Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: awake
  • Music: Carbon Leaf, "Istanbul."

SYMBIONT open thread!

To celebrate the release of Symbiont, here. Have an open thread to discuss the book. Because nothing says "Thanksgiving" like "tapeworms." Judging by the comments I'm seeing, some of you have had time, and I'd really, really rather book discussion (sometimes including spoilers) didn't crop up on other posts.

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.) I will be DELETING all comments containing spoilers which have been left on other posts. No one gets to spoil people here without a label.

You can also start a 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, and try not to bleed on the carpet.
Tags: discussion post, mira grant, symbiont
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  • 29 comments

beachlass

December 2 2014, 00:39:34 UTC 2 years ago

Finished Symbiont this morning and lovedlovedloved it. Thoroughly enjoyed rereading Parasite in November in preparation.

I love how Sal's growing independence adds complexity to her relationship with Nathan; and how we never lose track of her commitment to animals even though her work at the shelter is gone (for now) - it is still a major reference point for her.

And Dr. Cale. A problem too big to solve in her lifetime, a fully equipped lab and no oversight. God save us all from having what we wish for...

kassrachel

December 3 2014, 00:09:45 UTC 2 years ago

I loved it too, omg! I enjoyed the first book, but found this one completely riveting. I had not been spoiled for the fact that the duology had grown into a trilogy, and as I was approaching the end I kept thinking "how on earth is she going to tie all of this up?!" ...and then I realized the obvious answer: in another book. *grin*

I loved so many things. The fact that using the right pronoun for Ronnie made him disposed to give Sal a leg up on running away. Sal and Nathan and their brief stolen moments of adorability. The fucking candy factory I can't even. :-)

Also I am totally fascinated now by the fact that I find tapeworms-as-contagion / zombifying-vector sooooo much more interesting than tapeworms by themselves or for that matter zombies by themselves. Maybe because the zombies in the Newsflesh trilogy were basically lost, whereas it's clear that the tapeworms are people, and that there may be hope for some of the sleepwalkers to awake as a whole new species of being, which is just...fascinating.

That said, omg, Sherman freaks me the fuck out.

And I am so angry at what Dr. Banks did to Tansy, I can't even.

I cannot wait for the next book! And I am delighted that the press has presumably already told Seanan that they will publish it, because more income for Seanan + more fic for us = awesome in every way.

phoenix_singing

December 3 2014, 13:35:07 UTC 2 years ago

It's a really interesting take on zombies, isn't it? "Not quite zombies because they're being driven by tapeworms who may or may not wake up and become chimera" is definitely not something I've seen before and it's fascinating.

And I am so angry at what Dr. Banks did to Tansy, I can't even.

Seriously. What kind of monster? D: I hope all the horribleness he's done comes back and bites him really hard in the last book (and I hope somehow Tansy gets to be the one to deliver his helping of karma).

jenk

December 11 2014, 04:44:52 UTC 2 years ago

When we saw the note from Dr Banks about how Tansy wasn't human and therefore SymboGen didn't need to worry about ethical needs for anesthesia or pain relief... yeah. NOT good.