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blackcatsnstrawberries · 3 months

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Post HOFAS Thoughts

Obviously everything below here is a spoiler, so read at your own risk.

This isn't going to be in any particular order, just as things pop into my head.

What I liked

How Bryce and the ACOTAR characters weren't buddy-buddy at all. It's was more realistic that both groups would be super hesitant of the other

Nesta's characterization- wonderful, stunning, powerful. This is the Nesta that ACOSF deserved and didn't get.

Bryce and Nesta's reluctant friendship, I loved that these two misunderstood women were able to create even just a minimum bond

Az and Nesta asking about the cell phone, amazing (BC)

Understanding the death mask and it's abilities more.

The information dump about Theia- I did not like how much of it there was to process BUT I loved how the characters saw the evil the Fae had brought with their colonization and did not try to bury that.

Bryce stealing TT, Az wasn't giving that up and it would be out of character for him to do so (unless he was giving it to his mate (🌷)

I kind of liked the Sassy Asteri (Verperous?)

Ruhn cracking jokes about two angels and a Fae walking into a dungeon- hilarious

Lidia's arc was interesting seeing as she has murdered and tortured people before she defected, but SJM was able to give her a redemption arc where people aren't forgiving her for that past, but seeing her for trying to make amends in the present/future. That is a hard arc to pull off.

Lidia nuzzling Ruhn before running off my god my heart

Hypaxia dumping Celestina (good), getting thrown out of her coven (bad) and THEN becoming the head of the HOFAS? Yas Queen! Slay!

Hunt working through his PTSD and Bryce giving him tough love about it, either you're with us or you're not. I know it's harsh but with what was going on it was realistic.

Ithan becoming prime

Sabine dying and being thrown into a sewer. TBH the sewers deserve better.

Hypaxia in general. No one in this series would be anywhere without her. I said what I said.

Tharion stepping up to marry Sathia (was that her name) More on this f*cker later

This one is weird: the torture chamber. SJM made that as messy as possible. She did not have to mention the poop and pee on the floor (these things happen during torture, but it's not exactly sexy for 3 characters to be rolling in it) so props to her I guess? Told you it's a weird one

Bryce and Ruhn taking down Fae Kings and making Avellen a Fae paradise WITH PEGASUS!!!!

The Princes of the Pit. I want them to have their own series omg.

LIDIA TORCHING POLLUX AND EVERYONE

Did I mentioned wanting more of the Princes of the Pit?

Bryce killing and Asteri by hand. Again, slay Queen.

Sahar coming in at the end and helping Hunt save Bryce

JESIBA! My girl sacrificing herself for her assistant (I laughed while crying)

Nesta and Ember's relationship

Bryce dismantling the Fae monarchy.

Ruhm calling Rhys something along the lines of "that High Lord dude." Yes. Excellent. More people need to do this.

Bryce and Hunt being endgame. Forever. Full stop.

What I didn't like

Bryce seemed to lose a few brain cells in this book...like opening the sarcophagus of an Asteri is dumb...

Bryce hearing Azriel when he was following her and Nesta- Cassian even said in ACOSF that unless Az wanted to be heard, you don't hear him.

Az using his power to try and bind the Asteri- bb no. They absorb that, did you also lose brain cells since ACOSF?

THARION YOU DUMB MF. This man pissed me off so much with all his bad choices one after another since the end of HOSAB.

Sigrid? Like...what was the point of her? Literally it was WE HAVE A NEW FENDYR ALPHA! Oh no I accidentally decapitated her....like what?

Ariadne was there and then not and then there. Ok?

Pollux.

Ithan's b plot, which I understand why it was there, really slowed down the pacing.

All the middle fingers? Why was everyone just flipping everyone else off all the time?

Also lines like this showed up a few times, "it could have been minutes, years really." When something was happening...like what?

I love me spicy scenes, they were awkwardly placed in this story.

RUHN AND LIDIA JUST LIKE NOT CARING THAT DEC AND FLYNN WERE MISSING?

What I think will happen next

SJM said we're getting more CC books, I am thinking they are going to focus more on other potential couples now that Bryce and Hunt's story has seemingly ended. And I swear if Bryce is pregnant in the next one...

I think a big all out war is coming (in ACOTAR) against the Asteri/Daglan somehow, and all characters from all three world with go to Prythian for a battle

Lidia is absolutely a decedent of Aelin and Rowan so that has to play out somehow.

Lidia's kids are going to become important- I am wondering about their bio dad because it's said he was a shifter, and this is me being all conspiracy theory but: What if their bio dad was a descendent of Fenrys? They are twins, one with fair hair (Fenrys) one with dark hair (Connall) and we don't know their abilities yet...it's a reach but I am calling it

Monarchy systems of government suck, democracy all the way, but uh here's to hoping SJM writes one in that works better than what most democratic countries have (looking at you USA)

The emo like Reaper that Hypaxia used to compare samples to, I am curious if he is going to turn into someone/something in later books. Just the whole scene seemed like he would become important later on. I don't know it's just a feeling.

