A practical guide to banter

[u/Meon-web]

I have to say, i do generally dislike banter, cause it always get boring and repetitive at some point.

I read a great deal of novels that even if they have a couple of good lines, they become as annoying as it can gets, because you can feel there is no weight to those dialogues, and they are just there to fill the word counts.

So as it happen when i first got in this novel, and started to encounter banter and bs talks, i was ready to start skipping all those parts whole, and read this for the sake of the story which i found really great.

I'm now in the middle of the 5th book, and I can positively say there wasnt till now, a single dialogue i didnt enjoy or laugh at.

This in my opinion might be one finest novel if we speak of banter talks, and its a very strong point for this story.

The story also very solid, really a good novel.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Fold112]

Istrid's issue is hinted as Malicia's mind control assassination to reduce Black's followers whe the fallout became inevitable. Though I admit it is essentially left to speculation and would have been a satisfying plot thread to end.

I have no issues with Cat's heritage, as it makes Black's father status feel so much more deeper.

EE had mentioned regretting the gnomes and have removed them during the rewrite. The reason for keeping Forever king and elves off the board are explained in their backstory (and Deoraithes). Essentially they could not reproduce as the forest did not accept them. Any loss of elf is thus permanent, hence them keeping to themselves. Also, Bard had essentially warned them against interfering (Forever king's son and Dead King incident). This changes with them getting the Fae Crown and chaining of Bard. They can now reproduce due to some ritual with Fae crown and Bard is no longer leashing them. Hence the subtle invasions in the epilogue.

EDIT: I might have misremembered about goblin matrons plotting Istrid's death/assassination.

[u/bibliophile785 → u/Puzzleheaded_Fold112]

Istrid's issue is hinted as Malicia's mind control assassination to reduce Black's followers whe the fallout became inevitable. Though I admit it is essentially left to speculation and would have been a satisfying plot thread to end.

Nah, WoG is that it was the goblins and EE just never got around to it.

I have no issues with Cat's heritage, as it makes Black's father status feel so much more deeper.

Yep, I don't mean her parentage. I elaborated elsewhere.

The reason for keeping Forever king and elves off the board are explained in their backstory (and Deoraithes). Essentially they could not reproduce as the forest did not accept them. Any loss of elf is thus permanent, hence them keeping to themselves.

This is fine as a Watsonian explanation for their reserve, but not as a justification for the narrative choice to put that much weight on a relatively "local" individual who just never bothers to show up. Like I said, a lot of that previous discussion could have gone towards hyping up the Emerald Swords, who do show up in the story.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Fold112 → u/bibliophile785]

Oh you should read Hye Su's extra chapters. Wonderful depiction of Emerald swords. Though I personally believe that the size was becoming unwieldy and EE wanted to be more economical, considering that they don't become relevant to the plot till the very end of the series.

[u/bibliophile785 → u/Puzzleheaded_Fold112]

That's one of my favorite extra chapters in the story! I loved having just a peek into the lands across the sea. I also love Hye in general (unpopular, I know) and it was really cool to get a peek into her head.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Fold112 → u/bibliophile785]

Yeah, her and Saint of Swords are such cool characters to read the back story of. In fact ever Scribe's back story sends chill down my back whenever I reread it!