RERELEASE: The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

In this episode of Fiction Fans your hosts can't stop talking about “The Prey of Gods” by Nicky Drayden, with both a spoiler-free overview and an in-depth discussion. The episode also includes a brief chat about how some Words are Weird (and hard to spell).

Find us on Discord / Support us on Patreon

Thanks to the following musicians for the use of their songs:

- Amarià for the use of “Sérénade à Notre Dame de Paris”
- Josh Woodward for the use of “Electric Sunrise”

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Transcript

Lilly 0:04

Hello and welcome to Fiction Fans, a podcast where we read books and other words too. I'm Lily,

Sara 0:10

and I'm Sarah, and today we're re-releasing an episode that we recorded when we first started the podcast.

Lilly 0:16

so we won't be doing our quick five minute intro this time.

Sara 0:20

During the first year of the podcast, we combined two book conversations into each episode along with some related segments like Pet Peeve Corner, and words are weird.

Lilly 0:30

We decided to republish those conversations as separate episodes to give those books a better chance to shine.

Sara 0:36

These have been slightly remastered, but you can still enjoy our Peak 2021 Microphone Technology.

Lilly 0:43

If you want to listen to the original double feature, these are episodes two through 23 in our podcast feed.

Sara 0:49

And as always, come disagree with us. So, the book that we both read for this episode, the Pray of Gods by Nikki Den, I feel like I should mention that. This is all coincidence. We did not plan this. It is just that we have very lucky timing. She does have a new book that just came out escaping Exodus Symbiosis, which came out on February 23rd. it's the sequel to escaping Exodus. I believe we are not talking about either of those two books, but I felt that, I felt that it warranted mentioning.

Lilly 1:23

Absolutely. And considering how much fun this book was,

Sara 1:27

Like, I would totally, I wanna go out and, and buy Well, both of those books because I really enjoyed the Pray of Gods.

Lilly 1:34

me too. It was, it was so much fun. Which I feel like is so different from the book we read last episode, which was very good, but very like harrowing.

Sara 1:45

Yes. This was a, this was definitely a me kind of book in that it dealt with. I mean, it dealt with some big themes too, and there was a lot of death in it, but it was just, it was upbeat, it was funny. I liked it.

Lilly 1:59

Yeah. Oh, so good. There are some books where you read the back of it and. You just think, what, what were they? Who wrote this? What were they thinking?

Sara 2:11

This is no relationship whatsoever to the book that I just read.

Lilly 2:14

Yeah. But I actually think that this, the summary on the back of this book captures it very well. I know we just talked about how the back of the book is a very accurate representation of this book. Don't read it. Don't read the back of the book. I should say go straight. Just just read the novel. It's so quick. It's like what? 200 pa, 3 75 pages of 20 point font. Like it goes so fast.

Sara 2:42

It does go very quickly. I disagree. I think that you should read well. I think that if you are interested in this book after our discussion the nons spoilery bits of the discussion, I think absolutely you can read the back of the book, but you should still read the book.

Lilly 2:57

I had such a fun time discovering these things that were apparently on the back the

Sara 3:04

But that's, that's the thing, like, I mean, I, I did read the back of the book. I'm the one who chose the book. So like, I, I read the summary, but they still came as, not necessarily a surprise, but kind of a surprise. Like I wasn't expecting them to show up when they do like all of those points there. I wasn't expecting to show up when they do, and so it still felt new and fresh.

Lilly 3:25

Yes, absolutely. The first half is mostly setting the scene. This book takes place in a, I'll call it a, a near future South Africa.

Sara 3:35

Well, it takes place in the 2060s, I think.

Lilly 3:38

That's the near

Sara 3:39

Yeah. So 40 years from now.

Lilly 3:41

Yeah. It's pretty similar to today. The technology's a little bit more advanced, but it's not like. It's not like Star Trek

Sara 3:50

Right. They have adorable, adorable personal robots that I, and I want one.

