QoA Section Two - Read-along Week Two!

[live-momma.livejournal.com]

If you haven't already, check out last week's discussion of QoA Section One (chapters 1-8) lead by ninedaysaqueen.

This week we’re reading from the beginning of Chapter 9, "The hunting retreat was a summer home..." through the end of Chapter 14, "...and ran back down the rampart stairs even faster than he had climbed them."

Chapters 9-14 of The Queen of Attolia

These discussions are spoiler free for the new short stories, “The Wine Shop” and “The Knife Dance,” as well as the “Thick as Thieves” arc.

There will be spoilers for books 1-4, so if you haven’t read all the published books yet, proceed with caution.

Passage of time
Eugenides is captured in summer and is returned to Eddis before fall. The Magus visited the next spring, at which time Eddis told Eugenides that they had "enough grain to get us through next winter," (p.93) and then Eugenides kidnapped the Magus in early summer (p.103). By chapter 9, we're well into summer, so it's been a year since the beginning of the book.

• "The late-summer windstorms will be here soon." p.158


• "...the Etesian winds came late." p.165


• The second winter starts: "When the weather finally turned cold..." p.167 (With a mention of flurries two pages later.)


• "In the spring the rains came." p.174


• "The ships were scheduled to be delivered in time to break the blockade of Thegmis and to support a land invasion before the arrival of the summer windstorms." p.189


• "It took time to prepare for Eugenides's plan. The spring rains fell. Eddis grew green with the luminescence of new growth..." p.197


• "When the water flow slackened, it was already summer in the lowland countries..." p.209

Thus it is almost two years since he lost his hand when he steals the Queen of Attolia.

Eugenides is growing up
With the passage of time, we get hints that Eugenides is leaving boyhood behind.

• "Grumbling again, he pushed his stocking feet into boots that he'd had made when he found his old boots had gotten too small over the previous winter..." p.154


• "I only said that you weren't a boy hero. You've grown now. People will expect even more of you..." p.172


• "Looking down at him, Eddis could see that his tunic had grown too small and pulled across his shoulders." p.185


• "Now he spoke to her entire council and its individual members looked not at him but at their hands, or cast quick glances at one another, all of them remembering a younger Eugenides who'd sworn he'd never be a soldier and wanted nothing to do with the business of killing people." p.192


• "'I'm not a child,' the Thief said." p.195


• "'My Queen,' he said softly, 'you can't tell me I am a grown-up hero and still keep me tied to you like a little boy. Let me go.'" p.196

Which brings us to the second line in Chapter 15: "He'd grown, she realized. Boys did often grow in one last leap just as they became men..." p.235

Those "worthless" cannon
Raise your hand if it occurred to you that real cannons wouldn't float, even in a rushing torrent, before the reveal that they were made of wood. Me neither.

• "Those in the rear struggled with block and tackle, roughly squared wooden beams, wooden carriages and cannon." p.212


• After a sudden thud (p.271): "It might have been a tree trunk that's been freed by the changing water pattern...It might have been one of the cannon." Because iron cannon float & sound the same as wooden tree trunks.


• When the cannon were found at the edge of the pool: "Two of them were split and unusable. The third Xenophon decided was still worth the difficulty of transporting. He had snorted when he'd seen them by the bank and said, 'Thank the gods we don't have to dig them off the bottom.' ...retrieving cast-iron cannon from the depths would have been impossible." p.219


• "'How long will it take to get across the dystopia?' 'Twice as long as it would take without those worthless cannon of yours.'" p.220


• "Please the gods, no one is going to notice that you just put twelve cannon onto one riverboat." p.221


• "They watched the edge of the woods as the darkness fell and the Eddisians camping there laboriously moved their cannon into position." p.229 (WE ARE WORKING SO HARD TO MOVE THESE HEAVY, IRON CANNONS! Ha!)

