BattleAxe First Read: Chapter Thirty-Eight: Sigholt

[teres]

Chapter Thirty-Seven (Part III) | Table of Contents | Chapter Thirty-Nine

SCSF: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to BattleAxe! Last time, Faraday, Timozel and Yr finally found transport to Gorkenfort, and Faraday tried and failed to go to the Sacred Grove again. For the reader post:

On chapter 25, Maegwin notes that the sex scene that occurs there might be to “put Timozel and Yr into their correct gender-specific places”: Yr is being too forward with her advances, so she is put in a submissive role during the sex scene, and is more subdued afterward, while Timozel has not made any advances on anyone and has dedicated himself to courtly love with Faraday, and is generally not very “manly”, so he is put in an assertive role during the sex scene and, of course, he loses his virginity. I am not sure to what extent Douglass meant it, but it would explain their somewhat strange behaviour in that scene, so I suppose it is as good an explanation as any.

On part III of the previous chapter, Epistler points out that it will take much longer than the two days Faraday will stay in Jervois Landing for dresses to be made out of the raw fabric she was given. Yes, Douglass does not outright say so, but we hear that the “bevy of seamstresses” will provide Faraday with a “complete wardrobe” by the time she leaves, so it does sound like these people are supposed to make that wardrobe for her. I am sure they can make some clothing, but it would probably be easier for Gautier to buy clothing from the locals; it does not seem to have been a problem with the dress he got for her, after all.

Did Not Do the Research: 71

Ill Logic: 237

And, to return to a complaint I made back then, the merchants ought to know this, and they should also know that Faraday will leave for Gorkenfort, and because of that, they should know that she might well not use the bolts of fabric, so why is that everything they gave her? I would expect some merchants to have given her warm clothing for the ride north, at least.

Epistler further notes that it is quite inconsiderate of Yr to flirt with Gautier when she has not ended her relationship with Timozel yet. Given that it would be quite easy to do so (Timozel does not seem to care much any more, after all), and Yr does not seem to care too much, it does not make her look any better.

Then… Wolfgoddess talking about how unrealistically Gautier is written also leads me to note that it is rather unrealistic that the only sex workers in Jervois Landing are “tired old crones” (and that is hardly necessary to have Gautier be attracted to Yr).

Chessy notes that it is somewhat weird that Faraday only takes a dislike to Gautier now, not when she first saw him during her betrothal. I wonder about that, too; it might be that Douglass did not think that Gautier should look bad yet… but she did put some effort into making Borneheld look bad, so it seems like she only realised she should have introduced Gautier now, and did not go back to edit. (In-universe, it somewhat seems like Faraday has come around to the “correct” viewpoint on Gautier, presumably due to influence from the Sentinels.)

She further suggests that Timozel taking the reins of Gautier’s horse “with studied bad grace” might be because he feels insulted at being treated like a stable boy, which I think makes quite some sense.

She also notes that medieval court dresses were not actually laced; I will not complain about that myself, since Douglass has not exactly committed herself to historical accuracy, though it (along with other such inaccuracies) does not bode well for her historical fiction.

Finally, she notes that Faraday stabbing herself in the thumb to get blood is not a very good idea.

Ill Logic: 238

With that finished, let me resume with the next chapter!

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Sigholt

This chapter, as might be expected, finds us back with Axis, who is standing on “the flat roof of the Keep at the garrison of Sigholt”. He looks over the parapets to the north, where he can see a “faint smudge of purple”: the Icescarp Alps! There is a cold wind, but Axis finds it “invigorating”. He thinks that he has never been “further north than Aldeni” before now, since Jayme always kept him south of Ichtar, and he is “exhilarated” by seeing the Icescarp Alps.

I rather like this opening, especially since, unlike such chapters as ““Belle My Wife!”” and “Smyrton”, we open with the actual point of the chapter and not a summary of what has happened to Axis and co. in the meantime. I do not mind having that summary, of course, but in cases like this, where we rejoin Axis after a few chapters, I do like immediately joining what he is doing in the present. I further appreciate that Douglass for once does not tell us what this means to Axis, and lets us see what he thinks instead. Going from the style to the content, I can quite understand the way Axis feels, since we have not seen the Icescarp Alps since the prologue (and then not in any great detail), and this is the first time we actually see Sigholt. I also like the glimpse of the Icescarp Alps; it is a sign that the book is actually making progress toward the confrontation with Gorgrael, and it is where Axis was born, so presumably we will be getting even more progress on his parentage plot.

That aside, I do have to wonder if he could actually see the Icescarp Alps, given that, according to the map, the closest are about 320 kilometres to the north of Sigholt. Let me see… No, I do not think it works very well; I get the impression from the prologue that the Icescarp Alps are not all that high, since Rivkah had no trouble breathing, and the highest peak is said to be “twice as high as any of its neighbours”. Being generous, I would put the common peaks in the Icescarps at 4.5 kilometres, in which case the Keep would have to be 510 metres high for Axis to be able to see the peaks at all. …Then again, that assumes that the Keep is at sea level; since it is situated on the slopes of a hill range, as we will soon learn, that is very much not the case, and if Sigholt is a kilometre or more above sea level, some calculations teach me that the Icescarps could be less than 2.5 kilometres to be visible. In conclusion, this does actually seem reasonable to me, though I am still happy to have verified that, rather than just assume it is true. A point to Douglass in any case!

Then… Jayme apparently never let Axis go to Ichtar. It is presumably because he is not needed there, as we do not hear of any trouble in Ichtar, and because visiting would just rile Borneheld up, but given that Jayme has been shown to be not entirely honest with Axis, him not wanting Axis to discover more about his birth and parentage might also have played a role. If that is what Douglass meant, it is subtle enough to not immediately be obvious. (I somewhat wonder what business Axis would have had in Aldeni; maybe he went to meet with Duke Roland there?)

Back with the story, someone behind Axis says that the “Princess” loved to stand where Axis stands now. Axis turns around to look at the old man he shares the roof of the Keep with, and we get a description of him. He is called Reinald, he is the “retired chief cook of the garrison”, and he is “old and infirm”, as he has “[r]heumy eyes”, he is nearly bald, and when he grins at Axis, he can see that most of Reinald’s teeth are gone. I have to note that “Princess” should not be capitalised here. Also, if most of Reinald’s front teeth are gone, he would have some trouble speaking, which Douglass does not indicate.

Did Not Do the Research: 72

PPP: 414 (+3) (for wrong instances of “Princess”)

Putting those nitpicks aside… we can see that Axis has found a quite good source of information in Reinald, who has first-hand experience of Rivkah. The only problem I can find with that is that it has been thirty years, so his memories might not be as clear or as unbiased as it could be, though Douglass will not mention that possibility (and I will be more vigilant for it because of that). Beyond that, I like to see that Douglass lets a relative commoner like Reinald play this role, and that his unflattering description does not reflect on his personality.

Well, Reinald says that he was “undercook” when he met Rivkah, and one of his tasks was to “supervise [her] meals”. In the summer and the early autumn, she spent most of her time on the roof, so he, along with the kitchen hands, needed to climb the “steep stairs” three times a day, while balancing “hot bowls, sharp knives and fine china and crystal”. Axis smiles at Reinald and says he “must have cursed her”, to which Reinald says that it was hard to do so. Douglass then tells us that Reinald is the only person aside from Faraday who Axis has met who is comfortable with Rivkah being Axis’s mother. Reinald explains that Rivkah “would smile so prettily, and apologise for all the trouble she had caused”, and then she would look out at the view and invite them to look at “what [] had enthralled her”.

Here I will allow myself to give a point, since this use of “china” is in actual in-universe speech, and it could easily have been porcelain. I also would like it better if the sentence about Reinald being comfortable with Rivkah being Axis’s mother was not placed in the middle of him talking.

PPP: 416 (+2) (I once again wonder if this book ever received any kind of thorough edit)

As for the content of that sentence, I am quite sure that Faraday and Reinald are not the only people who are comfortable with Rivkah being his mother. Embeth, for one, has known Axis for most of his life, and we have never heard of her being uncomfortable with his parentage. We have not seen Belial, who is also close to Axis, express any discomfort, either, nor have Ogden and Veremund done so; in fact, they have encouraged him to search for his parentage, and Veremund even called him “Rivkahson” when we last saw him! I can grant Douglass that, unlike Faraday and Reinald, these people mostly did not explicitly acknowledge that Rivkah is his mother, and Axis might find what Reinald does more meaningful… but it would still have shown him that he does not need to be ashamed of his parentage, which has been quite valuable to him of itself. In other words, what Embeth and Belial do in not showing discomfort is the baseline of what the reader expects them to, but that still makes Axis’s life better, and I find they should get some credit for what they do (especially since it is not what is expected of them).

I further note that people may not have called Axis “Rivkahson” before now because that might get them (and Axis) in trouble with Priam among others, which I doubt that Axis would have wanted himself. Then… as we learned in chapter 10, Axis was very sensitive about anyone referring to Rivkah, which is why no one ever talked to him about her! Yes, he presumably did not want to hear bad remarks about his parentage, but I find it hard to feel sorry for Axis not being called “Rivkahson” (which I am sure Douglass wants) when he actively did not want anyone to do so. It is nice for him that Faraday called him that, but I can hardly expect anyone else to take the chance of it coming out and of going against Axis’s clear wishes. As for Reinald, while I do like him, it is only to be expected that he would explicitly say that Rivkah is his mother; Axis is looking for information about her, after all.

Putting that gripe aside… I do like Reinald’s telling of what Rivkah was like, especially the details of what he had to carry upstairs for her. I also think it makes sense that Reinald would not curse Rivkah: Searlas had the servants tortured after he found out that Rivkah was pregnant, after all, so we can infer that he was not pleasant to be around before that, either. Because of that, Rivkah would make for a welcome change, and she was also willing to engage with the servants as people, which they might not have had much of before.

