Thank you, Philip for having me for this great discussion! It was a real pleasure to be able to engage with your fascinating and enriching ideas. And that thumbnail! Loving it!🤣👍
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Oh, your thumbnail game is definitely at it's peak. Only ever so slightly worried how well I seem to mesh with sharp weapons. Axes, fantasising about palette knives, and now swords. Is BookTube turning me into some unicorn riding fantasy ninja?
What a wonderful discussion! I have to admit that I almost didn't watch this, but I am sooo glad I did because it brought back all my fond feelings for this series. And having just finished Book of the Ice, I recognized so many connections to Book of the Ancestor that I just know you will ADORE once you get experience them for yourself. Now I want to re-read this series, haha I miss Nona and all the other badass sisters of Sweet Mercy 🤩 Thanks for sharing, amazing discussion!
Thanks, Esmay! I’m glad you watched and that the discussion brought back some good memories for you. Book of the Ice is going to be amazing, I know. Cheers!
Great video! I just binged the series in like a week and finished the last book in two days. Which is lightning fast for me. I’m usually a slower reader. So it was great to hear a spoiler discussion of the books!
Great discussion! After I first finished the trilogy three years back, I was really high on it but suspected it wouldn't be a series that would stick with me long after I read it. However, I found the opposite to be the case; my appreciation for the series has only grown the longer I sat with it, and this discussion enriched it even more.
Two smart teachers talking about a fantasy series. Such a good talk. I have heard of the series but, it's not on my tar right now to try. I have way to many books I need to read. I'm trying to finish a few series before really trying anything new right now. It does sound interesting.
Thank you both for this. Nona is my second favourite character in fiction behind Tavore Paran, which is high praise. The opening to the first book is great but my favourite phrase is between Apple and Kettle. “Poisoner, poison me.
You should try Thaw, a short story from mark lawrence. It takes place after holy sister. You can find it in "Relics-Wrecks-and Ruins" by multiple authors.
Blood of Elves, the 3rd Witcher novel by Polish author, Andre Sapkowski, has a scene focusing on menstruation. All of his female characters are powerful women too. The author mentioned he grew up at the end of WW2 and it was the women who were all the leaders in his town and at home.
Ah, that’s great to know! I’ve read Sapkowski’s two Witcher short story collections, but I haven’t yet started Blood of Elves. The fact that it includes menstruation sort of gives new meaning to the title, I suppose! 😁
Only here for the first 10 minutes, but I think It'll be interesting getting into Mark Lawrence's first two trilogies in the same setting if one can be seen as grimdark and the other not. I tend to think of grimdark as almost a fundamental aspect to the world-building, (ala a Song of Ice and Fire and it's adaptation, where many people felt betrayed as it became a more traditional fantasy of exact miraculous prophecies, plot armor and good and evil - though it's not a sure thing that couldn't work with better (GRRM) writing). That even a single writer is willing to explore both seems unusual, and interesting if he has it seem to stem more from character perspective and choices then from some cosmic law/human nature. I wouldn't be surprised if this nuance happens more often then I think, but right now it's something that makes me keen to try Mark Lawrence.
Yes! A lot of the difference stems from the two different narrators/protagonists: Jorg in Broken Empire and Jalan in Red Queen’s War. Their personalities set the tone for their respective books.
Lawrence almost seems to be testing himself as the main characters in his three series, book of the ice later this year, are so different. You read Broken Empire and now teenage warrior nuns? Yes, and it works. And also he is one of the few sci fi authors that when they talk science, it really works and makes sense.
SPOILERS ALERT: I suggest you only watch this after reading the books. Among the spoilers is a pretty big one from the third book. Great story so you do want to read these books. Probably best to read the book of the Anscestor before the three 'Girl and the Ice/Mountain/Moon' books. They are related.
Spoilers!! I think you were both onto somwthing with how every friend of Nonas started out almost as antagonists first. I feel as tho that is suppoded to showcase Nona projecting her self hatred and lack of self worth, assuming prematurely that everyone hates her, and in turn whwn she eventually befriends said people its almost as if that whole sequence was Nona facing, and eventually beating or coming to terms with one of her many demons. Its as if every one of her friends represented at first a part of Nona's trauma or lack of identity, and Lawrence used friendship as a battleground for Nona's own internal battles.
