Dylan Weekley > Recent Status Updates

my previous theory now sounds prophetic, i knew cassius was a good and honorable man. that whole "final" fight sequence absolutely landed beautifully. the whole sequence and staging and power dynamic made it so thrilling and pulse pounding to read, could not stop. now we see how evil the jackal is, they should be able to kill him right her right now but its never that simple is it

Sadly having to call it for the night but man I would read the last 50 pages right now if I could. I’m so entranced by what’s going on. Its peak cinema is all I can say. Everything that’s been built up to for 3 books coming to an end in such a satisfying way so far, like it’s perfect the way they’ve done it. No complaints. They better stick the landing

Slight prediction, I may be very dumb and wrong but maybe Cassius is in on this, and this is darrows huge plan. And Sevro agreed to sacrifice himself so Darrow and mustand and Cassius are able to be one on one with the sovereign and the jackal, would be crazy but that’s kinda the only way out I see. And maybe Sevro really didn’t dead cause Darrow isn’t grieving that much. I’m probably way off

Things have gone the literal worst possible way in like 15 pages, it’s absurd how fucked everything is now. I really struggle to see the way Darrow gets out of this one. Genuinely only a huge twist can save him now. Because he’s written into a corner and no normal way of getting out of this. I feel numb, they hype you up for this climactic battle and they you get KO’d on the first punch. Conor Mcgregor style

I take back anything nice I’ve ever said about Cassius au bellona. I was naive, people with power will never let it go without a fight. All this sparing people bs has got to go. That man has to DIE. Honor my ass. Fuck this guy

Oh and that was a great callback to what Darrow did bed in the first book in house mars to settle a dispute

To add one there’s genuinely never a dull moment in this book, you’re constantly thrown from one insane moment to another. This one felt different though, because darrow/us were just witnessing it all, powerless to the pure destruction and hopelessness of it all. It seems like the path to victory was doomed but now it’s better then ever

There’s so many sequences in this book that could be the best in the series, but my god does this one take the cake. I’d put it 2nd behind Darrow vs Cassius in golden son, that one will never be topped probably. But the pure chaos and insanity of this chapter, the trial of Cassius, him and Sevro hanging. Sevro continues to be the goat, and now I see a path for Cassius to be a good guy again. Enemy back to friend

Darrow and Cassius.The best dynamic and rivalry I’ve seen in such a long time. It’s so personal, emotional, and complex that when you put these 2 in the same room, it’s pure cinema every time. And this time it’s quiet, deep, conversations that each word holds so much weight. Them watching holos of the institute gives me a feeling of nostalgia,we truly have seen them grow so much since then, it was simple then

Part 3 complete

It really feels like Darrow is slowly but surely compromising his morals, I mean how many people does he kill there at the end, to shut down a POTENTIAL confrontation in the future. Old him would not have done that I feel. Death begets death begets death.

End to a great era. The long term character storytelling is really the greatest strength this series has. And another great characters journey comes to such a fitting, emotional, and deeply satisfying end. Roque has been easily a top 3 character in the series, his evolution throughout the books, and what he represents. He truly believes the society is the best way, he may not like it, but he swore to defend it.

And the confrontation I’ve been waiting for, and it did not disappoint.

That whole negotiating scene, pleading their case, roque vs Darrow, seeing truly how far Darrow is willing to go. It was pure cinema, and it went on for a while too so it build great tension and it went on and on. Romulus and the inclusion of the rim adds so much depth to the world and the conflict.

God pierce brown just knows how to build hype and tension. This whole chapter with negotiating strategies and how to fight the war was one of my favorites. And the conclusion left me with so much excitement of what’s to come. The battle with roque, it’s been built up to and now that we get it, it’s so worth the wait. Also just to say again the dynamic between all the characters is fully realized to its max

Wow this was really escalated a bunch, I know it was already a galaxy wide war but the inclusion of a whole warehouse of nukes makes the strategy so much more complex. Really 3 main factions but just so many different motivations and alliances and motivations that just leaves you guessing on how it will play out. So engaging and page turning.

Also I’m missing roque, no appearance 300 pages in is disappointing

Part 2 complete.

