Introduction Axis Series

[pangolin20]

Some of the long-time members around here will remember that Epistler has done a sporking of the Axis series some years ago. She came halfway to book 4 and then gave up.

Now I am ready to do commentaries on all of the eleven books of the Axis Series.

I think it is best to begin with an introductory post. So, let me introduce y’all to:

The Axis Series,

by Sara Douglass

or: A Tale of Terrible Sueciopaths, full of Racism, Genocide, Mindrape, Manipulation, Personality Overwrites, Wanton Slaughter, Boring Travel, Confusing Exposition, Utter WTF-eries and much more...set in the land of Tencendor.

As you can guess from the alternative title, this will be quite a ride. One aspect of this is the length of the series. It comprises the Axis trilogy, containing the books BattleAxe, Enchanter and StarMan, then the Wayfarer Redemption trilogy, containing Sinner, Pilgrim and Crusader, then there are two prequel books, Beyond the Hanging Wall and Threshold, and finally there is the Darkglass Mountain trilogy, containing The Serpent Bride, The Twisted Citadel and The Infinity Gate. So there’s a total of eleven books. Which means I’ll be busy for a very long time. Joy.

Anyway, another aspect I already referred to is the morality of the books, which is quite fucked up.

For the first trilogy, this is the case:

Our Designated Heroes are utter sociopaths and only become worse as the books progress. Just like Eragon and Roran, they kill innocent people, they only care about themselves, they are completely hypocritical and they get random power-ups they’ve done nothing to deserve. And yes, the personality overwrite is something one of the protagonists does. To her own son.

Meanwhile the Designated Villains are weak and seem to be the only ones who can see how terrible the Designated Heroes are. They get slaughtered horribly for their resistance (someone’s heart gets ripped out and fed to an eagle).

From what I’ve seen, the morality does get better in the second trilogy, although our Sueciopaths don’t get much better.

That said, it’s time to introduce you to the protagonists of the first trilogy.

The first protagonist is Axis SunSoar, who I also like to call Mr. SueSoar and Axis of Evil. He is the namesake of the series and the titles of the first trilogy represent his ascension from military commander to godhood, as he turns out to be the Chosen One. As I have mentioned, he is quite awful, to say the least.

The second protagonist is Azhure, who is the designated Love Interest. She follows a similar path as Axis, from lowly origins to an Extremely Important Person, and she is quite as awful as Axis.

The third protagonist is Faraday, an eighteen-year-old woman who is one of the more likeable characters, and actually improves during the series. She will be a major character in the second trilogy too. She is not quite as Sue-y as Axis and Azhure, and not sociopathic at all.

On to the Designated Villains. The first is Borneheld, a duke. Although he can be bad sometimes, he is much more reasonable than Axis. He finally gets killed off horrifically for his opposition.

The Big Bad is Axis’s half-brother, Gorgrael. He is barely anything of a threat and is killed ridiculously easily at the end of the trilogy. He is a lot better than Axis or Azhure and seems to be the only major character who recognises the threat they pose.

There is also a lot of graphic violence and also rape in this series. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a warning ahead so you can skip it.

Finally, the series contains many WTF-eries. Here are some:

· A talking judgemental bridge

· A polar bear who somehow is a kind of god

· Faraday planting 42000 trees in a half a year without advanced equipment

· A group of characters suddenly travelling down a modern highway tunnel while eating raisin cookies

· In the second trilogy, spaceships that have crashed thousands of years ago play a role

· The names of the characters are completely random. You’ve got Gautier, Rivkah, Ogden, Jack, Faraday and Yr living in the same world.

· The names of the bird-people who also appear in the story, with the most obnoxious capitalisation scheme ever. Examples are: FarFlight, HoverEye, WolfStar and even PreenDeep.

· Gorgrael apparently can get energy from dying stars and supernovas.

· On a related note, the author has a lot of trouble with the POV. In one chapter, it can switch around ten times.

· There's also a prophecy everyone follows, that has actually been designed to manipulate everyone, just like the Eldunarya did in <i>Inheritance</i>. So in the first trilogy, most people are being puppeted around.

