#ch: eugenides

[isabelpsaroslunnen]

You know the posts that periodically make the rounds that say something like "I don't support monarchy as a system except when it comes to Aragorn"?

I don't actually feel that way about Aragorn, in either the book or films (though I much prefer the book character). But I have some sympathy because I very much feel that way about Attolia Irene.

When I read The King of Attolia last December, I was impressed by a lot of things, but the overriding one was that I was deeply invested in the political success of a pair of monarchs. I didn't love it quite as deeply as The Queen of Attolia, mostly because I do not love Eugenides (or anyone) quite as much as Irene, but he's still a fun and deeply engaging character and I was actively rooting for his triumph for the duration of the book.

It's also handled deftly enough that it doesn't feel like I'm being expected to idealize monarchy itself, though—it's more the system that these characters are operating within and around. Costis as the dominant narrative voice helps carry it off, to be sure, but nevertheless, it felt like it was very smoothly done.

[softlysilverfountainsfall]

"'Gen?' [Sophos] asked. 'If you could be anywhere you wanted right now, where would it be?'

I sighed. 'In bed,' I said. 'In a big bed, with a carved footboard, in a warm room with a lot of windows. And sheets,' [...] 'as nice as the ones they sell on the Sacred Way' [...] 'Where would you [Sophos] be?'"

"'Under the apricot tree in my mother's garden at the villa...Where would you be, magus?'" [...]

"'I'd be in the main temple' [...] 'Watching the marriage of Sounis and Eddis'" (Ch 11, The Thief).

"'She writes about the fulfillment of a dream: to marry you in the Great Temple of Sounds and to wake in a marriage bed...which she describes in some detail'--he flipped the page over and read it closely--'It will have the finest Eddisian linen and a carving of the silhouette of the Sacred Mountain on the footboard...She sends her love from beneath the ripening apricots of the tree where she sits'" [...] "He was still watching me, looking for some sign that there might be a message in the text, but I am an idiot, and all that showed on my face, I am sure, was that I wanted to kill him" (Ch 18, A Conspiracy of Kings)

"...it finally occurred to me that it would be an odd apricot tree that would be producing fruit in Eddis so far out of season. I was lucky to be alone as I subsequently recalled the time when Eugenides, the magus, and I were escaping Attolia. Eugenides had been growing more and more distant as the blood leaked through his bandages...I had been desperate to hold his attention...If I hadn't been such an idiot, and so angry at Akretenesh, he would have known, I am sure, that he erred in teasing me with the letter. I would have perceived the message suggested by the text, and my face would have given me away" (Ch 18, A Conspiracy of Kings)

Sophos. You are not stupid. This coded message relies on you remembering details of insignificant conversation you had while fleeing for your life years ago--and you remember it.

[shrimpchipsss]

“If Attolia could look like a queen, Eugenides was like a god revealed, transformed into something wholly unfamiliar, surrounded by the cloth-of-gold bedcover like a deity on an altar, passionless and calculating.”

The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, ch 10

[thecrenellations]

Thick as Thieves Undead-Blog, Part Two | when your liveblog wakes up to drink some broth then goes back to sleep smiling because it trusts you | my notes from reading the book for the first time, Spring 2017

Format: Page number. My ridiculous thoughts (Context???)

Part One

Chapters 6-13:

Ch. 6 - Very intense chapter in which Kamet and Costis are captured by the slavers and escape

163. Costis <3 Muscles Good looking! (wow what a way to start this post)

one hot piece of attolian manflesh ... confirmed (people would call him this on LJ! I forgot about it for several years until reading this passage)

164. omg earring swallowed!

166. amanuensis? (perennial thanks to mwt for all the vocab words)

168. shit. severed hand.

172. wtf Costis don’t kill him

173. how do you silently kill someone like that?

174. wow fuck

men dead not even breathing hard. (compare to KoA assassination)

Everyone is a monster!

176. Thieves.

Ch. 7 - Lots of good conversation, potentially symbolic animals, and a surprise Eugenides

183. Grt scene (apologies)

184. now who’s asking rude questions? (about killing people)

186. lying to him <3

ok! unreliable narrator!

wait i thought they didn’t have slaves in Attolia?!

187. “I was unappreciated” ... I’m always lonely

so cute

188. me when mwt writes: what is this blatant unabashed fanservice?