Lilly 3:54

Yes, the

Sara 3:56

The ies,

Lilly 3:56

you, you know that old internet history YouTube video of the lady crying because she just wants to hug every cat and she knows she can't hug every cat and she thinks about all the cats that she can't hug.

Sara 4:10

it sounds vaguely familiar.

Lilly 4:12

That was me sobbing about all of the Alfie in this book and how I want to hug every Alfie.

Sara 4:18

Yes.

Lilly 4:21

And I just, I just think about all the, that no one is hugging and I could be the one hugging them, but I'm not,

Sara 4:29

They reminded me of pugs. I mean, maybe that's just 'cause I'm a pug person,

Lilly 4:33

and I guess,

Sara 4:34

but I've Yes,

Lilly 4:37

But they're so sweet. Which I mean is sort of a hilarious thing in and of itself to say, because they are,

Sara 4:45

robots.

Lilly 4:47

there's basically smartphones, but with arms for the most part.

Sara 4:52

for the most part.

Lilly 4:54

But we see them develop. Some of them develop, some of the main characters are Alfie. This book does jump around with characters. There's a cast of maybe five POV characters, maybe fewer like four or five, right? And one of them is the Alfie of one of the other main characters. And so we actually get to see. Their like internal monologue, except it's a robot, so it's not exactly a monologue.

Sara 5:23

But it's really interesting. I mean, it, it's interesting to see how that develops over the course of the book and how it gets more. Of an individual monologue than it has in the beginning.

Lilly 5:36

And it's frankly hilarious to see an interpretation of the scene we just read from the perspective of a 16-year-old boy as interpreted by,

Sara 5:47

His aie.

Lilly 5:47

yeah, yeah,

Sara 5:48

Yeah,

Lilly 5:50

It's great. Oh my God,

Sara 5:51

It's so good.

Lilly 5:53

there's so charming.

Sara 5:54

They are.

Lilly 5:55

All of the characters are so very complicated, so very human. Even if the character isn't necessarily human in a way that is just so fun to read

Sara 6:03

They have a lot of depth to them and even the villain, I think it's really interesting, and I'm stealing your talking point here

Lilly 6:12

go for it.

Sara 6:13

but the villain, you don't realize that she is the villain until about a third of the way through the book. And because of the way in which she's introduced, she comes off initially as. A very relatable character.

Lilly 6:25

Extremely. Yeah, I loved her. I mean, I loved her the whole time, but is saying it's a she spoiler.

Sara 6:35

no, because you know that there's an ancient demi goddess hill bent on regaining her former status.

Lilly 6:39

See, but I don't even interpret that as like, I don't even wanna say that that's the bad guy, because that could just be a quirky like.

Sara 6:48

By preying on the blood and sweat, but mostly blood of every human she encounters.

Lilly 6:53

Okay, fine. Yeah, that's probably a little sketch.

Sara 6:57

Little bit.

Lilly 6:58

If it's on the back of the book, it's not a spoiler. Right. That's the

Sara 7:00

it's not a spoiler,

Lilly 7:02

Alright.

Sara 7:03

I think. I think that one is entirely fair Game.

Lilly 7:06

Okay. I clearly did not read the back of the book before I read this book.

Sara 7:11

Well, I was the one who chose it. So

Lilly 7:13

Yeah. But, and.

Sara 7:14

that you didn't bother to read the back of the book,

Lilly 7:16

I, I do this, like I don't watch trailers either. If I'm gonna watch a movie, I'm gonna watch it. And Okay. I'll say like, I did not know that that character was an antagonist. I did not even know until, like you said, about a third or halfway through the book.

Sara 7:31

When, when it's revealed that she is the demi goddess or a demi goddess, I started to think, okay, she's probably not the sympathetic character that I thought she was. And then I think pretty shortly thereafter, she starts doing some bad stuff. So then it became very clear, but.

