(no subject)

[betonyb.livejournal.com]

Hello! I love the Queen's Thief books, and I'm delighted to find this community here full of people who also like to discuss these brilliant books. That being said, I've come prepared to participate in the time-honored newbie tradition of asking loads and loads of questions, all rather Irene-centric, as she is arguably my favorite character, and the one who confuses me most....

1) First of all, what happened to her mother? I believe all we know is that Attolia Sr had jewelry (either of her own, or part of the royal collection) that was later given to her husband's concubines and then to her daughter? And, if she was a noblewoman, as I guess, why do none of her family ties become relevant for Irene's court? (Or was Attolia Sr the last of her family/a foreigner/of a lower social class?) For that matter, with the exception of Queen Thief (and all we know of her is her parentage, popularity, and predilection for dancing on rooftops) and Sophos' mother, everyone else' mother...doesn't seem to exist? Do we know anything else about any of them?

2) On a completely unrelated note, do we know when, exactly, the Dite/Irene/Gen-in-a-bush encounter happened in relation to the year between TT and QoA? Not to mention the specifics of how that conversation even went--I mean, her obliviousness to romance is one of her most endearing traits, but oh, Irene, how is it even possible to interpret a marriage proposal as a discussion about poetry?

3) Is there a reason why, in the minds of most casual readers I've discussed this with, Irene seems to be remembered only as the beautiful-but-cruel stereotype? I mean, her biggest gripe in QoA when Gen proposes is that he'll let the barons take over, and she objects not because it'll mean she loses power/wealth/comfort, but because they'll be cruel to the people! Not to mention the fact that the books specifically describe her as being quite polite, if formal, to her attendants and other members of the court who haven't schemed against her, not the frothing harpy people imagine...

4) Finally, that rant aside :), I was also thinking about how Irene would come across if she were the King of Attolis rather than the Queen, and that led me to wonder how the series would work if all male characters were female, and all female male. A female Gen would be really interesting--not to mention female Sophos--but I'd be sorry to miss all the richness of the backstory that Attolia and Eddis have. Thoughts?

Anyway, hello again, and hopefully these haven't been discussed too much already!

Hi!

[star-aesh.livejournal.com]

Hey fellow Sounisians :D

I'm a long-time lurker, rare poster and I felt inspired to share my first encounter with the Queen's Thief series.

Audiobooks are one of my absolutely favourite things. I found King of Attolia on audio at the library and started listening to it that night. Jeff Woodman is such a fabulous narrator. I didn't realize that I had picked up the 3rd book in a series until I was halfway through and I was enjoying KoA too much to stop. I found Queen of Attolia on audio as well and listened to that next. Then I read The Thief and waited for Conspiracy of Kings to come out. I've reread and relistened to the whole series many times since then (in the traditional order!).

Costis and I were on the same page from the first, since we both had no idea what Gen was capable of. Hilariously, I didn't make the connection between 'Gen the thief in prison' and 'Eugenides king of Attolia' when I read The Thief the first time so I was surprised and delighted at the reveal of the Thief of Eddis (and then I felt silly).

When I recommend the series to people, I sometimes wonder if I should recommend that they read it the way I did. Gen's conversion to left-handedness was much less traumatic for me than it seemed to be for traditional readers because Costis presents it as a fact in the first chapter of KoA (though I puzzled all through QoA about how on earth Irene and Gen would end up happily married). What do you think? I do respect original order but I feel kind of like this is a special case. Did Costis seem completely clueless to you when you read KoA (if you read the books in publishing order)?

Anyway, thanks for reading my rambly musings!