Yes, but the problem is when I know I’m combining Siobhan with Oliver and make Siobher I hear it at She-over rather than Shiver because of the Oliver influence.
Although…shiver would be a good couple name for those two…hmmm…
I need to think about this.
Do you notice, all this time, when Siobhan thinks of someone she can trust, she thinks of Oliver - even to the point that she trusts his opinion of Liza even though Liza has never actually given Siobhan any reason to distrust her?
Yes. Also, it’s interesting how much time she devotes to noting things about him. Also, how often he touches her - she doesn’t like people touching her, normally. And Oliver knows this because he noted when she let Ana come close to her and touch her and how she seemed comfortable with her (he was totally not jealous at all).
I think it’s significant that she goes to him when she’s concerned for him and now when she’s in her most dire straits she comes to him again and accepts comfort from him.
It’s still completely exasperating, albeit understandable, that she’s uncomfortable accepting help. Did you clock that he had to say he wanted a vague TBD favour from the Raven Queen before she relaxed about him helping her? She’s done this before, feeling uncomfortable with getting help unless it’s transactional in some way.
Also, he’s so sweet when he’s like “hey, you almost died, are you really sure you don’t want to talk about it? This is a safe space.”
You know what this reminds me of? Sacking out a horse.
Siobhan is terrified of betrayal. She’s been betrayed by so many people, but Oliver’s betrayal wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Now that she’s had space and a reconciliation she can see that actually, even when they were fighting he still cared and he was willing to apologise and fundamentally he was still the same person. (Compare and contrast with Lacer’s betrayal)
It’s interesting how much of what’s going on for Siobhan can be traced back to Oliver. He got her into university, introduced her to Liza, introduced her to the nightmare pack, gave her advice on handling tricky situations and people, paid her over the odds for her work so she could get the ward in her back, sent Gera to help her when she was caught by the Red Guard. He’s done a lot to help her find her wings and fly.
By the way - what time zone is Azalea in? Does anyone know? I’m trying to figure out what time 00:00 on Tuesday translates to for me (since I’m from the future and it’s midnight already).
Yesterday’s went up about 1am UK time so I’d guess today’s will be about then too.
Yes I may have a daft sleep pattern… Nope, no good reason for it…
I was asking RE: book release - Azalea said it was dropping at midnight which I’m assuming is later than the chapters normally come out? Maybe?
Daft sleep schedule people unite!
Patreon says “mountain time” which I believe is UTC-7. Possibly UTC-6.
I’m so sorry to miss most of this discussion… I guess it’s not a real fandom until we’re naming the ships? 
@AzaleaEllis look!!! I’m not the only one who loves Oliver.
The other ships are more complicated (to name). Ana is probably easy because she dislikes the raven queen and (I assume) wants an heir to have a legacy. So it’s Anastien or so. Damien probably doesn’t care in the end because he likes the person so Dabhan is probably easier for them in the end.
Wow, crazy awesome compliments! You made my day, PipesMac. Thanks. 
I try very hard to write the best possible book every time, so I appreciate when people appreciate the outcome. I am getting better as a writer bit by bit, and one day hope to be capable of creating true masterpieces.
I’m in Mountain Time, UTC-6. However, the books don’t go out midnight my time, but midnight of wherever the servers are, apparently. I got the release email notification from BookFunnel at 11:00pm my time.
Yeah, I got the book at 5am my time, when I was cozily asleep in bed
Thank you Azalea, the book and the nightly releases have been a ray of joy in what’s been a pretty terrible week. It’s given me something to be excited about and hold on to while everything else is crumbling.
(It is important to feed authors with compliments, I’ve been told it helps with their recovery. That doesn’t make what I said any less true, though.)
What makes you think these books aren’t?
Honestly, what even is a masterpiece?
If I had to name my favourite authors, it would be Azalea, Martha Wells, Ilona Andrews and Victoria Goddard. I don’t think Azalea’s books are lacking at all in comparison to the other names on the list. A Practical Guide to Sorcery has sucked me in and grabbed my imagination and has not let me go.
The first time I felt like this was probably when I picked up The Wizard Hunters when I was 12 and spent months waiting for the next books in the series to be delivered to my country. I read those books to ragged shreds and if PGTS wasn’t all ebooks I probably would have done the same with them.
We have the excellent characters, fabulous world building, a compelling plot and good banter.
I personally think that most people would love these books if they just tried them, but that’s just my opinion.
I’ve got a definition: Work that shows mastery of the skill demonstrated. Back before “master’s degrees” could be obtained at colleges, master craftsmen were the people that could prove to their peers, via their masterpiece, that they were good enough to teach apprentices and sell their services to the public.
