Final Red Seas Under Red Skies read along discussion

Posted by: Redhead on: May 26, 2012

• In: read along
• 15 Comments

Has this been the most amazing read along or what?  10 weeks,  over 30 bloggers, 6 organizers, 1300+ pages of delicious bookness, incredibleness all around! And people, all that brilliance? ALL YOU.  Before I get even more maudlin, I should get right to it.

This week’s read along questions were provided by Lynn over at Lynn’s Book Blog, and make sure to give a shout out to our other wonderful organizers, Dark Cargo, My Awful Reviews, and @ohthatashley from SF Signal.

I’m out of town this weekend, and may not be available to collect links on Saturday. Leave your link in the comments, and click on everyone else’s links in the comments. When I get back into town next week I’ll update the link list. Viva la family vacation!

Because this is the last post, with all the mega spoilers, all the questions, answers, and snarky images are after the jump.  If you see any weird grammatical errors it’s because I’m trying to write in present tense but this post is actually happening in the future and I’ve already written it.

ready to talk spoilers?  let’s go!

* Finally edited on 5/29 to add everyone’s links. I’ll visit everyone as soon as I have time later this week.

Lynn’s Book Blog
Coffee Cookies and Chili Peppers
Dark Cargo
Tethyan Books
Kaitharshayr’s Musings
All I Am – A Redhead
Hugo Endurance Project
Nashville Bookworm
Beware of the Froggies
Rose’s thingamajig
Genkinahito’s Blog
Scruffy Fiction
Books without Any Pictures
Real Books 4 Ever
Travels Through Iest
Paperless Reading
Central Neural Pathway Station
Booky Pony

1.       Oh my god, such a lot going on I thought the showdown between the Poison Orchid and the Sovereign was brilliantly written and they were holding their own until Utgar and his nasty device turned up.  Well a lot of you had kind of predicted it, and I suppose we’d been let off too easy so far in terms of deaths of well-liked characters  – but come on,  did you expect something like that?  And how on earth will Jean ever recover?

I don’t read much nautical fiction, so I have no idea what terms Lynch messed up on, but damn, was that ship to ship fight incredible! Drakasha’s stunt with nearly ramming him head on, her methods of keeping boards off the ship, his methods of getting boarders on her ship, those freaky hungry monster things that he risked his entire fucking crew to have for that one moment, two pirate captains who are the top of their game trying to out-think and out-maneuver each other, just damn!

and then there is Utgar. a thousand deaths are not enough for Utgar!!

I always cry at this scene. ALWAYS.  And my timing earlier this week was just fucking brilliant (as in not). was in Indiana for work, and reading this book while waiting for dinner at a restaurant. I was crying into my beer, I think the waitress thought I’d been stood up or something. No, just reading the most tragic death scene ever put to paper.

Jean killed Utgar too quickly. Far too quickly.  I really don’t know how or if he will ever recover. Locke may be pining for a lost love, but at least Sabetha is alive, and he has a chance of finding her. Jean? no chance for that tragic man. There is nothing anyone can do for him. I hope this doesn’t eat at him from the inside, you know?

At the risk of disrespecting the dead, was she wearing a “hello my name is Ned Stark” pin or something?

If someone gives you this, DON’T wear it!

Really, that joke was hilarious last week when I thought of it, and now it just seems in bad taste.  😦 Although it is kind of nifty that I just verbed “Ned Stark”.

2.       The deceit, the betrayal, first Rodanov and then Colvard.  Even now I’m not entirely sure I understand Colvard – Rodanov was never keen on the oath but Colvard seemed okay with it all and yet in this final deceit she was more devious than Rodanov – what do you think was her motive?

I was so bent out of shape about Rodanov being such an ass, that I barely paid attention to Colvard.  All those pirate captains, their entire universe consists of  the deck of their ship, and I don’t think they care about anything beyond it. If pushes, even Drakasha would lie to their faces to protect her ship and her family. What was Colvard’s motive? she’s a bloody fucking pirate!

3.       Merrain – such a puzzle, no real answer, the mysterious tattoo, the determination to kill everyone to keep her identity and that of her master a secret.  Does anybody have any ideas where she’s from and what she’s up to exactly and who the hell is she working for??

 With so much detail having gone into the description of that tattoo, it’s just got to be important.  The bondsmagi have lines on their wrists, perhaps their minions where a different tattoo, or perhaps she’s working for some unknown enemy? So yeah, I have no idea what exactly she’s up to or who she works for.  I’d assume we’ll meet someone in a future book who has that same tattoo.

I actually like that Lynch doesn’t wrap this one up. I know loose ends are supposed to be tied up at the end of a book, but I like when some things are left unsaid. I gives me more to think about after I’ve finished the book,  instead of saying “well,that’s that.”

4.       Finally we get to the point of the GB’s latest scheme, all that elaborate planning for two years, fancy chairs, gambling, dust covered cards, abseiling lessons – all for one gigantic bluff. I loved the diversionary tactic here but having finally reached the end of the story and, more to the point, the end result – do you think the GB’s are as clever as they think they are?

 in a word – No.  when everything goes their way, when they pick jobs with people they know, they look all clever.  but those two fellows were so out of their league this time that it was laughable. Requin is neither malleable or stupid, The Archon has his own tricks, Drakasha doesn’t care about some con on an island, and Locke has exactly zero control over what happens to him.  Locke is definitely a quick thinker, but that’s about it.  The first book was great, because we got to see the GB’s being generally successful with their games and tricks, and now, well, not so much.

we didn’t get a happy ending by any means, but we got a boat load (no pun intended) of character development.  unhappy ending and drowning in character development, what the fuck, is this some kind of Robin Hobb or something?

5.       I must admit that I liked Requin and Selendri – particularly at the end – I don’t think Requin will go after Locke and Jean, he was even sort of cool and composed about it all, in fact he came across as a bit pleased with himself because he had the last laugh.  Plenty of good characters this time which did you enjoy reading most about this time?

 I think I like Requin even more now! because yes, he was quite pleased with himself that someone tried to trick him, and that he’s deviously untrickable. my question is will Selendri lose some of her trust for him? They love each other, and he lied to her about those paintings? I’d love to run into the two of them in a future book, Requin would make an excellent ally!

6.       Finally, a triple barrel question, I know I shouldn’t ask this BUT, on reflection do you have a favourite between LoLL or RSURS??  And why?  Are you going to pick up Republic of Thieves?  And, where do you think Lynch will take us to next?

I love them both, but in different ways. If I want con-jobs, adventure, and gang violence, I read LoLL. If I want a slower pace and more characterization (and to weep into my beer), I read RSURS.  I’ve read LoLL so many times that I don’t cry into my beer anymore at the end.

will I pick up RoT?  like you have to ask!

Lynch was hinting at something pretty major, some type of Very Neat Thing on his livejournal recently. What it is, I have no idea, but I know what I want it to be!

Tags: fantasy, pirates, read along