WHO IS THIS BOY?!

189. Onarkus =/= Sandy?

190. okaaay #confirmed Gen!

191. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Boots

195. he caught a snake (associated with a certain king and assumed bootboy “you viper” “you are a poisonous little snake” ... another ominous dead animal)

Is Costis’s earring for Eugenides (I was thinking of the god!)

196. a goat and a snake .... how poetic

Costis stalks goat ...

197. hmmm.... goat and hand and last trace of Nahuseresh (OMINOUS)

does Irene know her husband was a bootboy?

203. no this what? (“trouble with a maid” story exchange)

Marin?

204. he was prepared to run away??

how old was he?

well this is a lot to chew on

205. K using past tense for N

C asking about slaves killed after emperor’s death... does he know?

Ch. 8 - This road trip was going great until SOMEONE fell in a well

208. Are Taymets taller than Eddisian mountains?

210. time passing, broad and focused

212. MY Attolian

classic minor mwt characters

215. singing Costis???

216. swearing gimme a break

please don’t let the Namreen kill them later...

217. Kamet says very little of what HE did/his interactions w them!

218. wot nice cut! (“Eleven days later...”)

gods?

219. “water finds a way” a saying from Eddis? how does C know that? also brings to mind QoA weather passages

Why doesn’t Kamet ask/wonder WHY Gen wants him?

223. They’re gonna do it? They’re gonna make it? So close!

224. does Eddis have comparable irrigation engineering?

227. NO!

228. u idiot you meant to leave him before!!!

at least look in the freaking well!!!

229. Kamet’s Face! wow he’s really in shock (at weapons shop)

230. SUCH FAMILIAR PHRASING! birds :( (I was caught up in the birds and completely missed the spilled wine!)

Ch. 9 - Retrieving Costis from the well, Ennikar appears again

231. “You’re certain he’s dead?” nice CUT

this time i heard him say?

was he talking?

232. thoughtfully tensing his lower lip?

who tf is this guy - another god?

mm grr I’m Kamet I have no friends

ok so he’s what’s his face Enkidu?

heroes walk the streets

234. AAH why

say his fricking name?!

god you’re so bad @ this

236. THIEF

237. FRIEND OMG

238. omg so good flour!

SO CUTE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THIS

239. OMG Costis. Nice. (Costis tries the Gen method of deflecting concern)

241. “as if we were close friends traveling together???”

242. Costis ... knows a hero when he sees one?

But ... delighted? not horrified?

Ch. 10 - Hanging out with Godekker

247. SO MANY HELPFUL STRONG MEN (Enter Godekker)

249. PAY THE FASTENER

253. god so snarky

254. Kamet’s chops

fuck how is this book going to end???

256. You’ll never feel safe ... Gen + Relius’s fears?

258. Fuh!

259. Ok do i have hope?

he doesn’t have Tethys lesions does he?

263. aahhhh

Costis trusts him!!!! <3

aaahhh

264. Noli? where did he get that from?

smarrrt

265. yeah u did tell Godekker your name!

wtf is this god advice!

268. The So, so, so count in this book is OUT OF CONTROL!!! It may be a record.

Ch. 11 - Kamet’s stressful voyage

270. Lol Sophos is better @ assuming Attolian ships are there...

272. yesssss earring GOOD

274. yeah sure Kamet you still haven’t left!

I did not want to leave the Attolian!

276. watching Costis

277. my heart’s gonna break don’t leave, Kamet!

278. “as if the gods had cursed my wandering feet” nice. also iambic pentameter

also laying it on a bit thick there

280. Sea in the Middle of the World!

he’s so scared though. :(

the fuckin nerve!

Costis + Gen and their s3cr3t sign

281. nooooo it’s ok to lie, it’s endearing in this world!

also Costis seriously why do you think he would be ok w/ this!

I’m coming home! (to Attolia. In cursive, see image at top of post.)

282. war?

Ch. 12 - Dramatic times in Attolia

284. “I thought we were I + E” :o

shit where is his honor now (”I would have let you go”)

285. hey there Teleus...

my heart

285. yeah but C probs knows all those guards ... he thought punching Gen was the most embarrassed he’d been... (in retrospect, I don’t think he was embarrassed AT ALL during this scene. Costis fight mode was activated.)

yeah I mean she has given us the Magus all this time! (reflecting on the fact that Costis’s name has yet to appear)

286. Yesss angry Costis poking Teleus!

This is Something to imagine

287. THIS IS REALLY BAD (”the queen”)

OK...

holy shit

when is this???

she’s not THAT old!

