Olympian Affair (Spoilers All)

[RobReece]

Regarding the events on the Perilous, wasn't Rook supposed to be part of that crew?

[Dimitri]

Regarding the events on the Perilous, wasn't Rook supposed to be part of that crew?

Yes, the story Grimm told here didn't quite fit with what we'd already heard in book one, but that could be either Grimm lying to Abby or Jim changing things.

I was disappointed in the treatment of Rowl, he seemed too insecure and petty. Book one he had utter confidence and a complete belief in his superiority, this one he seemed far too concerned about not being upstaged.

I'm also disappointed in the fate of Predator.

[RobReece]

Well, we don't know the fate of the Predator yet.  We know that  Gwen ended up underneath her, but that's it.

But I agree, Rowl seemed overly petty to me as well.

[Dina]

Ok, I finished the book today!
I will begin a new thread later because I have a lot of things to say (as usual) but in this thread I am going to comment about the map.
I am quite confused about the map. I really do not understand how all the spires are in USA, I thought they were the remains of old nations. I wonder what happened with the rest of the world, it is destroyed or it is simply so far away it is forgotten? It does  not seem as if the CS ships can cross the ocean or have any long-distance communication system.
And WTF happened? If the spires are all in USA why are they so different, like Victorian age Britain and Spain, for instance? Even their names.
What i do think is that the CS world is a world that went more or less like ours until the beginning of the electricity and then something happened and history branched from the real life one. Probably that something was the discovery of aetherialism.  Something destroyed the ecosystem but I do not think it was atomic bombs or anything futuristic. It does not seem as if they ever develop television (even radio?).
Of course, aliens arrived, but I am not sure if that was in Victorian ages or later in the CS stories. We will see.
The strange thing is I personally do not care for the backstory. A short paragraph telling me what happened will satisfy my curiosity well enough. I just want to see what happens with the characters I like now.
I am quite sad at the literally USA centric development. Our world is so big and complex, why limit it?

[Dina]

Yes, the story Grimm told here didn't quite fit with what we'd already heard in book one, but that could be either Grimm lying to Abby or Jim changing things.

I just read some paragraph of the two books and I've noticed a few things besides Rook (that I bet Grimm purposely left out of the story, even when it means lying to Abigail).
1) In TOA Grimm said Alex was a midshipman. In TAW Gwen said that for what she found, the three of them were lieutenants. It could be easily explained by Gwen being confused or by the fleet lying to justify giving the promotions to Rook and Bayard (to smooth things with them). Nevertheless, there is something weird. In the same TOA Grimm said that he "had seniority on Alex and he was on shambles. So I assumed command." but if Grimm was a lieutenant and Bayard a midshipman, it was obvious that Grimm had the command, no need to mention Alex being in shambles or anything. So I think what happened is that Alex began the journey as a midshipman and was promoted to lieutenant in the trip itself. But it is not clear.
2) in TOA Grimm said he cut the XO throat and dropped him by the side. In TAW apparently the XO had been beaten to a coma.  No possible explanation but someone lying (perhaps the Fleet).
3) What I see as more serious, because there is no politics or Fleet involved. In TOA Grimm said that the men, especially Kettle, supported him. In TAW Kettle told Gwen that he did not know Grimm when he was on the fleet. So...What the Hell? No Beta caught that? Will be relevant for the future?
More important, in TOA Grimm said that