#to really interesting interactions regarding what everyone considerable half life regarding spoilers

[brbgensokyo]

one of these days i want to be able to be able to articulate my thoughts on modern fan culture and the decline of spoiler etiquette

[terramythos]

TerraMythos' 2020 Reading Challenge - Book 31 of 26

Title: The Serpent Sea (2012) (The Books of the Raksura #2)

Author: Martha Wells

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Adventure, LGBT Protagonist, Third-Person

Rating: 8/10

Date Began: 10/30/2020

Date Finished: 11/08/2020

Moon, once a solitary wanderer, has found a place among his kind-- consort to the sister-queen Jade in the Raksuran court of Indigo Cloud. After fighting off the insidious Fell, the dwindling colony returns to their ancestral home among the mountain trees of the Reaches to replenish their population. However, they discover someone has stolen an artifact essential for the giant tree's survival; the seed at its heart.  Now Moon and a group of Raksura must find the missing seed. Their journey takes them to The Serpent Sea and a strange, moving landmass; a city built on the back of a living leviathan. Moon must infiltrate the city and unravel the mystery behind the seed’s disappearance before it’s too late. 

Jade had said Indigo Cloud had had consorts fight to defend the colony, but Emerald Twilight was too secure to need defending. Moon had proved he was different from them. Too different. You are your own worst enemy, he told himself. Not that it was a new revelation; it was just that he was starting to notice it more. 

Minor spoilers and content warning(s) under the cut.

Content warnings for the book: Graphic action and violence. There's some minor sexual harassment that gets challenged and resolved. The Serpent Sea is the second book in the Raksura series, and takes place directly after the events of The Cloud Roads. The Raksura of Indigo Cloud make it to their ancestral home, but discover a seed has been stolen from the giant tree that keeps it alive. So, Moon and a small contingent have to find it, or their new home is lost. Like before, it's a pretty standard story--seek the MacGuffin by X time or else Y will happen-- but it generally serves the purpose of the novel. Other than its cast, The Serpent Sea has little connection to the conflict of The Cloud Roads and feels self-contained, outside one or two details that may be relevant in future volumes.  Worldbuilding comes out the gate swinging, and continues to be the strongest aspect of the series. Wells has great talent when it comes to describing vivid settings and social customs; her background in anthropology does not surprise me at all. In particular, I think the "mountain tree" that Indigo Cloud moves into sounds like a beautiful place to live, and enjoyed hearing all the little details about what daily life there would be like. The visit to a neighboring colony, Emerald Twilight, was also super interesting. I liked seeing what a large, prosperous court of Raksura looks like in comparison to the struggling Indigo Cloud group, as well as their more traditional customs and behaviors. It was another captivating insight into the Raksura, who feel like a vibrant and realistic fantasy culture after only two books. Finally, the city on the back of the leviathan was another interesting place; the whole "giant landmass is actually a living creature" trope is fun, and Wells manages to make it both fascinating and honestly disgusting. It’s no easy task to make a fantasy world feel real and believable, so this series does a great job on that front.  One of my big wishes at the end of The Cloud Roads was for more character interaction and development, and The Serpent Sea certainly delivers. We get to see a lot more of Chime, Stone, and Jade, as well as their interactions with Moon. Character isn't a huge focus in this series; while Moon has personal arcs in both books, he is the protagonist. But there are some interesting developments, especially regarding Chime and his abilities. It's still a mystery what's up with him-- how he spontaneously changed from mentor caste to warrior caste-- and there's some odd stuff in this book that implies something else is going on. Also, am I insane or is he supposed to be like a side love interest for Moon? I mean, the Raksura are Very Poly and that's absolutely the vibe I’m getting.  Moon still has the best development; in this book, his personal struggle is coming to terms with who he is versus who he is expected to be. With the insight from Emerald Twilight, we learn consorts are generally pampered pretty boys who sit back as their queens call the shots. Moon is much more proactive; the first to take command or leap into action in any given situation. So everyone sees him as an oddball because of that, on top of him being an adopted solitary. While this isn't a rare trope by any means, it is rare to see it done with a male character, so it’s a refreshing take. Wells plays a lot with gender roles in this series and I find it fascinating to read about. Moon also gets a foil in this novel from the character Rift, a solitary Raksura he meets during the story. Without spoiling anything, this emphasizes what really makes Moon unique, and why others generally like/tolerate him.  

