The Readirect Podcast
Shifting the conversation back to books. Hosted by Abigail Freshley and Emily Rojas.
The Readirect Podcast
Book Club: Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Today, we're putting the ROMA into ROMAntasy with an Onyx Storm deep dive. We yapped for an hour and a half and it still wasn't enough to figure out what happened in this book & theorize what's going to come next.
Join us on this journey with our favorite shadow daddy Xaden & clueless heroine Violet.
Plus, recent reads:
Plus - follow us on Instagram and Bluesky at @readirectpodcast.
Welcome to the Redirect Podcast. My name is Abigail Freshley.
Speaker 2:And I'm Emily Rojas. The Redirect Podcast is a show where we shift the conversation back to books. We discuss themes from some of our favorite books and how those themes show up in our real live experiences.
Speaker 1:On today's episode, we are discussing the third installment of the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yaros Onyx Storm.
Speaker 2:But before we get to that, we would love for you to support the pod in a few simple ways. First, you can leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and let us know that you love the show.
Speaker 1:You can also follow us on Instagram and blue sky at redirect podcast and if you really really love the show, you can share it with a friend, because sharing our show with a friend is the best way to grow our community of book loving nerds. And, um, yeah, so much. I just want to say that there's so much community around reading in general, but especially when you're reading a series like the Fourth Wing series yes, yes or a series that's currently coming out, there's tons of community online and in person to be built around it.
Speaker 2:There's nothing like it and it's something that's so rare as well these days, outside of books, because, because, like so many movies like are just on streaming, like you don't have to go see them in the theater and tv shows don't come out once a week, people are just binging them and yeah like there's just so few things that people can kind of rally around and discuss all at the same time. So I think books is one of those places that that's never going to go away and at least for now.
Speaker 1:And uh, it still takes years to write a book and publish.
Speaker 2:For now, I guess so, um, it's just fun and there's just nothing like. There's nothing like the high. Um, I didn't get to experience that with harry potter, but I do remember with twilight, like theorizing and um, chatting and podcasting. So thanks for being here totally before we get started.
Speaker 2:I have this idea because you're not on tiktok anymore and things are happening in the fandom world. I think you know every so often I could update you on the most bizarre or interesting development in the world of fandom that we, that we mutually share, on tiktok specifically. Okay, so now I want you to know that there is a new ship taking hold in marauders tiktok what is it jugulus?
Speaker 2:no, it's the most insane ship. I think it kind of started as a joke. My understanding, um, because I my my ability to trace this is this is my hypothesis. People started like making. There was like a trend of making TikToks where Peter is like really funny and they're like this is why, like no one understands why Peter was friends with them because he betrayed them, but this was him every night in the dorm room and they would use audios. You know that comedian Caleb, something.
Speaker 2:Caleb Heeran, I'm literally here, yes yes, he's so funny couldn't remember his last name, so people were using a lot of his audios and being like this is peter every night in the dorm room. So then peter is becoming more humanized and then I think it's a joke. But now it's like they're starting to be like very serious edits about him and gilderoy lockhart stop it and their ship name is gilderat. There are like very emotional like voiceover uh, gilderoy peter edits going around tiktok now oh, my god, that's what you're missing.
Speaker 1:Okay, that is crazy. And also I just want the listeners to know about why I'm not on TikTok and therefore why the podcast is not active on TikTok, since it is via my login. And that is because when I thought TikTok was going away forever, I deleted the app from my phone, right. And then when they restored service to us users, that is great because then other people can use it again, but you still can't download it from the app store, right, so I just don't have it. And then also I was like got a little bit of the ick from tiktok so I was like well, yeah like maybe it's for the best, yeah, whatever.
Speaker 1:but I also have something to say about caleb here in Caleb, if you were listening to this, I think we would be really, really good friends. And also, I have liked I have been a fan of Caleb Heeran since, like before he was like really took off where he was famous.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I believe that, and when we first moved to LA, zach and I were walking around our neighborhood target Uh-huh and I saw him oh my God, I like turned an aisle and it was like he was standing there with someone else like shopping and I was like I just took turned around and I looked at Zach and I was like, oh my God, that's Caleb here, cause I had gotten Zach hooked on Caleb here and because of that one video he does, when he was like, uh, elon Musk, you know what I'm talking about Right.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah. Anyways, zach was like you have to go say hi to him, you have to go say hi to him, but I couldn't, you didn't.
Speaker 2:I couldn't meet my hero. No, like that's a bad idea.
Speaker 1:Literally like we were checking out at the same time, we're walking to our cars at the same time, and that was probably my best chance to ever really make a friendship with him. Right, because now he's too famous for me to like actually be friends with yeah, but anyways, caleb, if you happen to be one of our couple dozen, a few dozen loyal.
Speaker 2:That would be amazing.
Speaker 1:Please reach out would love to chat yeah, um, also I would like to say if you follow us on blue sky our newly created blue sky account you will see um that emily and I were actually together. Yeah, uh, just like a week ago or like less than a week ago and yesterday we were at a bachelor.
Speaker 2:You were at my house yesterday, yeah, yesterday but this incident occurred.
Speaker 1:We were at a bachelor party and there were substances involved, of course, sure, sure. And then all of a sudden I was like, hey guys, does anybody know anything about wolf star?
Speaker 2:I wish you guys could have been there honestly, because, unfortunately, I think we've normalized it too much and it's like well, this is actually canon, uh, this is actually what happened. But then you get around normal people and they look at you like you're like genuinely should be committed to an institution.
Speaker 1:And then I was like the next thing I know my body is taking over and I'm screencasting onto like I'm airplane onto the tv all of my saved um, like wolf star edits from tiktok and everyone is just like, wow, and it didn't go over well and I think everyone thought we were freaks the good news about this is is that originally?
Speaker 2:so we did a powerpoint presentation night while we were there and originally I was like I should do, like why wolf star is canon? And I was like abigail, what do you think the vibes are? She's like I don't know, maybe not, and I'm so glad that I did not go with that.
Speaker 1:Everyone there like. This is one of those bachelorette parties where it's like there's childhood friends, there's college friends, there's high school people and like so there's multiple groups.
Speaker 2:So many groups, yeah. So, needless to say, they were not aware. You never know that. You sometimes just have to throw it out there because there are many of us. It is out there because there are many of us. It is the number one ship, I think, or like the number two ship on ao3. So there are many wolf star shippers out there.
Speaker 1:We just have to find them, and they were not at that bachelorette party yeah, all right, but also transitioning to our main conversation, yeah, um, also at that bachelorette party, we were both reading onyx storm during, yeah, I mean, we were pretty busy like planning and executing the bachelorette party, but then we finished the book. I think we were both finished the book while I was there visiting with you. I finished first, then you finished the next day.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I got to sit there and watch you finish the book yes, and we did try to record an episode, just to be clear, and it did get, uh, completely just talked for an hour for nothing. So, um, before I finished the book, but then we're like, oh well, that got deleted, might as well wait until we weren't gonna do an honest recap for sure, yeah.
Speaker 1:Then, when we lost our other episode, which we'll never re-record because I don't want to talk about it again, yeah, that is so annoying to me.
Speaker 2:I hate repeating myself, yeah.
Speaker 1:We were going to do a Romantasy episode and that's not going to happen unless it's a long time from now. But we decided we're just going to do a recap of this book because we only had like so much to talk about. You finished the book the night last night there, and then you drove me to the airport.
Speaker 2:at like 6am you finished the book the night, like last night there, before you left, yeah, and then you drove me to the airport at like 6 am so. Yeah. Not a lot of time to theorize and I've had a lot of time to think about it since then and process so I'm ready, so obviously spoilers ahoy Many.
Speaker 1:If you even have any remote interest in reading this series, just stop listening, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's worth it to just don't listen to us talk about it, go read it. Yeah, do you think, like for my mom? Should we recap the first two books very, very briefly? So there's some context for what we're discussing for those people, mom, who are never going to read this book but would love to listen to the episode.
Speaker 1:If you're in that sweet spot, here you go, and if you want to skip the recap, Ahead 30 seconds.
Speaker 2:Go Okay. So basically I'm going big strokes here. Violet, she has a disability that makes her kind of loosey-goosey with the joints and a little bit weak, and she's studying to be a scribe her whole life, which is like librarian, studying to be a scribe her whole life, which is like librarian. But then her mom, who is like the war general of all the land, uh forces her to go into the dragon rider's quadrant and you know she has to go to this magical dragon school where, like most people die, which I would love to talk more about, how problematic that is.
Speaker 2:And, um, she somehow does okay and ends up bonding to not one but two dragons. One of them is like the biggest dragon, like the dragon, and the other one's this little baby, weirdo dragon. Those are Taryn and Darna. And she also falls in love with her dragon's mated dragon's rider, who is Zayden. They're like an enemies to lovers thing, because her mom did kind of uh kill his directly kill his dad and also lashed him like 107 times, like lots of lashes there's a bunch of like political stuff going on, yeah, yeah who cares?
Speaker 2:they fall in love. Blah, blah, blah. Then a bunch of things happen. They're at war against these evil guys called Venon who, instead of channeling magic through dragons, they channel directly from the earth, which is a big no-no and it turns you evil. It's kind of like making a Horcrux in Harry Potter, like it takes your soul away.
Speaker 1:Every time you do it, you give away some of your soul, yeah.
