Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros | The StoryGraph
I have been meaning to make a post about this series for a
bit. Mostly about my theories based on observations from the first 2
books but solely the first because there felt to be a lot of things set up
there such as:
- Jack Barlowe's character arc... Specifically, when I first
read this book, I was struck by how it reminded me of several series (but with
dragons). In my head I was screaming, "OMG THIS IS AEITA (An Ember
in the Ashes) SERIES!" with a sprinkle of other novels. Then my
brain thought, "Someone fed AI a list of the hottest/fan faves with good
writing and this was its output."... I digress.
- In AEITA, the Augar, Cain, tells the character Helene that
she will his greatest masterpiece if only she'd allow herself to burn... or
something along those lines. Her character arc is one of the best given
where she starts at the beginning of the series to where she arrives. And
for me, as I was reading FW, this seemed to be setting up for Jack Barlowe's
character arc. Some theories regarding this-1. His need/twisted empathy
with killing off those that are weak.
1.
Me suspects that someone close to him was
considered too weak, lived (possibly died), and he watched them suffer.
He is cruel and perhaps merciless in this way based on an upbringing to live
with 'every man for themselves' or in this regard cutting the hands of a man
threatening to bring down an already full lifeboat. Which brings me to my
next theory-
2.
Jack is related to someone high up, as a first
year he’s assigned a room on the third floor and also there’s the fact that he
was resurrected/brought back from the brink of death due in which to him being
Venin. Initially I was thinking he might
be related to Panchek but Violet’s comment about seeing Melgren as a venin
since he has always creeped her out leads me to suspect the latter. However, Panchek has his ambitions and thus
there’s still part of me that leans toward him but whatever it may be, Jack
Barlowe, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed scoundrel for sure has political ties
- Dain Aetos is my other ‘reminds me of Helene’ character
with the potential for a great character arc, especially considering his
rule-abiding personality which was present in AEITA when it came to
Helene. Plus, with a name like Dain
Aetos, I mean, there’s bound to be something more in store. Pseudo think it would be kind of cool to have
a prequel book that did look at Dain/Violet/Cam as the offspring of political
figureheads and the mischief they got into
- Speaking of Dain, another theory I have revolves around
the three
great loves … Some might not be a fan of this theory, especially if you
love Xaden but if another POV, which I suspect will happen, comes into play
through the series, well ye have been warned.
On the wild end, one could speculate that third as Jack Barlowe, after
all he wanted to kill Violet from jump BUT one can’t miss the ways Aaric (Cam)
dropped subtle things in IF about trusting Violet and knowing she could keep a
secret. That said, that’s not to say
redemption and resurrection won’t happen give… ::next theory::
- Violet/Andarna combined power into a second signet. I can’t remember which character said this,
perhaps Prof Kaori, when talking about Brennan and the Tairn’s first right,
Naolin, attempt to save Brennan said something about being able to bring
someone back from the dead makes you a God… And yet the full/actual story is
still not known here when it comes Brennan surviving. But I suspect the author dropped a hint
regarding Violet’s ultimate power, from the way was brought into the world and
perhaps some deal her father made with dragons given Andarna’s omission via silence
during a scene when a question was posed… Me wonders if resurrection or perhaps
some other type of time manipulation will be within Violet’s reach, but at a
cost as her greying/silver hair indicates
- There were a lot ‘there hasn’t been someone with this
power in centuries…” so far in the series, one of those called out was a
distance walker/traveler, going to toss out a theory that this will be Aaric’s
signet… I also thought this two could Violet’s signet and could be significant
when it came to exploring more of the world/the isles
- Another theory comes in the form of the first five and one
of them saying something came at a ‘terrible cost’; pair this with the little
that’s known/hidden/lost about Tyrrish culture; I think about his gold-flecked
onyx eyes and wonder about the possibility of human transformation, within this
culture for select individuals, into dragons…
Perhaps an out there theory but there
- Viscount Tecarus, pretty sure the last of him hasn’t been
seen but there was something lackluster when the scene came around to ‘offering’
or a deal Violet wouldn’t be able to say no to that made me think perhaps more
is to come in this realm (?); it just seemed to have some buildup around him to
ultimately feel like nada delivered in a few lines
- Side note/super random theory – I never finished reading all
the books in the From Blood and Ash, FBAA, series, but again something about FW
made me think of this series and had me wondering if these authors collaborated
and if FW was low-key within the FBAA universe
And I’se done rambling…
