Chapter: 688 - Long Hidden Fears
Added 2026-01-28 13:00:17 +0000 UTCComments
Hard to remember that their daughters extremely young with a computer brain and adult robot body.
R. Maxwell Steele
2026-02-06 15:08:37 +0000 UTCYes - love, love, love. And as someone who has had a really rough… day? week? Month? 6 months? Years? This was somewhat healing for me. As I too feel broken and feel like it would be better if I was different. I needed to read this today. Also, I can’t wait for the turtle!!
Ellariayn
2026-01-29 04:09:43 +0000 UTCWhy would the houses of iron and blood want to merge. Their vestiges, weapons, regalia, philosophies, foundational principals, and morality aren't aligned. I could see if the two had more in common, maybe a belief in meritocracy but with how they've been described?
Kaladin
2026-01-28 22:42:11 +0000 UTCThat said, I have no problem with vestiges. One of my favorite songs is “Wolves” by Down Like Silver and the book Stranger in a Strange Land. I guess here? The human society, but that has literal soul bondage for marriage. ?
Chris O
2026-01-28 17:55:55 +0000 UTCCool. Affirmation of self. I agree. Consciousness is a self-affirming what-you-want-it-to-be. I’m struck by how often I’ve seen slavery depicted in fiction IME recently. Here, House Elves, Biblical Studies (yes old testament), Brave New World, etc. I wonder what imaginary utopias do NOT rely on “involuntary” servitude?
Chris O
2026-01-28 17:54:01 +0000 UTCMost gated in the Cycling Cities don't become fonts - only those that have some critical level of mage training, and don't become archons or die young (generally due to violence).
Andrew K
2026-01-28 15:53:54 +0000 UTCHmm honestly, i don't really see a problem with using vestages The vast majority of gated mages still become fonts even in the Cycling Cities and they use them to farm magic monster resources. Then again i have also never really understood what the problem was with people digging up and studying skeletons either, so maybe i just lack proper reverance for the long dead.
Rezkel
2026-01-28 15:14:32 +0000 UTCI disagree that there was only one scene where Lea was insecure. It was clear to me every time she interacted with anyone not her parents that she was wary and insecure in who she was, how they would react, and whether she could control who she would become as a result of her body. I do not fully disagree that this particular scene seemed a bit rushed, but at this point it every scene had the same time breadth of the first few novels this scene would be book 50 or so.
Doug DePrekel
2026-01-28 14:09:27 +0000 UTCLove this chapter! Really fascinating to see the impacts of Tala’s close focus on the her position as Eskau and the diplomatic efforts with the Arcane juxtaposed against the familial issues she’d been neglecting. I think it feels super true to children of adults who are at the peak of achievement. Insecurity is going to present itself by tirelessly working to prove that they live up to their parents’ achievements. I really liked this one
AB
2026-01-28 13:59:57 +0000 UTCThis chapter embodies everything I find frustrating about this story. This had the potential to be an extraordinarily potent chapter. Especially if this was hinted at and built up from a long time ago. But like all problems not involving the arcanes since tala became paragon. It was brought up and resolved in one chapter. As a result it felt inauthentic. Lea has been a perfect child there was only one chapter where she felt insecure and that was for one paragraph when she first left the sanctum. Yet I am supposed to believe that Lea who has never lashed out and never went against anything her parents said and had to be motivated to work hard through carrots was insecure about this the whole time? Alat didn't notice and bring it up with tala, or even try. alat who is basically omniscient in the space where Lea spends the bulk of her time? So much wasted potential it makes me want to pull my hair out.
Ike5421
2026-01-28 13:45:48 +0000 UTC