Speaker 2:And they pair up with these griffin riders who they kind of don't like. But they kind of have to form an alliance with zayden's ex-girlfriends. They're, uh, violet's brother secretly alive and um, at the end of book two, zayden, in order to like save the world, has to low-key channel and he becomes venon, which is really bad, and so this book opens um with violet kind of trying to deal with the ramifications of that. Also, her mom died, so in the act of heroism anything missing.
Speaker 2:Oh, and every single dragon rider has like a secret power um given to them by their dragons and uh, I guess it's not secret but just a power, and some of them are secret, some of them are secrets. And uh yeah, violet can wield lightning and zayden can manipulate shadows, and you find out the end of the second book as well that he can read minds, which is really bad, and they'll kill you if they know about that, so don't tell anybody yeah, great recap, kelly, thank you that was really helpful probably still lost, if you know, but we're gonna try to uh get into it now.
Speaker 2:Okay, so let's just start. What did you think about the prologue of this book? Like what was?
Speaker 1:what was the prologue again when she's following him down the?
Speaker 2:yes yes.
Speaker 1:Um well, first of all, I really liked that it picked up right where I am left off. Yes, immediately, I agree, because in you know what, hold on, let me grab my book really quick, please do. All right, I'm back, actually, okay, the first thing I noticed about this book was the map.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Because I'm pretty sure I remember Rebecca Yaros saying that that the map changes as violet's understanding of the continent, sure. So there was like additions here, like places that she'd been before that like. This is the map is a reflection of her understanding of this world. Right, right um it's not necessarily yeah, was the map, and then also I really appreciated in the book she um listed, like people, who they're mated to, I mean who they're bond, what dragons are bonded to and what their signet is, which I really appreciated.
Speaker 2:Helps you keep track of stuff yeah, I could have used even more names on that list, respectfully.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I guess these were like the known characters.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the key Like did not reflect new characters really, yeah, anyways, okay. So prologue so Iron Flame ends with like a chapter from Zayden's perspective. Yes, and he's like going down in Bazgayeth, down to the place where Jack Barlow, who is the other known Venon, yeah, and I say known because it's implied heavily that there are other like sneaky undercover Venon at Basgayeth, yeah, and so he goes down there because he wants to talk to him and be like how do you find a cure, or whatever. So the prologue to this book is that violet is factually following behind him this whole time, yeah, and she's like watching him or whatever. And she's like talking to andarna via their mental bond, um, which I really appreciated. Um, because andarna is a lot more forgiving about Zayden's situation than Taryn, is Sure, it was hilarious because Taryn keeps calling him the dark one. I love that it's so funny.
Speaker 1:Love him, yes, but Andarna is like more compassionate and basically like Jack's, like there is no cure. What are you talking about?
Speaker 2:People keep telling her that, but she will not take no for an answer at all and it's very much.
Speaker 1:Michael Scott fun run pro-am For the cure. I forget what's the whole thing.
Speaker 2:He says, michael it's like the michael scott 5k michael rabies 5k name michael scott's dunder, mifflin scranton.
Speaker 1:Meredith palmer memorial celebrity, rabies awareness pro-am fun run race for the cure race.
Speaker 2:That's what violet's doing for the cure. That is what violet's doing trying to find this cure that literally everyone in this entire book will tell her does not exist and is impossible.
Speaker 1:And, uh, I'm starting to get worried that they might be right, to be frank, although I think there has to be a cure, obviously tbh also at this point, like not after, but then in chapter one picks up two weeks later and like the inner, like Zayden's inner circle, knows about the Venon. Yeah, so the other marked ones, bazgayeth, imogen Garak, not everyone knows. Bodhi, is that it?
Speaker 2:I think that's pretty much it at this point. Okay, if I can remember, that's pretty much it at this point, if I can remember. Um, yeah, and I think this opening reminded me so much of like a season premiere of a tv show, because, like, that to me is such like a classic, like season opener. When you've been left on a cliffhanger in the previous season, you've waited, then there's gonna be like this moment of like intense action and then either there's like a flashback that will explain that or a flash forward that we're going to like keep the story moving. But I really liked how it just threw you right back in there of like, and it gives you some, because it's such an intense cliffhanger. It gives you some immediate like relief of like.
Speaker 1:Okay, here's what they're going to do like he's actually like stable, at least for the moment, yeah he's not like on a rampage, he's okay, but you know he's trying to find jack or whatever.
Speaker 2:So, um, I did like that and, uh, I didn't expect that not everyone would immediately know. I thought it would like. I didn't know that the red could fade away. So that was interesting. Like when you become venn in your eyes turn red but if you don't keep channeling right away they'll kind of fade until you make it to like level two and um, like it's kind of like an mlm offended low-key, there's like different tiers.
Speaker 1:You can make it, so the tears are when you first like. All it takes is one time channeling from the earth and you're an initial which is crazy, by the way.
Speaker 2:I feel like you should get one strike at least, and then after that don't do it again. You'll become Venom, you know.
Speaker 1:So he like channels from the earth. He's an initiate and like part of the thing that happens when you're an initiate that we learned from this book in the early chapters is that you're drawn and you like can sense the other Venom and they can sense you because you're like supposed to find each other, so that you can basically get like in the Venon downline, if we're using MLM analogy.
Speaker 2:But they can only sense other initiates. That's right. Right, they can't necessarily. That's kind of what Jack was implying. Like you couldn't sense them once they're initiates, or or maybe the second level too, but like, once they become sages, you can't sense them anymore, like there could, because the implication is that there could be people who are venin that zayden wouldn't know. Oh sure, sure, sure, yeah, I think you're right, then yeah, so it goes.
Speaker 1:Uh, initiate, and then asim, asim, asim I was saying asim, yeah, in my mind, then sage and then mave, um, so and when?
Speaker 1:another thing we quickly learn in this book is what they didn't already know, which is that at the higher levels, of venin can actually wield signets like they can. They have powers also have powers, which is a little bit scary because they don't really know how to fight them. They know a couple days that they die, like they die, from these alloyed daggers. Yeah and um, violet can kill them with lightning yeah, but they're very difficult to fight.
Speaker 2:Other than that, and something interesting is like okay, you know how it's like, um, you know, the moral arc of the universe spins towards justice or whatever. This universe is not like that, because every time there's one person on the good side with the power, one person on the bad side gets an equal power and it's like okay, so who's the who's the magic rooting? For it seems like neither, because why are they evenly matched? You know, if the Venon are so bad for the magic, if it's like so bad, why is it giving them powers? You know, like I have a lot of questions about that as well.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Okay, so yeah, I do too. So Violet basically decides she's going to go on a mission low-key to find a cure for Zayden, and they also need to find more of Indarna's kind of dragon, which she has been like one of the only ones who figured out that is not one of the six established types of dragons, that there's a seventh kind and that is absolutely critical for the wards that, like, protect their land from the Venant, so that's like one of the only ways to keep them at bay.
Speaker 1:So one of the big revelations at the end of Iron Flame was that they were trying to get these magical wards back up that protect the dragon like hatching grounds from the Venon Right, and they figured out that it wasn't working because they had to have a seventh dragon, andarna's breed to fire them Right, and her breed, we learn early in the book, is called the irids, short iridescent. Yes, because they can like kind of like a chameleon, like shift color and take on the color of the atmosphere around them. Yeah, that's it. And simultaneously, what's happening as soon as, like all this stuff happens at the end of um iron flame, the way they're able to protect the hatching ground, save bezgayeth and like refire the wards, was by bringing over some of the like defector riders, the ones who had left and like fled to eratia, which is part of tirandor um yes, they had to come back.
Speaker 1:They also brought griffin riders to help who are from the neighboring kingdom, peromiel, who, like Navarre, has been at war with, and so we have all of these people who are not on the same side, and now all their leaders are trying to like, get together and, within like a couple of weeks, try and establish some sort of like pact. What is that called An accord Alliance?
Speaker 2:Some kind of treaty yeah?
Speaker 1:accord. Yes, that like negotiates how they're going to operate together, who gets to be where, what gets to happen? Who's going to teach?
Speaker 2:at the school, et cetera. Man, so much happens in this book because I'm like, oh yeah, I completely forgot about this whole like subplot where Violet's like what does she even do? She sneaks in somewhere, she does something bad and then the chords are signed. So then somehow she's free.
Speaker 1:She doesn't like get in trouble yeah, she um, there's like tons one. This book is like the book of side quests, yes, um, but let me pull up my story graph. So, essentially good. Early on, when they're still trying to figure out the Accords, a couple of big things happen, one of which is that Zayden becomes the Duke of Tirindur, so he is now on this thing, um. So violet knows, she, like predicts that there's going to be this situation where they're going to like offer forgiveness and like immunity to the uh erasure writers, the ones who, like left in iron flame and then came back to help defend bezgayeth. She's um knew that they were going to be absolved and like forgiven for defecting to a ration coming back, but she knew that was going to happen like the next morning. So she knew she would be absolved of punishment if zayden were able to sign the accords that would pardon the aeration riot and allow them back into bezgayeth at 8 am the next morning so she committed treason before 8 am, and she did that by going down to the wards.
Speaker 2:And she, like, removed her lightning. She was doing stuff with the runes. Yeah, yes, what was she doing? Okay, something with the runes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she was like yeah, getting some runes for something, and she left her like lightning wielder patch and so that nobody else could be accused, they would know it was her. They would know it was her.
