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BattleAxe First Read: Chapter Twenty-Six: “Belle My Wife!” (Part II)
Chapter Twenty-Six (Part I) | Table of Contents | Chapter Twenty-Seven
SCSF: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to BattleAxe! Last time, we learned that the Sentinels plan to have the Way of the Axe and the Plough destroyed and we had some ruminations.
Now for the reader post:
I realised that it actually makes very little sense for the army to have been sent to Arcen to escort Faraday. Surely a small escort would have been enough? I do not think there would be much sense in sending an entire army along.
Ill Logic: 124 (+5)
Chessy further points out that going through the mountains is a quite bad route for the army to take. I feel that going across the estuary of the Bracken would work better, especially since Gorgrael would not be able to attack as effectively there.
Ill Logic: 129 (+5)
Both she and Wolfgoddess point out that “Belle My Wife!” could simply be an old-fashioned song, so…
Talk Like a Natural: 5
Chessy further notes that the herbal remedies that the Goodwives use should be in common use.
Cardboard Worldbuilding: 39
Finally, she notes that the Acharites truly believe that the Goodwives are allied with evil forces and that they need “education not mind control”.
Let me do the other half of the chapter, then!
We left off with Belial interrupting Axis’s thoughts. Axis tries to be “annoyed and angry” at this, but fails. I can see him be annoyed, but angry? Why would he be angry at Belial’s attempt to distract him from his depressive thoughts? It is quite unreasonable, and it quite contradicts what Axis just said about them being “friends and companions”. Yes, he fails at being angry, but it still is a red flag.
Axis says that he was responsible for the losses and no one else is to blame. Well… I get why he believes this, since he does not know about the role the Sentinels played. Still, I want to say that he has as much right to blame Gorgrael, since he executed the attack. This was not some kind of natural disaster, after all.
Belial and Axis go to watch the clouds, and Belial “offer[s] the simple comfort of his presence”. He thinks there is nothing to say about the attack at the Barrows. It is the first “serious military defeat” Axis has ever suffered and Belial knows it will take quite some time for Axis to “come to terms with himself”, especially since Faraday supposedly died. Belial noted that Axis was attracted to her. Hmm, I do not know quite enough of Axis’s military career to say if it is strange that this is his first serious defeat ever, but I am somewhat suspicious.
Belial thinks back to the storm, and wonders how one can call “an altercation with a roiling storm a “military” defeat”. Well, the storm was clearly made to hurt your army; that seems like something “military” to me. We are told (in an ill-fitting fragment) that Belial, like many of the Axe-Wielders, has connected the ice spears and Gorgrael.
PPP: 173
He wonders what else from the Prophecy “[will] rise up and bark at their heels before this adventure [is] ended”. I think this quite undersells the issue, frankly. Gorgrael did not just “bark at their heels”, after all, he killed several hundred people!
Tone Soap: 33
Axis calls his name (which he apparently did before), which gets Belial’s attention. He asks what it is, and Axis asks what he just played. Belial just “clap[s] Axis on the shoulder” and says that he must have “the soul of a bard” to play “something that beautiful” and everyone knows that “only bards and pregnant women need never explain their actions”.
What is the problem with being honest with Axis, Belial? You might as well say that you do not know what he sang instead of trying to distract him. Further… why would pregnant women never need to explain their actions? Because they are just so hard to understand? I do not quite like that.
No-Wave Feminism: 36
To Belial’s relief, Axis laughs at this and does not inquire further. Some great friend you are, Belial. Axis tells him he has “the soul of a diplomat” and asks why he is wandering around the camp. Belial replies that he would “look ridiculous in satins and ribbons” and he cannot make “a courtly bow” at all. Well, this is some nice teasing. Belial then says he came here to have Axis help out with the “fifth cohort”… and just then Axis calls his name with “horror in [his] voice”. And what is it…?
Rolling down from the north, perhaps half a league away, were great churning clouds hanging to the ground, shot through with silver and blue lightning.
