Out of the Shadows, Book One

“This big old city makes me feel alone.” As we are introduced to Willow, what about her and her experiences can you relate to?

Compare and contrast the relationship between Ian and Willow versus Remona and Arek.

Do you have a recurring nightmare that sticks with you like Japha has with Willow?

What does it say about Willow that she accepts what Arek, Sassi and Kilon are telling her after the attack on the schoolhouse and goes with them so quickly?

Would you choose to be Velieri or Epheme, if you had a choice?

How would you describe best friend material, which of the characters do you think best exemplifies this?

What is the most uncomfortable you’ve ever been?

What do you think Ian shows about himself by the end of the book?

Geo says, “Willow, until you realize it is fear that keeps you from having control, there is no way to fight it.” Do you think fear is always what holds us back?

Throughout the novel, we see a push and pull between Willow, Remona reborn and raised as an Epheme, and the memories of experiences as a Velieri that made this woman, Remy in her past life. What does it mean for her to become Remy and lose the pieces of her that are Willow?

What are the greatest distinguishing markers between the two?

What do you think of Navin’s crusade and the way he is going about it?

Deep Trace

What do you think about the Prophets’ arguments about why Remy should have to be incarcerated in the Cellar?

What skills/talents that characters display in these books do you admire the most?

On top of regaining memories and fighting for her physical freedom, Remona has to battle the Unyielded in Deep Trace. Why is this so important? Do you think brushes with evil damage your psyche?

Compare and contrast the differing behaviors Mak and Arek display in the Brazil Gianda as they both try to define their relationship with Willow/Remy. What do they both get right or wrong?

What do you like or dislike about Kenichi’s code (Bushido)? What would be the most important aspect to you?

What do the Giandas and Remy’s near-constant flight from various dangers speak to you about the importance of having a place of safety?

Before Beckah gives her life in the fight to keep Willow/Remy safe, she talks about seeing a vision of Geo loving someone else. What do you think about the concept of the Yovu and Beckah’s acceptance that she isn’t for Geo?

What do the things that we see in each character’s struggle for Tri Planum tell us about them? How do they enhance your understanding of the character?

Remy stuffs an important picture down her pants. What’s your go-to on-body hiding place?

Power Unleashed

Out of all of the places Remy visits, which place most intrigues you as a place to go visit and why?

What parts of Willow’s personality remain with the new version of Remy? Why are they important?

Arek says, “Maybe peace isn’t what you thought. Maybe it’s not about one or the other, fear or peace, but recognizing that we must have peace through times of fear or sadness.” What would that look like?

Does this book make you want to become a prepper- how would you prepare for a situation like what the world experiences in this book?

If you ever came upon this scene: “there are still a few chairs and tables, along with a bar and an old piano that haunts the corner covered in spider webs” in the desert, what song should someone play on that piano and why?

Remy thinks, “I do everything I can to ignore the obvious familiarity, but deep down I am watching—becoming more afraid of the years Arek was alone,” when she sees him and Masey together. What do you think of Remy’s fears and Arek’s actions?

Remy asks, “Do you give your life without a fair fight?” Do you agree with her mindset?

“The conscious is where our bodies, minds, and souls exist all at once, reacting to the present. However, our subconscious, when never healed or cleaned, is the darkness beneath a child’s bed, or the basement with the lightbulb broken. None of us want to be there if it is the dimension that distorts and spins. And our unconscious is the graveyard out back, where all our real and true darkness is buried.” Power Unleashed gives us a much fuller vision of Tri Planum and how the battle in our minds can be even more powerful than the physical. Do you think the pains and weaknesses of past, kept in the depths of our minds, has that kind of power over us in reality? Why or why not?

“No one will ever know the truth; however, most will try to own it.” How do we see this in our own experience?

“Trauma that will cloud her deepest places and eventually hide within her unconscious waiting for that very moment that it will defy her, confuse her, and trick her into believing false experiences and a false self.” Do you think this happens in our own lives?

Holona, though dead, is one of the most important characters in Power Unleashed. Why is she such an important guide for Remy?

Remy’s comrade is a lynx—what do you think yours would be and why? Alternately, why do you think a lynx is so appropriate for Remy?

What do you think of the ending to this series- and how the new Velieri and Epheme allies can rebuild civilization?