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i_read_what2023-02-27 07:24 pm
kalinara) wrote in i_read_what2023-02-27 07:24 pm
Golden Queen - Chapter 16
So last time, Everynne, Veriasse and Gallen entered the gate and found a very nasty shock. Then we went back in time a few days to see that Orick and Maggie are in big trouble!
So we're back with Maggie, who's in an aircar with that cloned dude. She's worried about Orick, but this guy reassures her that his "men" (read: clones) just killed the last vanquisher so Orick should be okay.
The thin man appeared to be thirty-five years old, though appearances would mean nothing on this world. He did not wear a mantle or guide. He wore a work suit of nondescript brown. He was not particularly handsome. "How do you know that your men killed the last vanquisher?"
"Implants." He pointed to his ear. He sighed and leaned back. The aircar was piloting itself now. He glanced at Maggie. "I must say, I'm disappointed. I had been informed that a Tharrin was traveling between worlds, Semarritte reborn. And the man accompanying her fit the description of Semarritte's Lord Protector. Yet I risked my life and the lives of my doppelgangers for what, a bear and . . . ?"
He's also a dick.
Hey, asshole, it's not Maggie's fault that you decided to butt in here. Maggie gives him her own name and thinks quickly about what to tell him about Everynne and company. She's not sure if she trusts this guy, whose name is Primary Jagget, by the way, so she tries to make her lie plausible and consistent since Jagget might find and question Orick too.
"Everynne was her name," Maggie said. "She came to my home world of Tihrglas two weeks ago with her escort, an old man who didn't mention his name. They hired me and my bear to lead them through the woods to an ancient gate, but there were some vanquishers and dronon after them. The old man fell behind to slow the vanquishers, sent us up ahead to the gate. We were at the gate when we heard his death scream. Everynne gave me the key, showed me how to use it, then rushed back through a clearing to help the old man. Just then, the vanquishers came out the far side of the clearing and shot her. The bear and I saw that our only chance for escape was to jump through the gate. We've been traveling ever since, trying to find our way back home through the gates."
It's not bad at all! Very plausible. I like Maggie when I'm not having issues with how her romantic plot is written. Honestly, I think maybe the book would have been better if we got rid of Gallen entirely and focused on Maggie and Orick as accidental tagalongs.
He asks about Maggie's mantle, which is obviously not from Tihrglas. Maggie says that it had been in Everynne's pack, which she'd handed to Maggie before her death. Jagget seems to buy this and seems to be genuinely regretful. He admits that while he's never actually seen "Semarritte's clone", he is a friend and feels her loss.
His next words make me skeptical though.
He fell silent for a long moment. "What shall we do with you? The dronon have offered a reward for the woman who is traveling the Maze of Worlds."
That's a sketchy question, dude. Maggie realizes this is a pretty major hole in her story and stalls, asking why they'd want her. Jagget, fortunately, has an answer: her key. He offers to take her home in exchange for it. Maggie's not really on board with the plan and when Jagget offers to sweeten the deal, thinks that the inhabitants of Wechaus all seem greedy.
I mean, that's pretty judgmental, Maggie. The innkeeper did have the right to get paid after all.
She tells him that she'll consider it, but she wants to consult with her friend Orick. Jagget accepts this and takes her back to his compound. Maggie thinks about the car: thanks to her mantle, she can identify it as a Chughat XI, which is an expensive car used by diplomats, she also knows its top speed (Mach 12) - and it's going pretty fast (Mach 10.) They reach a city of stone that seems filled with people, all in a familiar stance. Clones of Jagget.
Apparently, Jagget has nine hundred thousand clones. That's a lot. She asks why so many. He says he's a man of great ambition but little time, so he and his doppelgangers work together. His ambition is to keep his homeland free.
Hm. So is that keep it free by helping Everynne? Or keep it free by placating the dronon? And did Maggie's lie unwittingly turn against her? (NOT THAT I BLAME HER AT ALL. Her distrust is completely reasonable here!)
And indeed. Things get weird suddenly:
Primary Jagget said, "I'm sorry that I can't see you to your room, but I have urgent business elsewhere." Maggie turned to glance at him, and there was a soft whispering sound of wings.
