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SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?

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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by MrZero   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 1:35 am

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It wasn't disappointing, it just didn't give the closure it promised. Or the events it said it was leading up to. It was an events clearance on a rolling ship during a rubgy match. I think we can all agree that there was a lot of prep for things that were cancelled. Granted, I don't mind that Kynt wasn't killed by a bursting shell, but we were robbed when it came to the Harchong Mighty Host. No city-sized kung-fu 2-army streetfight with Rainbow Waters landing a blow on Merlin. :shrug:
And if the ending was going to just happen like that, for all we know, they could have gotten 'him' just by pulling the fire alarm. :lol: (not that I advocate it, but it's OK once under wartime powers acts)
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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by Annachie   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 2:29 am

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Nah, I thought it was pretty good.

Stylistically, it wrapped up a bit quick, kinda like CSI, or its ilk, does.

But that's my only real complaint.

I'd like to see more of where Merlin and Nynian end up. And some of the other original characters. But really the story had progressed past them anyway.

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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by Peter2   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 3:03 am

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I wasn't disappointed at all; I enjoyed the book from start to finish.

In particular, what Merlin and Nimue did to Clyntahn was far more painful than any physical punishment could have been. They showed him beyond doubt that his core beliefs were a total sham, and then executed him in the depths of his despair, before there was any time for recovery. Punishment doesn't get worse than that.
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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by johnb   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:51 am

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I thought it was very good. There were things that I thought could have been done a bit differently. BUT I am not the author!!! It's the tale that RFC wanted to tell and how he wanted to tell it.

I for one am delighted with it. It wraps the first part up well and gets us (well me at least) wanting the next sections.
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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by n7axw   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 9:07 am

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I guess that it comes down to expectations. I certainly wasn't disappointed with the story as a whole. Webers best so far in this series... I think.

Much of what some were expecting to be resolved in this book has simply been deferred to the next story arc such as the great reveal and the return of the archangels.

I was a bit disappointed that the COGA and the inquisition were left intact and and didn't find the reasoning for doing so very convincing. But that being said, it does set up the conflict theme for the next book.

In terms of offering us stuff to chew on and speculate about, this book is a gold mine. So let's enjoy. :D

Don

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When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by Dilandu   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 11:35 am

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StealthSeeker wrote:But the attack on the second fortification was led and carried out by the King Haarald class ship. It steamed right up the channel and anchored just shy of the sea bombs, right in the middle of the channel, with 11,000 feet distance to the guns on either side. The mine sweepers cleared the channel of sea bombs while the big ship sat there and destroyed the fortifications on both sides of the channel. Or at least that is what the book led the reader to believe. Once the bombs were cleared and the fortifications reduced to rubble (again that is hinted at by the book) all the ships steam to the harbor and blow the crap out out of it.

Go ahead, take a second read.


Yeah, for some pretty strange reasons heavy mortars seems to be abscent on Safehold (otherwise things might became quite bad for Charisian ironclads, with their paper-thin decks which were penetrated by ROCKETS)
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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by C. O. Thompson   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:25 pm

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khameirsith wrote:I've been reading this series since the first book came out. I even had By Heresies Distressed mailed to me in Afghanistan when it came out so I could keep up. I've been waiting this entire time for Merlin to get his hands on Clynthan, and....total let down.

I really wanted for Merlin to somehow get inside the Temple. To get his hands on Clynthan in a glorious battle, with a detailed description of the fight like we used to get. Sword decapitating individuals with figure-eight strokes, puncturing breastplates front and back in a single move, etc, all while yelling individual names of inquisitors as they were shot down from 50 yards away with an OWL made six-shooter.

I feel totally let down. They blew through a few dozen guys in a blood bath, and that's it. Fast forward. No gloating, no discussions, no toying with him, no taking him for a flight into outer space so he can freak out, nothing. A few lines about how he gets to witness some conversations with Langhorne and Shan-Wei, and he supposedly becomes a repentant believer without any explanation.

Barely saw the new, long-awaited battleship in action (dreadnought technically?), and while I have a great appreciation for forward air controllers and forward observers, and a personal appreciation for steel rain, it seemed like the entire ground campaign was one, long, never-ending call for fire. No black-op mission, no sniper development, no assassinations, etc. Yea, a bomb on the bottom of a ship, but that was... not very satisfying.

