Coldfire re-read: Black Sun Rising - chapter 34

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

If you don’t like Senzei, this is a chapter for you. If you like Senzei… it’s a chapter for you! Don’t miss it!


Plot summary
Once more we’re on the road, this time from Senzei’s perspective, and we’re angsting our way along. When True Night comes, Tarrant and Ciani go through an experiment they have planned for a while – question their opponent by using Ciani as a channel to him. They get their answers, and once again Damien and Tarrant clash over appropriate methods and the right moment to stop. Later on, they seize another opportunity to argue over morals and a somewhat Vulcan interpretation of the good of many outweighing the good of one.
In the aftermath of all that, Senzei and Ciani speak about the chance of Senzei finally gaining adeptitude. He believes her, and so steals the Fire from Damien to use it to trigger the necessary change in him. Soon – but not soon enough – he discovers that he has been misled, but it is too late at that point.
When night falls again, the others discover that Senzei is dead and that the Fire is practically gone. Damien and Tarrant once again get into an argument, which ends with Tarrant leaving them while they bury Senzei.



Quotes

• They encountered other tribes, with much the same result. And Senzei came to realize just how lucky they were that the khrast-woman was with them. They had survived the Forest’s worst, they had maneuvered through deadly surf and earthquakes and an ambush by their enemies, but they would never have made it through the plains without her.


• It was Tarrant who unWorked the nightmares themselves, burning some precious docu¬ment he had tucked about his person; the value of his sacrifice flared hot, like sunlight, and seared the vicinity clean of whatever taint might have formed about them. Perhaps it would last for a day, or two; Senzei had his doubts.


• The rakh-woman had spoken little to the men. To Ciani she vouchsafed a few parcels of genuine conversation, even went so far as to ride beside the woman several times in order to converse while traveling. Now and then Senzei caught snippets of their conversation, tidbits carried back to him on the evening breeze: Rakhene history. Rakhene custom. Rakhene legends.


• He wondered what it was like, to want something that could be obtained so easily. His own hunger had become a hole in him, an emptiness, a vast wound incapable of healing. The adepts spoke of the music of life; which filled every living thing with song and echoed from each molecule of inanimate matter, an endless symphony of being; he ached to hear it for himself. The rakh-woman could see tidal fae flicker into being across an evening sky, a vast aurora of power shimmering like the light of a thousand jewels; he yearned to possess that vision. Ciani had Shared her special senses with him once, but that wasn’t the same thing. That had been as much pain as ecstacy, as much wanting as having. He had withdrawn from it confused and hurt, too shaken to manage his own Workings for some days afterward. They had never tried it again.
  What I want, no one human being can give me. It was the truth of his existence - but it hurt no less for being familiar to him.


• “Yes. The demon said that would be best. To turn their own Workings against them. To let them feel confi¬dent in their knowledge, while all the while they were walking into a trap. That’s the only way to take an adept, Calesta says. Trick them, using their own vision.”


• Tarrant turned toward him, slowly, and let him watch as the sanctified light spread across his features. The skin of his face and hands reddened, tightened, began to peel - but his cold eyes gazed steadily at Damien, and there was no hint in his manner of any pain or hesitancy.
  “Don’t underestimate me,” he warned. Blood pooled in the corner of one eye, and he blinked it free; it trav¬eled down the side of his face like a tear. Still he did not turn away, nor shield himself from the Fire’s light. “Don’t ever underestimate me.”


• “No, he didn’t, did he? And what gets to me is that he would have stayed there, endured the pain - till the Fire fried him to a crisp, if that’s what it took. Just to prove a point.”


• “You came to me seeking vision,” she said softly. “Not power, not wealth, not even immortality . . . not any of the things that other men seek. Just the Sight.”


• “The Fire, Zen. That’s what it is. The power of thousands, concentrated in that one tiny flask. Tamed, to serve man’s will.” She paused, giv¬ing the words time to sink in. Their meaning burned like flame. “I believe it could free you. I believe it could give you what you want.”


• Do whatever you want to me, he thought - to his gods, to the Fire, to whatever would listen. He felt tears cours¬ing down his cheeks - and they were hot, like flame. Whatever it takes. Whatever will change me.
  Please . . .


