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i_read_what2019-10-20 10:32 pm
kalinara) wrote in i_read_what2019-10-20 10:32 pm
Shapechangers - Book One - Chapter Eight
So last time in Shapechangers, Duncan started a pretty rapid downward descent from his position as "most tolerable male character in the book so far". I mean, he's still at the top, seeing as how he's neither a racist genocide apologist nor a would-be rapist, but it's a top-by-default thing now. And if Carillon somehow manages to get his head out of his ass, Duncan could actually lose his position to the only man in the cast who expressly cares about a woman's consent.
So Chapter Eight begins with Alix riding with Duncan, she's clasping the saddle and carefully holding her body upright so she won't touch him. But don't worry, it's not like she's disgusted or afraid of the guy holding her captive!
With Finn she had kept herself from him because of his undisguised interest in her; Duncan's dignity seemed to demand such behavior on her part. She could not imagine hanging onto him or otherwise interfering with anything he did. And he had closed himself to her since their conversation of the evening before. For all he was still courteous, he was also cool toward her.
If you recall, Duncan got irrationally angry at her for not knowing something that she has no way of knowing. Fuck you, dude.
Oh, this is pretty spectacular.
When evening came and the band of Cheysuli stopped to set up camp, Alix found herself delegated to tend Duncan's fire as if she were a servant. She disliked the sensation. It made her feel a true prisoner, even though she was treated mostly like a visitor.
THEY WON'T LET YOU GO HOME. THEY HAVE BEEN TAKING YOU TO THEIR SECRET HOME WITH NO WAY FOR YOU TO LEAVE. THEY HAVE (at least in Finn's case) BEEN SEXUALLY AGGRESSIVE TOWARD YOU WITH NO CARE FOR YOUR CONSENT.
But tending a fire, THAT's what makes you feel like a prisoner?!?!
I WANT to like Alix. I really do! I feel like a lousy feminist, and a victim blamer to boot when I complain about her. But I need her to MAKE SENSE!
Anyway, she's startled by the presence of a ruddy wolf. Oh god. It becomes Finn, who laughs when she accuses him of seeking to frighten her to death. I did not miss you, Finn. Anyway, Finn reports that he's returned her "princeling" to safety. Alix is apparently disgruntled enough to speak rudely even to him.
WHAT. EVEN TO HIM?! WHAT?! When exactly has Alix NOT been "rude" to him? I mean, she SHOULD be rude to him. He KIDNAPPED HER. He's been threatening to RAPE her. He's got her captive. She has every right to be rude to him. And she has, multiple times. She's expressed her very justifiable dislike many times over. She calls him and his brother a racist epithet. Now, maybe she's realizing that being rude to her captors is a bad idea. Okay, but maybe you could SHOW us her having this realization, Ms. Roberson, instead of just throwing it in there?
So anyway, Alix's 'rudeness' is asking "You did not slay him?"
Finn's a philosopher: "Carillon is meant for a death, like all men, but it will not come at my hands." I admit, Roberson writes pomposity far better than R. A. Salvatore does. This dialogue feels a lot more natural than Drizzt's monologues, while still having that formal air. She's got a knack for character voice, it's just a shame that she has them speak words that make no sense so often.
Anyway, Alix says Finn would do whatever he could in this personal war you wage against the Mujhar. Even to slaying his heir, were you given the chance.
...personal war? Alix. THERE IS A GENOCIDAL PURGE GOING ON! And also, as much as I hate to give any credit to Finn, he's had plenty of opportunities to kill Carillon. Even if Duncan didn't give permission. Do we really think Duncan would prioritize a dead prince over a live brother? And also, it's not like Finn had to bring Carillon to Duncan to begin with.
Finn just laughs and says that Duncan wouldn't let him. He also tells us the first actually useful information about the prophecy: namely that Carillon is mentioned in the prophecy, not by name but by deed. And he won't die any time soon, first he must be king. He asks why Alix doesn't seem more concerned. Alix says she'll be with him soon, when he returns for her.