288. THE room? (“filled with all the horrors I had fled in Ianna-Ir”)

289. 298 pages until this! (“Costis”)

289. Please stay alive Irene!

On some level I do feel that my childhood is ruined w the confirmation they banged. :( Gen is like 20! (Listen. I love them. I'm very happy for them. This is not exactly breaking news. 20-year-olds, and this one in particular, can obviously do anything they want. This note brought to you by me being Too Ace For This and having been both younger and older than him since first reading the books a very long time ago...)

292. Gggennn

293. Is this court respect a recent development? WHAT DID I MISS? (they watched him fight the entire guard, is what, c’mon me. Costis hit him on the head with an amphora.)

yeah we get it people underestimate Eugenides

OH MY COSTIS

294. is this Annux by any chance?

Boys ur making a scene!

King of Attolia vs of Attolians?

295. very ... dramatic

this is ... a private convo?

297. yup he’s Eddis’s best stalker!

Ch. 13 - Everything else that happens in this book!

298. “Do they know?” yeah wtf Gen

it’s like the new “and every1 was naked” (in KoA)

“and every1 was watching”

300. Gen: Yo Helen can u bring me that one coin?

Helen: sure. no prob

301. “Poor Costis”

yeah Melheret always sneaks up

302. “You’ve come from the prisons, not how an honored guest is usually received” UM ACTUALLY...

305. Kamet.... (crying in his room)

306. “the kind of Attolia sitting on the footboard” oh my god yeah classic

307. Irene comes thru with the stats

Was Kamet at the battle at Ephrata?

310. talk with the kitchen staff good god i would like to know. So bizarre.

lol toting around an ambassador all nite? What would Teleus say?

while Irene’s sick ...

WTF will Costis do now?

312. names ... Kamet ... Ormentiedes? 

Creeeeeeeeepy Relius (probably about “there are some questions you might answer for us” but possibly about the cutting up and feeding to wolves comment)

314. business arrangement uh sure

Yeah ok write it all down

316. talking to Costis?

(a note: the version I read was an advance reader copy, and the only major difference was that it did NOT include the scene with “the young Erondites”)

318. Attolia smiled at him!

anything worth doing is worth overdoing lol

319. alternate readings of poem?

322. orange trees!

cabbages!

324. sent Onarkus away RECENTLY???

Is Brinna Sandy!

Seriously. 

Cooks r weird (thinking about the entry for cooks in the Tough Guide to Fantasyland)

326. the magus!

an ACHING void

oh I know I’ll just GO!

poor Gen can’t have any friends...

331. they have duffles in Attolia

and with Attolian duffles, the story ends! Thanks for reading, feedback is welcome. I promise I have more developed thoughts about this book. For another weird journey, listen to my Thick as Thieves playlist, maybe.

[inajar]

We felt the imprisonment of being a girl, the way it made your mind active and dreamy, and how you ended up knowing which colors went together. We knew that the girls were our twins, that we all existed in space like animals with identical skins, and that they knew everything about us though we couldn’t fathom them at all. We knew, finally, that the girls were really women in disguise, that they understood love and even death, and that our job was merely to create the noise that seemed to fascinate them.

Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (ch. 2)

[angelicbab-stash]

Scarlett canony: najobľúbenejšie veci

activity: 

Herectvo, roztlieskavanie, tanec, čítanie, písanie, sledovanie filmov, kreslenie, mágia, tenis, hra na husle. (Viac zmienené na tomto odkaze) ____________________________________________________________________________

animal: 

Momentálne žiadne, no neskôr to budú mačky. Scarlett je jednoznačne cat person. Má však rada i hady, jaguáre, vtáčiky, líšky či levy. ____________________________________________________________________________

art style:

Impresionizmus, romantizmus.

____________________________________________________________________________

book: 

Miluje čítanie a najradšej má básne (najmä tie francúzske), no aj prózu, avšak preferuje skôr tie staršie veci. Páčia sa jej hororové a hlavne psychologické veci, také, ktoré sú temnejšieho charakteru a obsahujú nejakým spôsobom tabu, provokatívne témy, no aj romancu a jemnejšiu erotiku. Má rada pátos, veľmi kvetnatý prejav a množstvo tróp a figúr (obzvlášť metafory). Zbožňuje biografie a autobiografie. 