• “You did exactly what you should have done, and - more important - you avoided doing those things which might have gotten you killed.” The silver eyes fixed on Damien and seemed to bore into him. “To feel any guilt over the matter-”
  “That’s my business,” the priest said harshly. “And if I want to feel lousy because a friend of mine might have been in danger - dying, possibly - while I had to sit here and twiddle my thumbs until night fell . . . you just stay out of it, all right? That’s part of being human.”

Thoughts

• Damien is not the only one we know very little about – we’ve talked about khrast status before, and I’m wondering about it again here now that we see Hesseth able to negotiate free passage for a group of humans with relative ease.


• Senzei’s take on the Damien/Tarrant situation is different of how they see it themselves – he seems quite convinced that Damien might try to kill Tarrant, never mind that they still need him. Does he think Damien doesn’t have his priorities straight, or is their snark looking a lot more hostile to Senzei than it is intended?


• Isn’t it curious that both Damien and Senzei let Tarrant do the questioning of the creature that has stolen Ciani’s memories? They only object to the process as a whole, because of the danger, but they don’t argue about this. Or tell him any questions they want him to ask.


• Can I just say that I love the little bit of foreshadowing that comes with Calesta knowing how to trick an adept?
• 
  
• Tarrant certainly knows how to make Damien acknowledge a point. The way he lets the Fire burn him, just to show that he won’t be ordered around? And Damien backs down and even apologizes because he can tell he won’t get anywhere if he keeps arguing.


• Something that puzzles me is rakh evolution after they came into what are now the rakhlands. The canopy blocks fae currents, so shouldn’t it have stopped human imagination from influencing rakh evolution? And yet, from what Hesseth explains, it seems to have continued. Did the canopy only go up later? Or are the currents flowing through it somehow?


• So Ciani has no trouble deciding that she’d rather see some rakh sacrificed than risk not regaining her memories. It’s hard to tell what Senzei thinks of it, even though it’s his point of view, but it looks as though Damien is the only one to have at least momentary qualms at the idea. And Hesseth isn’t saying anything. It’s quite a cold-blooded calculation. And on the same topic of deciding what is worth sacrificing for your own goals, Senzei then essentially chooses to risk Ciani’s hope of regaining her memories in favour of a chance to become an Adept.


• I have to admit that I wasn’t sad at all to see Senzei die. Not with what led up to it – the selfishness to take the Fire, even a little bit of it, for his own purposes. The failure to trust Damien about it, and the failure to notice that something was absolutely off with Ciani in all his eagerness. I know some of you are more sympathetic towards Senzei – what did you think of this chapter?

It's chapters 35-37 next week - another member of the party goes missing, the others, some despite themselves, get quite worried, and the Master of Lema gets high on power.

Comments

[fallintosanity.livejournal.com]

So my two thoughts for this chapter:

1. It took me like three rereads to realize that Senzei wasn't actually burned up by the Fire, but that he died of fear due to the illusion of being burned up by the Fire, an illusion created by Calesta. Did anyone else have this problem? Also, this is awesome foreshadowing for Crown of Shadows, and C.S. Friedman sneaks it in so beautifully that you don't even realize it. Also also, if all the effects of burning and melting that we get from Senzei's narration were just illusion, what do you think was the actual effect of drinking the Fire?

2. The bit with Tarrant standing in the light of the Fire was the first time I truly began to understand Tarrant's strength of will. Up till now, we've seen him be all manner of things - glib, arrogant, sly, manipulating, angry, afraid, hurt - but I think this is the first time we really get to see the sheer stubborn willpower that let him survive his childhood, his adeptitude, his bargain with the Unnamed, and the centuries of evil and malignance, and still have his sanity and his soul at the end of it all.

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

*g* It's taken me literally years to realize the bit about the Fire not physically burning him, in part because I tend to skip his POV sections, but also because I didn't make the connection between what he feels and what the others then find.

The Calesta sections look very different once you know CoS!

Tarrant letting himself get burned really drove home his determination for me. That he went along with Damien & Co because of his principles is one thing, but seeing him deliberately hurt himself just to prove he is not to be underestimated? Whew. And it's the best way to make Damien acknowledge a point - pain in others is his weakness, so Tarrant may have played on that as well.