So, that is the introduction. If you like to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, you can follow my commentaries. The one for the prologue should be up soon.

Edit: There are also many horrible pregnancies and evil babies in this series. Don't ask me why.

Comments

[pangolin20]

If I've missed anything or got things wrong, please say so. I've mostly just skimmed the books, so I don't know everything.

[epistler]

Ooh, this is gonna be good. And it only gets more WTF as it goes on, too.

[snarkbotanya]

Ooooh my. I remember Epistler's sporking of this series, and all I can really say is... good luck. Because it is a bad trip of a series if ever there was one.

someone’s heart gets ripped out and fed to an eagle

And somehow this resurrects a random guy we neither know nor care about!

The third protagonist is Faraday, an eighteen-year-old woman who is one of the more likeable characters... She is not quite as Sue-y as Axis and Azhure, and not sociopathic at all.

Which explains why Sara Douglass wanted to kill her off in some manner involving a pumpkin full of nails.

The Big Bad is Axis’s half-brother, Gorgrael.

Not that the half-brother thing will ever be mentioned in the text. And StarDrifter certainly doesn't get criticized for not being able to keep it in his damn pants.

The names of the bird-people who also appear in the story, with the most obnoxious capitalisation scheme ever. Examples are: FarFlight, HoverEye, WolfStar and even PreenDeep.

These are like Warrior Cats names, but even more obnoxious because of the capitalization. Hell, Wolfstar is literally a Warrior Cats name; it's what would happen if a cat with the initial name element "Wolf-" became their clan's Leader.

There's also a prophecy everyone follows

A prophecy that's actually written out in terrible poem format, no less.

There are also many horrible pregnancies and evil babies in this series. Don't ask me why.

Because pregnancy and babies are creepy as shit and the world needs to know.

[pangolin20]

Because it is a bad trip of a series if ever there was one.
Yes. I've seen it becomes quite ugly later on. Luckily I've got enough other projects to keep me from reacting too badly.

And somehow this resurrects a random guy we neither know nor care about!
I've read some in Enchanter and it is implied the eagle actually was FreeFall. Best not think about that for too long.

Which explains why Sara Douglass wanted to kill her off in some manner involving a pumpkin full of nails.
Wow. The characters must not only fight threats from their own world, they must also combat their author, who wants to kill off anyone she doesn't like. It's certainly a good premise.

And StarDrifter certainly doesn't get criticized for not being able to keep it in his damn pants.
Nooo, of course not.

A prophecy that's actually written out in terrible poem format, no less.
I've seen it, and it's really stupid. It's more of a manual, and it would have been much better if it had been written as such.
And I will discuss it when it comes up in the text, so around chapter 10.

By the way, how much of the series have you read (either directly or indirectly)?

Oh, and I have made my chapter from Restitution somewhat longer.

[snarkbotanya]

Yes. I've seen it becomes quite ugly later on.

Oh yeah... we haven't even mentioned the frankly disturbing amount of incest. You would think it was Crusader Kings 2.

Wow. The characters must not only fight threats from their own world, they must also combat their author, who wants to kill off anyone she doesn't like.

Apparently the only reason Sara Douglass didn't kill Faraday off was because fans liked her too much.

And I will discuss it when it comes up in the text, so around chapter 10.

*rubs hands together* Yesss... I look forward to it!

By the way, how much of the series have you read (either directly or indirectly)?

I haven't read any of it directly, but I read Epistler's spork when it was first posted.

[uueiaa]

You had me at "talking judgemental bridge." Bring it on!

[torylltales]

Good luck! I hope you don't take it personally if I decide not to comment on this spork much, I barely had the stomach to read through Epitler's spork. 🤢

[pangolin20]

No problem. It's much better to stay away then.

[kassna]

Considering how my nickname since the past ~17 years comes from this series (albeit in the spelling of the German translation) - I am HERE for this sporking!! :D The books are my guilty pleasure of horribleness and I'm very glad to see more people taking them on as a project.

[pangolin20]

Good to see you here! I hope you enjoy it!