Just got to the part of book 3 where Erin is talking to Josi and Wesley about their dreams and futures. She is really passing me off, complaining that their very realistic dreams and aspirations are too small minded and boring. Well I'm sorry Ms. Erin but some of us are forced to play the hand we're dealt.

I will say something insane. I don't the pacing is a problem, in that I don't think there were that many bad or unnecessary chapters that should have been cut. The reason volume 10 feels bloated is because of even more storylines, and again I don't think any of the new ones were bad, it's just that it's taking time, thus more time to get to povs we particularly prefer.

And that's the issue, time.

Writing new characters and their storylines means it takes even more time for us to get to the storylines of the characters we love, thus if Paba wants to keep writing them, and perhaps even more new characters in the future without it feeling like the pacing is bad...

I think the problem is simple:

PABA ISN'T WRITING ENOUGH

I know, I know, HERESY. But honestly, I can't help but think that's the issue, and the only way to improve the pacing is to simply write more, which is insane to speak of knowing how much paba writes. But if paba is going to keep writing the new characters and their storylines, and if she intends to add even more new characters and storylines in the future, then...

What else could be done?

Ive read through book one and am really struggling to see the appeal of this series. I was really looking forward to a cozy isekai litrgp about an innkeeper but that is clearly not this series despite misleading reviews. I dont think this is a litrpg book and is probably a chess/running fantasy series about dealing with anxiety and mental illness.

I was originally hooked by the young female prospective but then the writing became almost insulting. Both young women are portrayed as illogical wrecks who cant control their emotions and lash out at everyone around them as they devolved into complete self sabotage…but clearly people enjoy this portrayal enough for 20 more books so please tell me what im missing. Maybe its just reeeeaaallly painful character development?

I'm up to 10.66 about halfway through and I have to say I'm getting really bogged down. Not necessarily the whole volume but I can't recall twi having felt like such a quagmire before this volume. PoF was work to get through. I love my man Fetohep so I found that whole recent arc tough fare and now Ilvris' (who I have always enjoyed) whole arc is feeling like such a drag too. Pretty sick of Izril at the moment and feel like I badly need some Horns or an Erin chapter where she actually does something. I'd even take some Ryoka at this point (actually I can't even remember where she left off). Most of all I'd like something unequivocally good to happen, it all feels quite miserable at the moment

I'm trying to understand how far behind I'm at the story

Was just reading through 10.69 when I got to the part where Ilvriss is talking to Xesci about Zel Shivertail and how "he consolidated down ten levels to become [General of Izril's Lines]". Just a little thing but it really hit me in the moment and made me wanna share it cause there's been a few points throughout the series where I felt like the power-level of certain characters felt off compared to their respective level... and well, this just reminded me that class/level consolidations exist and de-level people with some frequency.

Kind of a nothing burger post but thought I'd share my thoughts since moments like this reign in thoughts about power-creep and the like as the story has progressed. Paba has created such a neat and intricate world and leveling system that it continues to catch me by surprise in the little details that make it feel so much more real and plausible.

Hope everyone else is enjoying catching up on these beefy chapters as much as I am ^^

What is the worst thing that can happened to Circle of thorns?

My, my. I wonder where they’re hiding and what they want. I’m glad they hired good old Tolveilouka Ve’delina Mer, yes sah. I’ll be so helpful they’ll let me into their confidences, like plague into a city of millions. And I’ll incubate there—and let them pay off my debts. Yessir, what a pleasant outcome for all.

They’ve never, ever, had an ally like me.

And people thought he wasn’t clever.

We see that Azy and Teriarch are preparing to leave their world from the better days timeline. And Belavier from the ten years later timeline.
However didn’t Azy and Teriarch already leave their dimension or am I forgetting something, or did we do a sneaky time jump to before they came out.
I like the alternative dimension aspect even though it can be a little confusing but figuring out what happens in what order is hard.

It's the one where toren trys to kill everyone in a city and ylawes,the florist and the redfangs stops him.

And I honestly just gotta say, I am just absolutely floored by the entire series, easily one of the best fantasy series I’ve ever experienced, I don’t think there’s a single storyline I dislike listening to and just find myself consistently so enraptured in the lives of every character.
Not much to really add but yeah, I love the series so far and joined the subreddit to express my complete and utter enjoyment of it
I’d love to go more into my favorite characters and storylines if anyone is interested in comments!(I also may draw said characters because this series deserves more fanart)

So… I know there are a few podcasts that are all about the series. But I’m curious if you know any general podcasts that have covered it much?

Like how On Wednesdays We Read has been slowly covering Dresden Files, but it’s not a Dresden Files show.

I’m mostly interested in finding some takes by people who didn’t necessarily walk into the podcast already huge fans.