Still… it bothers me that Reinald does not indicate that he ever disliked her, even when Axis gives him an opening, as does the description of how nice Rivkah was. I would not mind this of itself, but given the context, I cannot help but think that Reinald was actually never bothered by Rivkah’s behaviour because she was just that nice in apologising and showed him the view. While it is nice that she did so, it would have been nicer if she would make life easier on the servants, for example by getting her food herself sometimes, asking for somewhat cooler food, or forgoing knives, so she was being somewhat inconsiderate, and Reinald getting fed up enough with that to curse her would hardly be unreasonable. I do not mean that I dislike Rivkah for her behaviour, of course (a nuance that Douglass would have done well to remember), but rather that she was not as perfect as she is supposed to be. If Douglass had meant that, and if she had let Reinald admit that he did curse her sometimes, I think this moment would be better, but that would mean that Rivkah was wrong, and we cannot have that. It is not enough to make me dislike this bit, but it bothers me all the same.

Let me move on before I get stuck here forever… Axis wants to know just what view “enthralled” Rivkah. Reinald joins Axis at the parapets and says it was the Icescarp Alps (of course), and she used to “tease [them]”. “Ralf”, the youngest of the kitchen boys, was afraid of heights and “would often turn green with dizziness”. Rivkah would laugh and say that she would fly to the Alps one day and never be seen again. …I have to admit I do not exactly understand this. I suppose they thought Rivkah was teasing them by saying that she wanted to fly to the Icescarps, but why bring up Ralf, then? I can also get it if Rivkah was teasing Ralf, but then I cannot quite see the connection with the Icescarps… On further thought, I think that Reinald is saying that Rivkah would laugh when Ralf showed signs of being afraid of heights, and then say that she would fly to the Icescarps, with the connection presumably being that she was so unafraid of heights that she would not mind flying.

PPP: 416 (this is genuinely unclear)

For the content, I am far from impressed with Rivkah’s behaviour here. If she was as awesome as she is supposed to be, she would not have had Ralf come up the tower for her (and maybe come up with replacement tasks for him), and she would certainly not have laughed when his fear showed. Yes, Reinald does not seem to say that she specifically laughed at Ralf, but I doubt it would have made him feel any better even if she did not. It would have been nice if Douglass acknowledged this; that would give Rivkah some more complexity than “nice princess who died tragically”. (Incidentally, I wonder what has become of Ralf. He would be young enough that he might still be alive, but we will never see him in person.)

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 119 (because this goes completely unremarked)

As for the teasing… Reinald is most probably correct about the thing she was teasing them with, just not about how she meant it, since Rivkah clearly meant her Icarii lover. As the Acharites have forgotten what the Icarii were and the “Forbidden” have not been spotted in Achar for a very long time, she could also get away with it. This is a nice character moment for her, I find, and I think we can say by now that her teasing became reality, if not in the way she might have wanted (and I like that Douglass trusts us to make the connection ourselves here).

Resuming with what’s going on… Reinald says that he likes to think that her soul flew away to the Alps when she “died during [Axis’s] birth”, and he’s always comforted himself with the thought that she could finally “visit the mountains she has always wanted to see”, as she was “closer to the Alps” when Axis was born. …I think that Axis has known that for a long time now, but thank you for the explanation, I suppose?

PPP: 417 (even though it is just three sentences, I feel that Reinald’s explanation is rather redundant)

We Understand Already: 28

I am sure that Reinald means well in telling this to Axis, and the sentiment itself is nice, but I do not think that he should be doing this. He has known Axis for only a short while, after all, and so he cannot tell if Axis will take well to hearing this (and, if he has heard about Axis, he might know that Axis does not like it). For that reason, it also seems like a too intimate a thing to say to Axis. Yes, Axis has come here to find answers about his mother, so bringing up her death is fine in itself, but this is not directly pertinent to Axis’s questions, and it is something that Axis might have strong feelings about himself, so if Reinald is to bring it up at all (which I think he should not), he should ask if Axis wants to hear it. (And if he did tell Axis, it might be better not to say that he has thought this ever since Rivkah’s death; that would create less of an obligation to listen.)

As for the sentiment, it is fine, if a bit trite. I do wonder where Reinald is getting this idea from; we can assume that he follows the Way of the Axe and the Plough, so why would he not believe that Rivkah went to the AfterLife when she died? It can be justified, of course, but there does need to be an explanation. While it does sound nice, I would not expect Axis to actually find this nice.

Axis does not take any issue with this; instead, he is left silent for a moment and says that sometimes “graciousness and comfort [can] be offered from the most unexpected of places”. I suppose this makes sense with what we have seen of Axis; he seems to be quite relaxed about Rivkah by now, Reinald’s sentiment is nice, and… that is about all I can say, because I do not actually have an idea of how Axis feels about Rivkah, now that I look back! We have only heard about how he feels from other people, not from himself, and it has not been brought up all that often, so we will only be seeing it in this chapter, which is less then ideal. Still, Douglass has not done a bad job of it so far, and we do learn here that Axis seems to have been worried about his mother’s fate, so I cannot complain.

I will be complaining about the wording, though: Reinald may have been an unlikely candidate to give Axis “graciousness and comfort” before now, but in this situation, it is hardly surprising that Reinald would try to make Axis feel better. Now that I think about it, this, along with Reinald never cursing Rivkah, feels like an attempt to make sure the reader knows that Reinald is one of the Good Characters. As I already tend to like him, it does not do much for me, and it leaves me wondering why wanting to comfort Axis is supposed to be so rare to find, and disappointed that Douglass did not want to go for something more subtle. Overall, I do not find this bad, but it could have been a lot better with some more setup.

Axis finally manages to thank Reinald, and then looks back to the Icescarp Alps, noting that it is hard to see them from Sigholt. Reinald says that they are easy to see on a clear summer day, like they are only “a league or two” away (which I rather doubt). Axis then concludes that Rivkah must have been “very unhappy” at Sigholt if she wanted to fly away. Reinald “[thinks] hard about what to say”, maybe because he is afraid he has given the wrong impression, and says that she was unhappy when the evil Searlas was there, but when he was not, “she would laugh”. Yes, I am clearly seeing the results of that “hard thought” in this rather simplistic summary, and though it does indicate some nuance, it does not do anything to explain why Rivkah was supposedly “very unhappy” when Searlas was away. I also wonder just how Axis came to the conclusion that she was so unhappy when Reinald explicitly said that she was teasing just now. It is of course possible that she was actually being serious, but given that he knows his father is Icarii, would it not occur to Axis that she might be referring to him?

Ill Logic: 239

Axis then asks if Rivkah being happy had something to do with his father being here, which it probably did, though I hope that was not the only reason she found it bearable without Searlas. I also see that Axis wants to learn a bit more about his father, which I think Reinald will be amenable to. Reinald does not answer the question at once; instead, he looks at the Icescarp Alps for “a very long time” and goes into a flashback. I have to say that this conversation is rather lacking in connective tissue, and it does not make for a smooth read.

PPP: 418

Reinald thinks back to the “terrible weeks” when Searlas came back from Gorkenfort to find Rivkah pregnant, and we learn that Devera was right and Searlas did torture his servants, including Reinald. He looks at his hands, and notes that his fingernails have “never grown well again” after Searlas “pulled them out one by one with a pair of rusted kitchen tongs” in order to get information about the father from him. Good to see that Searlas was exactly as Stupid Evil as he was implied to be! While I cannot blame him for thinking that torture is effective (though it very much is not, and in this case, I doubt he would believe anyone who told him the truth), I think he had more important things to do than to carry it out in person, not to mention that he seems to have gone straight to torture instead of trying any other way of getting information first, which could have saved him some effort.

Ill Logic: 240

As for the torture, I think “kitchen tongs” (or any kind of tongs, for that matter) are a rather poor choice for pulling out nails, as they end in a cup shape with which it is hard to properly grab something as thin as a nail, and even more to pull on it. I think the problem will be quite clear from a picture:

Further, rusty tongs (which Searlas would have had to get for the opportunity) would only make it harder to do much with them.

Ill Logic: 241

As for the rest… in order for Reinald’s nails not to grow back properly, I see that Searlas would have needed to damage the nail bed (directly underneath the nail), which I suppose he could have done, but it seems rather unlikely that he managed to do it with all of Reinald’s nails simply by pulling them out.

Did Not Do the Research: 73

Overall, this seems like a rather impractical way to go about torturing Reinald. I get the idea that Douglass thought it sounded worse than using a more practical way (that would at least explain why Searlas specifically used rusty tongs), maybe because it would take longer… but it would still be harder to do much damage, so it does not work very well for me, and it makes Searlas look rather foolish. I also do not think we truly needed to hear about the details of Reinald’s torture.

Edgy Equals Mature, Right?: 21

Papier-Mâché Villains: 29

Reinald explains that he never told the truth, “despite the pain, or perhaps because of it”. After all, he loved Rivkah “[i]n his own way”, and if he could help her by not saying anything, he would do so “with the joy that he could in fact serve her”. I can certainly agree with that, though I do wonder a bit at how Reinald thought about Rivkah back then. Thinking on it, given how awful Searlas was, it makes sense that he would do that, and that he would tend to excuse her faults, as it makes sense that he would try to help her however he could. It may not have been entirely what Douglass meant, but it does fit with what we have. For something else, I note that this is much better at showing us that Reinald is awesome than him simply telling Axis a bit about Rivkah, as withstanding torture is much harder (and good on Reinald for never telling Searlas anything!), and it is not something that we could reasonably expect him to do.

Axis, exercising patience (!), leaves Reinald to think, thinking that it is up to Reinald whether he says anything about the father, and that he is happy to have found Reinald either way, since he can “reach the mother he [has] never known” through his memories. Yes, I think we could have deduced that ourselves; we hardly need Axis to spell out for us why he has sought Reinald out.

We Understand Already: 29

Reinald finally says that Searlas was “so hard”. Rivkah came to Gorkenfort when she was still a girl, and because of that she needed “love and laughter” above all else, which were “the two things Searlas could not give her” (because of course he could not). Hmm, I would not mind getting an indication of in what way Searlas was “hard” to Rivkah, and in just what way his lack of “love and laughter” showed, as this is rather generic. I suppose that he mostly neglected her, as I am sure we would have heard of it if he did actively hurt her, but given that Rivkah apparently did not laugh when Searlas was around, I do wonder if he did more than that… This would be a great opportunity to expand on how Rivkah was treated during her marriage (and is this chapter not supposed to be about that?), but apparently we will not be getting that.

