The End of Times Series by Nate Johnson

The End of Times Series is by independent author, Nate Johnson.  The series was published beginning in 2023.

1.  Impact, 2023
2.  Escape, 2024
3.  Endure, 2024
4.  Quest, 2024
5.  Justice, to be published in 2025

Book 1 summary:

It really is the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Death, Famine, War, and Conquest.  Things a seventeen-year-old boy shouldn't have to deal with.

In those most infamous words, mistakes were made.  It wasn't supposed to happen. The asteroid was supposed to miss.  Running for their lives, Ryan Conrad and Kelsey Morgan race to escape the impact of a super asteroid and the apocalyptic world it left behind.  Fighting to survive the aftershocks.  The earthquake to end all earthquakes, the largest tsunami in human history, and worst of all, the EMP and loss of civilization.

Ryan must lead a ragtag group of people from Seattle to the safety of his grandfather's farm in northern Idaho.  Unfortunately, it seems as if fate is aligned against them.  Constantly putting every obstacle in their path.  Laying every trap, as if this new dystopian world was designed to kill them.

To top it off, he’s stuck with young kids depending upon him, a girl out of his league, and knowledge that one mistake and they all die.

Each subsequent book in this series features another member of Ryan's family heading for his grandfather's farm, each of them with a new acquaintance from the opposite sex.  The summaries of the subsequent books do not spoil the first book or any of the other books. 

Book 2 summary: 

It is a known fact.  Being in New York City at the end of the world is not the best.  There is only one solution.  ESCAPE.

When Haley Conrad was informed an asteroid is going to impact the earth, leading to the world's end, she knew her only chance of surviving was to escape New York before it became hell on earth.  But making it all the way across the country wasn't going to be easy.

Thankfully, Tanner Parks might be the perfect solution, part bodyguard and all monster.  He was just the type of boy that could keep a girl alive long enough to make it to the safety of the Idaho mountains.

Two young people following the ancient migrants trail.  Two people fighting to survive in this new world with new rules and more monsters than anyone could ever know.

Book 3 summary:

Chase Conrad didn't get along with people.  But that didn't mean he wanted the world to end.  Not like this.

High in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, he receives a call that an asteroid is going to wipe out civilization.  Not something you hear every day.  Torn between hiding out in the mountains and returning to the family farm in Northern Idaho, Chase choses home.  His sister and cousins will need him.  Unfortunately, three young people and a trial of endurance interfere with his plans.

Meagan Foster never expected the world to end.  Earthquakes, Volcanoes, EMPs.  Oh yeah, starvation.  None of it was expected.

Forced to make a choice, stay and fight the mobs tearing the city apart or the long desert road, one thing was obvious: the only chance she and her two younger brothers had was this strange boy walking out of the mountains.  Four young people must fight the desert, natural disasters, and what used to be left of civilization to reach safety.

Book 4 summary:

Cassie Conrad knew life was unfair, but she never thought the universe could be this cruel.  Informed by her father that the world is going to end, she is torn between staying with her friend Sara or trekking across the country to the family’s farm in Idaho.

Everything she thought she knew is put to the test.  Everything she valued has been taken from her.

Jake Thompson never anticipated an asteroid ushering in a post-apocalyptic world.  Left in charge of his sister Sara, and her friend Cassie, he must keep them alive as the world turns to hell in a handbasket around them.  Unfortunately, he is not surprised to discover just how fast the law of the jungle has returned full force.  Kill or be killed.

There is no one to go to for help.  No authority worth trusting.  Alone, these three young people face a new dystopian world filled with starving people desperate to take what they need.

I will get the only negative out of the way first.  These books have quite a few homonym and punctuation errors as well as randomly capitalized words.  At times, this is distracting.  However, these books are so compelling and so very good that I didn't care.

Nate Johnson tells really great stories.  The books are effortless to read.  He is low on description and includes no unnecessary information—no sidetracking into pointless, boring stuff.  Each story sprints forward from the very first page.  He is very high on characterization and effortlessly manages to gain the reader's interest.  I immediately cared about the characters and found every book to be compelling.

The stories are repetitive, but I like that.  I'm a series fan, and it's great fun reading through a set where every installment gives me a variation of what I read in the previous book.  This series does exactly that.  If you like the first book, then you'll like all of them.

