I've been wondering ...

[katewaits.livejournal.com]

Gen is pretty small.  Even in KoA the attendants and guards refer to him as their 'little king'.  But the other male members of his family that we've met have been quite big.  His father (IIRC he's pretty big), as well as Aulus and Boagus (who I loved for threatening to lie on top of the covers on either side of the KoA so he won't be able to move -- LOL), who are huge.  

Now here's what I wonder.  Has the stress his body has endured from a young age stunted his growth?  Or might we expect another growth spurt to go along with other developments in CoK?  I've personally known people who put on as much as six inches in height within a year's time after 20.  Do you think that's possible for Gen?*

Also, (and I'm sure this has been discussed here, I'm just not great at navigating LJ, yet -- sorry!), how old do you think Gen is?  Has there ever been a confirmation? He had already rejected the army by TT, but hundreds of years ago, it wasn't all that strange for members of royal families and other aristocrats to join the military at very young ages.  I figured him at around 13 for TT, 16/17 for QoA and 18 for KoA.  Or thereabouts.  Am I way off?  

Anyway, that's what I've been thinking about while I'm waiting.  I almost wish I didn't know CoK was coming in 2010.  It's making me very obsessed.  o_O

*ETA:  I realize the way I wrote this makes it seem like I want Gen to grow as big as his father and/or his cousins.  But I don't .  And I don't respect him less because of his size.  I'm just wondering if it's another physical change he'll have to learn to work with.  

Comments

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

Do you think that's possible for Gen?

*thinks ANYTHING is possible, where Gen is concerned*

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Even if Gen is quite short, I don't think it makes him any less respectable and kingly, though it kind of helps with his foolishness and 'pretending to be a fop' act. I actually kind of like the fact that he's shorter that Irene, I mean usually the stereotype is that girls are always shorter than the guys. I adore Gen for being different. Ok...that was just a rant...now for the actual speculation.

Perhaps he could still grow during CoK. And maybe he inherited his shortness from his mother (who we don't really know much about). But that's just a guess.

And their ages, there hasn't been any concrete confirmation, though attempts to peice all the age facts together have been made. I don't think you're too far off, though I think in KoA he's at least 19.

[katewaits.livejournal.com]

I agree about his being short not meaning he's not respectable. And it did help with his act. I'm just thinking of how amusing it might be if all those who referred to him as their 'little king' watched him shoot up to his father's height in about a year. Oops. Not only completely proficient and out of their league intellectually, but bigger than them as well!

And, yes, I also love that he's a little guy with lots of surprises and unique from most heroes. But an unexpected growth spurt is also another physical challenge he'd have to deal with. One of my friends who had one of those late spurts actually got incredibly clumsy for a bit until he readjusted. Just something for Gen to grumble about and make us laugh.

He might have gotten his size from his mother, although Helen is short, too, so it's not outside the realm of possibility for either side of his family. Just the men we've met have been big, except for Gen, so it got me wondering. And still, his body has been pretty heavily abused since TT, so stunted growth is still possible as well, I think. Ornon did tell Irene that Gen's body isn't doing as well as it should since the amputation (paraphrase -- I'll have to look up the quote).

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

Ah the grumbling would be insanely funny. And Irene could go all, "Gen, why are you complaining when you should obviously be very happy?" and Sophos could be all, "I wish I were as tall as you." and everyone else could speculate that he's wearing heals *snickers*.

Though I do pity Gen's very abused physical state. Doesn't anyone have pity on the poor boy?

[mycenaeth.livejournal.com]

Maybe he was the runt of the litter. ^___~

I think it's possible he could grow but I doubt he will. It helps his thieving abilities too much. Losing his hand was hard enough, to have to deal with the awkwardness and clumsiness of another growth spurt would probably make him more angsty. I think Gen likes the way he is (except missing a hand) so I wouldn't want to see him grow.

