joysweeper: (Luke meditates)
I loved Mercedes Lackey's Joust, but I felt like the other books in that series kind of... declined. I'm putting my copies up on paperbackswap.com, and I figured I'd copy out the only part of Aerie that I loved.

There's a god often seen as a god of evil, Seft, obviously a take on the Egyptian Set. Mercedes Lackey can never write a truly ambiguous character, but didn't want him flat-out evil, so when he killed Siris (Osiris) it was because the latter had to die to be Lord of the Dead, and Siris could not kill himself, and instead lay the task on his brother, the Finder of the Way. He's the god of all hard things. Seft taking Siris's wife was incidental and afterwards.

Anyway, near the end of the book there's a battle against something like a god, Tamat (Tiamat) where several characters become god-avatars, briefly, and Seft's chosen priest is one of them, and to win the battle the priest has to pretty much offer himself to be killed. When things are over the other gods scarper, but Seft lingers a minute, chooses another priest, appoints said priest's wife to take the guy's former position, and I'm just going to put down the relevant bits.

Kiron got the impression of someone standing, someone with furled wings, or a cloak like wings, brooding down on him. I am the god of difficult choices. Never forget that. He knew that, my Chosen did, and he knew that we must share that choice.

Make the Two Kingdoms into One. Guard your borders, yet do not expel the stranger. Be vigilant, but not despotic. Remember that the difficult choice is almost always the right one.

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joysweeper

November 2014

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