I am not dissapointed at all! In fact, when that came out, I was floored by how perfect it was that it was one of the Six. Now I’m chomping at the bit to get more details about it!
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And also, @CJB, chat away, I think you talking about the books is super insightful and really lends to the immersive experience. We’re usually so distanced from the authors of our books.
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The same, not disappointed at all. It always felt like the Six were a big deal, but no idea why. There’s obviously a lot more to their story than just a bunch of kids went to play in Neithernor for a bit. And I, for one, am here for it.
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[spoiler]Marjory: “What the Mountaineers know couldn’t fill a thimble.” [/spoiler]
Mounties:
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Yes exactly lol, I was at work while reading it and I out loud said, “ow, that hurt”. I mean yeah, we’ve admitted we don’t know a lot but dang, throwing shade at us when we can’t defend ourselves is rude. But overall, I just want to sit down and read it again except about Zev because like let’s talk about that he could’ve stayed by her side but instead of letting the apology get in and let us and Alistair possibly forgive him for being swept into the only maqical thing that found him, he yeeted himself into the faceless crowd like a brainwashed coward
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[spoiler]A little inside info: Originally, Zev’s reveal was going to come much later, and Ben was going to find out that in the brief moment he dropped the coin in the Palace, Marjory had wormed her way into his mind, making him think he picked up the coin. On the bridge, in the park, Ben was going to produce the coin only to realize there was nothing in his pocket. But the moment just never landed, for a lot of reasons, mainly because it immediately preceded Ben’s death which was the true big moment for him, not the coin reveal. I also had to do a lot of careful threading to keep them from being assaulted in the fight with the Silver to not give the not-coin away. Enter, Zev’s reveal in that moment, which works better for a lot of reasons, in the scene and beyond 
I kept a lot of the coin talk in the restaurant from the previous version, including Ben mentioning it but never showing it, because it still worked to convey how important the coin was going to be, and for the 1 or 2 people who picked up on the moment in the Palace, it worked as a diversion to the real reveal of Zev.[/spoiler]
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[spoiler]…because it immediately preceded Ben’s death…[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Ben DIED?! I thought the narration just stopped for…narrative purposes…[/spoiler]
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I kept waiting for the coin to be not-real…
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YES! I’m so glad! It was a fortuitous writerly accident that ended up being a nice little red herring.
Also, @Robert, 
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I just now finished reading and uh… I’m so full of emotions that I couldn’t possibly name.
I guess the easiest thing to call it would be sorrow or sadness or mourning. The section ends and it feels like Alistair (and through her, us) has lost everything. We can no longer win. And beyond that I mean Ben’s death was probably the most tragic death I’ve ever read. Sure I’ve read plenty of characters dying to protect others, I’ve read characters dying in vain but this was. Different.
He was just getting a taste of magic, doing it, living it, was so frustrated because unlike the others he couldn’t seem to pull away from his mundane life and fully live the magimystical. He, in his last moments, in utter desperation, uses magic to protect these people he only met a few days ago, and it takes everything in him and then Marjory just so EASILY flicks it away as if it were nothing but tissue paper and wishes. He’s failed to protect these people and Marjory goes the extra length to add grievous insult to injury and uses his need to protect, his immense compassion and heart, to kill him. It’s all in vain because he’s obviously not actually protecting anyone in that moment but he FEELS like he needs to.
And then it’s not even magic that does it. His frustration and anxiety about being kept from the magimystical world is never resolved because not only are his last moments compelled by magic, he doesn’t die to it, just to a completely mundane flatbed truck. Such an ignominious end for someone who tried SO hard to protect everyone even when “none of this has anything to do with [him] anymore.” He was just cast aside so easily and I don’t even think I’m expressing this well but it’s just all roiling inside me and it’s a blessing I’ve been able to verbalize any of it at all.
Sorry this was kind of long. There’s a lot going on in my head apparently.
And to be clear, I absolutely love it all, that I feel so strongly about it. If anything, it was appropriately poetic.
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that was beautiful. Thank you for sharing your feelings. It means so much to hear.
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Here I am, at nearly three in the morning and I have tests in the morning~ I just can’t put it down,
So… on to part four! Phew, Im having nightmare buddy flashbacks.
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As I’m reading Secret Society I noticed this passage,
there’s a (rightfully disputed) local legend that the bike was left by a young man heading off to World War II (some sites even say WWI), but he never came home to retrieve it. The record of the dual legend on Lunar’s Alt Histories (yes, I was granted access, relax) says the young man might’ve been a part of the final push that liberated Dachau.
After that find, Wooloe’s poem changed.Do we know which camp Ilya went to? Am I wearing my tinfoil had a little too tight?
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From what I read Dachau didn’t have children, she was more likely in Sisak because it’s described as being a re-education shelter run by a Nazi-puppet state. With the way Ilya described the place and what the description is for Sisak they seem to match up pretty well. Sisak children's concentration camp - Wikipedia.
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Aside from the wonderful tin foiling about the alt history ( ) the impetus for that little “local legend” was because I’d written that part of the Secret Society riddle for @Deyavi to find.
At the time I created the riddle, she lived near Vashon. But when it came time to actually visit the island, we found out Dey was halfway across the world, and I had to scramble to come up with a justification for the puzzle having two possible outcomes. One in Washington State. One near Bavaria. In Germany. 
The line “two wheels in the sea” had become “A memento mori,” and the last stanza of the poem, which had initially appeared on the forum as, “As she spoke in a tree / That is all that you need / For the first memory” now appeared changed on the blog, reading “And a sinister shear / A memory turning / From distant to near.”
I feel like the best Briarverse storytelling happens when you don’t know what went wrong, but @Catherine and I talk a lot about sharing these weird little hiccups, along with all the strange bits of magimystic providence that pop up all the time.
You’ve all proposed solutions or found things on occasion that seem like you somehow know what we’re planning five years from now. 
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Ah ha! I’m learning…
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Hey friends! As you read, let me know if any quotes or passages stand out to you in particular! I’m combing through the manuscript for teaser quotes to start using for marketing purposes, so if you have any favorites, let me know!
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An appropriate mug for finally diving back into the ARC! I’m genuinely blown away each time I get back to reading this book and I can’t wait to re-read it in its final form. I’m sure I’ll have some more thoughts (and a meme) once I’ve wrapped up the most recent edition, but I’m really loving it so far. I just got to the part where [spoiler]They escape the Silver only to end up back in NYC. Also, Ican’t believe i just realized that there were SIX missing children plus Alistair. I wonder if each of them corresponds with a guild (which might have been talked about earlier, but I’ve been trying to avoid the spoilers above).[/spoiler]
Onwards!
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From my amazing, beleaguered editor’s manuscript notes:
Who can spot the paragraph in question in the new pages?
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Damn you @CJB, I have to leave in 5 minutes to get my son at daycare! I won’t be able to read until at least 10 tonight!
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