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

Gen's grown, hasn't he? *makes tencups find a copy of QoA so she can look up references*
When Gen kidnaps Attolia in QoA, He'd grown, she realised. Boys did often grow in one last leap just as they became men... he was not quite her height (pg. 199 UK pb) I think it's mentioned in KoA as well, but I can't remember the reference.
Also, I think his mother's side of the family, (which we haven't seen much of) is probably smaller in build. After all, his thief maternal grandfather must have been pretty agile.

We've argued again and again and again over the characters' ages. So much so that there's a tag for it, http://community.livejournal.com/sounis/tag/age+of+characters where you'll find all the posts discussing age. I seem to recall algebra coming into it at one point. Scary stuff. :)

[katewaits.livejournal.com]

Gen grew in QoA, but he was still pretty young. He could still have another growth spurt, I think. QofA ends only months before KoA begins, so it's possible his last "leap" was ongoing.

Thanks for the link to the age discussion. I'm afraid of algebra, but I'll be brave and wade in anyway. :D

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

I highly doubt it was stress on his body when young that stunted his growth - some of his family are soldiers, and they're quite big, as mentioned.

Wasn't the God Eugenides small? Maybe Gen was just meant by the Gods to take after him. :)

And besides, size is no measurement of power, physical and otherwise - see Theseus, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon. :D

[katewaits.livejournal.com]

LOL. I've been wondering why people seem to think I want</> Gen to grow bigger. It's the confusing way I wrote the post. Ha.

I don't think less of him as a hero or anything else because he's smallish. I'm just wondering if a quick gain in size might be another physical adjustment he (and we) will have to get used to.

I can't remember whether TT's description of the god said he was small. I'll have to look it up. Probably get sucked in again and forget about everything else, but those are the breaks, eh? ;D

[ladymoon-kora.livejournal.com]

I found something interesting yesterday--a wiki page for Gen and other characters! There aren't a lot of details but ages are given with a lot of accuracy. It's found here: http://eugenides.wikia.com/wiki/Eugenides_(Theif_of_Eddis,_King_of_Attolia)
The ages run as follows:
The Thief: 15
The Queen of Attolia: 16 or 17 (beginning) 18 or 19 (ending)
The King of Attolia: 18 or 19

And as far as height goes, I never really thought about it...I was always fine accepting that he was just small. Although, it does say that his grandfather had a hard time fitting in the vents of the palace after he aged, although that could have been that he got fatter...but even Gen said it was getting tight, so maybe he will grow even more...

Oh, I just don't know, and I'm rambling.

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I posted a link to this 2 days ago. I think someone from Sounis added the ages to that page. It's great that word of it is getting around ;).

*is still squealing over your icon*

[pigrescuer.livejournal.com]

Those ages are the general Sounisian consensus, I believe. After a lot of discussion. :D

[ladymoon-kora.livejournal.com]

Sorry openedlocket, I knew I found it on A site, but I thought it was another one.

And the reason I loved that post was because it gave reasons for arriving at those ages, very concisely. Sorry for putting it up again, I've been really absent minded lately...

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

Oh no problem, nothing to say sorry for, really. It's actually great that it's posted twice so that everyone who misses any of the two can see the other one and go to it. We're all just spreading the word ;). May I stare at your icon again, I promise to stop squealing. Please?

[beatlelove927.livejournal.com]

I tend to think hes onlder... 16-17 in thief, 18-19 in QoA, and about 21 in KoA. But thats just my opinion- its the eternal paradox around here.

[ulkis.livejournal.com]

I think Gen is just short. And I don't think he's super-small - just short for a guy. Probably around 5'6 or so. As for his age, I think he's probably around 15 in The Thief.

[netslefj.livejournal.com]

His cousins are enormous, but (referring to the short story) I never had the impression his siblings were.

[(Anonymous)]

I think that they mentioned somewhere that the men who descend form the the line of Thieves of Eddis are generally small in stature.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Easier for them to fit into those tiny places, too!