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Iron Flame Live Reactions: Chapters 40-42
Okay, we've reached the 60% mark. We're doing this.
Violet is plotting to meet with Viscount Tecarus (from Poromiel, as we learn from the opening quote) as she does her signet practice. And it turns out that Violet, uh, can't aim her lightning power. She just lets off a blast and hopes for the best every time. Which I don't think has ever come up before and is also so stupid. No one at Basgiath thought she needed to be able to aim? No one thought that was necessary for a lightning wielder on the back of a flying animal in an army of other flying--no, I can't think about this, I will die.
Oh, she also can't make lightning come out of her hands. And has poor control. The poor rebel leader in charge of teaching her explains to her that she sucks, thought he does have to mention she's the most powerful rider of her generation during his speech because we cannot go a single chapter without someone sucking Violet's dick.
Now that a character has stopped the plot to tell Violet how special she is and how in love with her Xaden is, we can continue. Felix gives Violet a conduit to help her channel her power. Then we shift to the next scene, where Mira, Brennan and Violet are sneaking out of the rebellion base to meet with Viscount Tecarus. Mira and Brennan are bickering, which Violet is alarmed by.
Tairn suggests Violet sleep while he flies, which brings me to another complaint. We know Violet is strapped in, so she could safely fall asleep, right? But none of the other riders use them--what happens if you're traveling for a long time and need to rest? What if you're injured and can't stay awake, or pass out? Do you just die? Is the Navarre army that stupid? Yes, they are.
They arrive at Viscount Tecarus's place, which is built of gleaming white marble on the beach. They're escorted by gryphons whose inferiority Violet and Tairn are quick to point out. Violet, aren't these guys theoretically your allies?
Also, interesting that this first glimpse of Poromiel is so luxurious when they're supposed to be being tormented by the venin. Maybe it's a sign that Viscount Tecarus sucks in some way.
We then learn that the lesser-magic of the gryphons is mostly 'mindwork' which makes them dangerous, even though they don't get signets.
What does that even mean? The riders don't label themselves by their gifts unless it's relevant, either, it's not like Violet is now named Violet the Thunderous or whatever. Calling him a truth-sayer is an accurate descriptor.
All of them tell a truth: Violet says she's here to wield lightning in exchange for the help of Tecarus, Brennan says he's here to negotiate, and Mira says that if anyone touches Violet she will kill them. That's the kind of diplomacy I would expect from a Basgiath-trained rider, to be fair.
And...Xaden is here. Goddamn it! No, Yarros! You were doing so well letting Violet have agency! Stop having Xaden do his dumb overprotective schtick everywhere!
Next chapter. Tecarus is the heir to the Poromish throne. Interesting. Scene opens with Violet and Xaden arguing because Xaden is being a possessive dick. Hey, how did Xaden get here without Violet noticing? Aren't they mind-linked? Isn't he a high ranked rebel leader who shouldn't be able to just fuck off?
Oh, he left as soon as Sgaeyl noticed Tairn was on the move. So Tairn just lied to Violet about not telling her. Will Violet spend half the book being unreasonably mad at him about this? Probably not, he's not a love interest. This seems like a very silly way to be handling a critical piece of diplomacy that could win or lose them the whole war.
For about a page we have the mystery of why Xaden knows his way around the palace, and it turns out its because his hot ex girlfriend is Tecarus's niece. Yaaaay.
Okay, I have a complaint. We learn in this chapter that apparently in Navarre there are no pools or ornamental grass. We're getting a sense of Poromiel as a separate place with its own culture, which is cool, but also the reader now realizes they know so little about Navarre, despite having been stuck there for 2.6 books.
Just like. Ornamental grass is a fine detail in a vacuum, but I have no idea what the decor or landscaping of Basgiath looks like.
Anyways. Cat is a hot blonde, which in the world of bad romantasy novels means she is evil. So she is blatantly ogling Xaden and coming on to him, and Violet is mad about it. I will also point out here that Violet feels like she might lose control of her powers, but doesn't, and in fact despite the whole rigamarole last chapter about her not having control I can't remember her ever losing it except for during a sex scene in the last book. Violet and Xaden then have an argument, and parts of it are OUT LOUD, while Cat is in the room, even though THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE TELEPATHICALLY. Operational security, please, learn what it is!
Xaden's like, I have to protect you, Violet! I'm a generic bad boy in a romance novel!
