Abendau's Heir discussion

Thanks, Ju. Timehops were a real problem right up to the last edit and then Teresa explained to me that sometimes it's not what you leave out that's the problem, but what you need to leave in. So I had three scenes in flashbacks later that Teresa asked me to put into the story in realtime, which added about 15k to the start, but helped the flow. (I don't know how interesting/useful this is but we are a writer's forum as well as reader's.)

I'll go under a spoiler for which scenes they were.

The scenes were - the one where the children return to the base and Karia lands the ship - previously I'd stopped when the beacon was connected and jumped to the last scene with Ealyn and the kids
Also, then, the scene where they leave the base - which added a lot I think to the relationship between Kare and Rjala
The two chapters where Kare and Silom escape from Dignad.
 
Kerry, I know what you mean. At first I was picking up the "springyness" in the book, but then I just forgot who the author was and read. I'm about 50% through it now, and still really enjoying it. I hope to find time to finish this soon! I've been picking away at it before bed this week.
 
Jo, Abendau's Heir appears to be on Goodreads twice; one has a couple of ratings and the other a review. I don't really 'get' Goodreads so maybe I'm being thick here, but shouldn't it all be on one page?
 
Juliana said:
Jo, Abendau's Heir appears to be on Goodreads twice; one has a couple of ratings and the other a review. I don't really 'get' Goodreads so maybe I'm being thick here, but shouldn't it all be on one page?
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Thanks, Ju. It confuses me too, but I think one is linked to Amazon.com and one is the goodreads as the one with the review links to the Amazon review, the other to the goodreads ratings. I'll tag @Mouse and see if she can cast any light. I do know I've only loaded it up once. Very bizarre...
 
I do like the use of empathic and precognitive skills in this - very nicely done. I'm really surprised that I've not seen empaths since I read Dune. Perhaps I've been reading the wrong type of fiction... . As I also use that in my WIP, I'm glad Jo read a sample of that - just so she knows I'm not trying to plagarise. :)
 
So I just finished this! I will let it digest a bit and then leave a review on amazon.com

I truly enjoyed it a lot. It did get dark, but this is not a popcorn, space opera. It was a great story that needed to be told, and Jo, you did a wonderful job telling it. With out any spoilers, it sure ends with me wanting to read on and see what happens next, so that's a good sign.

Now excuse me, I think I'll walk around in a daze for a bit....
 
I personally wasn't keen on the last two sections - they seemed to take what would have been a clean ending and rush in convenient conflict, as if there was a lack of confidence that this could continue as a series without those additions.

That Kare might sacrifice his powers to imprison the Empress's was clever. But they'd already faced her down, and defeated her by standing with Kare - now they stand apart and suddenly underestimate her? It just made Silom's death seem unnecessary, and just a device to create enmity with Kim (who we originally were made to think had been killed on the base anyway).

Also, the Epilogue - they've defeated the incredible force that was the Empress, and faced her down in person - but now Sonly is going to give way to a threat from a single planet, and set up enmity between her and Kare over a diplomatic official? Okay, so it's potentially more than one planet, but we could have had the political machinations and fallout as something to focus on in the next book - facing that in a single short epilogue here made that all feel rushed.

My other quibble was that I wasn't clear on how Silom and Sonly could believe that Kerra was dead, when she apparently wasn't. Though I disliked the epilogue, I did like the inference that Kerra could be supported as a new Empress, overlooking Kare.

Minor gripes, though. The psychology in this was superb, as was the emotional intensity. Most stories have ups and downs, but this one had mountains and canyons.
 
All Abendau books have been posted out. 2nd Class in UK and Surface mail to the US.

I am working with a courier to facilitate a better system so watch this space - well the empty space between my ears!
 
Brian Turner said:
I personally wasn't keen on the last two sections - they seemed to take what would have been a clean ending and rush in convenient conflict, as if there was a lack of confidence that this could continue as a series without those additions.

That Kare might sacrifice his powers to imprison the Empress's was clever. But they'd already faced her down, and defeated her by standing with Kare - now they stand apart and suddenly underestimate her? It just made Silom's death seem unnecessary, and just a device to create enmity with Kim (who we originally were made to think had been killed on the base anyway).

Also, the Epilogue - they've defeated the incredible force that was the Empress, and faced her down in person - but now Sonly is going to give way to a threat from a single planet, and set up enmity between her and Kare over a diplomatic official? Okay, so it's potentially more than one planet, but we could have had the political machinations and fallout as something to focus on in the next book - facing that in a single short epilogue here made that all feel rushed.

My other quibble was that I wasn't clear on how Silom and Sonly could believe that Kerra was dead, when she apparently wasn't. Though I disliked the epilogue, I did like the inference that Kerra could be supported as a new Empress, overlooking Kare.

Minor gripes, though. The psychology in this was superb, as was the emotional intensity. Most stories have ups and downs, but this one had mountains and canyons.
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You're the second to mention the end so perhaps the epilogue pushed it a little. But it does set up the start of book 2 and there is a prologue to book 2 so having it at the start of it was problematic. :)

The dark bits - they should feel uncomfortable. (They were hellish to write.) One of the things I set out to challenge was what we do to our 'chosen ones' if you like. We merrily throw them into hideous circumstances (some of GOT is surely up there with what happens to Kare?) and never, actually, look at what it does to the person. Writing as close as I do to the character that wasn't an option.

