creative-lefty2.livejournal.comTriple-post of doom number two!
So, yes, still re-reading QoA. I've been saving up my comments because I'm lazy. I apologize if there are any CoK spoilers.
1. On page 68 of the paperback, Attolia says that "I met [Eugenides] grandfather once, many years ago. He told me a thief's greatest asset, like a queen's, was his mind." I always assumed, like Nahasuresh, that she is talking about Grandfather Thief. However, this could also easily be Grandfather King. As Gen comments at the end of KoA, he has two grandfathers. Either grandfather could easily have commented on the relationship between the kings and thieves of Eddis. However, seeing as Attolia "wasn't a queen then...wasn't even a princess of any particular importance," (68) it seems more likely it was Grandfather King on some sort of state visit. What cause would Grandfather Thief have to speak to a minor princess? Anyway, I think it's funny how with these we always assume it's the thief side of the family.
2. Page 83: The Court of the Ten Nations. It's only mentioned in passing, but I'm wondering if these are the continental powers that are visiting in CoK.
3. Page 112: (Gen talking about his actions in Sounis) "I would have much preferred to slit Sounis's throat while he slept, but his heir is hardly ready to inherit the kingdom, and we can't have a civil was in Sounis for the Mede to step in and resolve, can we?" I think this sums of some of his actions in CoK nicely.
4.Page 187: Eddis is talking about the war with Attolia: "It's not the way I would like to think I would defend my throne, but in prosecuting this war against her I find myself...not commendable. I wouldn't have started a war to avenge you, Gen, or even to rescue you. Still, I wonder, what opportunity for diplomacy did I miss, and did I overlook it because I was angry on your behalf?" (Italics mine) I think this is an ongoing fear of Eddis's. To me, this feels similar to her worry about the number of soldiers she gives Sophos and the whole thing about the guns.
5. Page 242: "Eugenides shrugged, 'Eddis will have been a poor country for a long, long time before the Medes lose their grip on this coast, but there will be an Eddis long after Sounis and Attolia are gone. We have our mountains to keep us.'" For me, this just clarified the visit by the goddess of the end of this book. She is there to tell Gen that his mountains are not the safe haven he envisions and that if/when the Medes come and take the low-lands, no one (or at least very few) will be safe in mountains.
Yeah. Done.