#At the Feet of the Sun

[hermitknut]

Kip and Buru Tovo and opposing perspectives

OKAY so time for a little mini deep dive on my current obsession.

One of Kip's major challenges is always about coming home. About how his family and community treat him, about how they see him. From his perspective - well, it's in the opening section of Hands of the Emperor:

By the time he reached the bottom of the Spire he no longer felt like Cliopher Mdang, personal secretary to the Lord of Rising Stars, Secretary in Chief of the Private Offices of the Lords of State, official head of the Imperial Bureaucratic Service, unofficial head of the world's government, the Hands of the Emperor. He was, instead, merely everyone's Cousin Kip, the one who left.

He thinks of people back home as bafflingly insular, as unappreciative of anything outside of the ring, and he thinks that he doesn't rate highly enough to merit much from them - he's too much and not enough, as he says to Fitzroy in At the Feet of the Sun. He didn't find what he was meant to do at home, and he sees himself as without a place there. He assumes people a home barely think about him, and if they do it's trivial or negative. He doesn't doubt that they love him, and he doesn't think of them as bad people - but he doesn't feel seen or appreciated, and he's made his peace with that (well. he tells himself he has, anyway). He assumes they see him, fundamentally, as too foreign, and inadequate.

There is a lovely little microcosm example of this, when he is about to tell Buru Tovo (and his Radiancy, Rhodin, Conju, Ludvic) about his life. Kip feels the need to have a flame present in the room, even if it is only symbolic, so he gets the brazier:

He lit it with the fire-starter, knowing even as he did it that this showed a certain want in him. His great-uncle watched him narrowly, obviously noting the symbolic presence of the fire and the use of a Solaaran method of lighting it.

showed a certain want in him. Oof. But that's how he feels!

Now skip over to Portrait of a Wide Seas Islander, and there's this incredible, almost shocking shift in perspective. Because we can suddenly see what Buru Tovo can see - we can see past the snide little comments about Kip's clothes and how long he's been gone, and we can see the anxiety over his absence that drives it. Kip sees these things as people wanting to knock him down a peg, and that's not entirely untrue - but he has no idea of how much he is valued, back home. Both as a person (as we find out from Bertie's letters and some of the later scenes), and more broadly as the rising tana-tai - people care so much about what he does and what happens to him, and they are so bad at telling him that (Kip's perspective is entirely justified, given the information he has and the way people talk to him, and it hurts).

And going back to the microcosm, this is the part that always makes me pause, because look at the lighting of the brazier from Buru Tovo's perspective:

Tovo watched Kip light the fire in the velioi way, which had the merit of taking bare seconds. When the fire had caught - first try, of course it was first try -

Not only is Tovo entirely neutral on the method - he notes that it's foreign, and the pro is that it's quick, that's it! - he is immediately distracted by the fact that Kip did it on the first attempt, because of course he did, because Kip is just that good.

We don't dwell on this moment in the text, because it's immediately followed by Kip revealing to Buru Tovo that he's been practicing the fire dance, which is understandably a Big Deal. But! the contrast!! between the two versions of that moment!!! kills me every time. Kip, sunk in to the rut of his own belief in his own inadequacies, can only see a lack. He can only see something he could be doing better (as if Kip has ever done something worse than his best, I swear). And Buru Tovo, looking back at him, can only see just how brilliant he is.

Every time I come back to this I have to take a goddamn moment, so I thought I'd share. It's only a tiny moment, and of course it's a theme that the books return to at much greater length, but I really love the deft way this is done.

[ruinconstellation]

That was how people always talked about romantic, sexual love. As if that sort of love was necessarily better, greater, more, than friendship. As if being the greatest of friends was a step down.

Victoria Goddard, At The Feet of the Sun

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Characters, book, and author names under the cut

Cliopher Mdang/Fitzroy Angursell - Hands of the Emperor/At the Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard

Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan - Guardian (Zhen Hun) by Priest

Magnus Chase/Alex Fierro - Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan

Laura/Carmilla - Carmilla by J Sheridan Le Fanu

[sanjerina]

So the reason Hands of the Emperor/At the Feet of the Sun works is that it is fundamentally a queerplatonic whateverthefuck/romance between two traumatized middle-aged dudes who deeply deserve each other, in all of the ways that phrase can possibly mean — as eternal reward, as daily punishment, as earthly duty, as sacred right, as two goobers meant to goob along together because no one else can possibly be as Extra as either one of them, much less match their synergy*

And literally everyone in their lives goes from “what a remarkable/strange friendship” to “wow, these extra-ass goobers belong together for the safety of them and everyone else.” And I think that’s beautiful.

