Running observations 1/3 of the way through (earning a 9/10 so far). Slower start than the previous books, but this one is an epic. Like legit a mytholigcal epic. In a book that is about characters more than anything else, this is such a treat. It's like watching midgame development of chess – everyone is poised for attack or defense, and there's gambits afoot. Also super good to reflect on how the plot has exploded from 7 car crashes to pacific fucking rim levels of warfare and huge espionage. Despite being slower (still only 1/3 of the way in) this book has treated the reader to ample violence, great soliloquoys, debate, assassination, and already teasing us with what I can only imagine are a fistful of character presitges. Nothing so far feels hamfisted either, all the great moments have been earned over the past several books.

HERE BE SPOILERS:

Starting with Papadelias – probably my favorite character from just the one single scene alone where he tells his ward prisoner not to kill everyone and then goes in on the captors of his officers, makes him so likeable and dynamic in the same scene where it's revealed he himself is corrupt for the pseudo-antogonist.

ODYSSEUS OH MY FUCKING GOD SO GOOD, PACIFIC FUCKING RIM BABY HERE WE COME.

No action from JEDD, Achilles, or Sniper thus far really, stoked to see the gods do battle.

HELEN; sentences worse than death; faust pacts as communication currency, and some of the coolest realtime combat strategy. HNNNNNGH this is so good

Cornel MASON is one of the best characters of any series I've read. Caesarian wrath, subtle willingness to do galactic genocide for honor :tm:. He's definitely one of the more "philosophical" characters in the sense that he's better understood as the embodiment of the idea/argument the author is making about society, but goddamn he's so good.

Amazing series. Only complaints: the new world order is basically the same just with different figureheads shuffled around. Brillist' tech prolly isn't enough to prevent OS again I don't think? And also did JEDD ever do anything to demonstrate god-status? Otherwise, it just seems odd that everyone is willing to bend the knee to him, when the powers that allowed him to conquer were not his + mostly all dead now? That's not rlly the point of the series, so I can give it a pass to enjoy the rest

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