Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Nyxia

Spot. :)

In.

I'll start on time on Friday.

Through the first two chapters.

(view spoiler)[I liked Babel consuming Google. That stuff happens all the time where once king of the hill companies get eaten up. The tone is already set for the moral play against the evil corporation. I like that it's close enough to this era for some things to play forward easily. His writing style is smooth and easy to follow. (hide spoiler)]

Scott wrote: "Through the first two chapters.

[spoilers removed]"

Agree. I think I'm on chapter 4? It doesn't actually say, but I'm still on day 1. Some neat tech so far too.

The Rabbit Room (view spoiler)[I'm not sure I like these Babel people. They seem like a holier-than-thou sort. Also wondering why Emmett is the only one upset by the results of the room? Everyone else seems to have fallen in line quickly which makes me think Emmett won't be one of the eight....

There seem to be a lot of biblical references so far, I wonder if that will play into the overall story and how? (hide spoiler)]

Emily wrote: "The Rabbit Room ."

(view spoiler)[
Babel is tied into Hebrew and the Jewish religion. Babylon is the Greek for the same both of which tie into the Christian bible. I definitely agree with you there's going to be some religious context playing out by the end. Babylon was destroyed and then rebuilt.
(hide spoiler)]

Through chapter 7 which is also day 7.

(view spoiler)[
Emmett has made quite the turnabout both on the scoreboard and in his personality. He's definitely become aggressive and plotting. Although to this point nowhere near as violent as Red Rising or Hunger Games it's trending in that direction.

Enjoyable if a bit simplistic to this point.
(hide spoiler)]

Starting today

Up to Day 21

(view spoiler)[ Emmett is certainly changing for sure. Still getting more and more aggressive. I liked his original hook up team wise with Kaya.

And I thought it was kind of funny when Azima declared that she was going to marry herself because none of them were worthy of her.

I was just waiting for one of them to get hurt for real, I mean aside from Roathy. I guess I was specifically waiting for Emmett to get hurt for real. I think it's going to hurt him and he's not going to make the top eight thus fueling more conflict for further books. Who knows?

I can see where you get the Hunger Games feeling. I've never read Red Rising though so I can't comment there. This one is a little bit more friendly than Hunger Games though because eight of them can win not just one. So partnering up with someone and making alliances makes more sense here than it did in HG. (hide spoiler)]

Enjoying it so far but not finding it gripping.

Day 21

(view spoiler)[ Also, why hasn't Emmett used Vandermeer's console thing he stole to check out the rest of the ship yet?

And the whole thing about the primary caretaker of the top performers getting a bonus, I'm totally not surprised. Hopefully Vandermeer can find a way to help Emmett a little more.

Also, Emmett's whole thing about filing incidents under letters
such as D for Danger, W for Wishful thinking is actually kind of annoying me. (hide spoiler)]

Emily wrote: "Day 21

is actually kind of annoying me..."

You beat me to it. It's a really stupid affectation.

Scott wrote: "Emily wrote: "Day 21

is actually kind of annoying me..."

You beat me to it. It's a really stupid affectation."

Haha it's explained why he does it in the very next chapter I think, but it's still annoying even after knowing the reason.

Also I'm liking Kaya more and more.

End of Day 100

(view spoiler)[Figures....Kaya was my favourite....not cool book, not cool (hide spoiler)]

Day 50 - Chapter 18

So far this book is giving me an Ender's Game + Hunger Games vibe.

(view spoiler)[ I like Kaya, so by the formula of a lot of YA books, there is either going to be a betrayal or a death.

I don't really understand the whole Nyxia cube training ordeal.

It occurs to me that if the Adam aliens only accept kids, the chosen 8 will have really short careers - 4-6 years at the most. (hide spoiler)]

Arkadeb wrote: "Day 50 - Chapter 18

So far this book is giving me an Ender's Game + Hunger Games vibe.

I like Kaya, so by the formula of a lot of YA books, there is either going to be a betrayal or a death.

I ..."

Ooh I think that's the perfect description. Ender's Game/Hunger Games for sure!!

