Anna’s Reviews > Heretic > Status Update

Seeing Luther interact with his kids is so sweet, and I’m glad that we finally got to know Brook and Klaus as characters, even if it happened in the epilogue. The final would’ve been a proverbial happy ending if this story wasn’t a prequel – so we know that Luther has a lot of hard times ahead of him.

The scene at the ball was a fitting and necessary final – for the whole book, Luther was the main character and the narrator, but he wasn’t the only hero in the story. Delilah experienced as much discrimination and abuse as him, and this story was also her battle against injustice as well. And seeing Delilah stand for herself and make a statement that shook the hypocritical high circles of society was so awesome.

What’s especially painful for Luther (and ironic plot-wise) is that Luther himself started the chain of events that caused Lucius’ death. By killing Jeremiah, he incited the vengeance of the Irving family that caused his family so much grief. Yes, Jeremiah deserved death, but violence can only beget violence, however justified it may be, and breaking this circle of revenge takes way more strength that starting it.

Just when it seems that Luther had finally found his place in life and things are looking up for him, he loses what’s most important to him, and it’s as if a piece of his heart is torn out. And it’s not the first time it happens, so is it any wonder that Luther completely loses the remains of his civility and swears vengeance? Luther had just lost the only father figure he had, so he feels that he has nothing left.

This unnamed inquisitor is what I desperately needed – a sincerely religious character who is open-minded and unbiased. Johannes tried to do so, but still couldn’t make peace with Luther’s orientation, and then there’s a priest who was supposed to punish Luther for his transgressions and who says instead, ‘I don’t think that your way of life is right, but you are a good person and there are worse sins in the world.’

For a short while, it looked that life actually turned out for the better for Luther – he feels like he found a home and family, he has a loving relationship with his wife and children, the respect of his father-in-law, a chance to earn the position in the fleet, and even a lover that he can be open about. But everything that has to crash down just then! But then, what's the point of the story without some drama?

Luther says that he begins to develop feelings for Mikhail as opposed to keeping their relationship purely physical, but while there’s a timeskip of several months in-story, we’ve only known Mikhail for a chapter. Mikhail is smart and sharp-tongued and a bit of mischief-maker, and generally a nice fellow, but that’s all I know about him as a person, so it’s hard for me to feel anything about the possible romance.

Johannes Cuthbert is such a complex character. He is a deeply religious and devout person, yet he was able to make peace with Luther despite the latter’s ‘sinful’ attitude; a low-born commoner, he managed to win respect of Lucius’ noble-born Captains; and despite having a family that he loves very much, he spends almost all his time serving the Denholme family, becoming a member of their household instead.

When Luther made a deal with the Denholme family, everyone involved knew that his marriage to Delilah would be in name only, so no one expected Luther to remain faithful – except for Luther himself. And to me, the fact that he tried to keep his marriage vows means more than the fact that he actually gave in to temptation when he met Mikhail – especially when it turned out that their meeting wasn’t accidental.

Luther likes to present himself as a loner, but the truth is that he’s afraid to make connections with other people because of his secrets and how they affected his life. The truth is also that Luther yearns for connections – he grew attached to Delilah in no time, he became the most doting father the moment he first saw Delilah’s pups despite claiming to dislike babies, and Lucius became almost like a father to him.