And if Merlin and Nimue could get that close to the temple (end of the tunnel), why couldn't they get closer? Was the exit inside or outside of their designated range?

I hate to sound like an ungrateful wretch, but I feel like I was left wanting more.

Oh, and that damn snippet. I thought capturing Clynthan would be early in the book since we got a snippet of it. Not the damn ending. I was actually kinda annoyed when I got to the end and realized I'd already been told the end. (He could have been killed in a million ways, gotten away, had something up his sleeve, etc).


khameirsith,

I think it was way better that Clynthan was stopped from cutting his own throat and made to go through incarceration and trial... more fitting end for him and better for Merlin who is getting tired of the blood on his hands.

I would have liked to see at least a few pages discussing what is under the temple... logically, Merlin and the inner circle have taken time to look around... maybe disconnect a few wires so the orbital platform is off line and download files or find the way to tie Owl into the system and back away. I suspect the vineyard where they caught Clynthan is under new ownership with the Sisters of St Kodhy or Helm Cleaver moving in.
I got the impression that the room below and the tunnel out were closely guarded secrets and that few, if any surviving inquisitors know about it factoring in the actions of Helm Cleaver on the day of the uprising in Zion but it seems obvious that the inner circle has to get control of the system.
Just my 2 ₡ worth
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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by phillies   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 12:39 pm

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Not I. I thought it was excellent.

There were several points where you had to remember things from prior books or matters seemed obscure. Nynian's large pectoral scepter comes immediately to mind. The jump to discovering that Nynian snores and implications thereof was a bit rapid; one presumes that there was some prior off-page activity going back over several weeks.
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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by ti3x   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 6:49 pm

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Dilandu wrote:Yeah, for some pretty strange reasons heavy mortars seems to be abscent on Safehold (otherwise things might became quite bad for Charisian ironclads, with their paper-thin decks which were penetrated by ROCKETS)


That entire battle scene made me almost put the book down and walk away. Heck, throughout the series the Charisians are taking causalities which they could have realistically avoided by using snarks to create "luck" on the battlefield. A matter of god (or Owl) helping those who help themselves.

But even without that, Sarmouth doesn't bother suggesting ways that he might hide barges to the spotter, such as below a mound of dirt, and please keep an eye out for stuff like that. He knew those rocket barges were there, but instead of just saying that he would rather avoid getting too close to the island, he decides to let the attack carry on.

It's a decision that Weber seems to have made to keep the Charisian's from curbstomping Thirsk, and it just feels unnatural. But then, much of this book feels that way, which is a feeling that has been growing throughout the series.

Also, hands up if you skipped entire paragraphs when it came to talking about where which army was marching, or might march, or would march, except for, or did march, but then marched back from...
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Re: SPOILERS: Anyone else... disappointed?
Post by n7axw   » Tue Nov 15, 2016 11:08 pm

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ti3x wrote:
Dilandu wrote:Yeah, for some pretty strange reasons heavy mortars seems to be abscent on Safehold (otherwise things might became quite bad for Charisian ironclads, with their paper-thin decks which were penetrated by ROCKETS)


That entire battle scene made me almost put the book down and walk away. Heck, throughout the series the Charisians are taking causalities which they could have realistically avoided by using snarks to create "luck" on the battlefield. A matter of god (or Owl) helping those who help themselves.

But even without that, Sarmouth doesn't bother suggesting ways that he might hide barges to the spotter, such as below a mound of dirt, and please keep an eye out for stuff like that. He knew those rocket barges were there, but instead of just saying that he would rather avoid getting too close to the island, he decides to let the attack carry on.

It's a decision that Weber seems to have made to keep the Charisian's from curbstomping Thirsk, and it just feels unnatural. But then, much of this book feels that way, which is a feeling that has been growing throughout the series.

Also, hands up if you skipped entire paragraphs when it came to talking about where which army was marching, or might march, or would march, except for, or did march, but then marched back from...


I for my own part intend to go back and study those battles. I'm already started on the sea battles.... Sorry you are apparentky not enjoying the series.

Don

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When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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