Re: Heart of Obsidian book discussion thread. SPOILER HEAVY!!

[CassB]

True, very true, but I recently read the Q&A from March (it is posted in the interview section of this forum) and I am inclined to think that HoO will be heavy emotionally. So the only similarity may be that the two are the most emotionally dark of the series.

[CassB]

This may or may not be relevant, but the ability to peek inside HoO on German Amazon has disappeared. It is almost like it was removed because the spoilers were spreading, but it seems far too late. Just thought it was strange.

[syaffolee]

Here's an interesting review on HoO in Heroes and Heartbreakers: http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/blogs/2013/05/first-look-nalini-singhs-heart-of-obsidian-june-4-2013

And it even has quotes directly from the text!

[CassB]

Thanks for the link! It is great. I posted it over on GR and people were really excited, so thanks from there too.

[Yurice]

Dorian said: "It felt like warmth spreading inside me shoving out the rage. I can think again."
She took some of the pain away from him - before the pack would have done the same ...
I think, Sascha just enabled him to begin healing himself, finding peace without being blinded by the rage. She didn't force it on him.

I would like to watch Kaleb being showered with rainbowsparks. Guess, it would annoy him very much :-)

Dorian said : "Like someone took the pain and left...peace behind." And Tamsyn said that she doesn't know anyone who can do what Dorian described.
So yes, the pack would have helped Dorian cope, but they're not about to incise his emotions out even if they're so negative he couldn't think straight, and replace it with peace.

In another example, when Hawke asked for proof, she drew away the anger and violence and gave back joy, laughter, pleasure. Yes, he reacted by pushing her back, and so he should.

It may sound nice and all, but personally, I think our emotions should be our own, whether positive or negative, not placed there by someone else. I find E Psy really creepy. No matter how it's written that Sascha won't betray confidences, it doesn't alter the fact that another's emotional privacy is automatically breached the moment she's in vicinity. >.>; Yeah, she's learned to shield herself and Toby from feeling everyone's emotions, but they can do so at will, and without the other person's permission. It's like giving people x-ray vision, seeing people naked even with their clothes on! lol!

Sorry, didn't mean to ramble! eheh! xD

[Yurice]

It's not the similarity to BoM that worries me, but the one in Heartbreaker.^^ Thank you for sharing the link!

It gave me a mixed feeling, about the heroine as the hero's conscience. But..I'd reserve judgment until I've finished reading.

[CassB]

It's not the similarity to BoM that worries me, but the one in Heartbreaker.

Sorry, I am a bit confused. What similarity bothered you? Or was it just the conscience thing?

[Yurice]

Just the conscience thing. ^^;
BoM was too emotional for me too, and I'll be honest, I skipped all the love scenes because it took a while for me to get attached to the characters, it took a second or third reading to warm up to them.^^

But the conscience thing...I don't quite know what to make of it. Still, it's too early to conclude anything. hehe.

[CassB]

Yeah, I understand. I think Nalini will make it work, but in the hands of a lesser author it would come across as a sociopath (which Kaleb might be in the strictest sense of the word). But who wants to read a love story about a sociopath?

[syaffolee]

I would be interested to see how Nalini spins it. To me, the conscience thing implies that the hero is going to be a bad boy who does not do a 180 by the end of the book. And I am totally cool with that. It's unreasonable to expect a questionable character to completely change into a good guy. Besides, I like reading about bad boys (heh).

Or the whole thing could be getting at something else--that the hero does have a conscience, but for some reason he's externalizing his conscience onto another person.

But as a romance, there is another interpretation. Since the heroine is serving as the hero's conscience, he's basically doing everything for her. And in some ways, that's a really selfless thing to do.

[CassB]

There are two things that occur to me when thinking about it. One is the imprinting of the Arrow in Venice who was on Jax too long. While I am not suggesting Kaleb will blindly follow Sahara, it could come across as a similar thing. It appears both were damaged and bonded when younger and Kaleb seems to have imprinted on Sahara. It can certainly turn into a philosophical debate: does one need a conscience to realize it is needed? are you using your own conscience by following another's conscience? and on and on...

The second thing is the book Lothaire by Kresley Cole. One of the last parts of the book is the heroine reminding Lothaire of their new motto -- something like we can always kill them tomorrow but we cannot bring them back to life. So the heroine becomes his conscience in a way, but Lothaire also changes a bit during the book and I am not sure Kaleb is going to change. He has already arrived at the realization that Sahara is his conscience.