As I have more time to process and marinate with this book I'll probably add more. In the end I'd give HOFAS a 3.5/5 it got bogged down quite a bit with exposition, characters just making dumb choice after dumb choice, and plot lines seemingly leading to nowhere. Bryce and Hunt remained a really strong FMC/MMC lead, my fav of all the series, the side characters were mostly interesting and kept everything going (looking at you Ithan) but all and all, I enjoyed the book!

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the-dark-artifices-trees · 1 month

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The importance of the number 7 in crescent city

Throughout the entirety of the crescent city series, the number 7 plays a huge role in both a symbolic and a literal way

⚠️ House of Flame and Shadow spoilers ⚠️

7 Asteri on Midgard

Rigelus (title- The Bright Hand)

Eosporos (title- The Morning Star)

Hesperus (title- The Evening Star)

Polaris (title- The North Star)

Octartis (title- The Southern Star)

Austrus (title- unknown)

Sirius (title- The Wolf Star)

7 Princes of Hel/ Circles of Hel

Hunt also mentions that “Type-Seven is only for the princes themselves, and given what this thing can do, I’d bet it’d be deemed a Six” in chapter 29 of HOEAB, when talking about the demons and princes of Hel

7 districts in crescent city/ city heads/ gates

7 “Made” objects *

Mask (made by Cauldron)

Crown (made by Cauldron)

Harp (made by Cauldron)

Horn (made by Cauldron)

Starsword (made by Cauldron)

Truth-Teller (made by Cauldron)

Ataraxia (made by Nesta)

*now while nesta did make another sword and dagger, we don’t know if they possess any magic and they don’t have any names either*

7 members of the Pack of Devils

Danika Fendyr (alpha)

Connor Holstrom (second)

Nathalie (third)

Bronson

Thorne

Zach

Zelda

7 courts in prythian

Night Court

Dawn Court

Day Court

Spring Court

Summer Court

Winter Court

Autumn Court

7 tog books (not including novella)

Throne of Glass

Crown of Midnight

Heir of Fire

Queen of Shadows

Empire of Storms

Tower of Dawn

Kingdom of Ash

Known starborn fae *

Fionn

Theia

Pelias

Helena

Silene

Bryce Quinlan

Ruhn Danaan

*The term Starborn describes the descendants of High King Fionn and High Queen Theia.

1. Also when bryce traded places so Danika would get into the Bone quarter, she said the vow (“I wish to trade my place.”) 7 times:

“She’d tossed a Death Mark into the Istros, payment to the Under-King—a coin of pure iron from an ancient, long-gone kingdom across the sea. Passage for a mortal on a boat.

And then she’d knelt on the crumbling stone steps, the river mere feet behind her, the arches of the bone gates above her, and waited.

The Under-King, veiled in black and silent as death, had appeared moments later.

It has been an age since a mortal dared set foot on my isle.

The voice had been old and young, male and female, kind and full of hatred. She’d never heard anything so hideous—and beckoning.

I wish to trade my place. (1)

I know why you are here, Bryce Quinlan. Whose passage you seek to barter. An amused pause. Do you not wish to one day dwell here among the honored dead? Your balance remains skewed toward acceptance—continue on your path, and you shall be welcomed when your time comes.

I wish to trade my place. For Danika Fendyr. (2)

Do this and know that no other Quiet Realms of Midgard shall be open to you. Not the Bone Quarter, not the Catacombs of the Eternal City, not the Summer Isles of the north. None, Bryce Quinlan. To barter your resting place here is to barter your place everywhere.

I wish to trade my place. (3)

You are young, and you are weighed with grief. Consider that your life may seem long, but it is a mere flutter of eternity.

I wish to trade my place. (4)

Are you so certain Danika Fendyr will be denied welcome? Have you so little faith in her actions and deeds that you must make this bargain?

I wish to trade my place. She’d sobbed the words. (5)

There is no undoing this.

I wish to trade my place. (6)

Then say it, Bryce Quinlan, and let the trade be done. Say it a seventh and final time, and let the gods and the dead and all those between hear your vow. Say it, and it shall be done.

She hadn’t hesitated, knowing this was the ancient rite. She’d looked it up in the gallery archives. Had stolen the Death Mark from there, too. It had been given to Jesiba by the Under-King himself, the sorceress had told her, when she’d sworn fealty to the House of Flame and Shadow.

I wish to trade my place. (7)

And so it had been done.”

- HOEAB, chapter 62

2. Hunt was in the Asteri dungeon’s for 7 years

“How long did they do that to you—after Mount Hermon?”

“Seven years.”

She closed her eyes as the weight of those words rippled through her.

Hunt said, “I lost track of time, too. The Asteri dungeons are so far beneath the earth, so lightless, that days are years and years are days and … When they let me out, I went right to the Archangel Ramuel. My first … handler. He continued the pattern for two years, got bored with it, and realized that I’d be more useful dispatching demons and doing his bidding than rotting away in his torture chambers.”

“Burning Solas, Hunt,” she whispered.” -HOEAB, chapter 35

“We need to get out of here,” Ruhn said, and nothing had ever sounded more stupid. Of course they needed to get out of here. For so many fucking reasons.