Attolia's mask

• "It's a mask, Phresine. The suitors haven't any interest in me." p.198


• "The princess felt her own face had turned to a stone mask." p.202


• "The stone mask over her feelings grew heavier as she was forced to more and more extreme measures to hold her throne." p. 204

Plus six more mentions in the final third of the book. Ellie Goulding's song, Lights, reminds me of Attolia whenever it plays.

Feelings

• When Attolia finds out the Thief and Eddis are "reported to be close," she destroys her room (much like Eugenides does in Chapter 12 of KoA). p.149


• When Eddis admits she's considering having Attolia assassinated, the idea makes him flinch (p.161): "Eugenides stood up and turned his back on her to look out one of the deeply set, narrow windows 'I hate that Mede,' he said."


• About the Sounisian king, Eugenides says, "...he's caused a lot of bloodshed wanting a woman he can't have...maybe I should be more sympathetic..." p.182


• "'And, My Queen, I do want this.' He looked up at her. 'I can't tell you why. She may be a fiend from hell to make me feel this way, but even if I have to hate myself for the rest of my life, this is what I want...I dream about her at night.'" p.196


• She kept the earrings he left her (p.206).


• "She pulled the bedclothes up as far as they would go and suppressed a perverse wish to have her old nurse come to chase away the darkness, perverse because she didn't know if she wanted the shadows to be empty or not." p.218

Favorite lines/scenes:
Page 146:
      "Go on," said Eugenides with a smile, his eyes still closed. "Tell my queen she's debasing the old myths created by superior storytellers centuries ago."

Page 147:
      "I could fetch it for you," Eugenides offered.
      "You will not!" The magus and the queen spoke together.

Page 164:
      "Go fetch something for me."
      "What would you like, Your Majesty?"
      "I don't know. Go find out."

Page 211:
      When she had given them their last instructions, she sent them on their way. She recalled the Thief as he reached the steps up to the door.
      "My Queen?" He turned back, unsure what she required.
      "Only for that," said Eddis.
      Eugenides smiled and bowed his head. "My Queen," he said again, perhaps for the last time. Then he was gone.

Odds-n-ends

• "In his life Eugenides has gone to great lengths to portray himself as a noncombatant, so people assume he is. He has to live with the fruits of his labors and sometimes finds them unsweet." p.129 See also: King of Attolia, p. all of them.


• There's only one myth in this book (p.132-146). It's a long one, but it does seem strange that there are more in Costis's book than this one. I do appreciate that Turner gives each story teller his/her own voice.


• Pages 152-154 are almost completely filled with Eugenides whining and then his father has him start sword practice "with the basic exercises" (p.156), poor Costis.


• Eugenides's brother made him a watch (p.213).


• Could this be the pool where Hamiathes's Gift was hidden? "The cannon were found at the edge of the pool at the base of the last great waterfall before the Aracthus reached the dystopia." p.218 Or are we too far down the mountain?


• "Teleus saw that the lieutenant was familiar with Ephrata and left him to settle his soldiers himself." p.227 Yes, Eugenides is very familiar with Attolia's megaron.

Closing thoughts:
This is the darkest of the books by far. It's definitely a period of growth for Eugenides. We also come to empathize with Attolia despite her having maimed our hero in the first act. I remember being a bit uncomfortable with the fact that I was OK with the romance aspect of this book simply because the gender roles are reversed from the stereotype the first few times I read QoA, but Eugenides obviously doesn't lose his agency as he argues for the marriage and is given abundant opportunities to changes his mind. I don't know if I'd have been OK with it had the genders been the other way around, but I do know this is a compelling story with fascinating characters.

"My Queen?"

"Only for that."

Next week we will continue with QoA chapters 15-21 lead by pendrecarc!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Is this post somehow disabled for comments? I've been trying since Sunday and no-one else seems to have succeeded either :(

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

It seems to be working for me. Will it not let you post when you're logged in?

Sorry, I'm still on chapter 12. I'll catch up today!

