Cane23

Am I wrong, or is this the first time in many years that Azula calls him “Raith” again instead of Draeya Prince or Raithion? 😉

I did it, though I had to register there first. 😄 Ha, I discovered an interesting fact - we’re the same age!

I’m really wondering what will happen to Prince Ishan now. The magic may be gone, but the bond between him and Wylan still feels incredibly strong. If he returns with his brother and the defeated army, he risks facing the wrath of his grandfather, the Sultan. On the other hand, what position could he possibly have among Darien and Wylan’s group? Some kind of protected prisoner of war? Even with Darien and the others defending him, it’s hard to imagine Ishan being able to move freely among the Crusaders.

Book 2 of the Silver Boar Saga masterfully brings to life the epic Siege of Antioch (1097–1098), blending real Crusades history with fantasy, magic, and unforgettable characters. Battles, betrayal, heroism, starvation, and the discovery of the Holy Lance create a dark and gripping atmosphere, balanced perfectly by @Topher Lydon's unique humor. The Vanguard, led by the fearless Lord Darien, returns alongside the fascinating mage duo - the blind lord Wylan and young Seljuk prince Ishan - whose mysterious magical bond grows even deeper. Adventurous, emotional, and rich with historical detail, this is a must-read for fans of historical fantasy. I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel and the horrors of Jerusalem to come. Without doubt, this saga is among the best fantasy novels you can find online.

I like the slow burn at the beginning - it allows for good development of the story and characters before they jump into each other’s bed... Then you can add the steam! 😁

Penis envy...was it Freud?!

I don't know what kind of relationship Neil has with his brother, but I think he should talk to Charlie.

Right now, it feels less like "moving on" and more like "moving back." The situation between Alex and Neil must be incredibly frustrating for Alex - together or not together, exclusive or not exclusive, tell the truth or keep hiding it. At some point, Neil needs to decide what he actually wants. That's only fair to Alex.

Jack had a strange expression in his eyes, like he was about to cry. “I don’t think it’s up to us to change the past, Vee. I think the flint is gone.” Is our Jack turning into the wise one?!

A magnificent and terrifying chapter. Starvation, humans becoming beasts, religious fanaticism… and two boys with the bittersweet feeling of being in their own skin again, knowing that something was lost in the process - Wylan’s return to darkness through blindness once more. As the old curse says: ‘May you have and have not.’

Our author undoubtedly loves Portugal, as we’ve already seen in The Bad Education. As @Seraph28 earlier drew a parallel with The Lord of the Rings, we might say that @CasualWanderer82 sees Portugal as Valinor - a place of peace, harmony, and rest; a land of fado, saudade, and refuge for the soul. I hope there is a ship waiting for Luka and Davin in their own “Grey Havens,” ready to carry them into the light

My thoughts exactly... What's wrong with us?! 🤣😂🤣

Darien’s recurring line, “We’re going to find a way,” reminds me of the quote from Shakespeare in Love: “I don’t know. It’s a mystery!”

Ser Val is so heroic that, in the first part of the chapter, I thought she belonged more in the Marvel universe than in The Silver Boar. But I was glad to see that, by the end, she also showed her human side. If you ever find the inspiration, I think Ser Val deserves a book of her own.

I actually agree with a lot of what you’re saying, especially that Luka’s choice shouldn’t be treated as “easy” simply because it was immediate. The speed of his yes only shows how completely Devin already outweighed his own survival in Luka’s mind. I just think Mezenga’s dilemma became larger than “I want Enzo near me.” Mister D deliberately reframed it into an impossible moral equation - Enzo’s ordinary human future versus the annihilation of every soul stored in the Tree. That’s what makes Mezenga’s hesitation so tragic to me. Luka never weighed options because, emotionally, his choice was already absolute. Mezenga did weigh them - love, guilt, survival, oblivion, thousands of souls...and that conflict is exactly what makes his eventual sacrifice meaningful. Which is why I find the ending with the Tree so beautiful. After centuries of harvesting, the first thing it chooses to preserve voluntarily is love freely given. Almost as if Mezenga’s world itself was changed by it.

It wasn’t quite like that… Mezenga, too, very quickly decided that Enzo’s future - not a spectacular one, but an ordinary human life - was worth his own death. But the price turned out to be much higher - disintegration of all the souls stored within the Tree. On the other hand, there is Luka. His “yes” came so fast that my heart skipped for a moment while reading it. Yes, it was immediate because of the enormous love he feels for Devin and his readiness to sacrifice himself for him. But compared to Mezenga, wasn’t Luka’s actually the “easy” choice? Wasn’t Mezenga’s decision closer to a true “Sophie’s Choice”? Paradoxically, Mezenga spent thousands of years harvesting souls with little guilt, yet when faced with the possibility of eternal damnation, he chose to save those souls and sacrifice his love instead by choosing to live. Which brings me to another thought - is what’s happening now the final acknowledgment of Mezenga’s sacrifice? By saving those souls, did he earn redemption through the love of the two boys, eternally carved into his Tree — and therefore into himself? After all, Mr. D said it himself: love is dangerous. It “sticks.”

I was wondering the same thing... but I suppose animals only sense physical characteristics such as appearance, smell, and voice. After all, even within their closest circle, only Julian noticed immediately. Most of the camp didn’t have a clue, even when Wylan/Ishan went full Ninja on them!

I've read the chapter - now I'm off to make a good, strong Turkish coffee... I'll comment again after the ritual is done! 😁

Free will doesn’t mean absence of influence or consequences. It means the ability to choose between possible actions within the limits of reality.

Give humans both free will and weakness, and the highway to hell builds itself

Bastien is one person when he is with Lawrence and a completely different one when he is surrounded by his friends. It is not easy for Lawrence to recognize his true face, to understand what Bastien really thinks, and what is merely self-defense.

What fascinates me about @CasualWanderer82's work is that no matter the setting or genre, the same central obsession always returns - hunger. Not just physical hunger, but emotional, psychological, spiritual, even metaphysical hunger. In The Malady of Hunger, hunger becomes desire so intense it starts consuming identity itself - the need to be seen, loved, possessed, transformed, saved. Characters devour each other emotionally long before anything supernatural appears. Even The Bad Education circles the same core idea in a different form - people starving for meaning, intimacy, recognition, escape from themselves. Different stories, different aesthetics, but always the same underlying wound. And now, with Mezenga, @CasualWanderer82 pushes that idea into literal occult territory. The vampire element doesn’t feel random or decorative. It feels like the ultimate manifestation of themes that were already there from the beginning - powerful people feeding on beauty, youth, longing, loneliness, and the desperate human wish to matter to someone extraordinary. Mezenga doesn’t just consume bodies; he consumes light, vitality, possibility - the very thing that makes Devin “Devin.” That’s why the supernatural in this story works for me. It doesn’t replace the psychological themes - it externalizes them. The horror was already present long before Luka discovered the ritual chamber.

Or perhaps he was sent by Mr. D... Though I can see the point of betrayal as the ultimate sin - the very one Dante placed in the Ninth Circle. So yes, Alexios may well have his own eternity of hell to endure.

It seems to me they’re the kind of people who avoid fighting for power and ruling over others... but I don’t think they would ignore the death and suffering of innocent people. Then again, their first goal is to save themselves, so no suicidal missions, I suppose...

Did I miss something, or was Alexios actually spared from revenge? 🤔