Primary Jagget turned into a swarm of cream-colored butterflies that flew away in a cloud.
The butterflies vanished into darkness just beyond the streetlights. Maggie stared at the butterflies, astonished, for Jagget's body had not been flesh and blood but an artifice created through nanotechnology.
Maggie felt something poke her back. Her muscles spasmed and her legs went numb. She saw lights and whirled, staggering. She grabbed a doppelganger's shirt to keep from falling. For a moment the world spun, and she hung on precariously. She twisted and looked down at the doppelganger's hands, saw a blue arc of light issuing from a small grip. She smelled burned cloth and ozone.
Maggie blinked, looked at the arc, and her mind suddenly registered that it was an electric stun gun. The doppelganger shoved the gun into her belly, and the world went white.
That can't be good.
We go back to Orick, some time before. He sees the vanquishers and urges his she-bear companion to leave. He intends to leave quietly, but she's far less subtle, dashing out a side door and making a run for it. Orick catches a glimpse of Maggie, but isn't able to get to her. Panta appears again and urges him to leave, saying she saw Maggie leave in an aircar. Orick is upset, thinking that he'd never expected Maggie to leave him, but it makes sense. He blames his lust, if not for that, eh'd have listened to her. He's glad she escaped.
Aw, poor guy. We're all allowed to be stupid sometimes.
Orick asks about the men, and Panta identifies them as "Jaggets." She's not a fan. And ooh, information:
"What's wrong with a Jagget?" Orick asked as the car surged forward, weaving among the flaming wreckage.
"It's hard to put it into words exactly," Panta said. "They used to be the protectors of this planet, but now that the dronon have taken over, the Jaggets have all gone crazy. They've been cloned for too many generations. Their DNA is breaking down, and each new generation is more unstable than the last."
Oh, interesting! I wonder how old "Primary Jagget" actually is.
Anyway Orick and Panta are in her vehicle, and I'm fascinated by the thought of a vehicle driven by bears. Orick's fascinated too, for other reasons. She invites him inside and he realizes that if he follows, he'll lose his virginity. Only days before, he had been tempted to take a vow of chastity. He's been through a lot:
In the past few days, Orick had seen a lot. He'd let the peace of Cyannesse seep into his bones, and he'd thought it heaven. He'd seen the bones of dead children and tasted the poison air of Bregnel. He'd seen Everynne's powers nearly unleashed on Fale, and he wondered at it all. Was God letting him see beyond hills that no other bear had ever seen? Was this his reward for seeking to serve God, or was God showing all of this to him for his own purposes? Could it be that he was meant to make a difference? And how did Panta fit into God's scheme?
Some priests in Tihrglas held that God's commandment to Adam and Eve to "go forth and multiply" was given to all. But Orick had always believed that only by taking a vow of chastity could he give his full devotion to God.
Oh God, Orick whispered in prayer, you're the one that led me here. I would have resisted her advances, but you brought me here. I swear that after this one night, I'll come crawling back to you on my knees, and I'll take my vow of chastity then.
Okay, I admit, I've been very critical of Wolverton in the past, but I rather love that the first and only time that virginity has been brought up as a concern in this book has been in the context of the bear.
Panta, for her part, seems pretty turned on by the idea that the vanquishers had been after Orick. Oh dear. He goes inside.
--
Maggie wakes up. And apparently she hasn't had her brain fucked with enough, because she's hearing "someone else's questions running through her mind. She can hear herself speaking. From the sound of the questions, she's "testified" to a lot already.
Where is Semarritte's clone? Why did you lie to Primary Jagget? Where did you expect to meet Semarritte's clone? How many Terrors is Seinarritte's clone carrying? You testified that Veriasse and the clone have told you several conflicting stories about their plans; how do you know that they have not planted bombs on each world they have visited?
I mean, Jagget's a tool, but these are fair questions. Or would be if they were being asked in a way that didn't violate Maggie's mind AGAIN.
She manages to will herself not to answer anymore, but Jagget or a clone orders her sedated again. She wakes up in what looks like a cell. Her mantle is gone. So is her underwear and shoes. Ew. The fuck? She's still wearing the pale green robe that she'd been wearing for the past few days.
