Forged in Blood by Lindsay Buroker
Nov. 22nd, 2018 07:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaForged in Blood, Part 1
Tense!
+ I should have known that the book would en with a cliffhanger considering it’s a part one of two.
+ I love everyone’s competence in this series. Amaranthe and Maldynado easily making the jump to the trolley contrasted with Yara’s grim certainty that they’re insane. Sicarius being his usual insanely competent self [the blind shot at the tree was great]. It’s all great.
+ This was Sicarius’s POV book and I loved it. I loved his bonding with Sespian. I liked the team’s previous escapades coming back to actually help Sicarius. I loved that little moment where Sicarius refuses to even consider the possibility of blaming Amaranthe for Sespian’s ‘death’. Like, the whole thing is simply too destroying so he can’t even think it.
+ I’m sad about Retta. Pretty much everything went as terrible as it was possible for her and it was sad.
+ It does give us Sicarius thinking Amaranthe is dead and thus, a hopefully awesome, reunion with her maybe bringing him back from mind-control. Amaranthe/Sicarius were lovely and I’m so glad to finally get his POV on her. I love him taking a sweet bun for her.
+ Amaranthe dusting while trapped under the clothing racks amused me and I loved Yara mentioning it.
Forged in Blood, Part 2
This was a good end to the series.
+ I'm very glad I read the Forgotten Ages duo before reading this book. Everything worked so much better knowing who Rias and Tikaya were.
+ I figured that someone had to die. Books dying was sad but I was also okay with it? I like that he died saving Akstyr and I like that his Constitution ended up being important in the direction Turgonia was going.
+ Sicarius and Sespian were great. I loved Sicarius hugging him. I loved Sespian taking Sicarius's hand at the end.
+ Amaranthe/Sicarius also had a couple lovely moments [the haircut] and I liked how things ended with them. I loved their show-down while he was still being controlled. I love that he did manage to fight off the wizard and that she ended up saving him by acting on instinct. I do wish it had been from Sicarius's POV instead so we could have seen his reaction to her being alive.
+ I loved Amaranthe (+) escaping their bonds after being captured on the train and the subsequent scene with Rias. I love the idea of Amaranthe accepting Sespian's recommendation and becoming a diplomat.
+ Rias being the forerunner to being president of the new Turgonia makes a lot of sense and I actually liked that turn. That said while Sespian probably would be happier not as an emperor I feel like the books (for understandable reasons) didn't explore him and his feelings on all this change enough. I'd absolutely read a future book following him post-series finding his way. Perhaps being mentored by Rias and eventually becoming a much loved president himself.
+ I liked Rias making the throw at the molassus tanks in place of Amaranthe, to protect her from having to have that blood on her hands too. It was sweet and considerate (even if also kind of immaterial considering that it was her plan).
+ Tikaya had two reactions towards Sicarius that annoyed me. First, when she called him a monster or something similar when they got his warning note that he was coming to assassinate Rias which... the hell, Tikaya? He literally just said he was under mind control (something she should understand) and yet somehow still manage to send a warning! Like, what the hell else do you want from him? The second, less annoying, was when she hit and yelled at Sicarius on the roof. I still thought it was a little eye-rolly consider the crowd had already shot at, and hit!, Rias but her being freaked out made sense.
Tense!
+ I should have known that the book would en with a cliffhanger considering it’s a part one of two.
+ I love everyone’s competence in this series. Amaranthe and Maldynado easily making the jump to the trolley contrasted with Yara’s grim certainty that they’re insane. Sicarius being his usual insanely competent self [the blind shot at the tree was great]. It’s all great.
+ This was Sicarius’s POV book and I loved it. I loved his bonding with Sespian. I liked the team’s previous escapades coming back to actually help Sicarius. I loved that little moment where Sicarius refuses to even consider the possibility of blaming Amaranthe for Sespian’s ‘death’. Like, the whole thing is simply too destroying so he can’t even think it.
+ I’m sad about Retta. Pretty much everything went as terrible as it was possible for her and it was sad.
+ It does give us Sicarius thinking Amaranthe is dead and thus, a hopefully awesome, reunion with her maybe bringing him back from mind-control. Amaranthe/Sicarius were lovely and I’m so glad to finally get his POV on her. I love him taking a sweet bun for her.
+ Amaranthe dusting while trapped under the clothing racks amused me and I loved Yara mentioning it.
Forged in Blood, Part 2
This was a good end to the series.
+ I'm very glad I read the Forgotten Ages duo before reading this book. Everything worked so much better knowing who Rias and Tikaya were.
+ I figured that someone had to die. Books dying was sad but I was also okay with it? I like that he died saving Akstyr and I like that his Constitution ended up being important in the direction Turgonia was going.
+ Sicarius and Sespian were great. I loved Sicarius hugging him. I loved Sespian taking Sicarius's hand at the end.
+ Amaranthe/Sicarius also had a couple lovely moments [the haircut] and I liked how things ended with them. I loved their show-down while he was still being controlled. I love that he did manage to fight off the wizard and that she ended up saving him by acting on instinct. I do wish it had been from Sicarius's POV instead so we could have seen his reaction to her being alive.
+ I loved Amaranthe (+) escaping their bonds after being captured on the train and the subsequent scene with Rias. I love the idea of Amaranthe accepting Sespian's recommendation and becoming a diplomat.
+ Rias being the forerunner to being president of the new Turgonia makes a lot of sense and I actually liked that turn. That said while Sespian probably would be happier not as an emperor I feel like the books (for understandable reasons) didn't explore him and his feelings on all this change enough. I'd absolutely read a future book following him post-series finding his way. Perhaps being mentored by Rias and eventually becoming a much loved president himself.
+ I liked Rias making the throw at the molassus tanks in place of Amaranthe, to protect her from having to have that blood on her hands too. It was sweet and considerate (even if also kind of immaterial considering that it was her plan).
+ Tikaya had two reactions towards Sicarius that annoyed me. First, when she called him a monster or something similar when they got his warning note that he was coming to assassinate Rias which... the hell, Tikaya? He literally just said he was under mind control (something she should understand) and yet somehow still manage to send a warning! Like, what the hell else do you want from him? The second, less annoying, was when she hit and yelled at Sicarius on the roof. I still thought it was a little eye-rolly consider the crowd had already shot at, and hit!, Rias but her being freaked out made sense.