[trobadora]

It took me like three rereads to realize that Senzei wasn't actually burned up by the Fire

You and me both. *g* And yeah, I'm still wondering too what the Fire actually did or would have done to him, if Calesta hadn't interfered. Not the slightest clue, actually.

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

I think a big part of Senzei's problems come from the fact he's so out of his element, he doesn't quite realise who and what to trust. He doesn't trust Damien not to do something incredibly stupid, despite the fact he's seen Damien be incredibly smart. Likewise, he misreads the dynamics and what's going on. Even to the end, he's clearly a socially inept character, who doesn't quite *get* the lengths to which some people will go for others, as can be shown by his own selfish end and use of the fire.

He's spent so much time just being with Ci that he loses the little bits of things that kept him human throughout the journey (the way Allesha knows and leaves him, the fact that he doesn't have Ci to help him keep his need for power in check...), until their was nothing left but the little power he had and the hunger for more.

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

What puzzles me in light of him being completely out of his element - and I absolutely agree with you on him being socially inept and in over his head - is why he went along in the first place. Was it a matter of overestimating himself? Loyalty to Ciani? The need for Ciani to go back to what she was, for whatever reason?

As a character he doesn't benefit from the contrast of three strong personalities around him, four if you count Hesseth's appearance now. To me he always feels like the fifth wheel.

[devohoneybee.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to figure out what Senzei's role in the narrative is. In some ways he's a mirror of some of the characteristics of other characters, but without their innate power. The entire expedition is a group of special people -- no ordinary human among them, so special that even with Senzei's abilities, he pales next to them. His dilemmas pull us out of the glow of hte specialness of the other characters. On top of that, we aren't really given enough about him to like. But the things we don't care for about him are in some ways the same qualities that Tarrant possesses, with one crucial distinction. He's the poor shmo who has something of Tarrant's ambition without the goods to achieve it. He is as selfish, reckless, and courageous, in a sense, as Tarrant. He just doesn't succeed. We are mesmerized by Tarrant, but disdainful of Senzei. He should just come to peace with being inferior, right? But there's sort of a contempt in there for his non-specialness. So as a reader I'm left just sort of not knowing how to take him.

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

Good point - even though he's a sorcerer, he's actually the "normal" one around. And he's quite a useful point of view character in these earlier chapters, to get a good idea of why the other three are special in some way because he sees them as such (while at the same time we do not see a lot of interpretation of Senzei by the others).

I think one of the reasons why Tarrant is so much more fascinating than Senzei is that Senzei never quite goes through with what he could do. He never sacrifices everything, or takes the ultimate risk, while Tarrant was able to do that, and still has his priorities and principles so strictly sorted that he'll refuse to back down. If the Fire had done as Senzei thought it might, it could have been different - this is the one time when he takes a real risk, with no backup and no contingencies.

[trobadora]

But the things we don't care for about him are in some ways the same qualities that Tarrant possesses, with one crucial distinction. He's the poor shmo who has something of Tarrant's ambition without the goods to achieve it.

I think what Zen's lacking most of all is self-awareness. In the end, he lets what he wants override his realism. His ambition gets in the way. I don't think that Tarrant and he are all that similar, nor that the only difference between them is that Tarrant succeeds - I think the basic difference is that Tarrant's a scientist at heart, whereas Zen's research is agenda-driven from the start; I don't get the impression that he has any interest in his findings simply as knowledge, separate from how it can be of use to him, and that gets in the way of his self-awareness too - he doesn't acknowledge how his own desires inform everything. A dangerous thing, especially on Erna.

[fragorl.livejournal.com]

Wow everyone seems to have realised the illusion trick and I am only seeing to now! Wow thinking about it seems really obvious, like why wasnt his body all burnt but I never actually thought of that till its pointed out :) *feels stupid*

I felt a little bit sad when Zen dies because he is the human interest, and in a way he is probably the person that most real people would relate to most out of the 3 - not a mastermind genious - innately saintlike or with super powers, and with more understandable flaws... but i guess that might be why he is less likeable. I agree that he has similarities with Tarrant but is seen in a much less glamourous light, but i would ascribe that more to charisma. Friedman shows right from the start how powerful an effect this can have on making a reader like a character or not.

