Alex Aster said in one of her recent interviews that Lightlark originally sold as a duology. Then she sold the third book. And just last year she sold books 4 and 5. So she has actively been trying to milk this series for as long as she can (even though her writing shows a lack of effort).
If, god forbid, this series was ever made into a movie or TV show, the Starstick would probably never be shown on screen, or would never look the same from scene to scene.
Also Alex Aster is so creative that she is reusing the same dynamic of the antagonistic "sexy" buildup for Grimdark's and Isla's 2nd-go-around relationship like for Oro's and Isla's 1st time relationship in Lightlark.
Grimdark's real problem being giant magical storms no one has noticed and he could not stop himself makes even less sense to start an entire war against the other islands when he probably needs the powers and resources of the other islands to manage the storms or investigate the source of these giant magic storms.
Isla goes to find food in the kitchen at midnight like a person in a contemporary romance then Grim cooks for her like it's a contemporary romance. I sensing a pattern that when Alex Aster was writing her contemporary romance it influenced Skyshady. Then again she wrote about Isla having a wired bra in Lightlark.
When they do the movie, it would funny if the actress just adlibbed an imaginary star stick. Seeing as how it's invisible to every including Alex Aster.
Well, Skyshady being smaller than the other two book in the series answers my questions of how Alex Aster being able to write a full 400 page long fantasy book and a whole contemporary romance book at the same time so fast. Just summarize/ condense everything a heck a lot in Skyshady till it is a 100 pages shorter so it is not a 400 page fantasy book.
33:52 the image that came to mind was the healers getting flooded with potions like the Enterprise getting overrun by Tribbles, like someone just opens a cabinet or something and they pour out 😆 also the bit about burial rituals makes me wonder: i think we heard in a previous book, maybe book 1, that Wildlings do this 'return to nature' thing??? but from what i remember it wasn't made obvious whether that was just a typical thing that always happens to Wildlings, or if it was some ripple effect of their curse.... like, as soon as one of Isla's tutors/torturers wasn't being 'reclaimed by nature' or whatever, it just.... hasn't come up. unfortunately, ask me if i'm surprised. 😮💨😒 edit to add: an idea for what she could've done instead for the big threat in this book is, the Dreks (sp?) are NOT controlled by Grim even though it appears so. the connection they DO have is, some malevolent force Grim's still trying to hunt down is warping his people into the Dreks, so there's this internal conflict over them once being soldiers who followed him or civilians he was supposed to protect. maybe some think it's possible to get through to their humanity, others think it's more merciful to give them a quick death, while still others want to use them as a conquering force. Isla, now in the midst of Grim's court, could learn all this and be like "holy shit, nuance" and understand Grim's difficult position, setting her on the inevitable path to them getting back together. hell, maybe the 'skyshade' reference could be that malevolent force; maybe it lives in/travels through the sky/clouds, so Azul could actually have something to do in alerting the other kingdoms about it and becoming their first line of defense.... but, that'd require more thought than this book was likely given. (disclaimer i haven't read this book lol)
Grimdark: Even thought I married you for love and would let the entire world die for you, I still don't know now what love is Isla. Isla: Well it is up to me, a 20 year, who will teach this 500 year old man how to love like I did with Oro once again.
Alex Aster retconning Poppy's role in Isla's parents murders makes no sense because the one who told Isla that Poppy and Terra were her parents' murderers was main villianess from the final battle in Lightlark, Aurora/Celeste herself (Isla's Best Friend and only person Isla had a genuine relationship with that was not toxic before the "twist"). Poppy not really being Isla's parents' murderers makes sense only if Aurora/Celeste was lying, but why would Aurora/Celeste lie other than this is just a retcon.
Aurora is back somehow (?). Will she attempt to win back Isla and it becomes a love square where Isla must choose between a best friend who lied to from the beginning, a shadow broody war criminal husband, a nice dude, or will Isla become a pirate sailing the 7 seas to search for the One Piece?
