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i_read_what2020-02-10 10:36 pm
kalinara) wrote in i_read_what2020-02-10 10:36 pm
Shapechangers - Book Four - Chapter Two
Last time. Fuck, I don't even remember what happened last time. It was THAT boring.
Oh yes, everyone went to the capitol which presumably is under siege, but somehow they got in without encountering ANY enemy troops. Yahoo.
So we're with Alix, who is where Duncan left her last chapter, hiding "safe" amidst rubble. She's understandably anxious. Cai tries to comfort her, but she politely tells him that while she respects him, he's not Duncan and isn't the father of her baby. Cai points out that he's there to protect her, not take Duncan's place. And Alix is sheepish, as she sometimes forgets she's talking to a bird rather than a man.
I actually really like this exchange, and I find it fascinating. The lir are animals, and if they don't bond with humans, they apparently live and die according to a normal animal life span. But they have a human intellect. Is that something they always have, or does that manifest once they bond. What is a lir's life like when their bondmates are busy?
Anyway, Cai notes that he's not so different, and that his wings and talons don't make him insensitive to a woman's fears.
Apparently birds can be sexist, who knew? But anyway, Cai and Alix talk about the possibility of Duncan's death. Cai doesn't give her empty reassurances, but notes that if Duncan dies, Cai will be lirless and Alix widowed, but Duncan would have died content, having done what he could for the prophecy.
Alix thinks the prophecy is a curse. UNDERSTANDABLY. Cai talks about the prophecy and tahlmorra a little more. It starts off pretty interesting since it sounds like Cai and the other lir have a lot more knowledge about the intricacies of the prophecy, having been made by the gods before men. Unfortunately, Cai won't say anything useful, so the conversation dissolves into the usual repetitive "it's your destiny" bullshit.
Finally Alix says that she wasn't meant to wait patiently or silently (Cai interjects with "you are never silent" and I want her to punch him in the dick. If birds had dicks. She can punch Duncan in the dick instead. I bet Cai would feel it), and Cai argues with her:
She did not smile. “I will not remain here.”
He wished it.
“I wish to be with him.”
Silence crept into the ruin. Then Cai shifted on the beam and sent a brief shower of debris raining down on her.
Liren, he has said what he wants from you.
“I will work myself into a frenzy,” she said calmly, “and that will do the child no good at all.”
Yet if you go, you risk both of you.
She closed her eyes. “Duncan does what he must, and expects me not to question it. But I do, Cai. I must. There is something-different—in myself. I cannot sit calmly by and wait for him to return to me…if he can.”
Liren…
Alix opened her eyes, decision made. “I must do what I must, bird. Perhaps it is my own tahlmorra.”
I love how this is all framed in the context of what Duncan wants. Fuck Duncan. Anyway Cai notes that he can't gainsay her. He calls her child the gift of the gods, and when Alix says that she knows it's her tahlmorra to carry the baby to full term, he says that she speaks as a learned one who has the magic of the shar tahls. Of course she does.
And what magic do the shar tahls have actually? We've gone an entire book, three quarters of which Alix spent living with the Cheysuli. Why do we not know this answer? Maybe if Roberson spent less time giving us the same conversation five times over, she'd have had time to introduce Alix to more Cheysuli than just Duncan, Finn and Raissa.
So anyway, Alix makes her way through the ruins, stealthily. She does pretty well with it, even though Cai keeps trying to urge her to stay back. She glimpses a cloaked man who seems to have the grace of the Cheysuli, but remembers in time that there are no cloaked Cheysuli on this mission. (HOW DID THEY GET IN???) It was an Ihlini.
Interestingly, unlike the Cheysuli warriors, Alix is still able to communicate with Cai. They're not able to block her. But the effort does drain her, so she breaks the link. She starts getting lost in the city, which makes some sense, seeing as how she's only been there once before.
Then she hears a child cry in a distance. She finds the body of a dead woman and follows the sound of crying to a baby in one of the charred buildings. She takes off her jerkin and wraps him up in it, and continues walking. I like this bit too. I like when the protagonists do random decent things like rescue babies. It's also a suitably creepy ambiance.
