a very brief summary of red queen

[@JamesTullos]

I did the rewrite: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJvKpYJ9lKprbK8

[@lilys1080]

I need your reveiw on "The Cruel Prince" series. I absolutely despised it but everyone loved it 😅

[@dollblades]

even after all these years i CANNOT get over how absurd all of the characters' names are. mare molly barrow still haunts me

[@candacescorner3141]

I like to call Mare “Bone Marrow” that’s what her name has always looked like to me, plus it’s fitting because a big part of the world building is about blood.

[@AlanaPostsCrap]

Mare's name gives me the same feeling as Millie Bobby Brown

[@Air_Serpent]

@@candacescorner3141that would be kinda cool ngl 😂 stupidly edgy but it does have a nice sound to it

[@arianaluna7219]

13 yo me had no idea how to pronounce ptolemy 😭

[@nicole7884]

When names confuse or annoy me I always just give them a new name. So I called Maya Barrows

[@Zealous_Delusional]

Damn it, now I’m thinking about having silver periods

[@luxill0s]

When their blood dries is it like when silver tarnishes… there are so many weird implications of this. What color are their blood veins through their skin??

[@imperfectwaffles5688]

@@luxill0s I read this series a a middle schooler so I may not remember right, but I think they did have silver veins. I think they mentioned their skin looking silvery and having to do Mare’s makeup to hide the pink undertone of her skin.

[@whatawaste2463]

​@@imperfectwaffles5688 i remember the silvers going pale when they're blushing 😂 kinda funny

[@nevaehaho61]

@@luxill0sWhen Silvers blush it’s usually described as them going pale or turning a bit gray. I also recall spilled Silver blood pooled in large quantities appearing a lot darker, basically black. It’s a bit weird but we need something for the ✨aesthetic✨ I guess

[@dragonwithapen]

I always imagined it looking like Mercury (the metal not the planet)

[@ic5889]

I was kinda zoned out until I picked up the sentence "people who can control metal are called magnetrons" magnetron means microwave in my language so for a minute I thought a part of this worldbuidlinh was having a group of people called microwaves

[@olliewithab1926]

they are now. i will henceforth always call them microwaves

[@robinvannoortwijk631]

omg I thought exactly the same! have I located another Dutchie?

[@ic5889]

@@robinvannoortwijk631 wellicht...

[@ShrutiRai-qy3vs]

shame cause that would have been neat😂

[@hikawagetsbitches]

thats hilarious

[@charbird20]

The catchphrase “That’s a shame. It sounds kind of neat,” progressively getting louder and louder as it sounds more frustrated is the cherry on top of this video lmao

[@regularpumpkin]

fax

[@Dynoids]

And a wonderful setup for when something meet finally happens

[@JaxonHaxon]

The idea of torture when you have people able to read memories is extra sick and twisted.

[@Yasmeentea]

The implication is scary, but most likely the writer forgot lol.

[@yourlocalToeMuncher]

@@YasmeenteaI think there’s a lot of scenes about it in one of the books (I read the books a while ago so I’m not 100% sure)

[@auroraa.writes]

@@yourlocalToeMuncherthird book I’m pretty sure

[@resir9807]

It's not about the secret info, it's about the shits and giggles

[@MetaFanWing]

@@Yasmeentea *waterboarding a prisoner* “Wait, can’t you read minds?” “i forgor”

[@mahrinui18]

The fact that the Stilt people have hair that turns pale towards the ends because of stress implies that their hair grows continually from the tip like a plant rather than from the follicle. I'm not sure what the world building implications of this are

[@emackenzie]

hearing that made me laugh so hard. I've had hair turn grey from stress, and it doesnt look like a cute dip-dye ombre, its either an entire strand or from folicle to tip. That sounds like something she could have just... looked up

[@projectjupiter5523]

they're so stressed they can't properly dye the entirety of their hair and give up midway through making it one colour 😓

[@firewolfandrewb]

They could have had it turn pale toward the roots. Still wouldn't have been accurate, but it would have been closer.

[@yourpsychicfriendfredbear]

Are haircuts permanent then?