Reinald now spends another few minutes in thought, and then picks up talking about Axis’ father, because this conversation is still rather disjointed. He says that he learned to wait at the “door to the roof”, and not to disturb Rivkah until she called him. Sometimes, he had to wait for several hours, the food he had for Rivkah “turning to a cold congealed mess about [him]” (that sounds all too much like Douglass-the-narrator talking), and he would send the kitchen boys away. Reinald then looks at Axis, and says he never saw his father, but he did hear him speak and sing, and he had a “voice that one could listen to for hours” (because of course he does). I do wonder a bit at Reinald waiting at the door like this, as it seems like he was less waiting for Rivkah to call him, and more listening to Rivkah and Axis’s father being together. I can see it in a way, since he would probably want to know if Axis’s father was any good for Rivkah, and he does have cause to be worried, but he is still listening in on what is supposed to be a private conversation “for hours”. Of course, we do not hear about him spreading what he has hard, nor do we have an indication that Rivkah learned of this, so he has not done anyone harm… but I still do not think he should have done it.

PPP: 419 (for not keeping Reinald’s voice straight)

Reinald then says that Axis’s father gave Rivkah “both love and laughter” and for “close to eight months”, he came almost every day and stayed for hours. That is a lot more than Searlas gave her, and it is nice that he gave her “love and laughter”, but I am not yet convinced that it was a good relationship for her, as we hear nothing about how it was like. For all we know, he might have been praising Rivkah and making funny comments all day, for example, and while that would give her “love and laughter”, it would not count for much beyond that.

Reinald now asks who the father was, and says he does not know, and then asks how he reached the roof, when no one ever passed him on the stairs. I am not quite sure why Reinald is saying that; the reader certainly already knows that Axis’s father is an Icarii Enchanter, and given that Reinald has listened to him for quite a bit, he should have a much better idea of who the father is than Axis (and he would have heard the Enchanter take off and/or land at some point). Thinking on this further, I think that Reinald does know the answers to the questions he asks, and is asking them to introduce the idea of Axis’s father being an Icarii without sounding all too weird. While that makes sense in this conversation, it is rather pointless when Axis already knows that his father was an Icarii.

Axis just “nod[s] absently” at Reinald’s questions (so why have them at all?), and thinks about how nice a spot Sigholt would be with the “green Urqhart hills” nearby and the “purple Icescarp Alps” far off.

PPP: 420 (wrong capitalisation of “Urqhart Hills”)

We learn that Ogden has told him “far more” about the Icarii in the past few days. I would find it quite nice to learn some of that, given that we know quite little about them, but it seems that Douglass wants to keep information about the Icarii in reserve until the time is ripe for that, whenever that may exactly be. It certainly does not help much with making me invested in the Icarii, even though Douglass aims to give them a big role later. I hardly mind it at present, since the Avar are engaging enough, but I think that knowing more about the Icarii earlier on would help the book. Axis then wonders if the Enchanter had “flown each day from the Alps”, or if he had a “haunt” in the Urqhart Hills. …Given that the former would require him to fly 640 kilometres per day, it is fairly obvious that it is the latter (and he’d be quite safe there, too).

Axis thinks about his mother and her lover, and then a “lilting melody” comes into his head, which he begins humming, “enjoying the way it [runs] about his mouth”. It seems it is time for Axis to use magic again… He closes his eyes, feeling the “summer warmth” on his face, and smelling the “climbing roses” that reach the roof in summer (interesting) and so he does not see Reinald look on in “stunned amazement”. Let us see what will happen!

A young woman calls out for “StarDrifter”, “love deepening her already low voice”, and Axis opens his eyes to see the roof “bathed in sunshine”, and the “lovely young woman” laughing and holding her arms out to him. Rivkah is described a bit further: she is barefoot and wears a “loose gown of lavender linen”, and Axis can see she has a “mid-term pregnancy”. She further has “long auburn hair” that waves in the breeze.

PPP: 421 (capitalising the dialogue tag for Rivkah speaking when it makes more sense if it were part of the same sentence)

Rivkah, who seems to think that Axis is StarDrifter, is confused to see him come on a day when he said he would not be there. When Axis does not react, she walks toward him, “hands open in supplication”, and calls his name again. Then “her face frown[s] a little” as she asks if it is really StarDrifter, and what he is wearing. Axis takes an “involuntary step” toward her, reaching out as he begins to cry. He calls her “mother”, which causes the vision to waver; Rivkah, for her part, steps away and asks who he is while putting a hand over her belly. Then, the vision wavers again before collapsing and disappearing.

That certainly did not disappoint me, though I am somewhat confused by what happened here. Axis clearly called up a vision of the past, and we will see more of it later… but we will not see anyone interact with such a vision again, as far as I know, nor will we get an explanation for this. I suppose Axis unconsciously adjusted the spell to make the Rivkah in it react to her environment, so that she would appear more real. That does leave the question of why the vision fell apart when Axis tried to interact with Rivkah; maybe it was just beyond Axis’s current abilities to both summon a vision of the past and simulate it interacting with the present? We hardly need to have definitive answers to these questions, of course, but I do get the idea that Douglass thought of something that would fit this chapter quite well, and did not think beyond that.

For something else that bothers me, should Rikvah not have recognised Axis’s uniform? Given that she is a princess, I would expect her to know what the BattleAxe looks like, and the uniform is easy to recognise (and Axis would know this), so why does she not? It would not even change the scene much, since Rivkah is supposed to be confused by Axis’s appearance, and this would help with that.

Ill Logic: 242

Despite these complaints, I do like the scene as a whole: Douglass had me actually curious about what Axis is exactly doing here, it is a good enhancement of Axis’s search for information about Rivkah, and I quite like the realistic way the Rivkah in the vision reacts to seeing Axis. Now that we know that Axis’s father is StarDrifter, we can also deduce some information that is not explicitly stated, so let me look at that:

- Though everyone reading this will already know it, this confirms that Rivkah is the second woman in the prologue, and that she has presumably survived her ordeal, as she managed to attract the attention of an Icarii.

- We have heard that StarDrifter is the “most powerful” Enchanter alive, which explains why Axis can work magic without much training, but it also means that Axis has more ‘awesome’ parentage than knew before, which I find it hard to care for (and he can also apparently be mistaken for StarDrifter…).

- We know from the prologue that Gorgrael’s father is StarDrifter, which means that Axis does not have one, but two evil half-brothers! I do not recall Douglass doing much with it, and it will be a while before the characters find out, but I am still amused that Douglass took the concept this far (and it will be quite a while before Axis gets a half-brother that is no trouble).

It may not be very much information, but it is more than Douglass usually gives us, and we are not explicitly told it, so I do not have anything to complain about.

Going back to the scene… I rather like that Douglass lets it unfold without getting in the way, which gives it more emotional impact than it might have had otherwise. It is one of the better scenes so far, I find.

Resuming with the book, Axis calls out for Rivkah, but the vision is entirely gone, including the warmer air and smell of roses. He asks Reinald if he saw it, “his face pleading”; Reinald, “[his] face white”, says that he saw the vision, and that it was indeed Rivkah. Axis then looks around the roof, hoping that she has appeared again, but the roof is, of course, empty, and he “[gives] a cry of anguish”.

…Does he think that Rivkah was really there? I can absolutely understand that he is distraught at seeing Rivkah for the first time, and then having her disappear very soon, but his behaviour (looking back to see if she has appeared again) does suggest that he thinks she was real. Now, if he had no prior experience with magic, I could accept this, but Axis knows that it exists, he has worked magic himself before now via singing a melody, and he knows that magic can create illusions (as he noticed with Gorgrael’s second attack, when Gorgrael made it seem like there were Skraelings around the army). Beyond that, he has also seen Rivkah’s image waver when he interacted with her, which should make clear that it is not what it seems even to someone who is not familiar with magic. And yes, he is probably not thinking very clearly, but all of this together should indicate to him that the Rivkah he saw was not real.

In any case, I find his reaction a bit too dramatic; Axis mostly cared about Rivkah in the context of being illegitimate before now, and he has only heard more about Rivkah in the last hour or so. Because of that, I just have a hard time seeing why this would be such a big loss for him, especially since Rivkah did not recognise him at all, and I would rather expect him to be perplexed at this. I suppose that Douglass wanted to show us that Axis cares a lot about Rivkah, or wanted to have some drama, but it does not work for me.

Ill Logic: 243

Of course, it might also be a way to have Reinald look good, as he immediately goes to help Axis out. He “grasp[s] [Axis’s] arms” to get his attention (which is certainly a way to do it, though a bit forceful) and tells him that he is “truly [his] father’s son”. Then, he tells Axis to look and pulls out a ring on a chain from his “gown”, which he holds out for Axis. Axis “blink[s] away his tears” and takes it. …Good to see that a few kind words and being given a ring is enough to make Axis forget his sadness (as it is immediately forgotten after now); that certainly does not convince me that he was actually heartbroken at seeing Rivkah go. That aside, why would Reinald bring up Axis’s father here? Axis was clearly sad over Rivkah, after all, and I would expect Reinald to say something to the effect that she does love him even if she disappeared; it is rather weird that he does not seem to note it at all. As for his father, StarDrifter did come up during their conversation, and I can see Reinald thinking that Axis thinks that the things he learned about StarDrifter from the vision are not real, but that would not be his first priority, since Axis has not indicated that he has come here for his father. I think he is saying it because Douglass knows that this would mean something to Axis (and that makes Reinald look even better), but it seems quite unlikely that Axis would have told Reinald that, so it does not make sense in-universe.

Ill Logic: 244

PPP: 422

(As a sidenote, would Reinald saying that Axis’s father was indeed named StarDrifter, which he must have heard, not be a bit more convincing than giving Axis a ring? Yes, Reinald will soon explain the ring, but he clearly wants to help Axis as soon as possible.)