Oh god, I thought with Carillon gone we'd get an end to repetitive dialogue, but here we go: Finn tells Alix her place is with the Cheysuli. Alix says they stole her from her people and she doesn't like them. She points out that Finn even "threatened to force her." I feel like maybe that should be a bigger deal.
Anyway, Alix basically asks if he's an idiot, and if he does anything "with any thought put to the consequences". Finn retorts that the qu'mahlin leaves them little time for thought. Which isn't exactly an excuse for rape, dude.
Alix says that too. But then takes a really bizarre turn.
"You use that as an excuse!" she cried. "You prate about the qu'mahlin as if only you have suffered. Yet you leave me no room to think perhaps your race has the right to curse Shaine, because you behave as if you are free to do what you wish. Duncan would have me see you are men like any other, yet you behave as if the Cheysuli are demons with no understanding of what you do to others."
Okay, I need to unpack this for a second.
a) Alix isn't wrong about Finn using the qu'mahlin as an excuse.
b) But "you prate about the qu'mahlin as if only you have suffered"...Alix, their race is the subject of genocide. So yeah, they're the ones suffering. Unless you're trying to get us to feel bad for the Homanans who lose their animals in a cattle raid.
c) The idea that the Cheysuli "cursed Shaine" is the excuse Shaine used for the qu'mahlin. There's no evidence that there was any sort of curse at all. Old men are not terribly fertile. Shaine only had one child to begin with (and she's a girl, so you can bet he probably tried for more). And we predate modern medicine.
d) Finn being horrible doesn't excuse genocide, Alix.
Anyway, Finn repeats something said before: Alix needs to learn, and at the Keep, she'll speak to the shar tahl and understand better. Alix begs Finn to take her home, and he says "I do". And that moment could have been emotional, if not for the headache I get trying to understand these characters in any given scene.
Anyway, Alix is trying not to cry (understandably) and says that she will escape, even if it means stabbing him with a knife. Yay! Finn doesn't believe she has the spirit or strength to do it. This pisses Alix off and she actually FINALLY does something awesome:
She takes the bubbling honey drink and throws it at him, hitting his arm and face, and then runs for it. He catches her of course, and twists one arm behind her, jerks her around to face him and bends over her, telling her that if she's going to be "so bold" she'd better be prepared to "suffer the consequences"
I hate him so much.
Thankfully, Duncan interrupts the scene, jerking Finn away from her. He tells Finn "You will not force a Cheysuli woman." Which, um, yay. But that does have some unpleasant implications for non-Cheysuli women.
Finn says that Alix may have their blood, but she's raised Homanan and "wants humbling"
God, why are you so disgusting. And why are you not a villain here? And why are the Native American allegories apparently happy to rape and "humble" women of other races? (Since Duncan snaps that they don't humble their women either.)
Finn asks why, all affronted male pride and asks if Duncan wants to take her. When Duncan says no, Finn says that if Duncan wants her as cheysula (wife), then he better follow tradition and ask for her clan-rights in Council.
I thought women and men could agree to marry at will? Who approves these marriages? I'm actually a little curious about this, but not with these terrible characters.
Duncan tells Finn that if he's "so hot to take her" then he should ask for her clan-rights, "when she has been proven to have them.". So...does Alix get to say no or not?
Finn has no need of formal clan rights, since there are enough "to be had without taking a cheysula".
Alix, very understandably, shouts both of them down. She notes that she has no idea what they're talking about, but she's not going to do anything against her will. And she will escape eventually.
Duncan's response is that no one escapes the Cheysuli. Hey, asshole, I thought you said she wasn't a prisoner? Finn agrees with him, and Alix runs off, distraught. She does take a moment to wonder what animal would be sent to fetch her.
I guess that means she hasn't figured out the hawk from before was Duncan. Well, I suppose we did establish that Alix isn't the brightest bulb in the box. Also, exactly how many times has Alix run off in the woods by now?
