The Thief Anniversary Read-Along Chapters 7-9

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

For the third week of The Thief read-along, we’re covering chapters 7 to 9, from “Good feelings persisted between myself and the Magus until the next morning...” to “Darkness that was deeper than the river swallowed me up.”

They’re some pretty exciting chapters, as we finally get to see Gen ‘in action’ professionally, as it were, rather than just active in driving the Magus nuts, baiting the Uselesses and generally pursuing his own agenda :)

As with the previous discussion posts, SPOILERS abound!

Favourite Lines

...this party of over-educated adventurers... I’ve just always loved this description! Of course, given what we find out later about Gen living in the library and all, it’s just a trifle rich out of him!

...some day I would stick a sharp knife into his arrogance and give it a good twist... Well, he does that – in this book, and QoA and ACoK... :D An interesting point about Gen’s basic character though: despite being furious and humiliated, his thoughts of the sharp knife are only a metaphor for bringing the Magus down a peg or two. Gen’s not a soldier, he doesn’t like or want to kill. Perhaps this is part of being The Thief and not offending the gods. Without a determination not to kill, the Thief role could very easily have become that of an assassin.

Although it’s not really a particular line, I’ve always liked the little cameo of the Magus leaving that tumbledown farm to get an education, after the plague has torn through the country. It adds depth to his character: he’s someone who rebuilds and carries on and makes the best of things. Perhaps this is why he doesn’t see through Ambiades, who is in a similar situation of having to start again and work up?

"...how he would feel if the positions were reversed, and it was Attolia annexing the land of his people..." ACoK, anyone? We should also notice that Gen isn’t counting himself as Sounisian or Attolian here!

“People don’t usually hide their emerald earrings in the cellar” – this always makes me wonder where the Duchess Alenia kept hers!

“I keep getting my measurements turned around. That big piece of obsidian, though, is there...” It’s not at all noticeable on the first read, but I always grin at this now! Someone’s guiding Gen’s charcoal.

“...nor did I need to worry about Sophos as an assassin...” You shot the ambassador...!

What do you think? Any other blazing dramatic ironies, laugh-out-louds or bits that give you the shivers?

“I bring myself”

Perhaps even more than before, this section is rife with Gen’s hints that he’s not just there as an unintentional tool of the Magus. But again, MWT covers them all up! Take the start of Chapter 7 – the reader ends up concentrating so hard on Gen’s anger and whether he is actually going to thump the Magus, Gen’s sudden talents with a horse are quite over-looked.

Going on, there’s “I wouldn’t have landed myself in the King’s prison,” “I was a thief of some accomplishment” and more. How many can you find?

Eugenides and the great fire

Another tale, this time by Gen, passes the time before he starts “earning his reputation.” In plot terms, this delay helps build the suspense. The tale itself is a mythological explanation for a lava flow, the “origins” of Hamiathes’ Gift, and a cautionary tale. But why does Gen call it “not my favourite”?

Into the temple

Out of all four books, I still think the description of the temple has to be one of the most masterful descriptions about. There’s a lovely balance of detail and action, ordinary and spooky – the later often made powerful by its simplicity. Take “there was no sign of rust”. But this place has been filled with water for hundreds of years!

It’s also filled with a lot of allusions and references. There are definite echoes of the Mines of Moria, while Gen’s paddling around in the dark. And the lines of what he takes for statues, perhaps from CS Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew, in the Palace of Charn? I always like the bit with the ring – is it the one he gets Costis to remove in KoA? – as I came to these books because MWT was a Rosemary Sutcliff fan. I’m pretty sure the bones in the pool is also an echo of something, but I can’t recall what. The nearest I can think of is the Inferi in the lake in Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, but that was published ten years after The Thief, so it can’t be an allusion. Anyone any ideas?

It was more words spoken altogether than I had heard Pol use yet...