Once Axis has the ring, Reinald explains that StarDrifter gave it to Rivkah, and when Searlas returned, Rivkah was terrified that he would take it and “somehow find the father through it”. I have about as much idea of how Searlas would have gone about that as Reinald does; as we will soon see, the ring does not obviously identify StarDrifter as its owner, nearly all knowledge about the Icarii has been lost, so no one would be able to say who it was from with any certainty, and even if Searlas would have been able to talk to an Icarii, I am sure they would not have told them about StarDrifter. Rivkah should have known all of this, too!

Ill Logic: 245

It does make sense that she did not want Searlas to take the ring; it was the only thing she had of StarDrifter, after all, and I cannot see her be willing to give up anything of her lover to her evil husband. (That would also make Rivkah look good here, I note.) So, in order to hide the ring, she left it in a “bowl of uneaten trifle” for Reinald to find, which he presumes she did with the understanding that she could ask it back from him later on. That means that they had a somewhat stronger relationship than I had thought, which makes more sense out of why Reinald looks up to Rivkah and makes me appreciate him not giving in to Searlas’s torture more, so I think Douglass should have put this a bit earlier in the chapter.

Reinald explains that Rivkah never had the chance to ask the ring back, as Searlas sent her to Gorkentown, where she “died” (thanks for explaining it again, I suppose?). Because of that, he never knew what would happen to the ring when he died, because what “could [he] do with it?” …You could have given it to someone at Sigholt who you trusted; surely there must have been someone like that in the past few decades? Even if there was not, you could have hidden the ring in a safe place in Sigholt, so that it would at least not fall into the hands of someone like Searlas. (Come to think of it, I suppose he must have done that when Searlas was still alive, though we have no indication of it.)

Reinald says that he never thought to meet Rivkah’s son, or see Rivkah herself again, “laughing and smiling with love and joy” on the roof. Axis has brought “wonder and joy” back into his life, and now he wants to pass a little of that on to Axis with his “heartfelt thanks”. Axis then holds the ring tighter and whispers his thanks to Reinald, which Douglass tells us is “not [] only for the ring”.

While the sentiment is fine, I find the whole thing rather corny, and it actually does not fit well with the context. For one, Reinald twice calls Axis “young man” during his speech, which does fit the general structure that Douglass is using, but it is rather weird for Reinald to use for the BattleAxe!

PPP: 424

Looking further, I did not get the impression that Reinald was lacking in “wonder and joy” before now; I can see the former, but he never implied that he was generally unhappy before now, and he certainly was not in the past scene. It also makes little sense to me that he would be giving Axis the ring out of his “heartfelt thanks” when a large part of his motivation was clearly that Axis could take over the ring. Of course, it does make sense in the trope Douglass wants to use: “young person meets old person and shows them a new outlook on life; old person’s life is improved by this, so they give young person a gift in thanks”… but that does not apply here as Axis has not deliberately done anything for Reinald, and it needs to be filled in for the situation, rather than left as a skeleton. What we have now is just too generic to work for me.

I think I can put together a better version of this scene from the context: Reinald does mention the vision of Rivkah Axis created and thanks him for it, along with thanking him for listening to him talk about Rivkah and StarDrifter (which I highly doubt he has had any opportunity to do in the meantime) without judgment. He then says that he is giving Axis the ring because of that, and because he is Rivkah’s son. Axis thanks Reinald and says that he will take good care of it.

Though I did not put much effort into it, it actually makes sense with what came before, and I do not think I would complain about it if Douglass had written Reinald’s speech like this.

Finally, I think we can infer that Axis is thankful to Reinald for more than just the ring without Douglass having to tell us.

We Understand Already: 30

Still, for all my complaints, I still like it somewhat; I can see how what Axis did would make Reinald happy, I do find it touching that Reinald has kept Rivkah’s ring for all these years and it is nice for him that he has someone to pass it on to, and it is good that Axis has something of his father (which could help with finding StarDrifter later on). In any case, the scene ends with Axis thanking Reinald.

--

We resume after Reinald has left, with Axis standing on the roof for a “very long time”, repeating StarDrifter’s name to himself. He thinks that he finally has a name, and that he has the memory of Rivkah looking at StarDrifter “with love on [her] face”. It is certainly nice that he knows more about his father (and this might have helped remaining doubts over whether what Gorgrael said was true after all), but he has come here to learn more about Rivkah, and now he has heard more about her and seen her in person, so should he not name that as something he is grateful for, too? There is nothing explicitly wrong with this, but it does feel like Douglass was a bit too eager to go to the new topic.

At this point, Axis has a look at StarDrifter’s ring, which he notes is “heavy and golden”… and then we are told again that it is gold in the very next sentence! The ring being heavy is further redundant with it being made of gold, and, more importantly, Axis would have been able to feel this before he looked at the ring. This makes me wonder if Douglass inserted this description after having written the latter description, as it seems unlikely to me that she would have written it like this in sequence.

PPP: 425

In any case, the ring is described as follows: it is a “wide gold band” with a “slightly reddish” tinge, and it has “star patterns” along the circumference that are “picked out in tiny diamond chips”. The detail of these is “incredible”, and the closer Axis looks at them, the more “patterns and stars” he can see; no matter how hard he tries, he cannot “find the same pattern twice”. I am pleased to see that the ring lives up to what I expected of it: it is quite pretty, it has had some effort put into it, and it has stars, as befits an Icarii ring! The lack of repeating patterns interests me; it would be possible to create something like that by trying to put the diamond chips in randomly, but given that Axis specifically talks about “patterns”, I wonder if each pattern represents a constellation or a set of stars more generally. That would fit with these patterns not repeating, and I would expect the Icarii to put depictions of real stars on the ring, given how much importance they attach to stars. Yes, Axis does not recognise them as such, but I would hardly expect him to, given how small these patterns are and that they are not in their proper form. I do not think this will ever be confirmed, but I like having an explanation for this (and it explains a use for the ring we will see later).

Once Axis has properly described the ring, he removes it from the chain and puts it on his right middle finger. It turns out to fit very well, “as if it [has] been made for his hand alone”. That is a nice coincidence, then (I am not reading anything into it because the ring has been created long before Axis), and I like that Axis takes the ring for his own; it is the first tangible thing he has from his parents, after all.

--

We now pick up with Belial at Sigholt’s garrison, where he is waiting with the rest of the Axe-Wielders for Axis to return. He tells us they have only stayed long enough to reprovision and “rest and water” the horses (good on them for going so fast)… and then we get lengthy exposition about what has happened since we last saw him, because I suppose that needs to be in here somewhere. Let me go into it, then. We learn that Axis has brought nearly all the Axe-Wielders from Smyrton. Even though the villagers gave voice to “vocal fears”, Axis told them “shortly” that they had “almost nothing” to fear from the Avarinheim, and so he gave them just thirty soldiers to protect them from “whatever ghouls their own fears might engender”.

I would like to know just what those “vocal fears” were, given that the Smyrtonites were convinced that Raum did not have anything to do with killing Hagen… I suppose that they were afraid that the Avar might attack them in revenge for their treatment of Raum and Shra; if so, I can hardly call their fears unreasonable, as they have no idea that the Avar are not planning to do so, or that there are far too little of them to hurt the villagers much.

I further doubt that Axis’s assurance would do much to calm them; while I understand that he does not want to say what actually happened when he confronted Raum and Azhure, he could have come up with some explanation for why he is so sure. Something like “when Raum fled into the Shadowsward, I saw several Avar retreat with him” or “I told Raum and Azhure that the Axe-Wielders would be waiting for them if they came back” would offer a halfway plausible explanation, at least. It would probably have helped if Axis had not said that they had almost nothing to fear, too; I suppose that he means that the Avarinheim is not dangerous as long as they will not go in and try to catch Avar, but he should have said just what he meant!

Of course, none of this matters when it comes to the Smyrtonites, because why should Axis take the fears of these silly villagers seriously?

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 120 (it would genuinely not have been hard to give the villagers some reassurance!)

Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 71

Still, I note that thirty Axe-Wielders would be more than enough to keep the Smyrtonites safe from any Avar who might attack (and presumably from bandits as well), so it seems that Axis did take their concerns as seriously as he should. It is good that he did so, but it contrasts weirdly with his attitude. For something else, I do not think “engender” is the right word to use here, as it implies that their fears can actually create trouble; “conjure”, for example, would have been better.

PPP: 426

Belial now smiles as he remembers that the Axe-Wielders were livid at being “left to guard a flock of superstitious peasants” while the rest of the Axe-Wielders are off to fight Gorgrael’s forces at Gorkenfort. I suppose we just needed one last jab at the Smyrtonites… especially since we have not seen them have any superstitions (with the possible exception of them calling the wound Azhure gave to Hagen “evil”, and I am not sure if any Axe-Wielders were there to hear it).

Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 72

That aside, I can see why the Axe-Wielders were not happy with this, especially since we do not hear when they can leave Smyrton (and I see that they are still there by the time of Enchanter). Still, I see that the prospect of leaving troops at Smyrton came up when Axis was discussing his plans for the Axe-Wielders with Jayme early in the book, so would he not have proposed the idea at some point before Smyrton? And would it not have been better to pick thirty Axe-Wielders who are not quite willing to face Skraelings and possible death at Gorkenfort?

Ill Logic: 246

Finally, I do not care much for Belial’s reaction; while the Axemen will probably find their time in Smyrton not all that bad, there was still no pressing reason for it, so it kind of comes across like he is smiling at them being upset.

Time for a new topic, then, as Belial thinks it is fortunate that the Prophecy has spread quickly among the Axe-Wielders and that they have “so quickly accepted it”. I would expect that when the Prophecy cannot be forgotten, though I wonder just what there is to accept about the Prophecy… I suppose they are taking the predictions of the Prophecy for true, not that it matters much when they do not know who the people in the Prophecy are (or what the various conditions in the second verse refer to). Axis let Ogden and Veremund talk to the Axe-Wielders about the Icarii and Avar; while they did not outright say they are Sentinels, the Axe-Wielders have come to understand that they are more than they presented themselves as after the Silent Woman Keep. Good to see that they are trying to win people over to their side without brainwashing…?