Anyway, she's met by Storr, Finn's wolf, who insists he wasn't sent, but he came because Alix was in pain. Alix thinks he sounds like a wise old man, and Storr says that he's a wise old wolf. I'm intrigued briefly about how lir age versus their partners. Finn is younger than Duncan, but Cai doesn't sound old. I vaguely recall one of the protagonists of a later book getting a cat that was so young that it was practically a cub. And I think I remember seeing a lirless Cheysuli get berated because his lir would have been doomed to live an ordinary lifespan for an animal and had undoubtedly died by then. So I guess maybe an animal of any age could do the bonding?
It does intrigue me though, that Finn, who is clearly meant to be read as young and hotheaded, has a mature, older partner. Do they all get partners that balance their personalities?
Ugh, then we get into rapist apologia and victim blaming. Alix asks how Storr could be wise and trustworthy, yet belong to Finn. Storr says that Finn is not always so "hasty and unwise" (...those are two words for it. I'd say "a fucking rapist" myself), but Alix confused him. Finn saw her and wanted her, and then found out she's Cheysuli and his sister, and he's only had Duncan for so long.
...
1) I'm sobbing for poor lonely Finn here, really I am.
2) None of this is Alix's fault.
3) Does confusion really excuse any of Finn's behavior here, Storr? I think not.
4) DOES THAT MEAN THAT THE ABDUCTION WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE IF THEY WEREN'T RELATED?!
Probably. Gross, I hate you Storr.
Anyway, Alix says Finn won't have her. Storr says she'll have to take someone someday. And when she calls Finn a beast, Storr sighs and reminds her that whatever name she gives Finn fits her too, since she's also Cheysuli.
No actually. For once, Alix isn't being racist. Finn isn't a beast because he's Cheysuli. He's a beast because he's a rapist. Alix hasn't raped anyone. So NO. It doesn't apply to her.
Anyway, Alix wants to go home. Storr points out that she's different from the others, which Alix tries to deny. Storr says that the qu'mahlin applies to her too. Alix says that she's his granddaughter. Are we repeating conversations even with the fucking wolf now?!
But Storr does make a VERY good point: if Shaine really cared about Alix being his granddaughter, she'd be in the capitol.
Anyway, Storr leaves and Duncan arrives. He apologizes for Finn and says that she shouldn't "give credence to his words". Um, which words? The part where he agreed with you when you said that no one escapes the Cheysuli, Duncan?
Anyway, Alix tries to wish herself away and when that doesn't work, she says that Duncan is nothing like Finn. Which, while true, seems like a forced non-sequitor. She says that Duncan can't make her believe he's as angry or as cruel as Finn.
Duncan starts to explain: Finn was three when the qu'mahlin began, and doesn't remember life during peace time. He "knows only the darkness and blood and pain of Shaine's war.". For his part, Duncan was five, and he remembers waking up in the middle of the night while their pavilion was set on fire and trampled by Homanan horses.
So now we have ages for both brothers: the qu'mahlin began twenty-five years ago. So Finn is twenty-eight, and Duncan is thirty. I feel like this was a mistake honestly, because I'm supposed to see Finn as comic relief more than a villain. While there's no real excuse for his behavior, I might be more willing to give a young man more leeway than a twenty-eight year old adult. He's ELEVEN years older than Alix. TEN years older than Carillon. He knows fucking better.
Alix wants to know why he's telling her this, and he says that it's so she can understand why Finn "plagues [her]". He's bitter about Shaine, Homanans in general, and that Alix wants Carillon and not Finn.
...what? I don't understand this logic! She doesn't want Finn because he kidnapped her and is a fucking rapist dickweed! Even if he were well behaved, she doesn't KNOW him! How is this any kind of excuse?!
Alix doesn't say this of course, she just points out that Finn is her brother. Duncan says that they were raised apart, so why shouldn't Finn desire a woman, even after he learned they're related?