[@ellealine4159]

Tbh, this is not too far off. Hair frequently "washes out" when it grows. For example my own hair which is dark brown at the roots turns a very light brown once its past my waist. This is super normal. So if in stilt there would be some wild chemicals it's not too far off

[@pregmobrainrot2857]

i love when people passionately explain a series for multiple hours with the aid of an unhinged stringboard

[@thewolfandherbooks]

please tell me you watch The Book Leo

[@BigElbows]

Something I hate about these "class is bad" kind of books is that most of them create a real difference between the ruler and the ruled, almost justifying the oppression, as if billionaires have some cool and awesome power aside of having bloodstained money. This was, in fact, my major contention point in Final Empire (along with the "inherited power" that also is kinda shitty that this book series also have). Bottom line, this kind of world building hurts your real-world message, which, presumably, is that we should eat the rich or something

[@slitherthewizardofwither6959]

Idk I think it could be interesting to look at a fictional world where there was a tangible physical difference between the rich and poor and still explore the negatives of class and poverty as long as it's written pretty good

[@epicazeroth]

Unless the writer is really based and goes "well these differences are neither biologically determined nor morally significant" and the point is actually that a class system based on superpowers is still wrong. Something something Brandon Sanderson.

[@sirturtlethethird7352]

@@slitherthewizardofwither6959 Imo the Red Rising series does this pretty well

[@uggachugga760]

You can say the same with race analogies. Fantasy is especially bad at this. Like, racism is terrible but fantasy races have bigger differences between them than IRL human ethnicities. Unless that's somehow no big deal in-universe (except it usually is, anyway), it sort of justifies being fearful of a race if they can liquidate you with magic or in some cases are explicitly always evil.

[@BigElbows]

@@uggachugga760 Yes, Scifi also does this pretty badly overall too, using aliens as stand-ins for non-white people, or worse, robots. Of course, abuse and violence shouldn't be justifiable even if the ruling class is a collection of god-like creatures, but it is based on this kind of discourse that we idolize dumbasses like Elon Musk

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

YA fiction and people being divided into arbitrary groups name a better duo.

[@poymannyng1845]

YA fiction and post-apocalyptic settings lol

[@BrandonPilcher]

I was gonna say, I got major Divergent vibes from the premise alone.

[@childchomper1856]

reds and communism

[@moonstarstories1298]

Speaking of arbitrary groups, I once wrote a story with an online friend about two tribes fighting and the literal only difference between them was that one of them has red eyes and one of them has green eyes. It's really just a plot device.

[@qoph1988]

This memeplex infests boomer and genx brains like lice.. And apparently millennial too. When will the post-WWII negative worldview end

[@yamibakura8597]

One thing that always bothered me about this series was when Cal and Mare have sex, she gets a birth control pill because no one knows if Silvers and Reds can cross-breed. And when I heard that, I nearly spit my teeth out of my skull. You're telling me that Silvers have had Red servants for hundreds of years and there are no affairs between them? No forbidden romances? No bribing poor Red girls

[@yamibakura8597]

*with money? That's some ludicrous nonsense. Also, this could explain the Newbloods. They're just Reds with some distant Silver blood in them.

[@karinabreyer9832]

Hi! So I'm pretty sure she took the pill because she was 18 and didn't want to get pregnant, the thought of the cross breeding was there but I think she mostly took it for her own sake. I think the other reply makes a lot of sense though and that newbloods had distant silver lineage

[@Naiobia]

​@@karinabreyer9832yea. She took the pill right after they broke up iirc? The breakup was bad... Like bro still wanted the throne

[@DinoRicky]

“Can we cross bred” “Definitely pretty boy 😏” -Every single master and servant for thousands of years in history

[@qoph1988]

Yeah, totally ridiculous. You mean they have a huge untermenschen slave caste and they've never even done any breeding experiments? Just for a laugh? No Mengele twin experiments or nothing? Who could even complain about such courteous masters

[@benjaminjonsson5427]

A KZbinr I haven’t seen before talking about a book series I have never heard of for close to two hours? Why, yes. I will enjoy the video and subscribe

[@SophReads.]

Why is this so fr???

[@punkpaddleboat]

one of my kind?

[@Theywerehere]

There is a 7 hour review of lightlark out there.

[@web.frosty8234]

@@Theywerehere OH MY GOD I DEVOURED THAT VIDEO

[@Elricsedric]

I just found this guy. I'm about to binge a ton of his vids.

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

Cities disappearing as a royal court moves isn't weird. This is how a few of the rotating Persian capitals worked. They were basically only a palace structure with foundations for tent cities to be built up nearby.

[@雷-t3j]

but if it's moving to the same place every time, why not just build a city?

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

@@雷-t3jSome of the Persian capitals were actual cities. Like Babylon, Ecbatana, and Susa. But these were pre-existing cities that came under Persian rule. The Emperor actually typically ruled from the major city of Babylon. Ones like Persepolis and Pasargadae were more ceremonial. Let’s just think of them as sort of like summer homes that the Emperor visits from time to time. The only important thing is the presence of the King of Kings itself and whatever other ceremonial function the buildings served.