[syaffolee]

Huh. Now that you mention it, I think this is a theme that has been going on throughout the series where characters are paired, but one of the pair is a leader/more stable/stronger. Like Vasquez and Henry, Amara and Ashaya, and Vasic and Aden.

For some reason, I am reminded of Blaze of Memory where it is mentioned that Kaleb is a very special cardinal Tk who has been molded into a conduit. (In Tangle of Need we find out he's also a cardinal Tp.) At the end of the book, Ashaya says that her son Keenan, a Tp, is a conduit for Noor.

A little later, Lucas remarks that "We'll have to be careful who and what we expose them to. Keenan adores her so much, he'll follow her lead, and she won't be able to help trying to heal the injured even if it means hurting herself."

Perhaps Kaleb and his heroine have a similar relationship except that during their childhood, they didn't have any well-meaning adults to protect them.

[Jane]

http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/blogs/2013/05/first-look-nalini-singhs-heart-of-obsidian-june-4-2013

I'm just saying: Read it!

[Rob]

Thanks Jane. For those who have read this book and posted a review that's the best one so far.

[Elaine]

Thanks Jane. Now we know it was a woman who most likely ordered the imprisonment.

Spoiler:

[tabitha]

Here's my take on Kaleb and Sahara
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[Jane]

Tabitha: That is so beautiful ... But I see Kaleb as Henry Cavill.....


Elaine: Yes, I also think it was Shoshana who had Sahara locked down. From that review it is obvious to assume that Kaleb is the Ghost, because in the Chat Ghost said that a woman acts as his conscience, and Kaleb says that Sahara is his conscience, so... Yeah, Kaleb=The Ghost.

[CassB]

A memeber that was able to read bits and pieces on Amazon.de mentioned it is Tatiana who kept Sahara captive when she described what parts she got to read and I think somewhere on this forum people generally agreed that it Tatiana and not Shoshana that was believed to have a pet F-Psy.

[Yurice]

I have no way to check, only have ToN and KoS on kindle, but Tabitha in the other forum said it was Shoshana.

Not to dismiss what the member said about Amazon.de regarding Tatiana, as we really don't know if Sahara is F Psy yet.

[syaffolee]

It is suggested that Shoshanna might have a pet F-psy in Play of Passion (page 19). And I got the impression that Tatiana is concerned more with using the Human Alliance.

[CassB]

I think this is one mystery that will certainly be solved in HoO, no way is Kaleb not going after whoever kept Sahara prisoner. Shoshanna has been quiet in the last few books, I think it might have been mentioned she was in hiding, and Tatiana seems to aligned with Ming. I say this because there was a brief scene in ToN where Kaleb teleports to Nikitia and Anthony shortly after one of the disasters in that book and then teleports to a meeting with Ming and Tatiana. I remember thinking, no Kaleb don't be a bad guy.

[Miana]

Just had to pop in and say that I've really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts here because I'm so freaking excited about this book XD

That being said, I thought I'd just let you guys know that you can actually find out nearly all the answers to your questions by some clever and extensive looking, if you know what I mean. And, no, I don't mean piracy. It's all legal, but I warn you, the web-surfing is time-consuming. Well worth it since I actually was able to read quite a fair bit of the book, although it was snippet here and there.

Among the questions that I got solved by this method are:

1. Who is the Ghost?
2. Who kept the heroine in captivity?
3. What is the heroine's ability?
4. Who is the Ghost's relative?
5. What happens between the H/h?
6. Who are the other characters that show up in the story?
7. What are the Arrows up to?

Etc, etc. Some surprising information as well! Can't wait until the book shows up on my Kindle!

Happy reading

[Roxsan]

Clearly I don't have good web-surfing skills as I've found the answer to 1. What websites told you 2 through to 7, if you don't mind me asking?

[TracyTheOncer]

I use Google. If you type in the title of the book in quotations and various "key" words, lines of the book show up through Google Search Results. You can do this for a lot of books, usually a week or so before it releases.

[Miana]

What Tracy said!

Don't go to any websites - just use Google. Remember to use quotation marks and keywords and then have at it. Look at the search results for Google Books in specific.

Be forewarned, it is addictive! I feel like I've gotten a really good idea what to expect, and I really think Nalini has hit it out of the ballpark with this book.

This method couldn't be used last week because there weren't any results, but yesterday, it finally became available. Have fun

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