u/Elegant-Archer-4019

( Montagne de Beuren in Luik/Liège).

https://preview.redd.it/43kf5wy7cvah1.png?width=451&format=png&auto=webp&s=50c47d4eb9caec5ea2885ed9c1d1e84213598b1d

I expected Locke to have a bigger role in "Queen of Nothing", maybe even scheming with Nicasia and/or Orlagh to 'create a story', but instead... Taryn killed him off page. We don't even get the catharsis of seeing it happen through Taryns pov?!

I loved Cardan's subtle arc throughout "Wicked King". his reluctance slowly ebbing away as the months passed, taking charge, to him literally boiling Orlagh in the sea at the end of "Wicked King", was very well done. So well done in fact, that I feel his character doesn't grow that much at all during "Queen of Nothing", compared to book 2.

Same for Jude. She and Madoc are circling each other for quite a while now, but with Jude being so easily accepted back by Cardan as his Queen, there is no tension if they "will they, won't they". Don't get me wrong, the book is still very good, there are stakes involved, but Locke's unpredictability and the tension between Jude and Cardan are very missed.

I am not sure if comparisons are allowed with other books/series, but...since plotholes and lack of worldbuilding and feysand discussions have been done to death on this subreddit, I wanted to try something new and compare these two series with each other.

For content, I devoured ACOTAR a year or two ago and while we are all waiting for the new book to come out, I sought a new fix.

Which led me to the "Folk of the Air" series by Holly Black, which is about Jude Duarte, a human girl who is whisked away to a faerie realm. I am currently on the third book in the trilogy and... wow.

At first, I thought "Folk of the Air" was a rip-off from ACOTAR. But I can now say that "Folk of the Air" what I thought ACOTAR was going to be like and is surpassing it, even. Why? Well...

1) Jude Duarte is a far more compelling character than Feyre.

Being glamoured, tricked and betrayed by faeries her entire life, Jude craves power from the get-go and she'll walk over corpses to get it. Every word, gift and bargain has to be carefully considered while she lies, schemes and cheats her way up the ladder. She has to work harder BECAUSE she is mortal among immortals. Unlike Feyre, Jude's rise to power feels earned.

2) the love story is better.

Honestly, Rhysand can't hold a damn candle to Locke or Cardan. These faerie bad boys do absolutely horrible things to Jude and they don't apologize because they actually behave like faerie would. They are inhuman, immortal tricksters, with extra emphasis on INHUMAN. Love is something those two comprehend differently than we do. And yet, unlike Feysand, Jude and her love interest actually feel like equals, despite Jude being mortal.

Now lets look at the page count:

• ACOTAR Series (Books 1–4): ~2,005 pages
• The Folk of the Air Trilogy: ~1,120 pages

(I discounted "Silver flames", "The stolen Heir" and "Prisoner's throne" because they focus on a character other than the main characters, Jude and Feyre)

"Folk of the Air" is HALF the length of what ACOTAR is. HALF. And in those 1,1k pages, you get a far more compelling female protagonist with flaws to overcome, good worldbuilding, great politics and a slowburn enemy to lovers simmering in the background with a hot faerie.

More is not always better.

So, i just finished chapter 17 of WK.

And there are a couple of things i want to ask.

​

One - i like Judes character, but her asking only a year a day from Cardan is dumb. At first, i thought there was a time difference between the mortal world and elfhame world, but apparently, they are very linear?One day in mortal realm = one night in Elfhame, is that correct?

​

Sooo... how is that one year gonna help for Oak to become more "benevolent" towards the mortals than Balekin? He is only, what, 8 years old? Say everything goes smoothly and Oak returns to Elfhame after that year, becomes High King, grows up (I believe Jude says she will be old and grey by the time Oak is a full Fearie adult in "Wicked Prince"?) wont he just forget his time in the mortal realm as some faraway, funny dream? Like, it took YEARS for Jude andTaryn to adapt to Elfhame and see it as their "home", so shouldnt Oak also stay much longer to appreciate the mortal realm?!

