Like pox on a plague victim, the prostitutes are the symptom, not the sickness. They merely answer a desire. It is the scale of that desire, of that sickness, that concerns me. Especially here, in the Holy City
Finished listening to Devils, enjoyed it through and through, despite how Suicide Squad superhero it sometimes is.
One of the few examples where lesbian love story felt natural (the other is Arcane series). Because either Alex or Sunny don’t make identity out of their sexuality. Just two people that came to rely on each other. Switch gender of one of them, and it would still work.
Interestingly Abercrombie doesn’t conflate faith and religion. He’s very clear that in his universe God not only exists, but is also more powerful than the demons.
Cardinal Zizka by the end of the book reminded me of Angela Merkel or her dwarf twin, Nicola Sturgeon: a powerhungry woman that pretends to do good, while doing only evil, and feeling no remorse.
‘I apologise. What else?’
I expected that the menace of the Elves will come to fruition by the end of the book, but it never happened. Considering the only elf we meet is Sunny, which is the nicest, it’s unclear if elves are cannibals (human-eaters more like, as they don’t eat other elves?) or if it’s just another myth.
The ending is Wizard of Oz in reverse: since no one wanted anything from the journey, no one got anything from the journey, even though Alex does become an Empress of Troy, which doesn’t bring her much joy. The only exception is Brother Diaz, who becomes Father Diaz, another example of character development, as his first chapters are full of thoughts how proud her mother would be that her son serves in the Not Vatican:
‘What will she think? When she hears you’re chaplain to an Empress?’
Brother Diaz thought about that for a moment, then raised his brows.
‘Do you know … I find I really don’t care.’
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