Just finished
The Killing God a couple days ago.
I liked it, as a story where the main characters come through the story being more admirable as the pages go by.
Some details, like King Bifalt being the one to strike the death blow against Great God Rile, could be foreseen from way back in the early part of the second book when Rile begins to be mentioned, but surprises still abounded for me in the story, like when Sirjane Marrow was assassinated (I figured he'd be around to be a thorn in both Bifalt's and Rile's sides for most of this book, but I sure was mistaken about that), when Jaspid and Lylin arrive by Rile's pavilion for Prince Jaspid to shoot out the rubies (though we knew from Elgart that the rubies of Rile are the source of coercive power), and I was really, REALLY surprised at just how powerful Queen Estie's voice-projecting talent truly is! WOW!
She faced Tak Biondi again. Defying her weakness, she demanded, "Show me what you have under your shirt."
His hand at his chest knotted into a fist. It gripped tightly. The cloth of his shirt seemed to blaze. A gap in his hair let her see the flash of vehemence in his eyes.
--It is nothing, Queen. A trinket. It has no meaning.
Urgently, Third Father added:
--Beware!
Like a conjurer's trick, a knife appeared in Tak Biondi's free hand, a long dagger. All the light in the room seemed to concentrate on its edges. With absurd ease as if he were floating, he came at Estie.
She tried to move. None of her limbs obeyed her. She had no defense against power like this. She braced herself to die.
At that instant, Third Father released her hand, left her side. Frail and weary, worn down by his years, he stumbled toward Tak Biondi. Almost falling, he grappled for the blade.
In surprise or self-defense, Tak Biondi let go of his shirt. He needed both hands to prevent the monk from taking his knife.
Their struggle took less time than Etie's heart needed to beat once, but it was enough to free Magister Rummage. Roaring in silence, the hunchback launched himself like a blacksmith's hammer at the anvil of Tak Biondi's head.
Estie did not understand how the servant [Tak Biondi] could react so fast. She only knew that Magister Rumage jerked to a halt in an instant, a sliver of an instant, before he struck Magister Marrow's killer. Tak Biondi had already wrenched the monk aside. Now he stood behind Third Father with one arm wrapped across the monk's chest. The other held his knife at Third Father's throat.
Tak Biondi was shouting. Estie heard nothing.
Despite his rage, Master Rummage did not attack. Instead, he turned his fury on himself. With both fists, he punched his own head. Then he whirled away.
Breathing hard, he came to the Queen's side. At once, he grasped her forearm and wrote fiercely:
--That whoreson says that your death would crown his service, but he will be content with a hostage. A revered monk is ideal. He will deliver a fatal blow before we kill him. If you wish to save the monk, you will surrender yourself.
Queen Estie found that her mind had cleared. The light no longer hurt her eyes. When he was not touching whatever was hidden under his shirt, Tak Biondi could not confuse her with borrowed sorcery.
To herself, she promised, I will not.
She did not waste time speaking aloud. Deliberately, she focused her mental voice on Tak Biondi. As if she had earned the right, she commanded, Let him go.
The man jerked as if he had received a blow. Wildness filled his eyes. He shouted again, spewing threats that did not reach Estie. His blade drew a line of blood across the monk's throat. She was more than Amika's Queen. She was a sorceress. She summoned all of herself.
I said, Let him GO!
Tak Biondi's head seemed to explode. Blood burst from his eyes, his ears, his mouth. The skin of his brow split as the bones holding it twisted. His whole body spasmed, flinging the knife away, throwing him back against the table. While Third Father stumbled free, Tak Biondi flopped to the floor.
A moment of darkness came to the Queen. Tak Biondi was not the first man that she had killed. After her father had arranged an ambush for her, after she had slain one of her attackers and face the outcome-- her guts had rebelled. Fearing that she would vomit again, she retreated blindly to the wall, lowered herself down it, sat hugging her knees on the cold stone.
When the darkness passed, she saw Third Father on his hands and knees. His head hung down, almost touched the floor. Blood dripped from his cut, but he ignored it.
Behind the monk, Magister Rummage flipped Tak Biondi's corpse onto its back. Roughly, he reached into the man's shirt, found a chain around the neck, jerked it loose. Holding it in front of him, he showed it to Estie.
Lit brightly on all sides, a small golden cross hung from the chain. On each end of the crosspiece, a tiny ruby glittered.
She gave it a glance, nothing more. Third Father was crawling toward her. When he reached her feet he pushed himself up onto his knees. His blood demanded her attention. When she forced herself to face him, he met her gaze as if he had never seen her before. He looked as plaintive as a child.
With his hands on her knees, he asked:
--Have I surpassed myself at last, Majesty?
To answer him, she wrapped her arms around him, hugged his head to her shoulder. Softly, she breathed, "Rest, Father. You have done enough."
She did not know how the Cult of the Many judged such things. She could not say whether he had gone beyond his own expectations. But for the first time, he had called her Majesty. That sufficed.
Third Father is a character that I loved, for his humility, his wisdom, his honesty, and for his bravery in that scene. I always felt assured that Estie and Bifalt would be guided well anytime they met with Third Father. He may be my favorite character of this Great God's War series. ANYBODY ELSE HERE LOVE THIRD FATHER?
I had ambivalent feelings about Bifalt in the first book, admiring his dedication to his people, but disdaining his clinging to his prejudices about Amikans and Magisters. We saw a lot of both Amikans and Magisters giving their lives in this book to protect the knowledge of the Great Repository for future generations. I like that he can come clean about where he was mistaken, and embrace further personal growth.
"I am what you see, an ordinary man with ordinary gifts. I fail as often as any man. I am wrong as often as a man can be.
"I was wrong when I came here long ago. I judged the Magisters you have lost wrongly. I interpreted their intentions wrongly. When I left, I vowed to myself the I would humble their arrogance. I was wrong.
"And in my own realm, and in Queen Estie's, I was wrong. I feared sorcery. I saw every wielder of a Decimate as dishonorable and cowardly, Belleger's as well as Amika's. In all my dealings with them, I betrayed my scorn. I could not bear that their gifts diminished me. I was wrong.
"Worse, I treated my wife wrongly, my Queen-Consort, Estie of Amika. You do not know the pain I caused her. My father, King Abbator, was a good man. He would have groaned to see my treatment of her."
For a moment, the King paused, bowed his head. During their last exchange in Belleger's Fist, Third Father had encouraged him to surpass himself. He did not know how.
Nevertheless he knew what he had to say.
He raised his head, faced the gathering like a man who knew himself.
I enjoyed how Bifalt follows it up by admitting he was right in having faith in Klamath, Elgart, Flisk, Forguile, Estie, Amika, Magisters, Jaspid, & Lome to fulfill the tasks he had given them. And then, as a nice closing touch to their story, he surprises her by letting her know he has been practicing signed gestures and wants to love her at last. The ending felt emotionally quite fitting to me.
The Great God's War is a series I am glad I read, though Mordant's Need remains my favorite SRD story. I have already read
Seventh Decimate and
The War Within twice, and will probably give
The Killing God a reread sometime next year.
But for now, I'm going to read the Mordant's Need story again (my seventh read).