For those interested in The Kandric Saga

[pietro 1]

I sincerely hope we are getting close to our yearly chapter of Kandric.

I too, have been reading, have read "Fire and Ice". As interesting as the first four books were, I found the fifth book "A Dance With Dragons" rather boring and unexciting. Actually, about 1/4 way through it, I put it down and have had no desire to pick it up again.

Oh well! Plenty of other reading to keep me occupied while waiting for Kyle and Jamie.

I am only on book three at the moment. I had read another of his books some time ago but did not like the style of writing so I hadn't been tempted to read any more. Then I saw a trailer for 'A Game of Thrones' and thought I might try again. I am not too sure I like his style, even now. It is OK to break things into discrete bits around individual characters that have no particular connection at the time when dealing with such a complex story and so great a number of characters while trying to maintain a time line, but too many end on a cliffhanger or knife edge. I have the urge to flip through until I find the continuation of that thread, or I find I am still thinking about the previous chapter while the current chapter is not really penetrating. To avoid this I find I have to pause reading after each chapter, make a drink or post a comment somewhere or something.

Anyway, back to Kandric as this is a Kandric thread. I think Kyle has done a very good job of coping with complexity without leaving cliffhangers everywhere. It is a little surprising that Martin follows the 'internet writing standard', for want of a better description, of ending each chapter up in the air, as it were, when he is writing for paper while Kyle follows the 'book writing standard' of generally tidy endings to chapters, especially since I am sure he wrote at one time he had no interest in seeking paper publication. I know there are no hard and fast rules, but I have read an awful amount both on line and in book form and there are definitely traditions, shall we say, on chapter endings as I have indicated.

There was a lot in the last chapter that I was sorry to see not covered, Jamon's fight and the battle for Slome, the situation of the students and a bit more about Kandric's elf brother now serving the King, perhaps that will be rectified in the next instalment. That said, it was a hefty chapter after all, so I suppose I should be satisfied with what we had.

[pietro 1]

Just discovered Kandric 27 is up at GA

Well done and thank you Kyle!

A lot of interesting stuff here, not really a lot of action. The next instalment should be a lot livelier as things are starting to come to a head and the various groups are coming together.

I still feel there is a chapter missing, there were a lot of events occurring while Kandric was knocked out from his magical overdose which I would have liked to have seen covered,but there you are. One of my suspicions was proved true although the known facts don't quite add up, but whether that is by accident or design, aka red herrings, I don't know. The Zoldon/Klandon mystery has a bit of a twist, maybe, but that should be properly revealed in the next instalment as well.

Edited December 30, 2011 by pietro

[pietro 1]

Just heard that Kandric 28 is imminent - should be within a day!

Pity there isn't an applause emoticon, I would have used it, especially as I have just re-read the last 5 chapters to refresh the story in my mind!

[TomasG 1]

Kyle says that this is a large chapter and covers a lot of plot lines. If that is the case, I wonder if perhaps we are rushing (relatively speaking) to the end of the story.

Kyle still has

"Re-emergence",

"The Defenders",

"Adventure Quest",

"Brile",

"O'Connell's Grenadiers",

and "Destiny's Shadow" going.

I'm sure that all of his stories occupy a great deal of his time and he still has to deal with the RL tasks of survival, as we all do.

Kyle, Jamie and one or two of the other online authors are those that I follow religiously and wait patiently for new chapters of existing stories or new stories to be posted.

[pietro 1]

Kyle says that this is a large chapter and covers a lot of plot lines. If that is the case, I wonder if perhaps we are rushing (relatively speaking) to the end of the story.

Kyle still has

"Re-emergence",

"The Defenders",

"Adventure Quest",

"Brile",

"O'Connell's Grenadiers",

and "Destiny's Shadow" going.

I'm sure that all of his stories occupy a great deal of his time and he still has to deal with the RL tasks of survival, as we all do.

Kyle, Jamie and one or two of the other online authors are those that I follow religiously and wait patiently for new chapters of existing stories or new stories to be posted.

