BattleAxe First Read: Chapter Thirty-Five: StarMan (Part I)
Wednesday, 8 January 2025 18:07![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teresChapter Thirty-Four | Table of Contents | Chapter Thirty-Five (Part II)
SCSF: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to BattleAxe! Last time, Azhure met up with the GhostTree Clan, which was about all that happened.
For the reader post:
On the previous chapter, Chessy notes that Raum and Shra are uncle and niece and not uncle and cousin, as I had said. I have corrected that there, but I still thought it worth noting.
She further notes that the Avar having multiple wives does not quite work as described, assuming equal numbers of girls and boys getting born. Sure, I might say that only certain men get to marry, but Douglass does not say anything to that effect and that is not the intent I get from Pease’s explanation. It would make some sense if the Avar women can marry men from multiple clans, but I doubt that is the intent, either, and there does not seem to be a shortage of men to explain this. We might well be able to tease something out when we have seen all we have of the Avar, but for now, this is quite impossible to resolve. That certainly takes some skill, so congratulations on that, Douglass!
Cardboard Worldbuilding: 78
She notes, too, that the Avar seem to have a “‘quiverfull’ mindset” concerning reproduction, i.e. that they have as many children as quickly as possible. Fleat exemplifies this quite nicely, since she had three children (and a possible fourth pregnancy, since Hogni was not described as being around the same age as Skali) within a few years. As Chessy says, that will not be good for the health of the mother. Of course, there is no good reason for Fleat to have stopped getting pregnant at twenty-three… and yet, Pease talks about it like it is something to want to achieve.
On further thought, I think that might be because Douglass confused life expectancy and lifespan and though that the Avar, because of their lifestyle, would not get older than about forty. In that case, reproducing as quickly as possible would mean the children would get a decent while with their parents, so I could see it. The problem is, of course, that the Avar who reach adulthood can expect to live quite a bit past forty, so this makes quite little sense.
Cardboard Worldbuilding: 79
Did Not Do the Research: 61
While talking to her, I realised that Barsarbe would do better to stay with Raum, either by going ahead with Grindle or staying with Azhure if she does not trust her. That way, she can monitor Raum’s condition better.
Ill Logic: 203
Epistler rightly asks where the GhostTree Clan has got the fancy teacup from, given that the Avar are supposed to be nomadic. It might be that other Avar make such things, but we should be given an explanation for this.
Cardboard Worldbuilding: 80
For some administrative points:
I will be using these brackets: ⟨ ⟩ for the editing notes from now on, since these <> mess with HTML.
I will also be doing chapter 39, as it turned out that Scales had skipped one chapter while determining our parts, and I needed to do one more.
On to the next chapter I go, then!
Chapter Thirty-Five: StarMan
Yes, this is another Axis chapter, wherein Axis is finally told things we have known for quite a while already and we will have more Drama.
We open on Axis leaving the Forbidden Valley, his face “expressionless”, still holding his sword, “words and images jumbling chaotically through his mind”. I get what she is trying to say, but that is phrased quite awkwardly. Maybe “tumbling” would be better?
PPP: 351
So we get to see what he is thinking about:
- Raum saying that he has “the soul of an Enchanter… an Icarii Enchanter”. Yes, that is implicit in being an Enchanter (since Axis would not know or think about possible nuances), so this falls a little flat, not to mention that we already know it.
PPP: 352
- GoldFeather said that all Icarii sing, and that music courses through their blood.
- He has sung and played music that “no-one [has] ever taught him”, and now more music and “strange songs” are coming to the surface of his mind from “long-hidden traps within his soul”.
- He has sung a ward against evil to protect against Gorgrael’s cloud head.
- He has sung to Shra yesterday, and “done something to her that had shocked Raum”. …You healed her, Axis. You even said that “she lives” once you were done! How could you have forgotten this??
PPP: 353
- His reaction at seeing Raum and Shra had been “sympathy, not hatred”. So we were supposed to see that as weird? Credit to Douglass, then, though it should have been clearer.
FYRP: 122 (-9) (one point for it being unclear)
Godmode Engaged: 8 (-1)
Then he Dramatically wonders who his father is. It is StarDrifter, Axis, as we have been able to deduce by now. Well, Axis does and cannot make the connection, “lest he drive himself mad”. He only wants to “put one foot in front of the other” and somehow get back to the Axe-Wielders, to a world he understand and that understands him in turn. I do get what Douglass is trying to convey, but she is just trying too hard to be Dramatic and ends up smothering what could be a good moment.
Axis goes on, wondering how he can be “the son of one of the Forbidden” when he has dedicated his life to the Seneschal, whose “foremost enemies” are the Forbidden. And how can he have Forbidden blood in him when he has “hated and feared” them all his life? Then he wonders if his sympathy for Raum and Shra has been “prompted by the fact that he [is] Forbidden too”. He immediately whispers “No, it cannot be!” and I am fully with him, since that is not how being related to someone works!
He then says that Raum said that Faraday lived. He asks how that could be and how Raum could have known (because he met her?). If he lets himself hope it is true, and then she turns out to be dead, he “[will] be truly damned”, he says. Oh, would you be “damned”? I know what he means, but the religious sense is a quite possible interpretation here, so that could be better.
PPP: 354
Axis whispers again “No, it cannot be”, and just then someone calls out to him. With a “conscious effort”, Axis raises his head, and he sees Arne riding toward him (his horse is a “big roan gelding”, by the way), looking quite relieved. He has some more Axe-Wielders behind him. Axis slowly “straighten[s]”, because he has been walking bent all this time…?
