Mark Reads ‘The Realms of the Gods’: Chapter 9 |

In the ninth chapter of The Realms of the Gods, the final begins. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The Realms of the Gods.

Chapter Nine: The Battle of Legann

oh my god OH MY GOD

This is an overwhelming, heartbreaking, and thrilling chapter, possibly one of the most brilliant things that Tamora Pierce has written in the Immortals quartet. It’s a masterful example of how one should stage and execute a fight sequence. That’s not surprising at all, for the record. I’ve mentioned before that I find her fight scenes to be highly coherent, but this? This is poetry. It’s a highly violent and evocative portrait of the terror of war. This is not glorified violence, or it doesn’t feel like it is to me. War has a very real toll on life, and this battle, which has been coming since the beginning of this series, is clearly going to have far-reaching effects on the world.
There are just SO MANY CHARACTERS AND CREATURES HERE! And Pierce is able to navigate this without it be confusing!
As soon as it was revealed that Daine wouldn’t be with the main army, I knew she’d find a way to get involved in the fight regardless. It’s Daine! Come on, she couldn’t resist!
Badger and Gold-streak are best friends now I can’t deal with this.
I really have missed so many of these characters! Onua, Raoul, Kitten, Tkaa, etc. Of course, this reunion happens in the midst of a super bloody war, so it’s not exactly one big happy party, you know? Instead, I would get excited that someone had showed up, and then immediately cower in terror because they might die.
Rikash and Daine are the kind of friends who insult one another regularly, and it’s beautiful, and now I can’t even re-read this section for this review because I’m distraught again.
He promised to save one of Ozorne’s braids for her, and this is legit a super sweet thing for a Stormwing to do, and I can’t read this. I seriously can’t, because what was once this incredibly tender moment is now the most heartbreaking thing in this whole book.
At least I have Numair telling Daine he loves her, though I know by writing this sentence down, I’m probably damning myself to tragedy. But damn it, I think their relationship is cute!
“Phantom lips touched her cheek, and his voice whispered in her ear, ‘Goddess bless, my darling.'” SEE? SEE? Oh my god, my emotions.
What I adore about chapter nine is how Pierce is able to balance the logistical with the emotional. The fact that Legann’s outer wall is “littered with bodies that had begun to swell, blacken, and stink in the summer heat” is one of many details that helped to build the scene before us. This is not a neat and orderly endeavor. It’s revolting chaos. And then it’s followed with that lovely sequence where Daine mouths, “I told you so” to Onua. These things exist side by side!
God, the dragons are what start the battle, and it’s so MAJESTIC, I swear. They hide in plain sight, then suddenly appear with a roar, setting fire to the sails and ships below them, and OH MY GOD, IT’S STARTED.
“They’re coming.” JESUS, MY HEART HURTS AGAIN JUST FROM READING THIS.
SARGE!!! <3
The aerial onslaught of the immortals is one of the most terrifying moments in all of The Immortals. I truly had no idea what was going to happen. I had no inkling as to whether the Tortallans would be successful in keep them away. And there was so much else going on in Port Legann that I suspected Pierce wouldn’t focus the narrative on just one thing.
We’re not going to get much more of Marielle, and that makes me sad. She’s awesome.
Jonathan has a darking best friend, too. I adore that so many Tortallans have taken darking companions.
Two hundred and forty-eight Stormwings. Countless hurroks and winged apes. Overwhelming doesn’t feel like a good enough word, y’all. I can’t even imagine that many creatures. IT’S SO SCARY. I took comfort in the fact that this is narrated so plainly, though. I didn’t have to worry about being confused by the story. It was the only comfort I had.
I suppose I don’t have anything substantive or important to say about the Tortallans fighting off the immortals, except that it was thrilling, I was constantly scared someone was going to die, and that Daine is a beautiful badass who I hope to be like one day. Seriously, I want her powers so badly.
Amidst all of this, Numair is fighting Inar Hedensra, everything is messed up, the enemy is learning they’re surrounded, and then JACHULL AND BARZHA FIGHT TO THE DEATH AND IT’S REALLY INTENSE. Oh my god, Barzha killed Jachull with the most impressive move ever, I swear.
I was actually surprised that Daine was able to check on the Yamani forces without being interrupted. I totally expected that she’d be attacked or sidetracked, but this was not the case! I was also stoked that the dragons and the Yamanis were clearly winning. It’s the first time in this chapter where it feels like the battle is finally tipping in the Tortallans favor.
AND THEN THE BOOBY TRAP SCENE HAPPENS, AND EVERYTHING IS AWFUL. Oh my god, a chaos vent trap is set off by some fool WHO OPENED A BOX IN AN ENEMY TENT. Oh gods, I really hope I don’t find out after the fact that some character I knew died in the blast. While this chapter only hints at it, I’m also worried that Uusoae has too much to feed on. How will they stop her? Will they get to her “agents” in time???
Y’all, so many creatures come out in full-force to support Raoul as he faces that horrific three-headed chaos serpent. Rikash. Gold-streak. The badger. Starlings. Despite its size, they still choose to fight it.
And then it happens: “It whipped frantically, tossing Rikash into the air. The blond Stormwing slammed into a bouldeer, and slid to the base of the stone.”
NO. NOPE. NO! GODDAMN IT, NO.
“She hadn’t realized that he meant something to her. She hadn’t known he was her friend.”
DONE FOREVER. OH MY GOD, MY HEART ISN’T GOING TO HEAL FROM THIS.
WHY
WHY
“As a sparrow hawk, a small, fast bird of prey, she streaked after Ozorne.”
Daine knows she cannot allow Ozorne to escape again, given what happened last time. So she is risking her own life to avenge Rikash and to protect Tortall from the once-emperor mage. Again. I am so nervous for this final confrontation. Oh god, there’s so much left to resolve!!! HOW WILL THIS BE DONE?