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Flights of Fantasy
S6 : Ep 18 - The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A Parker : First Impressions
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- [00:01]
A
This episode is brought to you by Hatch. You know when you finish a romantasy and you just need the next thing immediately Hatch has made that thing. It's called Ophelia, an original audio drama inspired by Hamlet where Ophelia finally gets to be the main character. Forbidden magic, a crumbling kingdom, a slow burn love triangle with a prince and his very guarded, very intriguing best friend. The kind of love triangle where you will absolutely pick a side and you will absolutely not be quiet about it.
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Book one of the three part series is now available for free wherever you stream with new chapters dropping every Tuesday. For books two and three, check out Hatch Co Ophelia
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A
welcome to Flights of Fantasy, your Romantasy podcast book club. I'm Christina, joined by my book besties Kim and Anna and together we're diving
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into the characters, theories, lore and magic
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A
behind all your favorite fantasy romance books.
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B
Hello listeners, listeners. We are so excited to be here with our First Impressions episode covering the Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker.
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A
Woo woo.
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B
Before I give our spoiler warning, Christina has a few announcements.
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Yes listeners, if you are looking for even more ballad content from us, specifically video content from your book besties, head on over to Patreon where you can find our six chapter Chat read along video episodes. If you're unfamiliar with our chapter chat series, these are videos where we stop throughout our read of the book and record all of our thoughts and theories and reactions and spirals all in real time as we make our way through. So if you want to experience all of that chaos with us chapter by chapter, those are waiting for you over on Patreon. And as a reminder, as a tier 2 patron you get access to our entire back catalog of chapter chats where we have covered 11 different books including when the Moon Hatched, Rites of The Starling, Crescent City 3, Onyx Storm, so much more. Also, don't forget this month we are covering Metal Slinger by Rachel Snyder exclusively on Patreon. We'll be bringing you a few of Anna's famous read along videos followed by a full book chat video episode covering Metal Slinger. And of course don't forget about our Patreon Mass Masterclass series where we are covering all things Sarah J. Maas and the Mass verse leading up to ACOTAR 6 and 7. So for all of that plus early access to episodes ad free episodes and the full video version of every episode, head on over to patreon.com Flights of Fantasy podcast. We would love to welcome you into our Patreon family. Okay, and let's do this.
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A
Spoiler warning time.
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Alrighty. So spoilers from here on out for Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A.
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A
Parker, as well as when the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker.
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B
But if you read Ballad, I don't know what you're doing here. If you didn't read when the Moon Knot, you must be so confused.
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A
Oh, my gosh. Can you imagine? So confused.
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B
All right, listeners. Oh, my gosh. Okay, we're just gonna kind of go through some of our favorite things from this book. What it felt like to be back in this world, and a few kind of questions that we brought for each other.
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A
Yes, we're so excited to dive in and just kind of get you through our first impressions. This is so fun to be able to do this type of episode before we get into our deep dive book club episode. So if there's anything here we don't cover, we planning on deep diving. All of this in our regular book club fashion. But for today, this is just our first impressions, and we're so excited to jump in. Okay, Anna, what did you think of this compared to book one? How did this read for you as a whole?
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B
I was enthralled. Like, it was really hard to put down. I was just so excited about the characters, and I love that it picked back up right where we left off. And listeners, if you've listened to either of our Sarah A. Parker interviews, you know that book one and book two were originally written as one book. And Sarah basically said, no, this is too big.
- [04:08]
A
Which, my God, can you imagine? Book one, meeting rave, all of that, figuring all this out, and then it spanned all the way to here. That actually would have been, I think, too much to process in one book.
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B
Too much to process. And honestly, I feel like by splitting it up, though, it probably enabled her to add more depth to each book and flesh out characters and scenes that maybe she hadn't been able to take the time to do when it was originally one whole book. Right. Because it's already so long.
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A
Agreed. I think we really knew the characters going into book two, and that added so much depth to a lot of the elements in book two, I think the relationships, Khan and Ra seeing Ra find her way to motherhood. So much of the emotions of book two and the character development wouldn't have hit as hard if we didn't already know them and we hadn't gone through this journey of Raven, the first book, kind of figuring out who she was along with the reader, the reader kind of going through that journey with her and Elwyn and the diary entries. So then you get to book two and you're grabbing with rave. You understand her a little bit more, you understand Khan a little bit more. And so then we could just go full force. We just could jump in with them as characters.
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B
Exactly. What I always love about Sarah's writing is that she doesn't hand hold. And I can see both sides of it. I can see some listeners being like, wait, hold on, can you. I just need a little refresher because a lot of authors do that. A lot of authors will kind of backtrack when they're starting book two or book three, and they'll kind of refresh a little bit with a either throwback comment or a character having a memory of the past. And not that Sarah death do that occasionally when it's necessary, but I also appreciated that she was like, we did a lot of work in book one, and you're gonna go into book two just either having to remember it or having had to go back and do a little bit of your own research.
