Cold Commands (#2) by Morgan [April 4, 2022]

[Choko]

Ch. 6... That was horrible! I wanted Archeth to slaughter all those people who (view spoiler)[ Tortured that family!!!! They broke them for ever:(((( (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Up to Ch. 18... (view spoiler)[ Darn it, this duel didn't work out the way we were hoping... I guess it reminds us he is not all powerful, but I am glad at least that his opponent is also a bit superpowered... So the Light Court has chosen a human champion, confirming that Ringil is the champion of the Dark Court. Interesting... (hide spoiler)]

[Dave]

Choko wrote: "Up to Ch. 18... [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Ringil may be the champion of the Dark Court, and it seems that is how he is learning his black magic powers, but I have a feeling that he has his own agenda that we will understand better eventually. (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

What makes him a wild card is, that he seems to be suicidal. With people who are tired of their lives, they act on whims, not with a specific conviction. I have no idea where we are going with him really...

The other thing, I am up to Ch. 24 and (view spoiler)[ just met that war Helmsman. He speaks exactly like a machine. Eliminating the whole Human population, at the time 42 million people, so the Light Court has no people to perpetuate their existence, seems completely logical to it. What a scary situation. Thank goodness that her father had foreseen the disaster that could happen, and had disabled that part of those war AI's. However, I am afraid that the Helmsman who sent them on this search might be able to re- enable them to be able to do that... I don't trust any of them! (hide spoiler)]

[Dave]

Choko wrote: "What makes him a wild card is, that he seems to be suicidal. With people who are tired of their lives, they act on whims, not with a specific conviction. I have no idea where we are going with him ..."

I just finished Ch. 25 now. (view spoiler)[You're right, I have no idea who to trust in this book now. Certainly not the helmsmen, not the dwenda, and not even most of the humans as far as I am concerned. I guess the best we can do is put our trust in our three protagonists and hope for the best. I don't even think I would be able to trust them to have my best interests in mind if I met them in real life! (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

I completely agree. The three of them have this deeply developed friendship and loyalty, because they fought a war together and survived, but everyone else is an outsider. Whatever the G-ds and the Helmsmen are planning for either of them, I think they will be disappointed... They are just waaaaayyy unpredictable...

[Dave]

Through Ch. 29. (view spoiler)[The resurrection of Kaptal was interesting. If there was any doubt before, that confirms how incredibly advanced the technology of the Helmsmen is. Returning a being to life is one of the few technologies that is difficult for me to believe will ever be possible. And then I always start down the same path of thought that Egar and Archeth are exploring - is the resurrected person still the same inside as they were prior to dying?

The Helmsmen seem to be pretty indifferent for the most part toward humans, so there must be a pretty compelling reason for returning Kaptal to life. I guess we have to keep reading to find out. (hide spoiler)]

[Dave]

Not sure if we are still discussing this, but I finished Ch. 50. (view spoiler)[I knew that Archeth wasn't going to be killed, especially since Egar was, apparently. I am still half expecting the Helmsmen to bring him back, but I guess we are nearing the end of the series, so perhaps not. It didn't make sense for the Helmsmen to kill Archeth and the rest of the group though, especially in that way, so I figured that some sort of technology was being used that they didn't understand. (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

I really want you to finish it, so I can see what you think about all the revelations at the end of the book...

[Dave]

Nearly there, probably in a couple more days...

[Choko]

Good. Because, I think the author should have incorporated all of those end of the book ideas throughout the series, instead of leaving them for the last couple of chapters... I don't understand his choice of doing that...

[Rob]

I'm in early goings myself. Only up to chapter 10. My life is doing a number on my reading schedule. (view spoiler)[And of course, the trio will all get separated, yet again. Just when I thought just maybe they'd stick together for much of the book, but of course, everyone has to have their own plot line :) (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Hey, Rob! Good to see you, man:))) I am sorry life has been hectic, but I hope all is well. We are here:)

Yep, everyone has to resolve their own fate:)

[Rob]

yep - the house on the market with the market turning against me in the middle is fun and then I got hit by someone running a red light, totaling my car. So I'm up to my ears in it, but getting moments to enjoy some grimdark here and there :)

[Dave]

Rob wrote: "yep - the house on the market with the market turning against me in the middle is fun and then I got hit by someone running a red light, totaling my car. So I'm up to my ears in it, but getting mom..."

Sounds pretty rough, Rob, sorry to hear all of that. At least there is always plenty of grimdark to lift your spirits. :-)

[Dave]

Choko wrote: "Good. Because, I think the author should have incorporated all of those end of the book ideas throughout the series, instead of leaving them for the last couple of chapters... I don't understand hi..."