[@basedeltazero714]

@@雷-t3jFrom what I understand, they did? Like, there's physically a city there, it's just empty when the court isn't there.

[@Wonderlandish]

@@雷-t3jeasier to move with the seasons in places where heat scorches and fertility changes, especially when their architecture was relatively light enough to move. Would also be strategically good to keep the Royal family alive and thriving in case enemies start invading, just lift your things and get the good horses

[@luvneojen]

read that as parisian and was confused lol

[@SeaKnight_Rory]

"Normally the heroes of this kind of book would get everyone to work together through the power of friendship. But, I guess, the power of geopolitics and extreme violence is stronger." I LAUGHED FOR HOURS

[@Evelyn_Rose1151]

A lot of the missed opportunities I didn’t really think about when I read the series. But the one about Maven’s character and trauma being explored and him being healed was something I genuinely thought the book was leading into

[@timfrank7461]

The series had the potential to be game of thrones with superheroes but no they squandered it

[@jacqueshardin4601]

​@@timfrank7461Actually, I think I remember hearing this series described as Game of Thrones meets Divergent. So you are not far off.

[@rachelstanford9784]

Makes me feel like Maven should've been the MC, he actually had an internal conflict and potential character arc.

[@moonstarstories1298]

It sounds so silly, but in one of his POV episodes he complimented Mare's hair and the way he said it was just super sweet. Like, yeah he tortured her and tried to kill her, but he complimented her hair!

[@jacqueshardin4601]

I remember trying to read Red Queen for the first time. I accidentally imagined Mare as being older than she actually is and misinterpreted her anger for exhaustion. I was disappointed to learn she is just another generic YA protagonist. That would be kind of meta to write a YA protagonist who is just exhausted by everything that happens. Though I am not sure how compelling that would be in practice.

[@siraguswolf2604]

I think a story like that wouldn't really be YA, since it would get increasingly more appealing the less Y those A's are. But I for sure would read it lol

[@pixiedustsoup]

try Jill Bearup! she did something like this and handled the meta of it really well. the book is still a WIP, but her channel is a goldmine for anyone that enjoys media analysis. also, swords c:

[@tiana5395]

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi are romp with an infamous pirate forced out of her retirement (you know, assembling the team for "one last job") if you're looking for a non-teen/ non-inexperienced protagonist to read about.

[@virgo2827]

not a YA but that's kind of the plot of Tales of vesperia. the first few hours anyway

[@Wonderlandish]

I feel like Percy Jackson is kinda like that as the series go on (especially in Blood of Olympus), and Magnus Chase Celaena Sardothien is realistically a child victim of war, slavery and oppression though Throne of Glass too, so despite being young you can feel her dreading the steps she takes forward when she has to face her reality, more on Heir of Fire (in which she regains a bit of inner strength through recovery), but she never stops hating war and trying to bring an end to it through gritted teeth (despite having the façade of a charismatic character when she deals with important people, which is entertaining). It’s one of my faves, tbh

[@alisaurus4224]

“She’s going to become a queen. And she’s a Red! She’s a RED QU-“ Lol at the editing 😂

[@Jusdepommerose]

There's no need for the menacing knife James, you know we will happily watch any new video 😂

[@ixeliema]

Two uploads in a row too, oh boy he's getting desperate! 😂

[@actpossum]

The Algorithm broke him, King's in his blank wall and knife gesturing era. I will always be ready for the content keep it up king

[@projectjupiter5523]

the algorithm broke him like *glass*. he's holding a knife which is kinda like a *sword*. huh, i guess you could say that james is a *glass swo- *

[@userabbie17]

For a lot of the series, I had no idea that Farely was this young girl because it was mentioned briefly in her introduction, but then my brain just never understood that for some reason, because like you said, how could this girl supposed to be in her early 20s, be in charge of the biggest rebellion around. So when her relationship with Shade was revealed, I was so weirded out because I thought this woman in like her 30s or 40s was with this young guy, until I went onto the wiki page and realised, oh yeah this lady is actually around his age what the hell, she just seemed like that lady from Wreck-It-Ralph who kills bugs.

[@moonstarstories1298]

I don't like it when the rebellion group is led by people in their late teens to early twenties. It makes the rebellion feel flimsy because it must be if the leaders are like eighteen. At least with characters like Katniss, she's a soldier and a figure head, not the head.

[@zoeb3573]

​@@moonstarstories1298she was also forced into that role by the real people in charge. She's just a symbol people could put their hopes into, not the one calling the shots.

