The Thief Has Returned [Spoiler Thread]

Oct 06, 2020 05:46

Congratulations, you have survived to this day, which, considering the year we've had...was easier said than done.


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new book, spoilers, return of the thief, general discussion

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Exordium ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 10:49:44 UTC
Unlike others who claim to be well-informed, I am an eyewitness...

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Re: Exordium ccwtaylor October 6 2020, 14:57:21 UTC
I thought this was a really interesting way to conclude a series told from a series of unreliable point of views! It made me instantly suspicious of the narrator's reliability...

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Re: Exordium ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 16:47:29 UTC
Exactly! The intro seems to be hammering in that we can't trust anything.

Especially since the synopsis says "written by the victors." We don't know whose side Pigeon is going to end up on...

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Re: Exordium checkers65477 October 6 2020, 19:41:18 UTC
I looked up "Exordium" and it's Latin for "beginning the web." It's going to be a tangled web...

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Chapter One, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 10:51:39 UTC
Though I was born to the house of Susa, I am Erondites.

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RE: Chapter One, v1 drollittle October 6 2020, 15:30:02 UTC
I want to hug him.

Some authors would have made this chapter a lot more emo than it is. Pheris just states the facts. Tragic as they are, he (like Kamet) seems to take the way he is treated for granted.

(Here I am, leaving comments on the first chapters because Amazon is still shipping my book. It’s close though! Drive, driver! You carry the fate of nations in a little brown paper package.)

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Re: Chapter One, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 16:53:57 UTC
I think Pigeon has one of the darkest backstories so far... His family? Yikes! He is looking back on this as an adult, so maybe he's come to terms with it?

You also want to low-key uncomfortable laugh when he said, it was no longer socially acceptable to leave babies like me out for the foxes. o_0

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Re: Chapter One, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 9 2020, 22:22:31 UTC
Also, the offhand comment about how he can't speak and how Marin and Erondites talk like he's not actually a person right in front of them. Eeesh!

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Chapter Two, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 10:54:14 UTC
In a small audience room made smaller by the granite pillars (...) the king of Attolia waited.

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Re: Chapter Two, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 17:21:05 UTC
Gen must have known, right? I'm 99.999% certain that he knows.

Does this "carriage" remind anyone else of the thing they used to bring Gen back to Eddis in QoA?

Ever heard of hangers, Gen? You need an entire closet for your coats? Like, Costis, I expect better of royal closets.

"The queen cut if off."
"Don't annoy the queen."
THEY WENT THERE!

There are TWO eggs in the bird's nest. Hmm...

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Re: Chapter Two, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 7 2020, 13:04:07 UTC
Two eggs in the bird's nest, and two thrushes on Gen's hem. I mentally steepled my fingers at that point...

-- rj-anderson

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Re: Chapter Two, v1 ext_4048758 October 7 2020, 21:01:15 UTC
It would have been fun if I'd remembered the two eggs when I got to the end of the book so I could have had the aha moment...but I wanted to keep reading, and not keep a running list of things to watch out for!

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Chapter Three, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 10:56:11 UTC
In the morning (...) Xikander woke me and told me to dress.

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Re: Chapter Three, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 17:52:58 UTC
I am disproportionately proud of the attendants for getting Gen out of bed.

Gen, did you just say over the dead bodies of your entire family would Helen be dethroned? Your faith in your father astonishes me.

He has Provoke materia equipped, Irene. It's super effective.

It took me a half a minute to figure out why a hunting bow would be an insulting gift. I am an idiot...

Is this baron with the gold fruit the one who cheated on his taxes?

I'm surprised Herio's father let her do that.

Ye gods! Irene got him a HORSE! And Gen feeling legit betrayed that Sophos participated... XD It's just like a moving sofa, I swear! Sophos, you traitor!

"I have conceived a great desire to see him live to adulthood." SAME, Gen. Same. Pigeon, I think you just got adopted.

I actually wanna see Sophos get lectured about shooting the ambassador and not be rude about it. This must take place almost immediately after CoK if Melheret is still this peeved?

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Re: Chapter Three, v1 ext_4048758 October 7 2020, 21:03:17 UTC
so many of their family are already dead bodies...sigh.

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Re: Chapter Three, v1 freenarnian October 7 2020, 23:32:03 UTC
"I have conceived a great desire to see him live to adulthood."

That line made me smile, and prompted a memory: Years ago when I got to meet MWT at a book signing (shortly after the release of ACoK), someone asked a question or made a comment about the long gaps between books. Among other reasons for taking her time, I remember MWT saying, "Also... I'm raising three children who might make it to adulthood." I don't know why that's stayed with me so long, but I smiled then and I'm smiling now.

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Chapter Four, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 10:57:35 UTC
The next morning, the king informed his attendants that he would be getting up...

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Re: Chapter Four, v1 ninedaysaqueen October 6 2020, 18:10:30 UTC
Don't worry, Pigeon! If someone does throw you out a window, there will be a giant trampoline there to catch you.

So... *sigh* Gen going through this whole dramatic petition the Great Goddess thing, basically, reads like this:

Gen: Great Goddess, my wife has told me I can't do a dangerous thing. Help me convince her that I will die of some other cause, so she will let me do the thing.

Hephestia and Moira: *looks directly into the camera*

Gen, if you die everyone is screwed! Also, Pigeon can see the gods. :)

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Re: Chapter Four, v1 kitsune_rains October 10 2020, 15:30:12 UTC
So interesting that Pigeon can see the gods! And of course Gen caught that, even with his face on the ground and, presumably, his attention on Moira.

Loved Attolia hitting him right back with, "'A fall' is the most ambiguous cause of death I've ever heard. Falling in battle, falling ill, etc etc." What other metaphorical falls could Gen take? Falling in love? Falling for a lie? Falling from grace? (Ouch, although I guess that's already technically how the thieves die.)

Gosh. I'm not ready for Gen to die if that's how this book is going to end.

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Re: Chapter Four, v1 kitsune_rains October 10 2020, 15:36:03 UTC
I loved the details here about how new the temple is and the allusions to how it's going to look once completed. Also, that the interior statue is wooden and the columns, all of which seem to have been taken from another temple. I wonder which one and how old they are?

I also appreciated the mentions of Aris and Costis -- I'm very interested to see how, if at all, they're both going to figure into the story. Aris will be at the ambush Pheris mentions, presumably. And Pheris also talks about Costis very casually, so my hopes are high.

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