The Opening...

Discuss the May 2016 Book of the Month, Save the Last Bullet for God by JT Alblood.

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The Opening...

Post by Scott »

How do you like the opening of the May Book of the Month, Save the Last Bullet for God?

The opening intrigued me very much. I think the author did a great job in the opening with balancing mentioning some of the strange supernatural alternative history elements right away without losing the focus on developing the first characters and an intriguing story. Sometimes with supernatural, fantasy, and really any book, the beginning is boring because too much is spent explaining the fictional universe and setting making it feel like a non-fiction textbook that simply describes things that are not true. This book did not do that; it balanced those well, I think. What do you think?
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Post by gali »

I liked the opening, though I found it a bit confusing at first. I agree the book balanced all the ingredients real well. The concepts were very interesting and I enjoyed the book from start to finish.
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Post by Taylor Razzani »

I haven't finished yet, but I'm guessing when I do the beginning won't be so confusing. It's definitely piqued my interest and I can't wait to see where it goes and how all the elements play out.
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Post by Vermont Reviews »

I enjoyed the book. I did think that the opening was well balanced as well. The author did a nice job with historical ideas too.
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Post by Rhoe_Marrow »

So far the opening was a bit confusing at first. I have only ever seen this kind of format with a fiction book called "The Historian"
The book of the month is taking me a couple of passes to fully understand, But, this format seems like a great way to add some back story while building plot. I like it.
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Post by lmoses »

I found the opening to be a bit confusing, but I liked how the format jumped right into the book's themes. I have not finished the book, but like others, I believe it will be less confusing once I am finished. This is not a book I would typically read but still found it interesting.
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Post by kio »

Scott wrote:How do you like the opening of the May Book of the Month, Save the Last Bullet for God?

The opening intrigued me very much. I think the author did a great job in the opening with balancing mentioning some of the strange supernatural alternative history elements right away without losing the focus on developing the first characters and an intriguing story. Sometimes with supernatural, fantasy, and really any book, the beginning is boring because too much is spent explaining the fictional universe and setting making it feel like a non-fiction textbook that simply describes things that are not true. This book did not do that; it balanced those well, I think. What do you think?
I'll admit this opening intrigued me where the blurb didn't. (I know weird, right?) The line about what if god died definitely piqued my interest, but the opening pulled me in the rest of the way. I also liked how life-like the saucer crash looked.
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Post by Vermont Reviews »

kio wrote:
Scott wrote:How do you like the opening of the May Book of the Month, Save the Last Bullet for God?

The opening intrigued me very much. I think the author did a great job in the opening with balancing mentioning some of the strange supernatural alternative history elements right away without losing the focus on developing the first characters and an intriguing story. Sometimes with supernatural, fantasy, and really any book, the beginning is boring because too much is spent explaining the fictional universe and setting making it feel like a non-fiction textbook that simply describes things that are not true. This book did not do that; it balanced those well, I think. What do you think?
I'll admit this opening intrigued me where the blurb didn't. (I know weird, right?) The line about what if god died definitely piqued my interest, but the opening pulled me in the rest of the way. I also liked how life-like the saucer crash looked.

Nice job.
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Post by Taylor Razzani »

kio wrote:
Scott wrote:How do you like the opening of the May Book of the Month, Save the Last Bullet for God?

The opening intrigued me very much. I think the author did a great job in the opening with balancing mentioning some of the strange supernatural alternative history elements right away without losing the focus on developing the first characters and an intriguing story. Sometimes with supernatural, fantasy, and really any book, the beginning is boring because too much is spent explaining the fictional universe and setting making it feel like a non-fiction textbook that simply describes things that are not true. This book did not do that; it balanced those well, I think. What do you think?
I'll admit this opening intrigued me where the blurb didn't. (I know weird, right?) The line about what if god died definitely piqued my interest, but the opening pulled me in the rest of the way. I also liked how life-like the saucer crash looked.
I don't think it's weird at all. I feel like I got nothing from the blurb so when I read the opening it was something completely new.
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Post by tortoise keeper »

I am about half way through the book right now and I also liked the beginning. Usually if a book doesn't capture my attention in the first new pages I will not read it. So far I have enjoyed this novel and it is not something that I would normally have chosen to read.
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

I actually read the third part of this book a while ago, and I'm excited to be able to read the whole book this month. With that being said, when reading the opening, I am also intrigued. Like others have said, it's a little confusing, especially with the year jumping around about three times. However, reading it reminded me of how much I loved the third part of this novel, so I'm excited to continue!
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Post by Vermont Reviews »

Enjoyed this book. Plus I love the forums.
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Post by Renee Bella »

I am going to continue reading this book, but I felt that as I have just read the opening I would share my thoughts on here whilst it's fresh in my mind. Firstly, I have to say that the time jumps are what intrigued me the most. They were just long enough to offer something to the plot without burdening the reader with too much information before they were moved on to the next scene. I also felt that this made the scenes less confusing than they could have been as I ultimately had less to 'wrap my head around'.

That being said, I am thoroughly intrigued so far and can't wait to continue reading!
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Post by Vermont Reviews »

Excellent let's have more comments.

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Post by L_Therese »

I wasn't much of a fan of the opening. It seemed too dramatic to me, like when tv shows open with scenes of a character being shot or rushed into surgery and then jump backward in time to explain how it happened. I understand the need to hook the audience, but to me, it is too much.
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