On the way from Smyrton to Sigholt, the Axe-Wielders asked “myriad questions” about the Icarii and Avar, and they began to “question the prejudices the Seneschal had instilled in them”, first privately, and later with others around the campfires. We are then reminded that the Evil Seneschal has Evilly preached hatred for the Forbidden in the past millennium, but before that, the Acharites, Icarii, and Avar lived together in harmony (that must be why the Icarii ruled over all three races, then). So, using their “own gentle arts” and the Prophecy’s “stronger enchanted powers”, they “appealed to the ancient memories that all three races share[]”.

Oh, do they have racial memories now, when we have never heard about this and when this would need magic we have no indication exists (as it certainly has not basis in actual biology)? Given that this will never come up again, and it does not fit with the other information we get in the least, I am inclined to discount this entirely.

Gold-Star Worldbuilding: 93

That aside, I suppose that Ogden and Veremund are not doing bad work? Spreading information about the Icarii and Avar (which I would quite like to hear, by the way) certainly cannot hurt, and it could be a good way to get the Axemen to reconsider their prejudices, since none of them has met an Icarii or Avar so far (and that means that new information could get them to reconsider their beliefs easier). Trying to invoke racial memories is considerably less fine, though I very much doubt it would do anything at all, so I do not mind it. Finally, I do not like that they spread the Prophecy around any further than necessary (I suppose that is what Douglass meant, at least), but it would have spread on its own, even if they did nothing after Smyrton.

…Then again, I cannot help but note the lack of any mention of Axemen not being convinced by their efforts and Belial noting that the Prophecy is “quickly accepted”, which is a clear reminder that some amount of mind-control is indeed happening (as has even been stated in the text!). It colours their entire effort for me, and so I cannot be happy with what they are doing, which is a pity, since I would like it if they just spread information around! Come to think of it, would it not help to have Axis and/or Belial spread a story about how they came to see Raum and Shra as people, or a story about how Axis chased them through the Forbidden Valley, but refrained from hurting them? Hearing something like that from their “beloved commanders” might change some Axemen’s minds without any kind of mind-control!

Ill Logic: 247

Going back to that issue…while the Prophecy itself will presumably keep spreading, especially when the Axemen reach Gorkenfort, the knowledge that Ogden and Veremund give to the Axe-Wielders will spread more slowly. As I noted before, faith in Artor (or even adherence to the Way of the Axe and the Plough) is not the same as being prejudiced against Icarii and Avar, so if the people who hear the Prophecy happen to hear all kinds of unflattering things about them, they might very well end up believing those anyway (as I believe will even happen!).

For something else, I do not think the Prophecy has been passed on to anyone at Sigholt, as the Axemen would not have had much opportunity to recite it, and it did not come up with Axis. That points to another problem with the way the Prophecy is supposed to work; it does not seem to actively make people spread it, which means that it is limited to the Axe-Wielders, Timozel and Faraday, and the Sentinels at the moment. That, in turn, means that, if he could somehow manage to kill everyone in Gorkentown, Gorgrael could undo all the progress the Sentinels have made (and keep the Prophecy itself from being executed, since Yr is necessary for that)… something that would be impossible if the Prophet had put an enchantment to make people want to spread it around in the Prophecy. Given the other enchantments it contains, I think that would have been quite possible for him.

Ill Logic: 249 (+2)

To return to what the Sentinels are doing one last time… I could sympathise with them using the Prophecy as they do if it would indeed reduce bigotry toward the Icarii and Avar (I have spent too much time fantasising about a magical way to do so myself not to), but given that the Prophecy cannot do so, and they are not making a good effort to cover for that, I can safely say that they will be doing more harm than good, and so I cannot like their efforts at all.

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 125 (+5) (points given because there is no good reason for them exposing the Axe-Wielders to the mind-control of the Prophecy, and I am sure this would be Evil if Gorgrael were to do the same)

(Come to think of it, when would the Prophet have put in his enchantments to make the Acharites lose their religion? I suppose it could have been during the Wars of the Axe, or, of course, at any point beyond that, but I do not have the impression that it is supposed to have been so late. At least I have a fitting answer now.)

The mention of the Sentinels’ “own gentle arts” also makes me wonder why Jack and Yr have not used those for mind-control more often. If Timozel might be difficult at Gorkenfort, why not convince him that Faraday has told him to go live at Ilfracombe? (Jack had no trouble using mind-control on him back at the Ancient Barrows, after all.) If the ferryman at Jervois Landing is being difficult, why not convince him that he actually has been paid and has just forgotten about it (which would be better than what Timozel did to him, in any case…)? This also means that being seen on their way from Fernbrake Lake to Jervois Landing would not have been much trouble even if it would have had negative consequences; Jack and/or Yr could have easily convinced anyone who saw them not to tell anyone else, and if they could not catch these people, they were probably too far away to convey much useful anyway. They could probably have travelled by day instead of by night if they had wanted to!

Ill Logic: 254 (+5) (1 for Timozel, 1 for the ferryman, and 3 for the travel, to make a nice number)

I feel compelled to note that this element was introduced quite a bit before the previous chapter, so Douglass could have kept this in mind while writing it. How do some people manage to write this poorly…

Well, we now learn that, whether it is Ogden and Veremund’s education, “the brief glimpses of long repressed race memories” (which I still do not believe at all), or “the power of the Prophecy itself”, the Axe-Wielders now clearly understand that they will confront “Gorgrael and his Ghostmen” at Gorkenfort (good for them to know that before they arrive!). They have further learned that the Icarii and Avar, who they no longer even call the “Forbidden”, are “in as much danger as the Acharites”. Hmm, I think they learned quite a bit of this from Ogden and Veremund, and if they actually use the term “Ghostmen”, they must have got something from the Prophecy as well, but I am not seeing any way these “race memories” could inform the Axemen on something this recent. Also, while I like that they no longer talk about “the Forbidden”, I wonder how much of that process involved learning about the Icarii and Avar and being told about the correct names for them, and how much of it involved the application of Ogden and Veremund’s “gentle arts”…

Looking further, I see that Ogden and Veremund are apparently confident in saying that the Icarii and Avar are in as much danger as the Acharites, even though they have no way of knowing much about their current state, so I feel confident in doubting their conclusion. After all, the Icescarp Alps and especially the Avarinheim do not have nearly as much to offer for Gorgrael as Achar does, so why would he put in much effort to fight them? Specifically for the Icarii, I can see why the Sentinels would think they are in danger, given that they are quite close to Gorgrael’s centre of power, and they could be a threat to Gorgrael’s invasion of Achar, which might lead him to attack them. On the other hand, because they are so close to Gorgrael, he can probably pressure them into not attacking so he will not attack in turn. Because of that, and because we have not heard anything about Gorgrael launching an attack on the Icarii (which we presumably would have if he had done so), I feel confident in saying that Gorgrael will not bother to attack them until he has had considerably success in Achar.

For the Avar, we do know that Gorgrael is planning something for them, given that he has sent Skraelings to the north of the Avarinheim, but I doubt that he could hurt the Avar very much. From what we have seen, they have a low population density and they are used to moving around in the forest, so they could easily evade his forces; the Skraelings would further not like being in the Avarinheim, so I doubt that Gorgrael could motivate them to stay there for very long. Because of that, he will probably mostly leave the Avar alone.

In conclusion, I am quite sure that the Avar and Icarii are not in nearly as much danger as the Acharites (if only because Gorgrael does not seem to plan to attack them!), and I do wonder where Ogden and Veremund are getting this from (and while they could be making it up, Douglass clearly did not mean that).

Ill Logic: 255

Back with the story, Belial tells us that many people are already “openly discussing” who the StarMan, who “is supposed to lead them to victory against the Destroyer”, is. Given that this is mentioned after two things that Ogden and Veremund have achieved, it seems like this is also supposed to be caused by their efforts, but I do not think the Axemen would need any nudge to speculate about who the StarMan might be, even if they do not take it as truth; it is just what people do, after all. Also, given that it is obvious that the “Destroyer” is Gorgrael, should there not be a consensus that the StarMan is either Axis or Borneheld by now? They are the ones who are leading armies against Gorgrael, after all. However that may be, Belial approves of the speculation, as it means the Axemen will more readily accept Axis as his “new guise” as StarMan when the time is right (given how devoted they are to Axis, I do not think it would be much of a problem even if they had not heard the Prophecy). Belial then says that Axis “ha[s] always been different and perhaps a brilliant commander because of that”. …I am not seeing what that has to do with the rest of the paragraph, as there is quite a difference between Axis simply being a “different” commander, and him being the central figure of the Prophecy.

PPP: 427

In any case, I would like to know in what way Axis is supposed to be “different”; maybe he refers to Axis trying to build up a personal bond with the Axe-Wielders? I hardly think that Axis is a “brilliant” commander, either; while his idea to defeat Gorgrael’s cloud of fear by letting everyone sing “Belle My Wife!” was quite smart, I would not say it was exactly commanding, and his idea to take the Axe-Wielders bandit-hunting when they were supposed to get to Smyrton was actually quite bad. Even if he were, I doubt him being “different” would have much to do with it, as the common methods are already the most effective (because they work). If that specifically refers to him trying to build up a bond with his soldiers, it probably makes him more effective at being their commander, but it does mean that he will need to do it over if he gets other people under his command… which I would hardly call “brilliant”, either. Finally, I wonder just why Belial is not sure about whether Axis is brilliant because he is different; he has certainly known him for long enough to have a firm opinion on that. Maybe it is because Douglass did not want to call Axis brilliant outright, but in that case, it would have worked better to say that some people do not agree.

Now we switch to another subject, as Belial looks at the Axe-Wielders and we learn that they have spent “three days” at Sigholt. That is quite a bit longer than I would have expected them to take, especially since they took two days at Tare, “a day and two nights” at Arcen, and some two days at Smyrton (assuming they left the day after we left Axis). I suppose this could be because they are heading into rougher conditions, but it would be nice to know. Also… this means that it either took Axis multiple days to locate Reinald, or that he only went to look for him on the day that the Axe-Wielders should leave again, which means that he could hold them up if it took too long (which he is doing right now). Since I do not know just what is meant, let me mark both options:

Ill Logic: 256 (surely Axis could have tried not to save this for the very last moment)

PPP: 428 (I have the idea that no one went back to check whether it still makes sense with the figure of three days here…)

Anyway, we learn that the Axe-Wielders have camped in “the wide depression that [lies] at the foot of the garrison” during that time, and then we get a description of where Sigholt exactly lies: it is at the “mouth of the HoldHard Pass in the Urqhart Hills”. The pass further leads to the “southern WildDog Plains” and those, in turn, lead to Smyrton and the Nordra. I suppose that is nice for the reader to know, as the map for this book does not actually include Sigholt for some reason (the map for the Wayfarer Redemption, and thus the map that I have been showing, does have it).