So there we have another attack of Gorgrael’s! That is smart enough of him, since the army is still quite some time away from confronting him, so he could recover from this, and because he can strike with impunity. The only problem is this attack would be more effective in the mountains, where they have less space to maneuver and where the terrain itself is dangerous. He would have to wait less than a day to do so!
Papier-Mâché Villains: 21
True, he might think they already reached the mountains, or… I think he might use this regardless of its outcome. By that I mean that he sends a large attack which may or may not hurt the army. If it works, that is great, if not, that is not a problem. Given that the attack seems to be quite a bit less difficult to make than the previous one, that might be the case.
The problem is that this does not work with how Douglass has been setting Gorgrael up. It feels to me like this is supposed to be better set-up than the previous one, and it is supposed to be very dangerous. So while Douglass wanted this to read as a targeted attack, this feels more like a broad attack, possibly meant to scare. She quite missed the mark here.
Axis notes it is Gorgrael and gets furious with Gorgrael and “with Ogden and Veremund for claiming Gorgrael would be too weak to strike soon”.
Axis Is Angry: 12
Still, I would say his anger is justified here. Ogden and Veremund had no basis at all for claiming that; they should have said that Gorgrael might attack anyway and that Axis ought to be on his guard! Along with this comes fear, as he wonders how he can “save his men in these open spaces”. Um… have them ride away as far as they can and not cluster together? I am not a military commander, Axis, so you should not ask me.
They both run for the camp. Once they reach it, Axis tells Belial to have everyone “dig themselves as far into the ground as they can before the storm hits”, as that is their only hope. Why is that the case? How would digging themselves in protect against ice spears…? I think the reason might be that the spears are more likely to hit their armour that way, though I doubt the benefit is so large that it is “their only hope”. Either way, unless the cloud is nearly entirely ice, I think the greater portion of the army would survive.
Ill Logic: 130 (I do not get this)
Belial runs off, and Axis looks back, expecting to see Gorgrael. Nothing of the sort happens, however, and Axis goes back to camp. Everywhere people are “digging frantically”, with “spades, swords, even pots and pans”. I think that swords would be the worst of these, since they do not have a surface to hold the earth with. That is not a problem with pots and pans.
It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 27
Axis slowly walks through the lines, and he notes that everyone looks afraid. The storm clouds are coming closer, “perhaps only a few minutes away”. They are huge, drag along the ground “even as they boil[] and tumble[] among themselves”, and they glow and crackle with “flashes of silver and blue lightning”. It is apparently “one of the most frightening—and weird—sights” he has ever seen. Never mind that he saw much the same last week, then.
PPP: 174
Ogden then grabs Axis’s arm, shouting that there is “no wind” and Gorgrael cannot do something or other. Axis throws his arm off, “furious at the sight of the old man”. He says that they told him Gorgrael was “too weak to strike again this far south” and they were wrong, so why should he listen to them? To be strictly fair, they said Gorgrael could not strike again as far south as the Ancient Barrows, and you are now farther north. Outside of that… he is right. They have clearly underestimated Gorgrael and continuing to do so is outright suicidal.
Ill Logic: 131
Veremund comes up and says that Gorgrael is weak. He asks Axis to look, as the storm does not have the “same power” of the last one. There is “no wind, no fury”, and that means that Gorgrael has “weakened himself”, according to him. Or maybe, Veremund, Gorgrael has found an attack that does not require this “wind and fury”? Or maybe he just cannot be bothered to send out a full-scale attack when you are so far away? This does not make sense! It is nothing but confirmation bias!
Ill Logic: 132
Further, while Veremund keeps talking through two paragraphs, there is a closing quotation mark after the first one.
PPP: 175
Axis asks what he sees approaching, then. Ogden says this:
“It is a storm of fear,” Ogden said very, very quietly. “The Destroyer knows he can cause as much damage with fear as he can with ice spears.”