Through Ch. 60. I think I am understanding what all is happening for the most part, but it is possible I am missing a few things or have some details wrong. Morgan writes in such a way that it is not always obvious (at least to me) what is actually happening.

(view spoiler)[It sounds like the Helmsmen want to replace the emperor with Archeth, because she is immortal (at least if no one kills her), and that will promote long-term stability on the planet. But Archeth doesn't want that. So they brought Kaptal back to life, but have apparently altered him subtly, to use as a more effective means of persuading Archeth. It is possible that they could have done this with other people as well.

On the other hand, the dwenda want to put Ringil on the throne, because the dark court can control him (they think) via the Ilwrack Changeling's sword? And if necessary, they can force him to kill Archeth with it if the Helmsmen make her emperor?

I am not sure if all of that is completely accurate, but that is what I think I am understanding at this point. That's a lot more than I had a grasp on not too long ago, because I was really unclear on the big picture until very recently. (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Rob, that is horrible! I hope you are not hurt!!! My best wishes coming your way!!!

[Choko]

Dave, you got it quite right! (view spoiler)[ The Helmsmen, all the surviving ones, have decided that Archeth, as the last of her kind, and thus as the one they are dedicated to "serving", and protecting, want to manipulate her into becoming the empress of all humans. They claim it is for stability, but I don't trust a word they say.

The Dark Court is the one that wants the real Ringil to, if not take the throne, than at least gather enough forces behind him to destroy the Dwenda. They want humans to rule humans, so they would want him to destroy Archeth at the end as well.

The Dwenda have decided that instead of just killing Ringil, since he is proving to be too expensive in Dwenda lives to kill, they will use him, by putting that sword in his hand. The sword contains the spirit of a long dead Dwenda champion, and whoever grabs it will be possessed and overtaken by it. Thus, by having him as their champion, he can lead them to rulling the human world once again, having humans as their slaves and underlings.

Yes, the Helmsmen are definitely almost "possessing" the people they are influencing and that is just horrible. They don't care about the humans, so they would do whatever they want to protect their plans... Sucks! (hide spoiler)]

You got all that right. Now come the revelations...

[Dave]

Choko wrote: "Dave, you got it quite right! ..."

That is quite the detailed summary. Thanks for that, it clarified a couple of points that I wasn't completely certain on.

Sometimes I wish I could fly through a book like this in 2-3 days, as I think the details would be easier to follow in some respects. I often only have time to squeeze in a chapter here and there, or sometimes only a few pages. When I do have an hour or more to just sit and read a bunch of chapters all at once, I do get more immersed in the story and it is easier to follow all of the details, especially for books that are not light, "easy" reading.

[Choko]

Dave, I feel so bad for fellow readers, who truly love to read, but life stands in the way... I am lucky at this moment, because I am a social worker and tend to travel between houses a lot, so I have time to mostly listen to audiobooks. I do the actual books reading in the evenings or weekends, if there isn't anything going on. I don't have kids, but I have an aging ailing father and the man who lives with me is disabled, so a lot of taking care of everything house wise going on, but again, I am lucky and have time to both listen and read .. I have worked jobs, which have not been conducive to reading and those were horrible for my inner peace... So I am sorry both of you guys are not freer to read a bit more:)

[Dave]

No worries, Choko. Some of my restrictions on reading time are self-imposed, as I have other activities that I like to spend time on as well. I actually carve out more time for reading now than I used to, but still wish that I had more. I guess it is all about finding the right balance, and that is different for each of us.

I finished the book last night, but I have a couple of extremely busy days now. I need to give a bit more thought to the ending, as I feel that missing some points that Morgan is trying to make, or at least not understanding them completely. I'll write my thoughts about it here in the next day or so.

[Dave]

Okay, so at the end of the book, (view spoiler)[it seems that Archeth defeats Ershal and then Poltar (finally, we hated him), and Ringil defeats Risgillen and a bunch of the dwenda. However, the power that he uses traps him in the Grey Space forever? Maybe? But maybe not entirely.

Then in the first coda, Jhiral abuses Ishgrim and Ishgrim prays for Archeth to return safely. Presumably she will, but that's all that we get. Are we to assume that she will return, kill Jhiral for what he did, and by doing so effectively become empress? Essentially acquiring the throne even though she didn't want it?

Then in the second coda, I guess Dakovash transfers some essence of Ringil from the sword into the baby? And that's how he escapes the Grey Space, or a part of him does? Or is it Hjel? Or is this telling us that Ringil and Hjel are actually one in the same?

Either I missed a few details, or the ending is more open to interpretation than I would prefer.

Also, have you read Morgan's Altered Carbon series by any chance? (hide spoiler)]