Lilly 7:49

she does not nice stuff pretty early on, but it's like novel, not nice stuff. So you're like, that's all right.

Sara 7:56

it's also, she's working as a downtrodden customer service, like in a customer service position, and the stuff that she's doing is maybe not hugely nice, but it's also like, yeah, you're just scraping by and you're doing what you have to in order to like pay your bills.

Lilly 8:14

Oh, we might have to move this to the spoilery section, but I, I did not catch on that. She was the bad guy even when she started murdering people. I thought that was just a personality quirk.

Sara 8:31

I mean, I don't think, again, because of what's on the back of the book, I don't think that's particularly spoilery. They, they do, they do talk about the, you know, blood and sweat, but mostly blood.

Lilly 8:41

It took me maybe I should be embarrassed for how long it took me to realize that she was the bad guy. I, because we,

Sara 8:47

that's the thing. Like she's still painted in a very sympathetic light for even when she starts doing very visibly bla bad stuff because we're seeing things from her perspective. She still comes off as mostly sympathetic until you get to a certain point.

Lilly 9:01

she's also not the only character that kills people.

Sara 9:04

true. Unrelated to the content of the book, I do wanna talk about the two notes that I wrote for

Lilly 9:11

Oh yes. What notes did you write? I wrote some notes too. So let's

Sara 9:15

I think your, your notes are gonna be much better than mine. My two notes were one, we used to have two taxidermy tics at my former place of employment tics being a type of small antelope. I believe that,

Lilly 9:29

small though. They're like.

Sara 9:30

Really, really tiny.

Lilly 9:32

I'm still gonna say cat sized. They're like cat sized.

Sara 9:34

They're, they're cat sized, are small dog sized, and we had two taxidermy tics at my former place of employment, and I really wanted to buy them because they were super cute, but they were also like $800. So, no,

Lilly 9:47

It's a little, it's a little pricey for something really cute.

Sara 9:50

it's a little, it's a little pricey for a piece of taxidermy, but I don't actually know where I would put it.

Lilly 9:56

That's relevant because in this near future South Africa, they're dealing with adic uh, yeah, that's the right word,

Sara 10:04

Yeah. Yeah. The, the tics are everywhere.

Lilly 10:07

Mm-hmm.

Sara 10:08

Then my other note was that, so, we, we just talked about how evil, but we love her anyway. And she has a coffee table that she uses as a torture device, but it sounds really awesome and I kind of want it for my living room. I have the quote that she gives to describe her coffee table. At the table's base is an ancient slab of e ebony wood with thick iron spikes jutting up in a simple yet pleasing checker pattern. Suspend a man over it and it becomes an effective torture device. Breeding fear by the bushel. Top it with a nice piece of beveled glass. Toss in a couple of coasters and ta-da. Perfect place to rest a drink or tv. Dinner. And like that just sounds like an amazing coffee table. Like, it it would, it would be. So, architectural, I want it,

Lilly 10:55

It sure would be a statement

Sara 10:57

it would be a statement piece. I don't wanna torture people over it. I would keep the glass on, it just sounds really cool.

Lilly 11:04

I not that exact piece, but. One of my bookmarks was also for, because this book was written in the very close third person point of view, which I have discussed at length, how annoyed I get by first person, but close third person is my jam. Give me all of the bias, but let me pretend it's someone else saying it. I cannot explain why I am that way. I do not know why I am the way I am, but. I just think, especially for a humorous book like this,

Sara 11:38

really worked. The format really works for this book. Yeah.

Lilly 11:41

so well. I love that close third person where the narrator is so clearly telling you exactly what they think and feel.

Sara 11:50

There's a pretend gap between you and the, and the narrator.

Lilly 11:54

And that just makes everything just a little bit funnier to me. Maybe it's just how I like my humor books because the first person book we read last episode I liked,

Sara 12:06

It's not humorous,

Lilly 12:08

right? So maybe that's the thing. Although I feel like Lord of the Rings is sort of, it's not as close third person as this, but it's also a very, very close third person, a very characterized narrator, right?