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

Eureka, it does take comments! Thanks for all this, live_momma!
I'm not quite caught up with the whole section yet, but I thought I'd stop by and make a couple of 'while-reading' observations.
Firstly, Gen's age is, I know, a bit of a debated/emotive/open-to-heated-argument-etc issue. But re-reading now made me realise that, in QoA, he does what some hockey players and most male ballet dancers do: grow very suddenly out of a slight, light, almost weedy boy into a strong and much heavier set man. They don't make 6ft 5 Coldstream Guardsmen, but they do fill out. Partly this is why Gen goes on to wear those long flowing Mede coats in KoA -- they not only hide his sword arm, but also continue to give him the at-a-glance proportions of being small and light.
Random fact: for the ballet dancers, the serious academies actually X-ray them early in training, to see if they have gaps between their bones for the later in life growth spurt.
Secondly, did anyone else notice the maps painted around the walls of the Eddisian Privy Council chamber? Do you think that's where "Our" map has been copied from?!? Is Gitta Kingsdaughter actually some long ago Princess of Eddis?

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Same goes for male figure skaters. They aim to peak before they're fully grown, and yet they're not allowed to attempt some of the riskier elements in competition if they're deemed too young/likely to cause injury to their still-developing bodies. This gives them a small window of opportunity. The ones who compete past their mid-twenties are considered exceptional. (Of course, however slight they may seem, they have to have crazy muscles to do what they do.) (And, sorry... I've been watching a lot of Shoma Uno's skating on YouTube recently, ha.)

It makes sense for Gen to grow in the two or three years covered in QoA, if we're right in assuming he's somewhere in his late teens/early twenties. But he's never described as tall, correct? Isn't Attolia still taller? I think of him as having an acrobatic figure, strong but condensed.

Our boy Sophos is the one who grew up into a gentle giant.

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

OK, now I'm picturing Sophos with a Shire horse :)
And yes, Gen is never tall. In KoA, all the attendants and the Guard are taller than him.
Off at a tangent, just imagine a figure skating costume and routine based on QT! Those Mede coats! Or the red-and-gold of Attolia's headband!
Have got as far as "Go and steal the queen of Attolia." Is it just me, or is this one of the most moving bits in the whole series? Gen, like Ged in the Wizard of Earthsea, turns round to chase his fear rather than flee from it...

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Irene is still taller than him by a bit in KoA. It says so during the dance scene. XD

Extra special bonus! I give you the 1940 figure skating champion of America, Eugene Turner. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Turner) I'm not even making that up. Your welcome.

Finishing this section today. I promise!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

And it says in TT that Irene is tall for a woman, nearly as tall as the Magus.

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

That's such a powerful moment in A Wizard of Earthsea - and a great analogy.

[(Anonymous)]

"Secondly, did anyone else notice the maps painted around the walls of the Eddisian Privy Council chamber? Do you think that's where "Our" map has been copied from?!? Is Gitta Kingsdaughter actually some long ago Princess of Eddis?"


That's the influence of the Gallery of Maps at the Vatican!

~mwt

[mouseguru.livejournal.com]

I laughed so hard when my daughter told me you had mentioned that the Gallery of Maps was your inspiration, because it has become family legend for us. When I was pregnant with child #3, we took our 6 and 4 year olds and went on a family trip to Europe. We went on the Vatican tour in Rome, knowing it would be a long day for the kids, but really not wanting to miss the chance to see it. It was a four hour long tour (plus the hour of waiting in the security line) through St. Peter's and then the Vatican Museum, finishing at the Sistine Chapel.

So you can imagine as we neared the end of the tour, though we had had an amazing day, we were ready to just stare at the darn ceiling and get out of there. It was a blazing hot day, we were being herded down the halls of the museum in a huge group like cattle, I was having morning sickness, and my 4 year old had gotten super cranky and was insisting I needed to carry him. Suddenly a sign appeared with an arrow pointing ahead and the glorious words "Sistine Chapel." We eagerly followed our tour guide around the corner, thinking we were finally at the end, when the guide intoned, "And now we are entering the Hall of Tapestries and Maps..."

