The King of Attolia

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

It's week three of QT reflections! This week we're covering my personal favorite, The King of Attolia. If you're just joining us, start HERE.

There is still time to sign up to be a discussion lead for the Thick as Thieves re-read. The deadline is tomorrow, February 3rd at midnight. After February 3rd, current volunteers can expect to receive their official assignments in a day or two. The TaT re-read will start Sunday, February 17th. If you're interested in signing up, please email me at ninedaysaqueenmod@gmail.com.

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Published in February of 2006, The King of Attolia was highly anticipated after the six year gap between books two and three. A favorite amongst fans, the third installment in the series also received high acclaim from critics. Including but not limited to: starred reviews from the School Library Journal, The Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, and Library Media Connection; an appearance on the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Masterlist; and an Andre Norton Award finalist.

The King of Attolia is the first book to almost entirely exclude Eugenides's point of view. The main narrator, Costis, appears to be heavily inspired by the works of Rosemary Sutcliff, especially The Eagle of the Ninth.

This book was the first in the Queen's Thief series to have a, now iconic, Vince Natale cover for its first edition.

The King of Attolia is thirteen years old this month.



The "do-you-wanna-know-how-I-got-these-scars?" cover. AKA, "the hands" one. The paperback version of this edition included the short story, Ediss.



The new one with the tricky "heron in a tree" reference. This edition included the short story, Wineshop.



I know I've only shown American editions before now, but there are not as many for KoA... And I just really like this one!

The Indonesian one.


2010 Re-read
Part One
Part Two

2017 Re-read
Part One
Part Two
Part Three


Please, answer the questions below to participate. If your answer is the same from previous weeks, just skip that one. Have fun!

(1)Favorite line/scene?
(2)Favorite plot twist?
(3)Favorite fanart/fanfic for this book?
(4)How did this book affect you and your life?
(5)When did you first read this particular book?
(6)What were your first impressions and did your opinions change over the years?
(7)Favorite cover/edition of this book?
(8)Did you ever read this book in a language other than English?
(9)Do you own multiple copies of this book? If so, which editions?
(10) Have you ever convinced family/friends/co-workers to read this book?
(11) Any fun stories about sharing this book?
(12) Have you lent out copies that never got returned?
(13) Have you ever listened to the audio book? Which version?
(14) What's your favorite Sounis post about this book?
(15) Any fond memories of discussing this book on Sounis?
(16) If you could choose only one word to describe this book, what word would that be?

(Bonus) Have you read Ediss or Wineshop? What are your opinions on them?*

*I recommend you copy/paste the questions into your comment and answer them there, but if you're have trouble with that, I’ve also elected to give them numbers.

Comments

[canonisrelative.livejournal.com]

(1)Favorite line/scene?
Far, far too many to choose from. A few off the top of my head:

“You can trust me with your life / But not with my wine”
“Thank the gods I didn’t ask about fertilizer.”
“It doesn’t need stitches / because it’s not very deep”
“Costis...younger version of Teleus...no sense of humor?”
"My God will keep me safe, or he will not, here or on the stairs."
“Then come out, knowing that you will never die of a fall unless the God himself drops you.”

(2)Favorite plot twist?

The fact that Costis is “the man beside Teleus,” after seeing him the whole book through his own eyes as someone merely buffeted by the winds of fate and who can’t get anything right. This became more delicious after TaT.

(3)Favorite fanart/fanfic for this book?

I’m just going to blow my own horn here because why not? I wrote a little scene (https://archiveofourown.org/works/7214716)set directly after the book where Teleus goes to tell Relius about what happened in the courtyard that morning. These two are probably my favorite side characters and I love that they’re friends who care about each other.

And speaking of friendships that I cherish, I wrote a ‘meet-cute in prison (https://archiveofourown.org/works/7168436)’ for Costis and Aris, set pre-series when Costis was new to the guard.


(4)How did this book affect you and your life?

I had read TT and QoA already and liked them a lot, especially TT, but this was the book I Fell In Love With and marked the point of no return for me and this series. It is still my favorite of the series, and Costis is my favorite character of the book and tied for my fave of the series. It influenced the writing I was doing; I’d been working on this horrendously complicated faux-Tolkien disaster of a fantasy monstrosity, and after I abandoned that I started work on something that is — i hope — much more subtle, more centered on intrigue/politics/relationships. I started dropping by this LJ community sometime after I read it too, though I’ve never been much more than a lurker. Basically I love the book and can’t imagine my life without it.