Sara 12:21

right?

Lilly 12:22

That's just what, that's just what I like. And this book delivers it a hundred percent.

Sara 12:27

Yeah. I'm so glad that we decided to read this book because it was so worth it.

Lilly 12:32

Absolutely. This episode of Fiction Fans is brought to you by sia.

Sara 12:41

That's our zine. Each issue has a different theme that celebrates genre and genre blending in a new way.

Lilly 12:47

PDF, and Epub Versions can be purchased on our website and Patreon, supporters of all levels get free digital copies.

Sara 12:55

You can find all the issues and more at patreon.com/fiction fans pod. Thank you for all of your support.

Lilly 13:03

The remainder of this episode contains spoilers. I also. So apparently some of my opinions were slingshotting back and forth because I did not read the back of the book and had no idea what was going on. But reading this book as a blank slate, my opinions of the characters were so fluid in such a satisfying way. I mean the, the very first character is Mozy, the, the 16-year-old boy and Right. I think he's the first point of view.

Sara 13:42

I think so. Yeah.

Lilly 13:43

And I mean, I was about to say something real mean about 16-year-old boys. I won't Oh, his friend Elkin is not a point of view character, but one of the, I would say, main characters in the story and.

Sara 13:57

definitely a main supporting character.

Lilly 14:00

Yeah, and you just as you learn more about him, or at least as I did, my opinion of him fluctuated so much just all over the place.

Sara 14:13

yes.

Lilly 14:13

every section that he was in, I was flip-flopping, just. It was like a seismograph, it was wild. But it was fantastic. And it wasn't because he was acting out of character, it was because I was learning new things about his character. We did pick another book with sexual assault in it.

Sara 14:32

We did, we did, accidentally,

Lilly 14:35

Well, of, of course accidentally.

Sara 14:37

yes.

Lilly 14:39

not nearly as as graphic, it's really just mentioned, but. I do think it's worth just saying like, Hey, that is something that happens in this book.

Sara 14:48

it is, because it's being told from Nala's point of view, it feels very like present when it's happening.

Lilly 14:58

Oh, I wasn't even talking about her. I was talking about her mom.

Sara 15:01

Oh. I mean her, her mom definitely, like, that's not shown in the book, that's just told, but she almost gets raped, which like I was not expecting. And that was obviously not as graphic as ER's death, but it was still quite like there.

Lilly 15:23

it was extremely upsetting.

Sara 15:25

Yeah.

Lilly 15:26

It was because it's from no's point, nom, nom.

Sara 15:31

I'm saying Nala. That's how I would default to pronounce it,

Lilly 15:37

Okay.

Sara 15:37

but I don't know if that's correct or not.

Lilly 15:40

Part of how horrifying it is is because it's from Nala's point of view, and she's, what, 1110? She's extremely young

Sara 15:49

She's quite young. Yeah.

Lilly 15:50

and, and so she doesn't, clearly doesn't understand what's happening.

Sara 15:54

Yeah.

Lilly 15:54

So the narration is very yeah. It honestly reminded me of Lolita.

Sara 16:00

I haven't read Lolito, so.

Lilly 16:02

That's fine, but the, the narrator describing something in a certain way and then you slowly realizing, oh, oh, that is not what's actually happening right now. And that sort of dawning dread in your soul was similar. I wouldn't, I would not compare this book to Lolita in any way except for that. So why, why should someone read this book?

Sara 16:27

Because it is funny, has cute robots and compelling characters.

Lilly 16:33

It is also very sweet.

Sara 16:35

It is very sweet. There's, I'm not usually a huge fan of like sweet things,

Lilly 16:43

I know I'm the sweet tooth between the two of us and it shows.

Sara 16:47

In, in food and in a book Taste.