PPP: 355
Arne says that they found Belial hurt, Hagen murdered, and the Avar missing. He asks if Axis is alright. I do like that Arne got some Axe-Wielders and actually went looking for Axis. Axis does not answer the question; rather he grimaces, sheathes his sword and says the Avar escaped with Azhure’s help. Arne snarls, and calls Azhure an “Artor-cursed bitch”. He says that Azhure murdered Hagen and “dealt Belial a grievous blow”. And how do you know that? What about what you saw means unambiguously that Azhure is the culprit? Hagen did not even die due to Azhure (and why would she stick a knife in his belly to kill him?) and Belial might well have let Raum out of his cell before he was hit.
Ill Logic: 204 (the same as with Axis)
Axis wipes a hand across his eyes, and asks after Belial. Oh, now you care about him? Arne looks at Axis with concern and says that Belial will live. Ogden and Veremund said they could help him and are now with him. Well, we have seen that the Sentinels can heal concussions, so these are the right people to ask… though I cannot help but wonder if they wanted to implant messages in his mind, too. Axis repeats their names and says “very quietly” that he must speak with them. Yes, that is about time. Arne asks after the Avar and Azhure. Axis sighs and looks back down the Valley. He lies that they had too large a start on him and disappeared into the “Shadowsward”.
Arne calls them “[c]ursed misbegotten animals”, at which Axis flinches and pales. He wavers a bit, and Arne “[lends] down his hand” and tells him to get on the horse behind him. I am quite certain that “lend down” is not an existing phrasal verb.
PPP: 356
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Well, the “good people of Smyrton” are standing in the main street and the town square. Word about Hagen’s “murder” and the escape of Raum and Shra has spread quickly. No one is “unwilling to believe” that Azhure murdered her father, attacked Belial (who was (gasp!) Axis’s lieutenant), and then fled with Raum and Shra. No one doubts her “part in the crime”. No one had liked her, they all find, “shaking their heads in a great public show of sorrow”, she has never really fit in, and it is just like her mother, except not, since it is “[f]ar, far worse”. They all “cluck to each other” that you should never trust a Nors woman, and Hagen’s “infatuation” with Azhure’s mother was his only fault and eventually “the death of him”.
⟨That last bit should be “his death”, as “the death of him” does not mean the same thing.⟩
PPP: 357
Yes, thank you for this insight into how much the villagers of Smyrton suck, Douglass (as if we did not already knew that). Of course all of them turn on Azhure the moment it is convenient to do so, and of course no one found any fault with Hagen outside of him marrying Azhure’s mother. No one has a dissenting opinion, no one finds any nuance, since they are all a hive mind, apparently. Knowing where that will go, this seems appropriate:
Maria Monk Redux: 71
Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 50
I also note that Douglass now had the “bad” villagers talk about how Nors women are untrustworthy. That does not exactly work when you just put that in unironically, Douglass.
FYRP: 123
So Hagen’s corpse has been brought to Hordley’s house, where several “weeping and wailing” Goodwives are washing it and stitching the “evil wound” in his belly, and then dress him in his “best habit”. Of course they are crying; they are village women, after all. I would also like to see how accurate they are in stitching the wound when they cannot see what they are doing, and to see Hagen get buried in his tear-soaked habit. This makes so little sense.
Ill Logic: 205
No-Wave Feminism: 38
Later on, the whole village will file past to see the body. In his home, the floor has been thoroughly cleaned and Belial laid in Hagen’s bed (credit to whoever put him there for not dragging him around unnecessarily). Still, if they cannot have a burning, the villagers do have a burial “to entertain themselves with”, and they find it quite fortunate that Ogden and Veremund are there to “conduct the Service of the Dead”. Good luck with that. I did not miss the further derogatory undercurrent of this, either.
We cut back to Axis, as he dismounts at Hagen’s house. He asks who is inside, Arne says that only Ogden, Veremund and Belial were inside, and Axis tells Arne to stand guard and let no one in, since he does not “want to be disturbed for a while”. Arne agrees, since, as far as he is concerned, “[o]ne word from Axis [is] worth an entire edict from King Priam”. Well, it seems he is taking quite well to the duty Veremund imposed on him. This level of devotion is not what one should want in a bodyguard, though, as it disables his critical thinking on this matter. What if Axis wants to go into a situation that is dangerous, and only Arne realises it? Or if he is blackmailed into doing bad things? I would want a bodyguard not to follow Axis’s words, then, but Arne is apparently willing to do so.
So Axis makes to go in, wondering if Arne will still believe in him if he knows “who, what, he really [is]”. Well, he most probably will, if only because you have been his commander for quite some time, and I doubt he would be willing to view you as evil. (From there, we might also see him get more sympathy for the “Forbidden”; after all, if Axis is alright despite being Forbidden, why not others?) Axis takes a deep breath, and says now is the time for “direct questions” to Ogden and Veremund. He is tired of evasive answers and now is the time for the “brothers” to “tell him all they know”. It is indeed, and I am glad Axis actually bothers to insist on them.
Axis leans against the door for a moment, gathering courage, then “slip[s] the door catch” and closes the door “very quietly” (Douglass certainly does like that phrase). Also… “door catch”? Looking that up, it seems to refer to something on the inside of the door that keeps it shut when closed. Those are often magnetic and do not need any kind of “working” or “slipping”. Let me see… Scales has provided me with a picture:
The part on the left goes on the inside of the door, and the part on the right goes on the doorframe. So apparently Hagen has something like this in his house and it needs slipping. That is… very interesting, to say the least (and it cannot be a misprint, either). Come to think of it, did she not mean something like this:
Or this:
Those are door chains and door bolts, respectively. I could see Axis “slipping” a door bolt, but it still seems inconsistent with the tech level, it sounds like too much effort for what Axis is doing, and there is no indication that the Sentinels made an effort to keep people out.
All in all, I think Douglass had no idea what she was saying.