One criticism I have here is the sheer number of characters. I had a hard time keeping track of everyone. This was less noticeable in The Cloud Roads since everyone was brand new. But for the journey in this book, there's a shit load of characters, especially Raksura, that don't seem to serve much purpose. If you held a gun to my head and asked me to differentiate between Floret and Vine, I'd maybe be able to remember their genders and that's it. I'm generally pretty good at tracking characters but even I found it difficult. I feel like the cast could have been pared down considerably without it affecting the story. This isn’t a huge issue since the major players are all distinct, but the minor characters do tend to blend together.  The biggest potential challenge I can see people having with this book is the pacing. It takes a while for the conflict to get going. Compared to The Cloud Roads, there's fewer action sequences; basically none until the halfway point. I didn't mind this as I really like the worldbuilding in this series and had fun reading about it. The heavier focus on character interaction was also welcome. Furthermore, the emphasis on investigation and subterfuge in the first half is something different, and I enjoyed slowly learning the mysteries of the leviathan city. That being said, I can easily see other people having trouble with it. I think it depends on personal taste and what you like about the series. Another big difference between this and The Cloud Roads is the tone. The Serpent Sea feels much more humorous and sarcastic. There were traces of this in The Cloud Roads, but that book was much more serious overall. I'm not sure if this is meant to symbolize Moon's growth and increasing comfort with the other characters, but I like the change. It also feels more in line with Wells' Murderbot series, and I can see more of a resemblance between the two. Compared to The Cloud Roads this feels like a much lighter story, but it's a fun romp with the characters from the last book. Most of my praise about the previous volume, especially the worldbuilding and Raksura in general, still applies. So my rating has not changed much. Obviously I would recommend reading The Cloud Roads first, and then this one if you're interested in going for the whole series. There are five main books, and at this point I'm planning to read book three, The Siren Depths, next.  

[unicorns-bookshelf]

Title: King of Scars

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Rating: 4/5

Beware! Spoilers to all of Grishaverse ahead!

I have to admit – I binged the whole Grisha Trilogy just so I could start reading King of Scars with a full picture. And I’m glad that I did because it made reading this book so much better. I was excited to see all the characters that accompanied Alina on her adventure. It was so refreshing to see them without being a background to her story and the relationships in the group were absolutely wholesome and made me so happy.

But off to the review we go!

King of Scars takes place three years after Alina defeated the Darkling and destroyed the Shadow Fold. Ravka, like always, is in a bad place financially and surrounded by neighbors who are ready to start a war. Not to mention the winged Shu soldiers who abduct Grisha to experiment on them with the use of parem. If that wasn’t enough bad news, Nikolai’s closest friends and guards need to make sure no one knows that the monster The Darkling had put into their king started acting up and now our favorite monarch spends his nights either sedated and in chains or relieving local farms of their livestock. 

Good time? In Ravka? Yeah, I don’t think so.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Fjerda, Nina along with two other soldiers of the Second Army is on an undercover mission to smuggle Grisha from the country to Ravka and also find a proper place to lay Matthias’ body to rest. Because we didn’t need our hearts anyway. 

I am sad to say that the one lacking star in the rating is for the plot. It was really amazing until half of the book, the political intrigue was shaping up nicely, there was the curious mystery of the miracles happening around Ravka and it was fascinating to watch how Alina’s and the Darkling’s legacy shaped up the country and what was the aftermath to the war. Zoya and Nikolai were on their way to get rid of the demon in his body and everything was shaping up so nicely. Things on Nina’s end were getting spicy too as she and her team worked to discover the mystery of a factory in a Fjerdan village and why was it poisoning the local river. At least in this end, the plot didn’t disappoint until the end.

But in Zoya’s and Nikolai’s POVs… The Saints happened. 

Oh boy. I can’t even express how random and confusing this subplot was. 

Let me get this straight - the Saints are important to the Ravkans. They’re a huge part of their beliefs and religion. Their martyrdoms and actions shaped the nation and sure, in The Grisha Trilogy we see Illya’s direct legacy have a huge part in the story, his actual descendants, the results of his experiments with merzost and it is hinted that maybe he’s even alive someone out there, kept young by his Grisha power but the whole point is that he’s not directly involved in the story. He doesn’t just appear out of nowhere in front of Alina being like “Hey girl, let me tell you about those sweet amplifiers I’ve been working on” and suddenly solving all her problems and giving her a super boost in power. He stays an element of Ravkan history and mythology, even if his past actions are crucial to the plot and behavior of certain characters. That’s what the Saints are and what they should stay. 

