You know, mods really could ban fan casting spam and AI (the 2nd most popular post in the sub's history requested that). We could have an interesting subreddit. Or we could just drown in the spam and slop.
It's not "What is, is." It's "What is, is... until it is isn't." As book 3 will undoubtedly show.
Love the series so far, but I think it would have been richer if it didn't lean so much into a Great Man narrative.
For all of the time that he's spent on grand strategy, Dafyd hasn't prepared the population to survive his own death. He hasn't prepped others to fill his shoes if he's slapped to mush or catches a fatal cold.
That isn't grand strategy at all.
More to the point, he hasn't really tried to explain the true scope of the existential threat that the moiety faces to the majority of the population. That should have been an equal priority to the projects the Caryxx assigned. Explaining how every project mishap, every librarian interaction, every act that can be interpreted as defiance, can impact the moiety's survival. Until it's understood by everyone. Literally everyone.
It's an obvious and deliberate choice made by the authors, but one that raises the stakes a little too cheaply, because there is no way to ignore the fact that Dayfd would not understand--even before he learned the truth about the Sovran--the importance of having someone to fill this specific role of Caryxx interlocutor.
Likewise with everyone understanding the stakes. While the labor rebellion and moments like that serve a narrative purpose as a teaching moment, their "resolution" is a necessarily incomplete act because it could be easily be misunderstood as tyranny by those who witness it and Dafyd would know that he doesn't have to hide from the Caryxx public explanations of "What is, is." He could give lectures on it every day to their approval.
And the dispute could have still narratively taken place in a world where stakes are understood. There could have still been a situation where the union men were simply prepared to die. That's labor history in countries with protections, and sadly labor reality in countries that don't.
Overall, I loved the new novel, but I think the story would have been improved if it had flipped the script a bit more away from the Great Man of History arc.