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rainwaterspark) wrote2014-11-17 07:06 am
rainwaterspark) wrote2014-11-17 07:06 am
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Throne of Glass - Deconstruction - Ch47-50
This time on Throne of Glass, the climax.
Chapter 47
Kaltain’s POV again. Apparently the duel is happening outside in the snow and cold, which is…what? Who decided this? And why??
Her blood grew warm and glittering.
…WHO THINKS THIS IS GOOD WRITING??!
I already mentioned that I have pretty strong opinions about “poetic” description in novels. There is obviously no set formula as to what constitutes “good” poetic description, but it’s really obvious when authors write bad poetic description. It’s incredibly jarring and immersion-breaking, and that’s something a writer really does not want to do to the reader.
I am all for experimenting with words and trying to mix up sensory descriptions, but it has to make some sort of sense. “Glittering blood” as a tactile description makes no sense, because “glittering” is a visual quality, and the blood in your own veins is not even going to be visible to you!
Gah.
Kaltain poisons Celaena’s goblet.
Between them strode a figure. She wore men’s clothes, though Kaltain was forced to admit that her black-and-gold jacket was of fine make. It was strange to think of this woman as an assassin
…Was it REALLY so hard to say “Between them strode Celaena Sardothien” instead of “a figure”?
This passage is really off to me. It’s not at all clear that Kaltain’s talking about Celaena until the “assassin” line, and FFS that is NOT good writing when apparently Kaltain recognized her right away.
Look, despite what it might seem like, I really don’t like critiquing this book’s writing on a technical level. But I’m Someone Who Writes Stuff and also Someone Who Thinks A Lot About Writing, and I can’t let things like this slide. A writer will either use the term “figure” to refer to someone whose identity isn’t immediately obvious to the POV character, or follow up with the character’s identity immediately afterwards to make it clear who the book’s talking about. I have no idea why it was so hard to simply name Celaena here when the only person who’s confused about her identity is the reader, due to vague writing.
Switch to Celaena’s POV, who’s also wondering why this duel is happening outside. Chaol tells her the king spontaneously decided to hold the duel outdoors.
…But WHY???
WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD HOLD A DUEL OUTDOORS IN FREEZING WINTER TEMPERATURES??!!
YOU CAN’T JUST THROW THIS OUT THERE WITH NO EXPLANATION WHATSOEVER!
Celaena is still scared of Cain and the king. Goddammit, book.
Nehemia joins them.
She wore a spectacular outfit: close-fitting pants
Or in other words, pants that are going to be really freaking cold in the winter.
I’m serious, she should be freezing. The worldbuilding in this book is generally vague and not thought out, but Eyllwe has warm temperatures, right? In which case I have a hard time believing this is traditional Eyllwe wear, either, because in places that are really hot you want breezy, airy clothing instead of tight-fitting clothing that’s going to get drenched in sweat and sticky and gross.
Seriously, did the author just really want Nehemia to be wearing 21st century skinny jeans, or something? This is so illogical.
a layered tunic studded with whorls of iron
?
???
?????????????????
Once again, I am not a fashion historian. But this doesn’t sound like it makes any kind of sense at all. You either wear fabric or you wear armor, and attaching iron to your fabric shirt for purposes of decoration is going to make it heavy.
I just don’t get it.
Nehemia is carrying a staff.
To honor her, Celaena realized, her eyes stinging. One fellow warrior acknowledging the other.
First, Nehemia had some swordfighting lessons earlier in the book, but without knowing anything else that’s far from making her a “warrior.”
Second, how does Celaena just know Nehemia is carrying the staff to honor her? Maybe it’s just an Eyllwe thing to bring staffs to public events.
For the hundredth freaking time, characters’ thoughts can’t just come out of nowhere so the author can dump information on the reader. It has to make sense that the character would come to this conclusion.
Her insides turned to stone, and she felt clumsy and thick, but also light and weak as a newborn.
I’m cringing.
