The world Cody has fallen into is wonderful. Poseidon’s Pleasure House forms beautifully in my mind. You give enough detail for me to envision this world yet not so much that I am overwhelmed. I think that is something I have noticed about everything I have read of yours—you give enough detail for my own mind to create the images needed. Too much detail makes me feel like I HAVE to notice all the details, that they are ALL important and if I miss ANY of them, I will “fail” at reading the story. *laughs* I hope you can figure out what I meant there. It was confusing and sounded a bit stupid.
It feels like Cody will possibly find his place there. I think this ‘day’ is the first time we have really gotten a good look at Cody and who he is. And I like that, too, the way you reveal your characters naturally, as things unfold—not all in some form of “introduction.” I am really looking forward to more of Cody. You haven’t given much of Cody from the inside yet. Is this because he, as a person, has less emotional depth? Is it because he is NOT a person who gets inside his own head? Does he live closer to the surface than Jove? And I am asking/explaining this badly. But it feels like Cody experiences things from the outside in. As if when he is touched, his reaction goes inward from his skin—he feels the physical reaction then responds to it—without getting too far into his head, without thinking too deeply on what he is feeling. *laughs* Ok, it’s 6:15 am and I haven’t slept yet. Maybe that is why I am so confusing? Hopefully it is just that.
William, Jove and Micah… *sighs* Now, there is a situation that has such potential. You feel Micah’s “position” in this ‘day.’ He is between William and Jove, not fully “trained” himself and still beneath William in the “order of things.” And you feel the relationship between him and Jove even more clearly than in previous chapters. And that seems strange for me to say because you have written their relationship in depth up to this point, and I have felt it clearly. Yet when Jove asks for Micah, I feel that deep need—even before he tells William that he will never have his soul. But when he says that, the full strength of the connection between Jove and Micah is felt. And I get the feeling that it is mutual—even though Micah is less ‘dramatic’ in his thoughts and words. I do not feel that William will be successful in breaking that connection. He may manage to make Jove do as he wishes—because Jove’s body will respond and perhaps even his mind will respond to conditioning—but there is that center of Jove that will not yield.
I am curious how William will fare. He is being tested by Jove and Micah. They are not reacting as expected, they are outside of his “normal” experiences. I don’t get a feeling that William is “bad.” He is the master of his world and expects those within his world to accept that as a matter of course. How do people like that respond when someone doesn’t? My experience tells me it is usually with the application of force of one form or another. How deep will that force get? Will it be more psychological than physical? I am looking forward to getting more of what is inside William.
Ok, will shut up now.
I agree that of all the stories I am devouring on GA(and elsewhere) Lugh's are the ones that I have spent time rereading. Partly out of necessity to keep in this world he has created and ready for.... for ... ??