[@moonstarstories1298]

@@zoeb3573 I was definitely not talking about Mare, btw. Her role makes sense. I was talking about Farley.

[@Naiobia]

....how old is farley wh

[@bluegreyflowers9714]

love the recent influx of multihour videos explaining books likes this (or movies. or anything)

[@jito7377]

I love the books and tv series format of iconic multihour breakdowns. We should make a (play)list of girlboss summaries. Feel free to copy and add your sugesstions. - Vampire diaries (Jenny Nicolson) - Pretty Little Liars etc. (Mike's Mic) - ACOTAR (Cari can read) - (shitty book club) - Once upon a time (Ava's Reads)

[@thenigerianprincess]

@@jito7377I absolutely love mikes mic breakdowns in shows I don’t care about

[@meddlesome-]

ive got a huge collection but vital are quinton reviews and keyan carlile

[@burnedoutnotactuallygifted6270]

Cari can read is amazing

[@malaikakhan28]

​​@@jito7377 does the recap of Twisted Love by "lexi aka newlynova" count? I haven't read it so idk if it's girlboss (I'm pretty sure it actually isn't lol) but the video is really entertaining.

[@grumbledingle]

Evangeline gaslit, gatekept, and girlbossed throughout the entire series and that’s why i’ve been her stan since the first book.

[@M24071]

And giving zero fucks i liked her more in later books cause mare just becomes insufferable

[@britt6184]

​@@M24071The fact that the cliche bully character ended up being my favorite aside from the main antagonist just shows how awful Mare was as a protagonist. The author is really good at making me root for the villains of her books.

[@M24071]

@britt6184 yeah her villains are more likeable and interesting than the main character I absolutely hated both cal and mare in the last two books they just kept getting more and more annoying

[@notreal9214]

wait is evangeline the gay one? She was the only tolerable one closer to the end bc I hated all those mfers but at least she was real

[@M24071]

@notreal9214 Yeah she is gay, but also maybe maevn too it is never cleared if he is gay or bisexual since his first love was a boy he accidentally killed and he does have conflicting feelings towards mare

[@PhileasLiebmann]

34:27 Also didn't they already imply with Mare's case that giving the Reds the illusion of upward social mobility would be a massive PR blow to the rebellion and improve the public's perception of the aristocracy? Like it's very easy for a people to unite against such a culturally and politically distinct enemy. But if you theoretically have a chance, no matter how slim and unrealistic, to join the aristocracy, that's gonna make a small but significant percentage of people far less likely to rebel. Also if someone's brother's neighbour's boyfriend's sister-in-law is a Countess, they might think twice about categorically chopping off all the noble's heads.

[@pRahvi0]

Honestly, when the possibility of a red having similar powers to the silvers was discovered, I expected the whole silver blood thing was just an illusion created to fool the lower class into thinking they were an inherently inferior race. Considering that, it wouldn't make much sense to proceed by publically announcing some reds could actually become equals to the silvers.

[@spillthe_bea]

yeah it is what happens in hunger games ahaha people still have some hope bc of the chances of winning the game and becoming rich and why they are mad when victors also get screwed over ... someone wrote a rebellion book better than someone else ahaha

[@ahobbyist9520]

for one, I'm pretty sure it's not implied

[@zoeb3573]

That's pretty much how things work in America nowadays. "I'm not gonna vote for rules that help the poor cause I'm sure if I grind hard enough I won't always be poor so it won't help ME, and I'm not gonna vote for rules that tax and punish the rich because the it'll affect me when I'M rich!!!" instead of going for a system that helps and supports everyone.

[@a_niratac]

"Shame, because that sounds really neat!" might have to become my new catchphrase

[@NearlyH3adlessNick]

>Sees notification and reads title without being able to see video length. >assume I wont need to find another video to watch til nearly lunchtime. *>not disappointed.*

[@mellieg.7543]

I remember reading this book series in high school and absolutely loving it, and then trying to re-read it the summer after my freshman year of college and being incredibly disappointed. It was almost like a sign that my childhood was over and it was time to move away from YA dystopia.

[@salwammilizayoussoufali2170]

I feel the same thing. My stadards are higher than ten years ago, and a lot of books that were "good" are now barely readable.

[@Merve77772]

I follow the author on social media and she is so sweet, which is why I'm sad that I just can't get into her books. I tried reading Red Queen twice and Blade Breaker once but I just can't bring myself to care about the characters and story. So, thank you for summing it up:) I love these kinds of videos

[@pRahvi0]

It is possible - and quite usual, I believe - to be an overall nice person without necessarily being good at ones profession.

