Introduction and Questions!

[intangible-muse.livejournal.com]

Hello! I've been a fan of the series for a while and have been lurking around Sounis for some period of time now. After re-reading the series, I have some questions I was itching to ask, so I decided to finally post!

The questions I have are regarding KOA and I have three of them.
1. Gen's kiss to Relius when he brings Attolia to the infirmary always puzzled me. The dialogue and description of Gen saying, "Jealous?" then giving a kiss on the cheek to Relius without smiling was confusing to me. I don't know if he's subtly mentioning the crush Relius might have on Attolia, but the fact that MWT carefully mentioned that he wasn't smiling doesn't make sense. Thoughts?

2. I've always thought that the myths (or stories) that are told within the books (the ones told by Eddis and Phresine) add to the theme or reveal something we don't already know, but they don't seems to (the one in KOA especially). Am I overthinking it or maybe missing something? :)

3. This one has been bugging me incessantly for a while: why is Baron Susa so interested in whether Gen is homesick?

Comments

[helle-d.livejournal.com]

1) I always read the "without smiling" as a way of showing Reluius that he isn't trying to mock him, or belittle him, that it's an entirely sincere gesture of his acceptance/appreciation of Relius; showing him that he and Attolia *do* value his service and loyalty. They are two men who both love and serve the queen - and have sacrificed a lot to do so - and Gen has come to accept that.

2) I can't always figure out the relevence of the stories, but I think Eddis' story was about love, and specifically having to chose between love and family. I think Eddis says later in the book how much she is coming to sympathise with Hestia's mother, since she is also placed in the position of letting Gen chose to live with a "monster" far away.
Phresine's is more opaque, but I would say it has to do with accepting the gods' gifts and not invalidating the warranty by rejecting them or showing ingratitude - which is why it distresses Gen so much at first, since at this stage he still, really does not want to be king and is terrified the gods will find out.

3) Hmmm. Politics? Any emotional advantage you can possibly use over your 'enemies' is good knowledge to have.

[helle-d.livejournal.com]

Also, hello!

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I actually did a whole series of posts about the myths in QT, over at my other blog. You can see here (http://bysinginglight.wordpress.com/tag/the-queens-thief-week/) if you're interested. And a brilliant commenter over there had a theory about the myth (http://bysinginglight.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/queens-thief-week-myths-in-the-king-of-attolia/#comment-3660) in KoA that I found fairly convincing. Basically, that it's as much foreshadowing for the relationships in CofK as anything else.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

Welcome! We always love new questions!! :)

1. I kind of think of this as Gen making both Irene and Relius part of his family. He's not jealous of Relius' love for Irene, and I think it was to show Relius that (a) Gen didn't hold a grudge, and (b) that Gen forgave him for his part in "betraying" the Mede spies.

2. I think Phresine's story was about friendship, as well as responsibility, and if I'm not mistaken (I haven't read this particular one in a while) probably hiding who you are from others. When he went into the other town and won the tournament without revealing he was a prince was like Gen playing a fool while really pulling everyone's strings.

3. I never thought of it as Baran Susa caring if Gen was homesick as he wanted to know *what* Gen did with himself. But, if he did care about homesickness, he was probably trying to prove that Gen's heart still lay in Eddis, and not with matters in Attolia like it belonged.

Anyway, can't wait to see everybody else's responses, and welcome again!! :)

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Welcome! These people are so smart, I don't have anything to add. I like helle_d's interpretation of the Relius kiss especially: that Gen was not mocking Relius for his love of Irene.

Also Baron Susa wanting general information on Gen's vulnerabilities.

[(Anonymous)]

1. I think that Gen is trying to show his appreciation to Relius, and that at the same time, not smiling means that he wanted to show that he was sincere. Also, I don't know why, but when I first read it, I always thought that it meant that Relius was jealous of Irene, because Gen kissed her. Haha, it's weird, but I always thought he had the tiniest crush on them both.

2. For the story in Qoa, by Eddis, I thought that it was both Eddis trying to reassure herself that Gen's crazy plan would be good for him, and also, for the reader, an analogue of the relationship between Gen and Irene, as they both can be placed in the position of either Horreon (I am not sure of the spelling) or Hespira. As for the one in Koa, I believe that Gen was uncomfortable with it because he knew that gods' gifts were dangerous things, and since he is close to refusing the one given to him, he is afraid he would end up like Klimun if he had lied. On the other hand, there was also the fact that words were very important things, and promises, which sort of echoes the theme of Gen lying and his words being moon promises; he never outright lies when things are important, so his words are really like moon promises, except they are trustworthy, unlike Irene thought in Qoa.

3. The king is a new power, so being a subject, especially a grudging one, no doubt they wished to catalogue his greatest weaknesses and such. It is important, because one, knowledge is power, and two, it means that Gen is still attached to Eddis greatly, which is understandable, but it affects his political stance, and three, he looks weak to them, and it is a perfect thing to be exploited.

I probably contradicted myself somewhere in the mess, so pardon me! :)

[intangible-muse.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much to everyone for the warm welcome and awesomely insightful answers! I'm glad I finally crawled out of my lurker shell to comment :)

[creative-lefty2.livejournal.com]

I always interpreted one of the meanings of Phresine's story to relate to the relationship between Gen and Costis. Costis' story is kind of similar to Gerosthenes'. Both are in a bad situation and end up being friends with the king, and eventually remind their respective kings of their duties when faced by the gods. One purpose of the story could be to remind Gen that he needs supporters and friends--in short, people he can trust--if he ever wants to be great (which we know he pretends he doesn't!).

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Regarding 3: It seems Gen is never without his attendants since becoming king, save for these rare occasions when he dismisses them all except for Costis. It would be a matter of great curiosity, I think, what the king does during his sparse 'alone time'. (For example: Is he wandering the palace, ninja-spying? Or perchance meeting with one of those mistress candidates they keep launching at him? Etc.)

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Oh, and welcome! So many new recruits all at once! Exciting. :)

[sgwordy.livejournal.com]

Welcome! I don't have a whole lot to add that hasn't already been said but since Relius is one of my favorite characters in the series I thought I'd share how I read that scene. When Gen says "jealous?" I think he is gently teasing by alluding to the not-so-secret love (of the non-mentor variety) that Relius has for Attolia. In other words, he is saying "jealous of this love/relationship?" Then with (safely) dead seriousness he shows Relius that he HAS that love/relationship.

I also agree with checkers comment regarding Gen's understanding of fearing one you love as heavily informing the exchange.