But no, apparently three of them picked by a random generator are locked in a pocket dimension on the fold and just chilling there until Nikolai and Zoya get somehow sucked in. Ones with the powers and knowledge that could obviously benefit the characters. It was just so… Unreal and random and we just got a half-assed explanation for it that sounds like a story made up in five minutes without any deeper consideration for the world’s lore and magic system. And I get that the Darkling’s experiment destroyed the world’s balance but this had absolutely nothing to do with anything the Darkling was trying to accomplish. It felt like something written by a completely different author with little knowledge of the source material. And if this were means to an end, I feel like it could have been accomplished in a much more plausible way.

I didn’t hate everything about the Saints subplot. I’m happy it gave us some background on how life as a Grisha was in the past, the origins of the name and some amplifier lore too. I love that Zoya got a power boost and I would love to see her change into the dragon in the second book because let’s be honest that would be absolutely awesome. I also hope that the second book will elaborate on the topic, making it more believable and incorporate it into the world’s lore in a logical way. Maybe even show more Saints so that those three wouldn’t feel like special snowflakes chosen just to achieve the ending and give the characters a power boost. I could really just roll with it if we get a more thought-out explanation in the future because as soon as they entered the Saints’ little realm I felt like I was reading about Zoya and Nikolai experiencing a mass hallucination. 

And that brings me to the ending. I know a lot of people hate it and honestly, I kind of share that sentiment. However, I must admit - it had me curious. The Darkling’s situation is completely different than it was in the Grisha Trilogy. I trust the author enough to give her a benefit of doubt in this case and see how she handles this situation in the next book. I’m curious about the Darklings interactions with other characters, as in TGT he was pretty much only focused on Alina. On one hand, I wanted a new villain or no villain at all, just a good political intrigue with some magic. On the other, I’m curious to watch the whole situation develop. 

Now it’s time to talk about the characters because they’re exactly what made this book enjoyable, even when the plot went south. 

I know most people came here for Nikolai and I have to admit that so did I. And don’t get me wrong, I absolutely wasn’t disappointed. We could finally see Nikolai outside of Alina’s POV and it was a feat. The prince seems a little more mature than in TGT but his sense of humor and charming attitude stays the same. We get to learn about his childhood, his insecurities, and concerns both regarding the monster that is inside him as well as ruling his country. His POV allows us to see him as a more wholesome character than in TGT as back then our opinion on him was influenced by Alina’s thoughts and narration. I was very happy to see more of him and I still love him to bits.

But it’s the girls that take the spotlight in this book.

When I read the Crooked Kingdom, I had a certain picture of Zoya which didn’t exactly line up with what I saw after reading The Grisha Trilogy. Of course, from the first book to the last, Zoya went thought some character development, growing out of her mean girl phase but all we’d known about it was that she lost her aunt when the Darkling used Alina to expand the Fold. King of Scars gives us an insight into her past, more information about her relationship with the Darkling and it’s all glorious and shes glorious and ruthless and I love how she’s not softened in any way as a part of some questionable character development. I want to see this girl turn into a dragon.

Nina’s POV made me love her even more than in Six of Crows. She’s still fabulous and ready to stir trouble wherever she goes. Her goodbye with Matthias was heartbreaking but I’m glad her whole storyline wasn’t based on moping after him. I loved that Matthias’ wolf was incorporated into the story and I hope we’ll see more of him. We also got a bigger display of Nina’s powers twisted by parem and I enjoyed it so much. Nina is always ready to help other girls and women and all I can say is… Icon. 

There was also a fourth POV introduced half into the book, one of a completely new character - a royal guard called Isaak. I did love him and he was shaping into a great character but the things happened and, well… We won’t be seeing any more of him and I was really looking forward to the part where he wouldn’t be playing Nikolai and we could see him as his own person. I feel like it was quite a waste but on the other hand, I didn’t grow to care enough to be bothered by it.

When it comes to relationships, both romantic subplots are a big yes in my book. When I started King of Scars I was very not on board with the whole Nikolai and Zoya thing but this book made me love it. Let’s just wish we don’t get some crappy love triangle in the second book. When it comes to Nina and Hanne, I was so excited to see Nin with a girl and Hanne is a great character who has a huge potential for development and the fact that she’s Brum’s daughter makes these dynamics even more interesting. Those two are going to conquer Fjerda together. 

Platonic relationships in the book are also delightful and heartwarming. I especially loved the Grisha Triumvirate and Nikolai acting like one big family and also Adrik being done with Nina starting drama in Fjerda and disobeying his orders like the Dreg she is and Leoni just applauding her? Absolute feast.

