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paradigm_shiftSpoiler warnings for the book in question. A scattering of thoughts loosely ordered.
Would that I had not returned the book already, knowing that it seems to be popular right now as it is near impossible to reborrow it in a timely manner, I could go back and refer more closely.
The gods of the Thief series are heavy with Greek gods references. Or other style of religions, where deities are known to interact with their people, and walk among them, though in this case, most of the interaction is in dreams, visions, or the opportunistic spaces in the world.
Messages do not necessarily have to appear to those who believe in said gods, even if believers may be more receptive. What matters is what actions happen after. When the Queen of Attolia listens to her dreams, when Nahuseresh follows the prompts on an unknown women (who did not exist) to follow the Queen's path when she had been captured...
Possibly, the gods are tied to the land itself, as the three main countries in the book have know the worship and influence of the Eddis pantheon in the past (or present). The originate from Eddis, given the mountainous landscape and how the home of the gods are rooted in a mountain, and known through the land.
The gods see far. Or perhaps know further ahead to what is, and what could happen. An argument of fate vs destiny and how time is linear, or is not. Of the fluidity of actions on what can occur, yet some events feel much more fixed than they have any right to be, but that is a debate for it's own sake, and I can only say that the gods are gods, and have their own goals which they work towards.
Maybe it's a wish to avoid a repeat of past history. What do we know of the previous conquerors? The ones who had brought in a new religion, restructuring places of worship into civic spaces, and prisons?
Anyway, why give Eugenides to the queen? And then again to Nahuseresh? Maybe it's what's needed to happen: in order to have a chance against the upcoming Medes invasion, or the fact that the mountains would erupt in a volcanic disaster that would wipe Eddis off the map, or at least cause immense devastation.
For Eugenides not to escape that second time would mean that Attolia and Eddis never go to war, and while Eddis's position may be stronger for it, it would never have given them a chance to ally with Sounis, and perhaps it served to distract the Mede ambassador and force them to re-direct the course of their manipulations. And Sounis wouldn't be allied as easily by the Medes. Need to reread with an eye out for the political current of the Eddis-Sounis relationship. For sure, we get a very good view of what the relations were wrt to Eddis itself, but we never really get the pov of Sounis. We get a very small window to see it.
As for the plan of the kidnapping to proceed as planned, the power between Attolia and Eddis would also be imbalanced towards Eddis. Eddis as an island. Eddis as the isolated country in the clouds. Cut off from the world below, though how they would survive without the trade of their neighbours below? With the wreckage of the plan, Attolia had a chance to actively participate and enact her own plans for getting the Medes out of her court, leaving the countries more open, and balanced with each other.
What are their goals? The gods, that is? Is it a peace between the three lands? Is it a chance to preserve the people and culture that their existence and belief is centered on? Attolia never believes in them, but she still prays to them. It's hard to know. But these words ring true: It doesn't do well to gain the attention of the gods.
That said, was Eugenides aware of the way his namesake felt about Attolia aka Irene? Did happiness factor briefly into it at all? Was the price worth it?
Would that I had not returned the book already, knowing that it seems to be popular right now as it is near impossible to reborrow it in a timely manner, I could go back and refer more closely.
The gods of the Thief series are heavy with Greek gods references. Or other style of religions, where deities are known to interact with their people, and walk among them, though in this case, most of the interaction is in dreams, visions, or the opportunistic spaces in the world.
Messages do not necessarily have to appear to those who believe in said gods, even if believers may be more receptive. What matters is what actions happen after. When the Queen of Attolia listens to her dreams, when Nahuseresh follows the prompts on an unknown women (who did not exist) to follow the Queen's path when she had been captured...
Possibly, the gods are tied to the land itself, as the three main countries in the book have know the worship and influence of the Eddis pantheon in the past (or present). The originate from Eddis, given the mountainous landscape and how the home of the gods are rooted in a mountain, and known through the land.
The gods see far. Or perhaps know further ahead to what is, and what could happen. An argument of fate vs destiny and how time is linear, or is not. Of the fluidity of actions on what can occur, yet some events feel much more fixed than they have any right to be, but that is a debate for it's own sake, and I can only say that the gods are gods, and have their own goals which they work towards.
Maybe it's a wish to avoid a repeat of past history. What do we know of the previous conquerors? The ones who had brought in a new religion, restructuring places of worship into civic spaces, and prisons?
Anyway, why give Eugenides to the queen? And then again to Nahuseresh? Maybe it's what's needed to happen: in order to have a chance against the upcoming Medes invasion, or the fact that the mountains would erupt in a volcanic disaster that would wipe Eddis off the map, or at least cause immense devastation.
For Eugenides not to escape that second time would mean that Attolia and Eddis never go to war, and while Eddis's position may be stronger for it, it would never have given them a chance to ally with Sounis, and perhaps it served to distract the Mede ambassador and force them to re-direct the course of their manipulations. And Sounis wouldn't be allied as easily by the Medes. Need to reread with an eye out for the political current of the Eddis-Sounis relationship. For sure, we get a very good view of what the relations were wrt to Eddis itself, but we never really get the pov of Sounis. We get a very small window to see it.
As for the plan of the kidnapping to proceed as planned, the power between Attolia and Eddis would also be imbalanced towards Eddis. Eddis as an island. Eddis as the isolated country in the clouds. Cut off from the world below, though how they would survive without the trade of their neighbours below? With the wreckage of the plan, Attolia had a chance to actively participate and enact her own plans for getting the Medes out of her court, leaving the countries more open, and balanced with each other.
What are their goals? The gods, that is? Is it a peace between the three lands? Is it a chance to preserve the people and culture that their existence and belief is centered on? Attolia never believes in them, but she still prays to them. It's hard to know. But these words ring true: It doesn't do well to gain the attention of the gods.
That said, was Eugenides aware of the way his namesake felt about Attolia aka Irene? Did happiness factor briefly into it at all? Was the price worth it?
