| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Alaundo |
Posted - 28 Feb 2006 : 20:03:31
Well met
This is a Book Club thread for Vanity's Brood (Book 3 of House of Serpents), by Lisa Smedman. Please discuss the Prologue and Chapters 1 - 3 herein: |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 02:39:59
Liking this one more than the others so far! Very good read!
Nice touch when Arvin is able to contact K and ask about the kids, she replies that at least one of them has feet!!! LMAO Poor guy, I can just see him now with the whole brood on his lap whilst he tries to read to them wriggly little boogers!!
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 08 Aug 2007 : 03:24:47
Yes, I am just getting around to reading this. Shame on me for letting my back log get this bad, but I figured I'd clear them out a bit before Shadowstorm and Storm of the Dead rolled around.
That having been said:
I really like Karrell, and I think that Arvin is actually one of the most realistically written characters in this genre of fiction. He wants to do go, but even when he is trying to do good, he tends to be rather pragmatic. While he was willing to die fighting Sibyl, he rarely ponders risking his life to right wrongs if he doesn't see a reasonable chance at success.
Pakal is a welcome character. Not only do I like dwarves, but I like the chance to see a wild dwarf in action as well. Once again, it has been interesting to see Pakal written as a character that is worried about duty and is willing to save himself if he didn't think he had a chance to help Arvin.
Lisa does an excellent job at making Zelia someone that you love to hate. I will be quite happy if she ends up shuffling off her mortal coil . . . so to speak.
The scene with the Sibyl's followers was indeed quite atmospheric, and quite creepy as well. |
| Lameth |
Posted - 22 Mar 2006 : 06:08:15
quote:
Originally posted by Beezy
There is but you need a special "key" to open it
The Vulcano AND the Amulett?
I`ll see.  |
| Beezy |
Posted - 22 Mar 2006 : 03:16:11
There is but you need a special "key" to open it |
| Lameth |
Posted - 21 Mar 2006 : 17:48:32
There is a map about Chult on the first pages. So i guess at some time in the book Arvin will be in Chult. But how does it work out with the the Smaragd Layer? Is there a portal in Chult what leads to Smaragd? |
| Beezy |
Posted - 16 Mar 2006 : 21:43:36
Pakal fleeing was also kind of a shock to me as well, I did npt see it coming. But if he had not fled he may have ended up seeded or killed. |
| Lord Rad |
Posted - 16 Mar 2006 : 18:08:12
Just read a little more and got chapter 3 read today...
Nasty scene where Zelia seals up Arvin's ears and mouth and then cuts through his lips! 
Also where the copy of Zelia shrunk and folded back into her palm was very creepy. This is the stuff of nightmares! 
I was surprised when Pakal fled, leading Arvin in the thick of it. He shouldn't let him get away with that stunt!
I thought the conversation with Zelia and Arvin was very civilised, considering, and it was good to hear Zelia filling in information on Karrell's location etc.
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| Lord Rad |
Posted - 15 Mar 2006 : 20:07:14
Prologue
Well I started the book today, and like Beezy and darkcrow, i'm very happy that the prologue covered Karrel  Very nice scene too, I thought Lisa painted a great picture of the jungle and I was really taken back when the eye of Sseth was revealed.
Chapter 1 & 2
The book is just going great! I'm finding it very dark and eerie and I feel on edge whilst reading. When Arvin sets out in disguise and encounters the first cleric, it's just so tense. I loved the sounds of the cleric's cloak too, like a cobra hood
I was cringing as Arvin was crawling through the tunnel from the cellar. I got a real feeling of claustrophobia. Excellent writing!
Nasty scene when he was led into the room where the giant millipede was pinned to the table as the yuan-ti tucked in! Urgh!
Again, the atmosphere was very tense in the room when Sibyl appeared and Arvin was afraid of being revealed as in disguise. Same as well when he turned invisible but then needed to escape. I found it quite sad that he realised his mission wasn't to escape, but would be to ultimatly die fulfilling his task.
Very nice touch how Arvin had constructed the net out of Yellow Musk Creeper and how he could'nt remove it as it had already attached itself to the inside of his backback 
I loved the scene where Arvin sees the ancient scene where beings pass through the doorway and then get torn apart by the tentacles. Nice trap!
Phew, so many great scenes already Another part I liked is the initial meeting with the dwarf (sorry, his name has completely escaped me at the moment), and how they couldn't communicate and he kept attacking. I've quite got attached to him in this short space of time, I liked his involvement in the 'tentacle room' and how he was cut short speaking when attacked by the skeletal serpent. Nice!
As I said, I think Lisa has done a great job so far. The atmosphere is excellent and the dark and eerie edge just makes it even better. Little touches like Arvin hearing "the sound of leather against stone" make you imagine yuan-ti slithering along the corridors.
Perfect ending lines also in Chapter 2 when Zelia reappears Looking forward to reading more later! |
| Beezy |
Posted - 11 Mar 2006 : 22:02:23
Zelia was one of the more interesting characters for me also. I thought Karrell's death was going to remain a mystery for a bit and I also thought it was nice to see her in the opening pages instead of playing it out as if she were really dead. |
| darkcrow |
Posted - 11 Mar 2006 : 01:38:35
Ok, I finally got the first three chapters read. I had my suspitions too about Karrel's death. I'm glad Lisa started out the book with Karrel being very much alive. The plot seems to unfold quite rapidly. After reading the first three chapters I can see where this story's going. But after reading the first two books of the Trilogy and some of the third one, I can't seem to figure Zelia out. She's seems to be all about personal gain, but to gain what? She has all these mind seeds floating around....for what? She's to ambitious for being involved in all of this just to seek " Eternal Gratitude" from Lady Dediana. She's up to something. I just can't figure it out just yet. I'll just have to read more to find out. |
| Beezy |
Posted - 09 Mar 2006 : 02:11:03
I went to buy mine and they did not even have them on the shelves yet so I had a young lady go retreive it from the back for me |
| darkcrow |
Posted - 08 Mar 2006 : 04:31:56
I just picked up my copy tonight and it was kind of scary cause they had no more on the shelf when I got there. But they had one left in the back so now I can sleep easy tonight. Got to go and dig into my book. |
| Beezy |
Posted - 08 Mar 2006 : 02:12:59
I just finished chapter three afetr picking this novel up today after work, and like the previous two I am already hooked. Below is a few of my thoughts and reactions to the events so far. I sorted my few sparadic and random thoughts by chapter so as not to spoil anything for anyone not through all the chapters yet.
Prologue:
Karrel is indeed alive! I had a very strong suspicion at the end of Viper's kiss that we had not seen the end of her. It was just too sudden and akward a place for Karrel to be taken out of the story line.
Chapter 1:
Arvin has not spent the time between novels sitting idle, he has been plotting his revenge. It was nice to see Arvin develop even more mental powers than he previously had.
Chapter 2:
I was hoping to see a fight between Arvin and Sibyl but his revenge attempt failed. I have been interested in seeing more of her due to the great cover art on Viper's Kiss. I had not expected Arvin to run into Zelia so soon, but I can't say I am at all displeased with this turn of events. Could this be the confrontation I have been longing for? At least Naneth is out of the picture, I disliked her from the beginning although I am not sure why.
Chapter 3:
Arvin has new powers and is stronger but Zelia also is more powerful than before. At this current point I am not sure how Arvin will ever get away from Zelia or defeat her. She is as clever as she is powerful. She always seems to have some way to make Arvin do what she wills, the mind seed, or information she can use to her advantage. |
