Crier's War: 1

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Secret Path: There are many passageways in the Sovereign's palace which the Automae do not know about, and which can be used by humans to move about the palace without being discovered. The thing is, these passageways aren't actually secret or hidden, they're just used by the servants in the course of their duties so the Automae don't pay attention to them. We can work on that.” At her look of surprise, Kinok shrugged one shoulder. “We are bound to be married, are we not? I am on your side, Lady Crier, as you are on mine. Right?” Ayla and Crier kiss in the inn at Elderell, but rather than start their relationship Ayla is so conflicted that it pushes them apart. This is debut author Nina Varela’s dedication to her readers in Crier’s War, and we could not be more excited to enter the kingdom of Rabu. This epic fantasy is about an impossible love between two girls—one human, one Made—whose romance could be the beginning of a revolution. Tbh, it gives us major Westworldvibes, so you know we’re already sold.

Saying Too Much: Rosi is a devout member of the Anti-Reliance Movement, and she gives Crier a lot of information about Kinok's plans in their casual conversations because she thinks that Crier must already be involved. Crier leans into this to pump her for as much info as she can.

Stealing the Credit: Thomas Wren is credited with creating the first Automa, but he really stole the work from an unnamed woman now known only as “H”.

Crier becomes engaged to Kinok, know is aware she is flawed. And during their engagement ceremony all Crier can think about is Ayla. I mean the tagline is about the two of them becoming romantically involved in some way, but it just seems so odd at this point. They’ve literally had maybe three short conversations. The first when Ayla decides not to kill Crier, the second being Crier asking Ayla to work for her, and the third about music before Crier heads to her engagement. Then again, Crier is extremely inexperienced with the world. Only Friend: Rosi is the closest thing that Crier has to a friend, being somebody close to her own age that she has corresponded with frequently. They don't really like each other — and Rosi is even surprised when Crier says she is happy to see her at a party — but that connection means that they are still very important to one another.Ayla did not let herself think about her own past, either—the fire, the fear, the way loss lived in the cavity of the chest, the way it chewed her up from the inside out. Thinking like that wasn’t how you survived. Crier’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, sabotage?” she asked. Midwives were an integral part of the Making process. They were created to be assistants to the Makers themselves, a bridge between Maker and Designer. They helped newly Made Automae adjust to the world. “What did the Midwife do?” Unresolved Sexual Tension: Crier is obsessively fixated on Ayla after their very first meeting, and after spending time with her Ayla begins to find her own feelings for Crier growing as well. Crier believes that such feelings are the result of her Flawed Design, and Ayla is plotting Crier's death and the overthrow of the Automae, so neither can act on their feelings. They finally admit and act on their feelings towards the end of the second novel. And so she had understood. Crier was the bandage to a wound—one that was minor, for now, but had the potential to fester over time. A hairline fracture in Hesod’s otherwise ironclad rule, his control over all of Zulla, everything from the eastern sea to the western mountains—except the separate territory of Varn. Varn was part of Zulla but still ruled by a separate Automa monarchy. Queen Junn, the Child Queen. The Mad Queen. The Bone Eater.

For a full minute, he said nothing. They just stood there, breathing hard, looking at each other. Thinking the same thing: it was too soon. Ayla huffed. “You of all people know if we don’t sell every single one of these flowers, we won’t get dinner.” This deep into the woods, dawn had barely touched the forest floor—the perfect time for a hunt. Not that Crier enjoyed hunting. Disappointed in You: Both Hesod and Scyre Kinok use this against Lady Crier when the tell her that they expected her to be smarter and to have realized what they were doing sooner. Kinok was considered a war hero of sorts. He’d been Made long after the War of Kinds, but there had been numerous rebellions, large and small, in the five decades since the War itself. One of the biggest, a series of coups called the Southern Up-risings, had been quelled almost single-handedly by Kinok and his ingenuity.Now, with growing human unrest across the land, pressures from a foreign queen, and an evil new leader on the rise, Crier and Ayla find there may be only one path to love: war. Chapter 1-6 Innocently Insensitive: Crier frequently makes offensive comments to Ayla without considering the implications. Once asking if humans are attracted to shiny objects like magpies are. Basically low plot/no plot crier and ayla fluff in their gay castle of love and friendship (now with 100% less human suffering!!!!!!) (I can't write a competent narrative to save my life but what i can write is Happy Lesbians. So that's what you’re getting.) Language: English Words: 780 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 1 Kudos: 61 Bookmarks: 2 Hits: 757 Ayla could not stop glancing over, and every time she did, she felt the gut-punch of what had happened to Luna all over again. And now, days later, the reminder rippled through the other humans like the dress itself rippled in the summer wind. No one even knew what Luna had done. Why the sovereign’s guards had killed her. But one day, about a month after being with Rowan, a group of nomadic humans had come into town. Rowan had given Ayla a choice. Leave with these traveling humans, leave all of her pain and her memories behind and start anew. Or stay under Rowan’s wing. Rowan would care for her until she could find work. And Ayla would learn to fight, learn to live, and plan for justice.