Speaker 2:So through the pardon they had pardoned them. So since she had done it before the pardon, it was technically included in the pardon. But, she did it late enough that she wasn't caught before the pardon was signed, so therefore that's why she didn't get in trouble. Correct, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we have all this stuff going on. She's trying to figure out also, like they have these accords signed, and then she's like, okay, let me negotiate. Like I need a squad, essentially, like I need to be able to lead my own mission, we need to go look for the seventh dragon breed. You guys are on board with that?
Speaker 1:because now I've explained to you that we need the seventh breed of dragon to fire the wards right, and you know that's been proven now yeah yeah, um, and also it's a mutually beneficial situation because, like the council, the war council, the the big bosses, right, they want, um, they need additional soldiers for an army, and so they want violet to lead a mission of other folks to go out to these like islands that surround the continent that Navar is part of, and, like, recruit them to help fight against the Venom.
Speaker 2:Right. So she's like I'll do that if you, let me take my squad to also look for the Irid's.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, and at the same time interesting variable. There's like two interesting variables going on same time. Interesting variable. There's like two interesting variables going on. One, prince halden, who is our ex-brother, rolls up and turns out he's violet's ex-boyfriend. And then second thing that happens is that zayden is like one time they were doing it and he almost channeled on accident, yeah, and he was like we can't touch anymore because I can't lose control, because I can't channel anymore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I'll channel you, which is bad. And he's also a professor and they are not allowed to fraternize Date. Yes, which seems like a good role, but it does feel like maybe there could be like a grandfathering in policy. If you were already together, like what? If I don't know what, if you were married? Would they just be like sorry, you're divorced now?
Speaker 1:Well, obviously that would be a rare, but like part of it also is that Dane's dad, general Atos, is now since Violet's mom died, is now like the general of bezgayeth and he has like a vendetta against violet. So, yeah, part of it, yeah, so, um, this is actually really cool and I'm glad that she used the veninous and the professor situation as a way to drive a wedge between them and to create tension totally out them like breaking up again yeah, because it's so hard to do that.
Speaker 2:I totally understand why people break up. You know like romantic pairings because the tension is like an important part of it and you know you have to like keep the plot moving forward and so if they're just together and happy, go lucky, then there's no like personal element to it. It's only going to be the like fantasy stuff. But you need the roma stuff, you know that of the romantic, and so I think that was like really so. But you know, like, because romance books follow a certain structure of like there's obstacles and then they get together and to keep repeating that for three books, you have to like either break them up or introduce a another love interest or do something more interesting and more fun to read, which is, uh, you know he's slowly losing parts of his soul and also he's your teacher yes, and so this is the teacher thing I really liked um, yeah so essentially because they learned that the venin can uh have powers like yeah.
Speaker 1:None of the students at bezgayeth have ever learned how to fight against other signets because they had been trained up to that point to fight griffin riders who don't have significant magic like this yeah, and so they had to bring zayden in to train the students on how to fight against other signets and so I thought that was interesting it's really fun.
Speaker 1:And there's this really fun scene where he like blacks out, like he has like having to fight her, yeah, and he like blacks out the whole thing. And then it's like goes up right next to her and like talks to her and I was like hello, hello, hello, but, um, yeah, it's fun. And but then also like at the same time, he says something really dark. He's like why, why do you like you know they're talking like mentally, yeah, and he was, she was like you know, why do I need to know how to kill you?
Speaker 1:like why am he? He says something like you're the one who has to know how to kill me, because you're the only one who can.
Speaker 2:Because he's really worried that she's gonna have to kill him at some point when he goes full venom yeah, and he's like you're the one who will know if I'm you know, um, and that's kind of like an interesting through line in this book, because later of course I'm skipping way ahead. But she has this conversation with riddick and he's like I just need you to tell me that there's a line like that he could do something that would make you kill him or turn against him, because if you don't have a line, then I can't trust you. But if you can tell me that there's a point that he could reach where you would, you would realize that he's a danger or whatever, then I can keep a secret and I station yeah, I thought that was just such an interesting like continuity from the beginning of I think, okay, are you having some theories?
Speaker 1:well, like as you're saying that, okay, I'm gonna park a parking lot, yeah, parking lot that we'll come back to it later. Okay, um so, but.
Speaker 2:But speaking of this, whole those, this whole stuff. This is like I just posted on instagram today. But, um, and I said this to you, but this is my one of my takeaways I love yearning, as you guys know. This was like an overwhelming amount of yearning in this book that it was to the point where even I was like, is this too much like? Is this too much yearning?
Speaker 1:but no, I loved it I don't, because there was enough times that they were like, no like yeah break the rules or I don't care special situations. But also another fun thing is that being having channeled from the earth a couple of times at this point, because he does have one slip up early in the book, I think yeah um, it kind of like has an effect like like, like roid rage right like yeah, so he's like less in control of his emotions yeah and, but not in a gross way, I don't know, but when he, whenever, like prince haldon um like, shows up in the cut like prince haldan um like shows up in the cut.
Speaker 1:He's like making jokes about how he's like boned violet in the past, yep, and he, like zayden, is so like po'd, but not, but not. I don't even know how to explain it.
Speaker 2:I really well, he does throw him against the wall using his shadows.
Speaker 1:So oh that was fun, but I like it. For some reason it didn't seem like this is my woman kind of thing. No, it was just.
Speaker 2:It's just like look, zeden behaves like protect me but like not in a gross, like hyper masculine way, but like in a, because he doesn't say anything he doesn't say don't touch my girl, he just sees him touching violet and he just throws him against a wall and then he's like oh, my bad, like I thought you know there was a bug on you or whatever, but he doesn't say that. But it's like if he said, like get your hands off my woman, then be like oh, zayden, why? But because he's just like, it's like the low-key nature of it that I okay, like we were talking about this, the like hottest thing that zayden has ever done is at the beginning. They're all like hey, I think you should stop sleeping in zayden's bed. Like low key, he's a venin he could channel you in your sleep. And he's just like no, like I'm not gonna do that, like I'm not gonna like kick her out.
Speaker 1:You know, also, like don't ever think about telling. Like violet gets to choose who sleeps in her bed yeah, don't tell her what to do uh yeah, and if she tells me to go. Of course I'll go, but like okay no, because this is the redirect podcast and on this podcast we shift the conversation back to twilight. Do you remember um? At least in the movie. I don't know if this is in the book.
Speaker 1:It's so good that it must not have been in the book, because the books are so bad no way stephanie meyer wrote this in um eclipse yeah, after, like after edward went away with like the fam to like hunt or something and like jacob was on babysitting duty or whatever and then like he kisses her or whatever yes, yes then, like they go to do, like the divorce parent meet up in like the chili's parking lot situation where then, like bill, like bella, has to get out of the car and then whatever.
Speaker 1:And then edward immediately reads jacob's mind and he knows that they he kissed her and then bella punched him yeah, he runs, he runs up to him. He's like if you ever touch her against her will again and it's like the hottest thing that edward cullen ever did yeah, because it's like.
Speaker 2:It's like if she had asked he would be that mad, he would be okay he would be like consent extremely depresso, yeah, but he wouldn't be mad, he wouldn't yes, but like because he did it without her consent, he's mad.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I agree with you, it's the same and like he's also like uh, she wanted it, or whatever he's like, here's a clue let her say the words. And because then at the end of eclipse there's like the pay?
Speaker 2:off.
Speaker 1:She does say the words words anyways, I yeah, I think we love it on forge. I do think that rebecca yaros might be a twihard um, uh, yeah, isn't she mormon?
Speaker 2:am I making that up?
Speaker 1:no, no, no, there's no way I'm like pretty sure no no way let me Google that.
Speaker 2:Um, she definitely is mormon. Oh my god, no what. I'm just dead serious she's a suspected ex-mormon okay, but in fourth wing, in the acknowledgments, it does say I would like to thank my lord and savior. So it's not like she's recent ex, okay, okay, skip past that. What I'm saying is she's definitely a toy hard, yeah she loves my lover for sure as we all do, as we do as well. This is like if Stephanie Meyer had just tapped into a little bit more, like you know, sexiness in her books.
Speaker 2:She would have really like she already popped off with the money making machine.
Speaker 1:But can you imagine, yeah, also like uh, rebecca O'Hara is just a girly, like she loves twilight.
Speaker 2:Probably she loves taylor. Swift for sure.
Speaker 1:Confirmed like her playlist that she released. I was like oh, like you are fully a gen x girly yeah, you're just a girl the, the, the song that sent me. I was like, honestly, I I don't even think that someone from her team made this playlist, like I think she did.
Speaker 2:I believe that she really does it yeah because it has just enough.
Speaker 1:Like elder millennial to gen x, cringe, yeah, but in like the most endearing, like don't hear me say that in like a negative way, like I think she's just being so true to her but the song that really tipped me off was that she put chains by nick jonas on there yes, trying to break the chains with the chains on the break me, and I was like, yeah, you made this yeah I believe that, yeah, that was not a publicist.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all right back to the book we love. Zayden is what I'm trying to say yeah, we love him so much. And there's just something about like a conflicted like also it's it is giving twilight because it's like I don't want to kiss you because I could hurt you. It's like the tension, like I don't want to hurt you, but I'm yearning for you.
Speaker 1:I love it okay but they're going on their little quest. The big question was what are they going to do? Like is she gonna go to dane? In this book and this is so much better it's like there's like these legitimate, real things that they have to overcome, can I?