Then it does not follow that Gorgrael has “weakened himself”! It is clear that he simply chose for” something less powerful and something that the Axe-Wielders could not prepare themselves for! That does not necessarily mean he is “weak”, it means he has some insight!
Ill Logic: 137 (+5) (for the whole farce)
Further, Ogden, maybe you would want to say that a bit louder. You are in a busy environment, after all, and you would do well to make sure your vital information is heard.
Ill Logic: 138
Finally, this is why this attack would have been better in the mountains: what will it achieve now? Yes, some people might get hurt if they panic, but in the mountains, there would quite certainly be deaths, given the terrain. There simply are much less opportunities to get hurt here than in the mountains.
Well, Axis knows Ogden is right, as panic is “as deadly to an army as [are] spears… of any description”. No, I am quite certain that the ice spears are more deadly than regular spears, because the army could not avoid them and because they are much heavier than regular spears. Nor would “spears of any description” be always as deadly as panic, since they are all kinds of different spears! Finally… yes, panic can certainly be fatal, but here it will not be the case. You are not under attack per se (that is, Gorgrael does not send them anything to actively hurt them) and you are on a flat plain. In fact, I am quite certain this storm is only meant to scare them. That fits the best, at least.
Well, the statement as a whole does make some kind of sense because of how general it is.
Ill Logic: 141 (+3)
Axis turns around and goes further into the camp. Veremund says he and Ogden can help among the horses, as if they panic when the storm comes, they will “kill more effectively than any ice spears that Gorgrael can send [their] way”. So he claims that the horses will kill more than 275 people. My, where to begin here…
If the horses panic, they will likely flee from the storm, and I doubt that everyone is clustered on that side of the camp. If there were that many people in the way there, the horses would rather avoid them than plough through them. Further, the people who are there are digging themselves in, so they will already be safer because they are not so much in the way. Also, I think that the horses would prefer to avoid all the holes in the ground. Finally, these horses can also be avoided, unlike the ice spears. I do not see how the horses could kill so many people unless they wanted to.
Their purpose is good, certainly, but the rationale makes no sense at all.
Ill Logic: 142
There is a scene break then. We pick up with most people having dug themselves into the ground, “dragging armour and cloaks over themselves”, and wriggling in as tight as they can. Belial indicates a “small depression” for him and Axis. Axis just asks for his cloak, since he wants to meet Gorgrael’s fear “on [his] feet”. He pushes Belial into the depression, put a “canvas ground sheet” over him, and then puts on his cloak and faces the clouds.
By now, the cloud has already reached the first Axe-Wielders and Axis can see them disappear into the clouds. He can hear a horse “neigh in terror” behind him, then someone whispers gently and the horse “snort[s] once and [is] quiet”. I presume that is Ogden or Veremund, then? Axis can only look at the clouds, though. He wonders if “death [is] like this”. The clouds consume everything in front of him: one moment he can see a line of Axe-Wielders, the next they are completely gone.
Suddenly, his face is lit with the “eerie blue and silver” of the clouds and then they have “consumed him as well”. There is a scene break, and we pick up with this:
A cloud of fear, Ogden had said, and the moment they rolled over his head Axis knew why.
That should be “the moment it rolled over his head”, since “cloud” is singular. Also, Ogden said “a storm of fear”, not “a cloud of fear”. Did you truly forget what you just wrote, Douglass?
PPP: 177 (+2)
Well, Axis feels like he is “alone in all existence”. The cloud cuts him off from “every living creature” and it clings to his body and “seep[s] up his nostrils”. Even the stars and the earth are hidden. Though he knows that Belial lies at his feet, he is not there. There is only the cloud, which sends “hungry, icy fingers” across his face and “sending slivers of fear sliding into the darkest niches of his body”.
We are told the inside of the cloud is “brighter than the hottest day”, which does not work since hot days do not have to be bright per se.