PPP: 429 (given how important Sigholt will be, and how easy it would have been to draw it in, I think this merits a point)

As for the names we get here… though I have passed over the name before, I wonder if the Urqhart Hills draw their name from Urquhart Castle, which would not be a bad fit here. The other two names are straightforward enough, though I am still not sure about when camel-case is used in Acharite names. (While I would like to see how fast the Axe-Wielders have gone, we do not know when it is, and whether they have taken the path specified above, so that will not work.)

PPP: 430 (the description capitalises “Pass”, which should be in lowercase)

We then learn that the garrison has been built “many centuries previously” (I would be interested to know what prompted that), and some say that it is the oldest fortress of Achar, and the Keep is “by far the most ancient part of the fortress”. It is situated on the “rising slopes of the HoldHard Pass” above the aforementioned depression, which “stretche[s] in a westerly direction”… and which is talked about like it was not introduced less than a hundred words ago, because why bother to check whether this flows? The recent activity has compressed the snow considerably, which makes the depression clearer, and Belial thinks that it may once have been “the bed of a wide like at the foot of Sigholt Keep and HoldHard Pass”. He supposes that a “long, dried-up tributary of the Nordra” may have flowed through the pass into “a lake in the basin of the Urqhart Hills”. Yes, I think we understand that there may have been a lake at Sigholt, that it is now dry, and that this is near the Urqhart Hills.

We Understand Already: 31

I also note that Sigholt is never called “Sigholt Keep” elsewhere, and that the lake would not have been in the Urqhart Hills (and why would they have a “basin”, anyway?).

PPP: 432 (+2)

Those gripes aside, it makes sense that this was once a lake, though I am not sure it would necessarily have fed a tributary to the Nordra? Lakes do not necessarily need an outflow, after all, and if there was a tributary, it should still be visible beneath the snow. (Also, I see that the shortest path available for such a tributary (along the Urqhart Hills to the west until it reaches the Nordra) would be 65-70 kilometres, which does not seem all that long to me. The other tributaries on the map, the River Fluriat and Ichtar, are also several times longer than that, so…)

Belial tells us that he has seen Ogden and Veremund staring at the depression, “muttering darkly to themselves”, which he assumed meant they were as curious about it as he was. I would assume that they were angry about something to do with the depression—which would be, to follow Belial’s lead, that the lake that was once here has dried up—as “dark muttering” does not usually imply curiosity, but what would I know? He did not pay them much attention, though, as, like Axis, he has become used to their “mutterings”. …I get that Douglass wants to obfuscate what the lake might have been, but the solution is not to make Belial misinterpret why the Sentinels would “mutter darkly” and to make him forget that he could ask them about it (they seem to have much knowledge of other areas, after all).

This Is What the Mystery: 34 (+2)

In fact, we can already deduce what this lake was. A while back, Jack and Yr talked with Faraday about the magic lakes of Tencendor; while Grail Lake, Cauldron Lake, and Fernbrake Lake were positively identified as such, Jack mentioned a fourth lake “far to the north”, which is not visible on the map. Given that this depression is far to the north of the known magic lakes, that Belial thinks it is a lake, and that the Sentinels are unhappy with the current state of the depression, it seems reasonable to assume that the fourth magic lake lay next to Sigholt and has dried up. Since this information does not tell us anything beyond that, is it truly worth it to use such clumsy misdirection here, Douglass? I think it is not, at least.

Belial now looks away from the Axe-Wielders and focuses “father afield”, as it is time for a new subject. He tells us a bit about Hsingard, which we heard about at the very beginning of this book: it is Ichtar’s “main city” and the “official residence” of the Dukes of Ichtar (which would make it the capital… and I see that is confirmed in the next book), and it lies some leagues away from Sigholt. Axis plans to ride past it (why would he ever go there when he has just resupplied at Sigholt and Borneheld is away?).

We now go on to a somewhat related subject, as Belial says that the ride to Gorkenfort is “straight-forward if hard”. There is thick snow and ice in Ichtar, and, according to the “locals”, it has not melted away during the summer, from which he deduces that Gorgrael is indeed “spreading his ice clouds further south”. …Yes, thank you for confirming what we learned in the first chapter, and what we already had confirmed just a chapter ago, Douglass.

We Understand Already: 32 (this really is an issue, I see)

(I do wonder a bit at his mention of “ice clouds”, as his weather seems to include snow as well as ice, and it does not usually have ice spears in it, but I will let it pass.)

Despite this difficulty, Borneheld his been sending his troops to Gorkenfort for several months, and as soon as the Axe-Wielders reach the “main trail” between Jervois Landing and Gorkenfort, their way will be easier. Borneheld has set up “regular provisioning stations” along the trail, which means that the Axe-Wielders do not need to take much more supplies with them (I do hope there will be enough for them, given that they are the last ones… but Faraday said it was “well-provisioned” last chapter, so there probably is). If there are no further delays, they can be at Gorkenfort in two weeks. Even though no specific time for this chapter is given, this means that Axis will certainly arrive at Gorkenfort after Faraday; last chapter, we learned that it would be twelve days from Jervois Landing to Gorkenfort, and it is fourteen days for Axis, which is not to mention that this chapter probably takes place two weeks or so after the last. For something else, I have to compliment Borneheld on setting up the provisions so well; he seems not to be bad at the war so far.

Now it is time for something else again, as Belial rubs his arms and wonders where Axis is. Everyone is “ready and waiting”, and for once, Axis is late (which he could have prevented by looking for Reinald earlier…). He notes Ogden and Veremund on their white donkeys, whose faces do not give away anything of who they truly are, and he wonders how many other people about him have “mysteries that he [can] only guess at”. This leads him to think of Azhure and where she might be, as “there [is] a pretty face that [holds] hidden depths of determination” (maybe it would have helped if you had focussed less on just her face, Belial?), which reminds him of her knocking him out. He smiles “ruefully” and rubs the spot where he was hit, then explains that he still “suffer[s] biting headaches when he [gets] too tired”.

Hmm, while such headaches are to be expected, I cannot see much about tiredness making them worse; if his symptoms get worse when he gets tired, I would rather expect him to have difficulty thinking and dealing with sensory input.

Did Not Do the Research: 74

That aside, I am quite happy that Ogden and Veremund not being able to heal Belial fully has consequences not just immediately after it happens, but also several chapters and weeks later! Given this, and that Faraday and Timozel needed to be healed after their fall at the Ancient Barrows, I will also give Douglass credit for giving head injuries their proper severity. I do wonder, though, why Ogden and Veremund have not offered to heal the rest of the injury; they know that their healing was incomplete, after all, and that Belial is not uncomfortable with magic. From Belial’s perspective, he knows that they have helped heal him, and the headaches do seem to bother him, so why would he not seek their help to get rid of that? While I do like this, I would like it even more if it actually made sense.

Ill Logic: 257

At this point, Belial spots Axis coming back from Sigholt; we get a description of him looking relaxed and pulling on his gloves, along with a mention of his cloak. When he reaches Belial, he mounts Belaguez (and “nod[s] his thanks” to a stable boy, which is more than I would expect of him) and asks if everyone is in formation. Belial keeps a straight face as he says that all the cohorts are in formation and in line, that the packhorses are loaded, the supplies are accounted for, and everyone is “[g]eared up, fed, watered, weaponed, and ready to go”. I recall that this is the very same thing he said to Axis when the Axe-Wielders were about to leave Carlon; this time, though, Belial points out that they have been waiting on Axis for “the past half an hour”. Axis’s reaction is to smile at Belial, ask him why he is “still on his feet”, then, and tell him to mount up.

I rather like what Belial does here; Axis was rather unreasonable about having to wait for a few minutes at Carlon, after all (and glared at Belial just for reporting that everyone was ready!), so he can certainly stand to be called out. Belial does so humorously but clearly and thus shows it is not too serious, which also means that he does considerably better in this situation than Axis did. Axis, for his part, does not acknowledge this in any way, and instead makes a joke at Belial’s expense (and yes, he probably should have mounted up before now, but the inconvenience is trivial compared to what Axis did). That, along with him calling Belial “Lieutenant”, instead of something more informal as usual, only makes me dislike Axis more, though I feel that Douglass wanted to go for a funny reply here. How hard is it to take this with good humour, Axis?

Well, Axis now turns to the Axe-Wielders and does the same routine as when they left Carlon (with much the same wording, too): he asks if they are ready, the Axe-Wielders say they follow his voice and are ready, Axis says they will ride, and the Axe-Wielders shout. And so they set off, “towards whatever fate await[s] them at Gorkenfort”. I suppose that explains why we saw the full routine, though I am not much impressed; we will be seeing them before that fate is decided, after all, as the remaining length of the book would indicate on its own, so this cliffhanger is not all that effective. In any case, the chapter ends there!

Let me try to summarise my thoughts on this chapter, then. I kind of like Axis getting to know more about his parents, though it is marred by the authorial insistence that Rivkah was and Reinald is a Good Person, which flattens some of the nuances we could have had. It is further not very coherent, and it eventually turns into Axis learning about his father rather than his mother… but I still do not mind it enough to dislike it, and the scene of Axis calling up a vision of Rivkah is done well. As for Belial’s section, I wish Douglass would have put more effort into creating a coherent story out of it; the first part does work, especially since it follows the progress the Axe-Wielders have made in the meantime, but from the mention of Axis being a brilliant commander on, it breaks down and Douglass resorts to having Belial look at something else every time a new topic is brought up, which is rather clumsy. I can understand why Douglass had difficulty putting together a scene of Axis learning about his parentage with exposition about what happened after the last time we saw him, but I would not have minded having Axis give us some exposition during his scene (which would lighten the load on Belial’s section, too).