I suspect we may well be approaching the end of the saga, although there is obviously the potential for much more to be written, even a mini series.

As to Kyle's other writing, Re-emergence seems to be completely stalled again, as does Defenders. He said a while ago Brile and O'Connells Grenadiers stalled because of a timing issue, a pity because I put those second on my list of favourites. Adventure Quest seems to be progressing reasonably well and Destiny's Shadow was proceding well but now seems to have stopped, maybe because the other authors in that universe have made little to no progress if there is a degree of cross-linking between stories.

I too an a religious follower of those authors, among others.

[TalonRider 2]

Chapter 28 has been posted at Gay Authors.

[pietro 1]

What a HUGE chapter, and it only covers one morning, with a little look back here and there.

The most outstanding thing, I suppose, is the desperate need for an editor, not just for the punctuation and grammar. I notice Princess Golassara has now become Gebetthia, or if they are alternate names it isn't spelled out anywhere, some of the student captures got a bit mixed up I think, it was the Governor's School students taken by the Black dragonling and Saslara's students were taken by the Dark Mage, not the other way around, the text suggests there has been an ongoing battle between the Reds and Greens underneath Slome for some time but this couldn't be true since both had Black dragonling support which would have inevitably lead to Bandurlok's clandestine support for the Reds being exposed long before. Of course it would have been consistent if Bandurlok had ordered the Reds in after Blathamort's death, but this wasn't explained. There still seems to me to be some inconsistencies when Dragons get killed, but perhaps I just don't quite get the rules in play. Then there is a bit of confusion over which type of dragonling nearly did for Jamon and the name of the kingdom. All of which problems should have been resolved in the editing. Perhaps Kyle has no one to do it at the moment.

It sounds like I am carping, but I don't mean it that way, such things are irritations that distract the reader but they don't spoil the story as such.

If nothing else Glaster's sheer nastiness was exposed for all to see. And what an interesting and alien character Dragons have. I suppose all the aggravation is catching up with Kandric the way he lost his temper with his grandfather, and after all that effort at self control while leading the students .

I would have liked to see a bit more about the assault on the Swamp Slums and how Vondum got to be there and what happened to Jamon and I would have liked to see more about what Connor and the Thunder Rapids were doing in Rolling Dale as well as following Gablon and Kandric's brothers a bit more, perhaps something will appear later. On the other hand it is the Kandric Saga, I suppose.

All in all, a great deal of stuff to take in, both in terms of the current story and the general history of that cruel and violent world. I've read this chapter three times and I am not sure I have got it all yet!

[pietro 1]

There is a new Kandric World based story up at Roland's, Sands of Time www.castleroland.net/library/chapter/roland/sot/sot_pro. It is a companion story to Kandric, the main characters have already appeared in the Saga and current events there have also been referenced.

Highly recommended.

[TalonRider 2]

I've started a reread of the story. I've converted it so that I can read on my Nook. It's just over 1500 pages in length and it's not even finished yet.

[pietro 1]

I've started a reread of the story. I've converted it so that I can read on my Nook. It's just over 1500 pages in length and it's not even finished yet.

I understand from another forum that several of Kyle's stories, including Kandric, have new chapters completed. They are reportedly in editing and the impression was given it may be weeks if not months before they actually surface. Whether this is editing by Kyle or by third parties I have no idea. I am also tempted to do a re-read (again) in fact I nearly did before Christmas last as an update was reportedly imminent, but common sense prevailed. The old saying, 'never count your chickens until they've hatched' is at it's most apposite with Kyle's stories.

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed but don't hold your breath is my advice

[pietro 1]

I note we are coming up to the two mark since the last post. Just saying

[pietro 1]

For those interested, Ch.29 is up at Wolfnest. It is huge and complex and a re-read of a good few chapters is probably needed to get everything straight. Worse, it ends with a cliffhanger, or perhaps more accurately, it stops in the middle of the action. Ah well, fingers crossed we won't have to wait another couple of years .

[TalonRider 2]

It's also available at Gay Authors.