Hello friends! A new year has arrived, I am shaking off the mental topsy-turvy of having two half-week breaks in a row (though still constantly questioning the date on any given day), and it’s time to dive back into bookish discussion! I’m kicking off 2024 with a Read Along of After The Crown – the second book of the Indranan War Trilogy by K.B. Wagers!

 

So we dipped our toes into this trilogy for a SciFi Month Read Along back in November, and several of us agreed we wanted to continue on into Book 2. So here it is! With a schedule and banners and everything*! BEHOLD.

*Courtesy of imyril at There’s Always Room For One More, and yes, you can use these for your own posts, no worries there!

 

 

 

Former gunrunner Hail Bristol has been dragged back to her home planet to take her rightful position as empress. But violence and betrayal from all sides are pushing Indrana to the brink of civil and interplanetary war.

Unsure whom to trust, Hail must rely on her gunrunner instincts to survive and save her people and her empire.

 

Aaaand OK, so I am a day late with my opening discussion questions post according to my own schedule that I came up with, but if anything is going to be my motto for 2024, it’s going to be “give yourself a break”. Right? Right.

So! Here is the full four-week schedule for After The Crown – and as always, you are more than welcome to join in if you’d like to! There will be chatter in a dedicated channel on the OtherWorlds server on Discord (invites available on request), and you can find me on Bluesky or drop a link to your blog posts in the comments!

 

• Week 1: Chapters 1-9, questions on/by Friday 5th January (or today even), hosted by Dear Geek Place
• Week 2: Chapters 10-19, questions on/by Friday 12th January, hosted by There’s Always Room For One More
• Week 3: Chapters 20-29, questions on/by Friday 19th January, hosted by The Book Nook
• Week 4: Chapters 30-End, questions on/by Friday 26th January, hosted by Bookforager

 

And without further ado, because I’ve ado-ed quite enough, here are the first week’s discussion questions!

The story resumes almost where it left off at the end of Behind The Throne, with the public executions of Ganda and Laabh following the failed coup attempt, though we quickly learn that Hail’s stoic front is masking a lot of (unsurprising) trauma. Do you think Hail is going to be able to hold up under the strain she is, at least partly, putting on herself?

Another thread from Book 1 that’s yet to be tied off is the matter of Bial, as the manhunt for the missing traitor continues. Any guesses or theories so far on if/how/when he’ll reappear?

We see Hail and Emmory have yet another clash of opinions, only this one seems to take a much more serious toll on a personal level. Are you picking a side in this particular fight, or just chewing on the tasty conflict? 

Some new(ish) faces appear here, as not only does Abraham Suda briefly return, but we get to meet Tazerion, an old friend of Hail’s from her pre-gunrunner days, now among the high ranks of the Upjas. What did you make of their reunion, and of the political proceedings that bring Taz back onto the scene? 

We end this section with Hail deciding to be direct in her dealings with King Trace, in order to clear the air between them and gain more information about just what is going on with the Saxon Alliance. … Any predictions on that front?