Look, I’m sorry, but I’m sufficiently annoyed by now to just say this: the descriptions in this book are poorly written. Full stop.
If Cain had been standing beside her, she might have snapped his neck to just end it there…
So I actually looked this up recently and apparently it’s not actually possible to snap someone’s neck with your bare hands. (http://howtofightwrite.tumblr.com/post/96614804491/would-it-be-possible-for-a-character-to-snap-someones) This is doubly true considering that Celaena keeps babbling about how Cain is so much bigger than her.
Knowing that seeing his face would only weaken the strength she’d found in Nehemia’s eyes
FFS, BOOK
Celaena could not stop talking earlier about how angry she was at the king and how she hated his guts, but every time she sees him she dissolves into this weak, terrified, helpless person.
How about, I don’t know, FEELING ANGRY INSTEAD?!
There is no consistency. The book also made a big deal about how FULL OF RAGE Celaena is, but when she’s actually facing her worst enemy, she has NO RAGE WHATSOEVER.
WHAT IS CONSISTENCY
WHAT IS REALISM
WHAT IS A BADASS PROTAGONIST
WHO KNOWS ANYMORE??!
Apparently this duel isn’t a duel to the death, it’s a duel until you “trap” your opponent “in a position of sure death.” Um…they’re dueling with actual metal weapons. Even a chance of accidentally killing someone is high. And is winning by maiming your opponent better than outright killing them?
Of course, the king would know Cain’s name. He might as well have just declared the brute his Champion.
Oh FOR CRYING OUT LOUD
There is NO LOGICAL REASON FOR EVERYONE TO LIKE CAIN EXCEPT THAT THE AUTHOR COULDN’T FIGURE OUT ANOTHER WAY TO ESTABLISH CELAENA AS THE UNDERDOG
Renault, refusing to take up the defensive, swept forward again, landing a few strong blows on Cain’s blade
SWORDFIGHTS DO NOT WORK BY PURPOSELY SWINGING YOUR SWORD INTO YOUR OPPONENT’S
THAT ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING
FOR FFFF’S SAKE
He hadn’t lasted three minutes.
Uh, three minutes is kind of really long for a swordfight.
Lord Garnel’s face was set with fury. She could only guess how much money he’s just lost.
???
?????????
There has been no explanation for why/how much money nobles had to spend to sponsor a champion.
But instead of handing her the plain-as-porridge sword she usually wielded in practice
GOD. EFFING. DAMMIT.
THIS IS NOT A SWORD BEAUTY CONTEST
WHO THE HELL CARES WHAT THE SWORD LOOKS LIKE AS LONG AS IT’S WELL MADE?!?!?
Chaol gives Celaena his own sword, Because Reasons. Also, this is the sword that’s guaranteed to make Celaena lose, because she can’t properly rotate the sword with its freaking ridiculous eagle-shaped pommel.
BUT, Nehemia suddenly intervenes and offers her staff, so that Celaena can win using an Eyllwe weapon.
Earlier, the book mentioned that this staff was about Nehemia’s height. In other words, Celaena has a much longer reach than Grave does, with his sword. That means that while he has to charge her to close the distance between them so he can reach her with his sword, she can just smash the staff into him before he can get close enough. If this staff is as tall as Nehemia, let’s say it’s about 5.5 feet long, while longswords are…I want to say between 3-4 feet long, if memory serves me correctly. A minimum 1-foot difference in length means Celaena can prevent Grave from ever reaching her during the fight.
So really, this is a rather nonsensical duel.
Chapter 48
Grave launched himself at her, going straight for the center of the staff in his hope to break it.
??????????????????????????
In no universe does this make any sort of sense as something to do during a duel.
If the staff is an actual defensive staff, it should be nowhere near thin enough in the middle for anyone to look at it and go “yep, I can totally break this cylinder of solid wood in half.”
If it is thin enough in the middle for someone to jump to that conclusion, it’s not sturdy enough to be a defensive staff.
She took the blow this time, angling her staff so he hit the bottom half.
