6/25/23 CoK chat log
Lady Jane joined the chat
Rouan joined the chat
Lady Jane: Hey!
Rouan: Hi LJ,
Rouan: All set for today’s discussion? 😊
Lady Jane: I was in need of some company>
Rouan: I’m glad I could join you
Lady Jane: I haven't finished the book yet, so not entirely but I still have thinky thoughts.
Rouan: Although as I have sheets drying on the line and we might get some rain, I may have to make a mad dash to salvage them
Lady Jane: It has been raining all weekend. Good for the drought, bad for my first farmer's market day.
Rouan: I managed to finish it yesterday, but not as many quotations or questions as with the previous books
Lady Jane: However, I still sold quite a few things, but had to stand in the rain in order to do so.
Rouan: Oh, no! Do you have a booth, or were you planning to tend it?
Lady Jane: I am selling my salves.
Rouan: Cool!
Rouan: Where are you located? What area of the country?
Lady Jane: The midwest.
Lady Jane: Lake Superior south shore to be more precise.
Rouan: I have seen on he weather channel that parts of the Midwest have been having some nasty weather. I hope that doesn’t include your area
Rouan: We have been having some drought conditions here in upstate NY but lately, the rain has moved in
Lady Jane: Drought and smoke from Canada wildfires. Not helping my lingering cough from the flu. Yeah, June man... XD
Lady Jane: Anyhow, almost ten after so we could start talking about the book.
Rouan: Oh, that nasty wildfire smoke! You have my sympathy! We were dealing with it a couple of weeks ago
Lady Jane: Might be just us.
semperlego joined the chat
Lady Jane: Speak of the devil! XD Hi, semper!
Rouan: Us and the new member of my family, a kitten named Pippin.
semperlego: Hello! I'm a little scattered today
checkers joined the chat
Lady Jane: Pippin is an adorable name for a kitten!
checkers: Sorry I'm a little late! At the grocery store
Rouan: Hi Semper! 😊
Lady Jane: Hey, checkers! You made it!
Rouan: hi Checkers!
semperlego: @Rouan--I have a cat named Pippen--and orange and white piece of fluff that is a terror to all birds and rodents--A Sophos cat!
checkers: Yes, had to unload the groceries.
semperlego: Hi Chex!
semperlego: Pippin, I mean
Rouan: My Pippin is a tuxedo baby, all 1.6 lbs of him!
semperlego: Awwwwh!
Lady Jane: I know a tuxedo cat named Spade.
Lady Jane: If he lets you pet him, it's a true honor.
semperlego: I have one of those too--Curtis, he is 18 and dottering, but still fierce
Rouan: I don’t know which is the better tempered
Rouan: cat, ginger or a tuxedo. I have had both kinds and they are invariably loving kitties
semperlego: Cats are generally awesome
checkers: I have two cats, Charlie (a huge floof) and Finn, who is like a wild animal.
checkers: They are brothers but on opposite ends of the personality spectrum.
semperlego: I think that was one of my favorite Sounis chats--casting all the characters as cats.
checkers: :-)
Rouan: My other cat is 13 years old sleek black panther
Rouan: Semper, that was fun!
semperlego: Bageera is my earliest favorite fictional cat, and I always wanted a panther of my own
checkers: What book is that, semper?
Rouan: The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
semperlego: yes
semperlego: He is the voice of wisdom
checkers: Oh gosh, it's been ages since I thought about the Jungle Book
Rouan: Same here
semperlego: There is a book called Lion in the Living Room by Abigail Tucker--extolling the way cats have taken over the world.
semperlego: It is still a great book--the real one, not just the Disney version.
Rouan: I will have to look out for it
checkers: There's a Netflix program called "In the Mind of a Cat" that's really interesting.
Rouan: Have you read Thomasina by Paul Gallico?
checkers: One thing they researched was whether cats would come to their human, or food. They came to their person, although I'm convinced my cats would go for the food.
Rouan: Hecklers, it depends on how hungry mine are! Lol
checkers: @Rouan, I have read that book so many times! First as a kid, and every once in a while as an adult.
Rouan: Er…checkers
semperlego: Mine are fickle--it would be a toss up.
Rouan: I did too, and I named one of my cats Thomasina
checkers: I have an ancient paperback copy that came out after the Disney movie, which is actually quite good.
semperlego: Maybe we need a cat book chat... But what about our bunny lion? I was thinking it would be funny to have a secret coin with a lion on it with rabbit ears, and only QT fans would get it.
Rouan: That would be funny
checkers: Hmm, an animal with the body of a lion and head of a bunny. That's Sophos!
semperlego: or a keychain? In honor of Librarian's merch question.
Rouan: That would work
semperlego: @Checkers, would that be called a Riffin? instead of a griffin?
