Up to page 192
'I did not love Dameon any more than he loved me.' Elspeth is usually quite intelligent, but when is comes to Dameon...
Up to page 253 (this book had to come out when I have had almost no free time!)
I don't have any really exciting insights, I just wanted to mention that despite being a solid Rushton supporter for the entire series, I think I may be starting to come around to Dameon! I've always been slightly suspicious of him but I actually feel myself warming up to him a lot! No doubt this is an indicator that something bad is going to happen to him :(
Haha pizzagreen! I love that you actually "reactioned" the whole book :) that was great fun to read!
Iolaferocious, I sympathise with you about not having the time you want to read! It's absolutely chockas for me too at this time of year! Gone are the days when I could devote entire days to reading... I wish I could just run away to some remote location and be a recluse for as long as it takes to finish the book! :D
I hope you are wrong about Dameon being built up for a tragic end! That would be beyond sad... Unless it was done in a really cool, plot-enhancing, important way... I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
On another note, reflecting on Pages 630 - 633
Oh my... I have been waiting for this moment ever since I read the first few books and realised Dameon was in love with Elspeth. This was the scene I was looking forward to the most in the whole book - not destroying Sentinel or Dragon being crowned as Queen or the Destroyer being revealed - ha ha! Nope - it was all about these two.
Having been quite obsessed about Elspeth and Dameon, writing about the inevitable 'confession,' for years, I must say I had terribly high hopes for this scene and am happy to say that Isobelle completely met and surpassed my expectations!
Not only was it sweet and poignant and sad... it was romantic! Did not expect that... (Perhaps I was expecting something more tragic and angsty?) Flying high above the earth in a Beforetime flying machine at dawn when the rest of the crew are elsewise asleep, Dameon calls Elspeth a 'fool' and passionately kisses her. I loved that he got to explain himself as well and not just confess. I loved all the light imagery in the scene.
And my favourite part - the metaphysical landscape reflecting the character's emotions - the Desolation of the earth echoing Dameon's inner desolation at not being loved by Elspeth (dark shadows under his eyes, pale, tired/ sick, grief-stricken) giving way at once to the relief of confession, which is described in metaphors of light, hope, passion and beauty as they move away from Desolation to a stunning sunrise over the sea. "Soft sunlight touched his face and it was weary and yet peaceful as if all the anguish and tension I had seen since leaving Habitat had suddenly drained away. He was beautiful and I could not look at him..." And later, "'Oh Dameon, it is over. We have reached the end of the Desolation. We are flying over the sea.'"
Beautiful writing Isobelle. Just beautiful. My heart is sore from the bittersweetness of it all, but I am quite pleased :)
Song of Dawn, days like this I miss being a teenager, when I had so much more time to devote to reading! This book has definitely been eating into my sleep time as that's really the only thing I've been able to cut! I'm hoping to finish this weekend, I can't wait to read everyone's thoughts in the spoiler thread!
Spoilers up to page 633
With regards to the 'Dameon building up to a tragic end' thing - I can't remember the page number but at one point he and Elspeth were talking about burials etc and he mentioned he would like to be cremated, Elspeth said she felt something she was hoping was not the edge of a premonition. So I feel like it's not looking good for poor old Dameon.
On the declaration of love - it was flawlessly written! I loved the kiss although I'm not sure how I feel about him empathising to her to make her want to kiss him back
pg 629 - 633
Oh Elspeth, I'm glad you finally realised what everyone else has known since Ashling.
Is it just me, or is Balboa's name mentioned a ridiculous amount of times? I swear the for the first half of the book, she gets twice as many mentions from Elspeth as Rushton!
lolaferocious, yes, I know exactly what you mean about not getting enough sleep! Ha ha - I feel severely lacking in that department at the moment... I too hope to finish the book this weekend so I can actually get onto important stuff that needs doing. Having said that, however, I'm probably going to be entirely disorientated until at least Christmas! (I have a feeling the book's going to haunt me for a while).
On Dameon and Ahmedri discussing preferred burial traditions - yes, I remember reading that and being positively terrified for him all day. I was like no Isobelle, no! No foreshadowing please! As you can see, I'm in denial... ! !lol
CindaShadow, I agree that Balboa's name was mentioned entirely too many times in the first half of the book. I was already sick of her by the first few mentions. However, I was impressed by Dameon's gentle treatment of her and his consideration for her feelings despite her appalling behaviour.
Page 677
I love Hendon! And Ana's connection with the android is so sweet! No wonder she had a hard time leaving him when firstly, she named him after her Uncle! And then he saved her life... I have a feeling this won't be the last time we see Hendon. How cool would it be if he barged in to save the day? It would be such an interesting dynamic - questioning the nature and humanity of AI compared with the destructiveness of Sentinel.