Did Not Do the Research: 62
Well, Ogden and Veremund do not notice him coming in. They are on the other side of the room, leaning over Belial, who is “stretched out straight and still on the bed”. Ogden has put his hand over Belial’s face and “faint golden light” comes from his fingertips. Veremund stands behind Ogden and has put a hand on his shoulder; he mutters “very quietly” to himself. At least they are actually healing Belial…
Axis leans against the door. He says that Belial is not “in any danger”, else he “would have rushed to his aid”. And how do you know that, Axis? You only know they are doing something obviously magical, not what they are doing, and you should make sure of it! But no, he does not care for Belial’s health, apparently.
Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 104
Then Axis feels “a surge of anger”.
Axis Is Angry: 15
He is angry because Ogden and Veremund are “very much not what they pretend[] to be”, and he decides the “time for playing games” is over. I am of the same opinion, though Axis will undoubtedly be more violent about it. Veremund notices him first when he reaches for a “damp cloth” on a “side table”, from the “corner of one of his faintly glowing golden eyes”. The light immediately dies, Veremund calls Axis’s name, and Ogden removes his hand from Belial’s face. They both look at Axis, “uncertain what to say and do”, since they wanted to wait even longer to reveal themselves. …Then I am genuinely happy that Axis came in here; they have dragged this out long enough already, after all (and they are reminding me of Brom now).
Axis pushes off from the door and “stroll[s] lazily” across the room, looking Ogden and Veremund in the eye until he walks past them to Belial. How nice to see him uttering such a thinly-veiled threat. He looks at Belial, who lies quietly and breathes easily. He also has a “cool compress” on his forehead and “across the back of his neck”. I… think those would be more effective when placed on the spot he was actually hit, since it is not like he has a fever, but what do I know?
Ill Logic: 206
As Axis watches, Belial awakes and “grimace[s] in self-reproach”. He immediately apologises to Axis for turning his back on Azhure. At least you admit that you were wrong; that puts you quite a bit ahead of Axis already. Axis smiles at the apology and says that he is lucky she did not knife him, since it seems she has a “steady hand [] when it comes to murder”. Ah yes, sticking a knife in Hagen’s belly from the front indicates a “steady hand”. I get the impression that Douglass does want us to admire Azhure for this, but then she should be actually good at killing. At least Douglass fixed that problem later on.
Belial softly touches the place he was hit and says that he “did not expect it of her”. Axis brings up that Azhure was “distraught” at the thought of having killed Belial and that she sends her apologies. He jokes that Belial’s smile must have “charmed her just enough to stop the killer blow”. Belial says that he always had a way with the women and then closes his eyes as he gets a “spasm of pain”.
Then Ogden “anxiously” asks if Axis spoke to “them”. Axis then moves so quickly that Ogden barely knows what happens. All he knows is that suddenly Axis has a hand in his hair, “holding his head tilted back in a tight grip”, while he holds a “short but lethal blade” to his threat with the other. First, I want to note that Axis does not restrain Ogden in any other way, nor does he do anything about Veremund, so it is not an immediate death threat. Regardless, it is completely unnecessary and uncalled for, and it is a stereotypical villain move!
Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 105
Axis also brings his face very close to Ogden’s (because why not be as threatening as possible?), and he asks if Azhure was “in [their] pay”, since it has “[their] smell all over it”. Um… is Axis supposed to actually mean this? I could kind of see it if he thinks they had Azhure do this to make him understand that he was Forbidden… though such an incredibly roundabout scheme does not fit with anything they have done so far, and why would Azhure agree to murder her father just to make Axis realise that?
Ill Logic: 207
Belial speaks up, telling Axis not to harm them because they healed his concussion. Not because harming them is utterly unnecessary and he would find it wrong, mind, only because they healed him. Axis, who is still staring into Ogden’s eyes, says that they should well have done that, since he is not entirely sure they did not “plan the whole escape”. I can understand that better, but that still raises the question of why they would enlist Azhure, instead of taking Shra over from her, knocking Belial out themselves and then having one of them escape with her. If they had done so immediately, they could well have been back before Axis noticed.
I also note that we have had no indication of Axis thinking this before just now, and that this makes Axis look even worse for attacking Ogden on the basis of… a quite contrived conspiracy theory he just thought of. Is this the military leader Achar needs? Veremund now calls Axis’s name; he “flutter[s] helplessly” at Ogden’s side, not sure what to do and “frightened that” whatever he does “might cause Axis to slide the blade a little too far into Ogden’s neck”.
Well, Veremund, you could try to grab the knife from Axis’s hand or pull him off his feet; that might keep him attacking Ogden. Further… when GoldFeather was afraid that Axis might kill Raum, we were told she did not want to startle him into “sliding the point of the sword through Raum’s throat”. Both there and here, the phrasing does not quite fit the gravity of the scene (not in the least because you cannot exactly “slide” a knife or sword "through someone's throat"), and in this case, “a little too far” only makes it sound sillier (and it does not help that it makes it sound like Axis’s hand would slip).
Tone Soap: 42 (+2)
Axis asks if they will answer his questions. Veremund says they will, “his hands flapping impotently” (Douglass forbid he be useful, after all), as long as he lets Ogden go. Axis does just that, so abruptly that Ogden slides to the floor, then sits down on the foot of the bed and sheathes the knife “back into his boot” (that is just like Timozel, then). Belial, who managed to get up to a “half-sitting position”, lies down again.
Ogden gives Belial an anxious glance and says that this might not be “the best place”. Well, who cares if Belial hears? He is Axis’s lieutenant, after all, so if this affects military matters, it would be best to involve him. Axis takes a deep breath and looks at Belial for a moment. He says that this is “very much the right place”, and he would rather Belial hears it, and he will “value his advice”. It is not a bad thing to have a witness with him, I must give him that. Ogden concedes, and Veremund then helps him into a chair, before sitting himself. They are awfully calm about Axis just having threatened Ogden, I note.
