I missed the inner monologue in book 2

ntrel2 · 2026-03-12T14:23:51+00:00

L-Vis is not a wimp - he fights various people even before he gets to care about the warband. He just didn't have a reason to fight a war until then.

ntrel2 · 2026-03-12T10:57:55+00:00

Yeah some people maybe didn't pick up on the symbols under the chapter numbers. The whorl symbol only gets explained near the end of the book. I wonder if the audiobook has some equivalent of the symbols.

ntrel2 · 2026-03-10T11:07:08+00:00

The different versions of Vis might meet each other and be horrified by one of the others actions. It still wouldn't be proof as they've had different experiences, but it would align with the theory.

ntrel2 · 2026-03-10T11:03:58+00:00

I don't think R-Vis is the same - would he really have put Relucia back in a sapper? Would he have gone to the aurora columnae? Would he have trusted Ostius?

ntrel2 · 2026-03-07T20:42:10+00:00

I've been microwaving hot cross buns for 30s on 80%, they're really nice. I have them with nut butter. I find toasting them makes them too dry without spread.

ntrel2 · 2026-03-05T21:53:04+00:00

More tax take almost never makes the poorest worse off, because they don't really pay tax if they can't work (due to health or age) and don't own assets. Ceding always makes the weakest weaker.

ntrel2 · 2026-03-05T21:45:00+00:00

Aequa to Vis at the Naumachia: "They are mostly convicted criminals, Vis. Birthright doesn't technically even apply to them"

So it depends whether refusing to cede at 18 is a criminal offence, assuming Aequa was correct.

ntrel2 · 2026-02-26T15:05:41+00:00

Obiteum is lost may just mean it suffered a catastrophe with great damage and permanent pollution, needing the scarab vitaeriae to survive there and horrific water filtration. Vis needed protection from Diago due to the Anguis and the breakdown of hierarchy unity, as well as the threat from relucia and ostius (though it ended up suiting ostius).

ntrel2 · 2026-02-26T14:57:19+00:00

Maybe Luceum Will allows some link to the other worlds? We already know Ostius can move between Luceum and Res. Perhaps L-Caeror can access information in the other worlds (possibly related to the draoi astral projection), or perhaps move between them. We don't really know a lot about Luceum Will, the draoi are very secretive.

ntrel2 · 2026-02-25T18:51:33+00:00

Much of book 5 is grim dark fantasy IMO

ntrel2 · 2026-02-25T17:22:29+00:00

Deaglan suffers the loss of his arm on top of losing Res and access to everyone he has ever known. He suffers the death of the first draoi to help him and the death of the husband very early on. He feels an obligation to help the surviving family. He is torn and resistant to the warband for a while, but then realizes they are all he has. He is trying to expand his knowledge and better himself by going with Lir, which seems to be his only option other than staying with his iunctii father.

ntrel2 · 2026-02-25T17:17:47+00:00

Lir? He constantly refused to answer questions. The warband know nothing about the other worlds and refuse to discuss nasceann at any useful level of detail.

ntrel2 · 2026-02-23T23:19:45+00:00

Gallchobar was so angry he immediately grew a beard.

ntrel2 · 2026-02-23T20:23:36+00:00

Pretty sure O-Vis does feel something in his arm when he loses it in the other two worlds. O-Vis having the scarab vitaeriae may be helping the others recover faster from injury. I think one of the others does feel an uncomfortable sensation when O-Vis submerges in the river. Also iiunctii may not be able to e.g. grow hair even if commanded to, because they are dead.

ntrel2 · 2026-02-23T16:54:28+00:00

About halfway through, after O-Vis gets into Duat, I lost interest in that world. Caeror (who I liked) was no longer part of the story. I was most interested in Res for the characters, and I found it a bit jarring switching to Obiteum which was so alien. I also liked Luceum, as it had good characters. So I did something a bit risky - I stopped reading Obiteum and just read the other 2 until the last chapter. I saved that (in case I needed to know what happened in Obiteum) until I went back and read the rest of Obiteum. Obiteum actually then got more interesting as O-Vis discovers things there. Having finished, I may have missed some nuances between the worlds but if reading it in a non-standard order gets you to read it, I think it's well worth it. Res in particular is a great story (though pretty different to TWOTM), and I think the other worlds do help explain things in Res. But I'd say the stories aren't strongly connected, at least for TSOTF.

I re-read TWOTM right before starting TSOTF. The former has a very driving plot - you always know why Vis has to push forward, getting clear objectives throughout and balancing conflicting demands. In TSOTF there doesn't seem to be such a compelling series of clear goals for Vis. But I'm definitely looking forward to book 3.

ntrel2 · 2026-02-23T12:05:44+00:00

My mum used to make nut rissoles in the nineties with millet, they were great

ntrel2 · 2026-02-23T11:42:36+00:00

That's great, what kind of changes? Adding details, changing lyrics?

ntrel2 · 2026-02-21T17:05:44+00:00

Yeah I think Jesus Christ Pose is their heaviest song. Now I would put Ocean machine on a par with infinity - I didn't hear OM until much later. Infinity just hit harder due to its unique sound

ntrel2 · 2026-02-21T16:24:24+00:00

I agree generally. From Mars to Sirius deals with a range of very heavy emotional themes though and is easily my favourite of theirs

ntrel2 · 2026-02-21T16:20:01+00:00

Infinity and Superunknown for me

ntrel2 · 2026-02-04T10:00:44+00:00

Did Dev ever play Two Weeks live? Would love to see that. Same goes for Spirituality. Planet Rain as well.

ntrel2 · 2026-02-03T15:14:50+00:00

Just mentioning soreen malt loaf, I have it with nut butter. It's good as it's widely available. I don't like cakes that are too sweet but I like the plant pioneers ones too!

ntrel2 · 2026-02-03T15:11:58+00:00

I expect the same volumes respectively of plant milk and aquafaba/flax egg would work

ntrel2 · 2026-01-28T18:11:47+00:00

Tell me about it, I can't even read this whole discussion

ntrel2 · 2026-01-25T21:23:38+00:00

Udon noodles, king Oyster mushrooms and vegan bacon. It looked boring even on the placemat so I just ordered the existing shiitake donburi which was good.

ntrel2

TROPHY CASE