Physics, what’s that?
IMPACT FORCE HURTS. IN NO UNIVERSE ARE YOU PURPOSELY GOING TO BLOCK A BLOW BECAUSE IT’S GOING TO HURT. A LOT.
He stumbled, but her fist was waiting. As it met with his nose, she savored the rush of pain through her hand and the crunch of his bones beneath her knuckles.
(“met with his nose”? You mean “met his nose”??? The grammar issues in this book are downright embarrassing.)
If by “savored the rush of pain” you mean “Celaena probably broke or fractured something in her hand,” then yes.
Seriously, just Google this. It’s very very easy to break your hand by trying to punch someone in the face, if you don’t know what you’re doing, and considering Celaena is experiencing pain in her hand…yeah.
Also, this is just dumb. He stumbled. That’s a perfect chance for her to use her staff to sweep him off his feet, point the staff end at his throat, and end the fight. But no, instead she decides to punch him in the face. Because Reasons.
She met his blade, holding the staff with both hands, pushing the wood shaft into his sword, even when it let out a splintering groan.
…Why. Why would you do this, Celaena “master of every single weapon ever”???
You are creating a weak spot in your staff. If Grave keeps aiming for this spot, he could very well break the staff in half eventually.
Also, WTF IS IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE AUTHOR TO REALIZE THAT IMPACT FORCE FREAKING HURTS????!!???
GAHHH.
Celaena wins, obviously. Then she drinks the poisoned wine.
Actually…why are the champions drinking alcohol right before their duel? Is this to just purposely screw with anyone who has really low alcohol tolerance?
WTF?
WTF??
1. FREAKING IMPACT FORCE, FOR THE THIRD GODDAMN TIME IN THIS CHAPTER
2. I’m trying to picture this, but the only way this works is if Cain swung his sword broad-side-first at her, which…makes no freaking sense. Was he trying to slap her with the metal face of his sword? The hell??
Oh, so NOW you concede to the laws of physics, author???
The implication here is that impact force doesn’t hurt unless it catches you off guard. Because physics totally works that way, right??
Sigh.
Worst description in an action scene ever.
JFC, BOOK
YOU DO NOT WIN FIGHTS BY SWINGING YOUR WEAPON INTO YOUR OPPONENT’S WEAPON
IT IS POINTLESS
AND IT IS WORSE THAN POINTLESS FOR CELAENA TO BE SWINGING HER WOODEN WEAPON INTO SHARP METAL
FFS
She attacked—faster and faster, stronger and stronger.
But the rest of the paragraph is about how her balance is off and stuff because she drank the poisoned wine.
Paragraph fail.
FREAKING. IMPACT. FORCE.
If she barely has the strength to even hold onto the staff, her arms will straight-up collapse if she meets the full force of one of Cain’s blows.
WORST. FIGHTING. EVER.
“Good,” Cain panted, pressing her staff so hard that his blade sank into the wood.
THESE “FIGHTERS” ARE ALL USELESS INCOMPETENTS
As the “fight” goes on, Cain starts babbling random things about her mysterious past…because Reasons. And she starts having really bad maybe-maybe-not hallucinations.
…
Honestly.
What was the goddamned point of the author trying so hard to establish Celaena as a badass, the most lethal assassin in the continent, if the climax of the book was just going to come down to Celaena being so drugged that Cain can utterly destroy her?
(And the book really goes into uncomfortably loving detail about how much of a bloody pulp Celaena’s getting beaten into.)
How the hell is this book feminist by any stretch of imagination???
(Also, I think the book has given up on third-person limited POV completely, because it zigzags between Celaena and Chaol’s POVs within the same passage, without even a section break. This sloppiness shouldn’t shock me by now, but…sigh.)
Chapter 49
Just as Celaena’s going to die—wait, I thought the rules of this duel were that you’re not allowed to kill your opponent?
What the hell is consistency.
Cain chuckled as he stepped toward the panting assassin and raised his sword, aiming at the assassin’s chest.