I thought Sen was more than token death character though - for me it added a whole new dimension to the world they are set in that with wonderful magic that SOME people hav everyone else would be happy to not have been born with it - human nature is not like that and Sen kind of personifies it, i mean what he has is like an addiction... :(

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

It took me literally years to catch on to the illusion trick. Don't feel bad about it. ;-)

in a way he is probably the person that most real people would relate to most out of the 3 - not a mastermind genious - innately saintlike or with super powers, and with more understandable flaws... but i guess that might be why he is less likeable.

I think you've hit the point there. We let Tarrant get away with nine hundred years of terrorizing the population because he does it with enough flair and charisma, not to mention determination, that it's just interesting to watch him. Zen on the other hand has a goal, but doesn't seem to have done much to work towards it until his final hour (and then he fails at it completely). So he's weak in this, and he never really has a chance to show his strong side during the entire trip.

human nature is not like that and Sen kind of personifies it, i mean what he has is like an addiction... :(

Come to think of it, addiction is something of a theme... we get it picked up with Andrys later on too.

[fallintosanity.livejournal.com]

Don't feel bad - like I said, it took me like three rereads of the book, and when I did realize it, it was more of a, wait a minute here *flips back to Senzei's death section* That's not right... what? And only then thinking, Wait, Calesta can create illusions of pain... Whoa! Sneaky! It's a really subtle way of introducing Calesta's powers that I'm not even sure you're meant to catch until after you've read Crown of Shadows.

You're definitely right about the charisma thing. Tarrant has it in droves, but poor Zen is quiet, awkward, and clearly possessed of an inferiority complex. I wonder if he'd have developed confidence and charisma if his gamble had paid off and he'd become an adept, or if he'd have simply gone on to be like the Master of Lema...

[fragorl.livejournal.com]

hmmm, feeling slightly better then :) that is the amazing thing about these books I always think! No matter how much you read them there is actually always something new...

addiction being a theme - i guess it is I hadnt really thought about it in that light, but i guess it sort of ties in with hunger. Interesting comparison between Andrys and Senzei - I personally always liked Senzei better, I guess cos his situation is less deliberately self destructive - he genuinely cant help needing it, and Andrys seems more to be stiking his hands in his ears and going 'lalala i cant hear the real world' which always got on my nerves...

What i always wondered though was how he hid the whole thing from Tarrant. Damien didnt really know him enough to realise that something was up and Ciani had lost half her memories and her adeptitude so she was in no state to either but I would have thought that would be the sort of thing an adept would notice. He seemed pretty much in tune with negative emotions and I seem to remember Zen was worrying about the whole thing for like days before he actually tries it, which must have had some effect. Pretty easy to pick up on I would thought for someone who can read minds. :)

[devohoneybee.livejournal.com]

I think Tarrant, and to a certain extent the whole group, tended to dismiss Senzei as just not really worth paying much attention to.

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

For me Andrys is easier to like, because we get a tangible reason for why he's being such an idiot. With Senzei, it's thwarted ambition while Andrys has the excuse of having been quite thoroughly traumatized by an undead ancestor. Which isn't saying that I approve of Andrys in any way. ;-)

I think Tarrant simply ignored Senzei. He had Ciani pegged as the one he needed to protect and assist, and Damien as the potential threat and main partner for brainstorming. Senzei is the one who gets injured at inconvenient moments, scared at more inconvenient moments, and who generally is bothersome to drag around. Tarrant might simply have thought that he was having other issues of some sort. Or who knows, the whole idea may have read as suicidal in the currents, and I'm sure that in that case Tarrant wouldn't have stopped him easily since it meant getting rid of ballast.

[prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com]

Tarrant can't read minds (except possibly Damien's, after the link), or there'd be a whole extra level of havoc-wreaking going on around him. What he can do is read currents and get an idea of what might be on somebody's mind based on what's going on around them. But having Tarrant nearby in itself seems to affect the fae. Remember various descriptions of his nature tainting or gobbling up manifestations around him?

[prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com]

Senzei's that kid you knew (or might even have been) in school. He's a socially backwards nerd who's a little too obsessed with some obscure thing (like Star Trek, nod to the person with the Red-shirt reference :D) for most people to be comfortable around him. He's nice, he means well, he's smart, but he's so used to being looked down on that he's come to believe it himself.

Based on things he's said and thought, I get the impression that the reason he wants power is to help his friends. More specifically, he wants to be able to ride to their rescue and be the guy who solves their problems for them. It's a blend of wanting to honestly ease their pains and wanting to earn their respect and be the guy everyone else looks up to for once (you know, like Tarrant :D ). But he's become fixated on adeptitude as the thing that would let him do this. It's his pipe-dream, the fairy tale that he tells himself every night. "If only I were an adept, I could make all this go away..." rather than just getting up (like Damien does) and getting his hands dirty the old-fashioned way.

But he's so busy stargazing and yearning that he forgets about what he's got in the real world, like a fiancee who loves him and sorcerous powers that would be highly respected by anybody who's not an adept.

If the personality type holds true, then maybe Ciani helped him by being the equivalent of the popular girl who made him feel credible by paying attention to him. He might've given weight to her opinions about "You should spend more time with your girlfriend" when he wouldn't have if other people had said the same thing to him. But I think she must've seen that he had a good enough heart to go out of his way for his friends (look at what he's put himself through for her), and she, in turn, is not the sort to simply take pity on people. She seems genuinely interested in everyone around her.

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

Senzei reminds me a lot of some of my (very) bookish university profs, the ones so lost in their field of expertise that they tended to lose touch with reality at times. He would have made a great scholar, but when it comes to turn things into practical application... not so much. As you say, he doesn't work with what he has because he is so focused on what he'll never be able to have, and it limits him.

she, in turn, is not the sort to simply take pity on people. She seems genuinely interested in everyone around her.

That actually makes me wonder about a few potential reasons why he could have been interesting to her. From some of the later glimpses we get of her, I wouldn't put it past her that he was, in part, interesting because of his obsession.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Based on things he's said and thought, I get the impression that the reason he wants power is to help his friends. More specifically, he wants to be able to ride to their rescue and be the guy who solves their problems for them. It's a blend of wanting to honestly ease their pains and wanting to earn their respect and be the guy everyone else looks up to for once (you know, like Tarrant :D ). But he's become fixated on adeptitude as the thing that would let him do this. It's his pipe-dream, the fairy tale that he tells himself every night. "If only I were an adept, I could make all this go away..." rather than just getting up (like Damien does) and getting his hands dirty the old-fashioned way.

But he's so busy stargazing and yearning that he forgets about what he's got in the real world, like a fiancee who loves him and sorcerous powers that would be highly respected by anybody who's not an adept.

*nods, nods*

[trobadora]

"If only I were an adept, I could make all this go away..." rather than just getting up (like Damien does) and getting his hands dirty the old-fashioned way.

Yes, that's exactly it! He's looking for a quick fix instead of doing the hard work (as Damien does) or the really heavy-duty sacrifice (if we continue the Tarrant comparison from above).

[prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com]

Other thoughts:

1: At the beginning of the chapter, Zen's readings of the wild fae kind of remind me of comparisons of untouched wilderness to human-settled land. I don't think Friedman is preaching about going green or anything, but it does fit into the idea that the harmony (or lack thereof) between humanity and the planet is a running thread through the books. The more I think about it, the more I think this thread is the one that throws off the ending so badly. Thoughts?

2: "So where did the memory-eaters come from?" Senzei wonders. Is he the first one to realize they aren't playing by fae-born rules? And yet he never says anything... Also, the "Even Senzei could dispel them" strikes me as odd. Zen thinking of himself as the weakest of the party by default, again?

3: Senzei's thoughts on Damien's mood around the Hunter--at this point I think there's some real hostility there. There's some respect too, already, and I think a certain fascination with each other. But at the very least, they're deliberately overriding anything else with active dislike. I do wonder about his musings on whether Damien'd actually take a swing at the other man, though. Is there more rage in him than we get to see? Or is Zen simply underestimating Damien's self-control? I suspect the latter, personally. Damien's shown Senzei his violent side; it could be hard to believe someone like that would have it in him to throttle down on a killing instinct so effectively. (Tarrant, on the other hand, knows. I'm pretty sure his repeated provocations of Damien are partly to test how far he can restrain himself.)