Each book features a character from the Conrad family who receives a call from their father/uncle telling them that an asteroid will hit in minutes.  Each person grabs their things and takes off for the family farm in Idaho.  As each character heads on their journey, they acquire a traveling companion from the opposite sex.  The two characters inevitably begin to have feelings for each other, while hiding their feelings from each other and thinking that the other doesn't care.  

The books are unrealistic in some ways, but these kinds of books always are.  I didn't mind that, since I thoroughly enjoyed reading the books.

I love these books.  They are great reading.  If you love apocalyptic teen fiction with a hint of romance and a good dose of danger without any gore, then you'll love these books.

Keeper of the Lost Cities Forgotten Secret #3 Kenric and Oralie in Kenric's Readying Room

This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set.  Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published.  You've been warned.

I have included all of my past comments on this Forgotten Secret.  I want all of my thoughts in the same post, and it will be easier for me to find what I need if I separate the Forgotten Secrets into separate posts.  I will indicate any additional thoughts by adding comments in brackets.

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 The Forgotten Secrets:

Page 217   "I know you want me off the Council."  "I do?"  Kenric lowered himself into the chair and propped up his feet.  "That's news to me."

Page 217   She leaned closer, placing her hand over his.  "You're a better liar than most.  But I can still tell."

Page 218   "I'm not a fan of you, either."  Kenric's lips twitched with a smile: "Is that so?"  "Yes.  You're arrogant and boring.  And you have terrible taste in everything."  She crinkled her nose at his orange tunic—which did clash with his bright red hair.

Page 218   "And there it is," Kenric said, pointing to the hand she'd placed over her heart.  "The wide-eyed innocent act you love to hide behind."  "There's no act!"  "Really?  So you parade around in pink and ruffles because you want to be taken seriously?"  "No, I dress this way because I like the way I look."  "Pretty sure it's because you like to be admired."  Kenric stood up to face her.

Page 222   "I'm capable.  And I'm tired of being treated like I'm weak!"  "I don't think you're weak, Oralie.  In fact, I'm fairly certain you're stronger than all of us.  But your ability will always make you more vulnerable to certain things."

Page 222   "During my last investigation, I learned that we've been imprisoning someone for thousands of years—someone whose crimes were so horrible, they've been completely stricken from any kind of record."

Page 223   "Emotions can't be erased.  They can only be buried or misdirected—which is much harder to do with an Empath."

This memory shows how Kenric and Oralie did not get along with each other at first.  We also learn that Kenric apparently knew about Vespera and that it could be considered his fault that Vespera escaped from Lumenaria.

[I believe that my second sentence in the above paragraph is completely wrong.  While Vespera does fit the description, I suspect that the prisoner to whom Kenric refers is actually Elysian.  After making the statement about the prisoner, Kenric then adds that they "found evidence of a plot to break her free."  Breaking Elysian free would be much more significant than breaking Vespera free, based on what we know about Elysian from the released first chapter of #10 Elysian.  Indeed, I believe the only reason that the Neverseen ever released Vespera was so that she could hopefully lead them to Elysian.  I also believe that the main reason Vespera was imprisoned was so that she couldn't help others find Elysian.]

Also of note is that Kenric props up his feet.  He does that in this memory and in Forgotten Secret #5.  I mentioned in my previous post that Forkle as Leto props his feet on his desk on page 490.  The reader is being led to draw a connection between Kenric and Forkle/Leto.

We learn that Kenric was a good liar.  We know that Forkle is a good liar.

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 More on the Forgotten Secrets:

This secret is the one that fascinates me the most since it provides a full conversation between Kenric and Oralie in an everyday situation.  Oralie has stalked into Kenric's readying room to complain about him missing most of her special first-year-as-Councillor celebration.  The fact that she's so bothered shows that she has deeper feelings for Kenric than she realizes.  

She complains that Kenric left during dinner after the first course.  She thinks he couldn't stand to watch her celebration.  Kenric tells her that he had an upset stomach, contacted Elwin, and then returned.  Oralie places her hand on his and replies, "You're a better liar than most.  But I can still tell."

