Another Homage to Rosemary Sutcliff in KoA

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

I have just realized again how brilliant MWT is, and how very, very, very much I love Costis.

I loved him before, of course. But I have just finished reading Rosemary Sutcliff's brilliant book The Mark of the Horse Lord, and found another of MWT's tributes to Sutcliff's incredible work.

From The Mark of the Horse Lord, page 281:

They had taken his dirk, of course--odd that no one ever thought of a brooch with a pin as thick as a corn stalk and longer than a man's forefinger as a weapon, even in a camp of the Eagles where they learned, just as one did in the Gladiators' School, that two inches in the right place were enough.

From The King of Attolia. page 2:

They had left his cloak pins, his plain everyday one and his fancy one with the amber bead. He had been a little surprised. His good pin was fibula-shaped with a shaft four inches long and as thick as a cornstalk. It would be as effective as a sword, if Costis chose to use it. Even the smaller pin would do; two inches in the right place was all it took.

I adored MWT's use of the flawed emerald dolphin-ring in The Thief (from Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth and The Lantern-Bearers). But somehow this homage is all the more poignant, because I love Phaedrus the Gladiator and Sutcliff's writing beyond all reason. And though I love Costis dearly for his own sake, when I see him as Phaedrus's literary descendant, I love him just that little bit more.

If you love MWT's books, you owe it to yourself to read Rosemary Sutcliff's.

Comments

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I knew it was a RS tribute!! *dances around*

I'm in complete agreement with you here. Rosemary Sutcliff and MWT are (obviously) two of my favorite authors.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

The flawed dolphin ring is what I meant there. Oh boy, brain's not working...

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

I want to include a flawed dolphin ring in my own books now. XDD (Tribute to two authors at one blow?) And I found it in another Sutcliff book last night, The Shield Ring, which is set after the Norman invasion. That ring gets around!

The Dolphin Ring

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

In the Sutcliff books, the dolphin ring is a family heirloom, and binds the generations together. It's the same ring in each of her books, passed from parent to child. It's a wonderful way to show the lineage of the people, and how they connect through time.

Edward Rutherfurd uses a similar technique in his books (Sarum, London, The Forest, etc) but his generations are all contained in a single enormous book anchored by a single location, rather than how Sutcliff focuses on one generation/book with the ring to link them.

Re: The Dolphin Ring

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

Yep--in The Shield Ring, an Anglo-Saxon warrior fighting Norman invaders ends up with the dolphin ring, passed down to him by a half-unwilling Welsh ancestress. (I'm thinking maybe Aquila's sister in The Lantern Bearers? But I haven't reread it in years.)

Re: The Dolphin Ring

[filkferengi]

Talk about great timing! I just picked up _Sword At Sunset_ at a local book sale last week. Does it fit into this saga? If so, what comes first?

Re: The Dolphin Ring

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

from the link - "Sword at Sunset opens only hours after The Lantern Bearers ends." The ring is indeed mentioned in passing.

more on the books, and I don't think are really any spoilers here, assuming you are famliar with the story of King Arthur:

http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_sutcliff_swordatsunset.html

Re: The Dolphin Ring

[filkferengi]

Thanks for the prompt reply & the nifty link!

*facepalm*

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

When I read that bit in KoA I _knew_ it seemed familiar. All I can say in my defence is that it's a loooong time since I last read Mark of the Horselord. Now I want to dig out my Sutcliff: but no! No more reading until Dec 1st!

The hardest thing about doing NaNo is restricting my reading for a month...

Re: *facepalm*

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

Think of it as your reward for a job well done : )

Re: *facepalm*

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

I'm not exactly doing NaNo, but I did set goals for myself with my own book. And then get off to a spectacularly good start by reading 2 and a half books last night. In my defense, they were two Sutcliff books and half of QoA, so it's not like I'm frivoling my time away on anything but the best!

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

Oh I love, LOVE Rosemary Sutcliff's books and the whole tribute thing!

what's funny is that before I knew they were linked, MWT and Sutcliff were the only authors I used to read.

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

Same with me! Sutcliff really influenced by own perception of writing and the world, and MWT helped me get my family hooked on historical fiction (...of a sort. Non-historical fiction?). I owe them both a great debt.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Take a look at this. (http://community.livejournal.com/sounis/34004.html)

If you had been a member of Sounis then, you might have won!

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I feel totally lame. XDD I should've checked around a bit more before I started waving my banner and trumpeting that I'd Found Something!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

No, no, no, I didn't mean to make you feel lame. Obviously, it took lots of people days and days to catch the tribute and only then because we were told there was one there. You, brilliant reader, caught it entirely on your own.

I NEED to find this quote! Please help!

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, so that was a little more than slight exaggeration. However, this is the second time that I've run across mention of a "Howl's" line stashed somewhere within Thief & KoA, and though I've racked my brains and run through all three books, I simply can't figure out what it is. Do please tell!

Re: I NEED to find this quote! Please help!

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

"What a lie that was"

Re: I NEED to find this quote! Please help!

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

Peggy's right! It occurs on p. 307 in KoA. Unfortunately I don't have copies of Howl's or Thief close to hand to find those occurrences for you. Sorry!