Ide napríklad o: Flowers of Evil (Ch. Baudelaire), The Bell Jar (S. Plath), Dollanganger série (V.C. Andrews), Lolita (V. Nabokov), Virgin Suicides (J. Eugenides), Carrie (S. King), The Shining (S. King), Girl Interrupted (S. Kaysen), Prozac Nation (E. Wurtzel), American Psycho (B.E. Ellis), Portrait of Dorian Gray (O. Wilde), Leaves of Grass (Walt Whitman) a pod. ____________________________________________________________________________

celebrity: 

Alexandra Breckenridge, Amy Winehouse, Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé, Edith Piaf, Frances Conroy, Future, Hayley Kiyoko, Jessica Lange, Jessica Origliasso, Kali Uchis, Katherine Moennig, Lady Gaga, Lana del Rey, Lena Katina, Lorde, Marcia Cross, Marina Diamandis, Mia Kirshner, Megan Fox, Rihanna, Ruby Rose, Sarah Paulson, Selena Gomez, Whitney Houston.

Nemá veľmi obľúbené mužské známe osobnosti, vlastne ju zaujíma asi len Jim Morrison. ____________________________________________________________________________

class

Francúzština, angličtina, história, geografia a umenie. ____________________________________________________________________________

color: 

Červená (akýkoľvek odtieň), tmavé odtiene fialovej, baklažánová, čierna, biela, tmavo modrá (kráľovsky modrá), tmavo zelená (smaragdová), hnedá, béžová, piesková, zlatá, tmavé odtiene oranžovej. ____________________________________________________________________________

cologne or perfume: 

Pour femme — Dolce & Gabbana

Chanel n.5 — Chanel

____________________________________________________________________________

family member: 

Otec s babkou z maminej strany — až neskôr Scarlett zistí, čo jej otec urobil, bude to iba babka Meryl. ____________________________________________________________________________

food: 

Miluje sladké (jedlá a dezerty), jedlá ktoré vyvažujú sladké so štiplavým (nemá rada príliš štiplavé veci), morské plody, no aj horké (predovšetkým poriadne horkú tmavú čokoládu). Zbožňuje karamel, vanilku, rozmarín, parmezán a kolu (najmä čerešňovú a višňovú).

Palacinky, makrónky, belgické vafle, ratatouille, francúzsky toast, croissant, hovädzie na burgundský spôsob, lasagne, boloňské špagety, ustrice a bouillabaisse, caponata, torrone, caponata, cassata, pane cunzato, špagety aglio olio, cannoli a rizoto.

Scarlett nie je veľmi prieberčivá čo sa týka konkrétnej zeleniny, ovocia, mäsa a pod. Zje vlastne všetko a asi nie je nič čo vyslovene nemá rada, záleží jej iba od kvality daného jedla, na čo si potrpí. Preto sú jej nechutné fastfoody. Chce vedieť, čo si dáva do úst.

Miluje horkú čiernu kávu, ale nie raz si tam dá aj cukor, či ešte skôr smotanu. Z alkoholu má rada ružové víno (no aj červené a biele), šampanské, čerešňový schnapps, bacardi... Preferuje sladký alkohol, neznáša chuť tvrdého a bylinkový alkohol. ____________________________________________________________________________

flower: 

Páči sa jej vlčí mak, ruže, narcisy, levandule a magnólie. ____________________________________________________________________________

element:

Oheň. Rada spaľuje veci vo svojej ceste a obzvlášť minulosti. ____________________________________________________________________________

gem: 

Citrín, karneol a akvamarín. ____________________________________________________________________________

holiday: 

Jednoznačne Halloween kvôli kostýmom, párty a pretože je to v jej najobľúbenejší mesiac v roku. ____________________________________________________________________________

movie: 

Platí čo aj pre knihy, no u filmov má rada aj filmy z teen prostredia. Občas si rada pozrie aj komédiu, ale na to musí mať správnu náladu. Páčia sa jej čiernobiele filmy.