Hi. Ink artist and snake enthusiast here. Snakes can't chew things or bite things off. It would be more accurate (and cooler imo) for a snake to swallow the head whole. Also, from what I've heard snakes can be surprisingly affectionate, though they don't experience love the same way humans do. Also they're not scary to me they're little derp noodles, so I was laughing the entire time Isla was played up as this intimidating woman with the worlds silliest creatures as her dress. Also ink pens could stab you, I think I stabbed myself before (I've been inking since I was around 5), but it's, like, really hard. I think I had to fall over to stab myself, but I was clumsy and a small child, something Isla is not supposed to be. If ink pen nibs were as sharp as Aster implied, they would cut the paper they're supposed to be writing on.
yeah chewing would require molar-like teeth, and severing something from somethin else would work best with broader sharp teeth than snake fangs. from what i understand, their fangs are just to give them a grasp point basically, while they either envenomate or constrict their prey. big agree that it would've been cooler for the snake to behave more like a snake 😔 and yeah, while most of their clinginess on humans is likely to be seeking warmth, they aren't evil/devoid of any animal-level affection like 'this human means safety and food' kind of stuff - as a lover of sharks and snakes, i am So Exhausted by media depictions of them..... with the pens thing, yeah i don't think most fountain pen nibs or quill pens could stab you easily, idk where aster got that idea; like, there needs to be some decent force behind it. i guess i expect nothing better from the author who thought popping isla's shoulders out of socket repeatedly would make them stronger........
Alex Aster said in one of her recent interviews that Lightlark originally sold as a duology. Then she sold the third book. And just last year she sold books 4 and 5. So she has actively been trying to milk this series for as long as she can (even though her writing shows a lack of effort).
If, god forbid, this series was ever made into a movie or TV show, the Starstick would probably never be shown on screen, or would never look the same from scene to scene.
It’ll be blurred out
@@Moony1568 Have an upvote for that one.
It’ll just have a big censor bar over it.
julian you are that meme of the soldier taking fire in front of a child’s bed. we are the child. lightlark’s unending nonsense is the enemy fire. 🫡
😂😂😂 glad to be of service!
My favorite way to spend a Friday night. Listening to Julian's read along critique and working on some illustrations.
Nigel be like:
"No...oh no....mom no...mom no!"
"Is Wraith the Skyshade?" don't get me started
Also Alex Aster is so creative that she is reusing the same dynamic of the antagonistic "sexy" buildup for Grimdark's and Isla's 2nd-go-around relationship like for Oro's and Isla's 1st time relationship in Lightlark.
Grimdark's real problem being giant magical storms no one has noticed and he could not stop himself makes even less sense to start an entire war against the other islands when he probably needs the powers and resources of the other islands to manage the storms or investigate the source of these giant magic storms.
*adds dagger-filled pants to my amazon wishlist*
My editor calls: feeling, hearing, touching filter words. You're right, make the reader work for it.
The riches. 😮 Exactly what I need to accompany me on a late afternoon walk.
Isla goes to find food in the kitchen at midnight like a person in a contemporary romance then Grim cooks for her like it's a contemporary romance. I sensing a pattern that when Alex Aster was writing her contemporary romance it influenced Skyshady. Then again she wrote about Isla having a wired bra in Lightlark.
It’s time 😁
YES! I have been waiting for this!
When they do the movie, it would funny if the actress just adlibbed an imaginary star stick. Seeing as how it's invisible to every including Alex Aster.
Oh yes. The vague creatures that look like anything fairly wide with horns.
Well, Skyshady being smaller than the other two book in the series answers my questions of how Alex Aster being able to write a full 400 page long fantasy book and a whole contemporary romance book at the same time so fast. Just summarize/ condense everything a heck a lot in Skyshady till it is a 100 pages shorter so it is not a 400 page fantasy book.
I think the tunnel creatures are horned naked mole rats.
33:52 the image that came to mind was the healers getting flooded with potions like the Enterprise getting overrun by Tribbles, like someone just opens a cabinet or something and they pour out 😆
also the bit about burial rituals makes me wonder: i think we heard in a previous book, maybe book 1, that Wildlings do this 'return to nature' thing??? but from what i remember it wasn't made obvious whether that was just a typical thing that always happens to Wildlings, or if it was some ripple effect of their curse.... like, as soon as one of Isla's tutors/torturers wasn't being 'reclaimed by nature' or whatever, it just.... hasn't come up.
unfortunately, ask me if i'm surprised. 😮💨😒
edit to add: an idea for what she could've done instead for the big threat in this book is, the Dreks (sp?) are NOT controlled by Grim even though it appears so. the connection they DO have is, some malevolent force Grim's still trying to hunt down is warping his people into the Dreks, so there's this internal conflict over them once being soldiers who followed him or civilians he was supposed to protect. maybe some think it's possible to get through to their humanity, others think it's more merciful to give them a quick death, while still others want to use them as a conquering force.