Speaker 2:just say though, okay, and I might music this out, I probably will, but like what them shadows do, like what?
Speaker 1:Elastigirl, or like Mr Fantastic Four, mr Fantastic, yeah, you know what I'm saying. You have to at least leave in what them shadows do, and then you can music it out. Okay, anyways, they go on their first side quest, which is they're going to go to this island. They go on so many side quests.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm sorry that I cannot recall. I recall some instances but, like each individual island, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:I don't know. The main big thing is that when they go to these islands, there's not magic there. Yeah, so the magic is tied to the land because that's where the dragon hatching grounds are right, and so like we find out a very important piece of information that we don't really understand yet but we hopefully will in the future that the dragons were not able to communicate, like taryn and segale were not able to mentally communicate, and then the other writers were not able to communicate with their dragons and violet was not able to mentally communicate with zayden, but um violet could communicate with taryn and darna, and we don't know why yes, that was weird.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, it seems like it must have something to do with Andarna because she's so different, but I don't know it was also, like I think she was able to wield a little bit.
Speaker 1:It wasn't confirmed, but there was a couple of instances where there was like lightning when she was really upset or angry yes. And it was like no, there's. It was written off like oh, no, but there's no magic here. How could I have done that? Um, but she did, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 2:Yes um, yeah, but, and she was like no, no, that was just a storm, but it was a little too suspicious yeah, um, also the folks that went with them on this thing are zayden mira ridd, Riddick Dane and Prince Holden. And wasn't Kat there? Kat was there, Also Traeger.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so they go and they're at a. Oh no, this is why, emily. Okay, it's King Lucerys now, so the Duke last time becomes the king yes, and he becomes the Duke yes, and they're at his house, they're vibing and, uh, prince holden is there because he's supposed to be like the royal emissary to the people on these islands. Right, he goes to talk to the king of this place and he just totally like messes everything on and yeah horrible job.
Speaker 1:Zayden and violet have to go save him. There's like a bunch of like panthers or something. Yeah, it was a lot, but basically what they learned from there is like this. The reason that this part of the book was critical was because it was a huge failure from prince halden. He gets kicked off the mission after the next time. New people get brought on and there's like a couple people who died because they like messed up and so like we dropped a few people whatever. So okay, he's off and that means that Arik, who is like the secret undercover other prince, he's going to come in for the next mission. We also learn Indarna's kind is not on this island.
Speaker 2:Also. Zayden channels on Devarelli. Oh, shoot on this island also. Zayden channels on deverelli and shoot after that. He has to go into hiding for a couple weeks to not show his eyeballs.
Speaker 1:He channeled from um. There's no magic there. So he was like oh, I'm chill, I'm not gonna channel here, I can't channel here, I can't channel from the ground. But he channels from um violet's uh conduit yeah, yeah, her little to save her.
Speaker 2:Thanks, she has um boo sad. Also this makes me wonder, speaking of twilight, like imagine if there had been a subplot in twilight where there was like somewhere they could go, where edward was like momentarily human. That would have been so interesting that would have been crazy, I don't even, but that's like the same. That's like the same. You know comparison if you haven't read these books. It's like he gets a reprieve from like feeling dangerous and he's like visibly so happy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that guy yeah, um there's a lot of people on these things with them. Then they go back to Bess Gaius for a while.
Speaker 1:They do, then back out, and then they basically decide this is taking way too much time. We have to get a better crew together. Arik is coming with us this time Because Halden sucks. Halden is staying here because he messed everything up. And not only that, but we're going to now disobey direct orders and messed everything up. And not only that, but we're gonna now disobey direct orders and, instead of, like the, the people in charge think that we're just gonna go to the next island and then come back again, like we're supposed to do. But we're not doing that. We're packing extra and we're going island to island and they just aren't gonna. They're just not gonna be able to be mad at us, because when we get back, we'll have found the irids yeah so they go off on this quest.
Speaker 1:We learn also from the outer islands that each of the outer islands, like they, focus on one of the gods, and so they each have their own characteristics. So there's like right one that's like these are worships a dune which who is the goddess of war. Yes, what is very peculiar about that, emily?
Speaker 2:Okay. So when they go to this island, everyone on this island who are in the temple or whatever of Dune, they have silver hair, which Violet has silver hair. She has half silver, half brown hair and she sees a little girl who has hair exactly like hers and she's like that seems peculiar because I've never seen anyone with my hair like this. And I saw someone on tiktok, by the way, say like violet's supposed to be super smart and um, like taryn is repeatedly like I chose you because you're so smart, and like she was studying to describe, but honestly, girl does not ask any follow-up questions. This did not click at all. Like, like critical thinking is not the best, so that's a little bit of a plot hole, but you know what. We'll forgive you, rebecca, but it is true, violet does not ask any follow-up questions.
Speaker 2:She's just like pure vibes. And she's like wow, that's weird, never seen anyone with hair like mine.
Speaker 1:Uh, oh well, yeah, that was crazy and like then, like dane and zayden and violet all have to like to have a one-on-one match, like there's at each of these islands. It's kind of fun because it's like, yeah, depending on, like, the characteristic of the god that the island worships, they have like different criteria for how they're able to get an audience with their head of state. So for this, they're able to get an audience with their head of state.
Speaker 1:So for this one I had to win a match, and then there's another one where they have to, like, win a knowledge thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like a tricky, tricky test.
Speaker 1:Yes, and that's also where Zayden sees his mother, who abandoned him when he was 10 years old, and he finds out he has two half brothers. So much happens in this book and then they go to a place that the island of Zinal, which is the god of luck, and everybody has to go up there and like they get a gift and some of them are good and some of them are bad, but it's like, can you be grateful, no matter what gift you get?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think that there may be some hidden meaning here, behind the gifts that they all get. I don't know, but also some kind of symbolism somebody, um uh drake, I guess I think it's a little cat named broccoli.
Speaker 2:Oh, the trigger dies cat yeah, that's what I thought you were gonna say dan gets punched yeah, that was hilarious.
Speaker 2:You're just having a good time. You're like these are dumb, haha. He gets punched in the face and then, all of a sudden, trager, who's like falling for cat. Who's zayden's ex. So you're like, wow, she can finally move on. He's just like murdered in cold blood. That's not a gift, guys like, by the way. Um, yeah, what's really interesting is, throughout these little side quests Violet has received earlier in the book, these like diaries from her dad and he's like giving I know there's so much that happens in this freaking book he's giving her like little hints about what to expect. I do think this was a little bit of a letdown and I'm going to need more because I'm like I'm like her dad and his like knowledge of the truth. Um, has been really played up, and then I felt like the information he was able to give was really it seemed to me like, oh, she probably could have found this out on her own like none of it necessarily seemed like super insightful to this point it was.
Speaker 1:I get that he was trying to protect the information, but it was all so cryptic and then it was like part of it is like they had to go to one of these islands and go into a bookstore and then she had to pass like a riddle and it's like, okay, well, what if the old lady who knows the answer to the riddle is dead by the time the pilot gets?
Speaker 2:there. Yeah, because I think in the book it says she's like 96. It's like straight up.
Speaker 1:What is the lifespan of these people?
Speaker 2:It's depending on a lot of things working out and this is like mission critical for the survival of your entire like kingdom and race of people and universe and you're like really relying on your, at the time, very young daughter and very old lady, connecting like there's a lot of things that could have gone wrong so I need more from her dad.
Speaker 1:You know, in the future books another thing about the whole thing with the dad is that he gave the journals only to violet right and um, that causes a wedge between her, she and mira and so mira decides to take some personal leave and go visit their grandmother randomly and find that too she finds out from the grandmother that when violet, so what we've been?
Speaker 1:what we have been told to this point about why violet has this illness and why she has this like gray hair, is that her mother had a sickness, like some kind of virus, when she was pregnant with her that caused her to have this joint weakness and the silver hair. What we have learned is that when she was a young child, her father absconded with her to the island of Dune.
Speaker 2:It's called familial kidnapping.
Speaker 1:He didn't fully dedicate her to the temple, but he had her, like touched by the priestesses. Yeah, and we don't know why still, yeah, so okay, and we find out understanding her mother's journals that she was really mad about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she didn't want this. Here's my understanding from what I read and from what you explained to me, and from reading this book, which I don't have to google so much to understand what happened in this book. I don't know, but like, okay, this is the series of events as I understand them, with, of course, knowing that there's more we don't know. She's born with these conditions. Her dad is concerned, and so he takes her to the Temple of Dune. When he goes there, he starts to dedicate her. Because I don't, this is the part I don't really necessarily understand. Maybe this is something we just don't know. I don't understand if he took her there because there was something foretold that you know, the heart that beats for her will turn Finn in, or whatever.
Speaker 1:And like she has multiple, yeah, because she has a prophecy on this side quest as well, she has multiple paths she could go down and he takes her there.
Speaker 2:I think he takes her there because she's sick and then she starts to get touched and then they tell the dad she has multiple paths she can go down. If you fully seal her to dune, then that closes off the other path and she will only serve dune or whatever. Like she will stay on this path. But if you don't fully seal her, then she can still choose these different paths and one of them may be the heart that beats her turns venom. That's my understanding. And so then he decides not to fully steal her so that she can choose, I guess, which path she's going to go down, versus like if he had fully committed her, she would be full silver here and she couldn't choose these other paths so he has some sort of wisdom that we don't necessarily has not been fully revealed to us or understood by us, correct?