Carrie (1976), Heathers, Sedmikrásky, Valerie a týden divů, The Love Witch, Girl Interrupted, Virgin Suicides, Lolita (obe verzie), The Shining, Prozac Nation, Thelma and Louise, American Beauty, American Psycho, Jennifer’s body, Devil in the flesh, Mean Girls, Pretty Woman, Jeune & Jolie, Mädchen in Uniform, Clueless, Jawbreaker, Mad Love, Cruel Intentions, Léon: the Professional.

Síce jej falošná krv vo filmoch vyslovene nevadí a obľubuje horory, nemá však rada obyčajné vyvražďovačky s obrovským množstvom krvi a násilností.  ____________________________________________________________________________

musician: 

Lana del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Edith Piaf, Doja Cat, Jim Morrison, Whitney Houston, Qveen Herby, Sia, Kali Uchis, Lady Gaga, Future, Hayley Kiyoko, Rihanna, Florence + Machine, Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé, Cardi B, Lorde, Emilie Autumn, The Veronicas, Garbage, Tatu, Kendrick Lamar, Asap Rocky. ____________________________________________________________________________

scenery: 

More, jazero, lúky plné kvetov, ulice historických miest. ____________________________________________________________________________

scent: 

Čerešne, višne, jazmín, maliny, biely čaj, vanilka, karamel, broskyne, vôňa kávy a vína, vôňa starších kníh a mokrých ciest po daždi.

Volí výrazné, silnejšie vône. ____________________________________________________________________________

season and month

Jeseň. Jej najobľúbenejšie mesiace v roku sú september a október.

____________________________________________________________________________

song:

Teen Idle — Marina and the Diamonds

Primadonna Girl — Marina and the Diamonds 

Ultraviolence — Lana del Rey

Pretty when you cry — Lana del Rey 

LA Woman — The Doors

Non, je ne regrette rien — Edith Piaf

I have nothing — Whitney Houston

Valerie — Amy Winehouse

All the things she said — Tatu

Girls like girls — Hayley Kiyoko

Opheliac — Emilie Autumn

Big God  — Florence + the machine

Royals — Lorde

Chandelier — Sia

Pour it up — Rihanna

Jenny — Studio Killers

Judas — Lady Gaga

Trauma — Doja Cat

Loner — Kali Uchis

Everything I’m not  — The Veronicas

Heavily broken — The Veronicas

All these hoes — Qveen Herby

Supervixen — Garbage

____________________________________________________________________________ 

television show: 

Desperate housewives, Sex in the city, Friends, Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, The L word, Dexter, The Sopranos, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House, OC California, Orange is the new black, House of Cards, American Horror Story, Channel Zero, True Blood, Black Mirror. ____________________________________________________________________________

weather: 

Slnečno ale nie horko, daždivo, zamračene, hmlisto. ____________________________________________________________________________ 

vacation destination:

Francúzsko, Korzika, Sicília, Malta, Cyprus, Benelux, Taliansko, Španielsko, Portugalsko, Británia vo všeobecnosti. Najradšej má Európu.

Preferuje však miesta, kde môže chodiť po pamiatkach, skúšať nové jedlá, zájsť do galérie... Kde je množstvo umenia a módy. Chodí práve za kultúrou — nie je typ na túry a čo sa týka pláži, po tých sa rada prejde, sleduje more, nadýcha sa vzduchu a slní sa, no nechce plávať pre svoju hydrofóbiu (a to, že nevie plávať).

[isabelpsaroslunnen]

I was looking for an old message and instead found my impromptu liveblog of the end of The Queen of Attolia, which I bombarded @child-of-hurin with:

[isabelpsaroslunnen]

My best friend and I are both Star Wars fans, and we have an ongoing amicable debate about the merits of A New Hope vs Return of the Jedi.

We tend to agree that ANH is the smoother of the two films in terms of executing its vision and general craft. It doesn't have the unevenness of, say, the somewhat bloated Jabba's Palace sequence or the weird pacing and structure of some aspects of the Battle of Endor sequence. ROTJ, on the other hand, is (in our view) the more ambitious film, and when it does manage to fulfill those ambitions, it's better than almost anything in ANH. The characters are more nuanced, their dynamics are more intense and complex, the great scenes are just, by and large, richer and more evocative. When ROTJ is bad, it's worse than ANH, and when it's good, it's better.