Alix sees Atvian and Solindish soldiers at every gates and wonders if Tynstar has broken through "Shaine's wards" yet. These wards are going to be important to the climax, so I'm really annoyed that we're only JUST hearing about them now. What are wards? Are they magic? Who creates/maintains them? She called them Shaine's wards, is Shaine a magician in his own right? Is this Cheysuli or something else? If it's Cheysuli, why did NO ONE mention the wards when they talked about protecting the palace?
Anyway, she sees the cloaked figure again and watches as he's confronted by a Cheysuli warrior. After a moment, Alix sees that it's Duncan. The Ihlini offers an alliance, pointing out that they're very alike and they could use their powers in concert. Duncan notes that their only similarity is in their determination to serve their respective gods. So they fight.
Actually this is interesting too. We've heard so far that Cheysuli and Ihlini each are blocked from their most significant magical gifts in each other's presence. But the Ihlini's words imply that it IS possible IF they're not acting against each other.
So they fight. Alix horrifies herself by wishing for the Ihlini's death. Duncan seems to get the upper hand until a Solindish soldier appears and distracts him. The Ihlini starts to garotte Duncan (go Ihlini!), but Alix (after putting the baby down) draws her knife and attacks. She manages to kill the Ihlini, but the Solindish soldier comes after her, only to be beheaded by Carillon.
Alix pulls the Ihlini off Duncan, and carefully removes the wire from his throat. There's a nice cradle the husband moment, before Duncan wakes up and is IMMEDIATELY a dick:
He looked directly at Carillon. “Tell me I did not hear her,” he rasped. “Tell me I somehow imagined she was here.”
Carillon began to smile. His eyes slid past Duncan to Alix, and his smile became a grin. Then he shook his head.
“I will not lie to you, shapechanger. You have only to look.”
God, it is so annoying that BOTH Finn and Carillon have better reactions to Alix's self-autonomy than her actual love interest:
“Alix…”
She bit her lip in response to the ragged sound of his voice. Then she shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably.
“I am sorry, Duncan, that you are burdened with such a disobedient woman. I am not at all the proper sort for a clan leader’s cheysula.”
She saw his eyes travel over her blood-smeared face to the dark stains on her ragged shirt. One hand reached out and touched her arm, tracing the sticky flesh. Then he drew up his legs into a cross-legged position and sat there. Silent.
I'd like to read Alix's line as snarky, but unfortunately, I don't think that's the intent. And that makes me so damn sad.
Anyway, Alix suddenly remembers the baby, and she frantically goes back for it. But sadly, the baby is cold and not breathing. Oh no.
Credit where it's due, this is a legitimately painful scene. Alix is utterly devastated. She keeps saying the baby is hers and blames herself for failing to protect him. Duncan, dick that he is, puts his hand on her stomach and says "Here is our child." God, fuck off and die.
Anyway, Alix realizes she basically had chosen Duncan over the baby. Which isn't fair at all. She had no way to know that the baby would die. Duncan manages to piss me off again:
“It was only a child!”
“I know, small one. But he was more fortunate than most. He did not know what he faced, before it claimed him.” Something crept through his eyes and she saw the vestiges of remembered horror. “He did not know what it was to look into the eyes of death so close.”
Alix shivered and pressed herself against him. “Duncan, I could not bear to lose you. I could not bear it.”
“Well, you have made certain I will live a little longer.” He smiled crookedly at her and traced the bloodstains on her nose. “I have taken myself a warrior instead of a woman.”
I hate him so fucking much. Anyway, Carillon calls their attention to the palace in front of them and says that Homana-Mujhar waits for them. They proceed and the chapter ends.
Oh yes, everyone went to the capitol which presumably is under siege, but somehow they got in without encountering ANY enemy troops. Yahoo.
So we're with Alix, who is where Duncan left her last chapter, hiding "safe" amidst rubble. She's understandably anxious. Cai tries to comfort her, but she politely tells him that while she respects him, he's not Duncan and isn't the father of her baby. Cai points out that he's there to protect her, not take Duncan's place. And Alix is sheepish, as she sometimes forgets she's talking to a bird rather than a man.
