I'm not going to sugarcoat things: we shit on this book kind of a lot this episode.

Look, we're not saying it's a bad book. We're not even saying that we aren't enjoying it, in our way. What we're saying is that King set a certain standard a couple books ago, and we're seeing a drop in overall focus and a strange preoccupation with language/worldbuilding that feels really out of place this late in the game.

Miles and I are each able to cite more than one moment in this trio of chapters where a new word is trotted out with no explanation or setup, and treated as if it has always existed and been used by our characters, which is not only untrue but frankly baffling. That combined with his own lampshading of deus ex machina and then his casually mentioning that the Crimson King is prisoner somewhere all combine to make me feel like I'm being fucked with in some way.

And don't even get me started on Susannah not telling our people that she heard Stephen King got killed, because I am about to go off about that.

Anyway, as I say at the end of the episode, I am really curious to hear how you all felt at this point in the story. Were you frustrated? Let me know!

Artwork:https://www.deviantart.com/art/Mordred-434778455