Eddis, Attolia, Sounis

I'm pretty sure Elia was commenting on the familiarity and intimacy of the scene. I know there was a Sounisian who said, (and this was a long time ago) in the cultures that resemble the QT world, the only man who would've had the liberty of removing a woman's hair pins would be her husband. Of course, the Attolian court still thinks Gen is harassing their queen with his displays of familiarity. Like how Costis thought Gen kissing Irene on the cheek was a sign of ownership rather than recognizing it as a sign of affection. That's what Phresine is commenting on.

One day this will be a international box office hit and this will be the place to be on the interweb.

Oh, that would be the day! :) I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about a movie or mini-series based on QT, but I would love to see someone give it a try, at the very least. It would take an impressive cast of talented writers, directors, and actors; but when the mojo is right, production companies have made some pretty awesome series and movies based on books.

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madclairvoyant.livejournal.com

I believe that it has to with the fact that a woman's hair style was very important back then. I also believe that someone has beaten me to saying this, but I shall continue to ramble. For example, I know that maidens in China had the prerogative to wear their hair partially down, and unwed servants have their hair in a single plait, but once married, they had to bun it up, as a sign of modesty. Thus, from then on, only their husbands were allowed to see their unbound hair. In other civilisations, like in Ancient Greece, I think that the same things applies, minus the part about the servants, because the society then, and even now, was rather patriarchal in nature. So Gen is invoking this; the fact that Irene is actually his wife, not just queen, but most are quite a bit dull I think, and the meaning is lost on them. Elia and Phresine are more insightful though.

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helle-d.livejournal.com

One aspect of the scene that I rather like is the fact that here, Irene is free and light "like a flame in the wind", while Gen is the one who steadily grounds her and anchors her. Since Gen usually is/is percieved as being "mercurial", changeable and unpredictable, while Irene, as queen, has to be dependable and consistent and is trapped in that role, I think it says a lot that their roles as a couple don't neccesarily follow their public persona, that Irene can let go and Gen can stay still and support her. (Like, which I've just thouht of now, the scene where Gen wants to pace about and growl, but understands how silence and stillness is a refuge to Irene and 'offers it to her as a gift'.

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freenarnian.livejournal.com

This is not on topic, but your comment made me wonder about the next book cover. How pretty would it be if it was KoA reversed, with Gen's hand on Irene's shoulder or resting over her hand...? *squee* Of course, it probably will be something else entirely. Something specific to the narrator, whoever he/she may be. I'm excited.

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Do you know how perfect that would be? Well, any cover would be perfect (there isn't a bad one of the lot), but I can just see the parallels, especially since Megan has said this will be the "second half" of King of Attolia. I say Elia is the new POV narrator. Or Phresine. ;) Actually, that would be all kinds of fantastic. That old bird knows things, I tell you.

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freenarnian.livejournal.com

I wouldn't mind Philo. But I suspect it'll be an unknown, like Costis was in KoA.

Yes, yes, I'm as excited about the prettyful cover as I am about the book itself!

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lizzyazula.livejournal.com

I've seen a few comments discussing this new POV thing for the next book, and I have no idea to what everyone is referring. Can someone elaborate? Was this something revealed at the QT gathering a few weeks ago?

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It was said that the new book was currently being rewritten from third person into first person (which could change again) and that it was featuring a new POV character. :) That's all we know!

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I'm thinking the next book will be from Sandy's POV, considering CoK appeared to overlap not only Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia but maybe a bit of the next book, as well.

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agentmaly.livejournal.com

Sandy?

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The person putting sand in Gen's food that Sophos and Gen discuss towards the end of CoK.

"I'm sure she just hasn't met you yet."

"Actually, she has."

aged_crone named her (him?) Sandy a few years ago. Considering the pointed mention, it seems Sandy might be playing a role in the future books.

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Woah, really? How did I miss this? Where was it said?

Do elaborate! :)

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For the POV for the new book or the quote of "Sandy" near the CoK? :) Because I would love to reread that scene again myself. :)

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Opps! Allow me to reference the scene. :)

Go to page 201 of the hardcover edition of CoK and read to page 203 for the whole scene. The verbatim quote is...

Gen says--
"There is still someone in the kitchen who adores the queen, dislikes Eddisians, and hates me."
Sophos responds--
"She just hasn't met you, I am sure."
Gen dubiously comments--
"She has, actually."

Sophos eats the sandy lamb. XD

Shortly after the book was released, Sounis had several conversations speculating about "Sandy's" identity, and we theorized that she (he?) may play a role in the future books. Personally, I think "Sandy" will be the next narrator; because of Megan's comment about book five being like the second half of KoA. KoA was from the POV of Costis, a member of the Guard, so it's fitting that the second half might be from the POV of another Attolian working in the palace.

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KoA was from the POV of Costis, a member of the Guard, so it's fitting that the second half might be from the POV of another Attolian working in the palace.

Hm, that's very interesting. I had always thought "the second half of KoA" would mean this would be also Costis's story. But perhaps you're right, it could be the continuation of the palace's perception of Gen...

I got the impression that story was finished with the end of KoA, though. Sandy was the only holdout.

