Musings on Two-Thirds of a Locked Tomb
Sep. 30th, 2020 04:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydyI re-read Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth. (This time, I read the text of Gideon, and listened to the Audible production of Harrow, the opposite of the first reads.) I understand So Much More, now, and I still love them to pieces.
Spoilers to follow. Random things I'm sure of:
The Sixth House is Mercury, Among other things, they are healers and the cadaceus is a symbol of Mercury. Also, the Sixth and Seventh Houses are closer to the sun than the First House, and the Seventh House is clearly Venus. So, that's sorted. Also, pretty sure that the Fifth House is Jupiter, in part because of the name Magnus. I don't remember why I thought the Fourth House was Saturn. Third House is Neptune because of Naberious Tern's trident. And Eighth House is Uranus because they are assholes. So, those are my theories, there.
Gideon's voice was much clearer in the second person narrator in Harrow on my second reading. I should have seen the humor there, but missed it because I was so busy trying to figure out WTF was going on. Ianthe was much worse, on second reading.
The Body is clearly Alecto (or Annabel Lee). Her haunting of Harrow is separate from the revenant existence of Wake. I am pretty sure, at this point, that Wake has been in Gideon's two-hander all along, starting from when Gideon was first given the sword...by Aiglemene. Which leads me to wonder if Aiglemene knew about that haunting, and if so, what her intention was when she gave the sword to Gideon.
Early Imperial time line still gives me a headache, but it's very clear from what Mercymorn said that God and Alecto had already completed the Lyctor theorem when the Lyctors-to-be and their cavaliers met God, because the eye swap had already happened. Mercymorn talks a lot about Alecto being a monster, and one of the many, many ways that John the God broke faith with his lyctors was by failing to actually kill her. I did not see anything identifying her crimes. But, well, given the milieu, they must have been SPECTACULAR. So, if God had perfected the Lyctor Theorem, why did he make the lyctors-to-come do their own research? What was the nature of Anastasia's failure? Also, apparently the first Gideon did something similar to his cavalier as what Harrow did to Gideo.
Harrow's end point in the book is clearly a bubble in the river, similar to the one that Sextus created. Complete with one book. Was this where she had Gideon stashed? In the crypt of her beloved, with a titty mag for distraction? I mean, that's...creepy and adorable all at once, which would make it so very like Harrowhark it hurts my heart.
Palamedes and Camilla did not complete the Lyctor Theorem. Camilla's eyes were always grey. The baby that she's caring for in the epilogue I suspect of being Alecto. And I think she's on a world outside the empire where necromancy is forbidden. So, perhaps the Blood of Eden is planning on using Alecto as a weapon against John the God, which makes sense, but really brings to the forefront exactly what kind of monster Alecto was.
I was fascinated by how much I really wanted to like John the God. He really comes across as kind and funny and this is so very uncomfortably close to the my experience of the God of my childhood that it's difficult to describe. It is also clear that John the God is a complete sack of shit and an abuser, beside Not that Mercymorn is my favorite person, not by a long shot. But I will also say that existing in an abusive relationship for a myriad will make you a less good person than you wish to be.
One of my friends really didn't like the amount of modern slang in the prose, and found that it threw her out of the narrative. I find myself wondering how much language would freeze, even in a myriad of years, if there were immortatals who were still using those idioms. In order for that to be the mechanism, obviously the Lyctors would have to be in regular, extensive contact with the rest of the society, and I don't really see a lot of support for that. I will say, though, that I never had a problem with that aspect of things. Also, I just love love love the mixture of colloquial, sometimes rude discourse with the stylized, religious discourse. This, again, replicates my childhood, with the sacred and the profane jumbled together in ways that one doesn't expect, sometimes in ways that make one uncomfortable.
.
So, here's my non-spoiler question: Are these books an anti-colonialist narrative? It is almost banal to observe that all empires are built on death and lies, but rarely do you see the former so literalized. It slowly becomes clear that Muir actually is thinking about the ethical implications of thanergy as the primary power source for the empire. (One is almost inured to bones when God is introduced, but I do not think we should ignore the EXTRA CREEPY aspect of his laurel wreath being ornamented with infant finger bones.) At this point, I think that the text does not deny that reading, but I am less clear on how explicit it is. (I do note that the name of Wake, which might be a clue, here.)
At any rate, if you have other things you want to share, or corrections, please do. Comments may be as spoilerific as you like.
Spoilers to follow. Random things I'm sure of:
The Sixth House is Mercury, Among other things, they are healers and the cadaceus is a symbol of Mercury. Also, the Sixth and Seventh Houses are closer to the sun than the First House, and the Seventh House is clearly Venus. So, that's sorted. Also, pretty sure that the Fifth House is Jupiter, in part because of the name Magnus. I don't remember why I thought the Fourth House was Saturn. Third House is Neptune because of Naberious Tern's trident. And Eighth House is Uranus because they are assholes. So, those are my theories, there.