​

So, knowing this, shouldnt Jude have demanded Cardans servitude for literal decades, so that Oak can grow up into an adult in the mortal realm and that Jude would grow old in Fearie, solidifying power for Oak across that time period?

​

But, okay, a year and a day, Fine. i guess that helps, but then Jude says in the "Wicked King": mortals dont grow old/age as long as they dont leave elfhame."

​

.... Then how the hell do Jude and Taryn and all those other mortals grow physically OLDER in Elfhame? Jude and Taryn spend their entire lives in Elfhame, yet both are physically no longer children (I should hope!), only occassionally sneaking to the mortal realm, so... did those visits speed up their age? But then, the first book implies the two realms run paralell to one another?!

​

I am so, so confused. Please help me out.

​

Also, Vivienne is a self absorbed b**** for leaving Heather in the dark about Elfhame. Politics are boring to her, but she has no concerns whatsoever that those very same politics might pose a danger to Oak and Heather at Taryns wedding. f*** her.

So, the title/power of HL doesnt necessarily stay in the same bloodline. the "land" can chose someone different from Rhysand or Tamlin to take over.

i wonder if the reverse can be done? Say, that Tamlin or Rhys or any HL no longer wants to be one, and can willingly part with that title/power? if its given by the land, then can it not be willingly given back, like how Nesta willingly gave up her power to save Feyre and Nyx?

if SJM ever wants to "retire" Feysand as HL, then that could be the way to do it. plus, giving up the title/power of a High Lord, would be the perfect consequence/way to break that stupid bargain that Feysand made in ACOSF.

Now, you would imagine Nyx would become the next HL after Rhysand, right?

Remember, the land choses the HL. its common the bloodline is followed, but its not a given.

Imagine Rhysand happily and even arrogantly giving up his powers to break the bargain, expecting Nyx to inherit his power... only for the Land to go "Nah-ah, not on my watch, you arrogant b\*\*\*" and chosing not Mor, not Azriel or even Elain, but EMERIE.

Rhysand, who has remained free on actual consequences up till now, who has done nothing to stop the clipping of illyrian women, would now have to bow down alongside Feyre and the illyrians to a Valkyrie High Lady with clipped wings (honestly, imagining the scene makes me tear up 🥹)

Emerie would be the first ever ruling High Lady in Prythian (not someone who has been bestowed the title and co-ruling with a HL, like Feyre), and i am all here for it.

So, the title/power of HL doesnt necessarily stay in the same bloodline. the "land" can chose someone different from Rhysand or Tamlin to take over.

i wonder if the reverse can be done? Say, that Tamlin or Rhys or any HL no longer wants to be one, and can willingly part with that title/power? if its given by the land, then can it not be willingly given back, like how Nesta willingly gave up her power to save Feyre and Nyx?

if SJM ever wants to "retire" Feysand as HL, then that could be the way to do it. plus, giving up the title/power of a High Lord, would be the perfect consequence/way to break that stupid bargain that Feysand made in ACOSF.

Now, you would imagine Nyx would become the next HL after Rhysand, right?

Remember, the land choses the HL. its common the bloodline is followed, but its not a given.

Imagine Rhysand happily and even arrogantly giving up his powers to break the bargain, expecting Nyx to inherit his power... only for the Land to go "Nah-ah, not on my watch, you arrogant b***" and chosing not Mor, not Azriel or even Elain, but EMERIE.

Rhysand, who has remained free on actual consequences up till now, who has done nothing to stop the clipping of illyrian women, would now have to bow down alongside Feyre and the illyrians to a Valkyrie High Lady with clipped wings (honestly, imagining the scene makes me tear up 🥹)

Emerie would be the first ever ruling High Lady in Prythian (not someone who has been bestowed the title and co-ruling with a HL, like Feyre), and i am all here for it.