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A
Agreed. She gave us some homework. And luckily, if you. If you listened to all of our when the Moon Hatched episodes, again, you were prepared. You aced that test. But I think she did this as well in a different way in book one, which we talked about in that coverage where she drops you into the world, you're figuring it out real time. She isn't holding your hand and explaining it in that book either. But this book, she did it in a different way where she. She dropped you in. She didn't hold your hand and re. Reacquaint you with the world. But because we did so much of that in book one, so much of book one was world building, it was fun to get to just jump in and go on this journey with the characters. And we discussed this with Sarah as well in our interview, and it was fun to hear her also feel that same way. Her say, yeah, no, we did a lot of that in book one. So it was fun in book two to just kind of focus on the characters going on this journey. And she also didn't hold our hand through some of the hard elements in this book. I think she really went for it in a way that was at times hard to read because of its graphic nature in certain aspects. But again, she takes you there and she doesn't hold your hand, she doesn't hold back. There were multiple times when we were reading this book that you and I were like, wow, she's going for it.
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B
Oh, there were so many times where Sarah said, hold my beer. Yeah, exactly like you thought that this was as rough as it's gonna get. Nope, here it comes. And it was hard at times. I remember texting you at one point saying, you know, hey, trigger warning for this chapter. Maybe don't read it at 10 o' clock at night. Maybe pause the chapter before.
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A
Exactly.
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And I mean, we did that a couple times.
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A
Yeah.
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The childbirth scene was hard. The Kaysaris, the scavenger king scenes were rough a couple different times in general.
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A
Yeah. There was a lot of graphic violence in this book.
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Yeah.
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I'd like to see what I think about it when I take a step back, like when we're actually maybe deep diving in book club. But as of right now, I don't think any of it was gratuitous. I think it all had a purpose. I think it all served the story. I don't think it was violence for violence sake. But again, this is very fresh. So I haven't sat with it yet, but as of right now, that's my thought.
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First impressions.
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Exactly. Exactly. Exactly.
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No, I am really excited to kind of deep dive into that a bit more because I do think, I think it's going to sit well. When I say sit well, I mean, not the acts of what happened in the book, but I do think, like you said, it's not violence for violence sake. And I do think it served a purpose.
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A
Agreed.
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B
It was just so great to be back in this world. Sarah's writing and her imagery is, I mean, in some ways, like unparalleled. Like, it's just so beautiful. She has such a grasp of the language, not only English language that she writes in, but I'm just so impressed with the way that she tackles the language that she's created within the world. The language of the elemental songs and hearing. You know, even. Even though sometimes I was like speed reading over Claude or Boulder talking, I would go back and I would read it and they do sound different.
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A
They're languages. Yeah.
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B
And it is really interesting. It's so cool that she had that inside of her to be able to pull up. And that must have been. Maybe that was easy for her, but for me that seems tricky.
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A
Building languages. I would say that is a bit tricky. I totally agree. It was very much giving this like Tolkien esque vibe of these different languages that were built. And that is an element that I am excited to listen to in audio because the element of hearing those languages spoken in the audio for the first book was so wonderful. And we have not gotten to listen to the audio yet, because we did get an arc, and we are recording this even before the book has come out. But I am excited to listen to that when the audiobook does come out, because reading those languages is. Is cool, but hearing it is really a cool experience to get to hear it. I think it lands really beautifully.
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B
I agree.
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A
And just one more thing in the imagery, I think this is another example of her not holding back in this book. Because we had the icy lake imagery in the first book.
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Yes.
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And I was like, this is gorgeous. Okay, I get it. I get it. And there were times in this book that I was like, this is too advanced for me. I do this as a living. And I was like, hold on. Okay, we're in the lake and the stones and the things. But we've gone down past it. But what is this pillar? And I granted, I was also reading that section on a plane, and I was, like, just kind of all over the place. But it wasn't that I felt like it wasn't well done. It was that I was not prepared for us to take it to another level. I was not prepared for us to dive deeper into that icy, like, in emotions and in imagery. And again, I'm excited to sit with it more and to dive in again together.
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B
To dive into the. That's so funny, because I remember you texting me, being like, I had to reread it. I had to reread that a couple of times. And it's funny because I was, like, very into it, which is very much my thing to, like, the world building and all of that.
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Yes.
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But I was like, okay, we've got pillars, and there looks like there's nests, and the nests have little eggs. And are they memories? What are they?
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A
Exactly.
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B
It was so fun to try and dissect. Also, it's interesting because, Christina, I remember us talking about this last summer, how you very much visualize a book like a movie in your head. And I don't see a moving image so much as I see clips.
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A
Yeah. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.
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Almost like stills from a movie. And so it's fascinating to me that when you're reading this, I thought you would have, like, this movie in your head. And for me, I thought it would be the opposite where, like, I would have a harder time visualizing it.
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Yes.
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Yeah.