And true about the age thing. I was thinking that as well.

Finished. Not sure what I think. There were a few things that bugged me and the supposed "twist" at the end was not all that surprising and kind of lame.

Also the ending kind of dragged a bit for me after (view spoiler)[Genesis 12 showed up, it was getting pretty repetitive. I was also kind of put off by Emmett's immediate attraction to Morning. I know he wasn't with Kaya or anything but it kind of feels like a betrayal to her memory how quickly he replaced her with someone else. He never forgets about her but it just felt off somehow. I also hated the fact that they killed her and possibly Bilal. (hide spoiler)]....Immediate thought is 3.5 stars but I'm going to sleep on it.

Done and I agree with Emily.

(view spoiler)[ The problem with this book is that it does not really have much going on - most of the tasks are repetitive and frankly boring. The fighting is a bit unimaginative - why are they fighting with swords and sticks at all? They have FTL travel! The only real event of note is finding the Adamite and the death of kaya.

Kaya's death felt cheap. She had been built up through the book, then she died. There were no real stakes.

The last part - I was not really surprised. Most of what Babel has been doing hints "evil corporation".

My principal question is why. Why put them through so many combat sims? If the adamites are going to love them, their only work is going to be extracting Nyxia. All that combat time should have been turned into Nyxia extraction training and learning about Adamite culture. If they wanted a competition it could have been staged around that. The whole military academy feel makes no sense.

Unless of course the book 2 twist is that there is actually a war. (hide spoiler)]

Arkadeb wrote: "Done and I agree with Emily.

The problem with this book is that it -..."

Exactly. (view spoiler)[I feel like we were missing out on some vital information as to why all of this was actually going on. Is there a war brewing or already in progress down on the planet? What exactly was the point? We know there's more to it than just competing to send the "best". You're right, it doesn't make sense for all this other training if the Adamites love children. And they kept trying to make Emmett kill someone. I think they're just really twisted and were trying to break the kids so they follow orders without question or something. There's some plan for them down on the planet with the Adamites and they need the kids to do their bidding. At least I hope there is a plan, otherwise what was the point?

I'm half tempted half not to read the next book. I'm scared this one will turn out like The Maze Runner where they never actually explain anything. They never really explained why they were in the maze, or rather how being in the maze was helping. Even the prequel didn't explain it. I'm getting Maze Runner vibes and I don't like it at all.

Double yes to Kaya's death....what was the point? To make sure Emmett followed the rules from there on? That's cheap, especially considering it was the most interesting part of the book when they were exploring.

Definitely still getting a 3.5 rating vibe.... (hide spoiler)]

Emily wrote: "Arkadeb wrote: "Done and I agree with Emily.

The problem with this book is that it -..."

Exactly. I feel like we were missing out on some vital information as to why all of this was actually go..."

This is actually a salient problem with a bunch of YA books - a very strange world, with little to no explanation as to how it ended up like that. To me it always makes the story seem very shallow.

I'm up to the interlude. (view spoiler)[Good call on your part for the twist. (hide spoiler)]

Arkadeb wrote: "Emily wrote: "Arkadeb wrote: "Done and I agree with Emily.

The problem with this book is that it -..."

Exactly. I feel like we were missing out on some vital information as to why all of this w..."

That's really too bad. Do you think they don't think that kids will notice or do you have a theory on this? I'm curious.

I finally finished. It was only OK for me as well.

Scott wrote: "I finally finished. It was only OK for me as well."

Bummer. Are you going to continue with the next books?

Emily wrote: "Scott wrote: "I finally finished. It was only OK for me as well."

Bummer. Are you going to continue with the next books?"

On the fence. You?

I can't justify $11 for a Kindle copy or more for audio for this. If one of my libraries buys it in the next few months I'll read it then. If they don't I'll abandon the series.

Scott wrote: "Emily wrote: "Scott wrote: "I finally finished. It was only OK for me as well."

Bummer. Are you going to continue with the next books?"

On the fence. You?"

Yea, same. My library has a copy so I might give it a go but I'm not in a hurry. There were things that I liked, but overall it was just ok for me as well.