This whole section with the obsidians has been such a huge highlight in this book. The chapter with Ragnar dying and his last words and his sister truly made me tear up, and the whole conflict with Alia and Asgard and it was all just great.

In the span of 10 pages all that went down.

Heavy spoilers ahead


I don’t believe Cassius went out like that, I feel like Darrow would have to be the one to do it, and this early on the book would be such a shock, I know there’s other antagonists but he’s the most personal one. And my guy Ragnar falls, that’s such a brutal loss. But really this whole set piece was so awesome, could’ve been a finale.

And there we go getting some great character work and moments. The 4 of them, sitting around just talking is when this book is so good. It’s got 2 great things going for it, incredible character and dynamics, and incredible action set pieces and you combine those 2 and great book. Also the premise of Darrows group and Cassius group stuck on this arctic island stranded is so great. And man some brutal imagery here

Constant action going on and on. Never a time to catch a breath, always war and tactics constantly. I liked the line about how war takes away all that makes man great, their creativity, their passion, and reduces them to their capacity of violence, and only the most violent ones survive.

Quicksilver absolutely changed the game. The amount of resources available now changes the whole game. his rant about the golds and how they hate change and don’t allow mankind to progress, they force stagnation so they can pretend to be gods, was great. The sevro conflict is only getting better and better, he’s fueled by loss and it gives him anger and wrath, close to Darrow but he wants change, not pure revenge

I haven’t mentioned it yet but really such a good mystery going on, with Darrow being underground for like a year and the war going on without him, so much has happened and we slowly are getting the picture. But still we don’t know these characters true motives or if they lie and it leads to so many questions that you end up questioning everyone and everything. Book is really hitting on all aspects right now

The clash in darrows and sevros ideology’s is very compelling stuff. It’s happened in such little time, I figured it would’ve been kinda a long form plot line but it did feel weird having Darrow take orders. It’s much better when he’s the leader but the conflict that leaves with him and sevro will certainly build and most likely end d in a confrontation when sevro tries or does go too far.

Finally the flow state this book needed. Just every single awesome character in a room fighting it out. I felt my heart racing and the words just flowing. Finally all the characters that hadn’t shown up yet are here. And the whole chaotic scene played out as cinema. The real question is what were they negotiating, that will be a huge plot point to find out. I missed the loud KAVAX AU TELEMANUS

They are definitely leaning into the edgy side of the howlers and I can’t say I’m the biggest fan. It was cool when they were weird badasses who howled and were just psychos, but now they got rituals and a text and it feels odd to say the least. I guess now that they got power they can fully be themselves but still. Victra is a great character, the characters just carry this book man.

Part 1 complete. Solid start but the writing does feel a little different. It’s hard to describe but just the tone feels off at times, and there’s just some cringe lines that would not have been in the previous books. Servo feels like a completely different character, bros a goofball now. I hear this book is the best one so I hope it picks up, but like a solid 8 right now for me.I just love the characters so much

On that last point, they gotta figure out how to keep society running, if they want to be in charge they need to have a system that works. And that’s a whole lot harder than fighting people, and that’s where the real change would happen, anyone can dream, it’s a whole different ball game to make it happen.

So Darrow is Jesus in this world now, a martyr who is resurrected. It’s full circle with Darrow and Eo being martyrs. Crazy that sevro released that but I do understand the move, finally we get caught up to all the big time moves that have been happening in this war and man is it the whole universe involved. Also they are starting to realize the revolution has so much more depth then just overthrowing the evil guys

We finally know what did in Darrow and thank god it wasn’t mustang, we finally get so many answers and it agains proves how sevro is the goat. The family reunion was incredible emotional, and Darrow holding dios baby is such a touching moment.

Shoutout holiday and trigg. Absolute goats. It’s just insane what the jackal has done to these people, Darrow and victra. But it’s good to know that sevro and the sons are causing havoc and the war is not all one sided. Good start to this book so far. All the internal struggles Darrow is going through are very engaging.

I’m so happy to be back to this series, and this first chapter is such a banger. It’s really a great re introduction into what’s been going on and the current state of things, and darrows turned into the green goblin with a voice in his head. His constant downward spiral is done to perfection here. And him turning on the vale, saying they made it up so they have a reason for why they are slaves. Great start