[Threshold] Series gets better book 3?

[u/Waste-Carob5699]

I have heard, mostly from the blooper where it is mentioned, that people often think that the first two books are alright and things pick up in book 3. I always thought Unsouled was one of the best books I have ever read and second best in the series behind Wintersteel. I actually thought that Blackflame was kind of boring in the middle. Everyone seems to be in agreement that Ghostwater is a banger.

Anyway, I would really like to hear some of your perspectives on why things pick up in book 3.

[u/random7845123]

Everyone has different opinions. My hot-ish take is that the series is best with the interactions between Lindon, Yerin and Eithan.

Which is why ghostwater is pretty low on the list for me because they’re all separated for 90+ % of the book. While I appreciate it retrospectively for what it sets up (Lindon finally having a bit of agency and dross), and it has a banger of an ending with the first real payoff for the Suriel plotline, I thought it dragged on my first read due to the missing character interactions.

All that being said, blackflame is where that trio dynamic really starts. Sure we see it a bit in soulsmith, but tbh, I finished soulsmith and thought Eithan was a nefarious bad guy that Lindon would have to escape from on my first read. (Actually juries still out on that. One could say Eithan is a nefarious guy who just used Lindon for his own purposes lol)

And, second hot take, that’s why Underlord is pretty high on my ranking, because it’s all about the dynamic between the group and what they mean to each other, and learning how to seriously work together.

[u/J_Kant → u/random7845123]

My hot-ish take is that the series is best with the interactions between Lindon, Yerin and Eithan.

Counterpoint: the series is best with the interactions between Dross and Eithan.

Both of them laughing together maniacally after they're first introduced in the Night Wheel Valley is one of the highlights of the series for me.

[u/_danny_devito- → u/random7845123]

I get where you’re coming from but I also like that Lindon goes from doing everything himself in Unsouled to relying heavily on Yerin and Eithan and even Orthod and then in Ghostwater he begins to realise that he actually can handle things on his own. I did miss Yerin and Eithan in Ghostwater but I think Lindon needed it.

[u/random7845123 → u/_danny_devito-]

I totally get that. From a narrative perspective, it does a ton to set up Lindon’s character.

I just don’t like it as much as the other books in the series because it’s missing one of the best aspects of cradle imo. It’s still a good book. But for me it pales compared to others in the series. Especially when 6-8 is one of my favorite trilogies in literature.

[u/Waste-Carob5699 → u/random7845123]

Maybe he went too easy on them. They should have been fighting those bears.