So, we know that Kenric is lying about why he left.  He certainly didn't go to see Elwin.  The first few times I read through this scene, I took the scene at face value and didn't think anything of it.  I just figured that Kenric left because he didn't want to be at the dinner.  But then, that really doesn't make sense. 

A moment later, Oralie complains that Kenric has bad taste "in everything."

Page 218:   "I'm not a fan of you, either."  Kenric's lips twitched with a smile.  "Is that so?"  "Yes.  You're arrogant and boring.  And you have terrible taste in everything."  She crinkled her nose at his orange tunic—which did clash with his bright red hair.  Kenric's smile widened.  "If you were a better Empath, I doubt you'd denounce my taste in everything."

Kenric's last statement implies that he does care about Oralie, and she has no idea.  If Kenric does care about Oralie, then he didn't leave the dinner to get away from her celebration.  What would he have been doing, and why did Shannon make a point of mentioning it?

I think Kenric was switching with his twin.  He'd have to disappear at times in order to make the switch.  This must be why Kenric left the dinner.

Page 218   "And there it is," Kenric said, pointing to the hand she'd placed over her heart.  "The wide-eyed innocent act you love to hide behind."  "There's no act!"  "Really?  So you parade around in pink and ruffles because you want to be taken seriously?"  "No, I dress this way because I like the way I look."  "Pretty sure it's because you like to be admired."  Kenric stood up to face her.

My take on Kenric's remark this time is that he correctly understands that Oralie puts on an innocent act.  She pretends to have a fragile voice, and she dresses in pink ruffles so that people think she's just a helpless beauty.  Kenric is very annoyed by Oralie's behavior, and at this early stage in their acquaintance, he has no idea why she acts like this.

[I no longer think Kenric is annoyed by Oralie's behavior.  He's just acting annoyed so that Oralie won't realize how much he loves her.  He's saying whatever he can to keep her riled up so that she doesn't sense his true feelings.]

Kenric and Oralie's conversation then switches to why Kenric voted against Oralie becoming a Councillor.  Before Kenric answers Oralie, he "[takes] a step back."  I suspect that Kenric steps back so that Oralie can't detect a lie.  Kenric then tells her that she rushes through her assignments in order to garner attention and that is why he voted against her.  Oralie is deeply offended.

Instead, Kenric probably voted against Oralie being a Councillor because he already cared about her.  That is, the twins already cared about her.  They saw her as a complication, and they had enough problems dealing with their shared identity and keeping that secret.  They didn't need a potential love interest to be a Councillor, especially since their shared identity prevented either of them from ever marrying.  

I also suspect that Kenric is openly hostile towards Oralie as a means to mask his true feelings.  By angering Oralie, he keeps her from realizing how he feels.

[Yes, that's all this is.  Kenric isn't annoyed by Oralie.  He thinks she's wonderful, but he can't let her sense that.]

Lady Fayina is also mentioned during this conversation.  She apparently fell off a cliff, and Oralie closed the case so that she could be declared dead.  Who was Lady Fayina?  Is she really dead?  Could she be of some importance?

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

Keeper of the Lost Cities Forgotten Secret #2 The Matchmaker Memory

This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set.  Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published.  You've been warned.

I have included all of my past comments on this Forgotten Secret.  I want all of my thoughts in the same post, and it will be easier for me to find what I need if I separate the Forgotten Secrets into separate posts.  I will indicate any additional thoughts by adding comments in brackets.

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 The Forgotten Secrets:

Page 210   "What if I told you that neither of us was going to remember the rest of this conversation?" Kenric asked quietly.  "Everything from this moment on will be erased.  Behnam's eyebrows lifted.  "Then what's the point?"  "This way I'll be able to remember that I asked.  But I won't know whether or not you answered."

This statement doesn't make sense.  What is the point of asking if he won't remember the answer?  Kenric must be lying to Behnam about why he wants to see the hypothetical match lists.

Page 210   "No, I suppose it doesn't."  Kenric buried his face in his hands and took a long breath.  "I realize this is a tremendous ask.  I'm just… running out of ideas for how to move on—and I have to move on.  Surely you can understand that."

