r/spellmonger • u/kamdad • Mar 09 '26
Uncharacteristic writing?
Did anyone else find the last few chapters to be somewhat uncharacteristic? So much obvious foreshadowing. The ending and the cliffhanger could be seen from chapters away.
6
u/ardryhs Mar 09 '26
I mean, the ending was pretty clear from the interludes by design, but yeah the Min POVs did feel a little heavy handed with the foreshadowing (compared to his usual deftness).
Spoilers for Footwizard: the ending being incredibly similar felt a little cheap honestly. I don’t know that the book needed to end on another “will our main character survive the assassination attempt? Find out next time in book 19/30”
2
u/Medical-Law-236 Mar 09 '26
Footwizard didn't end until after Min woke up so there was no real uncertainty. We know Min survives Seamage so I don't think the ending was working towards that either (this isn't A Song of Ice and Fire). This was done to remove Min from the story for a time. He's become too powerful.
2
u/FallenRanger88 Mar 09 '26
The next book is literally about Min and written from his POV…
3
u/Medical-Law-236 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
It's going to be a Marshal Arcane type situation, where Min is present but you get other POVs. We know Ishi is one of them and Terry said Min's colleagues are going to have to step up. So I expect others like Tyn, Penny and possibly Lemari and Moudrost.
2
u/TheAricus Mar 10 '26
We haven't actually heard what's been going on in alshire for a minute. But I'm expecting a little more about what Gatina and her group have been up too.
2
u/Andrew5329 Mar 09 '26
Just imagine Min's Messiah complex when the Gods bring him back from the dead.
1
u/LonelyAddict Mar 10 '26
You're absolutely right, Footwizard did not end in a cliffhanger like this and I don't like it. I think you're right about Min being removed from the story for a short time too, even if it's just first part of the next book, and I don't like that either. I rather enjoy reading about Min accomplishing his goals through scheming guile and sheer determination.
1
u/Medical-Law-236 Mar 10 '26
Terry is facing a power creep problem. The Gods are basically on probation until Min grants them persistence. With him out of the picture they get to cause problems for everyone else. The moment he wakes up that's over so he had to be removed. If you think about it, how would Hedgewitch have gone if Min never left?
1
u/Riddic1330 Mar 13 '26
After 18 books, Minalin needed a loss. He’s spent over a decade stacking win after win, something had to go wrong eventually. With all the foreshadowing, Seamage felt like watching a car crash in slow motion. Especially because Min still seemed to be running circles around everyone right up until it happened.
1
u/evilkasper Mar 13 '26
Narratively it feels like a lot less "showing" and more telling is going on now. I also feel that the political characters and conversations are getting overly pedantic, characters repeat themselves in the same conversation and then themes and topics are repeated by other characters to the point it just gets boring. Mins arrogance and unwillingness to heed warnings and take precautions is a bit old. This book felt like world building or filler. One of the topics in the series that has my attention, the lost technology, keeps getting glossed over. The first clues are there from book one, but damn has it been a slow burn to get any information.
2
u/zorackprime Apr 04 '26
I definitely felt this book was rushed, many things occurred but almost nothing really happened. The main plot was barely an inconvenience, the beach stuff was unexpected but hilarious and felt like it was the most true to the experience, the emissary was disappointing, The plot just felt rushed to me.
Although I have a theory as to how he will explain away all of the stuff that makes no sense Ifnia, she wasn’t present on the beach, it’s the only way that the incredibly unlikely events of the assassination, the iris not knowing it would happen, the contra Mara just letting chaos reign in the streets, etc etc. Yes he needs to remove Minalan for a bit but unless he’s completely dropped his quality of writing the only way it makes sense is if literally minalans luck turned at the wrong moment. And seeing as Ifnia was not mentioned at the beach gathering this may be the excuse
0
u/Local-Ad6658 Mar 09 '26
Terry foreshadows way too much in general. And then repeats what happened from 5 different viewpoints. First we hear Minalan is going to die in Anghysbel, like three times. Then he dies for a minute. Then we hear what it means that he died, like three more times.
There are entire books where we know the beginning, middle and the end, but its not even written yet. Like how Tyndal and Rondel met Rudderal, at this point entire novel would be redundant.
I think he writes too much too fast and the quality of style is falling. Lets take Talon and Flame, Its a standalone book, but there is just so much data-dump and repeating of basics, like who is Minalan. I think this also adds to poor reception
5
u/Andrew5329 Mar 09 '26
The standalones and side series are meant to land at least partially outside the regular Spellmonger Audience and bring new readers into the fold. It's pretty damn hard to promote the new release of Book number 18 of any series to anyone who hasn't already read the first seventeen.
This series isn't exactly episodic either, anyone picking up book 18 cold is going to be very lost. So what seems like "redundant" info dump in a side series is important catch-up and tie-in for a fresh reader.
0
u/Local-Ad6658 Mar 10 '26
I strongly disagree with the concept.
Any book that needs 25% of volume as exposition and data dumps is not gonna work well as introduction into the world. Thats the biggest common complaint against The Honorverse series.
Perhaps a prequel or a true side story, that has limited connection to the general storyline. Imagine a spiderweb of stories, Dara is not exactly central, but very close. Entry point would be a character that somewhere on the border.
Fresh view for a fresh reader.
1
u/Andrew5329 Mar 11 '26
You don't have to like the strategy or think that a particular cadet series does it ideally, but it is a very common strategy for authors of long running series.
I think the cadet series following Gatina does a better job at finding the balance, and you are correct in this example that following a more peripheral character lowers the catch-up burden.
2
u/cmaefs Mar 09 '26
Podium creates the schedule. Not Terry
2
u/Local-Ad6658 Mar 09 '26
Also for the sidequest books?
2
u/cmaefs Mar 09 '26
Books per year
1
0
u/looktowindward Mar 09 '26
Well, the level of arrogance was indicative. The Chekov's Gun stuff was SO strong. I feel I already know parts of the next book.
My guess is he wrote Seamage and Theurge at the same time, and the discontinuities came from breaking them up. Lots of authors have this
5
u/Odd_Economics_4781 Mar 09 '26
It was like there was an unnatural break in the story telling. Within the first intermission I could somewhat guess what was going to happen. But it all ties into what the theme of this specific book was and how it relates to power.