Cane23

Wylan? But...I wouldn't cast out Julian too... Loyd probably asking - Ishan who?!

I somehow missed that these guys aren't aware that James is the boss's son! "I know how generators work." 😁 Well, he certainly does... and he's remarkably humble and down-to-earth for a "rich kid." That's a true sign of greatness. As for Ash and Taggert, it reminds me of a quote from the movie Speed. When Keanu Reeves says, "Relationships that start under intense circumstances never last," Sandra Bullock immediately replies, "Okay. We'll have to base it on sex then." 😁

Wow, that was unexpected... quite a twist, I'd say. A hidden village full of Sura Clan survivors. In a way, Raithion really did keep his promise. Now the question is - did Wolfe's son survive and remain hidden in this village?

Or stupidity... though that sounds like the least exciting explanation! 🤪

This was very, very close. Eric's samurai skills seem almost instinctive...natural and effortless. It is an ancient martial art that embodies the unity of mind and body. To Seb, it must have looked like something from another world.

I originally thought the battle in Chapter Two was the same one Darien fought at Ascalon, but now I see it was a much smaller battle that took place elsewhere.

Does this mean that Darien has kept his lands in Palestine and is still the Lord (Prince) of Galilee? If so, who is governing his territories while Lord Hascal remains in Europe (permanently, as appears to be the case)?

This family is like leprosy - you just can't get rid of it!

Eric reminds me of Ashot in this chapter. The survival instinct is an amazing thing, and it's incredible how easily a sultan's prince can transform into a street rat.

Very profound and deeply tragic...is the Holy Land, actually, hell on Earth?!

“Tonight you will be the one who bleats!” Erik vowed with a firm nod Does it mean the boys are versatile?! That would be sooo good! 😉

"I would rather have a ghost who knows how to find water than a king who doesn't." Prince will do too... 😉

“Tomorrow,” Séb said softly, watching Erik’s eyes lift from the flames to meet his. “I will teach you the word for mountain. In my language. In Spanish.” mañana montaña 😁

My parents visited Cambodia about 25 years ago. I still remember how horrified they were by the suffering the people there had endured. They said you could see the pain in people's eyes.

Being a city boy from Europe, with my view of cowboy culture largely shaped by spaghetti westerns, I sometimes find it difficult to follow all the maintenance and farm work they do. The terminology is completely different from what I'm used to. Nevertheless, the story unfolds at a steady pace, the tension gradually builds, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the challenging adventures that await our cowboys!

"Oh my, someone kidnapped my golden goose!"

Henryk Sienkiewicz - In Desert and Wilderness.

Did Julian teach Ishan how to use a bow and arrow? I was thinking about their future - how could they possibly build a nest and raise a family in bloody Palestine? There’s no safer or more secure place for them than Darien’s. Plus, there are plenty of trees and lots of cheese! 😁

This is my first thought: 😁

Well, he was fully aware when he did it with Wylan and Darien... he didn't hesitate much! 😜

Did Ishan wake up in his own body?

Considering all the dramatic circumstances they find themselves in, this was actually quite a romantic chapter! 🙂

What was that all about? I'm just as confused as Ishan/Eric! Was the corpse that was brought to the Sultan merely an illusion meant to deliver a message? Wylan must have been aware of it too -there's no way he actually believes Ishan is dead.

I really love this association with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 that was mentioned above, It connects so beautifully with many of the feelings this story evokes for me. While reading the previous chapter, someone mentioned listening to fado - which felt incredibly fitting given the story’s atmosphere and its connection with Portugal (I love Mariza), but for me it was Vide Cor Meum (“See my heart”). That same feeling of transcendence mixed with longing. And then all the Dante echoes came rushing back: La Vita Nuova, the sonnet of the eaten heart, Beatrice guiding Dante through Paradiso, where love becomes illumination rather than possession. Especially those lines in Paradiso about free will being God’s greatest gift. Futile Devices seems deeply concerned with human will too - what we surrender, what we preserve, what survives us. Mentioning Portugal in his stories, @CasualWanderer82 made me remember Saramago’s Baltasar and Blimunda. The Passarola - the impossible flying machine carried by collected human “wills”... feels strangely parallel to the “futile devices” here, or perhaps even to the tree itself: fragile human constructions trying to transcend gravity, mortality, time. Which makes the title feel almost ironic. These things are “futile” materially, perhaps, but spiritually and emotionally they are attempts to carry something human beyond destruction - all the way, as Shakespeare says, to the edge of doom.