Spoiler:

It is why Sam becomes the pov character for a time - I was very clear in my mind there should be a point when Kare was too lost to sustain a pov anymore. Unfortunately for that to be viable I had to take the reader to that point through 2 very close torture scenes. Deciding how much to show was a really tough call - too much and it was gratuitous, too little and it glossed over what happened and didn't ask the question I wanted.
 
Jo Zebedee said:
The dark bits - they should feel uncomfortable.
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And indeed, you're right.

The best part of the whole story, for me

was the focus on Kare's mental recovery afterwards. That despite everything he went through physically, it was repeatedly underlined that it was his mental state that was the most damaged and fragile. I really enjoyed the way that you handled that.

The introduction of Sam as the POV character might have thrown me, except that I couldn't help but be reminded of Dr Yueh from Dune. Certainly at first.
 
Phew finally find a few minutes to join the finshers/finishees (whatever we may be), and join the fun by heaping praise on it. As thrown out elsewhere here is my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1242891466

As stated in the review I found the book to be a very engaging read, one of the first books in a long time that had that (I hate to use the term) simplicity of style, combined with a solid style and epic story that kept the pages turning, and I began to find time to read it.

Although I did give it five stars I did say it was rounding up from four and a half, which I figured I'd quickly touch on here. There were a few points that I did not quite get. This is probably just me. Mostly from the end of the novel - Kare's escape and overthrow of the Empress seemed a little too easy, I'd have liked to see a bit more time recuperation. On the other hand it worked as well, because I kept waiting for Kare to drop, I was convinced he was going to, so it added tension and it was addressed when the wrap up was not as straightforward as one would have hoped.

I also wondered whether we were going to be given one of the 'pain opens the doorway to greater powers' moments. I'm glad it didn't but it still would have been fun to see Beck explode as Kare came to life ;) (Was really glad that Kare couldn't kill Beck in the end..)

I think for me the hardest part to accept was that an empire could be conquered by the taking of one city. I would have guessed there would have been more fleets of ships out there that the Empress could have drawn on - but then the same thing happened in Dune, and Star Wars so I'm just being picky - and there are two more books to come, which might touch on some of these things.

I also suddenly has a really sneaky thought about the whole thing, that it's so way out there that it feels stupid saying it. One of those million to one shots where my misfiring brain comes up with something... weird. I'm not going to post it, in case I'm right (highly unlikely), but I might mull it over and PM Jo and let her laugh for a few weeks...
 
Ooh, tease. Now I need to see those thoughts...

Without spoiling, one of the challenges of book one was that the protagonists were rebels and simply didn't have access to the wider world and politics, without hideous info dumping.

Both you and Brian have brought up that the end is a little hard to see in context and I think it's one of those leaps of faith from a writer, where maybe I've built enough trust that the rest of the book was solid and so, too, was this.

In the later books, the protagonists are at the centre of all the politics and, I think, all becomes clearer then. Or murkier. Probably murkier. But a good murky, I hope...:)

And I'm glad the killing of Beck worked - there was a danger of it making Kare seem very weak in not doing it himself, so it was a gamble because I was aware some readers would be wanting the cheap revenge angle, and he's really not that sort of hero. Having said that, at first it was done very cleanly and all the betas felt he should get a little bit of what he'd given out. I suspect some of them would have wanted more.... :)

And thank you for the review. It meant loads to me. :)
 
Brian Turner said:
No, how you dealt with Beck was very good. If Kare took revenge on him, then that would have totally undermined the severity of his own experience.
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I agree completely - and the fact Kare wanted to do it but couldn't made it all the more powerful

And Jo - what you said in your reply actually answers my insane hypothesis, and it was as insane as I thought. Therefore I keep it to myself and not look like an idiot. (And then use it myself :D )
 
I finished reading Abendau's Heir this weekend. I really enjoyed it, and I was happy with the ending -- enough resolution of conflict to round off the story, but lots of possibilities to draw me into the next book. I'm even happier to find that I don't have to wait a full year for the next book. With the way that this year is flying, October is just around the corner.
 
Thanks, TitaniumTi.

I popped this up on its own thread, but a review picked up on some of the same issues mentioned in this thread with the ending, and I thought it might add something to this thread:

http://www.nerds-feather.com/2015/05/microreview-book-abendaus-heir-by-jo.html?m=1

I can't say too much, obviously, for spoilerism and what not, but the reasons for the ending are dealt with, although not fully until book three and the resolution of character arcs. It's a risk, setting something up in the first book that might not be resolved until later. As a learning curve, this is fantastic. :)
 
I thought the ending was masterful. I hate cliff-hangers, and it didn't end in one. On the other hand, there were some tantalisingly loose ends to lure me into reading more of the story.

Like Nerds of a Feather, I did initially wonder why the protagonist was male. On reflection, it made sense. I don't see a shortage of female protagonists in space opera, but I can't think of many female antagonists. I think the combination of male protagonist and female antagonist worked better than either female protagonist-female antagonist or female protagonist-male antagonist.
 
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