And Violet's like, we're in the middle of a war and we need this luminary to win!
Scene change. We get descriptions of Mira and Violet's pretty dresses and shoes as they dress for dinner. Just once, I'd like to see a scene in one of these books where the heroine has to wear an ill-fitting borrowed gown, or she has to go to dinner in her uniform because her host doesn't respect her enough to give her a dress for dinner.
??? Didn't you guys join the rebellion because you sympathized with the Poromish people? What, you're too good to have an ounce of remorse? It's insane to me on one hand that Violet's supposed to be compassionate and kind and doesn't want to kill people and she's here in this scene outraged that someone who has been much more directly affected by Navarre's shitty foreign policy has the nerve to call her out. Our heroes are in the wrong here! Why does the book just let them off the hook and pretend Cat is an evil bitch for telling the truth?
What??? The fuck???
Violet then starts angsting because Cat is wearing red instead of black and maybe Xaden secretly hates black and Cat knows him better and Violet, shut the fuck up, Xaden was telling you how in love with he was like two pages ago. Can't forget that Violet has to remind us she is not like other women and doesn't care about being pretty! Unlike those shallow blonde bitches who wear red and care about their people being murdered by Navarre!
The catfighting continues, and Violet struggles to keep control but does. I hope Cat turns out to have been doing all this on as part of some greater plot. Syrena then reminds her sister that Violet is so special and powerful and so Cat can't be mean to her.
They arrive for dinner and Xaden immediately comes over to assuage Violet's jealousy by publically making out with her. And to let her know Cat has the power to heighten emotions, which he could have told her at any point before this, like during their argument two pages ago.
He then apologizes and says that Violet is right and he should have gone along with her plan. Like, what do you want, Violet? This man has three personality traits and two of them are being really into you.
Tecarus lays out his deal: he wants Violet to blow up this chest he got from Xaden's dad, and in exchange he'll open discussion for the luminary. Violet is like, fuck, since she can't aim. And Xaden isn't allowed down on the field with her during this test.
Xaden lets Violet know that Tecarus and Cat are mad because he and Cat were supposed to get married for political reasons. Dude, maybe don't tell her that right before the test she very well might fail. Violet and Mira head down to the training field, and then a venin runs out onto the field.
Let's do one more. Once again Yarros uses the opening quote to spoil the chapter:
So last chapter, Mira warned Violet that her signet didn't work this far from the wards. So this chapter, I assume Violet will be in danger and Mira will manage to produce a ward under her own power to protect her.
Mira throws a knife at the venin, who immediately rips it out and starts using it to fight. Violet hits the chest with lightning and then starts slicing up her dress so she can tie back her hair and move freely. The venin starts grabbing guards and desiccating them. Violet is trying to hit him with lightning, but keeps missing him.
Listen, I know this is a tense and pivotal moment, but...did Violet never run into this problem before? She's never thought, hey, I can't aim? Why did Yarros introduce this problem two chapters before it would become plot relevant when it could have much more effectively been used earlier? Hey, that would have been a great reason for Xaden to not want her to meet Tecarus: she couldn't control her powers and wasn't ready! And then Violet could have either been working on this for longer than one session, or she could have rushed out behind his back anyway because of the time crunch and then had to face that she wasn't ready at the crucial moment.
Also, lightning is drawn to tall things, I don't know why it's hitting the ground. There's a whole fucking building right there.
Since lightning isn't working, Violet goes to throw daggers, but she runs out since she's not in her uniform. Xaden throws her two more, and Brennan joins the fight as well. But they're about to die since Violet is useless when Mira manages to ward them, keeping the venin from killing them (and everyone else.) But now she's unconscious, so Violet comes up with a plan and tells Brennan to take Mira and run.
Violet's plan is...to pin the venin to the ground in a puddle and use the water to conduct her lightning, just as Tairn arrives to fly her away. Sure. They arrive back in the palace, where Xaden is strangling Tecarus to death.
Listen, Tecarus does seem to suck, but like...I don't know. I don't like this entire vein of plot so far. Making a Poromish noble a villain when the Poromish are supposed to be getting killed left and right by the venin and Navarre seems like a weird choice.
Anyways, Tecarus was keeping the venin in a box, but once he was out he could touch the ground to do his desiccation thing, which is why all that happened. Not sure why he bothered, but whatever. It's negotiation time.
