oh, I know, Tolstoy was right. And I'm still a fan, too.

I actually meant Mildmay h/c: I thought when he got sick we were supposed to see Felix taking care of him for once, and then sacrificing for him, and him accepting that. And to think that that triggered the shift in their relationship. But something about it fell flat...

And you're right: defusing the Felix/Mildmay vibe defused a lot of the crazy intensity of the other books...I'm not sure I actually wanted the narrative to go there, but it sure was fun to watch them almost go there!

I liked the new characters too--especially Murtagh--though I thought Kay was a kind of interesting failure--he never came off as quite as brutal as he seemingly was supposed to be...

Oh, listen to me bitch! sorry--just haven't had anywhere to vent about the novel...