...because they're related. Duncan, this isn't a complicated concept. No one's saying he has to shut his feelings off entirely. But he's her brother and he has to come to terms with that. It's not Alix's fault or problem.
If Luke Skywalker and Jon Snow can figure out that they can't pursue a relationship with their attractive female relatives, Finn can too.
So then something happens:
Alix stared at him, hand still caught in his. The stubborn conflict she felt rise at Finn's name faded beneath a new—and more frightening—comprehension. She saw before her a solemn-faced warrior who seemed to be waiting for something from her.
For a moment she nearly rose and fled, unable to face the conflict. But she restrained the instinct. There was the faintest whisper of knowledge within her soul, the realization of a power she had never thought she might have, and it astonished her.
She asks Duncan about the tahlmorra she's supposed to be feeling, and he says she'll know it. She asks if every Cheysuli has it, and he says that it's something that binds them all, but "it has weakened in many of us because so many of us have been lost and forced to take Homanan women to get children"
His mouth twisted into a wry smile. "I am not proud of that. But it must be done, if we are to survive. But there are some of us who feel tahlmorra more clearly than others."
a) Wow, okay, so Duncan is a rape apologist. I suppose we knew this was coming, but it's...good? to see it spelled out so clearly.
Congratulations, Duncan. You are terrible. I'm so sorry that you've been "forced" to rape women.
b) Also this doesn't even make sense. The purge started twenty five years ago. So most of the new children with Homanan women aren't even adults yet, so how do you know they don't feel Tahlmorra?
c) Also Alix DOES feel tahlmorra, and SHE's half Homanan. (Oh, but she's "special".)
UGH. This is so infuriating.
Also d) Wow, thanks for making the ENTIRE CLAN of Native American analogues rapists or rape apologists!
Anyway, Duncan intends to go to the shar tahl to confirm what he thinks is his destiny. While saying this, he's smoothing his thumb over the back of her palm. Because what's more romantic than talking about how your people rape Homanan women.
Anyway, Duncan tells us more backstory about the prophecy: it's never wrong, it came from the Firstborn, who were "sired by the old gods". Duncan follows it, and would give his life to see it fulfilled. Actually he knows that he'll give his life to see it fulfilled.
He doesn't know the specifics of his death, only that he'll die serving it. Wow. Fun. Again, he says that Alix will understand when she's spoken to the shar tahl. She asks if Finn follows the same tahlmorra. And Duncan laughs and says that Finn follows a sort of tahlmorra, and he thinks he makes his own.
This is the sort of line that makes me think we're not supposed to see Finn as a rapist. We're supposed to see him as an amusing hot head. But sorry, NO.
Anyway, Alix says severely that she has no part in Finn's tahlmorra. Duncan agrees. Hers is entwined with another man. She asks if it's Carillon, he's silent, and she understands. She stands up and says that if she's Cheysuli, she'll make her own tahlmorra, like Finn.
This is the one time I think Finn is a good role model. You go, Alix. Fuck ALL this shit.
She tells Duncan that he can't force her. And he says he wouldn't. There's no need, her own tahlmorra will. Alix runs off into the shadows of the camp.
And the chapter ends. Thank god.
I feel like I'd be more tolerant of the flaws of the book if I liked ANY of the characters. Alix is the closest to likable. At least I WANT to like her. The racism is annoying though. I know she'll get past it, but it'd be a lot easier if she could avoid excusing genocide just because she doesn't like a few jerks. There's another issue though: Alix's reactions simply don't make sense. And yeah, I know that people respond to trauma in all different ways. But Alix seems to focus on the damnedest things, and there seems to be very little logic in her responses.
Carillon's a blatant racist. I know he's going to get over that eventually, and he's kind of already taking some of those steps. But he's not there yet, and the repetition is really annoying.