Kenric is lying.  How would knowing for sure whether Oralie is his number one match help him move past the fact that he can never be matched with her?  If she is his number one match, then that would be devastating.  If not, then I suppose it could help.  However, Kenric claims that he's erasing the memory, so none of this makes any sense.  Kenric is instead manipulating Behnam into giving him the information that he seeks.

Page 211   But in the projection, Behnam leaned forward and told Kenric, "Truthfully, I do understand why you need this answer.  So I'll plug in the data for you—but I feel the need to remind you that it will always be impossible.  She already collected all five of her lists.  No more can ever be issued."

Page 212   Kenric's number one match was Oralie.  And Oralie's number one match was Kenric.

Page 213   "I don't understand," Oralie whispered, closing her palm around the cache to block the projection.  "This isn't a Forgotten Secret.  It's… I don't know what it is."  "It's something Kenric didn't want to remember," Sophie mumbled.  "But I'm pretty sure he didn't want to forget it either."  Oralie's laugh was equal parts bitter and broken.  "Well, how nice of him to leave it in his cache for anyone to find."

Kenric put the information in his cache because he wanted it to be found.

[I no longer think this.  Kenric just couldn't have Behnam remembering this event and wondering about it.]

Page 213   "And by the time he decided to give it to you, he wouldn't have had any idea what was in there, right?"  "No, he wouldn't.  But Kenric was usually far more cautious when it came to… these kinds of things."

Oralie wonders why Kenric would carelessly put information like this in his cache.  That's exactly it; the information was not placed in the cache carelessly.  He wanted Oralie and Sophie to have this information.  Also, I highly doubt that Kenric was unaware that this information was in his cache.  After all, if Kenric is Forkle, then he had an identical twin brother.  The memory would likely have been shared with his twin brother before being erased, and then the twin brother would have shared it with him again.  The same would be true for all of Kenric's Forgotten Secrets.

[I've since realized that the secrets in Kenric's cache are probably not his memories, but are instead the memories of the other person.  In this case, Behnam's memory was washed and placed in the cache.  I don't think Kenric washed his own memory.  He needed the information for Project Moonlark, which is why he asked.]

Since this memory makes no sense on the surface, it means that Kenric is up to something that he isn't telling Behnam.  I believe that Kenric is seeking information for use in Project Moonlark.  In order for the moonlark to have the greatest potential, the child would need to be the offspring of a pair of number one matches.  Kenric is actually making certain that he and Oralie are number one matches.   

Page 214   "Kenric and I… we had a very special connection.  Add in the fact that Empaths and Telepaths are frequently matched with each other, and… no, I wasn't surprised to see his name at the top of my list, or mine at the top of his.  But… we also wanted different things—and no matchmaker would ever be able to account for that."

Somehow I doubt that Kenric and Oralie wanted different things.  I think they wanted all of the same things, but Oralie was unaware.

[I wonder what Oralie thinks the different things are.  What does she think Kenric wanted?  What does she want?]

Page 214   "Why are Empaths and Telepaths usually matched together?" Dex asked.  Oralie cleared her throat again and dabbed the corners of her eyes.  "The abilities complement each other.  Both are introspective—but in very different ways, which allows each partner to find a deeper understanding of the other." 

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 More on the Forgotten Secrets:

As I wrote previously, this is a huge clue about Project Moonlark.  Kenric needs to make sure that Oralie is his match so that the donors for Project Moonlark are number one matches.

Page 210:   "What if I told you that neither of us was going to remember the rest of this conversation?" Kenric asked quietly.  "Everything from this moment on will be erased."  Behnam's eyebrows lifted.  "Then what's the point?"  "This way I'll be able to remember that I asked.  But I won't know whether or not you answered.  That'll be enough for me to finally let this go—while also ensuring that there's no proof of you bending any rules.  It'll be almost as if it never happened."

I mentioned previously how this makes no sense and that Kenric must be lying.  This is what he says to Prentice in Forgotten Secret #5.

Page 256:   "In case you're wondering, I'll be wiping this conversation from my mind the second you leave.  That way it'll be as if it never happened."

Page 257:   "As I said, I won't even remember that I approached you about this."

Kenric tells Behnam that he'll remember he asked.  He tells Prentice that he won't remember.  So which is it?  This depends upon where Kenric begins the memory washing for each memory, but here's the problem:  Kenric knew what he was going to do in both cases; he didn't wash his memory of when he set up the meeting with Prentice or when he walked in to ask Behnam about his match.  In both cases, Kenric would know that he asked.  He's lying when he tells Prentice that he wouldn't remember.