Speaker 2:yes, if it has been revealed that she needs to have this option open for these different paths, and maybe part of it is likely, hopefully, the eradication of benin from the continent, you would think, because another thing is if one of the epigraphs there's like a recovered letter from violet's dad to violet's mom, where he's like I've been looking into this venin thing, like you told me to, and there's no cure, only control. And it's like why was she, why was she looking into that? Why was he looking into that for her? You know? Like what did she want with that information? Um, because viola's mom is very much someone, or was rip, who, like, why would she care about curing them? Like she would just purely want to kill them. But there has to be some reason at some point why she wanted to cure venant, and so was someone in her life. Was she, who knows?
Speaker 1:there's some things that are unknown still yeah the biggest here.
Speaker 2:I wanted to have one one like meta conversation. If there's a prophecy regarding you, don't you feel like you have a right to know about it? Harry Potter, in this case, do you feel like it would have changed anything if she had known the?
Speaker 1:heart.
Speaker 2:The prophecy came from the people of of dune right right, right, but like her mom allegedly would have known about this, and her dad, do you feel like they should have told her?
Speaker 1:um, I would want to know. Yeah, well I don't know, I feel like there's got to be like an age of accountability. Right, like I don't want to know too young because I don't want that to be like a self-fulfilling prophecy about my life, but when I'm old enough to start making decisions about what's right and wrong, I feel like I deserve that information.
Speaker 2:I agree. So just fascinating that people don't, you know, tell people that there's a prophecy made about their life. And we're in book three and we're just now finding out about this. Yeah, anyways, that part was very confusing to me, so I assuming it's because we just don't have all the information, I think it's meant to be a little confusing, because we're not supposed to have all the information yet. Great Love it.
Speaker 1:The biggest thing that happens on this side quest is that they do find the irids. Happens on this side quest is that they do find the irids. Yes, but unfortunately the irids, so sad, are like hey, we left andarna's egg there as a test to see if you guys could like get your together and not try and kill each other all the time, because we are our dragon bead is, breed, is all about peace. And then look what you did she hatched and now she's just one of you. And look what she's done she's bonded herself to the like.
Speaker 2:They're really like the haters and they think that, yeah, violet is bad because she bonded a like a hatchling um, like a baby, and channeled her magic and that kind of delayed her ability to grow and now she's like not properly grown and but and arna is like really upset, obviously, yeah and I chose her.
Speaker 1:You losers, and also violet, had no idea I was a baby and even if she did, there's nothing she could have done about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. But we also find out a very interesting wrinkle here, which is that most other dragon breeds, or all other dragon breeds, can't also bond. Another bonded rider, andarna, was able to bond violet after taryn had bonded. Her was because um of her being an irid and it's a special ability exclusive to the irids is that they have a special ability to bend, break or create new bonds which seems like it would be very important so they just leave and then the group is like well, um, I guess we'll peace out and andarna is super depresso.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's like you know that this is a five book series and like things can't possibly be good because there has to be two more books. It can't just but this. Yeah, this was like so devastating because it's like andarna like was looking for her family and then they just were like you actually suck as a, as a dragon she loves me.
Speaker 1:She would never. I was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:And then it's like they are literally critical to have wards and now they're like now we're not helping you. So it's like, well, the wards are doomed. And um, also, they are so interesting because, like they don't seem to really care, like if the venin win, they're like maybe that's what you guys deserve. So it's just really interesting. Like I would love to hear more from the irids. I feel like the dragons as a whole have a more like have some obviously longevity, like they're old, like they live longer, but they also like seem to have a more historical view of things. So I'm just interested of, like, what do they know about where the Venon came from, how this all started, the original war that happened 600 years ago, like what's informing their perspective that, like war is not the answer?
Speaker 1:They have a lot of knowledge that they don't think that humans are worthy of. Yeah, exactly, a lot of knowledge that they don't think that humans are worthy of. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Essentially so, heartbroken and defeated, they go back, they start flying home back to bazgayath, with um, the commitment of a couple of different armies, and like the rights to like land on their island as like a launching point to go somewhere else, but no no, here it's yeah, then there's a huge plot loophole that just is easily closed by a very convenient thing, which, whatever, which is that because aric was on the mission, who was like the missing prince, his dad is just so happy to have him back that he's like you guys are all forgiven, it's, it's all yeah, that was a bit too convenient for me.
Speaker 2:Just a bit, just a bit okay, so you guys aren't.
Speaker 1:Because they kept being like we're gonna we're disobeying direct orders, we're gonna be court-martialed. All of a sudden they get back and it's just like it's okay, bestie pays to have rich friends, yeah, so that's key befriend, then they're all kind of like.
Speaker 1:For a week or two they're hanging out, and then it's about time for the students of Bezgaeth to make their rotation back at Aratia, because part of the agreement that they made at the beginning of the book was that students would still cycle back and forth between Bezgaeth and Aratia to learn about runes and other Peromish magics. Yeah, and stuff really goes off there, yeah. Yeah, while they're there, there is a battle. Yes, also we have failed to mention this entire time we're almost to the end of the book there is a special silver-haired venon that is like yeah chasing violet around there.
Speaker 1:She's scary it's giving victoria. She's constantly chasing her and they think that she's a lightning wielder. She's like a vented lightning wielder. She's like the match to violet's power, and she's like always trying. They don't. She says explicitly that they don't want to kill violet. They do want to capture her, though, and they really want her to become a Venom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, that has been driving me crazy because I need to know why. I don't think it's just explained by them wanting her signet. I don't think that's the only reason, because she, the Ophany or whatever, she's a more powerful wielder than Violet. So like I don't think that matters enough to them. I think there has to be some other reason that they want Violet to be Vennon, and I don't know why. But I just have no theories. Honestly, I just feel like maybe there is a prophecy about Violet that's like whatever side she's on will win the war ultimately, or something like that. You know what I mean?
Speaker 2:I don't know what it is, though they really don't know what it is though they really don't want I mean, if we're being dumb and you know the answer to this, and you're screaming at your phone right now like just let us know, like what it is. So I just think. I do think the the explanation given is that they want her signet on their side.
Speaker 2:But they're so adamant, from last book to this book, like they have been saying every time they've run into her, like no, no, no, we can't kill that one, you know. Like, bring her alive. They want her alive, like the sage wants to see her, or whatever so I feel like there has to be a reason why they want her to come to their side there's a battle going on.
Speaker 1:There's like she's chasing uh violet around and then hope is almost lost. Yeah, it's like looking really bleak. It's looking like really, really bad. Everyone is like down for the count. Tarn is wounded, is unable to fly around. I was scared. I was oh, my god, don't even give me a start. It's like all very scary and then all of a sudden, the irids show up.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because some of the irids there's there was like a couple of their number that were like oh wait, like Violet didn't know that she was a baby, like okay, yeah, so they come, they save them. And something weird happens. Theophany, like either sees them or she sees something else and she like it away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my understanding with that was that she knew the wards were about to be repowered and they would die if they were in the wards. But I could be wrong. There could be another reason um, but yeah, like the grip. Uh, what do they? Ride the wyvern? They start falling from the sky and everything's good.
Speaker 1:Oh, because it. Because, yeah, the um, so yeah, the iris show up, they refire the wards, a bunch of the wyvern die and then a very, very sad thing happens, which is that so sad. The irids are talking to andarna and violet and they're like and andarna, you should come back with us and learn our ways and whatever, and like you. Well, you know you could come back later and bond her again, but like you would have to come by yourself yeah, like you have stuff to learn and she does so she does it and she breaks the bond with violet and she leaves with them.
Speaker 2:Oh so, sad and then violet, depressed really really hard because I guess it's, like you know, painful if dragon suffers your bond.
Speaker 1:It seems like it sucks real bad and like, literally like a day or two before this, a huge thing happens, which is that violet and zayden discover that violet's second signet that she's manifesting from andarna is that she's a dream walker, so she can like.
Speaker 2:That's crazy.
Speaker 1:Be in other people's dreams, and as long, I think it's as long as they're unconscious.
Speaker 2:That's the understanding so far. Yeah, is that like?
Speaker 1:she, she can go in their dreams and she feels like she's seeing them, but like if she's aware of it, then she can like separate herself and then participate in their dream.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's like a huge deal which this whole time I assumed, since she started having these dreams. Pretty much I thought she's in Zayden's dream somehow, but I thought it was just like their bond or like their mental connection, or he was like projecting that somehow.
Speaker 1:Or like Voldemort, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, yeah, no, literally everything like, yeah, like they were just so bonded. But the fact that she can do it with anyone's dreams is kind of crazy and I did not see that coming.
Speaker 1:That was a big to have that signet.
Speaker 2:No, no, because you might not like what you see. Like people dream weird stuff. I dream crazy I barely want to be in my own dreams, yeah exactly like I dream the most random scenarios that I would be like no, don don't come walking into my dream.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I wake up from my own dreams. I'm like what the heck was that?
Speaker 2:Am I good? Do I have some kind of sick twisted mind? Yeah, yeah, I definitely don't want to go into other people's dreams.
Speaker 1:So, okay, avoided that. Whatever, violet is really sad. She's super down, she's like trying to get back up again. Um, she has like some nice tender time with zayden, he's comforting her, it's very sweet. And then basically this big final battle happens um theophany, who is a very the one who's been chasing her around, she kidnaps Mira. Yeah, and that really like is the you know, the first domino in like a catastrophic series of events.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not good.