PPP: 178
(I think “brighter than summer in Coroleas” might work quite well.) The lightning in the cloud reflects off the water droplets, so Axis has to squint to be able to see. He begins trembling, as he thinks that there is nothing outside of himself in the cloud. “He was alone, isolated in existence.”
I quite like this! It is a very effective way of disrupting the army and it is a pity Gorgrael does not follow it up with an attack now…
Axis then notes he is wrong, as the “whispers be[gin] again”. They says his name, along with “pretty” and “tasty”. Ooh, this is nice! Axis “bit[es] his tongue” to keep from screaming. He says the whispers are “like yet unlike” those from his nightmares. He explains that those from his nightmare had “hot teeth” with which they stripped off his skin so he “died the most painful death possible”. Yes, I still knew that, Axis.
Hand-Holding: 14
These whispers are “simply hungry” and he can hear them “seeking through the mist”. The whispers sound again, and then Axis hears “the click of claws” off to his right. We get this:
“Click, click. Click, click. Click, click. As if some ghostly creature was scraping through the mist towards him.”
I think we could have got this with only the last sentence.
Hand-Holding: 15
I still do like how this is going, though! Axis tries to tell himself that there is nothing there but voices and fear. He hears the claws again and now, “far away, the sweep of great wings through the air”. Ooh, I love this!
The manifestations continue and then Axis feels something move at his feet! He thinks it is a “creature come to devour him” and jumps back, nearly having a heart attack. But a “soft voice” moans “no”. It is Belial! Axis takes a deep breath and realises that he is not alone, and that there are more than three thousand others out there. He wonders how he could have forgotten that.
He takes another deep breath, “clinging to the thought that he [is] not alone”. Gradually he regains his composure, and he thinks that Gorgrael can only throw fear at him and whispers in the cloud. He says that Ogden is right, though. Fear can kill, and if you let it “run away with your reason”, it will eventually lead you to suicide. And doubtlessly all the other Axe-Wielders out there are “as consumed with fear as he [has] just been”. Well, then I would expect some casualties.
Axis makes himself laugh and then pulls the canvas off Belial. The feel of it gives him “added heart” and “even when a set of teeth snap[s] so close to his ear that he [can] feel their passing, Axis [does] not let it distract him.”
Really now? He just had trouble laughing, which indicates that he was still quite scared, and now he can ignore this? I would expect him to be startled that the sounds have come much closer, at least! But no, he can apparently tune out the sound of a creature that seems to be about to bite his head off despite being quite scared. It does not follow.
Godmode Engaged: 2
Case in point, he needs to “force a hearty tone into his voice” as he calls out to Belial. He asks why Belial “cower[s] on his belly” when he still needs to face “myriad adventures” on his feet. He tells him to arise and “give [him] some company in this cursed mist”. Belial just calls his name, and I imagine he is confused by Axis’s very forced speech just now.
Apparently Belial sounds scared, and Axis wonders how the others fare if Belial has “succumbed this badly”. He grabs Belial’s hand, telling him to come because there is still “a night of revelry” ahead of them and pulls him to his feet. He repeats “revelry” and then suddenly knows what he needs to do! He tells Belial to “wake from his fugue” and snaps his fingers.
Um, why does he talk about a “fugue”? How does he know that word?
Talk Like a Natural: 6
Belial than asks Axis what he plans, and if it is a dance. He sounds just as forced as Axis just now, but at least he “[is] making an effort”, Axis thinks. Axis says that if he plans a dance, they need partners, and he pushes Belial into the mist. He tells him to wake those around them, and they will have “a night of revelry such as Gorgrael has never seen”. As Belial disappears, Axis hopes that he will “keep [his] heart”. Then maybe you should have gone along with him, instead of shoving him into the mist and hoping it will work?
He sits down and pulls out his harp, which is a dialogue tag here for some reason.