(5)When did you first read this particular book?

I think around the time it came out, I think my sister leant it to me. I have the vaguest memory of putting off reading it because I had been so skeptical of the Gen/Attolia marriage thing that I couldn’t imagine a book that actually follows up on that madness...

(6)What were your first impressions and did your opinions change over the years?

From the first time I read it until less than two years ago — I think it was when I was re-reading it in preparation for TaT, or possibly for the first Hamiathes Gift Fic Exchange — I treated the Eugenides/Irene marriage as an incomprehensible curiosity, something that I believed in because I trust MWT but didn’t try to understand, because “the love of kings and queens is not for us lesser mortals to comprehend” or whatever that line is. But for some reason on this recent re-read, it really struck me just how YOUNG both Gen and Irene are; for the first time, I realized that I myself was probably older than both of them. And all of these different observations I’d made while re-reading the whole series all whirled together inside of me and for some reason the realization of their youth was like the final piece that brought about this sort of bone-deep understanding of how Gen and Irene could love each other. I still think they’re both insane, mind you, but now I find the scenes focusing on them, and their relationship, far more enjoyable and captivating than I used to.

(7)Favorite cover/edition of this book?

*Points at icon*

(9)Do you own multiple copies of this book? If so, which editions?

As with the others, the only one I currently have is the latest edition in paperback, all the others have been leant away or never actually belonged to me.

(13) Have you ever listened to the audio book? Which version?

The new ones read by Steve West. I love them. I love them I love them I love them.


(16) If you could choose only one word to describe this book, what word would that be?

Rewarding

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

(1)Favorite line/scene?

That's somewhere amongst, "Thank the gods I didn't ask about fertilizer." Ornon refraining from throwing a roll at the king, and Costis apologizing for being born.

The whole build a bridge scene deserves an honorable mention.

The part with Relius in the dungeon is my favorite dramatic scene.

(2)Favorite plot twist?

"You forgot that it's a wooden sword."

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

(3)Favorite fanart/fanfic for this book?

Shameless self-reccing here, but my fanfic, His Queen, (https://ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com/13923.html) has always been quite popular.

For fanart, THIS ONE. (https://sounis.livejournal.com/497034.html)

(4)How did this book affect you and your life?

KoA is fun, because it's the first QT book in which I finally knew something that the main narrator didn't.

It also taught me that switching narrators can be a very good thing and to always give new characters a fair chance.

I also feel like KoA is what really pushed me to find and join Sounis, which was my first venture into online fandom. It's also why I started writing fanfiction. So all together, pretty life changing.

(5)When did you first read this particular book?

I first read QT not long after KoA came out so, 2007-ish. I didn't join Sounis till 2009. Back then, it only took me a couple of years before I started getting really antsy for the next book and needed to find others who could commiserate.

(6)What were your first impressions and did your opinions change over the years?

I don't remember having a huge reaction to the change in narrator, so I think I was okay with it from the get go, especially since KoA is still very much about Gen.

I do remember finishing the book and being like nooooo, because there was no more left to read.

The biggest change is that I've actually come to like Dite and Sajanus. I think I have a lot more empathy for their situation than I used to.

KoA was my favorite from the beginning, and it still is, though TaT has become a bit of a rival for that spot.

(7)Favorite cover/edition of this book?

The Indonesian one, because it so perfectly captures Gen's smirk as Costis runs up.

(9)Do you own multiple copies of this book? If so, which editions?

Ebook, scar cover, and the new one.

(13) Have you ever listened to the audio book? Which version?

I believe I listened to the entire Woodman version once while cleaning the house. Like the entire house, it was a big day. I believe I played the CDs in my Playstation, which shouldn't sound old-fashioned, but I'm afraid it does.

There are also some really great chapters in the fanmade read out loud. Go check it out!

I must get to the West version soon!

(14) What's your favorite Sounis post about this book?

I don't remember where it is, but that one time Sounis took a field trip to a review blog that was talking about KoA and scared the bejesus out of 'em was pretty amusing. I'll see if I can find it...

(15) Any fond memories of discussing this book on Sounis?

