Your take...

originally posted by Auna

This series is very special compared to others out there for me because no matter how carefully I read each book, I always learn more on rereading it and after reading the next new book. This makes rereading the series a pleasure, so I don't mind doing it after each new book comes out.

While I wish the series would end, I don't want it to end. It's the most challenging story I've ever encountered and I appreciate the time it obviously must take to write it.

originally posted by Blue

Auna, I am with you. I want to know how it ends, but I don't WANT it to end.

Even peeking at the end of each book does not answer anything.

I had a feeling, in FP, that we were going to see a new Prime Matriarch by the end GC.

Janny was too wily for me, though. Instead of "Prime Selidie called her circle of Seniors together," the passage read something like, "The new Prime Matriarch" and did not even name her!

I certainly had every intention of reading the whole book, which I have, several times, but every once in a while, peeking at the end can be fun!

On that subject, my favorite smarty pants comment about peeking at the end was an early episode of MASH. Major Burns picked up his Bible, and his tentmate Captain McIntyre piped up with, "I peeked at the end, Frank; The Devil did it."

I wonder how many of us are going to be leaving handprint-shaped dents in our foreheads when we have the final volume of this series in hand, and completely read, and see that we actually DID get the peek at the end with that preamble in CotM?

originally posted by max

Me too, Janny! The stories have been well worth the wait and I tried really hard to not whine too much. But whining does let off steam. As for folks who don't like it, well they can always march their fat little feet to the romance isle!!

originally posted by neilw

On rereading: I reread "the havens" scenes yesterday and found that I was touched *more* knowing what would happen in the future storyline and the effects on the characters.

I did not buy into Arithon/Caolle's reaction at the time but having read FP I know these characters a little better hence…

…having read future impact this affects my perception of the havens and the scene was more convincing.

Thanks, all – you know, I did set out with this book to write a story that would take well to re-reads…but in doing this, I wonder if I didn't shoot myself in the foot? :smiley:

Not all readers are as perceptive, persistent, curious, and introspective as you lot. I am lucky to know you.

I wanted a story that would LAST, in mind in memory. Not easy, but rewarding!

originally posted by R’is’n

All the comments above prompt me to yell:

YAHOO!!

:smiley:

originally posted by Cheryl Detmer

That was one of the first things I said here on this board about this series is that I want it to end but I don't want it to end. Blue might remember me saying that but it is a very exciting series and one of the best out there. I haven't done the rereading for it yet but Janny does say it was written that way so people would see new things of the series they missed the first time. I didn't word that well but I remember she said that it was written to be reread and still discover new things about the story. I just love Traitor's Knot and am still reading it but going pretty fast with it now. I just wanted to finish a really huge book I was reading before getting to this and now I'm hooked on it. Good to be back with Arithon again. grin

originally posted by jayla

I admit. I am impatient. I don't blame anybody for it. I just wish I were born 15 years in the future so the books would all be done and i could read them through. I'm scared I'm growing out of these books. I started when I was 18 or so and I'll be turning 25 on New Years. I don't know that it's so much as that as that I was disappointed by the last book. And it's probably completely because of my expectations. Normally when I get the next book I read the rest of the books first. I'm a fairly fast reader, but with this last book I was just like aaaah! and i threw everything up in the air to read TK. I dropped EVERYTHING I was working on because I was so excited.
Like that first poster wrote this book wasn't as engaging as the rest of the books. Or atleast it wasn't until the end. I think this is probably because this is only half of a book and this is the way it would normally work. The first third of the book leading in and then you get a lot to fill your mind from there on out until it starts to calm down at the end. So I guess it was about a third of the way through the whole book and since we don't have the rest of this particular book… I dont know I just felt this book was much less enthralling then the others, but maybe that's because the last one was so very very awesome. I hate to admit I was disappointed though.
See, I'm as in love with Arithon as one can be with an imaginary character and the last book (am i right, the last book?) had sooo much of him it made me super happy. Or it had so much of him as him and not as the person he puts on the outside. I'm silly- sometimes I'll skip ahead through the Lysaer parts or whatever else to get an Arithon part and get my Arithon fix and then I'll backtrack to reread the stuff I missed. It's ridiculous.
Anyways, Janny, thank you for writing these books because these books and Charles de Lint's Newford books are up there tied as my favorite books of all times. The two groups of books fulfill different parts of me. And your books are absolutely amazingly awesome. (heh, i like alliteration)
:smiley:

Jayla - thanks.

Time will tell, won't it? Growth always changes a reader's perspective. Different meanings emerge as one changes one's frame of mind.

This is true for me, too.

I try to add those depths to each successive volume…only to find, chagrinned, they were "there" all along…

originally posted by Juliana

Jayla:

I was thirteen years old the first time I read Lord of the Rings. Thirty five years later I still thoroughly enjoy them - there were long gaps between readings. Aging and life does change the perspective of the reader but I never felt like I outgrew the stories, And I fall in love with Aragorn over and over just like I did at 13.

I started reading Curse of the Mistwraith series about 4 years ago. I really like them largely because I have to use my brain when reading them. Clearly Janny is detailed oriented- If I find an inconsistancy it is usually straitened out in a subsequent book.I've read many fantasy series over the years-some when I tried to revisit I thought-what did I ever see in this? Some just go on and on so I loose interest after 2 volumes. I look forward to the continuation of Athera's history- just hope I don't age too much faster than Janny can write!!