Rouan: LOL
checkers: Yes, I think it would! It sounds adorable
Lady Jane: Yes, we have to do our merch ideas for eachase
Rouan: I found a few quotes but nothing as striking as we found last time
Lady Jane: I was trying to copy the chat BTW but Google won't let in to my account. So LJ post it is! XD
Lady Jane: I've got a good one. Set of plates with a fancy text pattern of We eat the chicken, now!
Rouan: That’s a good one!
checkers: Well, there's that line about Attolia taking over her won kingdom with 10 men...
checkers: Own kingdom
Rouan: I laughed out loud at that
Lady Jane: 10 men and a pen knife.
checkers: That's it!
Lady Jane: I almost forgot about that one!
semperlego: Eat Chicken NOW! could be safely put on a number of items.
Lady Jane: But's it's one of the best lines in the series.
Rouan: It is
checkers: And Gen's heart on a toothpick...
Lady Jane: Sophos truly has some great lines.
Rouan: How about…not on the first vote
Lady Jane: I really fun merch idea would be a table that says FIGHT ME! on it.
Lady Jane: And don't forget the legendary t-shirt, Sophos shot first!
checkers: I think this book is SO underrated. I love it. It's more...subtle, maybe? But is shows so much character growth, such a coming-of-age story.
checkers: But you gave me the gun!
Rouan: What you learn for yourself you will know forever; Gen speaking to Sophos
semperlego: @Rouan, that's a good one.
Lady Jane: Yeah, I remember peoples reaction when it first came out.
Rouan: Or, We are not philosophers, we are sovereigns
Lady Jane: Which mostly seemed to be driven by a lack of Gen in the story.
Lady Jane: I do think QT suffers from Captain Jack Sparrow syndrome a bit.
semperlego: It has grown on me with re-reads. It is my daughter's fave.
Rouan: Which one? QoA or CoK
Lady Jane: It has grown on me a lot. Plus, is a really interesting character. Just not as bombastic as Gen.
semperlego: @LJ, that's a good point. If you only look at the series as a story about Gen, you miss a ton of wonderful things.
Lady Jane: I was talking about CoK.
Rouan: True
semperlego: CoK
semperlego: She loves Sophos
semperlego: and Eddis
Rouan: I have to admit, this is not my favorite, but like QoA, it has grown on me
checkers: I can identify a lot with Sophos' personality. That may be why I like his character so much.
checkers: I'm a very indecisive person!
Lady Jane: Sophos is just so adorable. The book also fits better now that the series is completed.
Rouan: Yes, things make more sense
Lady Jane: When it first came out, a lot of people saw it as filler.
checkers: It sure does a good job of filling in the change in Sophos from bunny to lion.
Lady Jane: But it's quite essential in fitting Sounis into the overarching plot.
Rouan: Wasn’t it supposed to be part of KoA but needed to be spun off on its own
semperlego: @LJ, I saw that a lot more this time around
Lady Jane: That was TaT
Rouan: I get confused over that
checkers: @LJ, I think I saw it as filler, at first. Too little Gen and Costis, too little romance. But boy did it grow on me.
Lady Jane: Sophos interrupted Costis part of the story.
Rouan: This kind of leans into one of my tshirt quotes…Long live the Lion of Sounis
Lady Jane: Yeah, Sophos and Helen are not the ink pot throwing sort.
Lady Jane: But are just so cute in how unproblamatic they are.
Rouan: One thing I was wondering about is Ornon. He is evident in part of the story, so when does he actually go to the Medes as ambassador
checkers: Gosh, I can't remember the timeline, or how much Ornon is in ACoK.
Lady Jane: I think he leaves not long after Sophos arrives.
Rouan: He’s there during all the negotiations
Lady Jane: At the Attolian court.
Lady Jane: It's about half-way through the book.
Rouan: Before Sophos leaves with his little army
Lady Jane: And I'm sure the journey was long, so TaT probably starts after CoK.
checkers: Ornon was there before Costis came to Medea, wasn't he?
Rouan: Unless Costis went with him
semperlego: It seems to me he would have had to have gone before, or with Costis
Lady Jane: Pretty sure Costis went with him for cover.
Lady Jane: Otherwise, why would they let a single, random Attolian guard in.
Rouan: That’s true
semperlego: I wonder how diplomatic relations could have smoothed over after Sophos's antics and Melheret leaving Attolia
Lady Jane: They didn't know Gen gave Sophos the gun.
semperlego: true!
Lady Jane: So, Ornon as an Attolian/Eddisian ambassador may not have been affected.
Rouan: We know it’s been at least a year between the end of QoA and the beginning of TaT because Nahuseresh was in exile in the country for that long
semperlego: And he would be representing the Little Penninsula as a whole as Gen was now high king.
