** spoiler alert **

WOW.

Spoilers ahead.

The Rose of Battle: By William Butler Yeats

ROSE of all Roses, Rose of all the World!
The tall thought-woven sails, that flap unfurled
Above the tide of hours, trouble the air,
And God’s bell buoyed to be the water’s care;
While hushed from fear, or loud with hope, a band 5

With blown, spray-dabbled hair gather at hand.
Turn if you may from battles never done,
I call, as they go by me one by one,
Danger no refuge holds, and war no peace,
For him who hears love sing and never cease, 10
Beside her clean-swept hearth, her quiet shade:
But gather all for whom no love hath made
A woven silence, or but came to cast
A song into the air, and singing past
To smile on the pale dawn; and gather you 15
Who have sought more than is in rain or dew
Or in the sun and moon, or on the earth,
Or sighs amid the wandering starry mirth,
Or comes in laughter from the sea’s sad lips;
And wage God’s battles in the long grey ships. 20
The sad, the lonely, the insatiable,
To these Old Night shall all her mystery tell;
God’s bell has claimed them by the little cry
Of their sad hearts, that may not live nor die.

Rose of all Roses, Rose of all the World! 25
You, too, have come where the dim tides are hurled
Upon the wharves of sorrow, and heard ring
The bell that calls us on; the sweet far thing.
Beauty grown sad with its eternity
Made you of us, and of the dim grey sea. 30
Our long ships loose thought-woven sails and wait,
For God has bid them share an equal fate;
And when at last defeated in His wars,
They have gone down under the same white stars,
We shall no longer hear the little cry 35
Of our sad hearts, that may not live nor die.


Alright. Let's get to the inevitable...Kartik's death. Normally I would say "what the hell was that?" soon to be followed by "she ought to have done herself in as well" but shockingly Libba Bray has actually left me satisfied with the ending of a book. It's not shocking that Libba did it, just that anyone could. I can't possibly name all the books I'd have rather seen someone else die in that person's place, or seen another kill themselves. [I will name one though, FRED. I fear I'll never get over that.]

Want to talk more about it, certainly feel welcome to message me. [Cyndy-you have to message me.]

The Gemma Doyle trilogy is very well written and I look forward to anything else written by Libba, and of course when she comes to Seattle. Hell to the yes.