regshoe

But to disparage Katsu! Sir, I protest!

Katsu just felt so self-consciously designed to be cute and loveable, and I don't like feeling like I'm being pushed towards a response like that. I will decide how I feel about the characters and their clockwork octopuses, thank you!

Yeah, I think I found Mori most likeable and appealing when he was at his least powerful (I really liked the thing where he foresees all this happy future with Thaniel, and then, oh no! Thaniel meets Grace because of the roulette wheel, a random event that Mori couldn't predict D: ), and in general... I think, if you're going to lean that hard on those feelings from those kinds of characters, then I like them and the story better (for a given value of 'better') when they're not powerful and they don't get what they want. Hence Phineas Fletcher. But that's cool that the sequel has more to say about the ethical issues of Mori's powers—I will probably not read it, but it's good to know.