Rouan: It gets complicated
Rouan: The timeline
Lady Jane: And Gen took 98 days to bring done Erondite.
semperlego: yes, but fun to speculate.
Rouan: Indeed
Lady Jane: The good thing is we don't need to have the timeline perfectly laid out to understand everything.
semperlego: Can I say that my favorite part of this book--other than Sophos and Eddis, is how we see the relationship of Gen and Sophos play out, and how deep it is.
Lady Jane: There's clear cause and affect either way.
Lady Jane: Sophos trying to act like Gen, because he sees him as such a tough guy is adorable.
Rouan: So,why do you think Gen was so standoffish with Sophos at first, once he realized Sophos wss Sounis
Rouan: I loved that past,
Rouan: Part
Lady Jane: Because he wanted to steal Sophos's country as a king and not his friend.
Lady Jane: Fair fight and all... XD
checkers: Yes, Semper, it's cool to see their relationship from Sophos' POV, he's always admired Gen.
semperlego: @LJ, yes, and pulling wool over Melheret and the Medes too.
Lady Jane: Gen didn't get that he didn't need to steal what was freely offered.
Rouan: LJ, exactly!
Lady Jane: And at the end, Sophos had pledged his country to Attolia fo reasons anyone could understand.
Lady Jane: Sophos didn't have much choice either way.
Rouan: Little Pippin has decided it’s more fun to chew on my hair than chase his toy
Rouan: At least when he pledged his country to Attolis, he got to keep it intact
semperlego: But Sophos trusted Gen anyway. I love the end when he and Gen are talking about the extra troops "You needed me to be Sounis. I am. I needed my king to send me help. You did..."
Rouan: 🥰
checkers: Didn't the same thing sort of happen with Eddis and Sophos? Sophos was appalled that Gen was stealing Eddis and didn't understand that it was freely offered to Gen, too.
semperlego: Yes, but he didn't know about the volcano yet.
Rouan: Gen understood that, he had the same nightmare that Eddis has been having
semperlego: I mean Sophos. Eddis had to explain that to him.
Rouan: I know, I meant that even though Sophos didn’t understand it, Gen already did
Lady Jane: Gen being so unsettled by Sophos's faith in him always charms me. XD
semperlego: Me too1!
Lady Jane: Gen was like, wait, people BELIEVE in me now?
Lady Jane: Also, sweet that Gen got reassured that Sophos was still his friend.
semperlego: I was very anxious the first time I read CoK until the scene when Sophos trips Gen in the hall.
Rouan: ,I loved when Irene went to stand by Helen and held her hand when Sophos left.
Rouan: Semper, I was too
Lady Jane: What about when he punches Gen?
semperlego: All that! So great--boys will be boys.
Lady Jane: Helen and Irene friendship also getting some great moments.
Lady Jane: Sophos is rather punchy in this book.
semperlego: so much revealed, but not stated implicitly--MWT genius!
checkers: He has a lot to punch about!
semperlego: @ checkers, I agree!
semperlego: But look how calm and cool he is by the time RotT comes along.
Lady Jane: Also, speaking of Helen/Sophos interesting trend in QT with the younger man, older woman dynamic.
Rouan: Both relationships, Gen and Irene as well
semperlego: yes, not your typical royal relationships.
Lady Jane: And the Real Sounis and Agape's marriage fell through.
Lady Jane: Remember when we just had the preview of CoK and we were all like. oh no, poor Agape!
Rouan: I wonder whatever happened to Agape. She’s not mentioned any more
semperlego: Hmmm...
Lady Jane: She's probably just chilling in Eddis.
Lady Jane: Waiting for Helen to try and marry her off to someone again.
semperlego: It would be interesting to see all the named characters that sort of just faded out.
Rouan: There are a number of them
checkers: True. They have a part to play in moving the storyline forward, but not an essential role.
Lady Jane: We can kinda assume what happened to them as well.
semperlego: Maybe Agape found her way to Ferria and can sing all the song Dite wrote for the court
Rouan: Maybe she and Dite make a match between themselves
semperlego: I could see that
Lady Jane: Maybe, she married Dite and they raised Pheris's brother to not be such a stinker.
semperlego: 😂
Rouan: 😆
semperlego: She could keep him in line with Eddisian fighting tactics--the women learned them too.
Rouan: Serve him right!
Lady Jane: Okay, thiis is totally my headcannon now!
semperlego: I think a story or two about her, and Gen and Sophos's sisters would be fun
Lady Jane: Sophos's and Gen's sisters would really get along.
semperlego: They all did end up in Eddis, right?
Lady Jane: Up to so much mischief.
Rouan: I remember him saying to himself that his sisters were mostly honest
Rouan: In TT
semperlego: mostly.
Lady Jane: I think Gen's sister are older however. Gen drips youngest sibling vibes.