There is no doubt in my mind that all the books in A Practical Guide to Sorcery meet that standard.
But, I’ll go farther: both in plotting and in execution, these are some of the best fantasy fiction for adults that is currently being produced from any modern author. To find competition, I think you actually have to compare Azalea to not just big name published authors, but the most accomplished: like Sanderson, Jim Butcher, Ilona Andrews, and a handful of others.
Strive for better, sure, (that’s never ending, even for masters) but these books absolutely stand as masterpieces in my mind.
I think the commonality with all the authors I named is that their books have a high rereadability quality. I can lose myself in their worlds over and over again and their characters and worlds live in my head for years.
They capture the essence of what it is to be human even in characters who aren’t necessarily human themselves.
They have certain bits of prose that haunt you - I can still remember Tremaine Valiarde describing her peripatetic upbringing in the care of a gentle but opium addicted sorcerer, the way Cliopher Mdang declaims his identity in the teeth of societal opprobrium - calling them out for thinking that because he has learned to speak like them and dress like them that he has forgotten his roots and can be made to be embarrassed of his relatives and his history.
There are many moments that live in my memory with Siobhan. I think the one that jumps to mind first is when she describes eating the rat - actually, the many times she’s thought about hunger - true hunger. But the rat one jumps to mind first.
If your book sticks with people and makes them think about it long after they’ve turned the last page, I think it can be considered a masterpiece.
Edit: in case it wasn’t obvious, I agree about these books being the best fantasy being published for adults at the moment.
This is exactly it! For me it was Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series. This series feels like it could be related to her writing - albeit a more complex, adult version. With mysteries and cliffhangers and magic school! (I keep waiting for the talking animals, though.)
Agreed completely, although I think PGTS is worlds better than Sanderson. (I’ve tried and tried to read them, even through audiobook, and I just can’t get into it.)
It’s unsurprising, but PGTS is my favorite series. No contest. There is plenty of excellent fantasy and fiction out there, but these books are wildly good no matter how you measure it.
You guys really say nice things. Thank you very much, and please know that I genuinely appreciate your support.
I will agree that I’ve reached a basic level of “mastery,” so perhaps “masterpiece” isn’t the correct word.
I said that because I’m aware of how much more I can improve. If unattainable perfection is 100 and sizzling garbage is 0, then maybe I’m somewhere in the nineties. It’s very good, and trying to improve from 93 to 94 might take longer than going from 70 to 80. But a single percent of improvement at this point actually makes a huge difference to the emotional impact, resonance, and memorability of the story.
I improved a ton while writing my first 5 books (Seeds of Chaos), and then going into A Practical Guide to Sorcery.
Now, I’ve been going back and re-reading PGTS, and I can see that my skill has improved significantly again since writing PGTS 1. While writing PGTS 5, I’ve also been able to tell that I still have improvements to make, but I’m not able to bridge the gap because my level of understanding and skill is too low. I’m just vaguely, hazily aware of my “failure” without truly grasping the whole of it. (To be clear, this is not meant as self-degradation. I love what I write and I’m proud of it, too.)
I think in 5 years, I’ll be able to look back at what I’m writing now and see that my skill has improved again. And sometime after that, I may be able to reach that hazy level of skill that I’m aiming for.
If we were to put this in terms Siobhan might use, I’m trying to become an Archmage. And I’m sure, if I ever manage that, I still won’t be content. But I am having fun with the journey along the way, and am pleased/satisfied as long as I can write the stories I want to write—and keep doing an incrementally better job, both deepening and expanding my capabilities.
Then maybe we can agree on a different meaning which I think is true? 
“Masterpiece - historical a piece of work by a craftsman accepted as qualification for membership of a guild as an acknowledged master.” Fun fact in Germany in some crafts you still need to create “a masterpiece” to be officially qualified as a master (we also still have something like guilds btw). So it is only the beginning not the apex of mastery.
Azalea’s writing is masterful. Undeniably so.
Edit: I was suffering from a cold and woozy from meds when I wrote the paragraph below. I regret the edgy-iness. Keeping it to remind myself to be more sensible.
–This is probably controversial: I agree with you about Sanderson… I have read 4 books of his to completion and attempted five others. I just keep reaching a point where I’m unable to get over the overt Mormonism in the mythology and cultures of the cosmere. I have close friends who grew up super super Mormon and a bunch of what he writes is an optimistic(?) retelling of LDS higher-level secret rituals and beliefs. It might be a failing in myself but I have not had that issue with other Mormon writers. The people he writes are just off in the same way the parents of my friends were – smiling, polite, and clean(?) in an “acting” way that gives you pressure instead of welcoming you. I’m not good enough of writer to properly explain my problem with his works. Anyway, what made you not finish his books?–