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queensthiefWelcome back to the community read-along of all the books (so far!). This week, we’re starting A Conspiracy of Kings, reading from the start of the Prologue “The king of Attolia was passing....” to the end of Chapter 12 “...You came in. And you laughed.” Thirteen chapters sounds like a lot, but some of them are actually very short, so please keep reading and don’t panic!
These discussions are spoiler-free for the new short stories The Wine Shop and The Knife Dance, as well as for the ARC Thick As Thieves. If you have any comments on these in relation to ACoK, please write them down or tell them to the cat, so you’ll remember them to share with everyone else in Less Than A Month’s Time!!! :D
Obviously, there will be spoilers for the four extant books, so if you’re very very new to this fandom, I echo the Queen of Attolia: Go Away – and finish reading all four books!
So, so, so. This book contains some of the most uneven chapter lengths Megan’s ever published, so for discussing, I have divided the narrative into 6 parts:
1. Reunion (Prologue)
2. Life – and death – at the villa (Chapters 1 & 2)
3. An unexpected escape (Chapters 3 & 4)
4. Life and learning (Chapters 5 & 6)
5. An unexpected rescue (Chapters 7 to 9)
6. Flight to Attolia (Chapters 10 to 12)
For each of these, (in imitation of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pendrecarc) I have added a few rather random thoughts and questions in separate comments below. As you’re reading through and want to comment, pick the thread that matches your section and reply. Quotes, comments, suggestions, elaborations, arguments -- all welcome!
Enjoy! And don’t delay! Next week is section 2 of ACoK led byibmiller, while May 16th gets nearer every day!
These discussions are spoiler-free for the new short stories The Wine Shop and The Knife Dance, as well as for the ARC Thick As Thieves. If you have any comments on these in relation to ACoK, please write them down or tell them to the cat, so you’ll remember them to share with everyone else in Less Than A Month’s Time!!! :D
Obviously, there will be spoilers for the four extant books, so if you’re very very new to this fandom, I echo the Queen of Attolia: Go Away – and finish reading all four books!
So, so, so. This book contains some of the most uneven chapter lengths Megan’s ever published, so for discussing, I have divided the narrative into 6 parts:
1. Reunion (Prologue)
2. Life – and death – at the villa (Chapters 1 & 2)
3. An unexpected escape (Chapters 3 & 4)
4. Life and learning (Chapters 5 & 6)
5. An unexpected rescue (Chapters 7 to 9)
6. Flight to Attolia (Chapters 10 to 12)
For each of these, (in imitation of
pendrecarc) I have added a few rather random thoughts and questions in separate comments below. As you’re reading through and want to comment, pick the thread that matches your section and reply. Quotes, comments, suggestions, elaborations, arguments -- all welcome!Enjoy! And don’t delay! Next week is section 2 of ACoK led by
ibmiller, while May 16th gets nearer every day!
Reunion
Date: 4/23/17 12:34 am (UTC)No doubt about it, this prologue is one of the most tantalising ever! First, MWT reminds us all just how good she is at showing without telling anything – hands up if you didn’t realise it was Sophos and the Magus! – and even once we know a thousand more questions spring up. Travelling? Robbed? The new face of Sophos?
Then there’s also one of the most human sides of Gen we see or have seen, in greeting both the Magus and Sophos – a useful reminder that Gen is still Gen as well as Attolis, when he promptly goes on to become so distant.
What do you think? Even on the umpteenth re-read, is it humanly possible to put the book down at this point?
Favourite line: “You know, I don’t think you’re allowed to treat me like this.”
Re: Reunion
Date: 4/24/17 12:50 am (UTC)I did suspect right away that it was Sophos, but I'll admit to knowing that the book was about him.
Re: Reunion
Date: 4/25/17 06:34 pm (UTC)Was this something to do with the error in the Amazon sample that let people read about half the book?!? ;P
It's one of the lovely things about Sophos that he has such a gentle sense of humour.
Life -- and death -- at the villa
Date: 4/23/17 12:36 am (UTC)In story structure terms, this section is a bit of background and the Inciting Incident, as we meet Sophos’ family who were so briefly described in The Thief, and then “Like a fool, I got what I wished for...”
One thing which I noticed was that although, like his size, Sophos doesn’t realise it or use it yet, he is quite an astute judge of people. His sisters, Terve, Malatesta … all are described with very defining actions, like Hyacinth always arriving in time for food.
A theme which runs through the whole of ACoK is Sophos making plans. When the attack on the villa comes, we have the first of these – which, of course, starts off quite well but then runs into a table... [Note: the way to fight off a table is to bend just as it reaches you, so the table and its wielder go over the top. I learned this from an old Robin Hood book when I was about six :D]
Should Sophos have guessed that all might not work out, given the fuss his mother’s two maids were making about the first part of the escape?
Re: Life -- and death -- at the villa
Date: 4/24/17 01:01 am (UTC)Yes, that struck me, too. And he doesn't give himself credit for how quick a thinker he is, in addition to being a good judge of character.
I'm impressed how the first-person writing from Gen's POV and Sophos's are so different. I love Sophos's voice so much because he is so self conscious and has so many self doubts. He's always putting himself down and second guessing every thought and action. That makes his growth in this book so delightful. Gen wasn't forced to change--he chose to make changes in his life. Sophos wasn't really forced, either. Eventually, he makes the decision to leave captivity and assume his role as heir and later king.
