Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: busy
  • Music: The theme from Pokemon X.

PARASITE open thread!

To (somewhat belatedly) celebrate the release of Parasite, here. Have an open thread to discuss the book.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

Seriously. If anyone comments here at all, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. So please don't read and then yell at me because you encountered spoilers. You were warned. (I will not reply to every comment; I call partial comment amnesty. But I may well join some of the discussion, or answer questions or whatnot.)

You can also start a book discussion at my website forums, with less need to be concerned that I will see everything you say! In case you wanted, you know, discussion free of authorial influence, since I always wind up getting involved in these things.

Have fun!
Tags: mira grant, pandemic time, parasite
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  • 97 comments

morningapproach

November 12 2013, 16:45:49 UTC 3 years ago

I read the book in 2 days, just after it came out. I really enjoyed it, but I wanted to scream at how predictable it was, her being a tapeworm. Right at the prologue I got it, and I understood where the book was going. I get the reveal for the character was important, but I wanted there to be more of a suspense and a twist for the reader.

There was one thing I was confused about. It said that Sherman left Cale's lab just before Sal's accident, but for some reason I thought that Sal was the first tapeworm to activate all the way and be successful in the reanimation.

seanan_mcguire

November 12 2013, 18:14:31 UTC 3 years ago

Sal was the first implant to successfully take over her host without any medical intervention. She did it all on her own. She's an achiever, our Sal.

I get that tomato in the mirror is a classic trope, but there's a reason for that. I'm sorry you found it so predictable. I've never claimed to write "twist" books; thus far, I don't think I ever have. Sal would have shattered if she'd figured out her own nature any earlier than she did, and Sal was the character I wanted to write this time. She's not an action girl or a hard girl; she needed to be eased into things.

There are many ways of being strong.

morningapproach

November 12 2013, 19:50:02 UTC 3 years ago

Predictable does not equal unenjoyable. I enjoyed the book very very much. I liked Sal's strength, and I greatly admired her for it, and I felt that her strength came through in most places. At some points I wished I could smack her and yell at her to see the obvious, but I also wanted to have her find the truth on her own. I was warring with myself the whole time, it felt lol.

Did her boyfriend know the whole time that she was a tapeworm?

seanan_mcguire

November 12 2013, 19:52:19 UTC 3 years ago

No, he found out from his mother.

morningapproach

November 12 2013, 19:58:04 UTC 3 years ago

Okay, I thought he found out on their first visit there, and then he was shielding her from finding out too soon, but I wasn't 100% sure.

ironed_orchid

December 12 2013, 11:29:37 UTC 3 years ago

first implant to successfully take over her host without any medical intervention

That's a nice distinction.