I actually really like this exchange, and I find it fascinating. The lir are animals, and if they don't bond with humans, they apparently live and die according to a normal animal life span. But they have a human intellect. Is that something they always have, or does that manifest once they bond. What is a lir's life like when their bondmates are busy?
Anyway, Cai notes that he's not so different, and that his wings and talons don't make him insensitive to a woman's fears.
Apparently birds can be sexist, who knew? But anyway, Cai and Alix talk about the possibility of Duncan's death. Cai doesn't give her empty reassurances, but notes that if Duncan dies, Cai will be lirless and Alix widowed, but Duncan would have died content, having done what he could for the prophecy.
Alix thinks the prophecy is a curse. UNDERSTANDABLY. Cai talks about the prophecy and tahlmorra a little more. It starts off pretty interesting since it sounds like Cai and the other lir have a lot more knowledge about the intricacies of the prophecy, having been made by the gods before men. Unfortunately, Cai won't say anything useful, so the conversation dissolves into the usual repetitive "it's your destiny" bullshit.
Finally Alix says that she wasn't meant to wait patiently or silently (Cai interjects with "you are never silent" and I want her to punch him in the dick. If birds had dicks. She can punch Duncan in the dick instead. I bet Cai would feel it), and Cai argues with her:
She did not smile. “I will not remain here.”
He wished it.
“I wish to be with him.”
Silence crept into the ruin. Then Cai shifted on the beam and sent a brief shower of debris raining down on her.
Liren, he has said what he wants from you.
“I will work myself into a frenzy,” she said calmly, “and that will do the child no good at all.”
Yet if you go, you risk both of you.
She closed her eyes. “Duncan does what he must, and expects me not to question it. But I do, Cai. I must. There is something-different—in myself. I cannot sit calmly by and wait for him to return to me…if he can.”
Liren…
Alix opened her eyes, decision made. “I must do what I must, bird. Perhaps it is my own tahlmorra.”
I love how this is all framed in the context of what Duncan wants. Fuck Duncan. Anyway Cai notes that he can't gainsay her. He calls her child the gift of the gods, and when Alix says that she knows it's her tahlmorra to carry the baby to full term, he says that she speaks as a learned one who has the magic of the shar tahls. Of course she does.
And what magic do the shar tahls have actually? We've gone an entire book, three quarters of which Alix spent living with the Cheysuli. Why do we not know this answer? Maybe if Roberson spent less time giving us the same conversation five times over, she'd have had time to introduce Alix to more Cheysuli than just Duncan, Finn and Raissa.
So anyway, Alix makes her way through the ruins, stealthily. She does pretty well with it, even though Cai keeps trying to urge her to stay back. She glimpses a cloaked man who seems to have the grace of the Cheysuli, but remembers in time that there are no cloaked Cheysuli on this mission. (HOW DID THEY GET IN???) It was an Ihlini.
Interestingly, unlike the Cheysuli warriors, Alix is still able to communicate with Cai. They're not able to block her. But the effort does drain her, so she breaks the link. She starts getting lost in the city, which makes some sense, seeing as how she's only been there once before.
Then she hears a child cry in a distance. She finds the body of a dead woman and follows the sound of crying to a baby in one of the charred buildings. She takes off her jerkin and wraps him up in it, and continues walking. I like this bit too. I like when the protagonists do random decent things like rescue babies. It's also a suitably creepy ambiance.
Alix sees Atvian and Solindish soldiers at every gates and wonders if Tynstar has broken through "Shaine's wards" yet. These wards are going to be important to the climax, so I'm really annoyed that we're only JUST hearing about them now. What are wards? Are they magic? Who creates/maintains them? She called them Shaine's wards, is Shaine a magician in his own right? Is this Cheysuli or something else? If it's Cheysuli, why did NO ONE mention the wards when they talked about protecting the palace?
Anyway, she sees the cloaked figure again and watches as he's confronted by a Cheysuli warrior. After a moment, Alix sees that it's Duncan. The Ihlini offers an alliance, pointing out that they're very alike and they could use their powers in concert. Duncan notes that their only similarity is in their determination to serve their respective gods. So they fight.
Actually this is interesting too. We've heard so far that Cheysuli and Ihlini each are blocked from their most significant magical gifts in each other's presence. But the Ihlini's words imply that it IS possible IF they're not acting against each other.