We finally did make it to the Sistine Chapel and it was beautiful and amazing. But to this day, my husband and I will crack each other up just by saying "tapestries and maps."

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

This section has the parts where I really fell in love with Irene, though I didn't know her name yet. Learning how she grew up, and took the country from those who saw it only as a source of self-aggrandizement and pleasure. The Medean ambassador really steamed me in his attitude towards her - though rereading Kamet's comments make me look forward to his narration, since I felt Conspiracy had a serious lack of Irene in it :). The entirety of the mask and Irene's indiferrence to it really highlighted the sense that she views herself as completely unloveable - unworthy of love. She believes in what she's doing, but she also knows that it's horrific stuff, and cannot believe anyone would care for her as a person at this point.

I do kind of wish we got to see some of those alliances forming with the jewelry, though it would also be tragic, as almost all of those alliances would end in betrayal and execution.

Even reading knowing Irene and Gen fall in love, I totally missed all the plans until the hook thunked into the boat.

Missed the plans -- me too!

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

You suspect/feel/jolly well know there's SOMETHING afoot, but are reading too fast to think?!
Isn't that 'Thunk' one of the most glorious noises in the Entire Series?!?! :D

Re: Missed the plans -- me too!

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

It really is. :)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

So many great scenes in these chapters.

When Gen and Helen escort the Magus back to the palace:
It's a lighthearted section, where Helen's sparkling personality shines through. She teases the Magus about his age and tells Gen not to be cross. She makes light of the commander's worry about having a clear shot at the Magus. She tells the story of Hespira and Horreon with much humor. Gen jokes about keeping books in the suburbs and explains when he wears the hook vs the hand (an explanation that will become important later). They all joke about Relius' unofficial title of Master of Spies. And who is the Magus' mysterious friend who is interested in botany? We learn a little about the Magus' sad childhood. Gen pokes at Helen and Magus and gets a rise out of them. (I love that part.)

Attolia trashes the dining room
I'll admit, the first time I read this part I didn't really get it. Why was she so angry? It was only later that I understood that it wasn't only hatred--she was afraid, for many reasons.

There's a new magus
Sounis is hilarious here. My favorite line: "If you can't say that more clearly, I can find someone else who can."

Gen at sword practice
He's back--wearing stolen fibula pins, complaining, never giving up until he's overworked himself.

Grumpy Gen in the map room meeting
He's in pain and grin-less these days.

Gen on the roof after visiting the amputees
So many cousins dead. Cousins he loved and hated.

Another favorite part--dinner and Drunk!Gen
The dinner part with sweet Agape (aren't you glad she didn't have to marry Sounis?), Gen staggering around, to the Magus' enjoyment, and the Minister of War acting like a basilisk. Screaming nightmares and one of my favorite lines, "he never says much, but it's always to the point."

Gen runs away to "hide" and we learn about his Plan
Megan is so tricky here! She words everything so we think Gen is going to Attolia to kill her, not propose.

Irene curses the Thief
...and feels the regret of the broken amphora, examines the earrings that she kept all this time, and we learn so much more about her. I was shocked to learn about her first husband and his death, and the death of his almost-successor. Wow.

The boat is ready
Clever, clever Eugenides. His plan works nearly flawlessly. Attolia doesn't recognize his ear. And one of the most thrilling lines in the book: "The hook in place of his missing right hand thunked quietly into the wooden hull."

I love this book so much.

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

The cousins who died are such a background punch of emotion, both here and in King.

[pendrecarc.livejournal.com]

Late to the party, but I just have to say....

"My Queen?"
"Only for that."

Is one of my favorite quotes from the entire series. I love them so much.