And that was that for this chapter! I will see you again next time, when we go back to Azhure and the Avar and have a somewhat overdue revelation. Until then!

Comments

[teres]

SCSF: I would be interested to see how well she has done with actual medieval Europe in her works she has set there: the Crucible trilogy, and The Devil's Diadem... Someone with actual expertise would probably be best suited to doing those, but I think taking a look at them at some point might be interesting.

If he's retired, what is he doing still hanging around here and why didn't Borneheld's father execute or dismiss him after the whole bastard child business?

I suppose he might have retired as chief cook and picked up some other tasks? I see that he is busy in the kitchens at some point in Enchanter, so that seems to be the case... not that I can know for sure, since the phrasing is rather unclear.

As for your other point, I fully agree; if he suspected Reinald enough to have him tortured, he should never have kept him (nor any of the other servants he apparently tortured) around! I know that he is around so he can deliver exposition to Axis, so if I were Douglass, I would have him not be suspected for whatever reason (maybe someone more powerful protected him); that would not show him to be as much of a Good Person, yes, but it would make this make much more sense.

Whatever that even is; I don't recall ever finding out anything about it.

Given that we hear about it containing "fire pits", it is probably meant to be a generic afterlife with heaven and hell.

What, did the guy not have someone on staff to handle the torturing for him?

That would not have been Dramatic enough for Douglass's purposes, I presume (even though it would also allow Reinald to show his devotion to Rivkah).

The fuck did she do to earn THIS level of loyalty?

Be a ☆Good Princess☆, probably; that is the impression I get from everyone liking her, at least.

Because, like Borneheld, he was eeevil because he was... serious and gruff. The horror. What makes this even dumber is that StarDrifter is not a fun guy. He's an arrogant asshole who's just as humourless as any of the rest of them. As is Axis, whose own "humour" consists of mocking and bullying people.

The most they have that Borneheld and Searlas do not is more charm, which might make them more likeable on first glance, but does not translate into "love and laughter" at all. (And I indeed cannot recall a time when Axis is actually funny so far.)

Wow, rude much? Why is there a "door to the roof" anyway? For some reason I was picturing a balcony when I read this, not a presumably exposed stretch of bare stonework. How were they having sex comfortably if there's no furniture? Doing it standing up in the freezing cold wind doesn't sound very pleasant to me. And how the fuck did nobody see StarDrifter flying back and forth every damn day?!

I suppose it is there because it gives such a good overview of the region, which would be handy for a keep like this.

Going by Axis's vision, they probably did not meet each other in the winter... which is the only thing that would make this scenario better, as the rest of what you say is quite true. I would also think this is a rather boring place to meet up for several months, unless they are supposed to have been so engrossed in each other that they did not notice (which seems unlikely to me)?

As for people seeing StarDrifter, the best I can come up with is that he flew far above Sigholt and then dived to the roof (and flew back in much the same way), which would make it harder for people inside the keep see him. That would not ensure that people in the garrison and outside of Sigholt cannot see him, though... so he is almost sure to have been spotted at some point, and so someone should have told Searlas about this. I will make sure to note this!

And yeah, this is not working for me as a beautiful relationship because for one thing this was a grown man taking advantage of a lonely teenage girl and for another the fuckface impregnated her and then left her to her fate! What, is there no Icarii birth control? What the fuck did he think was going to happen?

Oh, I think that he knew quite well that he would get her pregnant (and I would not be surprised if he wants to do so with everyone he has sex with), which I would have considerably less trouble with if he had come up with any way of keeping her safe from Searlas, as you note. That is also what makes me unable to care much for this relationship; StarDrifter may have given Rivkah a lot of "love and laughter", but given that he was completely unwilling/unable to back her up when she needed his help, it does not matter much in the end, and so their relationship was not worth much, either. (Even if he did not care much for Rivkah, he absolutely should have had a plan for what to do if Searlas showed up, as I get the impression that he did not want to lose her...)

It certainly does not make him look any better for killing them... (and Gorgrael being Axis's brother barely comes up anyway, which makes this all the more pointless).

The really insufferable part about all this is that when Axis is finally reunited with her, he treats her like complete shit. It's awful.

That is rather disappointing, as I have liked what we have seen of Rivkah so far! Not that I am exactly surprised, of course.

You know, the guy he never actually met who impregnated the princess he loved and was fiercely loyal to for some reason and then fucked off and left her to die. Quite the compliment, no?

Yes, Reinald should have thought that through a little better than this! Of course, Axis does take after StarDrifter in that regard; though he has left no one to die so far, he has left Embeth, the person he has known for most of his life, behind entirely, for example.

Uh, is he wearing a dress?

Hmmm, I saw that it can refer to other things than dresses (like with the clothing of judges), so I do not mind this.

Uh, why? Isn't it his special badge of office? And if he was that fine with giving it away, why Rivkah and not any of his other conquests? Ameld, mother of Gorgrael, didn't get a special ring.

I suppose he gave it to her because he had a much longer relationship with her and thus found her "special" enough to give the ring to and/or trusted her to take care of it, though just why he would have given it is a bit of a mystery to me. Maybe he meant it as an engagement ring or something like that? In any case, if he were to give the SunSoar ring (which this is according to Enchanter) to her, he should have discussed it with the other SunSoars, and, at the very least, made a plan for what to do if Searlas came back.

He's in his 30s. He's not THAT young. (Not that he acts his age).

That is one reason why it stuck out so badly to me.

Would "the ring had a hint of red" be better here?

Ah, mind control - the favourite resort of lazy spec fic authors.

And one I hate the most, not in the least because of how unnecessary it is.

Yeah, that bit really threw me off when I sporked this thing. How does Axis being "different" make him a "brilliant commander" (LOL) and what the fuck does that have to do with anything?

Maybe because being a "different" commander means that he would come up with new techniques and such to help in battle? Of course, the common ways of commanding are used because they work, so simply doing things differently would not give him that much of an advantage.

Are they taking the Hobbits there?

It remains a rather inexplicable decision, I find, especially since the name sticks out rather badly compared to the other ones.

Eh, I could see him simply guess the time, and a half hour is a natural number to arrive at.

Because Rivkah doesn't matter; she's just a womb on legs (and, later, a shoulder to cry on).

Of course she would be. >:(

[epistler]

The most they have that Borneheld and Searlas do not is more charm, which might make them more likeable on first glance, but does not translate into "love and laughter" at all. (And I indeed cannot recall a time when Axis is actually funny so far.)

He's not charming either. He's a cruel, selfish asshole everyone "good" inexplicably likes.

he is almost sure to have been spotted at some point, and so someone should have told Searlas about this. I will make sure to note this!

He could in theory use magic to render himself invisible, but we never see anyone doing that in the trilogy so I'm not buying it.

Even if he did not care much for Rivkah, he absolutely should have had a plan for what to do if Searlas showed up, as I get the impression that he did not want to lose her...

And especially when she's pregnant with - sigh - A Powerful Enchanter(tm) and we later learn Icarii are obsessed with those. There isn't even any explanation as to why StarDrifter didn't just abscond with her the moment they realised she was pregnant. Surely they both knew the danger she would be in.

It certainly does not make him look any better for killing them... (and Gorgrael being Axis's brother barely comes up anyway, which makes this all the more pointless).

Nor does StarDrifter being the guy's father change anything; Gorge doesn't even keep to his initial plan of kidnapping him and forcing him to teach him so he can become OMG UNSTOPPABLE. It gets completely dropped after this book, without explanation.

That is rather disappointing, as I have liked what we have seen of Rivkah so far! Not that I am exactly surprised, of course.

She ultimately exposes herself as a horrible person in her own right anyway.

he has left Embeth, the person he has known for most of his life, behind entirely, for example.

He doesn't even bother to say goodbye when she later leaves the capital after being "seduced" (though it reads far more like rape) by StarDrifter and indeed never thinks about her ever again.

Hmmm, I saw that it can refer to other things than dresses (like with the clothing of judges), so I do not mind this.

I wasn't being entirely serious but the rest of the time - with the exception of Jayme's monk outfit - "gown" is used to refer to various dresses (and sleepwear but there it's always "nightgown") so it sticks out weirdly to me.

And one I hate the most, not in the least because of how unnecessary it is.

Same. Grr.

Of course she would be. >:(

It's always depressing seeing this level of misogyny coming from another woman. So much for the sisterhood.

[teres]

He's not charming either. He's a cruel, selfish asshole everyone "good" inexplicably likes.

SCSF: That is why I do not care for him at all by now, even though he has not been that evil so far. Even when he bothers to be "charming", it feels rather stiff and not exactly convincing, so there is not much for me to like in him.

He could in theory use magic to render himself invisible, but we never see anyone doing that in the trilogy so I'm not buying it.

I thought about that myself, and discarded it for much the same reasons, so I agree... and the Icarii believe that there is only a limited number of Songs, so StarDrifter could not have devised such a spell himself, either. And, of course, he never bothered to make sure that he and Rivkah were not listened in on, so I doubt that he would bother disguising himself at all.

And especially when she's pregnant with - sigh - A Powerful Enchanter(tm) and we later learn Icarii are obsessed with those. There isn't even any explanation as to why StarDrifter didn't just abscond with her the moment they realised she was pregnant. Surely they both knew the danger she would be in.

Looking ahead, I see that StarDrifter was there for her "within two hours" of her being discovered in the prologue, so he clearly was expecting to see her again (and he did get to healing her at once). I suppose that Rivkah never told him about Searlas, which would make sense of StarDrifter's behaviour, but that just makes me wonder why she never did so. Or was StarDrifter so determined not to think of anything that might affect his relationship with Rivkah that he ignored her saying it? Either way, it does not add up at all, and Douglass should have connected this with what we see of Rivkah in the prologue better.

Nor does StarDrifter being the guy's father change anything; Gorge doesn't even keep to his initial plan of kidnapping him and forcing him to teach him so he can become OMG UNSTOPPABLE. It gets completely dropped after this book, without explanation.