4: Tarrant burning that document struck me, too. He's sacrificed a lot already for this group of people he doesn't even like, and he does it without seeming like it even matters to him. And yet, it wouldn't be an effective sacrifice if he didn't actually care. Which just makes him scary, on a whole different level than the "evil lord of night" aspect.

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

I don't think Friedman is preaching about going green or anything, but it does fit into the idea that the harmony (or lack thereof) between humanity and the planet is a running thread through the books.

Agreed. The whole idea of the way Erna works is that evolution is quicker and that adaptation is a fast-forward process here. And we even get a few steps of humanity adapting to the planet: first sorcery, then the adepts with innate power, and then Jenseny and her ability to touch the tidal fae. It would have been logical to complete the process in the end, but as it is, it's returned to the status quo ante and nothing is resolved.

Zen thinking of himself as the weakest of the party by default, again?

In terms of practical fae application (which probably is the qualifier he uses), he is. Damien has more hands-on experience, and Ciani and Tarrant are in a league by themselves. Senzei would have to measure knowledge rather than ability - he's figured things out others haven't - but it doesn't seem to mean nearly as much to him as to the others.

3: Senzei's thoughts on Damien's mood around the Hunter--at this point I think there's some real hostility there.

From Damien's side, yes, but I'm not so sure about Tarrant. That seems more like general annoyance with the situation as a whole, and not so much being stuck with Damien. I get the feeling that to Tarrant, Damien is at this point at welcome distraction and chance to vent some irritation by irritating someone else. As for Damien possibly taking a swing at Gerald... I can't see that happen, neither here nor at any other point in the trilogy. The one moment where he might have decked him was the big revelation about Hunter and Prophet, and he restrained himself there. I'm actually surprised that Senzei thinks it a possibility because I don't get that feeling from seeing the two of them interact. Insults, yes, but they both seem determined to keep it on a verbal level.

And yet, it wouldn't be an effective sacrifice if he didn't actually care. Which just makes him scary, on a whole different level than the "evil lord of night" aspect.

Never, ever get between him and his principles.

[trobadora]

Is there more rage in him than we get to see? Or is Zen simply underestimating Damien's self-control? I suspect the latter, personally.

Yes, same here. The book makes some point of contrasting Damien-the-warrior with city-born and bred Zen in earlier chapters, and I think Zen simply doesn't have the context to judge Damien's behaviour correctly.

(Agreed that Tarrant understands it perfectly, and enjoys testing Damien's restraint, too.)

Tarrant burning that document struck me, too.

Yes, that's such a small bit inserted in the narrative here, but it shows a lot about who Tarrant is, and what lengths he's willing to go to to see this through.

Jumps in the discussion: pt 1

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading the trilogy, and I thought I'd come over and talk with you guys about the books. Thanks to trobadora for letting me know about Coldfire. :) Forgive me if I'm repeating things you guys have already talked about; I clicked on the discussion tag and, man, y'all have been talkative about this book. *loves* I just don't have time to go back and reread those past discussions, but I'm in from here on out. :)

I very much liked Senzei's character. I was terribly sad when he died, although not quite as moved as when Hesseth dies. I feel like Senzei is one of the more sympathetic, and genuinely sympathetic, characters of the novel.

Ciani is initially portrayed as an ideal: she is beautiful; she is powerful (extremely so); she is knowledgeable; she is funny and witty and clever; she is strong. We care about the loss of her gift so much because the narrative clearly identifies her as special and *worthy* of that gift. But as the trilogy progresses, I think her character becomes much more complicated. Damien says at one point that he never really understood what Ciani's position of neutrality as loremaster meant until he saw her interacting with Tarrant. She appears to Damien to be much more interested in regaining her knowledge and power than she is in necessarily doing what's right; granted, much of the triology is from Damien's POV and so when he gets pissy that Ciani's forging links with Tarrant or spending too much time with him or not caring about the darkness or whathaveyou, I think we can many times read jealousy into that, especially since Damien himself will go on to do much worse in terms of Tarrant than what he castigates Ciani for. We don't get to hear her motives from her POV, so who knows? But I think the narrative knocks her off her pedestal; it shows her as greedy--for knowledge, for power, for her own position restored. Ultimately, she is not willing to begin again as she is; she does not adapt to her loss. And she embraces the darkness in Tarrant. (I think Damien does as well, but for very different, much less selfish, reasons.) It's also mentioned several times how Ciani uses the fae to prolong her life and her youth and by the time we get to the last book, it's become a condemnation, if a subtle one. Damien consciously does not use the fae to make himself look younger and he spends a lot of time (in all of the books, actually) thinking about what it means that Ciani and others do and I think his conclusion is not a flattering one.

