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The Winter Long: A discussion post
One of the things I miss about doing fandom on LJ is book discussions, especially going back and discussing books long after they came out. Tumblr moves so fast, and especially for something like a book that everyone finishes at different times it can be hard to go back and see what other people said about it.
In particular, one book that I always wanted to have a good discussion about is The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire, the eighth book in the October Daye series. It's not just a great book, it completely upends almost everything we thought we knew about what was going on in Toby's world, and casts so much of her story in a new light. And I thought the occasion of![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
renay having recently finished the book would be a good time to open the floor.
NOTE: Renay has not yet read the next book in the series (A Red-Rose Chain), so no spoilers for it in comments please. I will be keeping an eye on comments and deleting anything too egregious. (Does DW support spoiler cuts in comments yet? I know LJ does.) Thanks! (Although meaty stuff happens in RRC, too, I think it's perfectly possible to talk about TWL without referencing it.) However, it should probably go without saying that stuff up to and including TWL will be spoiled beyond this point.
So I don't have anything in particular to kick this off with (it's been a long day and my brain is fairly fried, but some potential avenues for discussion (EDIT -- not everything in the list below happens in TWL, because I somehow collapsed that story with the events of Chimes at Midnight when I was typing it up. But they're interesting things to discuss anyway, so I leave it as is.):
And I'm sure there's at least half a dozen other things that I'm just not thinking of off the top of my head. What did I miss? Let's chat. :)
In particular, one book that I always wanted to have a good discussion about is The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire, the eighth book in the October Daye series. It's not just a great book, it completely upends almost everything we thought we knew about what was going on in Toby's world, and casts so much of her story in a new light. And I thought the occasion of
renay having recently finished the book would be a good time to open the floor.NOTE: Renay has not yet read the next book in the series (A Red-Rose Chain), so no spoilers for it in comments please. I will be keeping an eye on comments and deleting anything too egregious. (Does DW support spoiler cuts in comments yet? I know LJ does.) Thanks! (Although meaty stuff happens in RRC, too, I think it's perfectly possible to talk about TWL without referencing it.) However, it should probably go without saying that stuff up to and including TWL will be spoiled beyond this point.
So I don't have anything in particular to kick this off with (it's been a long day and my brain is fairly fried, but some potential avenues for discussion (EDIT -- not everything in the list below happens in TWL, because I somehow collapsed that story with the events of Chimes at Midnight when I was typing it up. But they're interesting things to discuss anyway, so I leave it as is.):
- The biggest reveal to me is the discovery that Evening Winterrose is not only alive but has been pulling all the strings on Toby's life for quite some time now. I know at least one person who saw this coming, but it blindsided me completely. I still want to go back and reread everything that leads up to TWL with an eye for clues.
- Simon's relationship to Toby. That was pretty much a shocker, too.
- Speaking of relationships, Crown Prince Quentin! This one, I can't say came as so much of a surprise to me, but the reveal was handled well.
- The deposing of the Queen of the Mists, and the discovery of Arden (who happens to secretly live in my favorite bookstore).
- Sylvester. :( What is he hiding? Why was it worth ruining his relationship with Toby? I can't lie, of all the sad things that have happened in this series, that was one of the saddest.
- Amadine. WTF is up with Amadine???
And I'm sure there's at least half a dozen other things that I'm just not thinking of off the top of my head. What did I miss? Let's chat. :)
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I want to finish A Red Rose Chain before invading AO3 for fic; there's only 300 pages to go before I can read it all (and then immediately start crying about having to wait for the next book).
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Nod, nod.
Fair enough!