[@0rtu_Solis]

@@pRahvi0 This is also probably what publicist were pushing for. Generic YA super awesome female protagonist revolution love tringle story.

[@thebeldam8202]

Same actually. I read this series a while back but never finished because I got bored 😭😭

[@qoph1988]

I'll read YA once a specific title survives a few decades and people still care about it (and not because of half a dozen movies in the franchise). Until then, there are much older and more deserving books to be read

[@LyzLocked]

The absolute travesty of naming the magnet power people "magnetrons" instead of "ferros"

[@lemonberry_soda]

The weird names, setting and storyline really take you away from reality so hard that it's difficult to remember this is a future post-apocalyptic version of Earth. Like my immersion was fully suspended and then I hear "these are the ruins of New York" and it just snapped me out of it fully lol

[@projectjupiter5523]

it so is, it seems like the typical vaguely medieval western europe setting that fantasies are often set in then every once in a while you get the literary equivalent of a slap in the face with events like the remnants of the overthrown aristocracy attacking the nation they once ruled to try and re-establish their hold on the fledgling democracy...on motorbikes

[@nevisnebis1207]

James Tullos with a knife is my favorite sub-genre of James Tullos videos

[@NaritaZaraki]

Shoutout to The Sister for passing on her books to you and providing the opportunity for this incredible video to exist!

[@gavisbarbie]

While there are a lot of flaws to overall series I actually found Maven to be a really compelling villain character. Yes his mind was broken by his mother, but he continually chooses to bad decisions going against our heroes. There really was no "fixing" him and that made me quite sad, I would love to read more from his perspective

[@sylviaisafoot6570]

I was so excited about seeing that he got a few POV chapters before they killed him, and I was completely ready for the author to go into more depth with his character, expose his vulnerabilities more and more, and then it just didn’t happen. When I was beginning to get bored of reading War Storm, his POV chapters saved me from giving up on the book. While I’m happy with what we did get, I would have loved more from his perspective.

[@insanitear]

31:24 I'm not even halfway through the video, and I'm already shocked by the sheer amount of "shame, because that sounds really cool"s. So, so many missed opportunities.

[@JohnnyCage8]

I recently reread this whole series and as silly as it may be at times, it is such a guilty pleasure 😭I hated Mare at first but I honestly quite like her now? #1 Kilorn hater though--he reminds me of Gale Hawthorne too much!!!! Also putting Gerard way as the photo for Maven is so funny omg

[@rainbow_bug_lady]

i love jame’s vidéos so i’m gonna watch it but i’m so worried because this is my favourite guilty pleasure book 😭😭

[@JohnnyCage8]

@@rainbow_bug_lady noooo I was so worried too ngl but like his criticism is fair 😭😭 also he made some really funny points

[@eighthundredlies]

I remember discovering the first book right after it came out and I got super into the series and was eagerly awaiting each subsequent release. Then I read King's Cage and it killed my love of YA fiction, which for a high schooler with very little standards is a pretty impressive thing to do.

[@Biancaleigh693]

Holy shit that is exactly what happened to me and on the same book!

[@teslashark]

The Nepali king is just the most unexpected reference, not weird, just unexpected.

[@JamesTullos]

It's one of my favorite recent historical events because the official story is so obviously fake yet we all have to pretend that's how it happened.

[@teslashark]

@@JamesTullos Well he had the formality to declare the brother the formal king first, hooray legitimate rulers

[@catsock]

listening to this as a podcast and looking up an hour and a half later to see GERARD WAY was so jarring

[@marianamauricio]

you mentioning the amount of missed opportunities is my favourite thing about this video ajsdjhsdk

[@kinnelyuwu5771]

Good things here: - new James video - long video on something I will never read - wall

[@kinnelyuwu5771]

[ everything is good, am well fed and happy watching this ]

[@marianamauricio]

4:58 "since she's largely devoid of personality and really only there to project onto i'm going to represent her with this picture" lmfaoooooo

[@M24071]

that's so true her brother dies and her reaction is "yes yes that's very sad, anyways i have a war to start"

[@yeeyee1269]

No one will understand how much middle school me was obsessed with this series. Is it good? NO! But it meant so much to me back then, thank you for this.

[@3XHS]

Somehow the video gets better with every "No" Edit: should also give some love to the other running jokes, especially james pointing out the title drops

[@projectjupiter5523]

the "youtuber gets cut off before being able to finish the punchline" jokes are genuinely always hilarious to me, loved it here

[@pensivecircles]

20:20 "Which means that she had never bled" Soooo are Silver's periods.... sliver? Ooor?

