Ponderings on CoK and beyond…
May. 19th, 2010 03:55 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
finding-further.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
queensthiefHello All. I'm new to the community and wanted to say HELLO! What a great place to share the love for these brilliant stories and speculate about what's to come! My journey here has been mercifully short – I picked up KoA about two weeks ago when a friend recommended it (masterful POV shifting, she said) and after getting a few pages in, I wisely went back and started with TT, then devoured QoA and KoA and CoK within a week. Now, the wait for the next book seems intolerable…
So, I've a few thoughts/questions about what's coming next:
I've read some reviews that speculate that the series is moving away from Gen as a main character. I don't really think that is happening. I think MWT likes challenges, and she has shown that with each book she is willing to take a different path to tell Gen's story: In TT she's very direct and gives us 1st person POV – showing us only what Gen wants us to see of himself and what he wants us to see of those around him; in QoA, 3rd person POV, but it's a very particular POV – showing us what those who love and know Gen see; and in KoA we get 3rd POV again, but this time showing us what people who don't know or love Gen (at least at first) see. And each time around we get a new layer of characterization for Gen because of what we know from the previous POVs. Sheer brilliance. So after KoA, what could MWT do in CoK that would be different and challenging? Why not tell the next step of Gen's path from King of Attolia to Annux by telling us someone else's story – Sophos' story. It's a very twisty way to continue the series, and coming from such a twisty author, could we expect any less?
So, I think Gen is still front and center as the main character of the series, and MWT has taken us where she intended – from Gen as Queen's Thief to Gen as King of Kings over the course of four books. She just hasn't done it in a predictable or conventional manner. And I expect the following two books to be clearly Gen-centric, though equally unpredictable and unconventional in structure.
In terms of plot, I think we are headed for very dark times. After CoK I had the strong impression that MWT wanted to leave us with the realization that Gen had become terribly, terribly vulnerable, even as his power had grown. Sand is still being sprinkled into his food (and if sand can be sprinkled into it, why not poison?), he continues to take appalling risks (sneaking alone! Into a tavern! Assuming no one will recognize him!), he is isolated from his staff, a handful of people unwittingly still hold his heart firmly in their hands, his health is fragile (or worse), and the restorative that his physician gives him is disconcertingly similar to that which caused the previous King's demise at his wife's hand (wine with foul herbs). Of course, there's no coleus in the hot wine his physician gives him, but every time Gen stares into the cup, how can he not think about what happened before? So, is it any wonder that Gen seems withdrawn and reserved in CoK?
So, what comes next? War with the Mede? Most likely. Civil unrest between Eddis, Sounis, and Attolia? Most likely. Volcanic eruption? Most likely? And I have a sinking feeling something very bad is waiting around the corner for our beloved Thief.
Your thoughts?
So, I've a few thoughts/questions about what's coming next:
I've read some reviews that speculate that the series is moving away from Gen as a main character. I don't really think that is happening. I think MWT likes challenges, and she has shown that with each book she is willing to take a different path to tell Gen's story: In TT she's very direct and gives us 1st person POV – showing us only what Gen wants us to see of himself and what he wants us to see of those around him; in QoA, 3rd person POV, but it's a very particular POV – showing us what those who love and know Gen see; and in KoA we get 3rd POV again, but this time showing us what people who don't know or love Gen (at least at first) see. And each time around we get a new layer of characterization for Gen because of what we know from the previous POVs. Sheer brilliance. So after KoA, what could MWT do in CoK that would be different and challenging? Why not tell the next step of Gen's path from King of Attolia to Annux by telling us someone else's story – Sophos' story. It's a very twisty way to continue the series, and coming from such a twisty author, could we expect any less?
So, I think Gen is still front and center as the main character of the series, and MWT has taken us where she intended – from Gen as Queen's Thief to Gen as King of Kings over the course of four books. She just hasn't done it in a predictable or conventional manner. And I expect the following two books to be clearly Gen-centric, though equally unpredictable and unconventional in structure.
In terms of plot, I think we are headed for very dark times. After CoK I had the strong impression that MWT wanted to leave us with the realization that Gen had become terribly, terribly vulnerable, even as his power had grown. Sand is still being sprinkled into his food (and if sand can be sprinkled into it, why not poison?), he continues to take appalling risks (sneaking alone! Into a tavern! Assuming no one will recognize him!), he is isolated from his staff, a handful of people unwittingly still hold his heart firmly in their hands, his health is fragile (or worse), and the restorative that his physician gives him is disconcertingly similar to that which caused the previous King's demise at his wife's hand (wine with foul herbs). Of course, there's no coleus in the hot wine his physician gives him, but every time Gen stares into the cup, how can he not think about what happened before? So, is it any wonder that Gen seems withdrawn and reserved in CoK?
So, what comes next? War with the Mede? Most likely. Civil unrest between Eddis, Sounis, and Attolia? Most likely. Volcanic eruption? Most likely? And I have a sinking feeling something very bad is waiting around the corner for our beloved Thief.
Your thoughts?
no subject
Date: 5/20/10 10:31 pm (UTC)We are so not nice to that poor little king.
no subject
Date: 5/20/10 11:14 pm (UTC);)