…The author really hates referring to Celaena by name, apparently. This epithet use is ridiculous.
Then Ghost Elena appears out of nowhere to take away theLSD bloodbane from Celaena’s system and fight Cain and the, uh, maybe-physical demon army that…came from Celaena’s…maybe-hallucination?
Reading this book is making me feel like I’m the one on a really bad acid trip now.
Chapter 50
Celaena has a blue mark on her forehead now. Why? What does it mean?? Who the hell knows???
With her aching, almost useless arm, she wiped the blood from her mouth.
So her arm is “almost useless,” but she can still raise it all the way to her mouth?
Sentence fail.
Sometimes authors seem to forget that pain is Actually A Thing that means something is wrong with your body, it's not just some minor convenience that will disappear if you try harder. All the willpower in the world is not going to make you able to move your arm if your shoulder is physically dislocated, jeez.
The book talks about how much in pain Celaena is…but then she suddenly flies forward with superspeed to wound Cain.
You know, I’m sure an acid trip would probably make more sense than this book at this point.
Celaena wins, because obviously. She collapses because she’s taken an absurd amount of physical damage at this point. Cain tries to stab her in the back, but Chaol jumps in and skewers him in the heart.
…Yeah, an acid trip would definitely make more sense than this book.
More “third-person limited POV, what’s that?”: the book zigzags between Dorian and Chaol’s POVs without a section break.
Dorian thinks about how much he loves Celaena because Romance Plot.
Switch to Kaltain’s POV, who of course is devastated that things didn’t go according to plan and Dorian apparently loves Celaena.
…Apparently now she’s become a scapegoat so Perrington can blame her for tampering with the duel, and now she’s being arrested.
Why?
Because Reasons, dammit.
Chapter 47
Kaltain’s POV again. Apparently the duel is happening outside in the snow and cold, which is…what? Who decided this? And why??
Her blood grew warm and glittering.
…WHO THINKS THIS IS GOOD WRITING??!
I already mentioned that I have pretty strong opinions about “poetic” description in novels. There is obviously no set formula as to what constitutes “good” poetic description, but it’s really obvious when authors write bad poetic description. It’s incredibly jarring and immersion-breaking, and that’s something a writer really does not want to do to the reader.
I am all for experimenting with words and trying to mix up sensory descriptions, but it has to make some sort of sense. “Glittering blood” as a tactile description makes no sense, because “glittering” is a visual quality, and the blood in your own veins is not even going to be visible to you!
Gah.
Kaltain poisons Celaena’s goblet.
Between them strode a figure. She wore men’s clothes, though Kaltain was forced to admit that her black-and-gold jacket was of fine make. It was strange to think of this woman as an assassin
…Was it REALLY so hard to say “Between them strode Celaena Sardothien” instead of “a figure”?
This passage is really off to me. It’s not at all clear that Kaltain’s talking about Celaena until the “assassin” line, and FFS that is NOT good writing when apparently Kaltain recognized her right away.
Look, despite what it might seem like, I really don’t like critiquing this book’s writing on a technical level. But I’m Someone Who Writes Stuff and also Someone Who Thinks A Lot About Writing, and I can’t let things like this slide. A writer will either use the term “figure” to refer to someone whose identity isn’t immediately obvious to the POV character, or follow up with the character’s identity immediately afterwards to make it clear who the book’s talking about. I have no idea why it was so hard to simply name Celaena here when the only person who’s confused about her identity is the reader, due to vague writing.
Switch to Celaena’s POV, who’s also wondering why this duel is happening outside. Chaol tells her the king spontaneously decided to hold the duel outdoors.
…But WHY???
WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD HOLD A DUEL OUTDOORS IN FREEZING WINTER TEMPERATURES??!!
YOU CAN’T JUST THROW THIS OUT THERE WITH NO EXPLANATION WHATSOEVER!
Celaena is still scared of Cain and the king. Goddammit, book.
Nehemia joins them.