The debate for us is not about whether those things are true, but whether the consistent quality of ANH or the more ambitious and (sometimes) powerful quality of ROTJ is "better." At the end of the day, the distinction is not incredibly important and both of us love both films. But it is interesting, to us, to think about the merits of execution vs ambition in storytelling and craft.

I was thinking about this, of course, because I read The Thief and then The Queen of Attolia in rapid succession, and I feel like there is something of that ANH-ROTJ dynamic between them. The Thief is the smoother, more precisely crafted book, IMO, but The Queen of Attolia is doing so much more.

There's so much development of the characters (especially my favorite, Attolia/Irene), so much more intrigue and just substance, so many wild twists and turns along the way, and the last quarter was both gripping and just swept me off my feet. I loved The Thief, but there's nothing in it that I felt as strongly about as I feel about ... I don't know, 2/3 of QoA.

But I also have some gripes with QoA that I don't really with TT—I think the use of secrets, whodunnit-style semi-unreliability, and unexpected revelations, was structured better or at least more smoothly in TT. There were points in QoA where the "aha! actually, the whole time..." revelations started to feel repetitive to me, and certainly points where I would have preferred to see more onstage development, or at least more hints coming earlier, and less shocking twists.

That said, the escalation of intrigue, the deeper characterization, Eugenides's recovery, the glimpses of young(er) Irene along with her development and fantastic maneuvering, and basically everything Helen chooses to be, made it not only worth the price of admission, but feel like the richer and more substantial work of the two. It's not as "clean" as TT, much as ROTJ is not as clean as ANH, but it does realize many of its ambitions in a more powerful way.

[isabelpsaroslunnen]

I'm re-reading The Queen of Attolia and finally got to the Peak Heist section! I'm really looking forwards to it; it was definitely my favorite part of the book on the first read.

Also:

"There is no one else to send. And, my Queen, I do want this." He [Eugenides] looked up at her. "I can't tell you why."

Me: Yeah, I bet you can't.

"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."

Me: 👀

Yeah, I bet you do.

[isabelpsaroslunnen]

I've gotten within the last 100 pages of The Queen of Attolia in my re-read, and the last section is so incredibly fun. Fraught with emotion, yes, but also just delightful, and holy shit this is SO my jam, how did I not know that something so exquisitely tailored to my interests existed until the last couple of years?!

[isabelpsaroslunnen]

Recently, for the first time in years, I read a book that wasn't for graduate school and wasn't something I'd read before.

I'd seen my friends @elwing and @kareenvorbarra blogging about the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, and the setting and one of the characters (Irene/Attolia) seemed so much my type that I bought the first two books. But, honestly, grad school killed a lot of my longtime love for reading, and in any case, I felt guilty about reading things not for my program when I'm perpetually behind. And I felt especially guilty about reading SF/F, which I love so much that I sometimes regret not specializing in it academically, but which has very little to do with my actual research.

So I didn't read them (or any of my "new" SF/F books) for about a year or a year and a half after buying them. I don't know what snapped the other day, but I simply decided to try and enjoy reading a complete novel (after breaking the ice with a short story, Zen Cho's "The House of Aunts," last year). And I picked The Thief, the first in the Queen's Thief series, and brought it with me while I was waiting through some medical appointments.

I'm really glad I did, because I had a blast reading it! I barrelled through about 250 pages without stopping, paused for a brief conversation, then finished it with full enjoyment.

The book is engaging and extremely accessible in style, which may have helped me jump back into long-form reading for pleasure. I get the impression that it was geared or at least marketed towards older children, even while being very enjoyable for an adult (I wasn't at all surprised that it was originally published in the 1990s, which was kind of the era for that). At the same time, there isn't much sense of urgency or quickness about the pace, as there often is in shorter novels for children (or was in my recollection from years back). Personally, I was happy to read lots of descriptive passages of the characters meandering around the countryside.

I guessed some things from my friends' blogging—I'd seen art and brief passages about a number of the characters, so meeting them for the "first" time was like "oh, it's you! I know who you are!" But I had no context for these people and the scraps I knew about them until I kept reading. There was one character whom I guessed would end badly through his absence from what I've seen of the fandom, and indeed, he did. I only saw part of the big twist coming, though, so it was actually very fun to encounter it with only disconnected, Tumblr-filtered ideas of these people and this world.

