Poldark Group Read: The Stranger from the Sea (August)

August is nearly upon us, which means it's time to start reading and discussing the eighth Poldark book, The Stranger from the Sea! As fuzzi has mentioned, there is a time jump in this book (which I don't think is a spoiler, since the subtitle is "A Novel of Cornwall, 1810-1811"). I am excited about this! First of all, it means the children will be growing up, which means a whole new set of characters to care about. Much as I enjoy reading about Ross, Demelza, George, and the rest of them, I think the series is due for a little refresher. Also, the new time period means Napoleon is going to be a big deal, and I'm very excited about that as well! What about you -- are you pumped for the time jump, or are you annoyed that the series may be changing its course somewhat?

I'm looking forward to reading this one again, for the second time. I read it before when it was first released back in...1981?

Say it ain't so, 36 years???

Addendum: here's the cover for the book that I borrowed from the library, way back:

I've read 3 chapters and finding it interesting.

Well, I finished this last night.It is definitely a different beast from the earlier books and I find the children less interesting. George Warleggan almost gets done and I wish it had gone even harder for him.
The stranger from the sea remains a stranger, though I see he's still there in the next book.

>4 avatiakh: Ack, I'm dying to read your spoilers, but I'm only halfway through the book, so I will resist!

So far I'm liking this book a lot...I find that it's going very quickly for me, and I enjoy having a bunch of new characters to follow. I really like Clowance, although I absolutely hate the name! :) Also, all the political stuff with the king's illness and the possible regency is very interesting!

I didn't have that much to say in either spoiler, but didn't want to upset any applecarts!

I find both Jeremy and Clowance (also hate the name) both fairly impossible to fathom. I liked the political stuff too.

Finished last night. I was getting a heavy Wuthering Heights vibe again at the end with Valentine coming on to Clowance telling her that they aren't really cousins. No! You dolt. You're most likely half-Siblings!. And it surprised me that I didn't find George's downfall satisfying. I think I'm too nice of a person or I didn't dislike him as much as I thought.
The younger generation, now that they are old enough to have adventures and love affairs of their own, are interesting but I still prefer Ross and Demelza as their relationship matures.

>5 christina_reads: I'm not fond of the name Clowance either! LOL.

>8 christina_reads: Haha, yeah, I wonder if Valentine coming on to Clowance is going to cause problems for anyone later!

One of my favorite things about this book is that we get a bit of Jeremy's perspective on Ross and Demelza's relationship, what it was like growing up in that house, and so on.

Ok, I have the next book, The Miller's Dance lined up to read. I read a few spoilers when I bought a used copy of The Twisted Sword and read the blurb on the back cover.

>10 fuzzi: gotta watch out for those blurbs! I don't even read reviews here before I read a book.

I'm almost done with The Stranger From the Sea, less than 100 pages left. It's better than I recall from my initial read.

The thread for The Miller's Dance is up! http://www.librarything.com/topic/268555