So they fight. Alix horrifies herself by wishing for the Ihlini's death. Duncan seems to get the upper hand until a Solindish soldier appears and distracts him. The Ihlini starts to garotte Duncan (go Ihlini!), but Alix (after putting the baby down) draws her knife and attacks. She manages to kill the Ihlini, but the Solindish soldier comes after her, only to be beheaded by Carillon.
Alix pulls the Ihlini off Duncan, and carefully removes the wire from his throat. There's a nice cradle the husband moment, before Duncan wakes up and is IMMEDIATELY a dick:
He looked directly at Carillon. “Tell me I did not hear her,” he rasped. “Tell me I somehow imagined she was here.”
Carillon began to smile. His eyes slid past Duncan to Alix, and his smile became a grin. Then he shook his head.
“I will not lie to you, shapechanger. You have only to look.”
God, it is so annoying that BOTH Finn and Carillon have better reactions to Alix's self-autonomy than her actual love interest:
“Alix…”
She bit her lip in response to the ragged sound of his voice. Then she shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably.
“I am sorry, Duncan, that you are burdened with such a disobedient woman. I am not at all the proper sort for a clan leader’s cheysula.”
She saw his eyes travel over her blood-smeared face to the dark stains on her ragged shirt. One hand reached out and touched her arm, tracing the sticky flesh. Then he drew up his legs into a cross-legged position and sat there. Silent.
I'd like to read Alix's line as snarky, but unfortunately, I don't think that's the intent. And that makes me so damn sad.
Anyway, Alix suddenly remembers the baby, and she frantically goes back for it. But sadly, the baby is cold and not breathing. Oh no.
Credit where it's due, this is a legitimately painful scene. Alix is utterly devastated. She keeps saying the baby is hers and blames herself for failing to protect him. Duncan, dick that he is, puts his hand on her stomach and says "Here is our child." God, fuck off and die.
Anyway, Alix realizes she basically had chosen Duncan over the baby. Which isn't fair at all. She had no way to know that the baby would die. Duncan manages to piss me off again:
“It was only a child!”
“I know, small one. But he was more fortunate than most. He did not know what he faced, before it claimed him.” Something crept through his eyes and she saw the vestiges of remembered horror. “He did not know what it was to look into the eyes of death so close.”
Alix shivered and pressed herself against him. “Duncan, I could not bear to lose you. I could not bear it.”
“Well, you have made certain I will live a little longer.” He smiled crookedly at her and traced the bloodstains on her nose. “I have taken myself a warrior instead of a woman.”
I hate him so fucking much. Anyway, Carillon calls their attention to the palace in front of them and says that Homana-Mujhar waits for them. They proceed and the chapter ends.
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Oh yes, everyone went to the capitol which presumably is under siege, but somehow they got in without encountering ANY enemy troops. Yahoo.
Velriset: I guess that the troops might be clustered around the keep? Still, should there not be people watching the rest of the city?
Do we actually get some answers on what the lir do, then?
Apparently birds can be sexist, who knew?
Unfortunately I knew that already...
Since it does not seem to give many tangible benefits outside of peace, I can see why she would think it that.
(Cai interjects with "you are never silent" and I want her to punch him in the dick. If birds had dicks. She can punch Duncan in the dick instead. I bet Cai would feel it)
Some of them do, actually, but only the more "basal" ones, like the waterfowl.
Hmm, Cai seems to be somewhat decent, but he does put Duncan's wishes very high. Interesting.
Suitably creepy it is!
Alix sees Atvian and Solindish soldiers at every gates and wonders if Tynstar has broken through "Shaine's wards" yet.
Why does he have wards if he cannot use magic? I also think this undermines who Shaine is supposed to be a bit.
Oh, she is actually helpful here? That is great!
He looked directly at Carillon. “Tell me I did not hear her,” he rasped. “Tell me I somehow imagined she was here.”
Alix immediately wrapped the garotte around his throat again and pulled as hard as she could. Carillon was too dunbfounded to react, and so Duncan died.
...The baby is literally the first time this book actually made me sad as it was meant to.
Who cares that you have a child with her, Duncan!
Now they go the palace? Only now?
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