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A
And again, that's why I'm excited to kind of dive back in. I do think that she does create such beautiful imagery in this book that I am excited to sit with it a little longer and again, to Appreciate what she's doing here because I think she is doing. She's took the first book and she's expanding on it. She's building the world out and she's also building out the imagery. She's taking the Other in general into such a gorgeous place. I mean, can you imagine if this was one book and we met the other SLA and then went through this entire journey with her in one book? I think it was cool that we got to sit with the other as this kind of vigilante, fierce, scary being and. And then now in this book got to understand that mothering arc and that beautiful like making space for liri and the protection and the. Oh, it's amazing.
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B
Slotra is so important. Yeah, no, she's so important to Elowen and to Rave. I'm really excited to deep dive into this. The parallels of both Slotra and Khan having known Elowen and now Raev and how differently they approach her. I do feel like Slotra and Khan approach her differently and I'm really excited to dive into this a bit more, but I feel like the way that they approach them differently actually is what pushes her. She needed both.
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Agreed.
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She needed both. The nurturing aspect. Not that Khan doesn't nurture and love her, but he pushes her sometimes a little bit more.
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And I think Slaughter pushes her a little bit sometimes too.
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She does, she does.
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A
Yeah. This episode is brought to you by Hatch. You know when you finish a romantasy and you just need the next thing immediately Hatch has made that thing. It's called Ophelia. An original audio drama inspired by Hamlet where Ophelia finally gets to be the main character. Forbidden magic, a crumbling kingdom, a slow burn love triangle with a prince and his very guarded, very intriguing best friend. The kind of love triangle where you will absolutely pick a side and you will absolutely not be quiet about it.
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B
Book one of the three part series is now available for free wherever you stream with new chapters dropping every Tuesday. For books two and three, check out Hatch co Ophelia.
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A
And on that I think that led to one of the most interesting scenes in book two, dynamic wise, which was this moment of Khan speaking to Slaatra through Rave as the other as Slotra, him recognizing it was Slotra, but she's in Rave's body, she's speaking through her. And that dynamic of that scene must have been just such a joy to write. That little nugget of fun because really those characters in that moment, there's truths coming out and he's like kneeling at some point, he's like, what are you? What is happening? And it was just the image of that. And he's speaking to Rave, but it's not Raven. She's like. Her eyes are otherworldly. And he's like, she's walking through fire. And it's just. It's so beautiful. And she's speaking as the other. She's like, oh, mate. To my precious one. It's just so much fun.
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Going back to what your original comment about having the other. I like that we ended book one with the other and not having a definitive answer whether or not she was Slotra. I mean, I. It was pretty clear in our minds.
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It was. But I do understand to the masses.
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Even Sarah said when we spoke with her, she was like. I mean, I feel like I laid the groundwork pretty well. Like I wasn't supposed to be this, you know, insane reveal. I think she did such a great job of laying those Easter eggs so that when you then pick it up in book two, it almost felt reassuring. Like, okay, Slaatra has had her.
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Yes.
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This has been Slotra. She has been there for Rave since she woke up.
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Yeah.
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Whether or not Rae realizes it. And then it's so fun to see. Fun's the wrong word. And it's so beautiful. And when you read Rafe realizing who Sloucher is through Lyri and bonding with Leary, it's such a beautiful moment. I'm just so excited to discuss all of the dragon bonding in great detail.
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Yeah. Oh, agreed. That was such a beautiful part of this book. Everything with her and Leary. Oh, my gosh. And the imagery as well. The moments of her climbing up this pillar and the way she made Kahn promise not to help her. And that moment also with the Malmer with Kahn right before when he kisses her.
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Yes.
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God, it's so good.
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I know. It's so good.
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But then she climbs all the way up there, and she has to appall. Apologize to Leary.
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She wants to set her free. She's like, I'm not gonna, you know, strap you down. I'm not gonna keep you captive or force myself to be your writer. Like, I'm gonna set you free.
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She cuts off the saddle, and it's because it's Rex still and it's so powerful. And then she saves her and got. It's just everything with that, like, kind of adventure tone of it that led into then the deep emotional tone of it. And that whole arc, that whole journey was so beautiful.
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I cannot wait to talk about Rave going wild. Feral.
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A
Oh, God. Rave going wild.
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It's gonna be great. That was another moment where Sarah said, hold my beer. You didn't think I'd do it, but I did it.
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Where the wild things are.
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Where the wild things are. Rave.
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Feral rave. You know, I have to say it was on my bingo card for FMC to eat raw meat twice in this book.
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Twice.
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Twice.
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Oh, God. The second time is so funny. So let's move on. Oh, POVs.
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Okay.
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This was another excellent part of the book. Was so fun to get all these new POVs. Who were you the most excited when
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A
we saw Pyrox come up? I was really excited about that. It just wasn't on my bingo card. Again, I wasn't expecting that. Also Grimm's. I wasn't expecting that either. Although Grimm's was.
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We had like two.
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A
Yeah, two. Although that was. Had to be very much setting up for next book, I think so. And if you've listened to our interview from Sarah, she loved writing Grimm's POVs and they're clearly very important to the story and they were a fun little escape adventure aspect to it. I think we wanted a little more concrete clues and confirmations of some things. But the way we ended Grimm's was clearly very important with the silver and the things.