And Finn and Duncan are just terrible. Not only has this chapter completely destroyed what's left of Duncan's appeal from last chapter, it's also basically established the entire race as unapologetic rapists. The only male character so far who isn't a rapist or rape apologist is the white guy. So yeah, that's racist bullshit.
As a reminder, this thing had FOUR STARS on Goodreads.
So Chapter Eight begins with Alix riding with Duncan, she's clasping the saddle and carefully holding her body upright so she won't touch him. But don't worry, it's not like she's disgusted or afraid of the guy holding her captive!
With Finn she had kept herself from him because of his undisguised interest in her; Duncan's dignity seemed to demand such behavior on her part. She could not imagine hanging onto him or otherwise interfering with anything he did. And he had closed himself to her since their conversation of the evening before. For all he was still courteous, he was also cool toward her.
If you recall, Duncan got irrationally angry at her for not knowing something that she has no way of knowing. Fuck you, dude.
Oh, this is pretty spectacular.
When evening came and the band of Cheysuli stopped to set up camp, Alix found herself delegated to tend Duncan's fire as if she were a servant. She disliked the sensation. It made her feel a true prisoner, even though she was treated mostly like a visitor.
THEY WON'T LET YOU GO HOME. THEY HAVE BEEN TAKING YOU TO THEIR SECRET HOME WITH NO WAY FOR YOU TO LEAVE. THEY HAVE (at least in Finn's case) BEEN SEXUALLY AGGRESSIVE TOWARD YOU WITH NO CARE FOR YOUR CONSENT.
But tending a fire, THAT's what makes you feel like a prisoner?!?!
I WANT to like Alix. I really do! I feel like a lousy feminist, and a victim blamer to boot when I complain about her. But I need her to MAKE SENSE!
Anyway, she's startled by the presence of a ruddy wolf. Oh god. It becomes Finn, who laughs when she accuses him of seeking to frighten her to death. I did not miss you, Finn. Anyway, Finn reports that he's returned her "princeling" to safety. Alix is apparently disgruntled enough to speak rudely even to him.
WHAT. EVEN TO HIM?! WHAT?! When exactly has Alix NOT been "rude" to him? I mean, she SHOULD be rude to him. He KIDNAPPED HER. He's been threatening to RAPE her. He's got her captive. She has every right to be rude to him. And she has, multiple times. She's expressed her very justifiable dislike many times over. She calls him and his brother a racist epithet. Now, maybe she's realizing that being rude to her captors is a bad idea. Okay, but maybe you could SHOW us her having this realization, Ms. Roberson, instead of just throwing it in there?
So anyway, Alix's 'rudeness' is asking "You did not slay him?"
Finn's a philosopher: "Carillon is meant for a death, like all men, but it will not come at my hands." I admit, Roberson writes pomposity far better than R. A. Salvatore does. This dialogue feels a lot more natural than Drizzt's monologues, while still having that formal air. She's got a knack for character voice, it's just a shame that she has them speak words that make no sense so often.
Anyway, Alix says Finn would do whatever he could in this personal war you wage against the Mujhar. Even to slaying his heir, were you given the chance.
...personal war? Alix. THERE IS A GENOCIDAL PURGE GOING ON! And also, as much as I hate to give any credit to Finn, he's had plenty of opportunities to kill Carillon. Even if Duncan didn't give permission. Do we really think Duncan would prioritize a dead prince over a live brother? And also, it's not like Finn had to bring Carillon to Duncan to begin with.
Finn just laughs and says that Duncan wouldn't let him. He also tells us the first actually useful information about the prophecy: namely that Carillon is mentioned in the prophecy, not by name but by deed. And he won't die any time soon, first he must be king. He asks why Alix doesn't seem more concerned. Alix says she'll be with him soon, when he returns for her.
Oh god, I thought with Carillon gone we'd get an end to repetitive dialogue, but here we go: Finn tells Alix her place is with the Cheysuli. Alix says they stole her from her people and she doesn't like them. She points out that Finn even "threatened to force her." I feel like maybe that should be a bigger deal.