She wore a spectacular outfit: close-fitting pants
Or in other words, pants that are going to be really freaking cold in the winter.
I’m serious, she should be freezing. The worldbuilding in this book is generally vague and not thought out, but Eyllwe has warm temperatures, right? In which case I have a hard time believing this is traditional Eyllwe wear, either, because in places that are really hot you want breezy, airy clothing instead of tight-fitting clothing that’s going to get drenched in sweat and sticky and gross.
Seriously, did the author just really want Nehemia to be wearing 21st century skinny jeans, or something? This is so illogical.
a layered tunic studded with whorls of iron
?
???
?????????????????
Once again, I am not a fashion historian. But this doesn’t sound like it makes any kind of sense at all. You either wear fabric or you wear armor, and attaching iron to your fabric shirt for purposes of decoration is going to make it heavy.
I just don’t get it.
Nehemia is carrying a staff.
To honor her, Celaena realized, her eyes stinging. One fellow warrior acknowledging the other.
First, Nehemia had some swordfighting lessons earlier in the book, but without knowing anything else that’s far from making her a “warrior.”
Second, how does Celaena just know Nehemia is carrying the staff to honor her? Maybe it’s just an Eyllwe thing to bring staffs to public events.
For the hundredth freaking time, characters’ thoughts can’t just come out of nowhere so the author can dump information on the reader. It has to make sense that the character would come to this conclusion.
Her insides turned to stone, and she felt clumsy and thick, but also light and weak as a newborn.
I’m cringing.
Look, I’m sorry, but I’m sufficiently annoyed by now to just say this: the descriptions in this book are poorly written. Full stop.
If Cain had been standing beside her, she might have snapped his neck to just end it there…
So I actually looked this up recently and apparently it’s not actually possible to snap someone’s neck with your bare hands. (http://howtofightwrite.tumblr.com/post/96614804491/would-it-be-possible-for-a-character-to-snap-someones) This is doubly true considering that Celaena keeps babbling about how Cain is so much bigger than her.
Knowing that seeing his face would only weaken the strength she’d found in Nehemia’s eyes
FFS, BOOK
Celaena could not stop talking earlier about how angry she was at the king and how she hated his guts, but every time she sees him she dissolves into this weak, terrified, helpless person.
How about, I don’t know, FEELING ANGRY INSTEAD?!
There is no consistency. The book also made a big deal about how FULL OF RAGE Celaena is, but when she’s actually facing her worst enemy, she has NO RAGE WHATSOEVER.
WHAT IS CONSISTENCY
WHAT IS REALISM
WHAT IS A BADASS PROTAGONIST
WHO KNOWS ANYMORE??!
Apparently this duel isn’t a duel to the death, it’s a duel until you “trap” your opponent “in a position of sure death.” Um…they’re dueling with actual metal weapons. Even a chance of accidentally killing someone is high. And is winning by maiming your opponent better than outright killing them?
Of course, the king would know Cain’s name. He might as well have just declared the brute his Champion.
Oh FOR CRYING OUT LOUD
There is NO LOGICAL REASON FOR EVERYONE TO LIKE CAIN EXCEPT THAT THE AUTHOR COULDN’T FIGURE OUT ANOTHER WAY TO ESTABLISH CELAENA AS THE UNDERDOG
Renault, refusing to take up the defensive, swept forward again, landing a few strong blows on Cain’s blade
SWORDFIGHTS DO NOT WORK BY PURPOSELY SWINGING YOUR SWORD INTO YOUR OPPONENT’S
THAT ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING
FOR FFFF’S SAKE
He hadn’t lasted three minutes.
Uh, three minutes is kind of really long for a swordfight.
Lord Garnel’s face was set with fury. She could only guess how much money he’s just lost.
???
?????????
There has been no explanation for why/how much money nobles had to spend to sponsor a champion.
But instead of handing her the plain-as-porridge sword she usually wielded in practice
GOD. EFFING. DAMMIT.
