Joseph > Recent Status Updates

Kinda wondering why Ruth didn't sell all these fancy clothes if they're so poor, but I guess they have sentimental value if her dad made them.

"The young maidens wondering at the meaning of Boaz's action, and the young men not wondering at all."

Okay, that's kind of a funny joke.

Did we need a Random Rapist? And he's so casual about it that it comes off as unintentionally silly.

"Not since she had married Mahlon had she contemplated other men, and she was not yet ready to do so."

Please, I pointed out earlier that you were checking someone out, and I'm 90% sure that he's gonna turn out to be Boaz.

"Naomi Ben Elimelech."

Um. I don't think that is correct.

It's a little awkward, jumping from thinking about her dead husband to "ooh, that guy's hot."

Typo: Missing quotation mark before "We owe her?"

I'm really not loving the depiction of these other Jews. Kinda leaning into some anti-Semitic tropes here.

First of all, Passover seders as they exist now may well not have been a thing at this point. Secondly, "not allowed to recline" is the EXACT OPPOSITE OF RIGHT.

"But it could have been a full planet away..."

Okay, that's the worst anachronism yet.

"And as for the matter of Ruth's devotion to a pagan deity, proselytism was not a requirement of Jewish law for foreign wives."

Um. Citation definitely fucking needed for that. Maybe reread Exodus 34, Ezra 9-10 and Nehemiah 13.

Why is he quoting the Book of Micah several centuries before Micah's born?

Weren't they also potters in that other Book of Ruth novelization I read? Is there some reason for this that I'm missing?

Incorrect! In some medieval tales he had some sort of romance with Morgan le Fay, though apparently also troubled.

Also, according to the Brut Chronicle, Merlin's mom was named Adhan.

See, honestly? The version of Merlin in this summary is more interesting in the one in the actual novel.

Yeah, sure, GRIN about the person you murdered.

Oh, wait, cool, Uther's actually calling Merlin out for that. But no, you other shithead, Merlin isn't doing this "for his ambition." He's doing it for no reason because Stewart was TOO LAZY TO THINK OF ONE.

God: Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Merlin: Well, I sure did murder people in order to facilitate adultery! Just like God wanted! 🤪

"HOW DARE YOU NOT TELL ME THAT THE STUPID AND IMMORAL THING I WANTED TO DO WAS BAD! WHAT, WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES?!"

Typo: "I could see that there there was blood on his face." Extra "there."

Cadal is dead. Now he's EXACTLY like Cerdic. Except that Cerdic didn't deserve to die.

(At this point I just hate every character and want this book to end.)

Oh, FUCK YOU, Merlin. Never has someone managed to be so loathsome and so boring at the same time.

What are you TALKING about, Ygraine?! You want Merlin to make you Uther's wife, but without Gorlois dying. These things are mutually exclusive! You can't give Merlin two contradictory tasks and then blame him not only doing one!

To be fair, Ygraine is the three-dimensional female character in this book other than Niniane. The problem is that she's awful and I hate her.

"The words came clearly to me, from nowhere, without thought."

You'd think that Stewart would stop reminding us that Merlin has no agency or motivation.

"I am not 'many women.'"

Translation: "I'm not like other girls! They would have just thrown off their clothes and fucked Uther in the middle of the royal banquet, but I'M smart enough to plot my husband's death first!"

"You are honest, Ygraine."

No. The word "honest" used to mean "chaste."

"Was that right?"
"You were guided."

Merlin literally can't even understand the idea that someone might have thought for themself.

I think it says something that Merlin agreed to help Uther sleep with Ygraine before he thought of asking whether she'd consent to it.

It seems he's not going to think at all about the moral implications of helping Uther screw the wife of their mutual friend and ally.

"That is what I call dunghill stuff, Cadal. I meant, what is she like?"
"Well, that's just what they don't say, except that she's silent."

I feel like this sums up every women in this book except Niniane.

I'm also kind of annoyed that we had this established pattern of twelve chapters for each "part," and now we're switching to ten.