All the speculation about Costis's mission comes to mind. We had a lot of fun theorizing, and as it turned out, we were pretty close to being right.

(16) If you could choose only one word to describe this book, what word would that be?"

PoorCostis. XD Oh, and some incomprehensible screaming.

(Bonus) Have you read Ediss or Wineshop? What are your opinions on them?

Wineshop is more like a missing scene than a short story, but it's a nice look at daily life in the Atttolian palace.

Ediss was the first short story published in a book, and I know I really liked it, but all I can remember thinking is, "Finally, I know the age difference between Gen and Helen!"

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Found it!

http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/10/review-of-day-king-of-attolia.html

[whataliethatwas.livejournal.com]

It makes me feel like we're all some kind of fervent, rabid creature who will slink out of the shadows and attack if our favorite series is reviewed. Granted, there was a little field trip to politely comment, so maybe there's a kernel of truth in there somewhere.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh, that was fun!

[whataliethatwas.livejournal.com]

Late to the game, but clearly my responses need to be immortalized.

(1)Favorite line/scene?
So many it's probably just the entire book - relaxed Costis with Aris, Costis helping an injured Eugenides, Attolis and Attolia being Eugenides and Irene, everything Phresine, Gen's cousins, Costis and Eugenides on the roof (probably the winner), and of course the wooden sword fight.

"Costis, I'm speechless."
"Not noticeably, your majesty."

"Not my wife, Ornon."

"You didn't startle me... you scared the hell out of me."

(2)Favorite plot twist?
Probably the attendants resolution/fall of Erondites - not so much a surprise with Gen's capability, but because it was built up through Costis' POV, this denoument was very satisfying.

(4)How did this book affect you and your life?
I think this is where I really began to love the series. TT is such good fun to read and will always be my faovrite, but this book made QoA make sense for me and provided enough written material to see patterns leading up to and through this story (romantic and political). I'd enjoyed QoA and loved everything Helen and Magus, but while I could intellectually understand the Gen/Irene relationship in-world, I couldn't realte to it personally. By KoA I'd gone through a few things personally and in relationships that I'd kind-of matured into understanding some of the themes in these books, like making a relationship work with someone who's hurt you (it doesn't take a maiming, even something as simple as forgetting a birthday requires some of the work that goes on behind the scenes in KoA). KoA retroactively made QoA so much richer to me, and I think I've reread sections of KoA more than any other, sifting through brief scenes and phrases that fulfil previous hints and point to future events. This is also because my spouse predicted what would happen to Costis right off the bat, and I nitpicked my way through scenes looking to prove or disprove his bold assertion.

(5)When did you first read this particular book?
I was convinced it was shortly after I married the person who introduced me to the series, but the publication date doesn't match up, so it must be I didn't know it was out or didn't have a copy until then. It was also somewhere in this timeframe my SIL introduced me to Sounis, although I've largely lurked or made comments under usernames I've forgotten since.

(6)What were your first impressions and did your opinions change over the years?
With KoA, this was only just a 'series', so the POV play hadn't made sense as a whole yet, so I was initially disappointed we'd moved another step further from the TT first-person narrative and characters I loved, but I did really enjoy the book and the moments with favorite characters were deep and satisfying, even though I wish there were more (I realize a book of 'Helen and the Magus commiserate' wouldn't hold the same literary clout). While I still wish there was more, I do realize an entire book of 'Helen and the Magus commiserate' wouldn't hold the same literary poignancy, but I do enjoy what MWT has done with POV a lot more from the context of 6 related books.

Costis has really grown on me, and I love the scenes between Gen and Irene. I think more than anything my impressions have changed as I've emotionally matured into understanding the themes in KoA a little better, and that's made the series richer overall.

(7)Favorite cover/edition of this book?
We own "the hands" one, but it will probably be the new cover once we buy a matched set at Return o the Thief's release.

(11) Any fun stories about sharing this book?
We've never really had a lot of luck geting anyone else hooked, but it's fun having our little club of three in the family that can squee together when a new book is released (well, at least SIL and myself - spouse is not helpful in the squeeing department).

(16) If you could choose only one word to describe this book, what word would that be?
Revealing.

(Bonus) Have you read Ediss or Wineshop? What are your opinions on them?*
Yes, but no major opinions. I too often forget Eddis is there, and don't own Wineshop.