Speaker 1:It's downhill from here, violet goes with Brennan and who else goes with them?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I forget, I don't know. All right, they pull up and she does kill Mira. She just slit her throat, but then, conveniently, brennan is able to save her. Maybe I don't know, that's dubious to me. I think my personal theory is that Brennan might be a Venon. That's my theory as well, because the way that he was able to channel enough power to mend her.
Speaker 2:Doesn't Okay, no, no, no, dane's there, because isn't this the part where Sloane has to amplify? She has to siphon power from.
Speaker 1:Dane, she's a siphon Into Brennan.
Speaker 2:To give to Brennan.
Speaker 1:So she's like, so that she has one hand on on dane, one hand on brennan.
Speaker 2:She's supposed to be taking drawing power from dane into brennan so that he has enough power because this part was I have a lot of questions about and I think it definitely is going to come back to me something because sloan grabs dane's wrist and says like oh, someone like you should not have this much power or something, and it it's like, as far as we know, dane's signet hasn't progressed beyond just like being able to read people's minds by touching them. But I feel like there is more to his signet than we know because she, like, specifically makes that comment like you have too much power, makes that comment like you have too much power also we.
Speaker 1:Another factor here is that sloan likely has a second signet that we don't know about, because she's also a mark one and all the mark ones have second signets as has bodie and as has angela exactly as has kevin as has Dwight has Angela.
Speaker 1:Anyways, and the other thing that nobody's talking about online and that I want to I'm like screaming into the void is that Rebecca, rebecca makes a point of saying that, like it didn't leave a mark Like cause in the past when Sloan has siphoned, it leaves like a mark on and it didn't leave a mark like because in the past when sloan has siphoned, it leaves like a mark right on and it didn't, and I, I think I'm like it might be because brennan was channeling enough power from the ground to save mira.
Speaker 1:Or it has something to do with dane, I don't know.
Speaker 2:But I also think that dane and sloan are going to get together I could see that or getting together I think that, and I think brennan is the vinn and, like you said, because it's heavily implied as well towards the end, that zayden has some kind of brother who has turned vinn within their ranks that he doesn't know, that knew about him being vinn, which brennan did know.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I think it's Brennan, and no one seems to think this online. I feel like you and me are the only ones saying this, but like also also, brennan was alleged to have died by trying to save Naoen, who was Taryn's first rider.
Speaker 2:He's got to still be alive out there somewhere, respectfully as well.
Speaker 1:Because he keeps getting brought up. He likely channeled to save himself, like Jack did, which was set up in the first book. So I don't know if Brennan is a Venon or Naolin is a Venon and he was the brother. I don't know what's going on, but I don't think Brennan is clean. And another reason I don't think that Brennan is clean is because all this shit always gets brought up about how Mira is sketchy and Brennan is perfect and all this stuff.
Speaker 2:But we have actually no evidence that Mira is sketchy. She has been nothing but incredibly loyal.
Speaker 1:As soon as she learned the truth, she has been chill.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, incredibly chill, incredibly loyal. She has been chill. Yeah yeah, incredibly chill, incredibly loyal. Um, but brennan has like almost zero characteristics besides being a healer and being amazing and everyone loving him, and I don't trust that. Do you think brennan and naylin were lovers? That's my other theory. I think they were in love oh my god and one of them like turned van in or something and I think Nalen's still alive out there.
Speaker 1:And he's protecting him. Shut up, yeah, omg those are my theories.
Speaker 2:That would be crazy. Okay, so what happens at the end?
Speaker 1:Okay, so this crazy final battle happens and um, it is, oh yeah, so okay, uh, mira gets kidnapped, violent violet kills her, um with andarna's help. So how she's able to kill her is because auric gives her this like pack. She gets a package from auric like right before she goes to meet up and like try and save mira, and she doesn't open it, which drives me insane. Open it, oh my god Open it.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, the critical thinking he gave it to you right now, if it wasn't a big deal, he would have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's not dumb. Okay, so it's a piece of Dune's temple, yes, like a shingle from the roof, and what she's able to put together about the shingle and whatever is that. The old girl, theophany, has silver hair because she was devoted to Dune's temple and she was a priestess of Dune, but when she became a Venon, the priestesses like kicked her out and she's not allowed to touch the temple again, and so she's able to actually kill her by, like eating the piece of shingle into her.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Essentially.
Speaker 2:It's a tough battle, though.
Speaker 1:And it's a really tough battle. And Darna shows up right at the right moment. We still don't really know why she's back. Shout out to the.
Speaker 2:The, the Redditor who made the comment that and Darna leaving was like the TikTok ban.
Speaker 1:She was gone for like a day. She just goes right back. She was gone, she's back, but we have not had enough time to discuss that and simultaneously, like I mean probably like a few like a mile away like yeah right while violet is in the fight of her life against Theophany and trying to kill her and Venn and Darna shows up to help and Taryn is caught in a net and so is Sigail.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And Zayden is like caught and he is like there's Venon standing there and he is like you see, from his perspective, that there is another guy there who is like his brother, venon.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That person goes unidentified, but that the other, venon, are taking these special daggers and they are killing dragons, and he's about to go and kill Sigail and Zayden is like, well, the change of events will happen if Sigail dies. Is that, yeah, taryn will then die and then, yeah, I will die and Violet will die yeah, so he does one really big channel. Yeah, in an onyx storm sends his shadows to go help Violet to kill everybody and like free.
Speaker 1:Sigail and all this stuff is crazy but in this really important, what happens when he's doing this?
Speaker 2:He hears. So at the same time, like we get both their perspectives. So while that's happening, violet is like fighting Theophany and she like just sends this like telepathic message down their bond of like I love you. And he is in the middle of his onyx storm but is in the middle of his onyx storm, but in the middle of that he hears I love you. And he's like no, like wait, I'm gonna. You know what I imagine you know in uh, I'm on my severance beat now too. So you know she's alive that. But also in episode one when milchik sends him back up the elevator and he like thinks he's about to die, and at first he's chill, but then at the last second he's like what? But then you know he goes up and so, um, spoilers for severance, um, so that's what that reminded me of. So, yeah, he hears this like her voice and it's like enough for him to grab onto so he doesn't go like full into the onyx storm.
Speaker 1:He's like probably holds on to one little piece probably we don't know quite what it means, but lots of people smarter than us online are theorizing that it was a way for him to keep part of his soul. Yeah, the biggest hopeful indicator that I see right after this moment is that sagal sagal is like she's gonna have to choose, and also, sagal at the beginning of this book wasn't even talking to zayden. She was so close to him for becoming Venom. So if Zayden was beyond the point of redemption, there's no way that Zagail would be hanging around.
Speaker 2:So she's almost hopeful at the end, where she's like, oh yeah, okay, it's up to her. Whatever she decides, that's what we'll do.
Speaker 1:And she's like, okay, let's get going, because now he has now moved on from Initiate. You know that's what we'll do. And she's like, okay, like, well, let's, let's get going, because now you are, he has now moved on from initiate. He has these like red veins in his eyes, like he is clearly then, and they won't go away, so he has to like gtfo. Yeah, so then, oh my god, rebecca, rebecca, can I?
Speaker 2:find out where you live.
Speaker 1:Oh, my god, okay. So then, holy crap. The next scene is the final chapter. It's from violet's perspective, and what happens?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, okay. So you're asking me, okay. So she wakes up. I've been talking too much. She, no, she comes to. She comes to, wakes up and she's talking to like she's in the back in arisha, right yeah, she's in a courtyard in arisha, yeah yeah, and she sees brendan and he's like looking at her, like what's up, leaning over her or something, right huh.
Speaker 2:And she's like what's going on? Where am I? Who am I? What time is it? And then she looks down and she has a ring on her finger, a big ass ring on her finger, an emerald ring, emerald on her ring that matches the missing stone from the sword of tirandor that was zayden's dad's sword and they're like what do you mean?
Speaker 2:like you've been gone for 12 hours or something. Is that what's said? I don't know. I need to reread this, because I was so disturbed. I threw my book across the room and she's like what do you mean? I was gone for 12 hours and you find out that, um some, I think it's said that four riders are gone, as well as some dragon eggs and we know some of them that are that.
Speaker 1:we don't know that. Eggs and we know some of them. We don't know that they're gone, we know that they're missing.
Speaker 2:They're not mentioned.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's see. All right, the words are holding Andraithus as of the last report, but who knows how many of those desiccations during the battle were actually him. And so far the tally is at six missing eggs from the hatching ground. But they're still double checking. She goes missing eggs. I reach for Taryn but the bond feels foggy, like he's asleep. He needs a cycle of rest to recover. Andarna says.
Speaker 2:Critical.
Speaker 1:Critical Recover from what he was fine when I saw him last, which was about five minutes ago, in the woods at the edge of the field where I killed the.
Speaker 1:Ophany, satan, the wall of shadows. My heart sinks. What the fuck is happening? How did I get here? Why is my head so hazy? Am I concussed? You're dismissed. Brennan tells the writer. Keep this classified until we have a full report. Just because she's your sister doesn't mean she's not the fastest way. Dismissed. Brennan snaps and the writer backs away. Do you know where he is? Brennan asks me softly when the other writer is fully out of earshot. Ryerson, when you heard what Wilson said, we have dead dragons and riders and missing eggs, and if you've seen Ryerson, I need to know. Violet, I words fail me. Why can't? I think I don't know. I raise my hands to my mouth and a piece of parchment in my front pocket catches on my arm and then falls. Brennan catches it. Cardulo, which one's? Cardulo again.