Huh, that is a better plan than I would expect of Gorgrael; I get the impression that "the Dark Man" does not teach him all that much, and StarDrifter would certainly know enough to be of help... In general, I think Gorgrael could well find an Icarii willing to aid him, especially if he promises to spare the Icarii in return, so it is a pity that that goes nowhere.

She ultimately exposes herself as a horrible person in her own right anyway.

That is the cost of being admitted to the circle of Axis and Azhure, I suppose.

He doesn't even bother to say goodbye when she later leaves the capital after being "seduced" (though it reads far more like rape) by StarDrifter and indeed never thinks about her ever again.

Yes, he is not much thoughtful than StarDrifter in that regard (and Axis will eventually confirm for us that he indeed never thought about her after that).

I wasn't being entirely serious but the rest of the time - with the exception of Jayme's monk outfit - "gown" is used to refer to various dresses (and sleepwear but there it's always "nightgown") so it sticks out weirdly to me.

(nods) I thought as much, but I did want to be wholly sure. Looking at some of Douglass's books, she does seem to use "gown" nearly exclusively to refer to dresses, too, and I am not sure why Reinald would be wearing a gown in any case... so I think I will note this next time.

[epistler]

SCSF: That is why I do not care for him at all by now, even though he has not been that evil so far. Even when he bothers to be "charming", it feels rather stiff and not exactly convincing, so there is not much for me to like in him.

As with Axis' displays of "charm" it always comes off as forced and insincere, most likely because both of them are such inherently unlikeable characters. They're both complete jerks at heart and Douglass is unable to change that by having them occasionally play at being nice.

And, of course, he never bothered to make sure that he and Rivkah were not listened in on, so I doubt that he would bother disguising himself at all.

Just how stupid and arrogant is this guy that he thinks he's entitled to do this without there being major consequences? Surely he knew damn well she was a princess, and married.

Huh, that is a better plan than I would expect of Gorgrael; I get the impression that "the Dark Man" does not teach him all that much

And what that guy taught him was (sigh), the Dark Music, which is different. Canonically, Icarii/half Icarii Enchanters can only be taught by a family member (why is never explained), so therefore Gorge needs StarDrifter specifically to teach him the other kind of Song magic so he can be master of both and destroy the world and all other worlds for good measure for no reason (that is in fact his ultimate goal. To destroy the world for no reason).

That is the cost of being admitted to the circle of Axis and Azhure, I suppose.

Like any Suethor, Douglass destroys any character she focuses on for long enough. Rather like how Paolini successfully destroyed Murtagh and Thorn.

(nods) I thought as much, but I did want to be wholly sure. Looking at some of Douglass's books, she does seem to use "gown" nearly exclusively to refer to dresses, too, and I am not sure why Reinald would be wearing a gown in any case...

Maybe he's one of those old guys who shuffles around in a dressing gown. :p

[teres]

As with Axis' displays of "charm" it always comes off as forced and insincere, most likely because both of them are such inherently unlikeable characters. They're both complete jerks at heart and Douglass is unable to change that by having them occasionally play at being nice.

SCSF: Ah, I actually meant Axis there (as I do not know StarDrifter well enough to say that for sure), but it is good to know that I did not miss the mark. That aside, I fully agree with this; simply giving them some charming moments will not fix the problems with their characters (and it is good that Douglass bothered to stick by their characterisation).

Just how stupid and arrogant is this guy that he thinks he's entitled to do this without there being major consequences? Surely he knew damn well she was a princess, and married.

He would probably say that he is an Icarii prince, and so has the right to do whatever he wants (especially to Acharites), which is fine as long as it does not hurt anyone he cares for. From what I have seen beyond this point, I get the impression that he leans on his title quite a bit, at least, and that he does not see people other than Icarii as actually people.

Gorgrael

I am not surprised, but still somewhat disappointed, that his evil master plan turns out to be that silly and clichéd; where does he plan to live if he does manage to destroy the world? Or does he just "hate" so much that he does not care whether he lives? (Whatever his exact plans, he would need a lot of luck to carry them out, given some of the other beings on the planet; I would love to see how he would take on the Evil Pyramid, for instance.)

It is further good to be reminded of that restriction on teaching, as I had entirely forgotten it. Given how StarDrifter and most of the SunSoars are, I still think it would not be too hard to bribe a suitable member of the house with the promise to leave the Icarii alone during the war and to give them more land to rule; I can see some of them (StarDrifter most prominently among them) fall for that.

Like any Suethor, Douglass destroys any character she focuses on for long enough. Rather like how Paolini successfully destroyed Murtagh and Thorn.

That is also a pity, though Douglass is probably more obvious and rougher about it than Paolini.

(That is a fun image to have!

[epistler]

That aside, I fully agree with this; simply giving them some charming moments will not fix the problems with their characters

Shades of Eragon occasionally healing someone or otherwise being nice and helpful in between acting like a raging asshole (which is the majority of the time). The one does not undo the other. You might as well say Ted Bundy's multiple murders don't count because he once rescued a child from drowning (true story) and worked on a suicide hotline.

From what I have seen beyond this point, I get the impression that he leans on his title quite a bit, at least, and that he does not see people other than Icarii as actually people.

Douglass even at one point admits in the narration that he's "a vain, selfish creature" but this subsequently goes ignored and his terrible behaviour is constantly brushed off. Even when he sexually assaults Azhure he's instantly let off the hook. It's fine to have a character who's arrogant and selfish (though I draw the line at "multiple rapist", obviously), but unless they're a villain they have to face consequences (such as other people hating them/calling them out) and improve themselves. StarDrifter is an arrogant asshole and a rapist now, and last I saw him in a subsequent trilogy he was STILL an arrogant asshole and a rapist.

I am not surprised, but still somewhat disappointed, that his evil master plan turns out to be that silly and clichéd; where does he plan to live if he does manage to destroy the world?

This is of course never given any consideration at all. He just wants to destroy the world Because That's What Villains Do. The one time (a looong time ago) when I had a villain who wanted to destroy the world, it was because she was in a constant state of terrible suffering and wanted to die, but could only do so by taking everyone else with her. I was a stupid teenager writing stupid teenage "books" and I still had a better take on Villain Wants To Destroy The World than this multiple award-winning dumbass.

Given how StarDrifter and most of the SunSoars are, I still think it would not be too hard to bribe a suitable member of the house with the promise to leave the Icarii alone during the war and to give them more land to rule; I can see some of them (StarDrifter most prominently among them) fall for that.

One of the really disappointing things about the Icarii is that so few of them are actual characters, or even treated as individuals. 99% of them are nothing but an homogenous bunch of background NPCs with no real differences of opinion or any personality. We get to know StarDrifter, EvenSong, FreeFall, MorningStar, RavenCrest and FarSight and that's basically it. And none of the above are interesting or particularly likeable (that FreeFall is such a massive nonentity is one of the biggest problems with that particular subplot). On top of that only StarDrifter really gets to do anything, and even then it's not much other than trying to get into every skirt he lays eye on. Oh, and bullying Borneheld but everybody does that.
I just remembered SpikeFeather. He's okay. He's boring but at least he's a decent person.

That is a fun image to have!

It instantly gives the guy more personality, doesn't it? Instead of which he's a boring stereotype of the Servant Who Loves His Master whose only role is exposition and kissing Sue ass.

[teres]

SCSF: Since I do not have much more to say than "I agree" to most of what you said, let me say that here and reserve my comments for the things I do have something to say to. After all, I do not think a stream of "indeed", "very much so", and "absolutely" would be very enlightening...

For StarDrifter, calling him a "vain and selfish creature" also misses the point of what makes him bad; he does not care about other peoples' lives at all, which is rather more serious than him merely being vain (not that Douglass would want to admit that...). Another problem with him is just how irrelevant he is; he is mostly there to be Axis's father in this trilogy, in the next, he is mostly a SunSoar, and in the final one, he barely does anything after the first book, which makes his presence all the more gratuitous, especially since he refuses to improve.

One of the really disappointing things about the Icarii is that so few of them are actual characters, or even treated as individuals.

Now that you say it, that is indeed a problem; I can hardly recall any Icarii beyond those you name (and especially not by personality rather than by name), and a lot of these are SunSoars, which does not help very much with making the Icarii feel relevant. The "background NPC's" do give the Icarii an advantage over the Avar, where they have only seen two clans at the most until now, and so they do not feel like a people in a way the other races do. To go back to the original issue, though, it is quite a pity that we see so little of them, all the more so given the quite large amount of human POV characters we get.

(I recall SpikeFeather as being decent, too, both in this trilogy and the next one.)

[epistler]

For StarDrifter, calling him a "vain and selfish creature" also misses the point of what makes him bad; he does not care about other peoples' lives at all, which is rather more serious than him merely being vain (not that Douglass would want to admit that...).

Yeah, exactly. He left not one but two lovers to die, yet the real problem is he's VAIN??

Another problem with him is just how irrelevant he is; he is mostly there to be Axis's father in this trilogy, in the next, he is mostly a SunSoar, and in the final one, he barely does anything after the first book, which makes his presence all the more gratuitous, especially since he refuses to improve.

I noticed that too. If he's supposed to be a relevant character then Douglass shouldn't have dropped the subplot about Gorgrael wanting to kidnap him. Hell, there's even a thing where he's supposedly going to be assigned some bodyguards to stop that happening yet said guards never appear. Instead he just seems to have stuck around purely because Douglass was so inexplicably enamoured with him (you may recall that interview I linked back in the day in which she made a weird comment about him having "potential". Potential for what was not explained).

I recall SpikeFeather as being decent, too, both in this trilogy and the next one.

He's just about the only character who's openly prepared to sacrifice his life to save others. Axis wouldn't do that and nor would Azhure.

[teres]

SCSF: It is a sure sign of someone who does not want to admit their characters are actually bad.

I do seem to recall that interview, and I still do not know just what that "potential" should have been; whatever it is, Douglass only managed to bring out his potential as a rapist (and maybe at having talented children, though that's hardly a skill, of course). And it is a pity that that plot will go nowhere, then!

He's just about the only character who's openly prepared to sacrifice his life to save others. Axis wouldn't do that and nor would Azhure.

Indeed... and I remember him staying that way in Wayfarer Redemption, too, which makes me like him all the more.