Lilly 16:49

Yes,

Sara 16:50

But it is, it is a very sweet book. There's a lot of, I mean, there's good romance, not really hugely prevalent, but like, as sort of underpinning the story. Uh, but there's also just good platonic relationships between all of the characters and like Mu and his Alfie.

Lilly 17:08

We haven't talked about stoker at all.

Sara 17:11

Stoker is wonderful. I mean it's, it's rare that I read a book and I like all of the main point of view characters. As much as I liked all of the main point of view characters in this book,

Lilly 17:23

It is true. I, well, like you said, I also loved all of the characters, but I think stoker and R were the two. Those were the two that I felt were basically blameless. Everyone else, I'm like, what the fuck is wrong with you at least once?

Sara 17:38

yes.

Lilly 17:38

Whereas those two, I'm like, you were clearly trying your best at every moment.

Sara 17:43

I think what I like best about Ria and Stoker is how, as you learn more about, like, they're not perfect people, but as you learn more about them, you see that they're. Doing the best they can

Lilly 18:01

Mm-hmm.

Sara 18:02

with what they have to work with.

Lilly 18:06

they're also a very good pair to discuss because they were both being exploited in similar but different ways.

Sara 18:15

Yeah.

Lilly 18:15

Right, because, because Ria is a pop star, which I don't have to explain to you how, how that's inherently exploitative and stoker is a politician like being exploited by. Their parents. So Stoker is Stoker's last name, which is why I feel okay referring to the character that way. But she does transition into Felicity partway through the book, and I don't,

Sara 18:42

I think that that because she ends the book as Felicity, and Felicity is clearly like who she wants to be, I think that we should. Respect that and call her her.

Lilly 18:55

I agree. I didn't wanna do that in the nons spoilery parts though, because that is like a, that's such a huge moment for her,

Sara 19:03

it is, especially because she starts out not necessarily wanting to make that transition or not feeling comfortable to make enough to make that transition. So as you see that progress, you're like, oh my God, I'm so happy for you.

Lilly 19:18

Yeah.

Sara 19:19

I, I want this for you.

Lilly 19:21

And the way she just like gives two middle fingers to her parents was just like, yeah, girl, you do you.

Sara 19:29

Yes, I have a really I, I marked a quote about her transition, if I can find it. There is unrelated to Stoker. There is a quote that the Alfie. The Alfie calls, another says about another Alfie that sneaky no good son of a bit, which I really liked.

Lilly 19:49

I did love that.

Sara 19:51

I thought that was just very, very clever.

Lilly 19:54

This book is hilarious,

Sara 19:56

funny, like I was laughing the entire time.

Lilly 19:59

but not in like a slapstick, jokey way.

Sara 20:02

I don't, I don't think somehow, I didn't mark it, but it was about how she saw a picture of herself in a dress and was struck by like how happy she looked. and that's kind of, I feel like that's kind of the turning point for where she realizes, oh, I, I am Felicity. That's not just who I. And pretending to be some of the time. But I, I thought it was just a really human moving moment.

Lilly 20:30

Yeah.

Sara 20:32

and I liked it. It, it stuck with me.

Lilly 20:34

And it made me so like, like you said, just so happy. Like you really celebrate their triumphs, even the like quiet internal ones.

Sara 20:42

exactly. And like when she finds the strength to step up to her mother and say, no, this is who I am. I'm like, yes, you go.

Lilly 20:52

and I really love that her mother then turns around and goes, well, all right, because like she clearly wasn't a super supportive mom.

Sara 21:01

Right

Lilly 21:03

Like there's, there's some, there's some fucked up shit going on there.

Sara 21:06

There's definitely, there are definitely issues there, but she comes through and it counts.

Lilly 21:11

Yeah. Well, she absolutely does. And. I feel like part of her was maybe waiting for Felicity to say like, this is my, this is the line in the sand. Right? Like that probably gives the mother too much benefit of the doubt. But I, I feel, I get the impression that as soon as Felicity stood up for herself, her mother was like, okay, you're running the show now. I pass on the baton. Right? Like, 'cause before she was clearly.