I also pictured Hendon looking a little like Star Wars C-3PO and this funny imagined scenario popped in my head of Ana flying the glide back to the Land with Hendon, landing somewhere near the Technoguild premise and dismounting in front of an open-mouthed Garth and introducing the Technoguilder to Hendon. I can just imagine Hendon saying something like: "Nice to meet you Sir," in his calm, polite voice and Garth spluttering and mouthing wordlessly; "But how did you - Ana, what - what is that? How???"
Page 834
Yay! The roguish Swallow is back! That scene took me all the way back to 'Ashling'. I bet Swallow fans squeed just a little bit at that tiny kiss.
Page 841
I loved the description of the statues! I wonder if Cassy deliberately captured the spirit forms of some of the main characters or if the work is more a symbolic representation of hope.
Page 853
Oh wow... The last Red Queen was betrayed 200 years ago...?? It makes sense considering the buildings are old and the Palace is in ruins, but that means that either the whole of the Redland are in some sort of time warp or Dragon was put in a cryopod!! But how is that possible? When? Where... for what purpose? Maybe she was alive when Hannah and Cassy were in the Redland?! Maybe they put her in one to keep her alive until the right time...
It'd also make sense because of the strange state of her mind and her connection with Maruman, Gavyn and Rasial. She would have been asleep for so long she would have known the Dream trails so well. I remember in 'The Keeping Place' when the sleeping princess in the Empath/Coercer song-story resembled her and the 'Sleeping Beauty' idea also threads throughout the whole series which points to this as being a possibility.
Hmmm... so many questions.
@Song of Dawn - I can't believe I didn't make that connection....spoilers for the ending
Of course the Dragon in a cryopod is thematically related to the Sleeping Beauty song. Stupid Larana funaga
8 years ago
Sun Nov 22 2015, 04:13pmdeb
Edited by mod: sidebar filler lalalalalalalalalallal Up to page 914
"Hush little Merimyn,' Hannah said softly. 'Sleep now and let us share this long dream..." Oh... Maruman!!! My heart ached for you at that bit. To think you were alive in the Beforetime and put in cryopods with Hannah, Cassy and the others to escape the destruction of the Great White! Hmmm... and then you must have slept years longer so that you managed to outlive Hannah and Cassy. I wonder how many years it's been since the Beforetime? At this point, I'm guessing more than several hundred and going closer to 1000 or a couple of 1000 years...? Still not sure though :D
Up to page 998
Agghhh! Elspeth is creeping around near the lair of the beast - the suspense is killing me!! But did she not recognise the flashing yellow light and the water dripping into water from her many tunnel dreams?
Pages 1043-1049
Aggh! This was excruciating to read! I kept on biting my nails, wondering who would be killed next - I totally thought it was going to be a bloodbath...
And Lidge... poor, poor Lidge... :(
FINIS! Spoilers to the end
Wow... that was rather intense. I almost screamed in happiness when Hendon came and turned out to be Sentinel. I really didn't want her to die! What a fitting ending for Elspeth to go to Eden in the end - it has a very mythological/ heaven feeling to it, especially how Maruman said it was a "reward." I have this vision of Rushton and Elspeth communicating to the others via computer to stay in touch... that would be lovely.
Aghh... that was bittersweet... and the goodbye's, particularly Dragon's were heart-breaking.
Yay! Now I can sleep !lol
Page 819
Oh My Gosh. The feels! The tears! This HURTS.
Oh gosh Song of Dawn I agree
I lost it with Dragon's goodbye. The last 11 or so pages I just sat in my chair crying. I finished the book this morning after an all nighter reading the last 235 or so pages. Gosh such a great book.
Up to page 193 Actually I've read further but this is the bit which I can't not blurt out.
We've known that Dameon loves Elspeth for books now. But as the book is going on, and especially in chapter 11 so far (just into part 2, damn having to work) I have this pit in my stomach about the emotional wreckage I can feel coming. I hope I'm wrong.
Also, 376 Conrad K Kat and Song_of_dawn...
I am shocked too! I thought for sure one of the previous books mentioned Dameon having sandy coloured hair, although maybe it was strawberry blond and darkened? I'm all for more redhead representation though ;)
Conrad K Cat, I squueeeed at that too!
I do believe that this is the first time Dameon's hair colour is ever mentioned. I never imagined he'd be a ginger, I somehow thought he'd have brown/ light brown hair. I love IC's attempt to humanise him and make him more real, vulnerable and down-to-earth in this book.
Song_of_Dawn
I was almost certain Dameon is described as brunette with freckles but might hav ea slightly ginger beard? is that right?
Edit: Modified by moderator to add spoiler tags correctly.
Up to page 300-ish
I think the Eden - the animal version of habitat could be/become the freerunning braud
Ashlings' guildleader
8 years ago
Ashlings' guildleader
Master of Obernewtyn
Page 914 (before I forget what page this was on)
We finally got a description of Maruman's colour!
"...mottled fluff the colour of smoke with a dash of sulpher yellow..."
