Delurking and Question

[bobbinj.livejournal.com]

Hi all,

I'm a long time lurker and have finally decided to delurk (YAY). I recently posted a fanfic in queen's thief fiction and now I am delurking here with a question that has bothered me since my first read of The Thief: who is Philonikes and why is Gen trying to get his attention? Does he really know him or making it seem like he does for the Magus? Is it to test how secretive the trip is? If so why? This has been bugging me off and on since 2007... ya, I can get obsessive, but I've read some of the posts here so I know I'm not alone :) 

Comments

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

Hey there! :D Welcome to Sounis! Yay for delurking.

There was a discussion on this before but I'm not sure where to find it. But I think he was testing the Magus in a way (like you said, to test how secretive the trip is). Also, I think it helps preserve his cover a bit if he acted a bit insufferable (being the supposed ordinary thief he's pretending to me) and if he pretended to know someone in the town.

I hope that helps a bit :D And don't worry, we're ALL obsessive here. You're definitely not alone ;)

[manderelee.livejournal.com]

Also, I think it helps preserve his cover a bit if he acted a bit insufferable (being the supposed ordinary thief he's pretending to me) and if he pretended to know someone in the town.

Yeah, this was how I took it too. =D

[bobbinj.livejournal.com]

That makes sense, I couldn't understand why he would be testing the Magus (why would the secrecy of the trip matter?) but to preserve his cover seems more accurate. :)

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

First of all, welcome, welcome!!! I hope you have fun here :)

I think the secrecy of the trip would matter because it's a secret mission for the King of Sounis, who probably doesn't want Eddis's spies to notice that his Magus is leaving on a long journey (with lots of baggage)! Those spies might suspect what the Magus is after and warn Eddis, who could cause trouble for the Magus on his trip!

[bobbinj.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhh I see, that makes sense thank you :)

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

Although, now I think about it if it's so secret I wonder why they're leaving in the middle of the day. Maybe sneaking out at night would be even more conspicuous?

Hm!

[bobbinj.livejournal.com]

i think so, a traveling party leaving the city gates at night in ancient times was very noticeable, and remember later when Gen was going to steal the horses he mentions that he can't think of a reason to be entering the town at that time of night (too lazy to look it up) if entering a town at night was weird leaving one would be. No street lights made traveling at night difficult and dangerous. Yay putting my history major to good use!

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's very informative! thank you!

Good point about entering the town later in the book being weird. Stands to reason it would be in Sounis too.

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

Welcome! Always glad to meet a new face! ^_^

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

Hey there - I'm glad to see you over here!! Welcome to Sounis!

Wow, five years is a long time for a question to bother you - Here (http://sounis.livejournal.com/534880.html)'s the link to a conversation we had a few weeks ago about Philonikes....But don't worry - like you noticed, we like to obsess, so we certainly don't mind discussing it more =D

[bobbinj.livejournal.com]

lol, I know but in fairness it wasn't consuming... all of the time :) That's interesting, I had thought it might be to let Eddis know but then I realized she had known nothing, but I like the idea of it being MoW's spy. He would want to keep tabs on his son no matter how gruff he appears, especially the baby if the family, they're always looked after (says the oldest of three siblings).

[deirdrej.livejournal.com]

Hey, welcome!

But you guys --I mean, lovely Sounisians -- why in the world would Gen need to pretend to know someone in town? I mean, at the end of The Thief, when he's telling The Magus (who otherwise shall be nameless) never to call him "Gen" again, doesn't he complain about having had to drink his way through every wineshop in Sounis? (Or words to that effect?) Which certainly may be an exaggeration, but is just as certainly based in fact. Remember, he had to establish a reputation ... which takes a certain amount of conversation, don't you think? So he knew a good few people in town -- although they didn't "really" know him. (BTW, we know from both KoA and CoK that he also has a variety of old acquaintances in Attolia. Friends of his Grandpa's among others)

When I read the book, I blithely assumed that Philonikes was some low-life kid that Gen knew. And I chuckled at the inappropriate-seeming name, having taken Greek in college.

Of course, Gen is delighted to make a scene at this juncture -- but that doesn't mean he doesn't know the kid, does it?

And now I'm thinking -- what if Philonikes is actually one of Gen's cousins? And therefore, just like Gen, much more aptly named than at first appears.

I'm waiting for him to turn up in book 5 or 6, in cahoots with Kamet, and an elephant!

In the meantime -- here's something that has been driving me NUTS for more than 5 years. There's an actual error in this scene -- remember that the Magus grabs Gen's arm and drags him around a corner "the other four riders hurrying to catch up." There may be 4 horses, but there are only 3 riders. SO, when Greenwillow publishes the pretty new hardback edition of The Thief with the Vince Natale cover art, they will fix this, right? (One can always hope....Sigh)

But I digress. As usual.

And as usual, you Sounisians have pointed out a new possibility for reading this scene. Which also works, because these books are awesome!

[manderelee.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for him to turn up in book 5 or 6, in cahoots with Kamet, and an elephant!

And I want the Ion there too. The one that's still praying in his cell for Sophos to remember him.

I just looked back again in the book, and the way Gen talks about Philonikes, just the sudden mention of his name, makes me think that he *does* know him. Possibly, during his time trying to make a reputation about himself. That makes sense to me. (Although I really wouldn't rely heavily on how Gen narrates, because he's out to get us!)