#(i'm not fine im essentially at defcon5 till the end of the book)

[imaginariumgeographica]

I can’t get over the use of NAMES in Thick as Thieves! Like, mostly how Kamet does not refer to Costis by his name until he reaches the part of his account where he first says his (Costis’s) name. Like, he says “Costis” for the first time and then he can’t stop. (I still cannot believe that Kamet canonically says (or at least thinks) “My Costis” like. wow.)

The conceit of the book is that it’s Kamet’s account for Relius, so the whole book is written after that first “Costis” but Kamet still refers to him exclusively as “the Attolian” up until that point of the narrative. It’s also worth noting that Kamet began writing before he was reunited with Costis, so it could have been a deliberate way to distance himself (because he’s SAD). We don’t know how much Kamet has written by the time he is reunited with Costis (Gen startles Kamet while he’s writing about the Anet’s Dream, and he’s reunited with Costis a week later).

It’s also kind of amusing to think of Kamet writing and being like “I’m not gonna say who this Attolian is” even though we the reader as well as Relius in universe are very aware who the Attolian is.