All in all, would I recommend King of Scars? Yes, I definitely would to all the Grishaverse fans and if you’re a new fan quickly go grab the Six of Crows duology and either The Grisha Trilogy or just a recap article on it since not everyone has enough nerves to go through books that have such annoying characters as Mal or Mal. Oh and also Mal. Sadly knowing at least basic stuff about the Grisha Trilogy is crucial for understanding this book so you can’t just avoid it like with Six of Crows. I’m eagerly awaiting the next book because I can’t wait to see where all of this goes.

[frozenartscapes]

Change My Mind? ...Not Really

Ok, so this is probably an unpopular opinion...

Comparing Steven Universe to something like Avatar: The Last Airbender after Change Your Mind and stating that SU comes even remotely close to A:tLA in terms of quality is waaaaaay overselling things. Spoilers below.

Change Your Mind was good. Even great, in some parts. That bit where Steven re-fuses with his gem was probably the best animation the show ever had. I enjoyed some of the characterizations. I enjoyed the new fusions, and Lapis and Peridot’s new forms. Also the CG’s new forms. And White Diamond was a very interesting villain.

But one episode does not make a show. And even something like Change Your Mind has its flaws. Numerous ones, in fact. That doesn’t make Steven Universe bad, per se, but going on to compare it to one of, if not the most, highly rated, well-loved, critically acclaimed animated shows of all time and saying they are even close to each other in quality is a bit much. Maybe calm down from the fan-hype high you have after watching the episode before making that claim.

Like, it was a good episode, but I was serious last night when I asked, “Now What?” The show has no conflict. No more unanswered questions. We went from barely getting any information or plot development to suddenly the whole main conflict is resolved in one episode. One. And even a bunch of minor conflicts and questions were thrown in there too. Will Peridot and Lapis reform with stars? Check. Will Blue and Yellow join Steven’s side? Check. Will White Diamond brainwash anyone? Check. What will the CGs reformations look like? Check. Do the Diamonds’ ships form a Voltron-esque giant robot? Check. What do the gem fusions of Steven + Pearl/Garnet look like? Check. Who is the temple fusion? Check. Does White Diamond turn good? Check. Corruption cured? Check. Sadie still in her band? Check. New version of the theme song? Check. Lars comes home? Check. Everything happened in this episode. And it made for one awesome episode, yeah, but it got to a point where it was just one thing after the next. It was like the Crewniverse watched all those rant videos about the show, picked up on the fact that every one of those videos mention how nothing happens in the show, and said, “Oh yeah? Hold my beer.”

But let’s talk Avatar for a second. Because I thought about this last night but at first thought it unfair to compare these two shows, but since seeing a post doing just that I’m gonna now. Imagine for a moment, after watching three seasons where there was a clear, defined villain and an evil force that must be stopped by a pacifistic lead, after witnessing all the oppression and suffering the Fire Nation and specifically the Fire Lord cast down upon the world, after learning how conflicted Aang was about killing him, they just...redeemed Ozai. Like, he and Aang talk it out in just the span of one episode and suddenly every evil and horrendous thing Ozai and Azula and every other terrible person from the Fire Nation has ever done is forgotten. It’s ok everyone! The Fire Nation are the good guys now! They’ve learned their lesson, and we can all just sing and laugh and be happy all the fucking time. Isn’t life great?

Yeah, I don’t think people would be happy about that. And the thing is: in Avatar, they had a better shot at doing that than Steven Universe, because Avatar actually took the time to delve into its villains’ backstories, and revealing that while they’re still morally in the wrong, it’s not just as simple as everything being black and white. There are complications. The reasons for the things they do change, depending on the character and that character’s relationship with others and own emotional growth and personality. They redeemed Zuko, but over the course of the entire length of the show, because going from an abusive family that rewarded morally wrong behaviour and punished anything else to helping the very people trying to stop that family isn’t as simple as talking only once. Other characters like Azula were even more complicated, as she was trapped even deeper in that negative lifestyle to the point where it permanently fucked up her mental state. And then there’s Ozai, who was the end all be all of morally terrible people. Someone who could not be redeemed. Someone who could only be defeated. The only way Aang was able to do so without killing him was by physically stipping away any power Ozai had.