Sara 21:43

The one In control? Yeah.

Lilly 21:44

Yeah. I am such a sucker for the belief. Gives you power trope.

Sara 21:51

I don't know. I mean, I don't know if it's a trope. The only place that, and maybe this is just 'cause I haven't, I'm not very well read in this particular aspect, but the only other place that I can recall seeing it is in Disc world, in Terry prt.

Lilly 22:06

Yeah, it's very, very thematic in disk world.

Sara 22:09

Yeah. I mean, there's a whole book about it in this world.

Lilly 22:13

At least I think there's more than one. I mean, there's, there's, but that's definitely how that world operates.

Sara 22:18

Yeah.

Lilly 22:19

So maybe that's a particular thing for me, but I really enjoy that system where the more belief that exists the more power. A person has, I think this book takes it a step further because they also, she, Nikki also incorporates fear, also giving power,

Sara 22:40

But not as much.

Lilly 22:42

not as much Sidney, who we ultimately find out is the bad guy. She lies to no, at some point.

Sara 22:51

I mean, she certainly hides the fact that she wants to kill Nala for quite some time. And because Nala is a very young girl, she doesn't cotton onto the fact that actually her big sister Sydney is not quite as.

Lilly 23:08

I thought non villa was suspicious of her.

Sara 23:11

No, she's suspicious, but, but she has this whole point where she is like, I know Sydnee is not great, but she's better than what I had. And if I'm just a little bit better, like she'll love me and we'll be family, she's not, whereas Sydnee from the very beginning is thinking, I'm gonna kill this little girl all.

Lilly 23:30

Right. I, she definitely like, knows that Sydney is lying to her, but she thinks that there's a possibility.

Sara 23:38

Yes. And she doesn't imagine that Sydney will go so far as to actually attempt to murder her.

Lilly 23:44

Maybe not.

Sara 23:45

Definitely not.

Lilly 23:47

I, she's definitely afraid of her, but

Sara 23:49

She's afraid of, but she doesn't think that she's gonna murder her until Sydney is legit. Is literally saying like, I'm gonna come back here so I can kill you.

Lilly 23:56

Okay. Fair enough.

Sara 23:58

One of the things that I really liked about this book was how everything was interconnected.

Lilly 24:02

Oh, so well too.

Sara 24:04

Yes, yes. It, it, it all fits together really seamlessly. And this is also evident in how all of these background characters that you don't, that really only show up once or twice, end up all being part of like the same family, like they all weave into the plot. And I think it's really interesting how that happens.

Lilly 24:27

So I mentioned when we first talked about reading this book that I was like, oh, then I'll read some Asimov, because it like, this gives like the technology, the, the robots becoming people, which we haven't even talked about yet.

Sara 24:41

We haven't even talked about it, so.

Lilly 24:44

But originally I thought like, oh, I'll read some Isaac Asimov because. This was like just the concept of, of robots gaining sentient. You know, I made that leap, I made that connection. But the more of this I read, I actually felt like it had more in common thematically with Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which as we all know is the OG science fiction. And in the same way that this reminded me of Isaac Asimov's work, what the original science fiction was, was exploring. The definition of and where those definitions blur.

Sara 25:22

Which this book does very, very well.

Lilly 25:25

Absolutely. Oh my God. From both sides, which is why I, I wanted to bring in the robots because on one end we get the blurring of humanity between what's the difference between a human and a God, like a handful of believers and a addict virus. But then what is the difference between a robot and a human is just like a quirk of code, basically.

Sara 25:48

Well, and that's also, that's also further complicated by the fact that at the end of the book, we end up with Ozzy's consciousness in an Alfie.

Lilly 26:00

This book is full of good characters doing understandably bad things

Sara 26:06

Yes.