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I think Sarah had so much fun because she knows where the story's going.
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Exactly.
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And we're like, but we want more. We have so many more questions.
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Yes.
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You gave us two chapters.
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Yes. Pyrox was probably one of the most fun. There's. I mean, really interesting other ones too.
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B
I appreciated getting the Scavenger King's pov. I think I was nervous going into this book because Rave just pushes everything down and I was unsure of how long it was going to take her to face past memories and for us to learn about her, which that was quickly assuage that, you know, worry because she does slowly but surely make her way through things. And we also get the Slotra also helps us with that. The Scavenger King I found really interesting because, you know, we love a really well written villain. No villain is a villain in their own own story. And there were so many layers to him and he's so evil. But then it was also really interesting to get his backstory and to see some of the parallels between him and kh. And I appreciated reading his POV chapters because I feel like it added another layer to the story that then made me appreciate Khan more even because of how much he was able to turn and go a different direction.
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Absolutely.
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Versus like The Scavenger King.
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I think they were incredibly well written. This is one of the most interesting villains we've read in a really long time because of that. Because it is so layered, and he was so unhinged, and he didn't know what he was gonna say or do. And he was just really interesting on Page, even if it was disturbing. And the fact that it was in third person was a very interesting piece that made it a little more disturbing and unhinged. You didn't know what was gonna happen. You weren't in his head. So when he did start screaming or when he did certain things, you were also right along there with him.
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B
He was unsettled.
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A
You were right along there with the other characters on Page. And I just. I agree the parallels there. It's gonna be very interesting to dissect. And just him in general getting his POV was something, again, I was not expecting. I know we got it in the epilogue, but I didn't know if that was just gonna be the epilogue and. Sorry, wait, you were relating this to Rave? Oh, no. You were saying you were nervous about Rave.
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B
Oh, I was saying I wasn't sure. When we got the Scavenger King pov, I knew his obsession with Rave would probably give us some insight into what happened with him and her. And so I was curious to see, you know, what information he would give us on her and her time spent when she was captured with him. Got it. Because I just didn't think Rave would go there yet. I didn't think she was willing to face that her Firelark years. And so I was kind of trusting that Sarah was almost gonna bring us around in another way, using the Scavenger King King, which we did. She used him in a lot of different ways. We got him with Kazari Veya. I kind of just appreciated him as a character to help move us along with character development. And that's why I liked him.
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A
And he did it in a really interesting way. What other. What other POV did you like? Anna?
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Yeah. No, the one I could have used more of is the silver ribbon Sarah.
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A
When I saw that there was a silver ribbon pov, I was like, Anna in her sleuthness is gonna be 11, in her prime. She's gonna be. Be losing it. The fact that we get a whole silver ribbon pov, because, friends, in our chapter of Chats, as we were reading along, the amount of times that Anna talked about silver, which, granted, silver is very important, we still don't know what it is. We still don't know what it does. It's a healing properties. It's also maybe resurrection but also somehow important in the sky and the, the aurora Kalis and everything. But Anna's really hyper focused fixation on the silver. When I saw we were getting a silver ribbon pov, I was like, she is going to get so many answers. That didn't exactly happen.
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B
Nope, nope. I turned the page, I said, what? That's it?
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A
I was like, incredible.
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B
It's like it strikes Grim and then it strikes his new dragon that he bonds with and it's like. And their time will be important. They don't know what it's for yet. This is the silver ribbon. I was like, but what is it for exactly? It's all meant to be. And I'm like, what is meant to be?
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A
What do you mean? I do think we got a lot of of talk of destiny in this book. There was a lot of like, this is what's meant to be. And so then this puzzle piece has to inform this. And if this means this and this, there's a lot of like the book of Void and that there's what is time and time.
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B
What is time?
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A
What is space? What is space and who is who to who. And it's like all very like everything is as it should be and it's recurring and you can't change fate, but also fate might not be kind to you. And there's just like all of this stuff that I am really hoping and I am excited to see all come together in the next book. I think right now there's a lot of tendrils out there. There's a lot of silver ribbons.
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B
There's a lot. You know what? There's a lot of silver ribbons.
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A
There's a lot of silver ribbons that I think I'm hoping we can just tie up in a nice little bow next book and we'll be able to look back and see all the clues here. Oh yeah. Because I think in book one we left with some questions that were answered in book two. I do feel validated in that I feel like she's giving us payoffs as we go. However, we're leaving book two with way more questions than I had at the end of book one.
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B
I agree.
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A
And I think that's the sign of a good middle book and it makes me excited for book 3. Assuming we can tie them all up in a nice little bow.
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B
I'm very much excited. I'm looking forward to the silver bow we're gonna get at the end of
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A
this Better be a big, pretty bow.
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B
Better. Big silver, pretty bow. Oh, my gosh.