THIS IS NOT A SWORD BEAUTY CONTEST
WHO THE HELL CARES WHAT THE SWORD LOOKS LIKE AS LONG AS IT’S WELL MADE?!?!?
Chaol gives Celaena his own sword, Because Reasons. Also, this is the sword that’s guaranteed to make Celaena lose, because she can’t properly rotate the sword with its freaking ridiculous eagle-shaped pommel.
BUT, Nehemia suddenly intervenes and offers her staff, so that Celaena can win using an Eyllwe weapon.
I have no idea whether a staff-vs.-sword fight is reasonable in any way, but it really doesn’t sound reasonable. (I have never studied staff fighting, so if there’s anyone out there who knows more than I do, please feel free to correct me.)
Earlier, the book mentioned that this staff was about Nehemia’s height. In other words, Celaena has a much longer reach than Grave does, with his sword. That means that while he has to charge her to close the distance between them so he can reach her with his sword, she can just smash the staff into him before he can get close enough. If this staff is as tall as Nehemia, let’s say it’s about 5.5 feet long, while longswords are…I want to say between 3-4 feet long, if memory serves me correctly. A minimum 1-foot difference in length means Celaena can prevent Grave from ever reaching her during the fight.
So really, this is a rather nonsensical duel.
Chapter 48
Grave launched himself at her, going straight for the center of the staff in his hope to break it.
??????????????????????????
In no universe does this make any sort of sense as something to do during a duel.
If the staff is an actual defensive staff, it should be nowhere near thin enough in the middle for anyone to look at it and go “yep, I can totally break this cylinder of solid wood in half.”
If it is thin enough in the middle for someone to jump to that conclusion, it’s not sturdy enough to be a defensive staff.
She took the blow this time, angling her staff so he hit the bottom half.
Physics, what’s that?
IMPACT FORCE HURTS. IN NO UNIVERSE ARE YOU PURPOSELY GOING TO BLOCK A BLOW BECAUSE IT’S GOING TO HURT. A LOT.
He stumbled, but her fist was waiting. As it met with his nose, she savored the rush of pain through her hand and the crunch of his bones beneath her knuckles.
(“met with his nose”? You mean “met his nose”??? The grammar issues in this book are downright embarrassing.)
If by “savored the rush of pain” you mean “Celaena probably broke or fractured something in her hand,” then yes.
Seriously, just Google this. It’s very very easy to break your hand by trying to punch someone in the face, if you don’t know what you’re doing, and considering Celaena is experiencing pain in her hand…yeah.
Also, this is just dumb. He stumbled. That’s a perfect chance for her to use her staff to sweep him off his feet, point the staff end at his throat, and end the fight. But no, instead she decides to punch him in the face. Because Reasons.
She met his blade, holding the staff with both hands, pushing the wood shaft into his sword, even when it let out a splintering groan.
…Why. Why would you do this, Celaena “master of every single weapon ever”???
You are creating a weak spot in your staff. If Grave keeps aiming for this spot, he could very well break the staff in half eventually.
Also, WTF IS IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE AUTHOR TO REALIZE THAT IMPACT FORCE FREAKING HURTS????!!???
GAHHH.
Celaena wins, obviously. Then she drinks the poisoned wine.
Actually…why are the champions drinking alcohol right before their duel? Is this to just purposely screw with anyone who has really low alcohol tolerance?
WTF?
She caught his sword on the broad side with the staff, avoiding the sharp edges
WTF??
1. FREAKING IMPACT FORCE, FOR THE THIRD GODDAMN TIME IN THIS CHAPTER
2. I’m trying to picture this, but the only way this works is if Cain swung his sword broad-side-first at her, which…makes no freaking sense. Was he trying to slap her with the metal face of his sword? The hell??
He struck so quickly that she had to concede to the edge of his blade. It sank deep into the staff. Her arms ached from the impact.
Oh, so NOW you concede to the laws of physics, author???
The implication here is that impact force doesn’t hurt unless it catches you off guard. Because physics totally works that way, right??