Why the fuck did they take her underwear?!
Also, I hate to be sexist, but you can tell this was written by a cis man here. Because the underwear thing doesn't come up again, and at no point does Maggie wonder if she's been sexually assaulted.
There are clones present, neither is the Primary, but they say that he's asked Maggie to join him for lunch. They claim that they sedated her, because they don't like strangers roaming the compound. Maggie thinks she sees madness glittering in their eyes.
Jagget greets her warmly and Maggie is resentful, understandably. Jagget...is creepy:
She didn't want to toast with him and wondered how offended he would be if she declined. Primary Jagget noticed her hesitancy and said, "You don't have to pretend that you like me. I assure you, it is quite uncommon for a woman to take any kind of romantic interest in a Jagget. When I was a lone man, women seemed willing to give their hearts. But now that I am an organism, with hundreds of thousands of individuals acting as cells, people are more . . . reluctant to accept me. Indeed, as a young man they hailed me as an idealist, but now that I am old, they ridicule me as a fanatic—even though my notions have never changed. Believe me, I have grown accustomed to scorn."
Cry me a river, you abducting piece of crap.
Maggie notices that some of the clones in the distance are entering some weird egg type devices. Primary Jagget explains that they're clones going into storage. Since their planet is defeated, and Jagget can't afford for everyone to flee, he's keeping some safe for later when the political climate is more favorable.
He does apologize for taking her captive and drugging her, claiming he needed to check her for weapons. Which is why you took her underwear, dude?
We also get an explanation for why Jagget knew Maggie had been/will be on Fale: the dronon told him. Soon, the exploits on Fale will become well known. And the dronon intend to mobilize the public against Everynne, claiming she'll leave a Terror on the world.
Maggie insists she wouldn't do that, but Jagget points out that Everynne has told a different story on three different worlds and he's not entirely wrong. He creepily says (stroking his goatee) that he'll decide what to do with her after he has her.
The chapter ends here.
So we're back with Maggie, who's in an aircar with that cloned dude. She's worried about Orick, but this guy reassures her that his "men" (read: clones) just killed the last vanquisher so Orick should be okay.
The thin man appeared to be thirty-five years old, though appearances would mean nothing on this world. He did not wear a mantle or guide. He wore a work suit of nondescript brown. He was not particularly handsome. "How do you know that your men killed the last vanquisher?"
"Implants." He pointed to his ear. He sighed and leaned back. The aircar was piloting itself now. He glanced at Maggie. "I must say, I'm disappointed. I had been informed that a Tharrin was traveling between worlds, Semarritte reborn. And the man accompanying her fit the description of Semarritte's Lord Protector. Yet I risked my life and the lives of my doppelgangers for what, a bear and . . . ?"
He's also a dick.
Hey, asshole, it's not Maggie's fault that you decided to butt in here. Maggie gives him her own name and thinks quickly about what to tell him about Everynne and company. She's not sure if she trusts this guy, whose name is Primary Jagget, by the way, so she tries to make her lie plausible and consistent since Jagget might find and question Orick too.
"Everynne was her name," Maggie said. "She came to my home world of Tihrglas two weeks ago with her escort, an old man who didn't mention his name. They hired me and my bear to lead them through the woods to an ancient gate, but there were some vanquishers and dronon after them. The old man fell behind to slow the vanquishers, sent us up ahead to the gate. We were at the gate when we heard his death scream. Everynne gave me the key, showed me how to use it, then rushed back through a clearing to help the old man. Just then, the vanquishers came out the far side of the clearing and shot her. The bear and I saw that our only chance for escape was to jump through the gate. We've been traveling ever since, trying to find our way back home through the gates."
It's not bad at all! Very plausible. I like Maggie when I'm not having issues with how her romantic plot is written. Honestly, I think maybe the book would have been better if we got rid of Gallen entirely and focused on Maggie and Orick as accidental tagalongs.
He asks about Maggie's mantle, which is obviously not from Tihrglas. Maggie says that it had been in Everynne's pack, which she'd handed to Maggie before her death. Jagget seems to buy this and seems to be genuinely regretful. He admits that while he's never actually seen "Semarritte's clone", he is a friend and feels her loss.