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

The New eBay Feed and More eBay Complaints

I had gone years with minimal eBay complaints.  I used to complain all the time, and then eBay went for a long stretch where they did most everything right.  Now they've fallen apart again.  Someone must be justifying their paycheck by changing everything they can.  Instead, they're breaking everything.

Here is my last post on eBay's ineptness:

My Complaints on the New eBay Feed Page

Prior to that post, I wrote this one:

The eBay Feed Situation and Other Grievances

I have even more grievances to report!

But first, let's recap everything that's wrong with eBay.

1.  Thriftbooks has dumped its entire inventory on eBay.  This ruined all of my saved searches, and I had to create new ones to try to remove Thriftbooks' inventory.  Inexplicably, the nuisance persists.  eBay is so determined to ruin our searches that many of Thriftbooks' items still filter through even though I've blocked Thriftbooks' multiple IDs.

Just wait until all of eBay's inventory is dumped on Facebook Marketplace!  Yes, indeed.  If you haven't heard, this is going to happen.  eBay might as well ruin all marketplaces while it's at it!

2.  My store categories don't show in my eBay store unless buyers go through multiple clicks.  What's the point of having categories?

3.  eBay continually changes its feedback page with each change making the page even more difficult to use.  The latest obnoxious change causes a pop-up window asking if I want to save the seller.  I most certainly do not!

4.  The eBay saved feed has been ruined.

Here is another complaint I made to eBay on the new saved feed (complaint #5):

The feed page is now intermittently broken.  Sometimes I can only get 18 items to load.  Other times, more items will load, but slowly.  It's not my high-speed internet since all other sites load quickly.  Remove the watched items from the page.  We ONLY want to see newly listed items sorted by newest first.  Please give us the old page back! 

eBay and sellers are losing money while buyers are struggling to find items, since they must now complete dozens of searches manually in order to find items to buy.  It's a headache and not worth doing when we also check other online sites that are working properly.  eBay is now a slog to check.  It was the easiest site to check until the original feed page was removed. 

You have significantly downgraded your site.  This new page is woefully inadequate.  The old feed page was the single most important site feature for buyers, and it worked beautifully! 

When I wrote this, my goal was to make my complaint as strong as I could to make it more likely that I grab their attention.  This time I included my email address in case they decide to send a survey.  I'm not holding out much hope that they will listen, but I'm going to keep complaining.

Later, the page stopped at 88 items.  I complained again (complaint #6):

The page cuts off at 88 items.  Please fix it!

Ina Steiner has now picked up the story.

eBay Made ‘Saved Feed’ Feature Harder to Navigate, Buyers Complain

Through the article, I learned that eBay has now altered the mobile feed as well.  This proves to me that this isn't a glitch; it's by design.  eBay ruined the feed on purpose.

Ina also mentioned that this could be part of eBay's winter update, which will be announced in February.  If so, then eBay has made a mistake.  Features that are significantly changed and degraded should be beta tested first while the bugs are worked out.  They shouldn't just change an important feature to a buggy new version that is very hard to use. 

And now...

Complaint #7:

The page is broken!  "Oops!  There seems to be a problem serving the request at this time.  Please check back later."

I actually had a small amount of hope after the page broke completely.  Maybe they'll reinstate the old page.  I checked the URL, and it still redirects.  If the new page is completely broken, then eBay should let us have the old page back.  Right?  No?  We can hope...

The new page came back later, but does it matter?  

I thought of some additional mistakes that eBay has made in recent months.  The list goes on and on!

5.  eBay is sending emails to buyers telling them that their packages are delayed when they aren't!

On December 17, a buyer sent me this message:

"What is taking so long for my item to get here? It should have been here days ago. i keep getting delayed messages. This really  isn't great service. The shipping fee wasn't small either. I certainty  hope I get it soon, as this is very irritating."

There wasn't a problem.  The package had been mailed one week before, which was just two weeks before Christmas when the postal volume is extreme.  The package had gone from Oklahoma to Michigan and was at the distribution center closest to the buyer's home.  