Lilly 26:07

because we were talking about, you know, Mozy is not a great part. Well. Not even partner. They don't even know if they're boyfriends or not, until literally the last chapter of the book

Sara 26:21

By the very end of the book, they have decided that they are boyfriends.

Lilly 26:26

in one chapter. Elkin is like, he's not my friend. He's my, I don't know. And then Musey becomes. suit a giant robot that Elkin drives and he's like, I have the best boyfriend ever. And it, that's another part in the book where I had to stop and cheer for the characters 'cause I was so happy for them.

Sara 26:48

Mm-hmm. I, I. love how they go from sort of figuring out, oh, we're friends maybe with benefits. Two actually. We really like and care about each other and would sacrifice quite a lot for the other, and we're boyfriends now.

Lilly 27:06

Yeah. It's just

Sara 27:07

It's a great progression. Yeah.

Lilly 27:10

Yes, and, but also it's not frustrating because you understand why they're confused and it's not, it's not one of those things where you're like, just talk to each other. What's wrong with you? You

Sara 27:24

The issues that they have with each other are not something that could necessarily be worked out just by like having a one conversation.

Lilly 27:32

And it's compounded by the fact that Musey is discovering his God powers at the same time where he can control people in their memories. And he uses that against Elkin, which is not okay. But Elkin says that, and Musey is very upfront with. Like that. He knows he's doing something wrong when he does it, and I appreciate that about this book very much.

Sara 27:58

There. None of the characters think that they're doing the right thing when they're not.

Lilly 28:03

I love how Nola's power at the end comes from all of the APHIS believing in her, speaking of how everything clicks together. That was so, it's like a perfect full circle, right? The Alfie gained humanity. The humans gain godhood, and it's the IES that believe in the humans, the human noa. Although the true full circle we haven't talked about real very much, which is I don't think we're gonna have time to, but that's a damn shame because she's

Sara 28:35

She is. She is

Lilly 28:36

And I, like I said.

Sara 28:37

Everyone is really good, but she is really good.

Lilly 28:39

I feel like we talked about the characters that we had more complicated feelings towards. More because that's more interesting. But Ria and Felicity.

Sara 28:48

Felicity when we're introduced to her is a, a sort of unhappy politician in that she doesn't really want to go into politics. She wants to be a pop star. And I love the progression from, but she wants to help people more than anything. and I love the progression from unhappy politician too. Felicity to Felicity as politician who is going to run for president. Like I think that is a great like circle in and of itself.

Lilly 29:20

Oh, it was such a good. Character progression. She, she wasn't unhappy because she was a politician. She was unhappy because she couldn't be Felicity, but she didn't really understand that

Sara 29:32

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Lilly 29:33

And so her like stepping up during the chaos at the climax, you know, Sydney's fighting the whole country or whatever. With the monsters, it's, it's good. I'm just not gonna go into it. Do you know. Do you know what I have 0% problem with, but also did not see coming at all? That's not even the right way to say it. I don't have zero, like I have no problem with it plot-wise. I love it. I didn't even know I was supposed to be rooting for it until it happened. Rai, no Nola.

Sara 30:10

Yeah.

Lilly 30:11

When the book ended that way with, with Nola talking about her new mom and like she had a nightmare and like mom took care of her. I was like,

Sara 30:25

Yes. Yes. I love that aspect of the ending.

Lilly 30:28

because both of these sweet, sweet girls went through such garbage in very different ways and Nola. Has like finally has a, any human being. Not even human, like any creature who is like truly out for her best interests for the first time.

Sara 30:50

She finally has a proper family, which is something that she really like, I want, have wanted for her from the very beginning of the book, basically.

Lilly 31:01

Like she's been struggling through so much garbage, but I didn't realize how. Happy I would be with ria, taking time off to be a mother when that line was first dropped in someone else's perspective. I think it was Moseys and I was like, oh, did RIF get her pregnant? Like, what? What,

Sara 31:23

Yeah, that is what I thought. That is what I, I thought that she had a kid and I was like, oh, that's moving really fast.