His next words make me skeptical though.
He fell silent for a long moment. "What shall we do with you? The dronon have offered a reward for the woman who is traveling the Maze of Worlds."
That's a sketchy question, dude. Maggie realizes this is a pretty major hole in her story and stalls, asking why they'd want her. Jagget, fortunately, has an answer: her key. He offers to take her home in exchange for it. Maggie's not really on board with the plan and when Jagget offers to sweeten the deal, thinks that the inhabitants of Wechaus all seem greedy.
I mean, that's pretty judgmental, Maggie. The innkeeper did have the right to get paid after all.
She tells him that she'll consider it, but she wants to consult with her friend Orick. Jagget accepts this and takes her back to his compound. Maggie thinks about the car: thanks to her mantle, she can identify it as a Chughat XI, which is an expensive car used by diplomats, she also knows its top speed (Mach 12) - and it's going pretty fast (Mach 10.) They reach a city of stone that seems filled with people, all in a familiar stance. Clones of Jagget.
Apparently, Jagget has nine hundred thousand clones. That's a lot. She asks why so many. He says he's a man of great ambition but little time, so he and his doppelgangers work together. His ambition is to keep his homeland free.
Hm. So is that keep it free by helping Everynne? Or keep it free by placating the dronon? And did Maggie's lie unwittingly turn against her? (NOT THAT I BLAME HER AT ALL. Her distrust is completely reasonable here!)
And indeed. Things get weird suddenly:
Primary Jagget said, "I'm sorry that I can't see you to your room, but I have urgent business elsewhere." Maggie turned to glance at him, and there was a soft whispering sound of wings.
Primary Jagget turned into a swarm of cream-colored butterflies that flew away in a cloud.
The butterflies vanished into darkness just beyond the streetlights. Maggie stared at the butterflies, astonished, for Jagget's body had not been flesh and blood but an artifice created through nanotechnology.
Maggie felt something poke her back. Her muscles spasmed and her legs went numb. She saw lights and whirled, staggering. She grabbed a doppelganger's shirt to keep from falling. For a moment the world spun, and she hung on precariously. She twisted and looked down at the doppelganger's hands, saw a blue arc of light issuing from a small grip. She smelled burned cloth and ozone.
Maggie blinked, looked at the arc, and her mind suddenly registered that it was an electric stun gun. The doppelganger shoved the gun into her belly, and the world went white.
That can't be good.
We go back to Orick, some time before. He sees the vanquishers and urges his she-bear companion to leave. He intends to leave quietly, but she's far less subtle, dashing out a side door and making a run for it. Orick catches a glimpse of Maggie, but isn't able to get to her. Panta appears again and urges him to leave, saying she saw Maggie leave in an aircar. Orick is upset, thinking that he'd never expected Maggie to leave him, but it makes sense. He blames his lust, if not for that, eh'd have listened to her. He's glad she escaped.
Aw, poor guy. We're all allowed to be stupid sometimes.
Orick asks about the men, and Panta identifies them as "Jaggets." She's not a fan. And ooh, information:
"What's wrong with a Jagget?" Orick asked as the car surged forward, weaving among the flaming wreckage.
"It's hard to put it into words exactly," Panta said. "They used to be the protectors of this planet, but now that the dronon have taken over, the Jaggets have all gone crazy. They've been cloned for too many generations. Their DNA is breaking down, and each new generation is more unstable than the last."
Oh, interesting! I wonder how old "Primary Jagget" actually is.
Anyway Orick and Panta are in her vehicle, and I'm fascinated by the thought of a vehicle driven by bears. Orick's fascinated too, for other reasons. She invites him inside and he realizes that if he follows, he'll lose his virginity. Only days before, he had been tempted to take a vow of chastity. He's been through a lot:
In the past few days, Orick had seen a lot. He'd let the peace of Cyannesse seep into his bones, and he'd thought it heaven. He'd seen the bones of dead children and tasted the poison air of Bregnel. He'd seen Everynne's powers nearly unleashed on Fale, and he wondered at it all. Was God letting him see beyond hills that no other bear had ever seen? Was this his reward for seeking to serve God, or was God showing all of this to him for his own purposes? Could it be that he was meant to make a difference? And how did Panta fit into God's scheme?