PPP: 179
He asks Gorgrael if he knows “this little ditty, perhaps”, then strikes a chord and begins to sing “merrily”. His voice is “clear and sweet” and cuts through the mist and the whispers. And he sings… the first verse of “Belle My Wife!”! I do like this! It is a song that the Axe-Wielders clearly like, and that they heard this evening, so I can see why they would be rallied by it. Further, this will also reach them, and we saw this song earlier. Well done, Douglass!
So, after the first verse, we cut to Veremund and Ogden among the horses, “star[ing] at each other wide-eyed”. (Oh, given how quickly the horse calmed earlier, I guess they used mind-control then.)
Give Me a Piece of Your Mind: 10
They were affected by the mist (which I had frankly not expected), but naturally not as bad as “the Axemen”. Ogden says he thought that Axis would have sung— but Veremund cuts him off and says that this is perfect. Anything else would be “alien to his men’s ears”, but to this song they can cling. Ogden understands and says that they can also sing along with this. Did you honestly think that Axis would sing an Icarii song, Ogden?
Ill Logic: 143
Then we get the second verse of the song:
Cow Crumbocke is a very good cow
she has always been good to the pail,
She has helped us to butter and cheese, I trow
and in other things she will not fail.
Hmm, I see the rhyme scheme is still there, but I cannot see a consistent meter any more, and that might have been nice to have. Qua content, I would rephrase the last bit to “She has helped us to butter and cheese and I trow / that in other things she will not fail.” Now it sounds like the speaker trusts the cow has given them butter and cheese when that ought to be evident. Further, which “other things” will she not fail in?
PPP: 180
One by one, the Axe-Wielders “turn[] over in their pits”. We are told that, like Axis, many have been “at the edge of madness” and some had “teetered over”. Um, I do not think that “teeter” is used in that way? Also, it does not fit the tone at all.
PPP: 181
Tone Soap: 34
Also… these people “fell into madness”, but how are they affected by it? If they are so scared, I would expect some of them to try fleeing, or, as Axis suggested, trying to kill themselves. I see nothing of the sort, however. I think showing these people be affected would quite help give this attack the gravity that Douglass wanted it to have.
PPP: 182
Each of them was alone with their fears and the sounds. The mist, which was “ghastly silver and blue and as dank and cold as a five-day corpse”, crept beneath their armour and clothing and even between their closed eyelids. Well, that was a lovely simile, and not very appropriate here.
Edgy Equals Mature, Right?: 17
Now we get the third verse:
For I would be loath to see her pine,
so therefore, good husband, hear me now
Forsake the court and follow the Plough
man! take thine old cloak about thee!
Hmm, again there is no clear meter, and the rhyme scheme is definitely off. I think the last line might better be something like “man! take this old cloak of thine!” Qua content… I do not quite get the third line? Is the husband supposed to have lost his farming ways somewhat and now he needs to go back to them? This could be clearer, I think.
PPP: 183
The Axe-Wielders grab onto his voice “as they would a hand reached out to save them from a raging sea”. Then we get the first words Axis sang, which are appended to the next sentence for no good reason.
PPP: 184
Well, first they hear Axis’s voice, and then another voice, and another, and then they realise they are not alone, and that the others are out there. The balled “link[s] them and [] allow[s] courage to flow between them”. The cloud keeps going, but the song keeps going, too, and more people pick it up. We now get the fourth verse:
My cloak it is a very good cloak,
it has always been good to the wear,
It has cost me many a groat,
and I’ve had it this forty-four year.
You are aware that “year” and “wear” do not rhyme, Douglass? It certainly seems like she wanted to rhyme them. I do like the assonance between “cloak” and “groat”. Qua content, I have nothing to complain.
The balled is now sung by three thousand people (my, that went fast!) and the cloud begins to fall apart. The lightning slows and then disappears. The whispers, claws and wings fade away. Soon there is only silence and some scraps of mist clinging to “a few shards of grass”. Those are called “blades”, Douglass.