Lilly 31:29

Yeah. Or that she had been pregnant the whole time and you didn't know, and it's just like, oh, I don't, oh,

Sara 31:36

And then you discover that it's bulah and you're like, oh, yes, I support this.

Lilly 31:40

so much.

Sara 31:40

But I also, I also love the very hint at the, at the end that the, the troubles are not over.

Lilly 31:47

The Pray of Gods by Nikki d Dryden not only creates a rich world with both magic and technology in a very fun sort of competition with each, not even competition with each other, just in a very fun interaction with each

Sara 32:02

Yeah, I, I think, I think coexistence, like, it's nice, it's nice to see these things just sort of, they both exist and there's not really any more mention made of it.

Lilly 32:15

Yeah. and so, that world is absolutely fun to read about. And then as I, I think you mentioned, every single character is so complicate, complex, not complicated, is dramatic. They're so complex with so many ups and downs, and you rip your hair out when they make a bad decision, but you cheer with every success that they have, and it is just so much fun and so rewarding. I would say absolutely. Read this book. If you're into sci-fi, it's also very thoughtful, so any of you secret philosophy, go like Buffs read this book. It'll be worth it.

Sara 32:57

Yeah, I am gonna leave you with a quote from R, maybe not the most descriptive quote of the book, but I like it. The edges of Ria and Ntri John's lips spread, pulling slightly upward, and not even because she's forcing them, oh hell no, she's not about to be happy, happy doesn't pay the bills. It's all angst and melodrama and attitude. She turns that near smile into a snarl. I,

Lilly 33:24

I love

Sara 33:24

I just, I'd love her. I had, I had to quote her. I had to.

Lilly 33:32

Sarah

Sara 33:33

Yes,

Lilly 33:33

words are so weird.

Sara 33:36

Tell me how words are weird.

Lilly 33:38

I understand that this is a personal problem, but I cannot, for the life of me spell research. I don't think I have ever written like handwritten the word research and spelled it correctly ever in my entire life. When I'm typing it, obviously I get the red squiggle and I go, oh yeah, that's wrong, or. When I'm proofreading and I'm thinking about it, I can say, oh yeah, that's wrong, because intellectually I know that this word is spelled R-E-S-E-A-R-C-H.

Sara 34:15

Like how you had to think about

Lilly 34:16

I really did, but that's the thing. If I think about it, I can spell it right, but my instinct is every single time, R-E-A-S-E-R-C-H. I realize that this is not great podcast content 'cause I'm just throwing letters at you. But please, just, just for a moment, everyone close your eyes and think with me. Research, REA, free search, S-E-R-C-H. Doesn't that feel better to you?

Sara 34:51

no,

Lilly 34:51

It does though. Why is search spelled S-E-A-R-C-H? That's dumb.

Sara 34:56

I mean. I couldn't tell you why search is spelled. S-E-A-S-E-R.

Lilly 35:01

Yeah, I got you. I've infected you. Now

Sara 35:05

You have infected me. I couldn't, I couldn't tell you why search is spelled with an A, but like, I have never once thought research should switch the position of that a.

Lilly 35:19

That's word. Words are weird.

Sara 35:22

Words are weird. This is very true.

Lilly 35:29

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Fiction Fans.

Sara 35:33

Come disagree with us! We're on Blue Sky and Instagram, at fictionfanspod. You can also email us at fictionfanspod at gmail. com. Or leave a comment on YouTube.

Lilly 35:44

If you enjoyed the episode, please rate and review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and follow us wherever your podcasts live.

Sara 35:52

We also have a Patreon where you can support us and find exclusive episodes and a lot of other nonsense.

Lilly 35:58

Thanks again for listening, and may your villains always be defeated.

Sara 36:02

Bye!