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A
Okay, so we got some great POVs. We also got some fun new side characters. I loved getting to see Rhone getting Pyrock's brother and getting all of these different fun dynamics with him being involved. And he's like this sweet little nerdy guy with the Book of Void. And it was just. I loved all of those dynamics.
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B
Oh, he was one of my favorite additions to the book. I don't need his POV in the next one by any means. I just loved him on page, though. I just kept picturing him as this kind of like, maybe handsome nerd and who would like push his glasses up and be kind of just be like, yes. You know, just like.
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A
I don't know if he needs a sniffle, but no, I very much picture him. Here's who he is in my head. He is Jonathan Bailey in the new Jurassic park movie.
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B
Oh, my God. That's what I was picturing too. In robes.
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A
Yes, in robes. And he's very, like nerdy, but he's also very handsome. But he's very serious about the nerdiness. And he's got his cute little wire rimmed circle glasses. Yes. And he's just like funny and cute and also nerdy.
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B
He keeps taking them off to polish the glass and put them back on. I just loved how much he and Pyrick gave each other shit. They were such siblings and they both kind of ragged on each other. And Pyrek is much more socially aware than Rhone. And Rhone had this really great dry delivery. You know, One of my favorite moments is where Rave goes in to get the Book of Void after they're escaping and. As if she's barely met Rhone.
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A
Yes.
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B
And Khan screams like rave, like, don't touch it. And she grabs it and nothing happens. Nothing bad happens because she's a special little flower. And Rhone is looking at her like, what? How did you. What that you're supposed to be dead?
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A
Cause she's special.
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B
She literally says, what? Like it's hard? I mean, not literally that, but it's very similar to Lili Blonde.
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A
What?
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B
Like it's hard?
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A
Yeah.
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B
And she just. He's just like, yes, everyone dies when
- [23:54]
A
they touch the Book of Void. Yes. He was wonderful. I loved seeing him and Pyrox Dynamics together and just everything. Avi was really fun addition. I love the use of Avi in plot and also in emotional character development. Getting to see, you know, Raf kind of mother him a little bit. I also loved getting to see all of the different members of Khan's family at that, like, dragon Outpost that was really giving how to Train youn Dragon all of like his little niece and get him getting to see Khan sing to her. And that was another beautiful moment of getting to see him kind of lean into the fatherhood he never got to have, which that he does get to have at the end, but he doesn't know. And it's a whole. God damn it. It's so beautiful. But I loved getting to see her expand the world in that way with these different characters. She took what we were already doing with Veya and. And all these people we already know and kept them going, but also expanded it a little bit as well and gave us these new fun people to play with. And they all had a purpose. I think Avi is gonna be very important. Again, Silver. We still don't know what his connection is.
- [24:59]
B
He's got silver eyes, silver hair. He says he has a song in him. And I was like, I'm ready for it.
- [25:06]
A
What is the song?
- [25:07]
B
Sing me your silver songs.
- [25:09]
A
Sing it, Avi. I love him also. He's like, no one understands that I can do these things. Not like your other. She understands. It's all very, very interesting. Yeah.
- [25:18]
B
I'm excited to. I hope we get more of him in the next book. Like, I hope he becomes a part of their little ragtag team. You know, I think he's going to
- [25:25]
A
be adopted into the group for sure. This episode is brought to you by Hatch. You know when you finish a romantasy and you just need the next thing immediately. Hatch has made that thing. It's called Ophelia. An original audio drama inspired by by Hamlet where Ophelia finally gets to be the main character. Forbidden magic, a crumbling kingdom, a slow burn love triangle with a prince and his very guarded, very intriguing best friend. The kind of love triangle where you will absolutely pick a side and you will absolutely not be quiet about it.
- [25:58]
B
Book one of the three part series is now available for free wherever you stream with new chapters dropping every Tuesday. For books two and three, check out Hatch Co ophelies. My hope for Avi is that Raev and Khan get to look after him. Yeah, I'm not trying to replace Kaisari, but I think there's a rave. I think just. I think there is an innate nurture side to her that she looks after. Essie Fallon.
- [26:22]
A
We've talked about Essie.
- [26:22]
B
Oh God. You guys just wait for that that's coming. And then seeing her with Avi, I just. I don't know. I hope we get to see more of him with Khan. I think he also deserves a little kindness and love. He seems to be so old for his age, is what Rave even says. He sees things and experiences things that children his age should not be experiencing. And I do love the idea that possibly Rave and Kahn could kind of create a safe space for him in the future, in the next book.
- [26:50]
A
I love that. I agree. I also think that kind of leads into our moment at the end. That is so heartbreaking. One of the most heartbreaking lines in this book to me was Raev seeing Kaysari and thinking, we missed it. We missed all of it. She is an adult. She's in love, and, like, we can still be her parents now, but we missed everything leading up to here.