[@Kardellan]

I love this and I am ashamed that in the folly of my youth I wrote fanfiction for this desperately trying to salvage the story and failed miserably. Also the Colonel is impeccably the correct choice for this representation. Edit: I must clarify, the story I was not fond of, tis the video essay I love. Although Shade was an OP Gary Stu, I did like and hate the fact he died, he was honestly the only remotely interesting character in a world of interchangeable pieces.

[@lenapawlek7295]

Lol the pictures you picked for every character were fantastic!! I was laughing every time

[@Charlie-lw1hp]

That’s a really cool format I like the summary thing i get to watch a lot of funny James humour and avoid reading a boring book.

[@isaiahjohnson3487]

On the teleporter question: to the best of my knowledge, the newblood powers sre designed to be Silver powers, turned up to 10. I.E. Mare is like a storm, but much more precise and just with lightning. The gravity ones are like the telekinetic Silvers. Cameron is a boosted up Silence. John is a deus-ex-machina Eyes. Following this logic, Shade and the other teleporters seem to be boosted up swifts/speedsters. So, that might be the answer to why there are no evil teleporters.

[@palinurus]

I never managed to get past the first book, so I'm very excited for this! Thanks, James!!

[@gracepineapple501]

loved the bloodborne shirt, it kinda fits with the theme of the video, local man goes through a hellish landscape obsessed with blood lol

[@TopherWheeler]

I'm glad you prefaced this all with how you won't accidentally hurt yourself

[@joselocalau123]

i love your wattpad casting for this

[@keturahnaomi]

I forced finished Red Queen and started Glass Sword but had to dnf. So thanks for this summary. I was mildly curious about how the series wrapped up.

[@cadeludford2705]

I completely forgot that Farley isn't 30. There's no way she was meant to be a teenager. Also how much filler there is in here, although I do remember taking nearly a month to read War Storm.

[@M24071]

the part it was mentioned that she's a teenager i just snapped HOW, she literally acts and talks like a 30 year old

[@lenapawlek7295]

I remember reading red queen cuz the cover was cool

[@forloveofthepage2361]

No need for multiple perspectives is a bold statement. I get its hard to do, but some of my favorite series do it. The Expanse, GoT, stormlight, etc. Just cause crappy YA authors can't pull it off doesnt mean its a bad writing practice.

[@sarahpowell671]

I think (could be wrong though?) James was talking specifically about series that start out with a single 1st person POV, but then can't keep it up because they insist on getting their MCs trapped in places they can't see the story happening from, so they have to introduce new POV characters just to stop the story from grinding to a halt. Except then they misuse it and fluff it out with a bunch of filler anyway.

[@forloveofthepage2361]

@@sarahpowell671 That makes sense.

[@faultofdaedalus2666]

mostly unrelated but unironically i think agents of shield (i know) did the whole "character(s) who can see the future" thing REALLY well. all four times they did it. The first one, who is an antagonist and a threat in season 2, is called the clairvoyent, and is high up in a secret org. we later find out is, just, hydra. It seems like he is able to see the future (something most of the characters are really skeptical about, because this early on aos is still very much focusing in on the spy/tech/alien stuff and less the other kinds of superpowers they get into later on) because he's always able to predict what the team is going to do next, sets some very fucked up traps, ect ect. we later find out this guy actually has no powers to speak of - "he isn't clairvoyent, he has security clearance" because he's just been able to read their communications and plans ahead of time. very fun. the next one - raina - was part of this cult because she genuinely believed in this guy's clairvoyance, and at the reveal that he's not she is, understandably messed up, and then later gets powers that make her visibly non-human, causes her chronic pain, and also... gives her visions of future events, though she doesn't figure out that's what it is for a little while. She's fun, even before these powers, tbh. She's evil and i adore her. The next two are my favorite, i think - a father and his daughter, both who have powers from the same source as raina above. They can both see the future in slightly different ways, and it SUCKS for both of them. For the dad, whenever he touches another person both of them get extremely detailed and realistic visions of their death, which means he leaves his family (and infant daughter) because he can't touch them without inflicting these visions on them. I feel so bad for him, it's so tragic. We get a couple death visions through him, which are all interesting because they're all fairly limited snapshot moments of these events, which, while /do/ come true, allow for a Lot of interpretation. Now. His daughter. Robin. I adore her, i feel so bad for her, she gets the worst end of the deal. Robin's future-seeing mechanism is this: she sees moments throughout her entire life, somewhat at random, all the time. She doesn't exist in the present very much. Most of her visions are interpreted through crayon drawings she's done (as for most of this, in the present, she is a child) and it's just. SO! She knows how she dies before she's a teenager, she knows how her mother dies before that, she's seen the earth end and so many other horrors and she can do nothing to change it, and when she tries to call out warnings she's either too early or far too late and her mind is never at the same time as her body. We do see her as an old woman but i'm Obsessed with the idea of her as a teen and an adult trying to live her life when she's an infant and a dying old woman and every part of her life at once. anyways this is my obligative aos propoganda. robin my beloved.

