Notes On Darkly Devoted

Darkly Devoted - Story Notes

"The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to the ocean-
Holding the curve of one position,
Counting an endless repetition."
― Robert Frost

"Love that is not madness is not love."

― Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Hi Everyone, I thought it was fitting since it's almost New Year, I've decided to write a year-in-review of my series Darkly Devoted. Note - to those who haven't read the series, there are MANY Spoilers in what I'm writing here. So tread carefully. These are just random notes and some incomplete thoughts. 

Lady of Winter

Before I start, I want to confess that there's a book that I've been kicking around in my head. I don't think it's possible to talk about this series without mentioning it. I'll probably never write this book because I don't think there is a market for it. The book is called Lady of Winter and it's the story of Blake's mother Odelia. I've hinted at Odelia a lot in the series but it's mostly through Vivienne's eyes and therefore it's not the complete picture. The reason why Odelia is a critical character is that she's pretty much the person who raises Blake to be the person he becomes. 

Even though Blake spends most of his time dreaming about his father, what he doesn't realize is that he's nothing like his father. He's his mother's son and she molded him to become everything that he is, and she's the one who guided him to do everything that he does.  In a world where I had infinite time and there was infinite reader interest, I would love to write about how Odelia met Gabriel Balan and Lydia. How she started out in a loveless arranged marriage Sebastian Thorne and eventually grew to care for him. I would love to write about her love/hate friendship with Maglania. Most of all, I want to write about how despite how clever Odelia was, eventually she was misled to give her son, Blake misinformation about the purpose of Aemon that later leads him to revive Jaduerial and lead the world to the edge of destruction. 

In a way, as much as I want to write about Blake's place in Black Waters, it's hard without the background set up in Lady of Winter. We never really know what exactly Blake knew or didn't know as he started Tercel and then performed that ritual in Aemon.

A Tale of Two Princes

I finished this book as Orion and Sorayi's story ended but if I were to write another chapter, it would probably be Orion overhearing his parents arguing over what to do about Sorayi after Vivienne discovers that Sorayi wants to kill them all. I imagined that Vivienne would want to kill Sorayi for peace of mind. The Vivienne who came back after all these years is probably very different from the Vivienne who left at the end of What Was Mine. 

Vivienne now has to live with the knowledge that she a) lost her son b) drove her husband mad for eighteen years c) directly led to Glenn and maybe Lichtus' deaths d) caused her father Gabriel's death ALL because she was too merciful. She got drunk on the power of having Ian's enchanted blood and she healed a lot of people she should never have helped. Now, she's probably going to double down on only protecting the people who matter to her, who had proven their loyalty to her in the past - the rest of the world be damned. 

Perhaps, at this point, Vivienne's only mission in life is in restoring her family's status and in protecting her husband. Protecting her husband, unfortunately, means also protecting what he loves - which after all these years includes their adopted son Orion.

The bigger issue here isn't really Vivienne. I really hate to say this because I think this would be unpopular with my readers but Vivienne's purpose in the larger plot is long over. From this point on, this is Blake and Ian's story. 

The irony of this moment in this book is that the reader is supposed to see how Blake and Vivienne essentially flip positions. Back at the beginning of Darkly Devoted Vivienne is the one who wants to save people and do the "right" thing. Blake is the one who grew up secluded in River Way, has no idea what the world is like outside of his small collection of servants and aristocratic friends, and is willing to kill people willy-nilly because he has no empathy for the common person.

Now, at the end of A Tale of Two Princes, Blake is the one who sees how his actions in Nivarrin have hurt a person he truly cares about - his son Orion. Blake is the one who is starting to see that he needs to focus on more than his family.  

Okay, I'm going to stop myself here before I give away the ending of Black Waters. 

General Notes on Darkly Devoted Books 1, 2, 3.

Killing Julian in What Was Mine was really really hard for me. For a little while, I considered killing Vivienne too but in the end, I decided to let Vivienne live. I think the readers can probably see that there were several points in What Was Mine where Vivienne could have died. 

I think if Vivienne had died, Blake's character would be beyond the point of redemption so I let her live. I think killing Julian was probably just as powerful of a statement as killing Vivienne. 

Blake's love of Vivienne is a reflection of his darker self that as a son of an upstanding, do-gooder guy like Sebastian Thorne which he can't express. Blake has always run from the darkness that he saw represented in his uncle and his mother's family. But at the same time, he's helplessly attracted to it. Vivienne is his darker, wilder heart that he hides from view.

Julian on the other hand, is just as important to Blake even though he denies it. Julian represents Blake's playful side, his desire to know the world beyond River Way. Julian is in many ways, the physical representation of Blake's youth. Julian is the only way that Blake was ever allowed to express his desire for fun, for irresponsibility, and to forget about his responsibilities. Blake tries to kill Julian numerous times and in a way, that's a symbol of Blake trying to kill his own Falstaff (Shakespeare, Henry V).

With Julian's death, we see that Blake has finally grown up. In a way, with Allison's death at the end of What Was Mine, even though Vivienne has no knowledge of it, that also represents the last trace of Vivienne's attachment to humanity.  In Darkly Devoted, Vivienne keeps pushing Blake aside to save Allison because young, wide-eyed, well-meaning Vivienne would rather save the one who is innocent over the man she loved. It shows that deep inside, Vivienne cares more about what's right and wrong over her own selfish happiness.

Yet, when at the end of Darkly Devoted, when Vivienne finally gets what she wants - she realizes the life of a hero is inherently lonely and empty. That's when she starts to turn over to the dark side. 

Blake and Ian

I think Ian and Blake present a really interesting dynamic even though the two of them never met face-to-face. Ian has a plain, well-meaning personality that is more like Sebastian Thorne than either of his parents. I think Ian is going to force Blake to confront how much of himself is really actually like his father.

Wheew that's a lot! Thanks for reading!