- [27:12]
B
All of the formative years done, and
- [27:14]
A
it just wrecked me. Like, I have goosebumps in the worst way right now. Like, the idea of. It's just so heartbreaking, that line. And not that getting that with Avi would replace that. But it is this opportunity for them to have it in a different way, in a different relationship, in a completely different formative year experience. But I do think it's something innately, like you said in both of them, to provide it. And I think Avi needs it. And it could be a really interesting connection to get to see on page.
- [27:39]
B
Well, it should just help a child who. He's too wise for his years. Every child wants to be a child, you know, and not every child has a good situation where they get to be a child. And I feel like Avi has been through so much, and I think he deserves a little rest. Yeah. Is the best way to put it.
- [27:55]
A
I'm sure that is difficult when you can see all the futures and all the timelines and all the ribbons.
- [28:00]
B
You know, he needs, like, a million iron rings on his hands because actually, he might be a special flower where they don't work, but I don't know.
- [28:06]
A
Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, how do you raise a child that's like, oh, no, I know exactly what you're gonna do and what you're gonna say, what you're thinking, and you're like, damn it.
- [28:13]
B
Can you imagine trying to parent them in their teenage years? Forget it.
- [28:16]
A
Yeah. Or even a toddler where I'm like, okay. Oh, and do you want a Popsicle? Then you have to clean up. And he's like, oh, cool. I actually know that they're in the fridge in the garage now, because you just thought that. So I'm Just gonna go get it myself. And actually, I know that you've been hiding them back there for a week, like just P by one. So I don't get five.
- [28:34]
B
That's so funny.
- [28:35]
A
Do you have any favorite quotes, Anna? What are some quotes that stick out to you? There's so many beautiful ones, but if you had to pick, there are so
- [28:41]
B
many incredible, beautiful ones that I highlighted for imagery purposes and then ones that speak on grief specifically, because there's a lot of talk of grief in this book. But for this episode, I want to kind of keep it a little bit more upbeat. I have favorite quotes for different reasons, and so I have some here that I just thought were really fun. Okay.
- [29:01]
A
Fun.
- [29:02]
B
And added like beautiful kind of levity to a. Maybe like a darker situation.
- [29:07]
A
Yes.
- [29:07]
B
Or a more action packed situation.
- [29:09]
A
She does a good job of that.
- [29:10]
B
Yeah, she does a really good job of that. But I loved this one in particular because I feel like it was a great example of Khan and Rave's relationship. So Khan is talking to her. This is after the bonding with Liri, and she's kind of gone a little wild.
- [29:25]
A
A little.
- [29:26]
B
He says, though you hide it well, your heart is bound and your love has the power to shape worlds. But not if you keep finding ways to run from the things that make you feel. And then Rave's eyes, like, flare up and she goes, fuck you.
- [29:40]
A
Yeah.
- [29:41]
B
And he says, anytime, any place, any lifetime, so long as you're not fucking me as a means of saying goodbye, I'm yours to defile as you see fit. And I just. I love their playfulness. And I feel like this is a great representation of. Of Khan not shying away from hard conversations with Rave and also pushing her a little bit and wanting her to be vulnerable. And then also Rave, Yes. Not being afraid to show her sassier kind of gruffer side. And she's just like, fuck you. She's impulsive. And then Ka not taking the bait and being like, sure, Moonbeam, anytime, anyplace, anywhere. Like, let's go.
- [30:23]
A
Yeah, it's good. Sexy, but also pushing her, but also so romantic when he's like, any lifetime. It's just. It's like she layers it in there so well. Yeah, I agree. I think there's so many beautiful moments here that showcase them as a couple. And again, I'm excited to discuss the parallels of them as a couple here and how he was as a couple with Elowyn and how Rave is not Elowyn and how their dynamic works so differently here. You know, Elowyn would not have probably in that moment said, fuck you. Like, that probably wouldn't have been Elowyn's response, you know, and it is Rave's, and he loves that about Elowen and he loves this about Rave, and they are two separate relationships because Khan is not the same person he was when he was with Elowyn. That really, really shined through in this book. Him and Rave's dynamic and what it is separately and how they match each other and how they're on the same level in battle and in Sass and in all these different pieces. And this is agreed, a good moment.
- [31:17]
B
They match each other really, really well.
- [31:19]
A
Yes, that moment really shows it as well. There's so many of them and there's just like so many fun, beautiful, adventure moments with them in this book. Yes, I love Elowyn. I do. I love her, but I don't think she could have kept up in this book.
- [31:30]
B
You know, we asked Sarah this, and then I thought about it after we got off our interview. We asked her, is there a character you wish you could save from their own fate? And I'll let you all go listen to her answer. But I thought about this afterwards and I was like, would I save Elowen if I could save Elowen and Khan? But then without Elowen and Kahn and what Elowen goes through, I mean, yes, they would be happy and it would be. Be a totally alternate universe, but I don't know if Khan would have taken over the Burn and freed all those people in the same way that he did. You know, like, he really. The Burn was a horrible place. His father was a horrible man, I should say. And therefore, the Burn was not a great place to be. And so without Elowen going through the things that she went through and dying and coming back, and with Brave, I don't know, the butterfly effect, you know, hindsight, whatever. I loved Kahn and Elowen. They were so, so sweet. But there's something about Rave and Khan that, to me, feels more real, the way that they come at each other. But we only got snippets of a diary entry. But I just really love Raven Khan.