Re: Life -- and death -- at the villa
Date: 4/25/17 06:37 pm (UTC)You're right, he doesn't credit himself for the quick thinking. And given the escape plan hatched at the Baron's dinner, he really ought to!
Re: Life -- and death -- at the villa
Date: 4/26/17 03:16 pm (UTC)This is why, even though I love Eugenides and Attolia, my love for Sophos is on another level. I have a soft spot for characters like this! (Which is probably why I really loved Maia from The Goblin Emperor as well!)
An unexpected escape
Date: 4/23/17 12:37 am (UTC)It seems like it’s working, too – before Berrone unknowingly drops the information about her father!
How much sense can you make so far of the abduction plot?
Life and learning
Date: 4/23/17 12:39 am (UTC)At the same time as Rural Life becomes a major feature, another library appears, this time with a rather tantalising haul of book titles and Moira as tutor, though Sophos doesn’t recognise her. His “studies” and life start to relate to each other, with particular emphasis on the nature and qualities of monarchy. How do all the monarchs in ACoK measure up?
There’s also what Gen would have called “an instructive story.” The immediate parallel is quite clear, but is it relevant that it leaves Sophos with a whole pile of questions?
On a less important point, what do you think the Magus had been doing in a library in Ferria?
An unexpected rescue
Date: 4/23/17 12:45 am (UTC)Firstly, Sophos faces the hardest choice of his life. Are there certain echoes of Eddis' very long pause before she lets Gen go to steal the Queen of Attolia here? More so because with the example of the Mephians discussed among the field-hands in the previous chapter, we know his "stay safely put" option isn't really an option, just as Eddis knows she can't stay put on the Sacred Mountain?
Choice made, and the next Plan by Sophos. This time, crunch time, it really works -- given a dozen or more adjustments, reverses, wild strokes of luck and so on! Sophos combines both his mind and his physical strength – “I hit him with the accumulated force of a thousand thousand shovelfuls of dirt.” A couple of points spring to mind: Why does Sylvie the maid go along with Sophos’ deception when she has seen at least part way through it?
And when Baron Hanaktos recognises Sophos, is it as Sophos or because he looks so like Sounis?
Re: An unexpected rescue
Date: 4/26/17 03:21 pm (UTC)This is such an iconic moment for me the first time I read ACoK. One of the most unforgettable lines in the entire series!
Because Sylvie is hip and cool! Just kidding. Well, she probably thinks that Sophos is earnest in his need for help, and would not intentionally hurt Berrone.
Oh, I thought Baron Hanaktos recognizes Sophos, and becomes incensed that he was there the entire time in his land, and he never knew!
Flight to Attolia
Date: 4/23/17 12:47 am (UTC)Apart from leaving Sophos and the Magus completely destitute on their arrival in Attolia, does the robbery on the road add or reveal anything to justify it being a whole chapter?
After a brief revisit to the route of The Thief, it’s back to courtly life and one of Gen’s all-time stunners: “The quickest way to end a war is to admit you’ve lost it.” Just what did he really mean by that remark?
And finally, we end with my favourite line of the whole section: “and you came in. And you laughed.” Is it because Eddis is glad? Or because she’s spent her whole reign refusing to marry Sounis and is now proposing to marry his spitting image?
no subject
Date: 4/24/17 05:21 pm (UTC)When Gen is cold to Sophos upon his arrival in Attolia, I assume that's meant to harden Sophos up so he'll understand right from the start what it's going to take to be king? I.e., it's going to be a different treatment than just being Gen's friend, though they'll still be friends.
no subject
Date: 4/25/17 12:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 4/25/17 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 4/25/17 07:19 am (UTC)So, I think it's a mix of tough love and refusing to use his relationship with Sophos as political leverage.
no subject
Date: 4/25/17 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 4/25/17 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 4/26/17 03:12 pm (UTC)Actually, it would almost echo Attolia's attempts to sow fear and doubt in Eddis when *she* took the throne. Remember how Attolia took her aside and gave her advice about how to treat her barons and how to act, because she thought that Eddis's reign would mirror hers? I feel like Gen was projecting the same way Attolia was. In their experiences, they had to be hard and ruthless, so that's how they in turn treat their fellow monarchs because they think it's for the best.
no subject
Date: 4/25/17 08:12 pm (UTC)Afterthought
Date: 4/26/17 12:57 am (UTC)Re: Afterthought
Date: 4/26/17 03:08 pm (UTC)This was one of the things that really struck me this time in my re-read. Mostly because I'd forgotten that the Eumen conspiracy was mentioned in TT the first few times I read ACoK. This time though my re-read of the series have almost been back-to-back, and the Eumen conspiracy is still fresh in my mind.
Looking back, I feel myself oddly sympathizing with Ambiades. If his relatives were involved in the Eumen conspiracy, that means that they were the ones who helped Sounis take the throne. And *then* they were killed to shut them up. Sophos also mentions that Ambiades was the magus's apprentice long before Sophos came. So what must it have been like for Ambiades to wake up one day and find that the heir of the current king is the 2nd apprentice of the magus? And not only that, but have Sophos be the better student? Ugh, that must have stung!
To be honest, in his place, I would have turned to Attolia too.
Oh gosh, poor Ambiades. He was a jerk, but he was in poor company. I'd be a jerk too if I was him. In Sophos's words: "So many things are obvious in retrospect, aren't they?"