Grunting, Celaena pulled away with an effort of skill and force.
Sigh.
Worst description in an action scene ever.
She brought the staff down upon his sword, splinters flying into the air.
JFC, BOOK
YOU DO NOT WIN FIGHTS BY SWINGING YOUR WEAPON INTO YOUR OPPONENT’S WEAPON
IT IS POINTLESS
AND IT IS WORSE THAN POINTLESS FOR CELAENA TO BE SWINGING HER WOODEN WEAPON INTO SHARP METAL
FFS
She attacked—faster and faster, stronger and stronger.
But the rest of the paragraph is about how her balance is off and stuff because she drank the poisoned wine.
Paragraph fail.
She had difficulty holding the staff. Cain came at her, and she had no choice but to meet his blows, barely having the strength to raise the weapon each time.
FREAKING. IMPACT. FORCE.
If she barely has the strength to even hold onto the staff, her arms will straight-up collapse if she meets the full force of one of Cain’s blows.
she swung at his blade with the remnant of the staff.
WORST. FIGHTING. EVER.
“Good,” Cain panted, pressing her staff so hard that his blade sank into the wood.
THESE “FIGHTERS” ARE ALL USELESS INCOMPETENTS
As the “fight” goes on, Cain starts babbling random things about her mysterious past…because Reasons. And she starts having really bad maybe-maybe-not hallucinations.
…
Honestly.
What was the goddamned point of the author trying so hard to establish Celaena as a badass, the most lethal assassin in the continent, if the climax of the book was just going to come down to Celaena being so drugged that Cain can utterly destroy her?
(And the book really goes into uncomfortably loving detail about how much of a bloody pulp Celaena’s getting beaten into.)
How the hell is this book feminist by any stretch of imagination???
(Also, I think the book has given up on third-person limited POV completely, because it zigzags between Celaena and Chaol’s POVs within the same passage, without even a section break. This sloppiness shouldn’t shock me by now, but…sigh.)
Chapter 49
Just as Celaena’s going to die—wait, I thought the rules of this duel were that you’re not allowed to kill your opponent?
What the hell is consistency.
Cain chuckled as he stepped toward the panting assassin and raised his sword, aiming at the assassin’s chest.
…The author really hates referring to Celaena by name, apparently. This epithet use is ridiculous.
Then Ghost Elena appears out of nowhere to take away the
Reading this book is making me feel like I’m the one on a really bad acid trip now.
Chapter 50
Celaena has a blue mark on her forehead now. Why? What does it mean?? Who the hell knows???
Also, yet another instance of POV failure. If it’s on her own forehead, she won’t know it’s there unless she has tactile sensation of some kind, because she can’t freaking see it. She certainly shouldn’t know what color it’s glowing.
With her aching, almost useless arm, she wiped the blood from her mouth.
So her arm is “almost useless,” but she can still raise it all the way to her mouth?
Sentence fail.
Sometimes authors seem to forget that pain is Actually A Thing that means something is wrong with your body, it's not just some minor convenience that will disappear if you try harder. All the willpower in the world is not going to make you able to move your arm if your shoulder is physically dislocated, jeez.
The book talks about how much in pain Celaena is…but then she suddenly flies forward with superspeed to wound Cain.
You know, I’m sure an acid trip would probably make more sense than this book at this point.
Celaena wins, because obviously. She collapses because she’s taken an absurd amount of physical damage at this point. Cain tries to stab her in the back, but Chaol jumps in and skewers him in the heart.
…Yeah, an acid trip would definitely make more sense than this book.
More “third-person limited POV, what’s that?”: the book zigzags between Dorian and Chaol’s POVs without a section break.
Dorian thinks about how much he loves Celaena because Romance Plot.
Switch to Kaltain’s POV, who of course is devastated that things didn’t go according to plan and Dorian apparently loves Celaena.
…Apparently now she’s become a scapegoat so Perrington can blame her for tampering with the duel, and now she’s being arrested.
Why?
Because Reasons, dammit.