PPP: 185
Then those are gone, too, and there is only the night and “low pregnant clouds” that begin to let loose their snow. Still, despite all the voices, Axis’s voice still “[rings] clear and sweet through the night”, as we get the first verse again.
The chapter ends like this:
Some had been at the edge of madness. Some had teetered over.
But all came back.
First, this:
PPP: 186
Tone Soap: 35
That aside… it feels like a too simple resolution. We have seen how this storm is, and we have the context of the previous attack to lead us to believe it will be bad… and then everyone is perfectly fine. Let the payoff match the setup, Douglass!
PPP: 191 (+5)
It also seems quite unlikely to me. Sure, everyone has come back from “madness”, I can see that. There should be some effects from this, though. I would expect quite some people to realise that they might face this again when they reach Gorkenfort, only for real this time. This should work quite demoralising and it should also take a toll on the mental health of at least those people who fell into “madness”. But no, the next Axis chapter will mention this in the beginning, despite how important this would be. Apparently, Axis’s solution just fixed everything.
Godmode Engaged: 3
Either way, that was it for this chapter! Next time, we will rejoin Faraday and Timozel on their own adventures. Until then!
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It's a tasteless reference to pregnant women having hormonal mood swings. Might as well say 'bards and teenagers'.
... Oh good heavens, he's having them dig foxholes. Never mind that he's never heard of artillery before and thus has to come up with this on the spot and explain himself, he just 'knows' that digging into the earth will give them cover from the barrage!
In all seriousness, it's a sound idea just not an idea Axis should be familiar with. It should be something he comes up with right there, right then and we should see his reasoning. (Which can be as simple as 'we need cover, we don't have cover, digging into the ground will make cover.)
Yeah, no, 'teetered over' in my experience means something is about to fall not that it has.
Okay, the idea she's going for of friendship and comradery beating back the dark can work, but this instance is badly done. I'm thinking Douglass should have left out the bits about the army's mental states, or at least the madness, and focused on the emotional uplift of the song. (Maybe have Axis start singing when he realizes Belial is there in an attempt to reassure him?)
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Who is there for him to have fought? I'm betting this is the first serious opponent he or any of the others have faced!
SCSF: Especially since they were very good at defeating the summer raiders, apparently. I somehow doubt this lack of experience will trouble them much.
It's a tasteless reference to pregnant women having hormonal mood swings. Might as well say 'bards and teenagers'.
Then it seems I was quite right in complaining about it.
Ah, thank you for explaining what this was supposed to be! Still... why would he even suggest foxholes to help with what is effectively a bombardment? The way they have dug in now, they are much more vulnerable to the ice spears because of their larger surface area.
If he were expecting something to come from the cloud, I could see why he would do so, but it just seems misapplied. Indeed, as you say, seeing his thought process would have helped very much! And, of course, when would he have used this against the raiders?
(I honestly would not have guessed they were foxholes because of the circumstances here.)
Yeah, no, 'teetered over' in my experience means something is about to fall not that it has.
Thank you for the confirmation!
Okay, the idea she's going for of friendship and comradery beating back the dark can work, but this instance is badly done. I'm thinking Douglass should have left out the bits about the army's mental states, or at least the madness, and focused on the emotional uplift of the song. (Maybe have Axis start singing when he realizes Belial is there in an attempt to reassure him?)
Hmmm, I think it could be better fixed by showing both the effect the cloud has and the impact the song has (and not glossing the latter over, of course).
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(Also, it gives them something to do in the face of panic which is useful in its own right.)
And even the much shallower shell scrapes they actually dig are better then nothing.
So if it was explained it'd be a genuinely clever moment, because it would show off Axis' ability to think on his feet and access novel situations. Since it wasn't it's a really bad moment because he's had information he shouldn't know beamed into his head.
And yeah, the song would have been much more convincing if we saw it uplift and cheer.
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SCSF: And, though Ogden does say that there is no wind, Axis gave the command before he knew that, and he would be a fool indeed to stop them. Yes, then it does make sense! Thank you for the clear explanation!
