"Ferrus Manus was not renowned for his beauty. He did not haunt the dreams of men in the way of Fulgrim or Sanguinius or Horus, but he was beautiful, as a charnabal sabre or a hand-wrought suit of armour could be beautiful. Akurduana saw now why Fulgrim loved this Gorgon so, and why that love was reciprocated so fiercely.
He was perfect, perfect in every way."
Ferrus Manus: The Gorgon of Medusa by David Guymer
Emperor's Children First Palatine Akurduana adding to the pile of scenes of Space Marines being extremely normal about primarchs. Also reflecting on his father's marriage to Ferrus Manus, I guess, lol.
I think perhaps the most devastating part about Vaisra seeing Nezha as weak and unfit for having a position of power, is that Vaisra was right. Nezha was a naive, hopeful boy and the only one who believed the lie of a good and better Republic for the nation of Nikan and its inhabitants. Jinzha, the first born, always knew it was a charade and resonated with his father's plans, for what we can tell. Nezha did always believe on a better unified country were there were not dispute between parties of powerful people, guiding the future of the nation.
Rin's "I just don't want the world to break you" and his ramblings while drinking wine the night he betrayed her, talking about the lie of a better nation with a balanced distribution of power was the cherry on top of the pain that Nezha caused me, and Rin.
Rin was right, Nezha was so, so stupid.
What makes it more painful and unbearable is that he was the only one standing at the end, facing the loss of his love, his friends and family, and the realization that probably, the nation he once was part of would get totally erased by Hesperians. All of that, without being able to die.
I started reading the fan translation of Mo Du - 12 chapters in and it's SO GOOD. I'm so intrigued, I adore Fei Du and his ridiculous flirting, plus all the mystery that clearly surrounds him.
Once upon a time I made a post about my thoughts on Gideon the Ninth and I got a lot of positive response to it. So now that I finished the series I thought I’d give an update.
To sum up my update: I need Alecto the Ninth NEOWWW
Congratulations, you guys have indoctrined me into your shadow cult. Boy has it been a wild ride, though.
For one, I soft dnf’d Harrow in the middle. Which is crazy considering it’s my favorite book of the three. I was mostly annoyed that my girl Gideon wasn’t there and that the plot felt pretty loose despite the fact that it tells you from the start exactly where it’s going. So I put it down for months and didn’t think I’d ever pick it back up. But somewhere in there I started craving that story again and after picking up where I left off, I finished Harrow within days.
Five stars. Tamsyn Muir is a genius.
If you weren’t aware by now, I’m about to spoil it.
The reason this book is my favorite is because I love the way Muir plays with perspective (second person? that’s incredible) and gives arcs to characters who died before they got depth (was not expecting the Ortus redemption arc but I greatly appreciate it). It also answered pretty much every question I had left from the first book. Namely, who is the og Gideon and who is the emperor’s greatest enemy. I also love anything space related and this book had so much space! I mean, the entire thing was on a spaceship. One of my favorite tropes too is characters from a distant past in the present, and we got not one, not two, not even three, but four characters who fit that trope! I especially like how clearly out of place John is. It just scratches an itch in my brain.
I was also really invested in the Harrow and Gideon the First beef. I mean the beef was so good that Gideon, who was desparate to kill Harrow, had to stop to give props to her. I find it funny how it started right when I picked up the book again. If I kept reading one chapter longer that first time I would have been hooked, not that it matters now.
The prose in this book was just as beautiful as its predecessor’s. My favorite quote is “And you walked to your death like a lover”.
I could go on, but I also want to talk about Nona. This one got a 3.5 stars from me. I didn’t like the setting as much as the dark settings from the first two. And obviously if I didn’t like the lack of Gideon in HtN, I didn’t like the lack of Gideon and Harrow here. Of course I was excited when Gideon did finally appear, but I was quickly disappointed. What made her such a great character to me was while she was sarcastic and traumatized, she was still inherently kind. This Gideon is a jerk. Hopefully, the Gideon I know and love returns.
What I did like was Hot Sauce. New best girl. I also mentioned in my first post that Camilla was my favorite so I loved that she was a central character in Nona. Muir really knows how to spoil me.
My favorite part was John explaining his backstory. It was slow and a bit confusing at times, but wow was it amazing. And cows have feelings you know.
Looking back, I’m glad we got context for the civilizations outside of the nine houses. As I already stated, I like the original setting a lot more, but it also makes a lot of sense that they aren’t alone in the universe and that other people do not like the crazy death wizards.
I was so hyped to finally meet Alecto. I really did not expect to like her as much as I already do. So little was given about her, but it’s all so fascinating. Her body issues, the way she speaks, her attitude. Alecto is already an icon and I really want to read about her soon, but I also want Muir to take her time with her craft to make an equally amazing story.
I love rereading books or rewatching a show and looking at the characters like. I know what happens to you. I know what you become. I know everything before you even have an idea of it.