I love that reading, Ves! Given Lawrence’s penchant for unreliable narrators and his presentation of history, personal and societal, as narratives serving specific purposes, your take on Nona makes a lot of sense. Cheers!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy wanted to add something else to this too! With Nona i find her naivety and weird ways of friendship and her flaws really endearing. And with thr context of the series it seems to me that she represents the humanity as a whole, while Zole on the other hand represents the stoic "perfectionist" idea that humans often strive for and push in their lives. Since Nona"s faults (her anger, her naivety etc) end up being the deciding factors in turnung the tide of the war. Its presented in a way that her , so called "faults" (as she was lead to believe) end up being the deciding factor for human survival, and thats whwre my metaphor for Nona being a representation of humanity comes from. Its a beautiful way in which Lawrence is saying that our imperfections are what makes us beautiful and intriguing as a species, and what makes us human. This theme has also been a major one in his previous trilogies, some more extreme cases than others (Broken Empire).
@@veszeljko7645 I completely agree about how endearing Nona is and about our imperfections being part of our humanity and compassion. Beautifully said!
Many thanks, Angela and Philip - a really interesting discussion.
I’m glad you found it so! Thanks again for giving us such a beautiful story!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Thank you so much for your interest! I'm very sure there will be more of your books featured on my channel.
Thank you, Philip for having me for this great discussion! It was a real pleasure to be able to engage with your fascinating and enriching ideas.
And that thumbnail! Loving it!🤣👍
I’m so glad you enjoyed the thumbnail, and the conversation was for me just wonderful! Thanks so much, Angela!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Oh, your thumbnail game is definitely at it's peak. Only ever so slightly worried how well I seem to mesh with sharp weapons. Axes, fantasising about palette knives, and now swords. Is BookTube turning me into some unicorn riding fantasy ninja?
@@DoUnicornsRead That would be awesome!!!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy 🦄🦹♀️🗡😁
What a wonderful discussion! I have to admit that I almost didn't watch this, but I am sooo glad I did because it brought back all my fond feelings for this series. And having just finished Book of the Ice, I recognized so many connections to Book of the Ancestor that I just know you will ADORE once you get experience them for yourself. Now I want to re-read this series, haha I miss Nona and all the other badass sisters of Sweet Mercy 🤩
Thanks for sharing, amazing discussion!
Thanks, Esmay! I’m glad you watched and that the discussion brought back some good memories for you. Book of the Ice is going to be amazing, I know. Cheers!
I really enjoyed listening to this discussion. It's been almost a year since I read this series and it was nice to remember the specifics.
I’m happy that you enjoyed it, Camanda!
I totally loved the discussion. You guys covered everything from structure to themes and characters. I had such a great time listening to both of you.
Thank you so much, Avi! I’m glad you enjoyed the chat!
Thank you, so much and thank you for watching, Avi!
Great video! I just binged the series in like a week and finished the last book in two days. Which is lightning fast for me. I’m usually a slower reader. So it was great to hear a spoiler discussion of the books!
I’m glad the discussion was here for you - that was indeed lightning fast!
Great discussion. So nice to listen to you both.
Thanks so much, Paromita!
Thank you so much, Paromita! So glad you enjoyed it!
I just finished this trilogy after your commendations for it Philip! I enjoyed it a lot and loved this chat as a great cap-off to it :)
I’m so glad you enjoyed Book of the Ancestor!
Great discussion! After I first finished the trilogy three years back, I was really high on it but suspected it wouldn't be a series that would stick with me long after I read it. However, I found the opposite to be the case; my appreciation for the series has only grown the longer I sat with it, and this discussion enriched it even more.
Yes, Nona likes to hang around.😁 I'm very glad you found our discussion interesting. Thank you, for watching!
I’m so happy to hear that, Andrew! I’m convinced it’s going to stay with me too.
Two smart teachers talking about a fantasy series. Such a good talk. I have heard of the series but, it's not on my tar right now to try. I have way to many books I need to read. I'm trying to finish a few series before really trying anything new right now. It does sound interesting.
Thanks for watching, Shelly!
I hope you will like when there is a free spot on your tbr. Thank you, for watching!
Bummer, have to stop at 10 minutes in. Wish I read these already so I could listen in. I'll take the 10 minutes though! ha
Thanks for checking out those first ten minutes, Jarrod! I hope you’ll love Book of the Ancestor if you decide to read it.
Thank you, for watching!
Thank you both for this. Nona is my second favourite character in fiction behind Tavore Paran, which is high praise. The opening to the first book is great but my favourite phrase is between Apple and Kettle. “Poisoner, poison me.
I can’t argue against Tavore as a favorite, and I suspect she and Nona would like each other if they could meet. Cheers, Mark!