Anyway, Alix basically asks if he's an idiot, and if he does anything "with any thought put to the consequences". Finn retorts that the qu'mahlin leaves them little time for thought. Which isn't exactly an excuse for rape, dude.
Alix says that too. But then takes a really bizarre turn.
"You use that as an excuse!" she cried. "You prate about the qu'mahlin as if only you have suffered. Yet you leave me no room to think perhaps your race has the right to curse Shaine, because you behave as if you are free to do what you wish. Duncan would have me see you are men like any other, yet you behave as if the Cheysuli are demons with no understanding of what you do to others."
Okay, I need to unpack this for a second.
a) Alix isn't wrong about Finn using the qu'mahlin as an excuse.
b) But "you prate about the qu'mahlin as if only you have suffered"...Alix, their race is the subject of genocide. So yeah, they're the ones suffering. Unless you're trying to get us to feel bad for the Homanans who lose their animals in a cattle raid.
c) The idea that the Cheysuli "cursed Shaine" is the excuse Shaine used for the qu'mahlin. There's no evidence that there was any sort of curse at all. Old men are not terribly fertile. Shaine only had one child to begin with (and she's a girl, so you can bet he probably tried for more). And we predate modern medicine.
d) Finn being horrible doesn't excuse genocide, Alix.
Anyway, Finn repeats something said before: Alix needs to learn, and at the Keep, she'll speak to the shar tahl and understand better. Alix begs Finn to take her home, and he says "I do". And that moment could have been emotional, if not for the headache I get trying to understand these characters in any given scene.
Anyway, Alix is trying not to cry (understandably) and says that she will escape, even if it means stabbing him with a knife. Yay! Finn doesn't believe she has the spirit or strength to do it. This pisses Alix off and she actually FINALLY does something awesome:
She takes the bubbling honey drink and throws it at him, hitting his arm and face, and then runs for it. He catches her of course, and twists one arm behind her, jerks her around to face him and bends over her, telling her that if she's going to be "so bold" she'd better be prepared to "suffer the consequences"
I hate him so much.
Thankfully, Duncan interrupts the scene, jerking Finn away from her. He tells Finn "You will not force a Cheysuli woman." Which, um, yay. But that does have some unpleasant implications for non-Cheysuli women.
Finn says that Alix may have their blood, but she's raised Homanan and "wants humbling"
God, why are you so disgusting. And why are you not a villain here? And why are the Native American allegories apparently happy to rape and "humble" women of other races? (Since Duncan snaps that they don't humble their women either.)
Finn asks why, all affronted male pride and asks if Duncan wants to take her. When Duncan says no, Finn says that if Duncan wants her as cheysula (wife), then he better follow tradition and ask for her clan-rights in Council.
I thought women and men could agree to marry at will? Who approves these marriages? I'm actually a little curious about this, but not with these terrible characters.
Duncan tells Finn that if he's "so hot to take her" then he should ask for her clan-rights, "when she has been proven to have them.". So...does Alix get to say no or not?
Finn has no need of formal clan rights, since there are enough "to be had without taking a cheysula".
Alix, very understandably, shouts both of them down. She notes that she has no idea what they're talking about, but she's not going to do anything against her will. And she will escape eventually.
Duncan's response is that no one escapes the Cheysuli. Hey, asshole, I thought you said she wasn't a prisoner? Finn agrees with him, and Alix runs off, distraught. She does take a moment to wonder what animal would be sent to fetch her.
I guess that means she hasn't figured out the hawk from before was Duncan. Well, I suppose we did establish that Alix isn't the brightest bulb in the box. Also, exactly how many times has Alix run off in the woods by now?
