A RED-ROSE CHAIN open thread!

Well worth the wait! The amount of work put in by the author is much appreciated. :)

So, I downloaded the book at about 30 seconds after midnight, settled in for some late-night reading…and, eventually, had to put the book away temporarily and go to sleep because it was getting TOO CREEPY TO READ in my dark, silent house with everyone else asleep. I was able to pick it up again in the morning light.

This is not a criticism, by the way! This is me being a wimp. :) It takes some skilled writing to pull off a horror story with no visuals as you ratchet the tension up slowly but surely. Now that I have read the book once and know the ending, I'll be less of a coward in the future. But wow…though I know this was unintentional, the book serves as a lovely indirect tribute to Wes Craven (with a dash of that Buffy episode in the alternate universe in which the Master was draining humans of blood with surgical efficiency…). Good thing Toby is equipped to do more than just scream.

In non-terrifying news….Toby doesn't drink coffee any more?!? YOW, talk about a buried twist (at least from my perspective). Okay, I went back and checked, and Toby DOES say in A Winter Long that she wasn't drinking coffee much any more, but somehow I missed that before. Fear of caffeine addiction following the goblin fruit experience, or just lack of need to stay up during the day as of late? I'm enjoying the process of speculation.

Ceres is a delight -- nice to meet another Blodynbryd. And the twist with Walther was beautifully handled -- especially given that, while we all love Quentin, Toby really didn't need ANOTHER secret heir to the throne among her retinue. I really liked the fact that Walther was key to their success not because of who he was related to, but because of what he could conjure up with his mind and abilities.

Is this the first book in which Sylvester doesn't appear in person? I think so.

So, let's see. There were two months in between books 6 and 7, four between 7 and 8 and three between 8 and 9. Going at that average rate, book 10 should just hit the time at which Chelsea and Etienne get their powers back. In addition, the issue of the Selkies and the Luidaeg's wishes for Toby's involvement has hit midnight timewise, even if the Luidaeg hasn't specified her wishes (yet). On top of that, it is now possible to wake up Nolan (who should be delighted at what has transpired), Simon and Rayseline. Once Broken Faith is going to be a humdinger.

I seem to recall that the goblin fruit completely overrode Toby's caffeine addiction, so when she recovered from that she didn't need to drink coffee any more, physiologically or psychologically. There's no point in deliberately reacquiring a drug addiction when she could avoid it.

I am super concerned about Rayseline, and to a lesser degree Simon. We shall see!

We shall see indeed. I very much hope that when Raysel awakens she will be better. Toby's conversation with her when she shifted her blood seemed to indicate that was very possible. I've always felt very sorry for the poor girl. There's been discussion about her instability due to her mixed blood, but the truth is we'll never know how she might have turned out if she hadn't been kidnapped and tormented for years. I hope that will be taken into account, if she does stand trial for her crimes. She did a lot of terrible things, yes, but she's still very much a a victim.

I seem to remember that Seanan has indicated that Raysel is a favorite of hers, so I think your hope is likely to bear fruit. In One Salt Sea, it was specifically indicated that Raysel (presumably) didn't know the elf-shot she was using was deadly to the fae when she shot the female Selkie. I believe the only other people she shot at were Gillian (not subject to Oberon's Law, and not dead as a result) and Toby (same sitch as Gillian). In the latter case, Raysel hit Connor instead and did kill him, but one could argue that that was an accident. And yes, she tried to kill Luna, but Luna's not going to want Raysel prosecuted for that. I also have a soft spot for Raysel, especially after Toby looked through her Shadowed Hills quarters in OSS and found her journal.

I really, really, really want to know why Eira wanted Luna and Rayseline locked away. Just to destabilize the Mists by taking Sylvester out of the equation for a while? Or did she want to make sure that Raysel wouldn't be a fit heir for Shadowed Hills?

Like I said, I feel sorry for Raysel, and she is vary much a victim in all this. However, I don't think 'It was an accident" will, or should, allow her to escape without consequences. That's fine if we're talking about dropping a hammer while you're working on the roof and hitting someone in the head, or tripping over the rug and knocking someone down a flight of stairs, but shooting an arrow at someone is a crime, whether your intent was to kill or not. I seriously doubt the fact that one of her targets was human and the other a changeling will carry much weight in Arden's court, especially when the changeling was Toby and the human was her child.

But Raysel's ordeal should be factored in when it comes time to mete out justice. I believe it will, especially if Toby changing her blood has stabilized her, and she shows genuine remorse for her actions.

And yeah, I want to know what the point of it was. Destabilizing Shadowed Hills is certainly a possibility, but why? It's just one duchy, so how would this have figured into the grand evil plot? Toby is the only answer I've got. She is sworn to Shadowed Hills, the Torquills have been her family for a long time, and now Luna hates her, she can't stand to be near Sylvester and Raysel ... we just don't know yet. It all comes back to Toby, somehow...

That came to me the morning after I finished it - "Oh crap - now Rayselline isn't on hold any more"

Followed by the long list of people who now have the possibility to turn up and make life more complicated.

And now I'm worried about Walther and people who have a vested interest in the "cure" NOT getting out

I'm really curious to hear the experiences of someone waking up from elfshot after a hundred years. I look forward to Nolan's awakening.

I sorta think August may be elf-shot somewhere.

The Luidaeg specifically says August hasn't been elf-shot in The Winter Long.