As the party gets nearer their (unknown) goal, MWT takes the time for a good deal more characterisation. Ambiades and Sophos square off in duelling, fishing and their basic natures. Ambiades reveals himself as a bully – and who is he serving? – Sophos as much more responsible if terribly lacking in self-confidence. But under it all, and away from Ambiades, he does have a core of steel, where he says “I swim very well.” Nothing big, nothing flashy, but when you get down to it, there’s the quiet and determined Lion we see in ACoK.

Gen and Pol’s midnight exchange is also rich in detail, including the one thing that can’t be understood then, when we don’t know that “Be blessed in your endeavours” is an Eddisian expression.

I asked him why he had such a fancy cloak...

The saga of Sophos’ and Ambiades’ cloaks rumbles on. Partly, it makes an opening for Sophos’ back-story to begin, and an issue for Gen and Sophos to talk about. But there are quite a few fairy/folk tale motifs in The Thief, especially in this section: the whole journey/quest plot; the third attempt on which Gen succeeds; the appearance of the gods. Is the cloak a reworking of the tale about the two rival claimants to the throne, who are each presented with a coat and the one who takes “best” care of his coat shall be king?

What makes you think my sweetheart can read?

One thing which always strikes me in re-reading The Thief is how very, very little Gen actually lies. For all Attolia and Eddis agree in QoA that he does so, ceaselessly, blatantly and shamelessly, he much more just misdirects and acts a role.

First, I will see the gods walking the earth...

And now, things start to happen! But while we wait for next week's discussion led by pendrecarc to consider all the unravellings of this complexly woven tale, what do you think? A final question of mine: was I the only one when first reading this who got to “Darkness...” and immediately checked how much book was left to be sure Gen couldn’t have just been drowned?!?

Comments

[sunsethill.livejournal.com]

You have done a fabulous job with these three chapters, hitting most of the things that just jumped out to me. I especially appreciated the comment about how wonderful the description of the temple was. I noted when reading just how simply it was described, but I could still completely picture in my mind what it must have looked like. Megan used such economy of words to bring to life something that was probably pretty hard to describe. I wonder how many edits this section took? And somehow she managed to do all this description and still make this a very tense, suspenseful section, when all Gen is doing is exploring a (dangerous) temple complex. Thanks for pointing out how much suspense and action was packed in this section as I hadn't really noted that in my reading, although my enjoyment of the book really picked up when we hit these scenes. This is where the book became a page turner for me.

I certainly couldn't stop reading at this point with that horrible ending to chapter 9, even though I knew Gen was fine. I had to keep reading a ways into chapter 10 and then had to force myself to stop so I could be a good girl and participate in the read along. ;-)

I forgot to comment in the last section about the myths, but since they continue to occur in this section I can note now that the myths in this book were also a bit off-putting for me when I first read the story. I read it as an adult who is very familiar with the "real" Greek myths and I kept wondering why Megan had created a whole new mythology for her story while I was reading. Of course, I realized after I finished the book that Gen actually finding out the gods were real is a major aspect of the books. I also came to realize, as I said before, that this world is not really Greece, but the Greek terms for things kept throwing me. I wonder how the children reading The Thief reacted to the myths? Actually, I've always wondered if children were able to appreciate this book. It has always seemed more like a Young Adult book, yet it won a Newberry honor.

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

I think the short words in the description probably add to the suspense while Gen's in the temple. They are like the short, terse way one's mind runs when under stress, and also a good "time passing" device. It's like a clock ticking -- tick tick tick...
Regarding the ending, I knew MWT was, as she notes at the end, a fan of Rosemary Sutcliff's novels -- a couple of which do actually have the chief character meeting nasty ends in the story :/ So I was truly worried about Gen... :)
As for children -- any Sounisians here who read it when it actually came out? Or have passed it to younger siblings/friends/own children? I've a friend whose little (14) brother is now crazy about QT, but I don't know if you'd count him in the YA age-bracket?

[manderelee.livejournal.com]

“I keep getting my measurements turned around. That big piece of obsidian, though, is there...” It’s not at all noticeable on the first read, but I always grin at this now! Someone’s guiding Gen’s charcoal.