Veremund asks what Axis wants to know. By now, “all the anger” is gone from Axis’s face, and he just looks tired. He brings up the conversation they had back in chapter 22, and he recaps what he said back then, about how reading the prophecy “opened a dark dungeon” that has been locked for his whole life so far and he did not like what he saw there. Yes, I do remember that, and it is still quite overwrought. He says that now too many things have “crawled out of that once dark hole” for him to ignore, and unless Ogden and Veremund explain everything, he is “going… to… go… insane”. Yes, that is why you sound completely calm, despite the Dramatic Ellipses. An exclamation mark would improve this quite a bit.
PPP: 358
His stress is apparently “so clear” that Belial reaches out his hand, which Axis grips tightly. He keeps looking Ogden and Veremund in the eye as he talks about how he no longer believes their story that they are actually Brothers, “devoted to learning and driven halfway to dementia” to their isolation. He asks what they are. I do note that they will keep the forms of Ogden and Veremund, even in the coming books, when there is no need to. Sure, the Brothers Ogden and Veremund have died long since, but I am not happy about them continuing to impersonate them.
Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 107 (+2)
Ogden and Veremund look at each other and grasp hands, “unsure what to do”. You have had thirty-nine years to prepare for this and you have not even agreed on when to reveal yourselves? For shame. Ogden softly asks if “the time is upon [them]”. Axis shouts that they have “no cursed choice”, because if they will not tell him, he “will break free this knife again!”.
Talk Like a Natural: 7
Ah yes, this is our hero, threatening people if they do not give him his answers right now. We have also seen that he is willing to follow through, which does not make this better at all.
Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 108
I do think that Douglass could have made this work, if she kept his aggression to some pushing and shoving at most and let him actually have a proper rant. Axis does have quite some reason to be angry with them, after all: they have pretended to be people they are not (and even gave the Service of the Dead when they were not Brothers!), and they have implicitly lied to him, too. Sure, Douglass would probably not want Ogden and Veremund to be wrong, but she could still have Axis be mistaken and get a satisfying scene out of that.
At this, Ogden and Veremund make their decision, and they both “lift[] their chins”. They set their eyes to glowing, and declare, speaking in turns, that they are the Sentinels, they are creatures of the Prophecy of the Destroyer and the serve it. Then they return to normal and wait, “looking unsure as to how their news [has] been received”. I do give them credit for being fully honest now.
Axis says to himself that he knew Ogden and Veremund were not “who they pretended to be”, but he had not expected anything like this. Belial then laughs, and says that it is no wonder they could not remember anything of the Service of the Dead. He then wonders about them being Sentinels and looks at them with “vastly increased respect”. Hmm, I think he should feel at least some disrespect for them for pretending to be Brothers when they are not, and I am not wholly sure why he thinks being “Sentinels” is so worthy of respect, but alright.
And this is where I want to stop for the time being. Until next time!
(no subject)
Wednesday, 8 January 2025 19:12 (UTC)So their solution to killing so many children due to their own stupidity is to...breed more cannon fodder to potentially kill. Brilliant. I'm never going to get over how absolutely braindead these guys have to be to think continuing to do this is a good idea. They're committing self-inflicted genocide.
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I feel like a distressingly alarming amount of this book is little more than a giant "As you know, Jim". Having the readers know things that the characters don't can be done, and done very well, but the way to do it isn't to constantly reiterate those things we already know under the guise of characters thinking about it. It's tedious, it's repetitive, it's a horrible writing choice, and I hate this book.
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Every time Axis shows a basic positive human emotion, we're either supposed to be stunned, or fawn over him for being so kind and noble. Douglass, are you...are you a robot? Maybe an alien? You're clearly some kind of creature that thinks they understand human emotions, but in reality, they have absolutely no clue what they're talking about.
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That actually would have been a decent revenge, if she had known what she was doing. Stomach wounds are horribly painful, and usually slow to kill. If she wanted him to suffer the way she suffered, that would be a good method. I'm kind of sorry that's not what happened, honestly. It would have been some excellent character development for Azhure. Was she justified in giving him a slow death after all he did to her? Should she have just run without severely injuring him? Does this mean she's evil? What's the right thing to feel about his death? Happiness? Relief? Apathy? I feel like Douglass tried to go in this direction, but it just didn't work.
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Those two idiots shouldn't be put in charge of babysitting a stack of bricks, let alone an injured person! They're probably just as likely to eat him as they are to heal him. Never let them be alone with anyone. Ever.
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Yeah, it feels like Douglass took the whole "nobody had a bad word to say about him" thing and cranked it up to a hundred, and now expects us to take it seriously.
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To be fair, since the wound is going to be covered up, they don't have to make the stitching pretty. It would be respectful to do the best work you can even on a corpse, but somehow, I don't think that's one of their considerations.
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Oh, cool, so their wailing and sadness was all just a show, if the burial is viewed as nothing more than an entertainment. I know that the concept of professional mourners exist, so the tears don't actually have to come from a place of sadness or grief, but the way that's phrased just makes it feel like the villagers are bored, and hey, something happened! We don't have to be bored anymore!
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Axis, you don't even know who or what you really are, so this statement kind of falls flat. You have an idea, sure, but maybe don't start moping around, woe is you, how can you hold up under such hardship when you only have the word of one person, who is a stranger to you. He could be lying, for all you know!
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*twitches violently, her hand creeping towards the nearest cactus*
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In a better book, this would actually be a cute moment of playful banter between close friends. Even though it's Axis, I don't completely hate it, but because it's Axis, I can't quite bring myself to smile over it like I otherwise might have.