[@elysia1700]

This book was such a fever dream that despite having read the first 2 books this video is all new information

[@BrandonPilcher]

18:09 It probably says a lot about our narcissistic culture why so many of our stories, especially the YA ones, are about effortlessly super-special people. IIRC, that’s what the “Mary Sue” concept was meant to describe.

[@aspen8544]

I think that’s a bit much. Often these books are aimed at teens who at an age where they usually feel very self conscious and unsure of themselves. Having a protagonist who they see themselves in who is widely liked and really special and is the chosen one to end the war/whatever can actually be quite cathartic for teens. Also, Mary Sue was specifically a term for self insert fanfiction, the term has now been bastardised to have been applied to pretty much every female character in film so it’s pretty much meaningless.

[@aspen8544]

@@b1_1nnies that’s not what a self-insert is? A self insert is specifically when an author makes a version of themselves the main character in the story. It’s not a synonym for ‘relatable.’

[@KamBB-gu3pv]

I mean it’s entertainment

[@kinglewis6553]

​@@aspen8544yup, like in I'm Not Starfire the MC is a self insert her character even looks like the author. Then we have Empress Theresa an overpowered MC where you can tell if the rest of the characters are good or bad based on whether or not they like her written by a man. She's a Mary Sue

[@mistermiles3271]

Been watching for about 4 years man, and it's always quality content

[@gwynsome]

i read the first two books of this series back in 2017 and i remember absolutely NOTHING about it now, so this video is so helpful in reminding me why that book is so unforgettable 😭

[@froggybeab]

18:43 never read or heard of the series but itd be interesting if reds had powers just maybe less often than silvers do and the government was just making them "disappear" for medical experiments similar to Unit 731.

[@idkanymore2.014]

That's basically what Mare is, they call them "new bloods" but really, it's just red blooded people with powers. But they don't do experiments, just kill them off whenever they're found out by the military

[@just_girly999]

The fact that I read the three books but I cannot recall anything apart form Mare being extremely annoying and victimized, Maven having a dog kink with her and everyone betraying everyone for no reason.

[@M24071]

don't forget the monologuing in every damn page about her being the lighting girl and being so strong

[@midnightemerald]

about evil teleporters, i legit only have a singular clue about them, and its how a lot of the newbloods seem to be, like, juiced up versions of silver powers, like cameron doesn’t just stop powers, she stops hearts too (so edgy), so i just kind of assumed that the teleporters were better versions of the super fast guys? Still no idea but just my (probably dumb) thoughts

[@nevaehaho61]

So Iris’ dad wasn’t the leader of the Lakelands. Her parents are cousins (because royal family) and her mom is more senior in line so the queen is the actual leader while the king was her consort. Their older daughter Tiora would inherit after her mom died regardless of if her father was alive. Hope that makes sense :)

[@klane2004]

I love this format (I rewatch the Cari Can Read ones regularly lol), and this kinda toned-down comedy variation is gold. I actually laughed out loud several times 😂. Sub!

[@BoisegangGaming]

The recurring "Shame that seems kind of neat" gag gets me every time.

[@grandadmiralmanatee]

I love this series despite its flaws lmao. It’s like Cassandra Clare such a guilty pleasure

[@thepixalwizard873]

This has to be one of the very best videos youve ever made. I found it so incredibly entertaining especially with the running "kind of neat!" motif. Excellent job James

[@a.erde432]

i genuinely let out a cry after i saw you represent MAVEN with gerard way😭

[@pluto9317]

yesss a new hours long james tullos video to fall asleep to

[@fynnsternis6432]

i appreciate that you keep reiterating who the characters are because i'm watching this over several days and couldn't remember for the life of me who all these people are.

[@rachelzimmermann8249]

I love that you are trying this format! Great video !

