Virtual Book Club: The Dragon's Embrace

Ninety minutes, a shared screen and about two hundred people who have all read the same book and disagree about it. The virtual club runs four times a year and this session takes on the novel most people arrive through.

What we cover

Three passages, chosen in advance and posted a week ahead so nobody has to hunt for them live: the orchard, the surveyor’s office, and the refusal of the crown in the final chapter. Twenty minutes each, with three guest readers opening the discussion and the author answering rather than lecturing.

The last half hour is entirely open. Previous sessions have spent it on the ethics of dragon-binding, on whether Sera is likable and whether that matters, and once, memorably, on a single comma.

Why come

Book clubs work best when somebody in the room can answer why did you do that. This one has the author on the call, on the record, and willing to say when a choice was a mistake — the crown chapter in particular gets defended and partly conceded every single time.

It is also the most geographically scattered room the tour reaches. Readers join from a dozen countries, and the differences in how the ending lands from one place to another are consistently the most interesting thing said all evening.

How to take part

Register through the mailing list and a link arrives the morning of the session. Cameras optional, questions in the chat, and a transcript circulated afterward for anyone in an awkward time zone.

Read the book first. This session spoils everything, deliberately and from the first minute.