ACoK: Chapters 16, 17, 18, and 19!

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

Don't worry! Reading this post will not spoil anything! However,

DO NOT READ THE COMMENTS IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED LIKE MOLDY BREAD!

It's here, Sounisians! Many of us now have our hand(s) on copies of the lovely new book known as A Conspiracy of Kings.
This system of posts is designed to put a little bit of organization in the chaos. Thus, if you want to discuss what happened in ACoK, leave your squeeings, questions, exclamations, and happy-sparrow-in-the-nest chatter in the comments. There will be a post for every four chapters, so it will be extremely lovely if the comments are placed in their approximate place. Of course, that isn't always possible for overall themes, etc. Don't worry. We won't put you in prison. :)
Also, THIS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY, of course. This chapter by chapter thingy isn't meant to monopolize discussion. It even may disappear after a few days in the deluge of excitement that's currently sweeping toward and around us, threatening to wash away everying more than a day old on the Recent Entries page. Yeah. So. Just remember to use lj cuts for any discussion of the content of ACoK!

Happy discussing! Be blessed in your endeavors! We are Sounisians, hear us roar like bears!

Comments

[katewaits.livejournal.com]

This is the chapter set with the barons' vote. I thought this sequence was really fantastic. The individual meeting with Comeneus ... I just wanted to reach into the pages and smack the guy.

I knew the trap door on the stage would be used at some point (getting better at picking up clues first time around), but I didn't expect an attack to come through there. I also didn't expect Sophos to kill Hanaktos. I thought he was going to kill the Mede, even though that was a no-no. But I was very pleasantly surprised that a major player in the whole scheme was the acoustics of the amphitheater. Bravo.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I knew something big was going to happen in this scene but I wasn't sure exactly what it would be. I loved that Sophos took charge like he did--it reminded me just a tad of the fall of the house of Erondites--and I also loved the bit about the acoustics.

[reader-marie.livejournal.com]

The acoustics bit was excellent. Sophos' interest in theatre and the arts pays off! The whole scene also shows that Sophos, despite his inability to tell a convincing lie, is just as good at manipulating his public appearance, in the long run, as Gen (our resident manipulation expert). His sense of timing and his attention to sound and visual cues (acoustics, smiles) is spot-on. (I was cheering, too, though I didn't expect him to kill Hanaktos either.)

And who ordered the second set of hidden crossbowmen?

[kitsune-rains.livejournal.com]

That scene, where Sounis whips out his pistols and levels them at his targets from where he stands in the middle of the stage, I can picture so well. Especially with his overly lacy and flashy clothes swirling around him.

Oh yeah.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I expected Sophos to use the gun... why else would he practice using it? Which raises the question: why did they let him keep it? Was his "bunny" persona in full swing at this point, so that nobody expected him to actually use it?

What surprised me: the second gun. =D

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Elf brings up a question from chapter 19 that I have NO CLUE about. Ion2 comes to Sounis/Sophos in his rooms with a late meal with a friend. What's that all about? He didn't give Sophos any good information, really not much at all, right? It's mwt, so what's it about? Gotta be about something, right? It's a very short passage, I think a little less than a page.

[crowinator.livejournal.com]

I agree. I was curious about this, too. What was Ion2 trying to say, and whatever it was, was it a trick, too?

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

I sort of took it as Nomenus's attempt to make Sophos think he was being all helpful and finding him "secret informants" and whatnot, while really being no help whatsoever.

Also, it's a friend from Tas-Elisa, which is where the 10,000 Mede soldiers are coming ashore. Sophos, thinking he has fresh news from there in the form of this friend, would have no reason whatsoever to think that anything unexpected was happening there, because obviously if there had been something he'd have been told all about it by the friend, wouldn't he?

[crowinator.livejournal.com]

Wow, chapter 19 was amazing. I waited and waited to find out what was under the gun Attolia gave Sounis, and when I learned what it was, I cried too. (I am an emotional chick.) That whole, "If they needed to see my uncle in me, then I would show him to them", OMG. And I waited and waited to find out the secret of the weird pockets Gen had given him, and it paid off, too. Also, it shows that Gen still has an eye on the long con, so to speak, putting things in motion long, long before they are needed. How amazing that he can do that.

Did anybody else think those two guns were the guns Gen mentioned briefly that he and Attolia slept with in chapter 15? Or do you think they had them made special for Sophos? The inscriptions made me think they were originally Gen's and Attolia's guns.

[empmai.livejournal.com]

Not from this chapter, but I couldn't help wondering who gave the Matching guns to the other? Gen or Attolia.

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

Hmm, you're right, the inscriptions would work, but

No WAY would Attolia give up her gun!

And I think "I can make the king" fits for Sophos too, because it made him King, in actuality.

But "The queen made me" really sounds like an *excuse*, now that I think of it. :)

[teenareena.livejournal.com]

I think the inscription on the first gun is quite apt as well coz if Sophos only grabbed the first gun offered (i.e. just take Attolia advice for violence), he would just be following someone else advice.

But when he reached that conclusion himself then got the second gun out, it is he who made himself king, not some others advice.

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

[About Akretenesh]

"Also, I hated the scent of his hair oil, which is a stupid thing to care about, and I am not surprised that it makes you laugh."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love this!
Inside joke, much? If only Attolia was there to appreciate it.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

MWT predicted me perfectly during that paragraph. I did laugh. Just like Eddis. And then I turned the page and she called me on it. O.O

[sgwordy.livejournal.com]

I hope these Medes get smarter because they will quickly tire for me as villains if they are all so dang arrogant and short-sited. Obviously the 10,000 soldiers was very well done but I hope they develop some schemes a little more subtle than a hammer.

And speaking of... I would actually adore it if one of these books (like the next one:) was in the Mede capital or something where we can hang out with the spies. Anyone think there's any chance of something like that?

[(Anonymous)]

Seconded.

The main characters are so multi-faceted that it would be a shame if the Medes turn out to be mostly one dimensional.

A book set in Mede would be facinating at this point, I think. If anything we would get to see the Medes in their Natural Habitat.

-Left-Handed Creativity