Rouan: Yes, that was my impression too
semperlego: So, random thought...How much do you think the Magus was working behind the scenes? He was always so paranoid about the Medes.
Rouan: With good reason
semperlego: I can imagine him with Gen in some secret conversation figuring out how to save Sounis
Lady Jane: All of the Magus's actions were Mede motavated. Even faking a heart attack!
Rouan: He was pretty foresighted in regards to the Medes.
Lady Jane: Sophos is a much better king for having listened to the Magus. Meaning the Real Sounis is over being short-cited and chaotic.
Lady Jane: *meanwhile
Rouan: LJ, my sentiments exactly
Lady Jane: The Magus is big picture thinker.
checkers: I like how the Magus' loyalties are completely with Sophos as soon as Sophos returns.
Rouan: I know
Rouan: I liked that too
Rouan: He didn’t try to be the power behind the throne either
semperlego: And Gen was already thinking of Sophos becoming Sounis way back in QoA, so they must have been both grooming him behind the scenes.
Lady Jane: He thinks in terms or how things appear in history books.
semperlego: Yes, Magus is the big picture guy for sure.
Rouan: Well he was a serious scholar as well as a warrior
semperlego: and not an adolescent...
Lady Jane: Things are so much more obvious in hindsight as they say.
semperlego: so true.
Rouan: Which we find out later on in RoTT even though we didn’t realize it until Moira’s Pen came out
semperlego: 🙂
semperlego: And all that makes CoK a very necessary piece of the puzzle.
Rouan: It does, even if we didn’t realize it at the time
semperlego: I overlooked a lot of info the first time through
semperlego: I overlooked a lot of info the first time through.
Rouan: I overlooked a lot of info too, and each time I read it, I see something I missed the time before
Rouan: Do you guys have anything more to discuss? If not, I would like to get my sheets off the line and put away. It’s not looking like rain just yet, ut I don’t want to take any chances
Lady Jane: We could answer eachase questions.
Lady Jane: I'll paste them...
semperlego: She would like that
Rouan: I can wait for those
Lady Jane: pg. 51 - Why does Sophos not dream of his Library and tutor until after he names himself "Zec"? pg. 172 - Why does Gen have Helen ask the Magus to get Sophos to training in the morning instead of Gen asking Sophos himself? Pg. 173 - Is Costis among the Attolian guard in this scene?
Lady Jane: I think the Zec has to so with Sophos's accepted himself. He is a bunny at heart.
Lady Jane: Though he can be a lion when he needs to be.
checkers: I think Gen didn't ask Sophos himself about the training so there was no chance Sophos found out it was fake. Since they wanted Sophos' reactions, and he's a terrible actor.
semperlego: I agree, and he was able to forge some relationship with his fellows. As far as Gen asking Sophos--I don't think even he is that good a liar.
Rouan: Maybe she felt he wasn’t ready until he realized his real self
Lady Jane: I think is also trying to keep his distance.
Lady Jane: *gen
semperlego: If Costis was in the guard, he would have had to bite his tongue. I bet he was watching from some where he could smirk in private.
Lady Jane: And texting wasn't a thing yet... so...
Lady Jane: Magus messaging?
semperlego: ha! and yes, even the Magus knew why
Lady Jane: Costis could have been there. But he may have been off training for his missions in Medea.
Lady Jane: Ornon hadn't left I believe, so Costis could be there.
semperlego joined the chat
semperlego: My internet kicked me out.
Rouan: I agree, although he might give it away. I don’t think he is good at concealing what he thinks
Rouan: Costis, I mean
semperlego: Maybe Costis was guarding the queens
Lady Jane: He's honest not stupid. XD
semperlego: Maybe he also was trying to steer clear of Melheret--in case he ran into him later
Rouan: At the end of KoA, Gen told Costis he was being removed from the guard, so maybe he was on hiatus
Lady Jane: Yeah, Costis isn't a guard anymore in TaT. He's Gen's personal errand boy.
semperlego: visiting his sister in the country
Lady Jane: And attending her wedding.
Lady Jane: Then he swans off with Kamet.
semperlego: @I think you have it!
Rouan: And turns into a spy for Gen
Lady Jane: So, logically speaking he probably wasn't in that group of guards.
Rouan: Okay, well now I will sign off. See you all in a few weeks for TaT.
Rouan: Enjoy your summers
Lady Jane: I should do that same. Need to pick some rhubarb for a friend.
Rouan: He
Rouan: Bye
semperlego: Great to chat! My Pippin has just come in from his outside adventures, wanting food, so I will sign off also.
Lady Jane: We be going into hiatus now, BTW.
Rouan: 😊
semperlego left the chat
Lady Jane: The plan is to pick back up with TaT in August.
Lady Jane: Enjoy vacations and the summer sun!
Lady Jane: I will share the chat log with eachase.
Lady Jane: