Beyond Selidor

I'm actually really curious about what you said about coming to like Mycroft. How did that feeling develop over the course of this book, since I think you said you didn't like him previously? And how do you like him? Skuld and I discussed it, and came out on really interesting sides of it!

My stance was:
I don't like (or trust) him, but I want to protect him - I don't want more awful things happening to him

And hers was:
I love him and want to see him suffer (because it's so interesting to watch him crack and also he deserves it)

Also, how do you feel about the 9A reveal - that Mycroft was actually a lot more cracked in the previous two volumes and someone just edited out the worst of his delusions? Because one of the things that did my head in was when I started noticing him just casually mentioning dead people. Just. Getting calls from Kohaku Mardi. Listing Apollo and Bridger among people at a meeting. And he knows the prison wraiths aren't real (I think he knows?) but there's no self awareness about the... uhh, no, Apollo really isn't chatting with you right now on account of how you murdered him?

That and the whole bit where he writes a couple of pages with himself (Mycroft) arguing with Sniper and Tully to make a call that could stop the war and then he's all "Wait, no, that wasn't me! I was just ranting. It was Tully who said all those things that made the call happen, my bad." But by then I'd already read that bit and taken Mycroft's word for events happening the way he wrote them and it's so weird in the best way.

But yes also all the huge questions. Does humanity need this particular war? I'm mostly on the side of horrifed UM NO HOW ABOUT NO but then the dream (the prophecy) of how it's this or a worse war or this and losing the stars forever... Damn but Utopia know how to get me in a really uncomfortable spot. (Also I want a U-beast please.)