(Come to think of it, since the Axe-Wielders have their armour on, they would already have had a better chance than at the Barrows. It does not make sense that he can know this, but, as you say, it would be a decent strategy. I only wonder if they will learn anything from this...)
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Because he wouldn't be an acceptable love interest unless he was an absolute asshole and throwing up red flags every few seconds. And as someone who loves books, this fact leaves me in despair every time. There's a reason why I avoid romances like the plague.
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...I mean, at least he's taking accountability for what happened? Kind of? I've seen so many protagonists refusing to admit that they ever do anything wrong (or rather, the author trying to convince us that the protagonist did nothing wrong).
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I would think that's bullshit. Given all of the dumb decisions characters make in this book, I can't see him winning every single battle he's ever been in, unless his enemies were all literal turnips.
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I could see this one of two ways. One, which is the funnier option, is that he means it in the sense that pregnant women can and will absolutely murder your face if you do anything to piss them off. Seriously, do not fuck with pregnant women. Two, which is the one I'm afraid is what's used here, is "Oh, pregnant women can't control themselves because of their hormones. Don't mind them, they're all crazy."
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You are on a flat plain. You can see for dozens of miles in all directions. How are you JUST NOW noticing this? I'm also starting to think that Gorgonzola is a very uninventive villain. Are magic storms just his go-to whenever he wants to hurt someone? Have some creativity, man!
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Oh, look. More evidence that these people are actually trying to sabotage everything.
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If this storm is only half a league away, they would have time to dig a few inches into the ground at most, and it would probably only be about the size of a basketball.
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I'm now amusing myself with the idea of an entire army hunkering down like a bunch of spooked hedgehogs, face-down in the dirt.
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Well, at least they have the sense to actually use tools, no matter how ill-suited they might be to digging. That's more than I can say for Jackass.
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This storm must be moving so slowly it's practically going backwards. So considerate of Gorgonzola to give everyone plenty of time to prepare.
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...dance party? Seriously, that's what it sounds like he's gearing up to do--some kind of raucous party to chase away the fear.
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I swear, all I can envision is that scene in the animated version of 'The King and I', where the characters are on a ship that gets terrorized by the illusion of a dragon, and end up overcoming it by...singing.
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...I mean, at least he's taking accountability for what happened? Kind of? I've seen so many protagonists refusing to admit that they ever do anything wrong (or rather, the author trying to convince us that the protagonist did nothing wrong).
SCSF: Oh, he certainly is, and I am frankly surprised that he bothered to do so!
I would think that's bullshit. Given all of the dumb decisions characters make in this book, I can't see him winning every single battle he's ever been in, unless his enemies were all literal turnips.
Yes... I can certainly see him lose against the summer raiders, because he wanted to prove a point, for example. To be fair, he does say this is his first serious defeat, which I can frankly see, as he presumably did not fight against anyone near Gorgrael's caliber until now.
I could see this one of two ways. One, which is the funnier option, is that he means it in the sense that pregnant women can and will absolutely murder your face if you do anything to piss them off. Seriously, do not fuck with pregnant women. Two, which is the one I'm afraid is what's used here, is "Oh, pregnant women can't control themselves because of their hormones. Don't mind them, they're all crazy."
I concur with Chessy that it is probably the second one, unfortunately.
You are on a flat plain. You can see for dozens of miles in all directions. How are you JUST NOW noticing this? I'm also starting to think that Gorgonzola is a very uninventive villain. Are magic storms just his go-to whenever he wants to hurt someone? Have some creativity, man!
To be fair, they are right next to the Bracken Ranges and the storm comes from that direction (I presume), so they would have had less time than usual... Still, why is Axis the one to note this, and not the "double sentries" who he posted for this, and who would immediately have recognised this? No, apparently Axis needs to be so involved with everything that the sentries are ignored!