I reassured the buyer, and it worked out fine when the package arrived the next day.  I knew why the buyer was overreacting.  eBay had originally given a fast delivery estimate.  Two messages were sent out in the following days saying that the package was delayed, and the result was that the delivery estimate was changed to a realistic date.  That's it, but the buyer had gotten upset because of the supposed delays.

eBay didn't use to send out messages like that.  By doing so, they are alarming buyers when there is no reason for concern.  I was quite annoyed in this case, and not with the buyer.  I was annoyed with eBay.

6.  eBay sends messages telling buyers that they have been refunded, making it sound like they have been fully refunded even when the refund is partial.

I send partial refunds for postage overages.  This usually happens when a buyer makes two purchases separately, and I plan to ship the books in one box.  I send a partial refund on the postage for the second book purchased.  I say why I send the partial refund.  

The problem is that eBay now sends a message to the buyer with the title "Order --------- has been refunded."  The message tells the buyer that they have been refunded.  If the buyer scrolls down, they can figure out that it was a postage refund, but eBay doesn't say that.  Buyers then misunderstand.

In just the last week, I refunded postage on the second transaction made by a buyer.  The buyer immediately sent a message asking why they were refunded.  They said that they still wanted the book.  I reassured the buyer that I was just refunding the postage overage.  

I feel like eBay and I are working at cross purposes.  

Keeper of the Lost Cities Forgotten Secret #1 Bronte and Kenric

This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set.  Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published.  You've been warned.

I have included all of my past comments on this Forgotten Secret.  I want all of my thoughts in the same post, and it will be easier for me to find what I need if I separate the Forgotten Secrets into separate posts.  I will indicate any additional thoughts by adding comments in brackets.

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 The Forgotten Secrets:

Page 197   "You have more experience with everything, Bronte.  You can't always claim seniority.  Plus, you were away working on the mysterious investigation you refuse to tell us about."

I continue to wonder what Bronte's investigation was. 

[It's apparent from this secret that Bronte knows about the plague that affects the gnomes.  Kenric apparently doesn't, at least not at this time.]

Page 197  "Where's the gnome you hailed Elwin about?"  Kenric frowned.  "How did you—"  "Elwin alerted me right after he spoke with you.  I've asked all the physicians to contact me if they ever hear any report of a sick gnome—and thankfully Elwin remembered."

[Yes, Bronte knew.  He then takes Kenric's memory, which is how it ends up in Kenric's cache.  Bronte is keeping the secret of the plague to himself.]

Page 199   "It's been about three hundred seconds," Kenric announced several minutes later.

This is a huge clue about Kenric.  Sophie counts the seconds, and so does Kenric.  This means that Sophie and Kenric share an odd habit.  Sophie shares an odd habit (tugging out her eyelashes) with her mother, so now we know that she shares an odd habit with Kenric, who is likely her father.

[I left an "out" when I wrote this, saying that Kenric is "likely" her father.  For some time, I have been completely 100% convinced that Kenric is Sophie's father.  I don't see how this series can be going in any other direction.  There is just too much for it to mean anything else.]

Page 206   Councillors weren't allowed to date or marry or have families of their own because it could bias their decisions.  But Kenric had asked Oralie to resign with him so they could be together—and Oralie had refused.  Not because she didn't love him.  Because she needed to stay on the Council.  Partially for her own ambitions.  And partially so she'd be in a position to protect Sophie.

[When Kenric was also on the Council, Oralie's only reason to remain Councillor was for Sophie.  She resisted her feelings for Kenric only because of Sophie.  Now that Kenric's gone, Oralie is on the Council for Sophie, but she also a Councillor because she doesn't have anything else.  She cannot resign for love, because there's no one.]

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 More on the Forgotten Secrets:

I mentioned in my previous post how Kenric counts the seconds at one point during this memory.  Counting the seconds is one of Sophie's two odd habits.  She pulls out her eyelashes like her mother, Oralie, and she counts the seconds like her father, Kenric.

Page 196:   "King Dimitar brought it to our attention.  He claimed we've been allowing the humans to expand into this land, even though it's supposed to be a Neutral Territory—and unfortunately he's right."