Anyway, she's met by Storr, Finn's wolf, who insists he wasn't sent, but he came because Alix was in pain. Alix thinks he sounds like a wise old man, and Storr says that he's a wise old wolf. I'm intrigued briefly about how lir age versus their partners. Finn is younger than Duncan, but Cai doesn't sound old. I vaguely recall one of the protagonists of a later book getting a cat that was so young that it was practically a cub. And I think I remember seeing a lirless Cheysuli get berated because his lir would have been doomed to live an ordinary lifespan for an animal and had undoubtedly died by then. So I guess maybe an animal of any age could do the bonding?
It does intrigue me though, that Finn, who is clearly meant to be read as young and hotheaded, has a mature, older partner. Do they all get partners that balance their personalities?
Ugh, then we get into rapist apologia and victim blaming. Alix asks how Storr could be wise and trustworthy, yet belong to Finn. Storr says that Finn is not always so "hasty and unwise" (...those are two words for it. I'd say "a fucking rapist" myself), but Alix confused him. Finn saw her and wanted her, and then found out she's Cheysuli and his sister, and he's only had Duncan for so long.
...
1) I'm sobbing for poor lonely Finn here, really I am.
2) None of this is Alix's fault.
3) Does confusion really excuse any of Finn's behavior here, Storr? I think not.
4) DOES THAT MEAN THAT THE ABDUCTION WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE IF THEY WEREN'T RELATED?!
Probably. Gross, I hate you Storr.
Anyway, Alix says Finn won't have her. Storr says she'll have to take someone someday. And when she calls Finn a beast, Storr sighs and reminds her that whatever name she gives Finn fits her too, since she's also Cheysuli.
No actually. For once, Alix isn't being racist. Finn isn't a beast because he's Cheysuli. He's a beast because he's a rapist. Alix hasn't raped anyone. So NO. It doesn't apply to her.
Anyway, Alix wants to go home. Storr points out that she's different from the others, which Alix tries to deny. Storr says that the qu'mahlin applies to her too. Alix says that she's his granddaughter. Are we repeating conversations even with the fucking wolf now?!
But Storr does make a VERY good point: if Shaine really cared about Alix being his granddaughter, she'd be in the capitol.
Anyway, Storr leaves and Duncan arrives. He apologizes for Finn and says that she shouldn't "give credence to his words". Um, which words? The part where he agreed with you when you said that no one escapes the Cheysuli, Duncan?
Anyway, Alix tries to wish herself away and when that doesn't work, she says that Duncan is nothing like Finn. Which, while true, seems like a forced non-sequitor. She says that Duncan can't make her believe he's as angry or as cruel as Finn.
Duncan starts to explain: Finn was three when the qu'mahlin began, and doesn't remember life during peace time. He "knows only the darkness and blood and pain of Shaine's war.". For his part, Duncan was five, and he remembers waking up in the middle of the night while their pavilion was set on fire and trampled by Homanan horses.
So now we have ages for both brothers: the qu'mahlin began twenty-five years ago. So Finn is twenty-eight, and Duncan is thirty. I feel like this was a mistake honestly, because I'm supposed to see Finn as comic relief more than a villain. While there's no real excuse for his behavior, I might be more willing to give a young man more leeway than a twenty-eight year old adult. He's ELEVEN years older than Alix. TEN years older than Carillon. He knows fucking better.
Alix wants to know why he's telling her this, and he says that it's so she can understand why Finn "plagues [her]". He's bitter about Shaine, Homanans in general, and that Alix wants Carillon and not Finn.
...what? I don't understand this logic! She doesn't want Finn because he kidnapped her and is a fucking rapist dickweed! Even if he were well behaved, she doesn't KNOW him! How is this any kind of excuse?!
Alix doesn't say this of course, she just points out that Finn is her brother. Duncan says that they were raised apart, so why shouldn't Finn desire a woman, even after he learned they're related?
...because they're related. Duncan, this isn't a complicated concept. No one's saying he has to shut his feelings off entirely. But he's her brother and he has to come to terms with that. It's not Alix's fault or problem.
If Luke Skywalker and Jon Snow can figure out that they can't pursue a relationship with their attractive female relatives, Finn can too.
