Magic Kingdom for Sale - SOLD! Week 1

First of all, I'd like to get a feel for what people think of the pace, now that you've started; is it too much? Super easy? Just right? If I recall, the books don't change much style-wise, so I don't believe any of the later sections will be significantly denser reading.

To stay on track page-wise, we'll plan to read through the chapter called "Io Dust" for next week (up to but not including "Strabo"). If there's an overwhelming response and folks want to read more or less, we'll adjust accordingly.

NOW! On to the discussion :) I take very few notes as I read, and for this reason, I'm probably a crap choice for group read leader. However, I promise to engage with all of your profound insights!

1. Ben
I made a note about the transparent bathtub with the goldfish in the casing; I totally would have gone for that before Landover in the catalog. I'm just sayin'.
"With Annie gone the only wrong choice he might make was to make no choice at all" (18). I think this is one of those "common sense" acknowledgments that isn't so common - while it gets played up in a lot of hero roles, it can be a frightening and difficult task in real life to make a conscious decision rather than to let something play out and see if it would have a positive outcome.

2. Meeks
Even for a depressed drunk, Ben seemed to come awfully quickly to a place of acceptance of Landover as a potential reality.
Meeks is crafty. He creeps me out. Smart creepers are always more dangerous than stupid ones.

3. Landover
Loved the detail in the tunnel entrance - I think I must have skimmed it the first time (I'm such a "get to the dialogue, already!" reader... working on that). I feel like Brooks wrote about the sorts of things one might actually notice in a scenario such as the one Ben faces.

4. Questor Thews
My second-favorite character in the series, and his grand entrance - love the botched meal he offers Ben, and his constant defensiveness of his hold over the magic. I feel like this chapter reveals a bit of poor character development on the author's part though; we've got Ben buying (and buying into) Landover almost too easily, then we've got him blustering against Questor's insistence that he's really there... I think Ben is generally deeper than this and there could have been more complexity to it all. The extremes are simpler, and more predictable.

5. Sterling Silver
I think the castle and learning about her was one of the coolest parts of the series. Oh, and the Landsview? WANT!

6. Coronation
I love the "oops" revelations of one more thing here, one more thing there, that Questor hasn't told Ben - like how many previous coronations there had been. You know already that Ben will always insist that Questor NOT LEAVE ANYTHING OUT - and that he inevitably will.

7. Lords of the Greensward
Abernathy to the rescue! Love him. Unfortunately, I can see where Kallendbor is coming from. Maybe their methods of self-governance are lacking in civility, but Ben is a complete outsider, and has purchased his new position rather than fighting for it or inheriting.

I'll admit, that it felt like a lot to read for me, but only because I had a bunch of other things I needed to do this weekend and I was thinking about all of that while reading. Normally, it'd probably be a reasonable amount.

1.1: I agree about the bathtub, I thought that sounded pretty freaking cool!
1.4: I agree entirely with your assessment of Ben's character. Recently I've been finding that I'm having trouble following the thoughts and ideas of a lot characters in books, and I'm not entirely sure why that is. In this case, I just found it annoying that he poohpoohed Miles' idea about the zoo and central casting only to continually be amazed that Miles wasn't right.

I didn't take any notes. Never having read these before, I didn't know what was important and what wasn't but I felt like the Lords made a perfectly reasonable request that Ben marry one of their daughters. I understand that he's still in love with his wife, but I also think Ben should have taken a bit more time with that decision. Maybe met a daughter or two, perhaps he would have found someone he connected with.

The first 2 1/2 chapters do not impress. Just a lot of whinging, and still not into Landover itself yet. I got distracted by the new Sarah Waters burning a hole in my Kindle.

Please tell me it gets better, because I find Ben rather annoying.

Haha, yes, it gets better. Other characters carried this series for me, and Ben gets less annoying as he spends more time in Landover.

It's funny, I wouldn't have picked this series as a representation of books I love; I just wanted to re-read it before the new one came out. Now I feel like I have to defend it or else my booklovin' honor is at stake ;)

haha, laia, not at all! Like I said, I just got pulled into the new Sarah Waters book, and I know she's one of your favs. Besides, we all know going in that it's not great literature, just a fantasy romp.

Having read a couple of the Shanarra books, I came in with very low expectations. (Here is where I could say, "and they were fulfilled," but not so.) I thought the portrait of Ben's depression in the initial chapters was pretty well done, with some good details. The idea that he could make the decision to but Landover was about as well set up as it could have been without taking a lot more pages.

I find the names irritating, including Questor Thews. They definitely give the book a tongue-in-cheek tone that is a change from the initial picture of Ben. It will take some time for the characters beyond Ben to move out of cardboard status; we've seen inept wizards and mysterious nature deities before. I'm hoping they'll do some things to surprise me.

I like the idea that the health of the castle and the land depend on their magical connection with the king. Reminded me a little of McKillip's riddle-master world, with the rulers magically tied to their native soil. I'm hoping he'll do more with this as we go on.

I realize this book is pre-Potter, but is anyone else waiting for Ben to shout "Expecto Paladin"?

Yeesh, I'm behind! I have big plans to catch up on this series read . . . eventually. A few thoughts of my memories of the series:

- I was never bothered by the characterization or the character names (though now that you mention it, "Questor Thews" is a bit weird). Of course, I initially read these as a young teen, so I just enjoyed the story. It's only in the past few years that I've become more critical of my reading material, so it will be interesting to see if those things bother me more this time through.

- Abernathy was always my favorite character. He gets more attention in a later book. I also love Sterling Silver. I like the concept of the Bonny Blues, but that's a naming choice that I have always found irritating. You have a cool idea of trees that can sustain you in extremity, and you can't think of a better name for them than that?

Not looking...not looking...
I'm starting the book tonight!

Okay, back to your previously scheduled posting.

*Also not looking!!*
Just started it last night... I've been sick so I've spent much more time sleeping than reading but I should be able to catch up (on reading the book and the thread) by next week!

Hope you're feeling better soon, el!

#10 - Thanks Jim, I'm on the upswing now, but still resting way more than normal.

Good news is, I finished the book yesterday! Not sure if I'll continue with the whole series right now but I did enjoy this one. Like many others, I liked Ben but didn't really connect with him as with some of the other characters. Abernathy was definitely a fave (although I kept asking myself things like "How does a dog ride a horse?" but that kept my imagination in gear so it was a good thing).

Uhh... Don't remember where exactly the part I wanted to mention was at so I'll skip over to the part 2 thread just in case....