When I first finished TGO I did not know how to feel about the book, I was unsure if it was the best or worst of the series. Since then I have been meaning to do a reread but have not gotten around, at Christmas I got a gift card and bought the audiobook. The parts that I liked I really loved this time around and the parts I didn't like I now enjoyed, although not loved.
The storyline of Momen dragged the first time, Kelmommas is an annoying character, his madness is not interesting unlike Inrilatas. His continual dupping of Esmenet only aggravated me, this brilliant character is being dragged to her and the empires destruction by that little shit. This time the parts that did not involve Kelmommas were actually good. Fanayal and his losing battle with Psatma and the growing dismay of Malowebi , how he could see how fucked he was by fate and the growing sense of doom. Esmenet and her sense of inadequacy in the face of impossible odds, she rose to the challenge only to be smacked down by the Gods and the product of her own womb. My biggest problem was the lack of Maithanet and, I'm not saying that Maitha is Darth Mail, I'm just saying that he was massively underused in this series.
Now the greatest shortcoming of the Ordeal storyline was the sense that it was the opening act to the real battle. The battle of Dagliash was great but the feeling pervaded that was only setup, my only disappointments were the part where Aurang is about to fight Saccares and then runs off, the Consult had finally shown itself then flew off. Saved for the true battle at Golgotterath I suppose , a sorcerous duel between two Gnostic sorcerers is something not seen yet. Proyas was interesting, but he was a butterfly in its cocoon and not yet come out in his new form. Interestingly Zsoronga was with Proyas and Kayutas and when the eruption happened they escaped the fallout, with the impending destruction of his line he is now Satakhan of High Holy Zeum. Kellhus reveals both his madness and his battle with the No God, he thought his own race terrible, seeing their great folly. The revelation that there was no Kellhus, that who he e is completely a function of local circumstances. Only his saving Esmenet belies this, it shows that a sliver of the original Kellhus that in love with her during the Holy war still survives. This may be the strangest case of unrequited love in all of fiction, Kellhus the ultimate manipulator truly loves Esmenet who worships but does not truly love him, she in turn loves Achamian who despises them both for their betrayal.
In Ishual not much action happens but it might be my favorite storyline, the exposition peels back the layers of the Dunyain. We meet the Survivor and the Boy, who happen to not only be the only survivors of the Dunyain but also direct descendants of Kellhus. I wish more of the Order had survived, some of the Pragma perhaps but at the very least an unbound female. It would have been nice to see Dunyain manipulation coming from a young girl, a full one that has no world born blood. The battle for control between the two siblings Koringhus and Mimara was, they were both mad and yet it was he who succumbed to her. He was a prodigy in the Order like his father before him, at it would seem that the Boy might be the greatest still except his emotions still thrived and so was deemed Defective by the Dunyain Assessor. He would have lived out his days is the Unmasking Room strapped to a gurney, it seemed that Fate brought Akka and Mimara to Ishual simply to retrieve him. He would have the greatest of the Dunyains physical and mental gifts and yet could still feel some emotions. Only his hand marred his perfection. The boy clung to his father and his father could see the desire for closeness in his face, when he ran from the Skinspy he suddenly started crying and he did not know why. His father saved him for unknown reasons, the greatest of the Dunyain, the only child to be so spared and so burdened for years in the Thousand Thousand Halls he saved the boy. And then Akka and Mimara arrive to save him again, it would seem that Fate has much in store for him. He and his twin cousins, if the NoGod walks then they will be born stillborn and legend says that all with the Judging Eye also give birth to stillborn children. Only the Anagke the Whore of Fate can save them. I believe the Boy will find his way back to Achamian and Mimara, the trio has a date with the Ordeal.
The most awe inspiring storyline was of course Ishteribinth, from the revelation that Sorweel was supposed to hate Serwa and Moenghus, to their first glimpse of the Weeping Mountain which was carved into the very shape of a penitent man. Emwama that have literally been bred into Hobbits to better serve their insane masters. The melding of Sorweel to the Amoilas so that he was Cunuroi in truth, the Nonmen seemed to be part insane asylum, pare prison, all decked out in the guise of inhuman kings. Oirunal the Lastborn, With, the youngest and least of his ancient race, they had forbidden him martial pursuits so that he could record their dissolution in relative sanitary. Confirmation that the Consult had indeed come to rule the last mansion in the guise of a descendant of Nin Janjin the traitor. Since the Nonmen have always been my favorite part the dive into their history was awesome, yet to see such greatness on its final legs soon to be lost to history was a lot depressing. What seemed the first Nonman King who dug the first mansion in the great Kayursus, Will, house primordial. This is the same as Moria in middle.earth if we ever get there. The boatman and his descent into the Holy Deep, who turns out to be the wicked uncle of Cujara Common the greatest Nonman King. He was a bigger asshole than I suspected, his antics practically drove Nin Janjin into the Inchroi camp. Maybe it was because he was the product of incest, his parents seemed like assholes to. Lastborn giving his life so that Oirunas might remember himself once more so he could fuck shit up. I think Serwa's plan was to sing mundanely before the king and so bring him under her sway and free herself that way. Once released she could sing her arcane song. It was amusing to see both the contempt and terror that the Nonmen held the Hundred.
The reveal of Cnaiur and his control of the Scylvendi at last King of Tribes, it would seem that he kept his identity secret so Kellhus and the empire took no notice of what was going on in the steppe. That is why the Scylvendi never attacked the weakened empire, they held themselves back for the Ordeal. The fact that Cnaiur kept the Skinspy for two decades says that he loved it as he can love anyone, also it is in the guise of a beautiful woman and yet has great strength along with a penis means he hit the lottery. No one will question his sexuality and yet he can succumb to someone stronger than himself. If they had avoided significant bloodshed then over twenty years they could have replenished their ranks, the Scylvendi are now at full strength. It seems that Cnaiur would need allies or those scared of him to become King of Tribes, twenty years of political intrigue across the steppe. Since Kellhus would doubtless have spies watching the steppe for this possibility, Cnaiur has become canny in old age. I wonder if they have sorcerers in the Scylvendi, since they have the Few, it would make sense to train them in Gnostic sorcery, another dagger for the Ordeal.
A couple questions that I had, the mysterious circles that have been talked about on the maps, could they be the result of ancient Scalding. Set off during the ancient Nonmen and Inchroi wars, Bakker hinted that ancient accounts of those times are what allowed him to know radiation sickness symptoms. During the Ishual chapters Koringhus thinks of the legion within similar to that described by Leto all when he struggled with possession, disparate pieces of himself that could be yoked to his ends. Leto made a deal with his inner selves so that he was simply the face of a inner community that did his bidding, Koringhus thinks much the same except because he was broken the pieces were more obvious. Just before his death with the Leap of Faith he has a curious thought, to avoid damnation he will make a sideways step, this seemed similar to the Nonmen and their theory of hiding from the Afterlife. In the False Sun Titirga talked of hiding his voice and finding oblivion, Harrapior talked to Serwa of Emlidis and his saying that finding oblivion was like the flight of an arrow and just as difficult. Maybe this is the same place that the Nonmen got their idea, someone with the Judging Eye.