I do know who you meant by Sandy... it was the other thing I was asking about. Still nice to re-read the passage, though! :)

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KoA is, in part, Costis's story; but it's also Gen's story as told by Costis. The ultimate point of the book is Gen becoming king of Attolia, as it is aptly named. :)

We know Gen has earned the respect of the Guard, the attendants, and his advisers; but what about the rest of Attolia? My guess is that Costis will still play a role in the future stories, but a new narrator covering the changing winds of power in Attolia as well as the growing Mede advance would be awesome, especially if they are still stubbornly putting sand in the king's food. :)

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I loved it in CoK when you got to see Sophos' view of Eugenides after he got whipped by the Magus and how you got to see a new point of view.

That would be great, if there was so overlap.

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About the point of view of the new book!

Last I had heard, during out live group videochat with Megan, she said something about how the current person she was writing was proving harder to pin down then other new characters had been... and people got the impression it was maybe the POV character and that it was someone new.

But I have heard nothing about this business of her rewriting from third to first person. And confirmation of a new pov character?? DO TELL! WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM?

I know about Sandy. :) Our mysterious kitchen sand-sprinkler. Either she's going to be very important, or it's just a throwaway detail. A SUSPICIOUS throwaway detail. Like Mark Evans in Harry Potter.

Does MWT have suspicious throwaway details that lead nowhere? Maybe not.

SANDY.

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I'm so fascinated by all of this new information about Sandy and the new POV and the video chat? Do you have any links? Or the video by any long shot?
This is so exciting! I wasn't expecting a new book for a few new years!

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I don't know where the information about the new POV came from. I'm trying to find that out myself. *whines* someone please tell me!

Most of this wasn't mentioned in the video chat. But if you want the recap of the video chat anyway, it's right here: http://sounis.livejournal.com/527219.html#comments

The only thing in there about this is she mentions she was writing a character whose complexity was not coming as quickly to her as Eugenides's did back when she started writing him. So we assumed she's writing about someone new (and she said "he").

Sandy is all speculation on our part based on what's in the books. People are curious because he/she is mentioned in CoK.

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thanks!

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I didn't know this had grown so long. So I don't know which days this information was revealed, but all this--the switch in POV, the new character--were revealed ("revealed" seems like too big of a word. "told?") when our dear Megan was the guest of honor at LTUE (Life, the Universe, and Everything) in February. Between the Provo ThiefCon and the conference, these bits of info were dolled out. So there is no transcript anywhere, but there may be some useful verification in this earlier recap post of the conference. Let's see if I can find it...

Ah ha! Here it is! I'll just do the whole series:

http://sounis.livejournal.com/558193.html (oh NO. I may have perjured myself. The sixth book is a completely new character. Ah bleep. I apologize profusely, guys. That weekend was so much to take in). More linkage now:

http://sounis.livejournal.com/560185.html

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tygrestick.livejournal.com

Another thing is that Gen is showing off how talented he is-- he's doing a difficult dance one-handed and taking out Attolia's hairpins even while he does it. The court all thinks he's incompetent but he's showing off his hidden skills here.

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Thanks Guys, This has been really insightful. I liked the historical interlude there about only the husbands having the privledge of seeing his wife with her hair down. I guess in that intimacy, and that display of talent, it was also a display of his knowledge of where the hair pins were? I might be taking that a bit far and it wouldn't have been MWT point for the scene - but it was just something I thought about.

I also thought about, the imagery of Eugenides dancing with his mother on the rooftops of Eddis, juxtaposed with him dancing with the Queen.

And I just love that imagery of Eugenides being a weight at the centre of the earth while she danced like a flame" - helle_d and your description of it.

I was also trying to understand the dance within the whole context of the court scene, where The Queen relieves his tension. I wonder if besides affection that he is showing her, whether it is also something else? And whether or not, her having to retire was helpful? Maybe not.

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lizzyazula.livejournal.com

Here is the post where everyone discussed the historical context of the hairpin removal: http://sounis.livejournal.com/381220.html

From: (Anonymous)

Several of the comments in this thread about hairpins got me thinking about historical hairpins. I can't remember whether this has ever been discussed before? I know when I hear hairpins mentioned, the first thing I think of is bobby pins, so that's what I tend to imagine Gen plucking out of Irene's hair, but bobby pins are actually quite recent--early 20th century or thereabouts--so my imagination needs some reworking, lol. Historically speaking, Irene's pins could be metal (including precious metal), wood, stone, or bone/ivory/horn, and while some might be plain and meant to be hidden, others were probably quite elaborately carved (we might think of them as "hair sticks" today, rather than pins). Here's a page with lots of links to pics of historical pins: http://larsdatter.com/hairpins.htm

Branching off this topic a bit, here's an interesting article I read a while back about this hairstylist who has reconstructed historical hairstyles based on busts and paintings--and discovered that a lot of upper-class ancient Roman women's elaborate hair-dos were sewn in place, not pinned: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324900204578286272195339456.html She's got videos on YouTube, too, showing how to do various styles.

--Handmaiden

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I think Eddis will be the new narrator. --Kate

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I had a comment that has gotten stuck in spam limbo because it had a couple (non-spammy) links. Can a mod rescue it?

Thanks!

--Handmaiden

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