His offer is simple: they take all the gryphon flier cadets back with them to train with the riders, they can have the luminary. This is...hmm. Tecaurs makes it sound like he thinks the rider training is superior, but that seems like it cannot be true. Most of the riders have never even fought the venin! The gryphons ought to be teaching them, really. I guess it's because the flier school was destroyed.
Okay, my brain is tired. This book is stupid. Good night.
Violet is plotting to meet with Viscount Tecarus (from Poromiel, as we learn from the opening quote) as she does her signet practice. And it turns out that Violet, uh, can't aim her lightning power. She just lets off a blast and hopes for the best every time. Which I don't think has ever come up before and is also so stupid. No one at Basgiath thought she needed to be able to aim? No one thought that was necessary for a lightning wielder on the back of a flying animal in an army of other flying--no, I can't think about this, I will die.
Oh, she also can't make lightning come out of her hands. And has poor control. The poor rebel leader in charge of teaching her explains to her that she sucks, thought he does have to mention she's the most powerful rider of her generation during his speech because we cannot go a single chapter without someone sucking Violet's dick.
“He did it for you,” Felix says softly. “The wyvern, the exposure, breaching Basgiath, stealing half its riders. All for you. Why do you think the Assembly wanted to lock you away in July? They saw what you were. In that way, I suppose you’re just as much a danger to Aretia as you are to Basgiath, aren’t you? Power isn’t only found in our signets.”
“I’m not powerful just because he loves me.” The bitter taste of fear fills my mouth a heartbeat before power breaks free, cracking through me like a whip, but lightning doesn’t flash. At least not in the sky.
I blink at the glowing orb, then marvel at the string of lightning that runs from where my forefinger rests against the metal strip to the alloy pendant inside. The bolt vanishes a breath later.
“No. You’re powerful and he loves you, which is even worse. Your power is too closely tied to your emotions,” Felix notes. “This will help. It’s not a permanent solution, but it will keep everyone in Aretia safe from your temper for now.”
Now that a character has stopped the plot to tell Violet how special she is and how in love with her Xaden is, we can continue. Felix gives Violet a conduit to help her channel her power. Then we shift to the next scene, where Mira, Brennan and Violet are sneaking out of the rebellion base to meet with Viscount Tecarus. Mira and Brennan are bickering, which Violet is alarmed by.
Tairn suggests Violet sleep while he flies, which brings me to another complaint. We know Violet is strapped in, so she could safely fall asleep, right? But none of the other riders use them--what happens if you're traveling for a long time and need to rest? What if you're injured and can't stay awake, or pass out? Do you just die? Is the Navarre army that stupid? Yes, they are.
They arrive at Viscount Tecarus's place, which is built of gleaming white marble on the beach. They're escorted by gryphons whose inferiority Violet and Tairn are quick to point out. Violet, aren't these guys theoretically your allies?
Also, interesting that this first glimpse of Poromiel is so luxurious when they're supposed to be being tormented by the venin. Maybe it's a sign that Viscount Tecarus sucks in some way.
We then learn that the lesser-magic of the gryphons is mostly 'mindwork' which makes them dangerous, even though they don't get signets.
“Give us one truth, and we’ll allow you to meet with the viscount,” the central flier says, his reddish brows knitting.
“You’re a truth-sayer.” Like Nora. It’s a guess, but I know I’m right when his pale eyes flare. So, some of our powers are the same. Interesting.
“Unlike riders, we do not label ourselves by our abilities, but yes, I have the gift of telling when someone is lying,” he corrects me.
What does that even mean? The riders don't label themselves by their gifts unless it's relevant, either, it's not like Violet is now named Violet the Thunderous or whatever. Calling him a truth-sayer is an accurate descriptor.
All of them tell a truth: Violet says she's here to wield lightning in exchange for the help of Tecarus, Brennan says he's here to negotiate, and Mira says that if anyone touches Violet she will kill them. That's the kind of diplomacy I would expect from a Basgiath-trained rider, to be fair.
And...Xaden is here. Goddamn it! No, Yarros! You were doing so well letting Violet have agency! Stop having Xaden do his dumb overprotective schtick everywhere!
Next chapter. Tecarus is the heir to the Poromish throne. Interesting. Scene opens with Violet and Xaden arguing because Xaden is being a possessive dick. Hey, how did Xaden get here without Violet noticing? Aren't they mind-linked? Isn't he a high ranked rebel leader who shouldn't be able to just fuck off?
