You know, with the big battle at the end working in the Guye and the Darkman so much, I wondered, was Joseph's second shadow related to the Guye somehow? The fact that it showed up once he became a guard implies that his shade was heavily tied into prison mojo (I love the term mojo, by the way, it somehow gets across that idea of magic being something you do and also a state of being) but the war with the Darkman, and using Joseph's shadow to break Galano, made me think that maybe Joseph was possessed a little himself.
Or was his second shadow the other half of Colin/Colm's identity? That would jive with the line about the "priest who owned his shadow."
And yes, I do fully recognize that perhaps I'm not supposed to know, that that's part of the point. But I'm curious.
I think the final fight scene needs to be a smidge longer, though. It was nigh-impossible to keep track of what was happening and why and the revelations about Colin's plan and Grace and the Darkman's possession just came so thick and fast that none of it really made sense till the third read-through. I also felt almost none of Colin's emotions during the entire scene, which is particularly dissonant because it should be one of the most emotionally intense moments of the story, for Colin. The aftermath, his trustingly giving himself into Joseph's hands, that felt real. What came before didn't quite... connect, for me. It wasn't visceral enough. If that makes any sense at all.
I have to admit, too, that I went through a lot of this thinking that his relationship with Joseph and Annalise seemed particularly ill-defined in comparison to his relationships in prison, but the revelation of his master plan totally fixed that for me. If he was being Colin, scheming and planning and working the angles, the entire time he was in the relationship, then the sense of tiny bits of intimacy slipping through the cracks would fit. And at the end, when he gives them his true name, that feels like he's giving himself permission to be with them. It's a nice ending, quiet and sincere. I really enjoyed this story, and enjoyed how much it made me think, and I'm very much looking forward to the final version.
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Date: 2011-01-18 05:59 am (UTC)Or was his second shadow the other half of Colin/Colm's identity? That would jive with the line about the "priest who owned his shadow."
And yes, I do fully recognize that perhaps I'm not supposed to know, that that's part of the point. But I'm curious.
I think the final fight scene needs to be a smidge longer, though. It was nigh-impossible to keep track of what was happening and why and the revelations about Colin's plan and Grace and the Darkman's possession just came so thick and fast that none of it really made sense till the third read-through. I also felt almost none of Colin's emotions during the entire scene, which is particularly dissonant because it should be one of the most emotionally intense moments of the story, for Colin. The aftermath, his trustingly giving himself into Joseph's hands, that felt real. What came before didn't quite... connect, for me. It wasn't visceral enough. If that makes any sense at all.
I have to admit, too, that I went through a lot of this thinking that his relationship with Joseph and Annalise seemed particularly ill-defined in comparison to his relationships in prison, but the revelation of his master plan totally fixed that for me. If he was being Colin, scheming and planning and working the angles, the entire time he was in the relationship, then the sense of tiny bits of intimacy slipping through the cracks would fit. And at the end, when he gives them his true name, that feels like he's giving himself permission to be with them. It's a nice ending, quiet and sincere. I really enjoyed this story, and enjoyed how much it made me think, and I'm very much looking forward to the final version.