- [32:34]
A
Yeah. And I think it's really telling that how Sarah speaks of them as two completely separate relationships. She's like, they are completely separate people. They're completely separate characters. They are, and it's true. And they are. They have absolutely lived two very separate lives. And it's really interesting to think about the fact that they're the same person, but that's because really they've lived, lived such different lives and they have resulted in such different aspects here. One of our favorite other adventure moments that led to a fun quote, Anna, is this one with the worm.
- [32:59]
B
Oh, my God. Well, and this is another one of those where I think Sarah has just a great grasp on language and she's just so funny. The worm thing kind of bites rave and she goes, the bitch cut me. Although she wounded me. All I can picture is that same honed tip gutting the warm hearted king who won't take his gallant rescuing with a smile and a wave. He has a territory to consider folk who love him. I have a few blades, a bad attitude and a bloodlusting itch that won't piss off. And then she like screams. And it's a very like Lord of the Rings moment with Gandalf where he's like, you shall not pass.
- [33:33]
A
But she goes, you can't have him, it's so good.
- [33:37]
B
And she screams. And then she defends and uses all of her elemental song power.
- [33:41]
A
Very cool.
- [33:42]
B
To get the worm to go away. And she stares it down and it like retreats, which you're not supposed to
- [33:48]
A
be able to stare at it, which
- [33:49]
B
you're not supposed to do. But she's a special flower.
- [33:51]
A
She is. I love this scene, this whole thing. Agreed. This was one of the most fun action scenes. And it also propelled their dynamic con and raves into this place where they are so fiercely protecting each other. And they're like, will you just stop trying to die? I'm trying to protect you. You stop dying to die. I'm trying to protect you. And it just made their relationship and their dynamic in this book flow so easily. And Sarah talked about that as well in our interview, about that element of them as a relationship. And when she found that in them in this book, everything else kind of fell into place. I loved that moment.
- [34:24]
B
I did too.
- [34:25]
A
There's a lot of fun action scenes in this. Again, she really weaves those in so beautifully. Like, you know, Khan getting to see Ray fight. There's Abhi's rescue.
- [34:32]
B
Oh, yeah. Avi's rescue is so great.
- [34:33]
A
The whole thing in the Citadel, there's just so many different, beautiful. It's so good. Oh, so many levels. And there's a lot of fun reveals in this book. Our favorite one.
- [34:42]
B
Oh, yeah. B.
- [34:44]
A
That friends.
- [34:45]
B
Essie.
- [34:45]
A
Essie's alive.
- [34:46]
B
She's alive.
- [34:47]
A
Essie lives the journey. Oh, my God.
- [34:51]
B
Reading Pyrex chapter. And she shows up and I was like, hold on. Like, why are we you burned this place to the ground. Oh, I still don't understand that aspect. I'm like, how did it survive? Did Essie rebuild it magically? I don't understand.
- [35:05]
A
I feel like maybe she just burned the attic. Okay, sorry. We'll get there.
- [35:08]
B
That's what I think. We talked about that in our chapter.
- [35:09]
A
There's levels, there's layers. Yeah.
- [35:11]
B
Maybe there's a fire door.
- [35:12]
A
Like, I don't know. There's lots of runes. I don't know exactly.
- [35:15]
B
But when Pyrek goes up and then it's. Essie jumps on him and he's. It's like this little person. I imagine Pyre being like a bigger guy. Like, you know, just like really strong and tall and big and all around. And then he gets, like, straddled by this little fire. He says, her hair is wild.
- [35:31]
A
I love it.
- [35:32]
B
And she has a knife to his throat. And then she starts smelling him. Like, deeply smelling him. And he's like, um, okay, can you, like, stop it? Because it's like she's, like, sniffing his neck.
- [35:42]
A
And he's kind of like, yes, he
- [35:44]
B
thinks she's really pretty. And he's like, okay, but like, ma', am, ma', am, we just met.
- [35:47]
A
I can't even tell you when we got to there.
- [35:49]
B
So.
- [35:49]
A
Okay. We saw Essie on Page. You were like, huh? What is this? How is this working? And I just started screaming like I was losing my damn mind that she was alive. And then when she starts smelling, I was like, oh, she's not alive. She's more being than alive. Like something's happened to her. The fact that she's smelling him, like, almost feral, like something's happening.
- [36:03]
B
Yeah, I was like, she's a blood flow lace. She's a blood lace,
- [36:07]
A
but, like, really powerful.
- [36:09]
B
And then he's, like, sniffing at it that she's like, you smell like rave. And he's like, yeah. I was like, just with her. And she's like, no, she's dead. They both think each other died.
- [36:18]
A
I loved this. And poor Essie's been, like, beautiful.