Oh, he left as soon as Sgaeyl noticed Tairn was on the move. So Tairn just lied to Violet about not telling her. Will Violet spend half the book being unreasonably mad at him about this? Probably not, he's not a love interest. This seems like a very silly way to be handling a critical piece of diplomacy that could win or lose them the whole war.
For about a page we have the mystery of why Xaden knows his way around the palace, and it turns out its because his hot ex girlfriend is Tecarus's niece. Yaaaay.
Okay, I have a complaint. We learn in this chapter that apparently in Navarre there are no pools or ornamental grass. We're getting a sense of Poromiel as a separate place with its own culture, which is cool, but also the reader now realizes they know so little about Navarre, despite having been stuck there for 2.6 books.
Just like. Ornamental grass is a fine detail in a vacuum, but I have no idea what the decor or landscaping of Basgiath looks like.
Anyways. Cat is a hot blonde, which in the world of bad romantasy novels means she is evil. So she is blatantly ogling Xaden and coming on to him, and Violet is mad about it. I will also point out here that Violet feels like she might lose control of her powers, but doesn't, and in fact despite the whole rigamarole last chapter about her not having control I can't remember her ever losing it except for during a sex scene in the last book. Violet and Xaden then have an argument, and parts of it are OUT LOUD, while Cat is in the room, even though THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE TELEPATHICALLY. Operational security, please, learn what it is!
Xaden's like, I have to protect you, Violet! I'm a generic bad boy in a romance novel!
And Violet's like, we're in the middle of a war and we need this luminary to win!
Scene change. We get descriptions of Mira and Violet's pretty dresses and shoes as they dress for dinner. Just once, I'd like to see a scene in one of these books where the heroine has to wear an ill-fitting borrowed gown, or she has to go to dinner in her uniform because her host doesn't respect her enough to give her a dress for dinner.
They ask the maid who is attending them if Tecarus collects people, and she's like, only if they want to be! Which is exactly what I would train my servants to say, so not proof of anything. Cat then comes by and proves that she is a designated villain due to being blonde despite being in the right:
“The dress is spectacular.” I’ve never worn anything like it, and it suits my mood perfectly. The bodice, which plummets in a deep V to the base of my ribs, is made of woven, black leaves, never bigger than the size of my palm, narrowing above the swells of my breasts to single vines that drape tiny leaves over my shoulders and down the sides of my back, leaving the majority of my spine and all of my relic exposed. “What kind of material is this?” I ask Zara, fingering the sheer black fabric that falls from my waist to the floor in a multitude of layers. Were it just the one, the gown would be see-through.
“Xaden doesn’t lament anything.” An ugly, insidious flame ignites in my stomach, and it takes every ounce of restraint I have to keep from flicking a dagger at her snide head. Or at least close to it. “And are you capable of having a discussion that doesn’t revolve around him?”
“Sure. If it makes you more comfortable, we can discuss how your mother has perpetuated a lie that’s cost thousands of Poromish lives, some of which your own sister is responsible for taking.”
My brows rise. Did she really just—
Mira catches my eye, confirming that she did. “I was going to remind you that it’s probably bad manners to stab our hostess, but you know what?” She shrugs. “Fuck it. We don’t need a luminary.”
??? Didn't you guys join the rebellion because you sympathized with the Poromish people? What, you're too good to have an ounce of remorse? It's insane to me on one hand that Violet's supposed to be compassionate and kind and doesn't want to kill people and she's here in this scene outraged that someone who has been much more directly affected by Navarre's shitty foreign policy has the nerve to call her out. Our heroes are in the wrong here! Why does the book just let them off the hook and pretend Cat is an evil bitch for telling the truth?
“Syrena, this is my sister, Mira.” I change the subject.
Syrena’s mouth tightens as she studies Mira. “Your reputation precedes you. I had friends at Strythmore.”
Well, shit. From tense to…tenser.
“I have no remorse for winning battles.” Mira sheathes the next dagger at her waist in plain sight. “And if you’re Syrena Cordella, then your reputation reaches across the border as well.”
“Dining amid hundreds of fliers that root for your death, and you choose to wear a gown?” Syrena arches a brow. “Where is the shrewd judgment I’ve heard so much about?”
