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[Reading Group] February 2014: Prince of Thorns Discussion

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
So our February 2014 book is going to be Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.

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Please borrow or purchase the book in your preferred format and begin reading it. We'll start discussion on February 1st, 2014. The book has 49 chapters, so we can break down the discussion periods as such:

Week 1 (Feb. 1st-8th): Chapters 1-12
Week 2 (Feb. 9th-15th): Chapters 13-24
Week 3: (Feb. 16th-22nd): Chapters 25-37
Week 4: (Feb. 23rd-28th): Chapters 38-49

I own this book and have already read some of it. It's not a dense read so it should be no problem to get through it fairly quickly for fast readers. However, let's keep the chapter discussions to the designated weeks for slower readers. If you do post anything that is "reading ahead," try to post spoiler tags for those of us who may not be at the same point.

I'll also mention that this book has some sensitive topics in it as sort of a disclaimer.

You can get the book here or any other preferred place:

Amazon.com: Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire) eBook: Mark Lawrence: Kindle Store

Looking forward to this!
 
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Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
So can everyone give just a confirmation that you're participating in the February discussion and are borrowing/buying Prince of Thorns?
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
Cool deal! So we have at least four confirmed members (I'm assuming some others will come along before February.)

If you haven't posted anything yet, you can also nominate books for March here. Getting started early on nominations will give us a larger pool to choose from I hope. Then probably around the beginning of February we'll vote so we can get our March book lined up.

I was actually hoping GeekDavid would come back and run this whole deal, but since he hasn't shown back up, I guess I'll organize things going forward. :eek:
 
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BWFoster78

Myth Weaver
Phil,

My current plan is to "audit" this group. From the description of the group, I'm a little unclear as to what the discussions are going to be like.

Is this a "book club" type discussion? If so, not really my thing.

OR

Is this authors who analytically read the book and discuss what worked and what didn't? If so, I find that concept really cool.

Anyway, I own a copy of the book, though I do need to spend some time in my garage locating the right box. My plan was to read it and then tune into the thread. If it turns out to be the first option, I was going to just skip out. If the latter, I was going to participate.

Thanks.

Brian
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
Phil,

Is this a "book club" type discussion? If so, not really my thing.

OR

Is this authors who analytically read the book and discuss what worked and what didn't? If so, I find that concept really cool.

Anyway, I own a copy of the book, though I do need to spend some time in my garage locating the right box. My plan was to read it and then tune into the thread. If it turns out to be the first option, I was going to just skip out. If the latter, I was going to participate.

Thanks.

Brian

I think this is unescapable. We are all writers, and all seeking to improve our craft. It would be interesting to see the different responses on a given item of discussion. If three people said something works, and two didn't, I'd like to dig deeper into the disparity, try to get to the kernel of the problem.

Also, this is a forum. It gives us more time to think of our responses than a book club meeting in person. I expect some interesting topics and debates.
 

Caged Maiden

Staff
Article Team
I ordered the book the same day it was selected, but I might have to catch up, depending on when my order arrives. Stoopid super saver shipping.
 

ACSmyth

Minstrel
I didn't reply to the selection thread, since I've got so many books waiting TBR I didn't want another one to add to them. I'm really not a grimdark fan, so this may not be entirely my cup of tea, but I picked this up for 99p on Kindle a while back, so I'll give it a shot.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
Phil,

My current plan is to "audit" this group. From the description of the group, I'm a little unclear as to what the discussions are going to be like.

Is this a "book club" type discussion? If so, not really my thing.

OR

Is this authors who analytically read the book and discuss what worked and what didn't? If so, I find that concept really cool.

Anyway, I own a copy of the book, though I do need to spend some time in my garage locating the right box. My plan was to read it and then tune into the thread. If it turns out to be the first option, I was going to just skip out. If the latter, I was going to participate.

Thanks.

Brian

As this wasn't originally my idea, I just kind of inherited it, I'm not really sure how the discussions are going to go. I'd like people to discuss the books however they like, really. I'm not imposing any rules for that very reason (besides when to discuss certain chapters). I find that it's hard to regulate something like this, so if some people want to read it analytically and see what they can glean from it as writers, then great. If others want to read it and discuss its sheer entertainment value, then that's great, too. I would hope this group would be open to all perspectives.

I also welcome any member to jump in when they have a point to make. Sometimes when reading a book, I may not have any specific points I want to discuss, so I lie in wait until the time comes.

One thing to note is this is quite a controversial book. There might be those that don't want to read it after the first couple of chapters, I don't know. Lawrence himself stands by his decisions and makes a lot of interesting comments on his blog. It might be worth looking at some of his comments as we read as well because it may give more points of discussion.
 
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Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
One thing to note is this is quite a controversial book. There might be those that don't want to read it after the first couple of chapters, I don't know. Lawrence himself stands by his decisions and makes a lot of interesting comments on his blog. It might be worth looking at some of his comments as we read as well because it may give more points of discussion.

That's a fantastic idea.
 

SM-Dreamer

Troubadour
This sounds like fun, and with a book I keep eyeing at the bookstore, too. A pity my library doesn't seem to have it, but I'm sure I'll get a hold of a copy soon. I'm in.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
Good deal. More folks! Don't forget to nominate more books for March. We only have four nominations so far.

I'm actually re-reading the book from the beginning since I was on Chapter 14 or so. It's not a difficult read in my opinion, but I do suspect some people may drop out based on the content. It's one of the darker fantasy books I've read so far.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
This book was a pretty easy read. I finished it last night.

As an FYI, I will be out of town on business during the first scheduled discussion dates for chapters 1-12. I'll hop onto the discussion as time permits, but they keep us pretty busy.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
I'm 8 chapters in or so. It's a quick read. So far, I'm a bit underwhelmed. The content doesn't bother me - I've read plenty of horror novels that make anything you find in a grim fantasy book seem tame. I'm eager to get moving on the discussion, but we have about a month left!
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I'm re-reading at the moment as well and I'm up to Chapter 4. I would say the content doesn't bother me either, but I've heard a lot of people stop reading after the first chapter for...obvious reasons. I've heard this is the kind of book you have to stick with. The series has actually gotten tons of praise all over the place, so I'm willing to give it a shot and see how everything pans out.
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
I'm with Steer. I don't see anything unusual about this book. Nothing. It's definitely an easy read. I'm halfway through.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I have a feeling this will be an interesting discussion nonetheless because we can talk about our expectations vs. what the book actually was for us. Since this book was voted on by most of the group members, I assume it's because people had high expectations for it. I've enjoyed what I've read so far and that has a lot to do with it being an easy read. I find some fantasy I have to really slough through, but I'm not having that trouble here.
 

SM-Dreamer

Troubadour
I read the reviews and have seen what the controversies are related to this book; they don't bother me, so I don't think that I will have a problem reading this.

I was planning on buying it, but then I'd mentioned to my librarian that I was searching for it. She got it pulled from another library out of the county, so I got it now. I love it when people leave notes or papers in the books; I founda joke in this one, lol.
 
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