Tarrant, while utterly riveting to read, is a bad guy. LOL I love his character so much and I know even as I'm loving him that he's a terribly cruel and evil individual. He has the kind of power and insight and charm and grace and strength of will that puts everyone else to shame in these books. Watching his character transform is amazing. And yet. He is never not the Hunter. He is never anything other than what he is. I think I love him in spite and not because of. If that makes sense.

Damien is sympathetic because he genuinely wants to do right; he has a mission, one that he believes divine, and one that is truly of peace and has mankind's best interests at heart. He has to compromise himself over and over again, but it is always in the service of his goal. He is one of the least selfish people in the book. And yet, he is larger than life; he is the Hero. He is not one of the teeming masses called above his station to some higher purpose. He has trained for this. He is a soldier. I adore his character, but he is so unlike me in every way except for his love of a good woman. LOL

Jumps in the discussion: pt 2

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Senzei, on the other hand. *We* are Senzei. He has a little power, but not too much. He wants more. He's tempted to get more, but he settles for basking in the glow of those who are more powerful. And his friendship with Ciani is genuine. He isn't just hanging on to her coattails trying to get something from her or hoping a crumb of her genius will fall his way. He genuinely cares for her. And that is hard to pull off. I was very academically competitive with a friend in high school and she was always one step ahead of me, always one honor higher, and it became very difficult to maintain my friendly feelings towards her knowing she was always going to be better than me. I have to give him props for that.

And I know that he hungers for something he can't have. I know that destroys his relationship with Allesha. I know that ultimately leads to his death. But he only gives in to that desire in a damaging way when Calesta tricks him into doing so. And if Calesta can trick Tarrant into believing that he's not being burned alive by the sun, I have no problems believing he can trick Senzei into believing he's really talking to Ciani. I think all the bits about the Ciani doppelganger being "off" were for *our* benefit as readers and not a commentary on Senzei's powers of observation.

I don't think Senzei's hunger is ultimately for power. I don't think he wants to be an Adept so he can *do* things so much as so that he can *see* things for what they are. And he tries so hard to tamp down that desire. He doesn't rock the fae during a quake on the off chance that he might be the one in a million to survive. And he's not out making gruesome deals with demons for more power or making the kinds of sacrifices that Tarrant made. And that's what being heroic with a little h is. Knowing that you could do X or that you want to and deciding that you won't. Not this time.

By this chapter, he's reached the point where he can say to Calesta's construct, "I didn't understand. That's all. I wanted the world to be something that it wasn't." Unlike Ciani, Senzei has adapted (however dysfunctionally given his failed engagement) to his position. By the time Calesta's done with him, I think that all the worst parts of Senzei, the parts that he's buried and dealt with (or is dealing with on a daily basis), are dragged to the forefront and running the show. And I don't think it's fair to judge his character soley on that moment.

When I think of his character, what I remember most is the charge through the Forest, Senzei more than half dead in the saddle--wounded, in pain, sure of his own impending mortality--and yet not willing to give up. Not willing to let Damien or Ciani down. He wasn't trained for battle; he's not a soldier. This mission is so far outside his skill set it's laughable. But he endures.

So, um, yes. I rather liked Senzei and was sorry to see him go so quickly.

[trobadora]

Something that puzzles me is rakh evolution after they came into what are now the rakhlands. The canopy blocks fae currents, so shouldn’t it have stopped human imagination from influencing rakh evolution? And yet, from what Hesseth explains, it seems to have continued.

I think they were imprinted by the fae with the pattern from human imagination, and simply kept moving into that direction - a path of least resistance, as it were.