If this storm is only half a league away, they would have time to dig a few inches into the ground at most, and it would probably only be about the size of a basketball.
Let me calculate... Half a league is here 2,25 miles, or 3,62 kilometres. Based on the descriptions (Axis can see individual lines of Axe-Wielders disappear) let me say the cloud moves with 2 metres per second. Then they would have about half an hour from this point on. I think that might be enough to dig in a bit? Given that it is only said they made a "small pit" in the ground, I think that might actually be doable.
(Of course, if Axis has the time to give all these orders, have a conversation, and see everyone dig in, why did they not bother to ride away? I guess they feared the horses might spook and then they would be worse off... but there should still be a mention.)
This storm must be moving so slowly it's practically going backwards. So considerate of Gorgonzola to give everyone plenty of time to prepare.
Yes, that confirms my impression that it is hardly a very serious attack (also because playing some sounds would be considerably easier than making hundreds of ice spears) and that this would have worked better in the mountains (because they cannot see the cloud as well and cannot flee it well).
...dance party? Seriously, that's what it sounds like he's gearing up to do--some kind of raucous party to chase away the fear.
I think that might have worked even better than what they actually do.
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I'm currently attempting to spork The Fourth Wing and this problem has if anything only gotten worse. :(
When we actually meet him later we will indeed learn that he's a brainless idiot who cannot think for himself. Axis is a stupid immature brat, but Gorgonzola (I love that nickname! But then I also love cheese and everything to do with it. Oooh, says here gorgonzola was named after a town in Italy in 879AD! That is some REALLY old cheese) has the mental capacity of a five year old child. Which just makes his eventual defeat at Axis' hands even more embarrassingly pathetic.
Seriously, fuck the Sentinels. They're a bunch of manipulative creeps who suck at their jobs and whose only real purpose when all is said and done is to provide Axis with the weapon he needs to kill Gorgonzola for some very poorly explained reason.
Oh, and to provide comic relief which isn't funny. Ogden and Veremund in particular wind up becoming obnoxious comic relief characters who are actually just insanely annoying.
Ah, another fantasy novel in which the heroes have access to the Pause Button.
It doesn't help that Axis has never been shown having any camaraderie with his troops at all. What, does he regularly hold concerts to entertain them all with his amazing singing and harping? And this never changes, by the way. The Axe Wielders are never anything other than a bunch of ass-kissing nonentities who would follow Axis to Hell and back because he's just such an amazing commander who "grieves for every man he loses" in the field. Which is a lie; after the climatic battle in book two he just fucking GOES TO SLEEP while Belial is left to stay up all night burying the corpses.
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Really? I've been hearing people saying that it's a really good book. Now I'm starting to wonder if they were exaggerating. That, or the rest of fiction has gotten so bad that this one actually seems decent by comparison.
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Oh, wow, I didn't know that! That's a pretty neat little fact, I have to admit. I never would have guessed it was anywhere near that old.
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Belial deserves better. He actually seems like a decent character that pulled the short straw and ended up in a really bad position in an even worse series.
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A lot of my friends think it's amazing too and I just don't have the heart to argue. Sadly it looks like they're responding to the surface level trappings: spunky heroine (read: an arrogant moron), sexy bad boy (read: violent psychopath with abs), dragons (savage monsters nobody in their right mind should want to ride), tattoos, dressing all in black and all the rest of that childish bullshit.
Plus it's presented as high fantasy yet this is how the characters talk:
This is the level of laziness we're dealing with here.
Me neither! Sometimes I get sidetracked and start researching random stuff. Being neurodiverse is a trip and a half sometimes.
Easily the nicest character in the trilogy. The only thing I can criticise him for other than not doing something about Axis' horrible behaviour beyond periodically criticising him and then withdrawing the criticism after Axis blows up at him and throws it back in his face is that he shacks up with and ultimately marries a teenage girl. And then apparently only because she looks like the adult woman who turned him down, poor kid.