So then something happens:
Alix stared at him, hand still caught in his. The stubborn conflict she felt rise at Finn's name faded beneath a new—and more frightening—comprehension. She saw before her a solemn-faced warrior who seemed to be waiting for something from her.
For a moment she nearly rose and fled, unable to face the conflict. But she restrained the instinct. There was the faintest whisper of knowledge within her soul, the realization of a power she had never thought she might have, and it astonished her.
She asks Duncan about the tahlmorra she's supposed to be feeling, and he says she'll know it. She asks if every Cheysuli has it, and he says that it's something that binds them all, but "it has weakened in many of us because so many of us have been lost and forced to take Homanan women to get children"
His mouth twisted into a wry smile. "I am not proud of that. But it must be done, if we are to survive. But there are some of us who feel tahlmorra more clearly than others."
a) Wow, okay, so Duncan is a rape apologist. I suppose we knew this was coming, but it's...good? to see it spelled out so clearly.
Congratulations, Duncan. You are terrible. I'm so sorry that you've been "forced" to rape women.
b) Also this doesn't even make sense. The purge started twenty five years ago. So most of the new children with Homanan women aren't even adults yet, so how do you know they don't feel Tahlmorra?
c) Also Alix DOES feel tahlmorra, and SHE's half Homanan. (Oh, but she's "special".)
UGH. This is so infuriating.
Also d) Wow, thanks for making the ENTIRE CLAN of Native American analogues rapists or rape apologists!
Anyway, Duncan intends to go to the shar tahl to confirm what he thinks is his destiny. While saying this, he's smoothing his thumb over the back of her palm. Because what's more romantic than talking about how your people rape Homanan women.
Anyway, Duncan tells us more backstory about the prophecy: it's never wrong, it came from the Firstborn, who were "sired by the old gods". Duncan follows it, and would give his life to see it fulfilled. Actually he knows that he'll give his life to see it fulfilled.
He doesn't know the specifics of his death, only that he'll die serving it. Wow. Fun. Again, he says that Alix will understand when she's spoken to the shar tahl. She asks if Finn follows the same tahlmorra. And Duncan laughs and says that Finn follows a sort of tahlmorra, and he thinks he makes his own.
This is the sort of line that makes me think we're not supposed to see Finn as a rapist. We're supposed to see him as an amusing hot head. But sorry, NO.
Anyway, Alix says severely that she has no part in Finn's tahlmorra. Duncan agrees. Hers is entwined with another man. She asks if it's Carillon, he's silent, and she understands. She stands up and says that if she's Cheysuli, she'll make her own tahlmorra, like Finn.
This is the one time I think Finn is a good role model. You go, Alix. Fuck ALL this shit.
She tells Duncan that he can't force her. And he says he wouldn't. There's no need, her own tahlmorra will. Alix runs off into the shadows of the camp.
And the chapter ends. Thank god.
I feel like I'd be more tolerant of the flaws of the book if I liked ANY of the characters. Alix is the closest to likable. At least I WANT to like her. The racism is annoying though. I know she'll get past it, but it'd be a lot easier if she could avoid excusing genocide just because she doesn't like a few jerks. There's another issue though: Alix's reactions simply don't make sense. And yeah, I know that people respond to trauma in all different ways. But Alix seems to focus on the damnedest things, and there seems to be very little logic in her responses.
Carillon's a blatant racist. I know he's going to get over that eventually, and he's kind of already taking some of those steps. But he's not there yet, and the repetition is really annoying.
And Finn and Duncan are just terrible. Not only has this chapter completely destroyed what's left of Duncan's appeal from last chapter, it's also basically established the entire race as unapologetic rapists. The only male character so far who isn't a rapist or rape apologist is the white guy. So yeah, that's racist bullshit.
As a reminder, this thing had FOUR STARS on Goodreads.
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She didn't figure out there was a Firstborn in Pride of Princes either...
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