Some priests in Tihrglas held that God's commandment to Adam and Eve to "go forth and multiply" was given to all. But Orick had always believed that only by taking a vow of chastity could he give his full devotion to God.
Oh God, Orick whispered in prayer, you're the one that led me here. I would have resisted her advances, but you brought me here. I swear that after this one night, I'll come crawling back to you on my knees, and I'll take my vow of chastity then.
Okay, I admit, I've been very critical of Wolverton in the past, but I rather love that the first and only time that virginity has been brought up as a concern in this book has been in the context of the bear.
Panta, for her part, seems pretty turned on by the idea that the vanquishers had been after Orick. Oh dear. He goes inside.
--
Maggie wakes up. And apparently she hasn't had her brain fucked with enough, because she's hearing "someone else's questions running through her mind. She can hear herself speaking. From the sound of the questions, she's "testified" to a lot already.
Where is Semarritte's clone? Why did you lie to Primary Jagget? Where did you expect to meet Semarritte's clone? How many Terrors is Seinarritte's clone carrying? You testified that Veriasse and the clone have told you several conflicting stories about their plans; how do you know that they have not planted bombs on each world they have visited?
I mean, Jagget's a tool, but these are fair questions. Or would be if they were being asked in a way that didn't violate Maggie's mind AGAIN.
She manages to will herself not to answer anymore, but Jagget or a clone orders her sedated again. She wakes up in what looks like a cell. Her mantle is gone. So is her underwear and shoes. Ew. The fuck? She's still wearing the pale green robe that she'd been wearing for the past few days.
Why the fuck did they take her underwear?!
Also, I hate to be sexist, but you can tell this was written by a cis man here. Because the underwear thing doesn't come up again, and at no point does Maggie wonder if she's been sexually assaulted.
There are clones present, neither is the Primary, but they say that he's asked Maggie to join him for lunch. They claim that they sedated her, because they don't like strangers roaming the compound. Maggie thinks she sees madness glittering in their eyes.
Jagget greets her warmly and Maggie is resentful, understandably. Jagget...is creepy:
She didn't want to toast with him and wondered how offended he would be if she declined. Primary Jagget noticed her hesitancy and said, "You don't have to pretend that you like me. I assure you, it is quite uncommon for a woman to take any kind of romantic interest in a Jagget. When I was a lone man, women seemed willing to give their hearts. But now that I am an organism, with hundreds of thousands of individuals acting as cells, people are more . . . reluctant to accept me. Indeed, as a young man they hailed me as an idealist, but now that I am old, they ridicule me as a fanatic—even though my notions have never changed. Believe me, I have grown accustomed to scorn."
Cry me a river, you abducting piece of crap.
Maggie notices that some of the clones in the distance are entering some weird egg type devices. Primary Jagget explains that they're clones going into storage. Since their planet is defeated, and Jagget can't afford for everyone to flee, he's keeping some safe for later when the political climate is more favorable.
He does apologize for taking her captive and drugging her, claiming he needed to check her for weapons. Which is why you took her underwear, dude?
We also get an explanation for why Jagget knew Maggie had been/will be on Fale: the dronon told him. Soon, the exploits on Fale will become well known. And the dronon intend to mobilize the public against Everynne, claiming she'll leave a Terror on the world.
Maggie insists she wouldn't do that, but Jagget points out that Everynne has told a different story on three different worlds and he's not entirely wrong. He creepily says (stroking his goatee) that he'll decide what to do with her after he has her.
The chapter ends here.
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(Anonymous) 2023-02-28 03:10 am (UTC)(link)= Multi-Facets.
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Honestly, when books show racism and sexism, it's very easy to identify the author in terms of gender and race.
You can tell Chronicles of Blood and Stone and Wolvertron's works are written by a man, and so are Battlefield Earth and Partially Kissed Hero, and you can tell Twilight was written by a woman, and so is the script for Velma. Heck, you can see Roberson is a woman from Shapechangers.
With good books, this is much harder.
But yeah, the underwear scene was better off not existing.
(no subject)