- [36:20]
B
I'm also picturing this poor girl also. She's. We thought she was a child for some reason. Not a child, but, like 15 or 16. She's not. She's a young adult. Very much so.
- [36:30]
A
She's in her 20s, mid-20s for FAE
- [36:32]
B
years, whatever that is is. But she's. I just am like, does she begin to, like, hold up in this house? And it's interesting because he says when he walks in, doesn't he smell like Baked goods and baking.
- [36:43]
A
Because she. She used to bake that bread.
- [36:44]
B
Right.
- [36:44]
A
For Rave as well.
- [36:46]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [36:46]
A
I think she's late. I think she's left. I think that's how she got the news that Rave was eaten by the dragon.
- [36:51]
B
Oh, that's right.
- [36:52]
A
And then she's kind of gone back and forth to her little lair. But I am absolutely dying to figure this out. So we think she's an Elden bird. She has to be an Elden bird. And. But then I'm wondering, like, is there. There's so many again that once we have a second to sit with it, we will deep dive. But the fact that she is like, you smell like rave. There's something there with. I think Rave, by burning her, turned her into the Elding bird.
- [37:16]
B
Oh, for sure. Because she says, put me someplace warm.
- [37:20]
A
But is that connection there the same that almost the Elding bird had with Arcann? Like, they're connected because they burned each. Like he burned that one. I don't know. I am just very excited to dissect everything having to do with her being the Elden bird and go back and look at the scene in the first book. Like, immediately we went to reread it, and it's really interesting, the things she even layers in there.
- [37:42]
B
It was really fun to talk with Sarah about this because she was like, yeah, if you go back and reread, like, Essie literally says, put me someplace warm.
- [37:49]
A
Right? And we were like, oh, that's so sad.
- [37:51]
B
Well, it's so funny, Christina, because I was re Editing some of our when the moon hatched episodes, and I got to the part where we talk about Essie.
- [37:57]
A
Yeah.
- [37:57]
B
We are sobbing when I say, like, we're crying reading this. And then I literally said, well, I always say, show me the body. And Sarah did the way the one time.
- [38:12]
A
Incredible. Incredible.
- [38:13]
B
And I was like, well, no, actually, she didn't, because you didn't. Like, she came back, so.
- [38:18]
A
But also. Okay, she didn't because if you go back and reread, it's like. And then Rav pictured this happening and pictured this happening, and also that she did come back as nothing bird. So there's just so many layers here. I'm so excited to dissect it and again, go back and go through all the clues because S. Essie is alive. That is the big takeaway here. That's my big takeaway at the moment. I can't believe it.
- [38:38]
B
Essie is alive, friends.
- [38:38]
A
I'm just picturing Pyrek and Essie walking up and Rave being like, it's gonna be so good.
- [38:44]
B
Oh, yeah. I can't wait for the next book. Because now Essie obviously knows that Rave is alive, but Rave has no idea.
- [38:50]
A
Yeah, well, apparently they could be decapitated and then turn into an Eldenbird still. So what are the rules?
- [38:55]
B
And now they have their own Elding bird, because the Arken's Elding bird. I don't know what happens with Eldingbirds if once they die, they fully die. That's what we think happens with Archin, which we will deep dive that.
- [39:08]
A
Wait, don't they have two Elding birds now that have Essie and Pyrok? We think she turned Pyrokk into a bird.
- [39:13]
B
We think Pyrok might have been turned into an Eldingbird. There is some.
- [39:16]
A
I think so.
- [39:17]
B
There is definitely some evidence that could support that. So I'm very excited to dive into all of the ending, all of the things that happen. There's Essie, Eldingbird, Hadean. Hadean's back doesn't seem to have any memories.
- [39:32]
A
Oh, God. And Serene finds him the same way she found. Oh, the same way she found Rave. It's just not good. It's not good.
- [39:40]
B
Yeah. No, it's not. It's not good. Arcann was beheaded, but then possibly is resurrected by Serene. I think. So I guess my question is how many times can a Elding bird be resurrected or something? The limit does not exist. Possibly. I am curious to know. Yeah.
- [40:00]
A
All right. So I think from here we are gonna sign off, friends. Reminder that we do have our Sarah A. Parker interviews. Two of them. One from when the Moon Hatched, one from the Ballad of Falling Dragons. We also have all our chapter chats over on Patreon and we do have our upcoming main feed episodes, book club breakdowns covering the whole book. So we hope you've enjoyed this and we will see you next time for our book club covering the Ballad of Falling Dragons.
- [40:27]
B
Cheers.
- [40:27]
A
Yay.
- [40:28]
B
Bye.
- [40:29]
D
Well, friends, that wraps up another episode of Flights of Fantasy podcast. Don't forget to join our book club community on Instagram and TikTok at flights of Fantasy Podcast where you can share your thoughts, theories and favorite moments with us and fellow listeners. We'd love to hear from you if you enjoyed today's episode. Please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Your support helps us spread the magic over and over fantasy to even more book lovers. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep reading, and remember, every good story deserves to take flight.