(*many come close to the Extra, which is why they stick around and become comparatively restful friends)

Anyway. These novels have a lot of wish-fulfillment feelings in them, but let’s not say that like it’s a bad thing.

[overlord-of-chaos]

Me reading The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard: oh wow, this might be the best book I have ever read.

Me reading the sequel, At the Feet of the Sun: holy shit. Oh my fucking god. This is absolutely stunning and I may never recover. What god has favoured me so as to put this book in my path and how can I pledge them my undying allegiance. How will anything else ever possibly compare to this beauty

Anyway if you're reading this consider it a PSA to go read The Hands of the Emperor, At the Feet of the Sun and probably all the rest of Victoria Goddard's books too they're spectacular

[sleepyfey]

Little Kip and Au’aua!

[thecommongale]

I don't want to talk about how important The Lays of the Hearth Fire are to me because that is too precious and huge to put into words. But if you are also reading these books and if they are also important to you I want you to know that I am holding your shoulders and touching foreheads with you

[piyo13sdoodles]

and the final crop of atfots-tober art challenge!!! part 1 and part 2 can be found at those links :) i just realized the last 3 are all about birds lol

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Simon Snow series (Carry On, Wayward Son, Any Way the Wind Blows) by Rainbow Rowell

Endorsement from submitter: we love a book that started as a fanfiction concept in ANOTHER book and spiraled into an actual three-part series! featuring loveable characters, the problems of no-longer being the chosen one and a kiss that was literally ON FIRE! we love vampire/human romances with long pining. we love the building of an entire now friendship and we love the concept of a magic school that is happy(ish) and much better than that of JKR's.

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen. That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right. Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here — it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up. Fantasy, young adult, romance, mystery, series

The Hands of the Emperor (The Hands of the Emperor, At the Feet of the Sun, and other stories) by Victoria Goddard

An impulsive word can start a war. A timely word can stop one. A simple act of friendship can change the course of history. Cliopher Mdang is the personal secretary of the Last Emperor of Astandalas, the Lord of Rising Stars, the Lord Magus of Zunidh, the Sun-on-Earth, the god. He has spent more time with the Emperor of Astandalas than any other person. He has never once touched his lord. He has never called him by name. He has never initiated a conversation. One day Cliopher invites the Sun-on-Earth home to the proverbially remote Vangavaye-ve for a holiday. The mere invitation could have seen Cliopher executed for blasphemy. The acceptance upends the world. Fantasy, secondary world, politics, romance, adult, series

[mercysmourn]

if i said sloooowburn platonic to romantic bard emperor x asexual policy wonk forbidden touch romance with repression that goes so bonkers hard that you'll start chewing the book. then would you read it. must i tropeify everything. can't you just know that if i point to a book and all i can say is 'haha!' it'll blow your tits right off. please. trust me. take my hand. read the lays of the hearth fire duology today

[myriad-rainbows]

Cliopher sayo Mdang:

[image description: the "I bring a sort of X vibe to the Y" meme template—a photo of a black man looking out across the grassy shoulder of a highway, turned mostly away from the camera with a serene expression—with the text edited to say 'I bring a sort of "incremental yet inexorable shift towards socialism" Vibe to government of Zunidh that the entrenched aristocracy don't really like.' End I.D.]

[hermitknut]

The book of censored poetry was the only thing he'd ever stolen from the Palace. Well. Except for the government, of course.

At the Feet of the Sun, by Victoria Goddard

[dedeuteros]

HOTE reading playlists!

I am picky about the ambiance I have on when reading- can't stand looking up "reading playlist" and finding noting but contemporary piano- so I spend some time maybe once a week cherry picking songs for my own background sounds.

So here is all four linked in one place for anyone else interested. These are my babies and are subject to change. I try to match overall tone and.. instrument? of each book, as well as some songs which are shoehorned in for particular scenes. Best played shuffled, don't be scared to skip what isn't quite to the beat of the scene.

[starfollies]

Boooook. Beeeeg booook.

Also, they aren’t the same dimensions. It is a bit maddening.

[wrishwrosh]

fitzroy angursell, poet laureate of zunidh

[lyowyn]

Question for my Nine Worlds peeps.

I'm in the midst of a "Lays of the Hearth Fire" binge reread, and I'm still just astonished by how fantastic and enthralling this series is. This is my third read through in as many years, and I still can't put them down. Anyway, I noticed something today with my hardcover copy of "At The Feet of the Sun." I always take my dust jackets off when I read, so I don't wreck them, and hmmm... Something isn't quite right here...

Does anyone else's hardcover copy of AtFotS say Hands of the Emperor on the side?