Isla, now in the midst of Grim's court, could learn all this and be like "holy shit, nuance" and understand Grim's difficult position, setting her on the inevitable path to them getting back together. hell, maybe the 'skyshade' reference could be that malevolent force; maybe it lives in/travels through the sky/clouds, so Azul could actually have something to do in alerting the other kingdoms about it and becoming their first line of defense....
but, that'd require more thought than this book was likely given. (disclaimer i haven't read this book lol)
Grimdark: Even thought I married you for love and would let the entire world die for you, I still don't know now what love is Isla.
Isla: Well it is up to me, a 20 year, who will teach this 500 year old man how to love like I did with Oro once again.
Yaaaaaasssss! It 👏 is👏 here!👏
I am so hyped for this I can't wait to get home.
3 HOURS?
Alex Aster retconning Poppy's role in Isla's parents murders makes no sense because the one who told Isla that Poppy and Terra were her parents' murderers was main villianess from the final battle in Lightlark, Aurora/Celeste herself (Isla's Best Friend and only person Isla had a genuine relationship with that was not toxic before the "twist"). Poppy not really being Isla's parents' murderers makes sense only if Aurora/Celeste was lying, but why would Aurora/Celeste lie other than this is just a retcon.
Love the recap!
YES !!
oh i am so excited!! here we go!!
speaking of terrible books, i was in a bookstore recently and saw by the entrance they had made a stand for yarros’s new dragon book. oh joy…
Aurora is back somehow (?). Will she attempt to win back Isla and it becomes a love square where Isla must choose between a best friend who lied to from the beginning, a shadow broody war criminal husband, a nice dude, or will Isla become a pirate sailing the 7 seas to search for the One Piece?
3 hours! 🎉😮🎉
Skyshady: What are 🔮Orbs? Who are 🔮Orbs? Where are🔮Orbs? Why are 🔮Orbs?
I have the same issue as you with floor/ground! Floors are manmade, in my head.
Hi. Ink artist and snake enthusiast here. Snakes can't chew things or bite things off. It would be more accurate (and cooler imo) for a snake to swallow the head whole. Also, from what I've heard snakes can be surprisingly affectionate, though they don't experience love the same way humans do. Also they're not scary to me they're little derp noodles, so I was laughing the entire time Isla was played up as this intimidating woman with the worlds silliest creatures as her dress.
Also ink pens could stab you, I think I stabbed myself before (I've been inking since I was around 5), but it's, like, really hard. I think I had to fall over to stab myself, but I was clumsy and a small child, something Isla is not supposed to be. If ink pen nibs were as sharp as Aster implied, they would cut the paper they're supposed to be writing on.
yeah chewing would require molar-like teeth, and severing something from somethin else would work best with broader sharp teeth than snake fangs. from what i understand, their fangs are just to give them a grasp point basically, while they either envenomate or constrict their prey.
big agree that it would've been cooler for the snake to behave more like a snake 😔
and yeah, while most of their clinginess on humans is likely to be seeking warmth, they aren't evil/devoid of any animal-level affection like 'this human means safety and food' kind of stuff - as a lover of sharks and snakes, i am So Exhausted by media depictions of them.....
with the pens thing, yeah i don't think most fountain pen nibs or quill pens could stab you easily, idk where aster got that idea; like, there needs to be some decent force behind it. i guess i expect nothing better from the author who thought popping isla's shoulders out of socket repeatedly would make them stronger........
“Boo hoo hoo, I killed a bunch of people.” - Julian out of context
please put this on my grave stone LOL
This set up is so much like the third "A Court of Thornes and Roses" book... Anyone else picking that up?
I have not read it, so I have to take your word for it haha
Ah yes....new read along
hi friend
Hold onto your butts.
Ooh, surprise friends. What loneliness epidemic?