Kenric points out the cause of the pollution, a nearby human city that cannot be relocated.  He also mentions that Dimitar said that he will consider the Neutral Territories to be up for grabs if the humans are allowed to remain.  Bronte tells Kenric that he has no idea what they might be dealing with, and Bronte refuses to explain.  However, Bronte acts like the ogres are to blame at first.  Later, he says that it isn't what he feared and that the pollution was caused by human chemicals.

Page 205:   "There is a lot to monitor, Kenric.  We can only keep track of so much."  "Then we should ask for more help."  "From whom?"  Kenric dragged a hand down his face, leaving streaks of mud.  "I... have no idea."

Interesting.  Kenric starts to give a response, then he changes his response to "have no idea."  What was he going to say?  I think he was close to making an accidental slip, like perhaps a reference to his Black Swan activities.

Forgotten Secret #1 is the only secret that was placed in Kenric's cache by someone else.  Bronte kept the secret about the ogre plague to himself and washed Kenric's memory of it.

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

If I Tell: A Murder Mystery Thriller about a Girl and a Serial Killer

If I Tell: A Murder Mystery Thriller about a Girl and a Serial Killer was written by J. W. Lynne, an independent author.  The book was published in 2022.

Publisher's summary:

My name is Jenna.

I'm sixteen years old.

And I think my dad is a serial killer.

On a muggy summer afternoon in Upstate New York, sixteen-year-old Jenna Cooper is swimming in a lake when a murdered girl is found nearby, pulled from that very same lake.  The next day, the body of another girl is discovered a couple of miles away.  Soon, more bodies are found.  All are girls in their teens or early twenties, and they were all killed in the same distinctive manner.

As police race to solve these horrible crimes, Jenna finds clues that make her wonder if her father might be the killer.  Although she is terrified to believe her dad could be a murderer, she is determined to find out the truth, no matter what it is.

But her quest for the truth is about to land her in a makeshift prison, at the mercy of a serial killer.  Will she find a way to escape or will she be the next to die?

If you like fast-paced murder mysteries with short captivating chapters, intriguing family relationships, jaw-dropping twists and turns, a dash of clean romance, and an ending that brings everything together, you'll love this riveting thriller that will keep you guessing until the final pages!

The book has an interesting premise, and I did enjoy it overall.  When I finished the book, however, I felt depressed.  The story just didn't do much for me.  There are several problems.

The book has way too many characters, and I quickly decided not to keep track of them.  That reduced my enjoyment.  Furthermore, the characters are all flat.  The text is flat.  The book is missing that something that makes a book compelling and really good.

The book has a good story, but I wanted more from it.  If the story had been fleshed out more with more feeling shown by the characters, then it could have been an excellent story.

My Complaints about the New eBay Feed Page

I previously wrote about the new eBay feed.

eBay Removed a Perfectly Good Feature This Afternoon

The eBay Feed Situation and Other Grievances

It's now over two weeks later, and we are still stuck with the new feed, which I still feel is a permanent change.  I was getting used to it, but I saved an item to my watch list early Saturday morning.  Now it's the first item I see every single time I go to the feed.  I just want to see the final selling price without having to leave myself a note on my computer monitor.  I don't need the item flashed in front of me every time I go to eBay.  I seriously want to remove the item from my watched items list.  I'm sick of seeing it!

I sent eBay another complaint in the feedback form that is linked from the feed page.

First, here are my previous three complaints to eBay.  I complain each time the new feed does something I don't like.

Complaint #1:

You removed the eBay feed page?  Why?  It was perfect the way the items flowed.  Stuff I wanted was easy to spot.  Instead, it goes to this awful saved searches page that loads slower and has so much white space everywhere.  You're just driving customers away, and I've been buying since 1997.  This will decrease how much I spend on eBay.  I am not someone who complains.  This is unacceptable.  Return www.ebay.com/feed to what it looked like before today, PLEASE.

Complaint #2:

This page could work if it were changed to where ONLY NEWLY LISTED items show up on top, not the dreadful mess that it is right now.  Please give us the old eBay feed back!  It was perfect.  It didn't need to be changed.

