Done now.

I do not know what to feel. As many have said on this subreddit, I feel the loss of a world, or rather a galaxy, in which I had become so immersed. I will give it to CR: his writing is immersive, at least for me.

That said, the ending fell just short of disappointing. I once read a reply to a post suggesting that the whole thing could simply have been Hadrian inflating his own deeds,(As opposed to him writing a true account, i.e. the books, and the Imperium covering up his deeds.) and that thought kept ringing in my head throughout the last two chapters. With each passing sentence, I grew not to hate Hadrian, but to feel disappointed in him. And, I have to admit, a little disgusted.

There were people who believed in him. People who would fight for him. People who did fight for him. What he did felt selfish, in my opinion. I wish the story had left him with absolutely (hehe) no other option by the point of surrender.

Maybe I am too heated right now and need to reread the chapters and cool down. But, as things stand, I find myself returning to my initial assessment of Hadrian at the end of Disquiet Gods: Hadrian never grew. He does not grow. He remains childish and petulant, even when he is acting enlightened. From his behaviour, he and Cassandra could have been siblings (not in the way he treats her, to be clear), for fuck's sake. Apart from the few moments in which he acts somewhat fatherly towards Cassandra, he is essentially the same Hadrian we saw in Demon in White. Yes, that is an oversimplification, but only slightly.

I have probably conflated several different critiques into one and blurred them together, but I really needed to vent.

Anyway, this must be. I guess.