But Athalar cracked open an eye. Met his stare. Pain and rage and determination shone there, unbroken despite the halo and slave brand on his wrist. “Then talk to your … person.” Girlfriend, the angel didn’t say.

Ruhn ground his teeth, and his ravaged mouth gave a burst of pain. He’d rather die here than beg the Hind for help. “Another way.”

“I was in these dungeons … for seven years,” Hunt said. “No way out. Especially not with Pollux so invested in ripping us apart.” -HOFAS, Chapter 11

3. Apollion (7th prince of Hel) ate the Sirius (7th Asteri)

“No one would dare say his name, not after the Prince of the Pit became the first and only being to ever kill an Asteri. His butchering of the seventh holy star—Sirius, the Wolf Star—during the First Wars remained a favorite ballad around war-camp fires. And what he’d done to Sirius after slaying her had earned him that awful title: Star-Eater” -HOEAB, chapter 51

4. The slave tattoos has seven stars in it

“For there was also no hiding the second tattoo, stamped on their right wrists: SPQM.

It adorned every flag and letterhead of the Republic—the four letters encircled with seven stars—and adorned the wrist of every being owned by it.” -HOEAB, Chapter 6

“Ruhn spied their own solar system in the center of it all. Seven planets around a massive star. Seven Asteri—technically six now—to rule Midgard. Seven Princes of Hel to challenge them.

Seven Gates in this city through which Hel had tried to invade this spring.

Seven and seven and seven and seven—always that holy number. Always—” -HOSAB, Chapter 25

5. 7 is a holy number

“Seven—the holy number. Or unholy, depending on who was worshipping. Seven Asteri, seven hills in their Eternal City, seven neighborhoods and seven Gates in Crescent City; seven planets, and seven circles in Hel, with seven princes who ruled them, each darker than the last” - HOEAB, Chapter 19

“Micah had left the latter’s body up. Justinian would hang there for seven full days and then be pulled off the crucifix—and dumped into the Istros” -HOEAB, Chapter 69

6. Hypaxia and necromancy

“So this is it?” Ithan asked Hypaxia, gesturing with a hand to the seven candles she’d arranged on the ground. “Light the candles and wait?” -HOSAB, Chapter 61

“It took Hypaxia seven hours, seven minutes, and seven seconds to raise Sigrid.

Ithan barely moved from his stool the entire time Hypaxia stood over the corpse and chanted. Jesiba left, came back with her laptop, and worked for some of the time. She even offered Ithan some food, which he refused.

He had no appetite. If this didn’t work …” -HOFAS, Chapter 48

7. Sailings happen on the 7th day after the death

Don’t come to the Sailing tomorrow. You’re not welcome there.

She’d listened to it over and over, the first words to echo in her silent head.

Her mother hadn’t woken from the bed beside hers when Bryce had exited the hotel room on Fae-soft feet, taking the service elevator and leaving through the unwatched alley door. She hadn’t left that room for six days, just sat staring vacantly at the floral hotel wallpaper. And now, with the seventh dawning … Only for this would she leave. Would she remember how to move her body, how to speak.” -HOEAB, Chapter 7

8. Midgard geography

““Seven—the holy number. Or unholy, depending on who was worshipping. Seven Asteri, seven hills in their Eternal City, seven neighborhoods and seven Gates in Crescent City; seven planets, and seven circles in Hel, with seven princes who ruled them, each darker than the last.” -HOEAB, chapter 18

“Bryce didn’t wait for them before trailing the old male up the walkway as the seven planets aligned themselves perfectly, stars glittering in the far reaches of the room.” -HOSAB, chapter 38

“Bryce halted after a turn in the stairs and assessed the long hallway ahead. When it revealed no guards, she stepped into it.

There were no doors. Only this hall, perhaps seventy feet long and fifteen feet wide. Likely fourteen feet, to be a multiple of seven. The holy number.” -HOSAB, Chapter 71

“She’d studied Fury’s rough map of the palace layout. This area was seven levels below the throne room, where the Asteri sat on crystal thrones” -HOSAB, chapter 71

“They could fly no further. The massive black wall stretched for miles in either direction before curving northward, with wards protecting the airspace above it. Hunt knew from maps that the area the wall encircled was forty-nine miles in diameter—seven times seven, the holiest of numbers—and that at its center, somewhere in the barren, snow-blasted terrain, lay the Northern Rift, shrouded in mist. Barriers upon barriers protected Midgard from the Rift, and Hel beyond it.” -HOFAS, Chapter 70

9. Ithan & the number 7

“Sabine stared down at the seven shards the Fendyr sword had broken into, then lifted her furious gaze to Ithan.

Ithan shifted back into his humanoid body with a near-instant flash. “It’s just a piece of steel,” he said, panting, the metallic tang of the blade lingering in his mouth. “All those years you obsessed over it, resented Danika for having it … It’s just a piece of metal. - HOFAS, Chapter 74

“You have seven minutes” -HOFAS, Chapter 81 (when Ithan was talking to Connor)

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