Complaint #3:

I listed a bunch of items for sale, and they are not showing on this page.  This makes me not trust the results.  What else is being filtered out?  I want a feed that shows me everything that appears when I run the search manually, not just what eBay wants me to see.  Let me decide what I want to see.  This page is so bland and uninteresting compared to the feed page that existed until late last week.  We need this new page to do EXACTLY what the feed page did.  Anything else is unacceptable.

Here is my latest complaint, #4:

Items from my watch list don't need to be shoved in my face at the top of the feed each time I go to the saved items feed.  Most of us place items in our watch list because we are just curious about the final selling price.  

Items we intend to buy are placed in our shopping carts, and the notification icon at the top of our screen reminds us to check out.  We don't want to see watched items at the very top of the saved search.  

Please make this page function as it did in the previous feed.  I already removed all of my saved sellers because their items took up most of the page.  I will quit using the watched items feature as well if the watched items aren't removed.  Thanks.

I put "Thanks." at the end of my complaint to be... how do I say it?  I guess I did it to indicate annoyance and not to thank them.  Something like that.  I am annoyed, for sure.

Keeper of the Lost Cities #8.5 Unlocked and #9 Stellarlune - Thoughts from 4th Reading

This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set.  Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published.  You've been warned.

My general comments about both books are combined here.  I will go more into the Forgotten Secrets in upcoming posts.

Book 8.5, Page 524  "Can you feel how serious I am when I tell you that it's absolutely essential to keep everything about Elysian fragmented?"

Kenric apparently obtained information about both stellarlune and Elysian, and whatever he learned scared him.  He mentions keeping it fragmented in order to prevent anyone from figuring it out.  He's afraid.

Sophie has a lot of anger because of what was done to Keefe.  This is very apparent near the end of Book 7.  Sophie's anger is why she burns the archetype and the storehouse.  She's getting even for what Gisela did to Keefe.

Book 9, Page 53  "I needed a powerful Empath to merge with my abilities."

Lady Gisela basically tells Lord Cassius that she married him just for his ability.  As a result of stellarlune, Keefe now has merged abilities.  

Book 8.5, page 587  Oralie's cheeks flushed.  "I'm not certain.  It just seems significant that Keefe is now a Polyglot and an Empath, and used his voice to control emotion.  That almost sounds like the two abilities merged somehow—or synchronized.  Which would make sense, given that Keefe was exposed to shadowflux and quintessence.  Elements trigger change.  They rarely create something entirely new.  But I'd need to do more research to know for sure."

Sophie also appears to have merged abilities, which is mighty interesting.

Book 8, Page 662   "Well… it at least explains why your enhancing is so much stronger on Empaths."  "True," Sophie agreed.  "Though my enhancing's also stronger on Telepaths—but that might be because of what Lord Cassius said.  He said the way I use my telepathy reminds him of an Empath," she explained when she saw Oralie's confusion.  "I pick up on emotions with my thoughts, I guess, without having to be in the emotional center."

Even though Sophie isn't an Empath, she can pick up on emotions through her telepathy.  This makes me wonder if Lady Gisela wasn't the only one experimenting with stellarlune.  Did Forkle do something to Sophie?

In Book 9, on page 56, Lady Gisela asks Lord Cassius if he's ever heard of Elysian.  She's making sure all of his memories were washed.  This confirms that Lady Gisela has known about Elysian.

Book 9, Page 97  "I know you elves are used to solving all your problems with your weird little talents or endless boring conversations..."

This is hilarious.  Ro mentions the "boring conversations."  Well, they are.  The biggest flaw in the later books is the extremely lengthy conversations.  

Book 9, Page 269  "Show me Mr. Forkle!  Show me Magnate Leto!  Show me Sir Astin!"  None of his aliases responded.  She'd expected as much, since she'd tried the same thing when she was still in Oralie's mind-map room—and her Imparter had stayed just as silent.

If this passage is the literal truth, then Oralie must know that Leto and Astin are Forkle identities.  Sophie called for all of them in Oralie's presence.

In Book 9, on page 506, Stina points out that Fintan could have added a certain secret to his cache later.  Exactly.  That's why the supposed inconsistency about Kenric's Forgotten Secrets isn't an inconsistency.  A fan had pointed out that the secret with Prentice was apparently saved last, and yet it couldn't have been.  Kenric's secrets could have been placed in his cache much later and in any order.  

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories