Reviewer: It Was Me Signed [Report This]
Date: September 15 2023 3:57 AM Title: Balancing the Books

Like you, I'm a big fan of happy endings, and this one definitely hit the mark! Seeing Palledia walk Annie down the isle and the two reflecting on things as the sun set was absolutely beautiful.

I didn't really say it enough throughout the story, but Tebryn was a really good villain. Powerful, heartless, and driven, it felt like our heroes were overmatched against him throughout their journey, which kept the stakes high throughout the story. I was a big fan of his personality as well. I mean, I get that the misunderstood villain has been a really popular trope for some time now, but sometimes I just prefer my villains to be evil for evil's sake. And Tebryn was definitely that. Combined with his ability to manipulate and his eagerness to betray his allies, he was incredibly fun to read.

Also, he was apparently played by Jack Nicholson, what with that line about wonderful toys.

While we're on the subject of betrayed allies, Christina taking a surprise flaming sword the gut was pretty satisfying. And the lead-up to it, with us getting to read her justification for what she was about to do, was interesting. I love the fact that seeing things from her point of view only made her seem more terrible, when most of the time taking over the narrative makes characters more relatable. She came off as incredibly fickle, particularly in her reasoning for being happy for Amaya's would-have-been assassination. She was still a shit person for it, but I can understand why she would want Annie dead. But damn, wanting Amaya dead just because she doesn't like the "new money" imperial playing such a huge role in modern amazonian society is really, really pretty. Did I mention I'm glad she's dead?

It was great to see Annie be the one to take down Tebryn by herself, and by outsmarting him, too. Palledia understandably gets a lot of the focus in this story (it is called "The Exile" after all), but this story was almost as much a coming of age story as it was a redemption one. Annie coming into her own and taking down that unbeatable foe who was so focused on killing her specifically was a big moment in that regard, and it led in nicely to her taking charge in the aftermath of the battle. While she's still fun-loving, super horny Annie, it became a lot easier to see her more as Lady Ironshield and less as that kid we've been following around throughout most of the story.

And, of course, Palledia did a lot during this final lap of her redemption arc (do arcs have laps?). Although, I did find myself wondering if Griselda would have taken that bullet for Amaya even if she hadn't experienced the things she did on this journey, and I kind of think she would have. For all her faults, I always thought of her as brave and willing to self-sacrifice if needed, particularly for those she's fighting beside in the heat of battle. That was one of the things that made her so interesting to me as a villain in the original story (despite that stuff I said about villains when talking about Tebryn).

That being said, it was still an incredibly heroic moment for her, and it was clearly enough for Dirk and Cora to realize that Griselda wasn't out to get them (I also don't think she ever was, based on the last time we saw her in the original story). And confronting (or being confronted, I guess) by Dirk, Cora, and Cynthia and being able to apologize for what she did was a huge moment for Palledia. The ultimate expression of contrition is actually showing contrition to those you've wronged in the past, and that's never an easy thing to do. It may not have completely convinced the trio from Rain's End, but it did seem to have an impact.

Svetlana standing up for Palledia against those three was also satisfying. Yeah, obviously I get why Dirk, Cora, and Cynthia acted the way they did, but it's still frustrating (by design, I know) to see everything Palledia has been through and all the changes she's gone through be completely unnoticed by three people who've jumped to a radically wrong conclusion. So we got to live vicariously through Svetlana for a minute. And she was rewarded later in the chapter with a hilarious second shot at Arturus (for sex or assassination, we may never know).

Clyde didn't have a ton going on in this chapter (you know, aside from getting married), but I did like that he stood up for Palledia when Christina was trying to dismiss Annie's concerns. Between that and the slight teasing Palledia gave Lord Ironshield when she woke up were fine examples of the low key friendship that seems to have been forged between the two. I don't think "Lady Griselda" would have teased a man about such a title in that way before. I don't know, we didn't seem them interact directly a ton (although Palledia did have plenty of thoughts about Clyde early on), but I feel like they get along with each other pretty well, even beyond the mutual respect they've built with each other.

It was also awesome to see Clyde put an amazon in her place, albeit in a small way. And given that those recruits surely have plenty of experience in amazon swordsmanship (or in whatever weapon each one uses), I think Annie's troops having the Imperial swordsmanship style handy as well will give them an edge in battle. Versatility is always a good thing.

As always, your description of the action scenes that made up the meat of the chapter were spot on for me. You're always concise, but at the same time, you give us enough that I can picture things vividly. Sometimes getting too bogged down in descriptions can take away from the action, so you being able to do paint a clear picture without getting too wordy is much appreciated. I think the fact that you mix in a lot of dialogue and inner thoughts into scenes like this helps, too. It gives your descriptions personality.

But yeah, I came away from Amazon Country thinking Griselda was an intriguing character that I would have liked to have known more about, and I'm glad someone else not only felt the same way, but was also willing to pay to do exactly that. Thank you to whoever that was, by the way! This was a great story, and I loved that Griselda, for all that she did, eventually found a happy ending of her own.

Author's Response:

Thanks for all the reviews! This one was an interesting spinoff.

Tebryn was a good villain for this tale, like you said he's an overwhelmingly powerful force who is reveling in the violence he doles out, whether it's with swords, guns, or dark magics.

Annie is just starting to come into her own as the story ends, taking command of others and really becoming a leader instead of just the girl riding Palledia's coattails. With the story ending and her having Palledia, Clyde, and Svetlana at her side she's going to have plenty of help bringing the Ironshields back to glory.

Palledia has always had a noble streak when it comes to her allies on the battlefield, even saving Dirk and Cynthia in the original story. You might say that whatever else she did her wartime conduct was always honorable. Still saving Amaya would have been one of those things she wouldn't have seen herself doing.

Clyde's got the respect of the head of the estate and the new head of the guards, even as a man and an outlander, he'll probably find a place for himself.

Svetlana and Arturus should probably stop having trysts lest they start a war, but they probably won't.

Anyways glad you enjoyed another trip to Amazon Country, I'm sure we'll back!