I liked this discussion very much, just finished The Girl and the Mountain and really loving the world of Abeth! :)
I'm very glad you enjoyed the discussion, Marten! I'm looking forward to more of Abeth in The Book of Ice.
Happy reading to you! 🎥🎧📚
The same to you, Safina!
Thank you, Safina! Happy reading to you, too!
I’m curious if either of you read the short story Bound that falls between books two and three, and if so, what your thoughts are on it.
Not yet, but I want to read all of Lawrence’s short stories at some point. Cheers, Robert!
Haven't read it either but I pur it on my tbr. Thank you, for watching!
You should try Thaw, a short story from mark lawrence. It takes place after holy sister. You can find it in "Relics-Wrecks-and Ruins" by multiple authors.
Thank you for the recommendation, Jean Louis! I do want to read Lawrence’s short stories.
Blood of Elves, the 3rd Witcher novel by Polish author, Andre Sapkowski, has a scene focusing on menstruation. All of his female characters are powerful women too. The author mentioned he grew up at the end of WW2 and it was the women who were all the leaders in his town and at home.
Ah, that’s great to know! I’ve read Sapkowski’s two Witcher short story collections, but I haven’t yet started Blood of Elves. The fact that it includes menstruation sort of gives new meaning to the title, I suppose! 😁
Looks like I need to read The Witcher. Thanks for letting us know, Heidi!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy Dear me! What have I started?!😂
Only here for the first 10 minutes, but I think It'll be interesting getting into Mark Lawrence's first two trilogies in the same setting if one can be seen as grimdark and the other not. I tend to think of grimdark as almost a fundamental aspect to the world-building, (ala a Song of Ice and Fire and it's adaptation, where many people felt betrayed as it became a more traditional fantasy of exact miraculous prophecies, plot armor and good and evil - though it's not a sure thing that couldn't work with better (GRRM) writing). That even a single writer is willing to explore both seems unusual, and interesting if he has it seem to stem more from character perspective and choices then from some cosmic law/human nature. I wouldn't be surprised if this nuance happens more often then I think, but right now it's something that makes me keen to try Mark Lawrence.
Yes! A lot of the difference stems from the two different narrators/protagonists: Jorg in Broken Empire and Jalan in Red Queen’s War. Their personalities set the tone for their respective books.
I definitely need to go back to Lawrence's more grimdark work and give it another try. Thank you, for watching!
Lawrence almost seems to be testing himself as the main characters in his three series, book of the ice later this year, are so different.
You read Broken Empire and now teenage warrior nuns? Yes, and it works.
And also he is one of the few sci fi authors that when they talk science, it really works and makes sense.
There are distinct advantages to being a scientist when writing science fiction! The rest of us would have to fake at least the “science” part.
SPOILERS ALERT: I suggest you only watch this after reading the books. Among the spoilers is a pretty big one from the third book. Great story so you do want to read these books. Probably best to read the book of the Anscestor before the three 'Girl and the Ice/Mountain/Moon' books. They are related.
Spoilers!!
I think you were both onto somwthing with how every friend of Nonas started out almost as antagonists first. I feel as tho that is suppoded to showcase Nona projecting her self hatred and lack of self worth, assuming prematurely that everyone hates her, and in turn whwn she eventually befriends said people its almost as if that whole sequence was Nona facing, and eventually beating or coming to terms with one of her many demons. Its as if every one of her friends represented at first a part of Nona's trauma or lack of identity, and Lawrence used friendship as a battleground for Nona's own internal battles.
I love that reading, Ves! Given Lawrence’s penchant for unreliable narrators and his presentation of history, personal and societal, as narratives serving specific purposes, your take on Nona makes a lot of sense. Cheers!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy wanted to add something else to this too! With Nona i find her naivety and weird ways of friendship and her flaws really endearing. And with thr context of the series it seems to me that she represents the humanity as a whole, while Zole on the other hand represents the stoic "perfectionist" idea that humans often strive for and push in their lives. Since Nona"s faults (her anger, her naivety etc) end up being the deciding factors in turnung the tide of the war. Its presented in a way that her , so called "faults" (as she was lead to believe) end up being the deciding factor for human survival, and thats whwre my metaphor for Nona being a representation of humanity comes from. Its a beautiful way in which Lawrence is saying that our imperfections are what makes us beautiful and intriguing as a species, and what makes us human. This theme has also been a major one in his previous trilogies, some more extreme cases than others (Broken Empire).
@@veszeljko7645 I completely agree about how endearing Nona is and about our imperfections being part of our humanity and compassion. Beautifully said!
@@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy cheers philip!