a computer for the space program when all this happens. The book deals with sexism, and racism, and xenophobia, and all the social issues that are gonna come up with it being set in 1952, but Mary Robinette doesn’t flinch away from addressing social issues in any of her books, even when it makes her main characters look bad. (Also if you like Pride and Prejudice, she has a series that is just Pride and Prejudice with magic and like, yeah, its good). 

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

This is a book which poses a question, what if dragons were like weird animals that were real and an eccentric woman spent her entire life traveling the world to study them and then told the stories of that in her memoirs when she was too old to care about the consequences of publishing all her scandals. That’s what the book is about. This one is probably actually the weakest in the series, just because it deals with so much set up. It’s a great series to get on audio because Kate Reading is a fantastic narrator, and the prose works so well as audio, because it’s just someone telling you her life story. There are five books in the series. 

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

So this is a novella and is the first in the murderbot series. Basically a killer robot gets addicted to television shows and accidentally became sentient. I haven’t read the others in the series, but I really need to reread this one and get to the others. 

Jade City by Fonda Lee

This is a fantasy set in world sorta inspired by the early 1900s but is in a fantasy world. It’s like a mafia movie and kung fu movie had a baby and it was this book. The sequel is out currently, but the third book is set to release next year.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon 

This is another heavy read. This is a SF story set on a generation ship that has a society very heavily inspired by the antebellum south. There’s class issues, race issues, gender issues, mental health issues. All kinds of things intersecting here. Its fantastic, but a heavy read.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

This is another fantasy classic, and is the first of the Farseer Trilogy. The title is sort of also a description of the book, so like. I’m not sure what else I can say. I haven’t read further into the series, but people I trust love it, and honestly I need to reread this and read more of the books. 

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

So if you think that Station Eleven might be a bad book to read at the time, then this is THE WORST POSSIBLE BOOK TO READ RIGHT NOW. Or, maybe the best. Depends on how you cope. This is a book about time travelers based in Oxford and the main character accidentally gets stranded in the past right as the Black Plague is about to hit. And it hits. The book is horrific. The second book in the series is much funnier. This one ain’t funny, but is good. Just, oof. 

Mistborn or Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

So if you want to get into the Cosmere, which is a series of series that interconnect and will ruin your life, then then my personal opinion is to either start with Mistborn or Warbreaker. People might not agree with me, but that’s my personal opinion. 

Warbreaker is currently a standalone (a sequel will come out eventually but its not set up for a sequel so you can 100% read it as a standalone). The magic in this world is based on colors, and the story revolves around two sisters. One of them is betrothed to the horrific God King of their neighboring kingdom. The other sister ends up being sent in her place because their dad hates her. I adore Warbreaker so much. It has it all. Two women discovering their true places on the prep/goth spectrum. Talking swords. Vivenna. Everything you can need right there. 

Mistborn is a trilogy that is very emo and will ruin you. Its about people who swallow metal to get magic powers and live in world where the dark lord won already, so they’re all emo. And that was the worst description of Mistborn I ever could have written, but I find it too funny to change. 

So if you’re interested in the Cosmere, but are afraid to commit long term, pick up Warbreaker. If you want to get into a series right away, pick up Mistborn.