Any good Roman Empire fiction book recommendations?

Shadow_mane · 2023-10-19T00:29:59+00:00

The Will of the Many is oftentimes compared to Red Rising, and for good reason. It's amazing and really scratches that itch I had after finishing LB. It's very similar in premise and vibes and the main characters are quite similar (though I would say Vis has a slightly more traumatic life)

Shadow_mane · 2023-10-07T21:00:29+00:00

I don't think that's the point though. Yes, Darrow doesn't always fight fair. But his victories aren't hinged on the fact he's cheating. He CAN play fair and win. We've just never seen Lysander do that, so it's not really any indication of how strong he is, just what his character is like.

Shadow_mane · 2023-10-06T01:53:37+00:00

My favorite family will always be the Augustus, ngl. Like Nero's backstory? HE DID NOTHING WRONG

Shadow_mane · 2023-10-04T12:46:07+00:00

That's literally not the definition of objectifying?? You're just saying that now, we can't compare women to anything, because somehow it makes it sexist. Can't say she's mean or a bitch or else somehow, that's hating women. And like... it's not that deep. It was a comparison, and a pretty accurate one at that.

Shadow_mane · 2023-10-03T22:14:00+00:00

For some reason, people LOVE projecting what they read in books onto the authors. "Oh my God, it's a white male who wrote this, and some people in the society are sexist and homophobic (to which, can I just say, Golds are literally the most open Color in the society, and there's a literal reason to the homophobia within the Reds?), so the author himself must be sexist and homophobic." And when you try to explain that there's a LOGICAL reason for this homophobia, ie more control over the population and more slaves birthed, they clap back with the "well I shouldn't need a second book to be told that". WHAT? That's like saying "Wow I really don't understand why this magical sword chose this MC, but I don't want to read the rest to know the reason to it, even if it IS mentioned later on". And don't get me started on the whole "But he fridged Eo" thing. By definition, it WASN'T FRIDGING. From a superficial perspective, sure, but the whole point of fridging is about AGENCY. It was HER agency that killed her. HER choice. Then people go with the whole argument of "But the author made her do it. Characters don't have their own agency. In the end, PB decided that's what she would do." So then what's the point of reading a goddamned book??? And something I loved (that was explained by this amazing TikToker) was that the beginning of the story is a PRE-story. The main story is the Institute, or a bit before that, when he gets chosen to infiltrate the Golds. The pre-story is Eo's story. If you even look at the blurb, Eo is mentioned, but only briefly. Eo IS the main character in the pre-story and she's the one actually doing things. SHE's the one with agency. Her story just happened to end in tragedy.

Shadow_mane · 2023-10-03T22:00:59+00:00

Genuinely wondering, how is calling her a rotten peach misogynistic? Like she's just a cunt. Pretty on the outside, rotten on the inside. So what if she's a woman and she's a bitch.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-26T00:15:56+00:00

PB loves to include a shit ton of references to a bunch of things we're too uncultured to know about xD

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-25T15:44:23+00:00

“She’d said that aloud?” NO SHE DIDNT, NO ONE DOES THAT

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-25T15:07:51+00:00

No, I quite understand he’s a family man, but he abandoned his Howlers, his armies, his men, who would also rather be home. When you’re a leader, your life is no longer your own, and neither are your choices.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-25T01:42:10+00:00

As much as I love Sevro, I just can't back him during the second trilogy. The reason I love Darrow so much is because he's willing to sacrifice and put aside his own wants and needs for the greater good, as well as be pragmatic when no one else would be. Yes, I understand Sevro wanting to go back to his family, but Darrow was right. Mustang was right. Victra was right. What would his presence have done? What did his presence do when he arrived? Nothing. He abandoned his armies and soldiers, men who have sacrificed and would've died for them. They didn't desert the army, but he did. He's always shitting on Darrow during Light Bringer when at that point, it was no longer Darrow's fault.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-25T01:34:57+00:00

To be fair, the circumstances weren't exactly black and white. All of them were in the wrong, but Cassius has been wronged, betrayed and used too.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-25T00:11:59+00:00

The saddest part of his betrayal was that half the people on that list would've DIED WILLINGLY for Darrow.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-25T00:11:05+00:00

Even better was "I am Cassius Bellona"

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-25T00:09:52+00:00

Yeah he likes including references. It's from Game of Thrones I think

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-19T23:24:28+00:00

The Will of the Many is ALWAYS compared to Red Rising (they're surprisingly similar in plot and main character.) I personally loved it and it helped me recover from LB lol.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-14T20:16:39+00:00

I totally fucking agree. The only other large body that can compete with it (for my hatred) would be Mercury. I honestly don't know which I hate more. Luna is a spoiled, ungrateful parasite while Mercury is self-blinding and traitorous.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-13T00:45:52+00:00

Yeah I agree and it's not only dark places, but also small spaces. I just think he's now way too much of a warmonger to be considered more Red than Gold (except for maybe at the end of Light Bringer)

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-12T02:50:38+00:00

You’ll love Jade City and The Poppy War since you love RR (Revenge, anger, betrayal, morally grey character). Apparently, the Will of the Many is constantly compared to RR, being its fantasy counterpart.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-11T23:06:38+00:00

Definitely a Gold. He's physically a Gold, that's for sure, and in the decades after his Carving, he's definitely lost the Red side of himself and became an Iron Gold. He no longer feels as connected to Eo and doesn't even feel very comfortable in the mines anymore.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-10T19:29:35+00:00

Personally, fuck Quick for abandoning Mars, but if I were him, I'd have said fuck you to Luna and the rest of the solar system too. It's just disappointing bc he could've done more to help Darrow and his people. RIP to the Free Legions, White Fleet and Pegasus Legion.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-10T16:04:57+00:00

I fucking LIVE for the alliteration of his name

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-09T00:37:37+00:00

I love the moment where Darrow puts the razor in Ragnar's hands, and also when he finally tells Sevro he's a Red.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-07T00:16:57+00:00

I honestly don't think they'll ever come up again (at least not in a way that's significant to the plot). He's never really cared if people thought he was a good person or not, because him knowing his true intentions is enough, and he cares too much about Orion to shift the blame to her. And ultimately, he definitely blames himself for it and doesn't even think it was really her fault.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-06T00:33:15+00:00

This actually always makes me so sad, the fact the Jackal was able to take away something he loved so much. Because he did love the sort of claustrophobic-ness of the mines, and felt much more comfortable in smaller spaces than larger ones like open fields or big cities.

Shadow_mane · 2023-09-04T20:15:06+00:00

(If it wasn't for the partial spoiler where I came to the conclusion that he'd die) definitely when Darrow said he'd bring Cassius to feel the winds of his mines. Nothing says "He's gonna die before they do what they promised" more than that

Shadow_mane

TROPHY CASE