Well, I've finished it. It was...incredible. Different. If it was possible, my respect for MWT's writing has just trebled. Despite the sad implications in various places of the book. I need to go back an re-read a bit.
Right, so. Questions time. For those of you who are new, a month or so back, I suggested that we write a fan-letter to MWT. An email now, actually. I figured we'd all have plenty of questions following KoA, and this would be the perfect way to ask some of them. Everyone can participate, with comments and questions and so on. At the same time though, for those of you who haven't read the email which we received from the esteemed authoress ( http://community.livejournal.com/sounis/6847.html ) please read her comments regarding questions. It'll include as little or as much personal information as each of you want. At the very least, everyone's screen name will be mentioned. I've already been asked questions about this, most of which I've tried my best to answer near the bottom of the previous discussion thread (
http://community.livejournal.com/sounis/2200.html - scroll about two thirds of the way down).
The questions and comments themselves can cover anything from any of the books that none of the rest of us can answer with absolute certainty. We'll have to draw the line at some point - we don't want to ask questions which would prompt answers which would be too revealing (do we?). Perhaps the solution to that would be mentioning that we don't have to have all of our questions answered, if some of them are too...um...presumptuous.
If anyone has any more questions about this letter (and please do ask, because I certainly haven't covered everything) post a comment. Do the same for questions and comments to go in the email, and I'll add it to the bottom of the post as it gets written. This post will also be added to the memories, so that everyone can access it easily from there for a while to come, as it gets moved down the list by other posts.
Here's a question for all of you. What on Earth should the opening sentance be?
So far:
Oxe Harbrea Sacrus Vax Dragga Onus Savonus Sophos At Ere
Dear Megan
We're writing from the livejournal group Sounis, as you invited in your email, to ask some of the hundreds of questions that have come up since we all got together. As loyal and dedicated readers who love the books (and hope there will be more to come) we understand if you'd prefer not to answer some of them. We've tried not to include any questions whose answers we think will play a part in following books, but it's awfully difficult, so please ignore any leading questions that we've included by accident. We'd definitely prefer that you spend time writing more books about Gen than answering some of these (usually silly) questions. But thank you, in advance, for any answers.
1. Who is the goddess who intervened on Eugenides’s behalf at the end of The Queen of Attolia and why did she do that? (Checkers, and everyone else.)
2. What's Phresine's story? What was her childhood like and how did she come to serve Attolia? (Caroline)
3. Does the exploding mountain that Eddis and Gen see ever come about during their lifetimes? What would happen to Eddis if it does (In terms of the scale of the destruction)? (We're asking on the assumption that this doesn't feature in future books.) (Caroline)
4. Dite and Sejanus - really liked them, for some weird reason. Do we see them again? Is that country that Dite was sent to on the same continent as Eddis, Attolia and Sounis? Why and when did Dite fall in love with Attolia? (I felt very bad for him when I heard that, though I still adore Gen) Is the Erondites house really gone? (I can't see them going down without a fight!) (Caroline)
5. What was Attolia's childhood like?. I guess I'm just interested in how she grew up, her relationships with people at her court etc. (Caroline)
6. The subject of hot debate: How exactly do you pronounce Eugenides, Eddis, Attolia, Sounis, Mede, Magus, Ambiades, Aracthus and Sophos? We tried to figure it out but only found that we all differed in our pronunciations. (Rowana)
7. Eugenides is such an original character and it is so refreshing to come across him in a Young Adult book. What was your inspiration in creating such a character? Also, it is interesting to see Eugenides' progression into maturity as he grows up in the trilogy--can you give us a hint of what he is going to face in your next book? (Jessica)
8. Since Hamiathes's gift was thrown in the volcano at the end of 'The Thief', is Gen going to be the last Thief of Eddis? (Rowana)
9. What's behind the historical taboo in Eddis concerning the Thieves? Why does no one talk about them? (Rowana)
10. What gave you the idea to include stories, and the storytelling tradition, in all the books? (Checkers)
11. It is fascinating how you take characters like Ornon, Relius, and Phresine (who appear only briefly in the earlier books) then turn them into three-dimensional characters we really care about. When you write, do you create the characters and their backstories first, or do you develop the plot, and then make the characters fit into the story? (Checkers)
12. I have a slightly similar question to the one above. When you first wrote The Thief, did you have the events of the two sequels already planned? So much happened to Gen that I couldn't possibly have guessed at after reading The Thief. (Rowana)
13. How do you think up the names for your characters? If the ruler takes the country’s name, why is Eugenides “Attolis,” while Irene keeps the title “Attolia?”. (Checkers)
14. Most authors don’t mutilate their main characters! How did you come up with the idea of Eugenides losing his hand? Was that part as difficult to write as it was to read? (Checkers)
15. Why did they cry on their wedding night? Please throw us a bone! (From all of us, really.)
16. Eugenides has many faults, but we are all at least a little in love with him. What is it about him that makes us so attached to him? Are you in love with him, too? (Checkers)
17. “The queen was settling on the edge of the bed, ungainly with hesitation and at the same time exquisite in her grace, like a heron landing in a treetop.” That’s just beautiful! Does it take a long time to write a sentence like that, or can you just whip those babies out? (Checkers)
18. Is there a chance that you will ever get tired of writing books about Gen, and have him simply fall down a stairway and die ingloriously? (Cyberskiver)
19. Which characteristic of Eugenides is the most likely to drive Attolia crazy, do you think? (Cyberskiver)
21. Will we eventually learn the Magus's name? Do you call him something other than 'the Magus' when you think about him? (Cyberskiver)
22. Well, while we're at it, I want to know more about Eugenides's childhood, and his grandfather. Can you imagine the parental unit that could actually get chibi Gen to listen? That's who I wanna hear about :) (Fabricalchemist)
23. Do you have any actors or famous people who, in your view, represent your image of the characters in your books? Who would your chose to cast in the movies of The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, or The King of Attolia, if there were any? (Dannybailey)
24. This kind of goes along with pronunciation of the characters names, but I'd really love to know what kind of accents the characters are speaking with. What do their voices sound like in your head while you write them? How do Attolian accents differ from Eddisian ones, and what do "Sounisian gutter" and "Attolian gutter" sound like? (Dannybailey)
25. Where did Teleus post that guard that had stabbed Eugenides in the back in The Thief...I though Teleus suggested that the guy was no longer part of the Royal Guard at the end of KofA? (Anon.)
26. In the King of Attolia, Relius wondered why the king was always polite to him but invariably rude to Teleus...I'm wondering too (Anon.)
27. I know that this is the question that most people came up with immediately after reading The King of Attolia - how long will we have to wait until the next book? :) (Rowana)
From everyone at Sounis
(Cherryblosomjen's contribution)
I'll re-write that paragraph once all the questions have come in and add a bit saying thank you. And I stuck the invocation at the top because hey, that's all the affirmation that we really are members of her obsessive fanbase that she needs. And as
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fabricalchemist said, it belongs at the top. So, questions now.
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elle-winters.livejournal.com
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