I really enjoyed the quasi-Greek setting and names. I don't often see that done as straightforwardly as here with secondary world fantasy, so I got a big kick out of it as a Greek-American, especially given the jabs at elites who dismiss immigrant and diasporic culture. The subversion of the magus's condescension towards Gen's knowledge of Eddisian stories and pronunciation was extremely cathartic, lol.

Irene/Attolia was as spectacularly my type as suspected, even though she only appears briefly (but what an impression!). I loved Eugenides himself, more than I actually anticipated—the type really depends on execution, but I found him delightful. Sophos and Eddis/Helen were, too!

So it was, all around, a great experience to have after years of slogging through dense articles and academic texts. I have The Queen of Attolia up next, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

[thecrenellations]

Thick as Thieves Undead-Blog, Part One | when your liveblog falls in a well then climbs out covered in flour | my notes from reading the book for the first time, Spring 2017

Expect yelling, lines that stuck out to me, and references that might only make sense in my head! Do not expect any meaningful analysis; I was simply reading this book, losing my mind, and feeling like I was falling in love. (Context provided in italics.)

Part Two

Chapters 1-5:

Ch. 1 - Kamet meets Costis and finds out about Nahuseresh’s “death” 

1. similar start to KoA and ACoK? and Thief?? feeling stupid

2. smashed bottle of remchik (amphora motif?)

RUSTICATE

oh no Nahuseresh why you’re married!

3. a new character! (Laela)

5. u look like a pomegranate

6. how old is Kamet?

8. “crooked men assume others are crooked as well�� like thieves and philanderers...

10. Laela thinks Attolia is doomed?

ORNON????

“nature of world” is that what you really think?

trained as a child

11. poor eyesight

PAH COSTIS IS BACK i’m emotional

A VERY LARGE ATTOLIAN

12. THANK THE ETERNAL GODS HE WAS A CHATTY ATTOLIAN THAT’S WHAT YOU THINK

13. everyone is smart

a deep well of spite, low cunning

14. physical description of Costis?!?

he says he has so much power but he ... hides in alcoves? behind urns?

15. backward Attolia

a match made in hell (Kamet’s assessment of Gen and Irene)

K’s backstory

what does he like? does he WANT wealth and power?

16. *****“There is freedom and power” ***** (this quote was featured in some of the promotion before publication, I think, so it stuck out to me as especially important, though it probably would have anyway because it says a whole lot about Kamet’s perspective!)

oh no well there goes my wish for insight into Nahuseresh RIP (I didn’t LIKE Nahuseresh and particularly want to get to know him better, but I did go into this book hoping we’d get a more nuanced view of some of the Mede court ... turns out we absolutely DID get some serious insight into Nahuseresh despite him not appearing in person ... oof. I do still hope that RotT gives us even more Mede characters or fleshes out the other ambassadors - Akretenesh and Melheret (though we we just see them through the eyes of people like Sophos who vehemently oppose them) still seem less unique/complex/human compared to other antagonist-types like Ambiades, Sejanus, reader’s choice of baron.)

17. tears ... not for him though

 21. Shesmegah = Philia?

22. Rabbit and Lion!!!

23. Bear ... thx mwt <3 plz don’t be foreshadowing (Gen compares himself to a dancing bear ... so “there had been a white bear once, a gift from the Braelings in the north, but it had died in the heat” is pretty ominous, especially considering the animal allusions to another character on the previous page!)

24. he’s leaving the gates an enemy of king!

Ch. 2 - Kamet bumps into Immakuk and then Costis, the Anet’s Dream burns

28. how do they know who’s a slave?

clothes, chain

it’s Odin (listen. Odin and Immakuk both have one eye and show up a lot! I was totally on the right track. Shoutout to The Saga of the Volsungs ;) )

Enforcers of Imperial Peace give me a break! (i mean, in the US police are often officially called “peace officers” so, fair)

is he a god? srsly

32. the first of my many lies (“you said after noon”)

is this post-annuxing? no?

We went to the theater

34. I am a good judge of men

35. “i could evade the attolian far more easily than the palace guard” he is a palace guard <3

36. HIS ACCENT IS STILL HORRIBLE also your god’s favor

37. uhhh omg

38. omg OMG OMGOMG OMG (this was me generally losing it at Kamet’s assessment of Costis and at “he told me his name, as if he expected me to use it” I still cannot get over that line)

that’s one way to get Ornon out of your hair

39. Has C picked up the mind-reading habit

“take a seat” ... parallel to first KoA scene with Costis and Gen?

