User blog comment:SaynaSLuke/The Ocean's Echoes/@comment-2142396-20160502065818

I’ve just finished chapter 20 – yes, I read slower than ever, so I decided to compensate by commenting more often. ;)

I liked the moments of interaction between Durral and Romsca, even if they didn’t go well. Durral’s words about Romsca’s childhood definitely hit a nerve, but you can see that the Abbot really meant well. It’s so like him, to feel pity for Romsca for turning out the way she did instead of anger. All Durral had seen is cruelty and malice from vermin, even toward each other when, for example, Romsca threatened Cheng and the others of her crew into obedience. Why should they treat their children differently if Romsca clearly shows that her crew doesn’t matter to her – at least, that’s how things look from Durral’s point of view. And it felt oddly heartwarming when Durral asked Sayna why she wouldn’t live at Redwall with them: even though he doesn’t agree with Sayna on a lot of things and consider her to be an odd one and even a witch, he is still ready to welcome her in Redwall.

Romsca is not making things easy there, either, and her moody temper makes it difficult to sympathize with her right now. I know she is in a tight spot and is constantly on edge, but I can’t notice that she always talks her crew down, even when they are making valid points or just asking something. Sayna baffles me a lot as well, to be honest, especially when she says that Romsca is evil not because she is a pirate, but because she is ‘mortal without the grace of Ignasa’. Em, I would put my priorities a little different if I were her. Speaking of the other deities, such as Lords and Ladies of the elements, I wonder if they are real in the first place. I assume they are not, since we never seen any proof of them, unlike with Ignasa and Malimore, but what if they do? After all, we didn’t see any proof that they don’t, either.

Aww, so that’s the reason Xzaris is always wearing that silver chain! I wondered about it, since he isn’t a flashy type who would wear jewelry just to look good. But if it was from Romsca, then of course Xzaris wouldn’t want to part with it. When Xzaris’s footpaw was injured, I assumed it would heal soon, but now it seems that this wound is more serious than I initially had thought… Unless the flowers of Icetor can help it, I suppose it may never regain its full mobility, and that’s far from good as proved when Xzaris tried to fight. The battle with the Southwardians was pretty intense, and it was especially poignant because I didn’t know whom to cheer for. I definitely didn’t want to see Xzaris and his crew get hurt, but in the same time, I understood that woodlanders were only protecting their homes against raiders who never showed them mercy in the past. At least Xzaris managed to end this battle more or less quickly, even if the monitors’ attack was brutal.

And Val! I swear I got a mini-heart attack, especially when she grabbed the bucket with oil in her teeth and jumped. I couldn’t get the image of her splashing the oil over herself and then accidently catching fire out of my head. *shudders* Still, I like how quick-thinking Val is: even though she has very little experience with sailing, her improvisations are always spot-on. That’s a part of her charm, I think – Val is not as good of a fighter as Romsca or knows as much of sailing as Xzaris, but she would always be there to jump into the fray and save the day. Needless to say, I simply enjoy how close Xzaris, Val and Arashi are to each other. And since Xzaris was told all of his childhood that he was useless and then treated as expendable and someone whose life doesn’t matter when he became adult, him being told by Arashi that there is still someone who cares about him no matter how lowly he is was really needed. While the other beasts’ curse is pride and arrogance, Xzaris’s is low self-esteem.

Since you mentioned that Xzaris’s sixclawed paw is going to be important, I have a theory about it; it’s pretty random, but still. This trait seems to be quite a dominant feature, if both Swartt’s father, Swartt himself, Veil and Xzanthia had it (I don’t remember if Esmund was described with it, though), so if Xzaris’s father was a Falcon and Veil’s descendant, he probably had it, too. So what if Xzaris uses it to prove that he is a true Falcon and not a pretender at some point? Speaking about Xzaris’s father, I think you mentioned in the comments that he is dead, but I don’t remember anything in-story about it except Kia saying that his father left her?

The scene of Grath paying one last visit to her holt was powerful. Sad, but powerful, and I liked it very much, probably because it managed to evoke such strong feelings. I also found it very comforting that Martin was there, by Grath’s side to provide her some silent support – even if he didn’t go in with her, he was still there for his friend. And Grath was able to reconnect with her heritage, even if it wasn’t under happy circumstances. I really hope it will help her to become more confident!

It’s interesting to see Sagitar and Ublaz plotting together. I was a bit surprised that Ublaz lets Sagitar know so much of his plans, since she used to serve Empress Meili, but considering she had been serving him for more than seven years, she certainly would be somebeast Ublaz trusts. I’d say these two are worth each other!