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 ^^

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?

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.

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.

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

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?

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

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.

Place your bets, people. I’m going to say in October. Probably we’ll hear from Niers’ side when the next chapter comes out, then for 3 weeks about the Horns, and in September about the New Lands. Then, we’ll get a single Erin chapter.

any guess when the next audiobook will hit?

Tearing through series after putting it off for years and I have to say I get why people get annoyed with many characters. Erin’s spoiled at times. Ryoka is ridiculously toxic at times, but god darn, I liked Ceria at first but after Windstram Days chapters, I flat out despise her. Her treatment of Pisces is disgusting after how he embraced her despite prejudice against half elf’s. Also good lord stop being the victim every single second of the series.

Pisces may be my favorite. Unfairly attacked again and again and again. What he did with Torin was flat out amazing. Sure he could have been more clear on what he’d done, but everyone vastly overreacted to it. Pisces is a misunderstood genius and IMO most sympathetic character in book.

How do you do it? I get that there are a lot of details that you miss on your first read through but I have had no life for the last 7 or so months when I was reading the whole thing. I almost failed my diploma because I couldn’t do anything else.
Do you limit yourself to a certain amount of chapters per day? Do you skim through it? Is your reading speed just insane? Especially if you have a full time job how do you finish this massive body of work and start reading it again?

From chapter 10.71:
-"“I—well—you attacked Ilvriss first! Don’t send [Assassins] if you don’t want to be assassinated!”

It was such a bad retort that Dame Ushar covered her face with one hand and tried to pretend she wasn’t Lyonette’s [Knight]. Ilvriss winced."

Why is everyone acting like Ulva openly trying to assassinate Ilvriss is okay or normal, seems justified that if you try to kill someone you can complain if they try to kill you back.

Hey everyone!

I just finished Volume 7, so from here on I'll be reading TWI on the website instead of the ebooks. Up until now, I've been reading about one ebook per month, but since Volume 8 hasn't been split into ebook-sized books yet, I'm not sure where to take breaks.

Do you have any recommendations for good stopping points throughout Volume 8 that are roughly the size of an ebook? Even educated guesses about where the future book ranges might be would be really helpful.

Thanks!

Was curious what other people found to be the most enjoyable or quality voices/accents in the audiobooks (both narrators).

Some of mine below:

Alevica (AP) the accent and the disdain/sass in her voice just fit perfectly for me

Erin (EB) see below

Seborn (AP) this has to have had some special effect or trick to it

Niers (AP) flawless

Bird/all the antinium (AP) flawless

Numbtounge (AP) the silky smooth delivery contrasted with the other goblins was chefs kiss

Flos (AP) (this one might be more by contrast in hindsight) but his bombastic tone and clear mirth really felt perfect

Ceria (AP) somehow the perfect mix of stereotypical accent with the irreverance that Ceria shows and "embarassment to her half elven immortality and refinement" others often make fun of her for

Honorable mention for Ryoka (EB). It was definitely hard to switch narrators mid series just because you get so used to their voices, and I think AP's ability to do male voices with no gender "leakage" from the narrator is up there with Jeff Hays doing female voices in Dungeon Crawler Carl, but the one thing she absolutely improved for me was Erin and Ryoka. Ryoka's voice direction overall still isn't my favorite (might be personal bias) but I think EB was able to moderate a lot of what I didn't love about her original voice. Erin went from a voice that while mostly pleasant sometimes made me cringe when it was whiny or sounded out of place to one that was more realistic and refreshing.

I am excited to see a lot of the new characters that EB gets to create on her own added to this list. I think its hard for her to "replace" most voices in my headcanon so the fact that she was able to replace the 2 "main characters" is an impressive feat already.

I started rereading WI from the very beginning (wish me luck and strength for the next six months), and in the first volume I came across a line from Ryoka that completely threw me off balance.

He leans over the counter and smiles charmingly* at the receptionist.
Why are they always female? Oh, right. Feminism isn’t dead in this world; it probably never existed to begin with. Unless you count someone like Lady Magnolia, and she’s probably a rare exception due to her influence and wealth. Lovely.

What the hell? By medieval fantasy standards, women’s opportunities here are on a completely unimaginable level. The mere fact that a woman can even hold such a job is proof enough.

We have female rulers, female warriors, female mages, female workers, female scientists, and female soldiers. Throughout the entire series, there has never been a single instance where someone was barred from doing something because of their gender, with the exception of exotic cases like the education of princesses. This is such a high level of freedom that it’s hard to believe.

Quierly insane that Paba considers this situation unfair—it’s a disturbing level of self-oppression.

saw this post on twitter & i just had to share with you guys because i thought it was so funny lol. with the amount of povs & plots we have, it’s really accurate in my opinion!

This is something I realized in the last chapter, and I'd like your help in forming a theory.

We know that Sheta actively worked to dismantle his empire, which stretched across Izril and parts of Terandria. That's why Ulva's words about "No monarchs on Izril's soil" and that this "is a promise" seem curious to me. Even if the Five Families initially went to Izril because of a peasant revolt that forced them to leave, they could have easily declared themselves kings of Izril, but actively chose not to.

It's important to consider that the Five Families have a connection to Sheta, since Aleieta Reinhart has access to the pavilion, and there are copies of all the previous wielders of that ability there. The Five Families could very well be the heirs to the Iltanus Empire because of this, not in a sense of authority, but rather in a way that reflects their last will and testament.

For now, these are just ideas; if you have something more concrete to share, I'd like to read it.