Gideon's voice was much clearer in the second person narrator in Harrow on my second reading. I should have seen the humor there, but missed it because I was so busy trying to figure out WTF was going on. Ianthe was much worse, on second reading.
The Body is clearly Alecto (or Annabel Lee). Her haunting of Harrow is separate from the revenant existence of Wake. I am pretty sure, at this point, that Wake has been in Gideon's two-hander all along, starting from when Gideon was first given the sword...by Aiglemene. Which leads me to wonder if Aiglemene knew about that haunting, and if so, what her intention was when she gave the sword to Gideon.
Early Imperial time line still gives me a headache, but it's very clear from what Mercymorn said that God and Alecto had already completed the Lyctor theorem when the Lyctors-to-be and their cavaliers met God, because the eye swap had already happened. Mercymorn talks a lot about Alecto being a monster, and one of the many, many ways that John the God broke faith with his lyctors was by failing to actually kill her. I did not see anything identifying her crimes. But, well, given the milieu, they must have been SPECTACULAR. So, if God had perfected the Lyctor Theorem, why did he make the lyctors-to-come do their own research? What was the nature of Anastasia's failure? Also, apparently the first Gideon did something similar to his cavalier as what Harrow did to Gideo.
Harrow's end point in the book is clearly a bubble in the river, similar to the one that Sextus created. Complete with one book. Was this where she had Gideon stashed? In the crypt of her beloved, with a titty mag for distraction? I mean, that's...creepy and adorable all at once, which would make it so very like Harrowhark it hurts my heart.
Palamedes and Camilla did not complete the Lyctor Theorem. Camilla's eyes were always grey. The baby that she's caring for in the epilogue I suspect of being Alecto. And I think she's on a world outside the empire where necromancy is forbidden. So, perhaps the Blood of Eden is planning on using Alecto as a weapon against John the God, which makes sense, but really brings to the forefront exactly what kind of monster Alecto was.
I was fascinated by how much I really wanted to like John the God. He really comes across as kind and funny and this is so very uncomfortably close to the my experience of the God of my childhood that it's difficult to describe. It is also clear that John the God is a complete sack of shit and an abuser, beside Not that Mercymorn is my favorite person, not by a long shot. But I will also say that existing in an abusive relationship for a myriad will make you a less good person than you wish to be.
One of my friends really didn't like the amount of modern slang in the prose, and found that it threw her out of the narrative. I find myself wondering how much language would freeze, even in a myriad of years, if there were immortatals who were still using those idioms. In order for that to be the mechanism, obviously the Lyctors would have to be in regular, extensive contact with the rest of the society, and I don't really see a lot of support for that. I will say, though, that I never had a problem with that aspect of things. Also, I just love love love the mixture of colloquial, sometimes rude discourse with the stylized, religious discourse. This, again, replicates my childhood, with the sacred and the profane jumbled together in ways that one doesn't expect, sometimes in ways that make one uncomfortable.
.
So, here's my non-spoiler question: Are these books an anti-colonialist narrative? It is almost banal to observe that all empires are built on death and lies, but rarely do you see the former so literalized. It slowly becomes clear that Muir actually is thinking about the ethical implications of thanergy as the primary power source for the empire. (One is almost inured to bones when God is introduced, but I do not think we should ignore the EXTRA CREEPY aspect of his laurel wreath being ornamented with infant finger bones.) At this point, I think that the text does not deny that reading, but I am less clear on how explicit it is. (I do note that the name of Wake, which might be a clue, here.)
At any rate, if you have other things you want to share, or corrections, please do. Comments may be as spoilerific as you like.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-01 02:40 am (UTC)My second theory is that the Internet has its own Resurrection Beast and memes are its Heralds, but I do not take that one very seriously, although I find it amusingly supportable in the text.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-01 03:34 am (UTC)I am amused by your theory.
Any thoughts on the question of anti-colonialism? I am rather taken with my theory, but it could well be bollocks.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-01 08:22 am (UTC)I was surprised how much we know almost nothing about, like the details about the resurrection and the lyctors, even the "public" version that normal people are supposed to know, I feel very unsure of. John's clearly hiding the real version, but I feel like I barely know what to be surprised by :)
Good point about liking John. I think there's a lot of characters like that, and sometimes it's deliberate and sometimes the author hasn't really thought about it. I suspect these books are going for "telling you like it is, good and bad, and if you sympathize with the wrong people, it's your lookout", but I'm not sure.
I'm not sure about the anti-colonialist narrative. I thought she wasn't shying away from showing how having an autocratic empire conquer everywhere was bad even if it was their status quo, but also she wasn't dwelling on it, the bad things were undeniable but mostly only came up in passing. But your point about how it survives on death felt like a very good one, one I hadn't thought of. I don't know if that's deliberate.