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Not really a comment on the content of the paragraph, but I read that as "the gravy of the scene" at first, and it cracked me up, so I wanted to share.
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Actually, it's quite common to use "slide" when you're talking about some kind of blade going into a body. It might be because extremely sharp blades really can go through flesh like its butter, but regardless, it's a genuine description.
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If I didn't hate these two so much, I might be willing to cut them some slack and say that since they've been using those identities for who knows how long, that's the form they're most comfortable in, and the one they would choose to return to if they had to change into someone else. As it is, though...fuck 'em.
(no subject)
Wednesday, 8 January 2025 21:15 (UTC)So their solution to killing so many children due to their own stupidity is to...breed more cannon fodder to potentially kill. Brilliant. I'm never going to get over how absolutely braindead these guys have to be to think continuing to do this is a good idea. They're committing self-inflicted genocide.
SCSF: And this has apparently been standard practice for the last hundreds, if not thousands of years! If Douglass did this intentionally, I would be quite happy with the result, but since she did not... this is already oen of the poorest-designed cultures I have seen.
I feel like a distressingly alarming amount of this book is little more than a giant "As you know, Jim". Having the readers know things that the characters don't can be done, and done very well, but the way to do it isn't to constantly reiterate those things we already know under the guise of characters thinking about it. It's tedious, it's repetitive, it's a horrible writing choice, and I hate this book.
I suppose it goes back to Douglass's attempts at mystery, which means that she wants to have quite some "reveals", no matter if the information already has been revealed multiple times. That also slows the story down quite severely and indeed does not make it engaging at all.
Every time Axis shows a basic positive human emotion, we're either supposed to be stunned, or fawn over him for being so kind and noble. Douglass, are you...are you a robot? Maybe an alien? You're clearly some kind of creature that thinks they understand human emotions, but in reality, they have absolutely no clue what they're talking about.
I mean... Axis having positive emotions is a relatively uncommon thing, but Douglass clearly went quite overboard qua praise.
That actually would have been a decent revenge, if she had known what she was doing. Stomach wounds are horribly painful, and usually slow to kill. If she wanted him to suffer the way she suffered, that would be a good method. I'm kind of sorry that's not what happened, honestly. It would have been some excellent character development for Azhure. Was she justified in giving him a slow death after all he did to her? Should she have just run without severely injuring him? Does this mean she's evil? What's the right thing to feel about his death? Happiness? Relief? Apathy? I feel like Douglass tried to go in this direction, but it just didn't work.
Yes, it actually would be quite appropriate if she were more like Axis and Belial think she is! And yes, it would be good to explore (if Douglass gave it nuance, at least), and it would give her a very good moral dilemma. As it is, Douglass clearly did try to go in that direction, but since Azhure cannot have killed him, it is just contrived; she only needs to point out that she couldn't have twisted his arm while lying on the floor to show it was an accident.
Those two idiots shouldn't be put in charge of babysitting a stack of bricks, let alone an injured person! They're probably just as likely to eat him as they are to heal him. Never let them be alone with anyone. Ever.
Exactly! I still do wonder if they bothered brainwashing Belial, too...
Yeah, it feels like Douglass took the whole "nobody had a bad word to say about him" thing and cranked it up to a hundred, and now expects us to take it seriously.
Oh, I am quite certain she actually means it, and let me just say that will not go good places.
To be fair, since the wound is going to be covered up, they don't have to make the stitching pretty. It would be respectful to do the best work you can even on a corpse, but somehow, I don't think that's one of their considerations.
That is true... though I do wonder if the stitching would even be sufficient (and why not put some people who are not crying on the task, anyway?).
Oh, cool, so their wailing and sadness was all just a show, if the burial is viewed as nothing more than an entertainment. I know that the concept of professional mourners exist, so the tears don't actually have to come from a place of sadness or grief, but the way that's phrased just makes it feel like the villagers are bored, and hey, something happened! We don't have to be bored anymore!
Yes, that is what Douglass meant. I suppose there would be some legitimate grief, but for the most part, they do not seem to care about Hagen at all, and rather about the excitement that comes with his death. A stereotypical small town that cares quite a bit about these things would be fine, but they really seem to approach a hive mind here.
Axis, you don't even know who or what you really are, so this statement kind of falls flat. You have an idea, sure, but maybe don't start moping around, woe is you, how can you hold up under such hardship when you only have the word of one person, who is a stranger to you. He could be lying, for all you know!
To be fair... he does have the word of GoldFeather and Raum. Still, he should be more concerned with whether Arne will even believe him in the first place rather than if he will believe in him. The people who have stayed with him for so long will truly not abandon him for this, so it does come across like you say.
In a better book, this would actually be a cute moment of playful banter between close friends. Even though it's Axis, I don't completely hate it, but because it's Axis, I can't quite bring myself to smile over it like I otherwise might have.
Yep! I do like Belial's comment here (because it is a little goofy and I do appreciate that about him), but Axis makes it... less comfortable, in part because this is a diversion from him confronting the Sentinels, and in part because I always expect him to show his true colours.
Actually, it's quite common to use "slide" when you're talking about some kind of blade going into a body. It might be because extremely sharp blades really can go through flesh like its butter, but regardless, it's a genuine description.
Amended! I meant specifically that "sliding" a blade through someone's throat would be hard to do, and I have put that in.
If I didn't hate these two so much, I might be willing to cut them some slack and say that since they've been using those identities for who knows how long, that's the form they're most comfortable in, and the one they would choose to return to if they had to change into someone else. As it is, though...fuck 'em.
Given that they are thousands of years old and they only had these forms for thirty-nine years, I am even less willing to (and Yr had no trouble changing form, either!). Sure, if they really want to keep these forms, that is fine, but at least assume your own name and make it clear you are not the real Brothers!