So compare that to Steven Universe. You have a sympathetic character from the ruling, evil dynasty that seemed the most likely to eventually join Steven’s side in Blue Diamond. You have a ruthless, goal-driven character who does the wishes of her superior even if it’s wrong because the repercussions of not following orders create a deep, pathological fear in said character, in Yellow Diamond. And then you have the end all, completely uncaring leader of said evil dynasty that has conquered thousands of planets, killed billions, including millions of its own kind, enforced a strict and oppressive social structure that resulted in mass cullings of anyone who didn’t fit, created horrific experiments with the still-conscious shards of the physical beings of its subjects, and rained down a forced mental illness that permanently disfigured their subjects minds when said subjects disagreed with them: White Diamond. Zuko, Azula, and Ozai, respectively. In Avatar, it took Zuko all three seasons to complete his full redemption arc. In Steven Universe, Blue Diamond wasn’t even mentioned by name until The Answer, 74 episodes in. Azula and Ozai didn’t even get redemptions, although Azula was given a few sympathetic moments. Yellow had, what, maybe a facial expression here or there until finally doing a 180 personality shift in the latest episode?

Now before you get your pitchforks, hear me out: I’m making this comparison because it shows the difference between doing a villain redemption right, and doing it wrong. Avatar took a long time to develop its villains. It made sure to establish them as more than just The Bad Guys - they were also individual characters on various levels of the morality scale for various reasons. They did this by establishing them as regular characters, even if only by mention, from episode one. They had some episodes that barely focused on them, but then others devoted entirely to them. There were episodes that beautifully compared them to the heroes. There were episodes that humanized them. There were episodes that highlighted what life was like from their side of things. Steven Universe did none of that. The most development we got for the Diamonds was in the last few episodes, and it only happened after they learned who Steven really was. And even then, we never got a sense of the problems they themselves were struggling with until Change Your Mind. We never really saw Blue’s emotional issues with regards to how they treat each other, just her mourning Pink all the time. We never saw just how much pressure Yellow was put under by White Diamond, nor her frustration at how she works so hard but receives next to no praise. And we certainly never got the sense that the reason White was such a perfectionist was that she herself was terrified of being labelled “flawed”. All of these things only came up in Change Your Mind. And even if there might have been hints I’m sure people are going to reach for in other episodes, it still would only apply to the very few episodes in which the Diamonds had any focus.

The result of this is an extremely rushed and forced redemption arc. Hell, even Peridot had a more developed redemption than the Diamonds. And it didn’t have to be that way, either. This wasn’t the series finale. It was just the end of this season. If they really wanted to redeem all three dictators in one episode, why didn’t they just stop it there? And then have the return to Earth kick off the new season? Why not have another special event or episode that focuses on Steven showing the Diamonds Earth? Have them finally find beauty in organic life. Have them initially be confused about it. Have then stumbling a little bit but eventually learning just how wrong they were. Have them admit just how wrong they were. And then at the end of the special, we finally get to healing corruption. Something that has been the main conflict since day one. Something that was an incredibly complicated subject. Something that had a huge impact on all the current characters in the show. Something that really should have been done in its own episode where more time could have been given to it. I know they probably will once the show gets started again, but that initial event of healing the corrupted gems is done, the Diamonds have gone back home, and any chance for conflict to arise is over. Even Jasper no longer seems like she’s going to be a source of conflict.

So, no. Steven Universe is not as good as Avatar, and isn’t even in the same league. This one episode still doesn’t change how horrible the pacing is for the rest of them. It still doesn’t change that in 160 episodes, well over half, at least, contribute nothing to the plot. And while they might establish some character, it’s always from Steven’s perspective. There was never an episode in which Steven wasn’t there to witness it, meaning the entire show is viewed from his - considerably biased - point of view. We never got a chance to see characters like the Diamonds acting without Steven present. We never got any development without Steven being the driving force behind it. Had a show like Avatar had done that with Aang? We never would have had episodes like Tales of Ba Sing Se, or Zuko Alone, or Boiling Rock, or Ember Island. And we certainly wouldn’t have gotten moments like Zuko and Azula’s Agni Kai, or Sokka asking Suki to teach him how to fight, or basically every character interaction with Iroh. Steven Universe wanted so badly to focus on Steven, and only Steven, that it shot itself in the foot when it came to character development and plot execution. It didn’t seem to know what it wanted to be for most of its episodes. And Change Your Mind was such a cluster fuck of wrapping up loose threads that people are still confused as to whether or not this was the season, or series finale.

Avatar had a clear and concise beginning, middle, and end. It knew what it was, and where it was going. It knew how to do character development and plot execution properly. Each season finale finished up the main conflicts of that season, leaving the largest arcs for the series finale. And it doesn’t try to redeem its villains all in one fucking episode through the “Power of Love”. Don’t even try to say the two shows are on the same fucking level.

Oh, and the animation was fantastic all the way through A:tLA, getting better with each season, instead of one beautifully animated scene in one episode and everything else being a hodgepodge of off-model characters and constantly changing styles.