[@Evelyn_Rose1151]

You can’t convince me that the beginning of the third book wasn’t just for fetish

[@M24071]

it was very kincky and weird

[@seeya_l8r]

I read all these books and I feel validated by your exasperation. Because I was like, huh, really, this is weird, but I HAVE to finish it.

[@ThatPurpleGirl81]

-*looks at title, including the word 'brief'* -*glances at length of actual video* ...Welp, this should be interesting...😂

[@luhbreis]

It took me a while to realize who this was, this new look is really working for you gurl.

[@stolen_stardust]

i read this book as a young teen back in its hayday (i wasn’t the biggest fan of YA but had avid reader friends, so i’d read what they read) and all i remember was absolutely hating the magic system lmao. hilariously my recently reading mistborn (and then everything else in the cosmere) reminded me so much of red queen’s magic system, for whatever reason. except it was the shining example of everything my brain hates with magic - i like to know *why* a power works a certain way or why some scenarios aren’t good for it and things like that. honestly can’t remember much else of red queen. just teenage me’s intense hatred of most everything in it lol

[@Redpanda99998]

The cosmere is truely a gift to fantasy readers who like hard magic systems

[@porkupineexe6862]

I have no idea what this is but I'm less than 20 seconds in and the picture of Gerard Way has me interested in where the heck this could possibly be going

[@simmyjester]

1:01:54 I think I got as far as King's Cage in reading this series. I got so frustrated at the trope of "girl with magic powers held captive by sadistic man who the writer seemed to expect me to find sympathetic somehow." It showed up again in the first of the "Shatter me" books, and I didn't get past the first book of that series. It's happened in other series, but I'm intoxicated at the moment and can't remember the others.

[@mentkansleyunitedstatesgov6364]

just gonna put this here, torture is not a very reliable way of gathering information, they could legit just make up shit or lie to you to get you to stop

[@jacqueline373]

1:37:09 hahah, i was already giggling at this joke reoccurring once again, so the surprising “YES! YES!” really paid off!

[@ZielonaPastela]

It's amazing how little I remember from reading these books. The phrase "Wait, that happened?" went through my mind over and over again 😂. I'm usually really good at remembering things. I had some recollection of the first book but mostly I recall that they were quite long and that the plot was poorly paced. The sudden appearance of multiple POVs was also jarring. It feels like there was not enough story to tell from the perspective of the main character so the author had to include others.

[@eh337]

Never heard of these books, never would have read them, but because of your funny and apt commentary I listened to this whole thing. So much fun as always! Thank you!

[@februerik]

how dare you, that's the swaggiest stick i've ever seen

[@datalich]

A rewrite sounds super cool. This series seems like it could have been really cool.

[@naomistarlight6178]

I think I described Mare to a friend as "she's basically a block of wood"

[@townfool4682]

James on that Mike's Mic evidence board type beat

[@dr0g_Oakblood]

24:05 - so does her family ever address that officially, Mare is thought to be a Silver-fathered bastard on their mother? No tension with her siblings and parents over that? Running theme I guess

[@jace2088]

Fantastic video as always! Tried to read the series and was intrigued by its potential but that wasn't enough to get me through the bland wish fulfillment and I threw in the towel once totally-not-Disctrict-13 was introduced. Glad I did, hearing your summary saved me a lot of eye rolling lol. Please do a rewrite video, I would love to hear your take on it!

[@Chatrbuug]

The King's Cage was the Glass Sword we Red Queen'ed along the way

[@Aphelia.]

Damn I read this book 7 years ago when I was 14, so much nostalgia! Thanks for covering it

[@angryotter9129]

Well, I only took a twenty minute break to read about the Nepalese Royal Massacre and I think old Gyanendra did it.

[@regularpumpkin]

I love how each NO gets progressively more violently loud

[@anya0621]

1:16:58 "hey look, it bends" caught me soo off guard, specialy with the sword😂😂😂

[@carsynagen3525]

All in all: If you liked elements of this book's setting and want a better, fuller narritive, read the mistborn saga by Brandon Sanderson.

[@XannasBooks]

I'm going to trivia, and they announced one of the categories tonight was this whole series. So, thank you for this summary. I have a feeling I will do at least okay in this category tonight.

[@missducky9575]

I've read the first book and truly struggled with it, but I'm so happy I didn't continue. It sounds so confusing. I could barely follow after 1:21:09. James, you have my utter most respect.

[@lenapawlek7295]

Lol you bending the steel sword was so funny

[@SonarWavePulse]

Love falling asleep to your videos. Please take it as a compliment, I do actually watch some of them

[@isabellefreitag_]

and just when the world needed him the most, he comes back in a blaze of glory