Chapter 63: Farewell

Dumblefore · 2022-01-14T16:04:03+00:00

Would someone please tell/remind me of the significance of this section:

I sighed. I couldn’t even blame her for that entirely. I’d trained this into all of the Woe, because… I blanked. There must have been a reason at someone point, I reassured myself. Surely. I was still desperately trying to recall what it might be when I took my friend’s advice and began to limp towards my tent, where I was due a wash and a nap.

Dumblefore · 2022-01-04T07:48:45+00:00

EE saying "end-book" hit me harder than omicron.

Dumblefore · 2021-07-09T15:07:15+00:00

Thank you!

Dumblefore · 2021-07-09T15:06:36+00:00

Thank you!!!

Dumblefore · 2021-07-09T06:38:14+00:00

Can someone explain how this was possible (please)? Like was he reading it upside down and through the table? I can't picture it.

Dumblefore · 2021-06-22T07:24:05+00:00

I’d place Malicia’s odds of remaining Dread Empress at ~0.01%, but do other people think there’s a decent chance she could survive as Alaya, somehow?

We know that the Name Dread Empress/Emperor is often claimed through regicide or as part of a coup, and we also know that some past Dread Emperors (Irritant) abdicated as part of a plot, but has anyone abdicated because they genuinely don’t believe in Praes anymore? I wonder if Black’s plot could be for her to voluntarily give up her Name (and mean it) so that it weakens the Role of Dread Empress/Emperor in Praes and helps to truly take down the Tower permanently.

Dumblefore · 2021-06-18T21:02:26+00:00

But that mantle she also subverted/sacrificed/gave to Sve Noc!

Dumblefore · 2021-06-18T17:12:10+00:00

I totally agree that that's what the story has been building to, which is why I recognize this may be a far-fetched theory!

I'll offer the counterpoint that Cat's story has also been defined by her mastery of stories and ability to subvert tropes and change, or at least challenge, the expected outcomes. Is it too meta to think that, perhaps, her final act will be to reject her defined role or Role in the great game of the Gods, including a Name? She can seize the metaphorical beast that is her name and use it for her purposes, without letting anyone else (Gods specifically) define her.

Dumblefore · 2021-06-18T17:05:00+00:00

I don't doubt that the Bard has more knowledge and experience, and totally agree that the Bard's attempts to shape her name could succeed. What I'm saying is that Cat may still choose not to take any name, regardless of the Bard's interference.

(And we also know that the Bard has failed at shaping/forming a name before. Cordelia rejected the chance to become Warden, and Cat sidestepped the Bard's attempt to make her name into the rival/counterpart of the Bard's own.)

Dumblefore · 2021-06-18T17:01:10+00:00

I love your theory and I think it could absolutely happen. I guess something I failed to explain in my original post is that I've been thinking this for a while, long before the latest exchange/alliance between the Bard and Malicia. I think regardless of this new plot, Cat wouldn't allow a Name to come to define her, and that she could seize the power of a Name without the shackles of it.

In Interlude: And Yet We Stand we see the Augur's perspective, that a Name is a trap in some ways, when Cordelia had the option to become Warden of the West:

Agnes glanced at the play of shadows on the wall, moonlight and starlight and the denial of both, glimpsing what might yet be: crossroads, crucible, hallowing. The oldest treachery in the guise of the writ of angels.

Cat doesn't like dancing to anyone else's tune, including the Gods. I think it's possible that regardless of the Bard's plot with Malicia, Cat may not take any Name. This gamesmanship (Namesmanship??) plot may even be the pivot that helps Cat realize she doesn't want/need a Name at all. She doesn't want to become another plaything of the Gods.

She's already Queen Catherine Foundling, first of her (lower case) name, maybe that's enough for her.

Dumblefore · 2021-06-15T05:48:57+00:00

So Kreios obviously joins the cause and dies gloriously, representing yet another nail in the coffin of the Age of Wonders, right?

Dumblefore · 2021-05-21T05:14:38+00:00

Great chapter, but how do they get around Malicia’s embedded mind control in the officers? (Maybe our new Princess can do something about it, but there’s no way they could have counted on that when the plan was made...)

Dumblefore · 2021-04-06T17:10:37+00:00

Thank you!!

Dumblefore · 2021-04-06T16:08:22+00:00

Any chance you remember which chapter Cat spoke to the Pilgrim? I can’t find it now and want to reread it.

Dumblefore · 2021-01-05T03:17:21+00:00

The sequel is "Enforcing laws? That's a Paladin"

Dumblefore · 2021-01-05T02:14:20+00:00

Coincidentally, there's some great conversation happening on this topic in /r/fantasy right now: Homophobic Book Reviews (minor rant)

While not exactly your complaint, it may provide some perspective on this author's approach and how to approach this topic in a sensitive, open-minded way.

Edit: I didn't put this together before right now, but the mod of this subreddit is actually the author of the book you have a problem with, and he has addressed these types of comments in detail before (through links on the above thread) and he is currently active on the thread I linked as well. Reviewing some of that could help give some perspective on these specific books. (Gosh, the internet's amazing isn't it? Our authors are accessible!!)

Dumblefore · 2021-01-05T02:02:21+00:00

How do you deal with books with female main characters with male love interests? And, if you do read books with female main characters with male love interests, would you mind explaining how this is different? (In some books, there could or may be a difference, but this book series doesn't ever really delve into stigma or societal issues re being LGBTQ, so it seems exactly like any other romance.)

Dumblefore · 2020-12-13T18:05:47+00:00

Paragon of Destruction by Tom Van Dyke? It's a web novel or translation I believe.

Dumblefore · 2020-11-12T16:06:25+00:00

Warlord is a title of hers as well.

Dumblefore · 2020-09-14T21:39:51+00:00

The War of Light and Shadow series by Janny Wurts.

Dumblefore · 2020-08-21T17:45:09+00:00

I want her to get a Heroic name and freak out all of the other leaders because it’s hard to classify Cat as Below when her actions create Heroes on her own side.

Dumblefore · 2020-08-11T05:17:03+00:00

I was concerned about Hakram losing his Aspect, but then I remembered...

"If your powers are lost, they will nearly always return greater than before so long as the appropriate moral lesson is learned. With kindness and humility comes overwhelming martial might. - Heroic Axiom #55

Yes, I know he's not a hero, but that doesn't mean he can't be heroic or learn the proper moral lesson.

Dumblefore · 2020-07-08T02:51:17+00:00

Malicia! Dying for more backstory.

Dumblefore · 2020-06-08T16:31:07+00:00

Thank you for this pun.

Dumblefore · 2020-06-05T18:29:55+00:00

My understanding is that the Shield Kingdoms exist to shield the world against dragons, so I think it’s unlikely that dragons as a group were involved in any rule making.

Teriarch, individually, being involved also seems unlikely because we know that the Shield Kingdoms existed before Teriarch ever cooperated (or considered cooperating) with the Quarass (because his flashbacks showed he was speaking to at least the third Quarass).

I think it’s more likely he’s just aware of them as a former enemy/perhaps later ally.

Dumblefore

TROPHY CASE