40. so certain of my place in the world

DIVESTED himself of his shirt

41. soooooooo bad bad institution (Kamet is thinking about the other slaves being executed)

42. Mercy buds (Kamet and Costis/Shesmegah and Philia)

44. more retrospect/depth in narration than Sophos, even (“I should have had more respect for his quick thinking” etc)

"i wanted to believe i steered the course of my future” no it’s Gen aka the gods

47. Story time!

friends

53. Ziggurat vs tower?

54. Costis is good in a crisis

55. what is this (Kamet’s swimming struggles)

“cooped up”

Ch. 3 - Kamet and Costis stay in Sherguz, then leave by caravan

62. making excuses to hang w Costis 4eva

who set the boat on fire?

who was the merchant on it?

68. know my secret??

wtf Costis you put a rock in your breastplate?

73. holy shit “eloquent”

lol this scene! (Costis negotiating with Roamanj)

“you are asking this because i look like your generous old uncle” his uncle is NOT generous tho

75. what is palm grease? :o 

does C really not know N is dead? what if he isn’t ....? (lol don’t give me too much credit for this thought, I quickly dismissed it)

76. sign of the idiot!

78. Aris! <3 Wish I hadn’t been spoiled for this! (by the character list absolutely crammed full of spoilers in all the new paperbacks)

79. Are these like the large caravans Eddis took?

85. around the fire interesting education vibes + romance?

I’m so proud of Costis!

Ch. 4 - Contains lions and backstory

89. Yes! (Namreen attack. I don’t know what in particular I was excited about. Possibly Costis’s comment that the guy who stabbed Kamet didn’t have his guard up? Or just everything.)

90. Wow! When u get over it, compare to Costis w/ Gen hurt!

93. “why namreen” OMG Kamet tell him!!! it’s important!

94. no one knows what my king knows

95. a herd of cats!

damn yeah issues

A LION!!! wtf 

I would LOVE to hear Costis hiss

OMG COSTIS NO

96. prayers ouch ... oxe harbrea?

98. oh my god

101. Costis is kind

105. Costis is accustomed to passing the day in silence - but he fills the silence here w/ Kamet w/ horrible jokes!

god what was K’s childhood

106. OMG sand in food

107. OMG so cute (Costis telling stories about Gen)

108. So so so! :)

110. I am aghast I continue to be aghast I’m surprised This Incident wasn’t common knowledge tho (How did you come to Ianna-Ir? I punched the king in the face.)

112. well that was a long and slightly weird story (abt Costis’s story of the above. I was channelling something Martin says in the Cabin Pressure episode “Fitton” about the sauce?)

116. Attolian slang omg

literally the main suspense/climax is when is Kamet going to call Costis by his name?!?!!!

117. [doodle of caggi conversation, see photo at top of post]

126. omg they were both in Attolia but not together

if Kamet was in the kitchen then does he know Sandy? (LJ fandom name for Brinna before we knew who she was)

127. OMG nutcakes vs Irene (“She was as beautiful as the Queen of the Night, but the Attolian nutcakes ... were even more beautiful -- and they wouldn’t kill you.”)

looks like a nutcake is actually a nutcake

looks like a nutcake could actually kill u? (I THINK ABOUT THIS CONCEPT A LOT. someday I will make a post about it)

Ch. 5 - Road trip continues, Ne Malia/Koadester

131. So proud of Costis’s acting! (losing money to sell the chain)

136. the truth? (Kamet’s backstory)

we’re just getting more (as readers)

140. IT’S ODIN (onion farmer)

143. fastener?

144. wooo (thoughts about “new authority as a free man”)

151. crack in china cup returns

153. Costis you’re sharing your king’s confidence!

154. Eugenides here to break up your empire!

lol Melheret Gen why

156. “squabbles” wars all reduced to reliable trade route!

apparently I became too engrossed to take notes as their pursuers caught up to them, because that’s all for this chapter! The journey will continue when I’ve typed up more ... let me know if anything is incomprehensible. Thanks for reading!

[inajar]

Meanwhile, a local television show focused on the subject of teenage suicide, inviting two girls and one boy to explain their reasons for attempting it. We listened to them, but it was clear they’d received too much therapy to know the truth.

Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides (ch. 3)