“I can kill just as easily in a gown as leathers. Want to see?” Only a fool would call Mira’s expression a smile.
What??? The fuck???
Violet then starts angsting because Cat is wearing red instead of black and maybe Xaden secretly hates black and Cat knows him better and Violet, shut the fuck up, Xaden was telling you how in love with he was like two pages ago. Can't forget that Violet has to remind us she is not like other women and doesn't care about being pretty! Unlike those shallow blonde bitches who wear red and care about their people being murdered by Navarre!
The catfighting continues, and Violet struggles to keep control but does. I hope Cat turns out to have been doing all this on as part of some greater plot. Syrena then reminds her sister that Violet is so special and powerful and so Cat can't be mean to her.
They arrive for dinner and Xaden immediately comes over to assuage Violet's jealousy by publically making out with her. And to let her know Cat has the power to heighten emotions, which he could have told her at any point before this, like during their argument two pages ago.
He then apologizes and says that Violet is right and he should have gone along with her plan. Like, what do you want, Violet? This man has three personality traits and two of them are being really into you.
Tecarus lays out his deal: he wants Violet to blow up this chest he got from Xaden's dad, and in exchange he'll open discussion for the luminary. Violet is like, fuck, since she can't aim. And Xaden isn't allowed down on the field with her during this test.
Xaden lets Violet know that Tecarus and Cat are mad because he and Cat were supposed to get married for political reasons. Dude, maybe don't tell her that right before the test she very well might fail. Violet and Mira head down to the training field, and then a venin runs out onto the field.
Let's do one more. Once again Yarros uses the opening quote to spoil the chapter:
Though her extraordinary signet allows her to extend the wards around herself and her dragon, Cadet Sorrengail lacks the consistent ability to produce her own wards without extreme emotional distress. I’m sorry to report I doubt this ability will develop in time.
I had such hopes for her.
—MEMORANDUM FROM PROFESSOR CARR TO GENERAL SORRENGAIL
So last chapter, Mira warned Violet that her signet didn't work this far from the wards. So this chapter, I assume Violet will be in danger and Mira will manage to produce a ward under her own power to protect her.
Mira throws a knife at the venin, who immediately rips it out and starts using it to fight. Violet hits the chest with lightning and then starts slicing up her dress so she can tie back her hair and move freely. The venin starts grabbing guards and desiccating them. Violet is trying to hit him with lightning, but keeps missing him.
Listen, I know this is a tense and pivotal moment, but...did Violet never run into this problem before? She's never thought, hey, I can't aim? Why did Yarros introduce this problem two chapters before it would become plot relevant when it could have much more effectively been used earlier? Hey, that would have been a great reason for Xaden to not want her to meet Tecarus: she couldn't control her powers and wasn't ready! And then Violet could have either been working on this for longer than one session, or she could have rushed out behind his back anyway because of the time crunch and then had to face that she wasn't ready at the crucial moment.
Also, lightning is drawn to tall things, I don't know why it's hitting the ground. There's a whole fucking building right there.
Since lightning isn't working, Violet goes to throw daggers, but she runs out since she's not in her uniform. Xaden throws her two more, and Brennan joins the fight as well. But they're about to die since Violet is useless when Mira manages to ward them, keeping the venin from killing them (and everyone else.) But now she's unconscious, so Violet comes up with a plan and tells Brennan to take Mira and run.
Violet's plan is...to pin the venin to the ground in a puddle and use the water to conduct her lightning, just as Tairn arrives to fly her away. Sure. They arrive back in the palace, where Xaden is strangling Tecarus to death.
Listen, Tecarus does seem to suck, but like...I don't know. I don't like this entire vein of plot so far. Making a Poromish noble a villain when the Poromish are supposed to be getting killed left and right by the venin and Navarre seems like a weird choice.
Anyways, Tecarus was keeping the venin in a box, but once he was out he could touch the ground to do his desiccation thing, which is why all that happened. Not sure why he bothered, but whatever. It's negotiation time.
His offer is simple: they take all the gryphon flier cadets back with them to train with the riders, they can have the luminary. This is...hmm. Tecaurs makes it sound like he thinks the rider training is superior, but that seems like it cannot be true. Most of the riders have never even fought the venin! The gryphons ought to be teaching them, really. I guess it's because the flier school was destroyed.
Okay, my brain is tired. This book is stupid. Good night.