(no subject)
Wednesday, 8 January 2025 21:44 (UTC)I honestly can't figure out if Douglass loves her characters or hates them. The way she treats them and the way she clearly wants us to think about them seems to change from one chapter to the next. What's more, what she wants us to think about them is completely at odds with the way they behave! She misses the mark every single time!
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Given the villagers' inexplicable hatred of her, they would probably still find a way to blame her for his death, anyway.
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Honestly, I wouldn't put it past them, whether they have a reason to or not. I think they sometimes do it just because they can.
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I don't see why not. The knife didn't completely gut him, so the wound itself is probably only a couple of inches long, with practically no width. Since the stitches aren't being used to hold the wound together so it can heal, they would just need to close the top layer of skin.
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Belial might actually be my favorite character simply because he's one of the only ones I can tolerate, and he seems to have a somewhat pleasing personality. ...now I'm just waiting for Douglass to ruin it.
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There's really no reason for them to keep the same names as the real Brothers, either. And even if their original names somehow give them away as Sentinels, all they need to do is make up new ones! The real Brothers are probably spinning like rotisserie chickens in their graves...assuming they even have graves, and these two didn't...I dunno, dissolve them in acid or something.
(no subject)
Thursday, 9 January 2025 07:13 (UTC)I honestly can't figure out if Douglass loves her characters or hates them. The way she treats them and the way she clearly wants us to think about them seems to change from one chapter to the next. What's more, what she wants us to think about them is completely at odds with the way they behave! She misses the mark every single time!
SCSF: I think that might be because she wants to go for an effect rather than a cohesive story quite often, which also explains that detours we sometimes get. Sure, she is trying to "hit the mark" (to use the words of another author), but she ends up missing it instead.
Given the villagers' inexplicable hatred of her, they would probably still find a way to blame her for his death, anyway.
Oh, they would. I rather had the Avar in mind, since I know the question of "can we keep Azhure in our midst, despite what she has done" will come up soon.
Honestly, I wouldn't put it past them, whether they have a reason to or not. I think they sometimes do it just because they can.
Indeed... they have not been shown to be moral enough not to do so, and I am also quite sure Yr will do so later on.
I don't see why not. The knife didn't completely gut him, so the wound itself is probably only a couple of inches long, with practically no width. Since the stitches aren't being used to hold the wound together so it can heal, they would just need to close the top layer of skin.
That is entirely fair and I will note it next part!
Belial might actually be my favorite character simply because he's one of the only ones I can tolerate, and he seems to have a somewhat pleasing personality. ...now I'm just waiting for Douglass to ruin it.
I have heard that he will be one of the least ruined characters, so that is good news!
There's really no reason for them to keep the same names as the real Brothers, either. And even if their original names somehow give them away as Sentinels, all they need to do is make up new ones! The real Brothers are probably spinning like rotisserie chickens in their graves...assuming they even have graves, and these two didn't...I dunno, dissolve them in acid or something.
Let me see... when the Sentinels revealed themselves to Faraday, we were told they died when they tried to enter the Silent Woman Woods (without any specific manner of death).
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 08:24 (UTC)He is the only character who gets to call Axis out on his bullshit, though of course he has to take it all back afterwards Because Axis Is Always Right.
Other than that the only bad thing Belial does other than prop up Axis' huge ego all the time is sleep with a teenage girl.
Considering how a certain other character's body is treated later on I wouldn't be surprised if they tossed them on a garbage heap.
(no subject)
Monday, 13 January 2025 01:38 (UTC)It's really weird. She clearly goes out of her way to make Axis look like an awful, awful person who just gets worse, yet then turns around and starts blathering on about how "compassionate" and "noble" he is.
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 08:22 (UTC)Neither of whom he knows or trusts.
Given how horrible he is toward the women in his life, you're very right to be uncomfortable hearing him talk like this.
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 08:19 (UTC)Yeah, it's absolutely ridiculous and horrible.
It's something she shares with Paolini. Every time a Paolini protagonist does something genuinely brave or heroic, it's not enough that they go and do the brave or heroic thing. No, every single time they have to stop and give a speech first about how they're going to do the thing and it's so selfless blah blah blah. Like it's somehow so unusual to do the right thing that we have to have it pointed out to us in great detail.
Which Douglass doesn't seem to have known because he died instantly instead.
This isn't the last time she treats her human NPCs like a hivemind, either. The Icarii have voices of dissent, but not the humans. They all just blindly go along with what Axis wants, or are eeeevil and get killed.
(no subject)
Saturday, 11 January 2025 23:28 (UTC)Look, either women from Nors are particularly loose and unfaithful or they're not - hang on. Doughlass, are you trying shame the villagers for thinking infidelity is bad?
Axis, they have just a greatly respected (somehow) figure. Be nice, and stop thinking they're morons just for having different funerary customs. (The wailing in particular strikes me as being done for display, and realistically speaking the mourners will not be the ones washing, sewing, and dressing.)
I think Arne needs to be honourably discharged on account of having lost his brain somewhere.
No, that is an immediate death threat, because the knife is right there and Axis needs barely any time to use it.
A sharp enough blade over the carotid artery could kill very quickly, actually. Axis presumably keeps his blades sharp, so it's not all that unreasonable. (And somehow I don't either Sentinel is used to such treatment.)
Good heavens, the Sentinel's healing magic must be something if Beliel's poor cracked skull isn't paining him after all that!
"Don't kill him," Beliel said. "We need answers."
For a moment he feared Axis wouldn't listen. But Axis lowered his knife and turned to him, still gripping the false-brother. "Answers to what?"
"Why pretend to be Brothers," Beliel replied, collecting his thoughts through his throbbing headache, "Why put on that farce at the Keep. They had to have known the risks." His headache spiked sharply, cutting off his next thought.