I just want to thank you for pointing this out, because I never interpreted it that way! I always thought that he just miscalculated.

After I found out that Gen is royalty, I've always really treasured that "What makes you think my sweetheart can read?" line. Like you said, it's just so clever in its ability to misguide. He doesn't even lie. But it just reinforces the wrong assumptions we've been holding on to from the start of the book (at least on the first read).

Anyway, I really love how you associated some of these things to the future books. In retrospect so many of these details come off as ironic, and others illuminating.

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

The question is, did MWT put them in on purpose, knowing she had more adventures of Gen & co to write? Or were they throw-away lines that nagged at her until she went back and wrote more?!?
Love your avatar, by the way!

[manderelee.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember that MWT didn't plan for there to be sequels to The Thief, but don't quote me on that. But if we're to assume that had been the case, my best guess is that she went back and built off of what she had first written.

Thanks! The "First Rule of Thievery" thing came from The Legend of Eli Monopress which is a series about a thief as well (though Gen could wipe the floor with Eli for sure), but I was obsessing about that series and QT at roughly the same time, and hence the avatar. Hehe.

No plans for sequels?

[heiros-acumen.livejournal.com]

I have no evidence to doubt your memory that MWT didn't have plans for sequels to The Thief, but if that was true-WOW. I feel like so much in The Thief and all the books builds up or at least foreshadows parts of the next ones. So much of The Thief fits perfectly into the sequels, it blows my mind to think it wasn't all planned from the beginning.

Measurements turned around

[heiros-acumen.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I never thought of the idea that the gods were making him mess up his drawing. I always thought that Gen's calculations were correct and that the gods are able to and choose to defy natural laws. They are showing Gen their divine power that they can put staircases where staircases can't physically be. Gen has trouble in The Thief actually believing in the gods, even after he's seen and spoken to them. I think the gods gave him this one little extra clue to help him understand the whole thing was not just a dream. The gods are very real, and they are going to be a part of his life from then on.

Re: Measurements turned around

[manderelee.livejournal.com]

Oh that's a really neat interpretation. Now that I think about it, it is rather strange for Gen, a trained thief who's required to know about architecture for job reasons, would actually miscalculate.

[sunsethill.livejournal.com]

Yes, I would put a 14 year old in the YA bracket. I'm not exactly sure how old the target range for "children's lit" goes, but I really do wonder if children actually appreciate this story. I won't suggest it to my grandchildren until they reach high school, but maybe I'm missing something.

Re: No plans for sequels?

[sunsethill.livejournal.com]

I, too, was struck by how much foreshadowing there was for the later books in The Thief, which I had not remembered. If she built the later books off of the unplanned hints in The Thief, that is an amazing accomplishment

Re: Measurements turned around

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

They kept trying to close the door on him, too!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

These chapters include one of my favorite parts, where the Magus beats Gen with the riding crop. It was the first inkling for me as to just how fierce a person Gen is. He is able to throw Pol to the ground (although he falls, too), when Pol is a much-larger trained soldier. The part where he punches Pol and goes after the magus...well...just <3 <3 <3. And, he wants to tell them all that he's a member of Eddis' royal family and his queen's thief but he keeps his mouth shut.

[live-momma.livejournal.com]

I have been torn about reading it to my 9 yo. I definitely think she would enjoy it now, and the content isn't inappropriate or anything, but she might enjoy it more if she reads it to herself later. You only get to be surprised by the twist once. I don't want to spoil that for her!

(Also, Queen of Attolia is much less kid-friendly.)

[sunsethill.livejournal.com]

I agree there is no inappropriate content, but you're right. You only get to be surprised by the twist once. I was a voracious reader when I was young and read several books before I could really appreciate them. I tried to keep books for my children to the point that they could really understand not just the words, but also the concepts and themes of a book. In that regard, I think The Thief is more of a YA book.