The ending, again

[trobadora]

Mariem just pointed me to a post that is almost a year old, but has to be shared nonetheless. We've discussed the ending of the trilogy here before, and I always felt I couldn't quite express just why it bugs me so. Well, astolat manages to put her finger exactly on the spot.

Excerpt:
And my god, of all the unsatisfying -- I mean, what I want, as a reader, if that's the choice -- give up Damien or die -- is for Gerald to be willing to die first. That would be the right choice, the redeeming choice. If Tarrant is prepared to give up the friendship that saved and redeemed him just in order to prolong his life -- he's learned nothing. That's exactly where he started.

Go and read:

Coldfire -- analysis of the ending by astolat