"How do you know that?" Veremund exclaimed, sounding immensily shocked.
"You didn't deny knowing Ceolmund," Beliel said, "and he can't be more then forty."
"He's not human," Veremund protested, "he's much older then forty."
"But you haven't denied that you're not Brothers," Axis growled, tightening his grip on Ogden. "What are you?"
After they answered Beliel rubbed at his aching head. As impressive as the lights and voices had been, they could have answered like regular folks and spared him the renewed headache!
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 08:26 (UTC)Considering the later obsession with blood, I have no doubt it was completely intentional.
And yet after this they'll be around all manner of other injured people, and won't lift a finger to ever use this power again. Indeed, they never use magic again full stop.
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 15:20 (UTC)(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 12:13 (UTC)... Doughlass, did you intend to imply that Axis' blood has overruled his upbringing, or did you just never realise what you wrote?
SCSF: It could be either, for all I know; she does put a all-too-great emphasis on blood relations, after all (to the point that most of the important characters end up being one, through marriages).
Look, either women from Nors are particularly loose and unfaithful or they're not - hang on. Doughlass, are you trying shame the villagers for thinking infidelity is bad?
Looking at what Douglass says... I do not think that is the case. Knowing a bit where this will lead, I rather get the impression that we are supposed to think bad of them for thinking that Azhure's mother was in any way bad.
Axis, they have just a greatly respected (somehow) figure. Be nice, and stop thinking they're morons just for having different funerary customs. (The wailing in particular strikes me as being done for display, and realistically speaking the mourners will not be the ones washing, sewing, and dressing.)
Good to have that confirmed! And I fully agree; they are not harming anyone with their customs, and the Axe-Wielders are only coming through, so they have little to say to this. To be precise, though, this comes from the omniscient narrator, which means it is Douglass sneering directly at the villagers herself.
I think Arne needs to be honourably discharged on account of having lost his brain somewhere.
Yes, and all the more since he does not call in help at any point during this conversation.
Thank you for the recall! I suppose I was all too willing to give Douglass credit once again.
Good heavens, the Sentinel's healing magic must be something if Beliel's poor cracked skull isn't paining him after all that!
To be fair, he did have a "spasm of pain", but it stills feels a bit too well-healed, especially since I got the impression that Axis came in in the middle of their healing. Come to think of it, Jack and Yr only needed "a few minutes" to heal Faraday and Timozel, while Ogden takes much longer? So was Belial hurt worse, or is Ogden just worse at healing?
I do feel for Belial, and good on him for applying logical thought! (Also, would you mind a fic roundup at the end of this book?)
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 15:42 (UTC)Thanks! And no, I wouldn't mind a fic roundup. ☺️
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 15:59 (UTC)Good to know!
(no subject)
Monday, 13 January 2025 01:52 (UTC)There's quite a bit of omniscient narration in this thing, and it's always like this - sneering, condescending and nasty when it isn't heaping hypocritical and tedious praise on the favourite characters.
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 08:12 (UTC)It never comes up again after this anyway.
And yet which he barely even reacts to, all things considered.
Which we aren't, because after this book the author basically loses all interest in the Avar.
Weird is fine but it's also completely nonsensical. We don't even have the excuse of Axis just naturally being a really nice, big-hearted guy.
But not so much that you didn't instantly flip out over seeing two of them being mistreated, of course.
Because they're just SO IN LOVE you guys. Totally.
Actual abuse victims who murder their abusers usually go with poison. They sure as hell wouldn't be likely to go for a physical confrontation.
This is of course so Azhure can whine a lot later on about how nobody liked her and her childhood was so lonely etc etc. She's such a self-pitying ass about it, going on about how they didn't like her because of "her beauty, temper and independent spirit" because of course they have to hate her for having positive traits. In other words it's one of those "it sucks to be awesome" moments we get from Sues all the time.
Yeah, this whole bit is just really high-handed, arrogant and stupid.
After this we switch over to "all Nors women are sluts and whores", which even Axis fully believes and is never corrected on. It's awful.
...how many funerals have you been to, Douglass?
Because once again we must have it pounded into our heads that Axis is the OMG BEST COMMANDER EVER.
This likewise goes absolutely nowhere. Arne and his entire subplot could have been cut entirely and probably should have been.
So much for being "watchful". Do these morons WANT to get caught?
They never do this again, of course.
For someone who was raised his entire life to believe magic is EVIL, you sure wouldn't know it.
Frankly the entire trilogy never once shows that Axis actually gives a single shit about Belial.
WHY THE FUCK IS HE ACTING SO CASUAL? The guy should be either angry or panicking!
Guys, this is neither the time or place for this kind of crap. Also this is not funny.
You just know this was meant to make him look "cool". Instead it just makes him look like a violent asshole.
Um, how does he know that? Also... magic is evil? Ring any bells?
Yeah, Belial isn't exactly coming off well here either.
Yeah, no kidding. The guy just coming off as more and more mentally and emotionally unstable, and that's not going to improve either. He even screams at and abuses people during military planning meetings, for goodness' sake.
Like a goddamn cartoon character, lest we were taking this scene at all seriously up until this point.
Nobody really seems to take that much issue with Axis' constant violent assaults on people. Nor do they seem to notice that he keeps screaming and shouting all the time even when it's utterly uncalled-for.
Too late. No sane man acts like you, shithead.
That is really gross and creepy now you've pointed it out. After all, if Yr can change shape from her original disguise why don't any of the others do it?
Worse. They've had THOUSANDS of years to prepare.
Douglass' dialogue is awful in general but this is a particularly egregious example.
Surely that counts as blasphemy.
