Onyx Storm: Chapter 39
Apr. 6th, 2025 03:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaTrager's been murdered in front of them but they can't react or they'll fail this themed challenge. Trager, in case you have forgotten, is a gryphon flier and Cat's new love interest. He's also a guy with barely any screen time who was introduced in this section of the book, presumably so Yarros could kill a named character and not have to murder anyone the reader is actually attached to.
Everyone is trying not to lose their shit, and Xaden tells Violet she has to handle this because she is in charge.
Plot twist, this island is also secretly evil. Because why not? Why shouldn't every island be a one-trait culture where all we learn about the people who live there is their kingdom's themed challenge, all of which are secretly evil? You wanted a book that was good? Nope.
Next scene. They've swept the island and negotiated a treaty that includes forty thousand troops. All that has already happened between this scene and the last, by the way, heaven forbid Yarros have to write any actual complexity.
The plan is to burn the bodies of Trager and Silas, his gryphon, and then take them to a nearby uninhabited island and bury them before sweeping the remaining minor islands. Violet is sure one of them will be the one, because that's where all the maps she has end. I suppose it hasn't occurred to her that the maps could be, like, wrong, or incomplete.
Everyone is wiped, so they lay down to sleep. Violet is angsting about how she froze during Trager's death and how she's not fit to be leader of the mission. Listen, I'm sure this is a valid character problem to have, but I'm also like, Trager was a person and now he's dead, maybe wait a couple days before making his death entirely about you. I would probably be less annoyed if Yarros would stop adding named characters to this already bloated cast for the sole purpose of killing them, or if his death wasn't blatantly just to give Violet a reason to be sad. Because of course the next page is just Xaden telling her how amazing she is. If Violet had made an actual mistake, that would have been something, but she did everything right and achieved the outcome she came here to achieve, so this angst rings hollow.
Once again: if the dragons are in charge, why do people who actively harm dragonkind have leadership positions in the army? Why did we have that whole rigamarole with Grady if this is the case? Also, Tairn has never put Violet in a position of authority, she got this one because of Andarna and because she and squad went off against orders. Yarros, I read the book you wrote! Stop gaslighting me about the content!
Oh, and that's the end of the chapter. COOL. We skipped all the actual plot that could have happened on this island in favor of another themed challenge and monologuing about how great Violet is. We didn't even meet the monarch this time!
Everyone is trying not to lose their shit, and Xaden tells Violet she has to handle this because she is in charge.
With a nod, I square my shoulders and face Calixta, finding the archer at her side.
I take the two steps that bring me to Trager’s body and lock eyes with the weathered man who took his and Sila’s lives. The weight of the crowd’s silent stares only serves to harden my resolve as I lift my chin before bowing my head.
And expel another piece of my humanity.
“Thank you.”
Fuck them.
Plot twist, this island is also secretly evil. Because why not? Why shouldn't every island be a one-trait culture where all we learn about the people who live there is their kingdom's themed challenge, all of which are secretly evil? You wanted a book that was good? Nope.
Next scene. They've swept the island and negotiated a treaty that includes forty thousand troops. All that has already happened between this scene and the last, by the way, heaven forbid Yarros have to write any actual complexity.
The plan is to burn the bodies of Trager and Silas, his gryphon, and then take them to a nearby uninhabited island and bury them before sweeping the remaining minor islands. Violet is sure one of them will be the one, because that's where all the maps she has end. I suppose it hasn't occurred to her that the maps could be, like, wrong, or incomplete.
Everyone is wiped, so they lay down to sleep. Violet is angsting about how she froze during Trager's death and how she's not fit to be leader of the mission. Listen, I'm sure this is a valid character problem to have, but I'm also like, Trager was a person and now he's dead, maybe wait a couple days before making his death entirely about you. I would probably be less annoyed if Yarros would stop adding named characters to this already bloated cast for the sole purpose of killing them, or if his death wasn't blatantly just to give Violet a reason to be sad. Because of course the next page is just Xaden telling her how amazing she is. If Violet had made an actual mistake, that would have been something, but she did everything right and achieved the outcome she came here to achieve, so this angst rings hollow.
“Because my judgment is dependable right now?” He huffs a sarcastic sigh. “The best leaders are the ones who never want the job. This is your mission because Andarna chose you. Tairn chose you.” His hand rises to my face. “What they never tell us in the quadrant is that rank is well and good, but you and I both know that the moment we fly onto the battlefield, it isn’t the humans giving commands. I hate to break it to you, but you were selected by a general among dragons. You can choose to step into leadership, or he can drag you. Either way, you’re going to end up in front.”
Once again: if the dragons are in charge, why do people who actively harm dragonkind have leadership positions in the army? Why did we have that whole rigamarole with Grady if this is the case? Also, Tairn has never put Violet in a position of authority, she got this one because of Andarna and because she and squad went off against orders. Yarros, I read the book you wrote! Stop gaslighting me about the content!
Oh, and that's the end of the chapter. COOL. We skipped all the actual plot that could have happened on this island in favor of another themed challenge and monologuing about how great Violet is. We didn't even meet the monarch this time!
