A RED-ROSE CHAIN open thread!

[seanan_mcguire]

To celebrate the release of A Red-Rose Chain, here. Have an open thread to discuss the book. Judging by the comments I'm seeing, some of you have had time, and I'd really, really rather book discussion (sometimes including spoilers) didn't crop up on other posts

Comments

[bree_ramsey314]

Oh bother, my computer did something funky and I lost the comment I was working on, so here I go again.

Amazing, inspiring, gripping, outstanding; I could go through the whole dictionary for superlatives and never come up with one that does justice to this book. How do you do it, Seanan? Every book is better than the one that came before, and since I consider Rosemary and Rue to be one of the best books I have ever read, that's a tremendous feat. One might even call it heroic! :)

The way you built the tension and suspense was masterful; I mean we all know Toby will come through in the end, but her friends? They are her strength and her weakness; you can cut, stab, beat and bloody Toby to no end, but the only way you can really, truly hurt her is to hurt those she loves. It's the risk of letting yourself care and, I suppose, the price of being a hero. This book makes that the appropriateness of that title once more abundantly clear, because only a hero could do what she did in the end.

I'm trying to avoid outright spoilers, but with this next part I can't, so stop reading if you don't want to know.

You told me I would like this one, and you were right. Walther's revelation isn't the sole reason for that, in fact it's actually a very minuscule part of why I loved this book. It wasn't even part of the story, just an aside really, but that's why I love the way you handled it. Without that bit the story would have been unchanged, but with it the world of Faerie gains even more depth. And the way Toby handled it -- the way any being with a functioning brain should handle it -- just makes her all the more a hero in my heart. I've said it before, but I can never say it enough; on behalf of all of us in the transgender community, thank you.

I did have one moment of stark, raving horror at the end, when Toby asked Queen Granola (Fruits, flakes and nuts -- get it?) what her name was. A thought popped into my head when she refused to answer, but then I told myself it couldn't be. I mean if she was August, she would have had Dochas Sidhe blood, and Toby would have known that, right?

Anyway, I'm going to end this before I start babbling incoherent praise. I loved it, and I can't wait for the next book. At least I still have Indexing:Reflections to keep me going, and the Incyrptid books, which I have yet to start. I'm very much looking forward to Every Heart a Doorway as well, and getting into your sci fi stuff. I'm not in your league, but my dabbling in writing has taught me some of what an author goes through, I think. It can be hard, when you put your work out there for the world. It's like presenting your child, and the world can be cruel to children. If I can only convey one thing, let it be this; you have touched one heart, and filled it with joy, wonder and hope. My world is a better place because of the worlds you have shown me, and I know I am not alone in feeling this way.

Hugs,
Breanna Ramsey

[lylassandra]

"I mean we all know Toby will come through"

Oh my God, please do not give Seanan any ideas.

[dragonsong]

I have my own theory on where August is - given the description of her hair as silvery red gold.

In Chimes at Midnight, the second time Toby goes back to Borderlands there's a customer in the store with hair "an odd shade of silvery-red, like red gold."

Then in the Winter Long, when Toby drinks from Simon, the little girl in his memory has "silvery braids that glimmered red, like the reddish gold I sometimes saw in wedding rings."

Now what on earth August would be doing at a bookstore down the street from Toby's house? No clue. But I am hella curious as to why we see such a similar description in two places.

[bree_ramsey314]

Wow, I missed that entirely. I certainly agree that it's very interesting, and quite possibly significant. Maybe August -- if that was her -- has been keeping an eye on her baby half-sister? Of course, this being Faerie, that may not be a sign of affection.

[dragonsong]

I didn't pick it up until just this last read through right before the new book - so it took me like 4 times to notice. Once I did though, I've been practically foaming at the mouth to find out if the two tidbits are actually connected.

[bree_ramsey314]

:I'd love to know too, but I somehow doubt Seanan is going to pop in and say, "Well darn, you caught me!"
(If she does, you should at least try to get a cookie out of it!)

[dragonsong]

Thinking more last night, your comment about August keeping an eye on her half-sister made me wonder - is mixing blood claimed by Titania (Daoine Sidhe) and Oberon (Dochas Sidhe) as bad as mixing Titania and Maeve? We did get Toby wondering about Luna's madness, when she met Ceres who seemed pretty darn stable. I can't remember who Blind Michael and Acacia are claimed by - Oberon and Maeve, respectively?

[bree_ramsey314]

I would say no. Seanan stated in the first question she answered, that because of the way inheritance works in fae society many of those fae 'claimed' by Maeve or Titania are also descended from Oberon, because their Firstborn chose their mother instead of their father. Case in point, the Luidaeg, who is claimed by Maeve but was sired by Oberon. There have to be many of Titania's children that also have Oberon's blood, so I doubt it would be an issue.

[wendyzski]

When some of us popped up a handful of books ago with "Quentin is TOTALLY the Crown Prince", her response was "why do you think that", and got us to lay out our various reasons.

[lazzchan]

Wow, nice catch! That is a seriously awesome catch and I'm curious as well.

[professor]

Huh. That's an awesome catch.

I went and re-read the passage in Chimes at Midnight. This occurs while Borderlands is still protected by the Luidaeg's magic. So at the very least, August does not claim allegiance to the Mists, since those were the terms of the Luidaeg's protection, according to the text.

(Sidenote on the only hiding Arden from people sworn to the Mists: does that seem sloppy to anyone else? Shouldn't that leave the Cait Sidhe wide open, as well as anyone not sworn to the Mists that is hanging around? Like spies from other kingdoms and what not?)

[beccastareyes]

The Luidaeg might have counted on the Cait Sidhe to not care, since, at least based on Tybalt, most of them think the Divided Courts' politics is pretty damn messed up and no respectable cat would get involved with it by choice.

[bree_ramsey314]

More than that, from the various comments Tybalt has made regarding Gilad, it sounds like he at least respected him, and perhaps even considered him a friend. As to spies from other kingdoms, why would they be in the Mists looking for its missing princess? Silences would be the only kingdom that had any interest in finding Arden and Nolan, and they'd most likely figure she had fled the kingdom -- because, you know, crazy queen wants you dead is a powerful motivation to relocate -- and since Silences was a puppet government, the wards would probably work against its spies too. The wards were there to protect her from the people she had to fear, to keep her alive until someday, someone -- you know, a hero -- would come along and help her reclaim her birthright.

[seanan_mcguire]

I am so glad you enjoyed it. <3