Speaker 2:I don't know I don't know.
Speaker 1:He lifts his eyes to Imogen. I think that's Garrick. I haven't seen him since yesterday. She says, her voice going low, almost monotone. Lieutenant Tavis, among the missing. Brennan answers gently, then glances my way and does a double take. Holy shit, violet, what? I lower my arms. Garrick is missing too. Who else makes up the four writers? Wilson mentioned your finger, imogen says, then stares to the ground. My finger the snap Right. I think I broke my arm. I glance down and stare. My left arm is splinted and a beautiful gold ring with an emerald the size of my thumbnail sits on my hand. Oh gods, I know that stone. It matches the others from the Blade of Erasure upstairs on Zayden's nightstand. Is it the missing one? What's happening right now? I ask slowly. You don't know finally she's asking some questions.
Speaker 1:God damn, you don't know. Brendan lowers his voice. I shake my head. Brendan turns the paper from my pocket. This carries a seal of dune. He says may I open it? I nod, gawking at the ring. It's not just any ring on my finger, it's the finger. But how? I was in the middle of battling theophany this afternoon and then she desiccated and I burned myself straight into unconsciousness. Now it's's 3am, I'm in Eurasia and there are murdered dragons and riders, missed riders and missing eggs. Zayden wouldn't do that, would he? The storm of shadows, my blood chills. How far had he gone? I fling myself down the bond, but there's nothing there. It's gone or he's too far away to feel it. I remind myself to keep from panicking. Then, when did he put this ring on my hand? It's an official blessing of your legal, binding marriage. Brendan whispers stunned and then quickly rolls the parchment by the head priestess of Dune's temple To Zayden.
Speaker 2:Gravity bends warping everything I thought I knew.
Speaker 1:I was like huh, brendan nods, my eyes flare, we're married. A thousand emotions try and force their way through my jumbled thoughts, but the immediate rush of awe trips right over the logic of how. There's no fucking way I'd forget something like that. Why isn't he here? Where did he go and why? I think the note on the outside is meant for you. Brennan hands back the parchment. I flip the missive over to see two sentences written in Zayden's handwriting Don't look for me, it's yours now. He's gone. I try, he's gone. I try and fumble my foggy brain through the overwhelming shock, but I can't think straight. It's like someone has with my no, my jaw straws tight. How long have I been missing? 12 hours. Brennan answers what did you do? My head snaps towards imogen and a deep sense of foreboding takes fruit in my chest. She slowly lister gaze to mine what you asked me to. Sorry, we just had to read that so we didn't miss it. You had to.
Speaker 2:You had to, so she wiped her memory when, as soon as I read that abigail's there, she can attest, I threw my book on the ground like I threw it away from me well, because also the last line of the book is at the end of the page.
Speaker 1:So you're like maybe there's another page but no, there's no more pages.
Speaker 2:Uh, insane. Oh yeah, imogen can wipe memories so we four writers are missing.
Speaker 1:One of them is bodhi, one of them is garrick, two unknown. Brennan is there, and then there is also six missing dragon eggs yeah taryn is he needs a cycle of rest.
Speaker 2:To recover from what we don't know.
Speaker 1:We know that Andarna has the ability to bend, manipulate bonds.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what an intense experience this book was. I feel like we could talk. We've been talking an hour, we could talk another hour about it. Like we could talk, we've been talking an hour, we could talk another hour about it, um. But one thing I wanted to say is, apparently there is a section in this last section portion that you just read, probably before you started reading, but where violet notices a figure moving in the shadows. So that's why I said is zayden there at the end? Um, because, yeah, apparently there's just like a throwaway line where it's like a figure moves in the shadows or something.
Speaker 1:Um, I need the first chapter of the next book to be like in, like this with iron flame, where we get like an immediate pick, or I want to know what I want it to be the 12 hours, yeah, yeah, I want it to be a flashback to the 12 hours.
Speaker 2:respectfully, and Rebecca, if you could just email that to me, that would be really great.
Speaker 1:So here's our big questions. Did Taryn and Sigail have a bond break? Yeah, did they break their mating bond so that Zayden could go with Sigail to somewhere with the dragon eggs?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have seen another theory that possibly Andarna can manipulate time and she could have sped up, manipulated the time of the bond, Because it's mentioned earlier that they have a fresh bond and so once they have an older dragon bond they can communicate over longer distances and they don't have to be together necessarily as much. They can communicate over longer distances and they don't have to be together necessarily as much. So that's like another theory that she could have sped up the timeline of their bond and then they could still communicate even if he's really far away. But I don't know. I do think the bond yeah, because it's like you think they would like Taron would let them break his bond with CL, like I don't know, taron is pretty intense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so there would have to be a really, really compelling reason. I feel like I don't think he would have just gone into that willingly. So maybe I like that as an alternate option. But anyways, other thoughts you have?
Speaker 1:We want to know what happened with them. We want to know is Violet just a dream walker, or can her signet develop into mind walking? And then, if so, is this how she's going to be able to communicate with aiden across long distances?
Speaker 2:sure, and in the next book I feel for sure that that will come into play. Even if it is only dreams like that, somehow she'll be able to find him in her dreams, or something and then what does andarna know and why did she decide to come back when she came back?
Speaker 1:and do the ears know she's? She's back, all that kind of stuff. Um, and then there's this big theory which I feel like this is where we're going. Is that like in hit? They always reference the history of like the first six writers and how they raised the wards. Maybe it's seven, I don't know, but is there going to be like a second six and like the rules of that is like really powerful signets, everybody With each type of dragon, each type of dragon. Another thing that happened in the book that we didn't get to was that there's a first year at Besgayeth this year, named Lynx, who manifests the shadow wielding signet, which is very rare, and Zayden makes a comment that he's wielding it because the magic knows that he's turning bad. Yeah, and so, like Lynx now has this very powerful signet, like that might be useful in doing whatever they have to do to beat the Venom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's definitely going to be a second, six and or seven. For sure that the magic will manifest these specific signets um among writers, in order to like to mark these pivotal moments or to, you know, re-raise the words or whatever they have to do. But it feels like the words aren't going to be enough. They're going to have to get rid of the vended forever my next.
Speaker 1:I mean, I feel almost certain at this point that Taryn is going to die. Stop saying that. I'm just like I have to have anticipatory grief about this.
Speaker 2:Because if this catches, me by surprise. Yeah, it's going to be too much.
Speaker 1:It will be too much. But if the theory is true that Andorna severed their bond, then it almost guarantees that he's going to die, because then Taryn can just die without any other consequences, because violet would survive because she's still bonded to andarna. Sagail wouldn't die because she's no longer bonded to taryn, and then zayden wouldn't die because sagail didn't die.
Speaker 2:So I don't know. I'm gonna hope that they all live. I do think more people will die. Like closer to the plot, like not just it better not semi-free no, don't kill riddick, don't you dare, don't you dare oh, here's okay.
Speaker 1:so this is what I was thinking earlier when I was like my parking lot that oh yeah, so riddick, they're on the island. Riddick finds out he's a Venon, he figures it out and he's like OK, what is the line? Is it like if he would try and kill you, or if he would try and?
Speaker 2:kill someone you love.
Speaker 1:Whatever, I think this is going to be like a Harry Potter type beat, where Violet is going to have to kill Zayden, right? But maybe it's true that like part of his soul is in this emerald or something like that, and so he'll be able to be restored and like brought back to wholeness. But I think that she, like the implication of a line means that it will eventually he has to cross it be crossed like right, and what will she do in that, in that instance, yes, check off line yeah, unfortunately, I think you might be right.
Speaker 2:Um, I don't like that. I feel like, though, zayden has to be in some state, because, um, theophany says this was actually really upsetting as well when she's like, oh, by the way, when you're vented, you don't feel love anymore and she's like, what the fuck? Like he doesn't love me. This is all fake, but you know, he still has. He still has some human parts to him, I guess. But, um, I feel like, for the romanticy again, for the roma part of the romanticy, like in the next book, he has to be in some kind of semi-stable, even if it's like a tortured existence, like there has to be some stability, like if they're communicating dreams, maybe, whatever, like he can't be full evil because otherwise then where will the romance?
Speaker 1:part no, no on the next book.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's gonna have to be, or he has to be cured in the next book. Like there's no other option, he can't be full Venn in for a whole book.
Speaker 1:Well, no, he most certainly has to still have some good quality, or else Sigel would have ditched him.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So there has to be, and when he does come to, he's not like, ah, you know, he's like, oh no, what have I done? Like he still feels the.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, he does. Yeah, whenever he's like my brother, I can't believe you betrayed me. Like if he was really like full tilt, he would have been like hell yeah, hell yeah, we're in right, we're in Venon now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm a Venon now Ride with the Venon, so you know. I'm just interested to see what his state is when we next see Zayden. Can he catch a break?
Speaker 1:Everything as bad as so in this book. We got like mostly violet pov, like 99, but then we also got a little bit of zayden pov, and we also got imogen pov and we and we got a riannon pov. I want a riddick pov.
Speaker 2:I would love a riddick pov his relationship with his dragon atrium.
Speaker 1:Atrium, yeah, he's so funny, yes he's funny.
Speaker 2:I would love it. I would love to see more and I, they're. I want to read his stuff. Sometimes I forget because you haven't read this.
Speaker 2:But um, there's a extremely long fan fiction, um, called crimson rivers yes, and in that book um slash fic, it's aggressively long, but in that fic the author says up front if someone gets a POV chapter, they won't die in the end. So sometimes I do forget that that's not a rule everywhere, Because whenever there's a POV I'm like, oh my god, thank god this person's going to live. And then I'm like, oh no, that's actually not a rule. That was just Crimson Rivers.
Speaker 1:I think if she kills Riddick again my friend Colleen Colleen is almost definitely listening to this. She's one of our loyal listeners. Colleen got banned from Reddit for two days for saying on the fourth wing subreddit that if she kills Riddickick in the next book, she should order a drone strike on her house. And then she said in parentheses mods and fbi. I'm joking, but she still got banned. It's really funny, that was so funny but for real, though, we would love to hear your theories I I really have no idea what the dragon eggs are for.
Speaker 2:My only thought is that they're trading it with that one. One of the kingdoms specifically said they would help if they had dragon eggs, so I feel like it kind of has something to do with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's my only thought, all right. Idk might be a chill.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:Please send us in your theories. We'll probably talk more about this. I feel like I'm still like so much happened in this book.
Speaker 1:I'm still sorting through all the reddit threads that I want to read and I don't think we're gonna get another book until the end of 2026 yeah, so we can revisit this with more theories at a later date, but thank you for listening to us.
Speaker 2:It was felt so good to talk about this for now. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I really needed to, and it was so fun for us to be able to be together while we were both reading this.
Speaker 2:I know it also. Really I don't think I would have finished it as fast, because Abigail would be like okay, on page 419, like something crazy happens. And then she was like okay, the next crazy thing is like 10 more pages. I was like okay, I got to keep going, I got to keep going, I got to keep going. So that was really fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was just so fun. I was sitting there reading my little book and I was like watching her.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:It was so stressful.
Speaker 2:So, scary Okay.
Speaker 1:Have you read anything good recently? Yes, so I was like, okay, I'm fighting this crazy book hangover. How am recently? Yes, so I was like, okay, I'm fighting this crazy book hangover. Yeah, how am I gonna read anything after I finish onyx storm? But I read flirting with disaster, the sophomore novel by naena kumar yay I loved um say you'll be mine. Yeah, which actually do you know? There's another version of it. I think her original publishing of it is called say you'll be my, my john oh no, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:That's really nice um, but anyways, uh, she, her second book is a second chance romance. Um, it's basically like our female main character, mina is it's like, it's like sweet home, alabama is like the premise yes, so she has this life in dc. She had um a marriage like she had a vegas marriage to like her boyfriend, like seven years ago, and they were like so in love. They like we didn't plan this wedding but I guess, stay married, whatever do it yeah and so she needs to get a divorce from him.
Speaker 1:Um, not because she has another boyfriend, she has this guy that she's like on again, off again, and they're currently off sick, um, but they have, they're thinking about getting back together and like she has like political aspirations and plans with this guy, sure, and so she needs to, like she wants to run for office uh, the Maryland State Senate Stop, I don't know why it's happening.
Speaker 2:Squad cast why?
Speaker 1:She wants to run for office in the Maryland State Senate, and so she needs to get rid of all of her baggage and get this divorce filed before she does it.
Speaker 2:She can't just be low-key married to someone else.
Speaker 1:She doesn't watch the news, I guess on this day, and she flies to houston to go to her ex's house to like get this cushion. Flies there and turns out there's a hurricane coming class, so she gets stuck there with him.
Speaker 2:so people aren't like me and zane and like tracking hurricanes even though you don't live on the coast for like weeks in advance.
Speaker 1:Okay, I get it, you're like Robert California's kid he's like tracking some hurricanes Cold winds from the north, high low pressure system from the east.
Speaker 1:I yeah, I've never related to something more. Anyways, so he, so they're there together and it's like we're not getting a lot of context about their relationship except in flashbacks. So it's just like immediate, immediate. They're back at the house together and she has like attraction to him and there's like this thing between them and we don't really know what happened in the past. But we're getting it slowly while the storm is going on and we're like, oh my god, dealing the yearning was out of control.
Speaker 1:The yearning was so out of control it was insane. I love the storyline of sweet home alabama, but this was like minus racism it was so freaking good and I didn't think I could like a book more, like I didn't think I could like this one more than the last one and I did it like it was.
Speaker 2:I don't normally give like romance books five stars, and this was five stars okay, I'm all in I am literally I had obviously I too really liked Nainis Kumar's first book and I put like an alert on Libby to let me know as soon as they got this book and I instantly put it on hold and I still became second in line. So I should get it any day now, I feel.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited for you.
Speaker 2:I have been waiting for my time.
Speaker 1:I was like, how is this going so fast? Like I want it to last longer, but I also need to be at the end. The yearning is truly, I mean okay, as with the first book, there is a slight miscommunication thing like why?
Speaker 2:would you guys just say your feelings, but again it's okay, it was good it was okay like I love it okay have you ever had anything else good besides onyx Storm? Yes, and pretend you haven't already heard about this in our Lost podcast episode.
Speaker 1:That we lost forever.
Speaker 2:Pretend to imagine or erase that from your mind, because I still want to talk about this. Okay, because if you are looking for another romantic series that is complete and won't leave you on a devastating cliffhanger, you should read the Artifacts of Oranos series. Oh yeah, the the first book. It's by nisha tuli um and the first book is the trial of the sun queen. So this is described as the bachelor meets the hunger games, which is like a very glib way to describe in a fantasy world way that people understand. But, um, basically it follows lore and the lore, when we meet her, is like in her 20s and she has been in this prison in the aurora kingdom, which is like, uh, imagine australia, but it's divided up into like five kingdoms and the aurora is like most north because they have the northern lights.
Speaker 2:And, um, she's in the aurora kingdom, she is in prison. She doesn't really think she's committed anything, any kind of crime, but perhaps she was targeted because of who her parents were Unclear. She has very little memories of before being in prison and she's in there with her older brother and sister, who were also like fake, charged with crimes and like no end in sight, and also most people die in this prison within like three years, but somehow they're still alive. And anyways, one day she's thrown out into this pit. Because she? What are you laughing at?
Speaker 1:The other day you were like I always say. Anyways, on the podcast.
Speaker 2:I know, and now you're noticing it.
Speaker 1:Now I'm like laughing that you said it Cut me off, but I'm also have been very aware that you said it, but I'm also have been very aware that I've been going I know it's just sorry.
Speaker 2:You start to notice it when you hear yeah, anyways, continue. I'm listening what you're saying, I just got distracted. Okay, now you're good. She's thrown into this pit. I'm gonna challenge myself to not say anyways anymore. She's thrown into this pit and in there she has no food, no water, she's just in the elements, and so she's literally on the verge of death. When she hears a riot going on in the prison, and while the riot's going on, she is taken from the pit by an unknown figure, and when she wakes up, she is actually in the sun kingdom down south, so it's warmer, and she's told that she is going to compete for the hand of the sun king. Uh, in this sort of tea whether she wants to or not whether she wants to or not.
Speaker 2:No, no consent. Here she is fed a bunch of food. She's like this is amazing, because I have been eating gruel for 12 years. And she is like, okay, this is fine, this is my chance. Because, uh, all the um, kings and queens and royalty in this world are fey and she's human and um, if she classic. So all the other competitors are also fey. But they have one final tribute, as is their custom in the sun kingdom, who is always a human, to kind of show like the humans, you can rise above your terrible station that we have created for you, because we're all the ruling class and you too could be the Sun Queen if you just work hard enough. But always the final tribute always dies in these games. But Lore's like I'm going to lock in. I've been in prison for 12 years, I have survived worse and I can survive this. And if I can become the Sun Queen, then I can become High Fae, I will ascend and I'll get powers and also I'll be queen.
Speaker 1:So I can save my brother and sister. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'll save my siblings from prison because they're still in there and I don't know if they're okay. I don't know if they're okay, I don't know if that riot that I heard what happened to them. So she's working hard to win. I just think, okay, this is a very interesting premise, but it's a four book series and I liked this premise, but I would say the books get better from there and she kind of ends up having to, like go on this quest obviously save the world.
Speaker 2:So there's a lot of other characters going in in, fall in love with who we don't know. But, uh, it's very fun and I am currently reading the last book in the series. I finally got it. So, um, I haven't finished it yet, so I can't promise you that it has a satisfying conclusion. But I will say, like literally every book I've rated higher than the last and I really like the first one.
Speaker 2:It it hooked me, but I feel like it gets better and better as the series goes on and it's kind of an interesting world and very enjoyable characters. And Laura's kind of interesting because she's not giving the like I'm so small and like frail, like she has been through prison and she's very hardened by that and comes into these trials with like a lot of abilities that make sense based on her life so far and her difficulties she's faced, and so I kind of like that. She's kind of like her own person and she's fighting for her own freedom and then falls in love along the way by me, of course, but it's really fun. So read these books I will.
Speaker 1:I have the first one hold. You really sold me, can't wait can't wait yeah all right. Well, tell us the things that we missed about fourth wing, about onyx storm. We'd love to hear your theories in our comments. Follow us on blue sky yeah, we'll see you guys. Chit chat on the flippity flip bye.