Because this is literally Belial's only role in the story: to be a yes-man for the "good guys" and tell Axis how great he (and therefore everything associated with him) is. Therefore he has to be completely flat calm and even pleased about all this insanity.
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 12:37 (UTC)It never comes up again after this anyway.
SCSF: Who cares about consistent worldbuilding, after all?
And yet which he barely even reacts to, all things considered.
That is a large part of what makes it ring so empty.
This is of course so Azhure can whine a lot later on about how nobody liked her and her childhood was so lonely etc etc. She's such a self-pitying ass about it, going on about how they didn't like her because of "her beauty, temper and independent spirit" because of course they have to hate her for having positive traits. In other words it's one of those "it sucks to be awesome" moments we get from Sues all the time.
I certainly can see them dislike Azhure because of her "independent spirit", but her "beauty"? It really does seem like Douglass wants Azhure to have been disliked for the things she likes most about her, not for the stuff that would have made her stand out, which... is not likely to be exactly the same.
After this we switch over to "all Nors women are sluts and whores", which even Axis fully believes and is never corrected on. It's awful.
Oh, lovely.
Because once again we must have it pounded into our heads that Axis is the OMG BEST COMMANDER EVER.
Even if he were, Arne still needs critical thinking, no matter what Ogden and Veremund might think. This is a prime example, since Arne is so devoted that he does nothing about Axis nearly murdering Ogden. They nearly got the Prophecy destroyed because of their own idiocy!
This likewise goes absolutely nowhere. Arne and his entire subplot could have been cut entirely and probably should have been.
I genuinely wonder what he could even do to protect Axis when he goes to fight Gorgrael's forces... Having him be Axis's critical voice would work better and give him something real to do, at least.
So much for being "watchful". Do these morons WANT to get caught?
Veremund could have kept watch for anyone coming in, at least. They are in Hagen's house, after all, and they have not put a guard outside, so there might just be a villager coming in when they do not expect it.
WHY THE FUCK IS HE ACTING SO CASUAL? The guy should be either angry or panicking!
In this case, I suppose he is deliberately trying to be casual so he can talk to Belial before unloading on the Sentinels.
Um, how does he know that? Also... magic is evil? Ring any bells?
Apparently not. And I guess that he put together that he has woken up and that Ogden and Veremund were nearby?
That is really gross and creepy now you've pointed it out. After all, if Yr can change shape from her original disguise why don't any of the others do it?
Indeed! And why did they even need to put on such a realistic disguise? After all, who would know exactly what they look like? Jayme would hardly go to the Silent Woman Woods.
Surely that counts as blasphemy.
I am quite sure it does.
That is probably it, indeed.
(no subject)
Monday, 13 January 2025 01:46 (UTC)Who indeed. Like Paolini, Douglass only focuses on the things she's personally interested in (eg every woman being OMG SO BEEEEUUUUTIFUL also lots of pointless abusive "romance" and babies) instead of the things that are actually important. If she gets bored with some aspect of her plot or setting, then you won't be hearing anything further about it. It's so self-indulgent and unprofessional.
She wants to have everyone hate Azhure without actually giving her precious favourite doll any acknowledged flaws, so therefore they have to hate her for nonsensical stuff like... being pretty? Come on. As for the "independent spirit" thing, given the level of abuse she's copped her entire life I find that very hard to believe.
Yeah, Azhure gets slut-shamed all the time but it's never acknowledged.
Nothing. He isn't there to help him at the obligatory "climactic" battle in this book and only actually does something to watch his back once in book two. After that he becomes entirely irrelevant.
Yeah, this whole thing (along with doing the "flashy eye" thing for no reason when anyone could have spotted it) makes them both look like utter morons.
(no subject)
Sunday, 12 January 2025 16:13 (UTC)Axis does seem to have the 'correct' attitudes towards magic, yes. Somehow.
Given that the pacifist Avar consider violent rage downright saintly, I'm thinking Doughlass just... doesn't think outbursts of rage are bad! Which is rather baffling coming from someone who presumably lives in a society, but here we are.
I'm thinking the Sentinels did quite a bit more then healing Beliel.
Well, it's certainly sacrilege, the mistreatment of sacred things, whether it's blasphemy depends on whether they were inwardly mocking the religious practices. So they very likely were being blasphemous, but we can't prove it.
And here we have yet more reason to believe Beliel's mind has dirty fingerprints on it.
(no subject)
Monday, 13 January 2025 01:50 (UTC)Oh I know; I was referring to the author apparently not knowing this.
Because Axis always has to be right, no matter what. This is why his "journey" toward accepting his true heritage and stuff is so lame and unconvincing and makes the final scene so very meaningless and hollow. Axis doesn't have to truly struggle with being half Forbidden and using magic because here at the very beginning of his supposed arc he's already fine with using magic and already sympathising with the Avar right out of the blue.
Axis is certainly never once criticised for having an out of control violent temper; rather this is painted as totally normal and even praiseworthy.
(no subject)
Monday, 13 January 2025 03:41 (UTC)(no subject)
Monday, 13 January 2025 03:48 (UTC)(no subject)
Monday, 13 January 2025 15:49 (UTC)God have mercy on her, because she sorely needs it.
(no subject)
Tuesday, 14 January 2025 03:45 (UTC)(no subject)
Tuesday, 14 January 2025 05:51 (UTC)But it does look like she'll be a while in there.
(no subject)
Tuesday, 14 January 2025 06:55 (UTC)(no subject)
Tuesday, 14 January 2025 15:28 (UTC)As a woman, I have to admit that Douglass is a particularly hard one to do that for and I strongly suspect it's a good thing I'm doing it from waaay over here.
(no subject)
Tuesday, 14 January 2025 22:56 (UTC)(no subject)
Tuesday, 14 January 2025 23:24 (UTC)