Mar-06-2015, 09:56 PM (UTC)
I’ve read a lot of reviews where people thought that RWC were not as good as her other books and were disappointed with BoD, especially the ending. So I wasn’t sure what to expect….Apart from CoD being a tad too short (I just wanted more, more more! 
) & there being a few too many Hest POVs in BoD & a few too many descriptions of Malta being pale & tired etc., I really loved these books! I could have read about the Elderlings & dragons & Kelsingra forever, and I really hope that we see some of them again in a future book, to find out how they are all getting on (even if it is just a cameo like with Althea & Brashen in RWC or Selden & Serilla in TM). Please, Robin, Please! 
The ending? I loved the ending. The dragons, like the Elderlings (apart from Rapskul-Tellator) & some of the humans, are creating their own rules and a new society, (based more on acceptance and equality), and choosing to live in the now rather than in the past. They can learn from memories and the past but they do not have to live in it or to follow the rules and traditions of their ancestors. ….I felt that Thymara's Amarinda storyline and Tintaglia's last chapter tied this idea together nicely.
Anybody else thought that Sedric will become the Bird Keeper, the way that he was handling the messenger birds? I love that he has started making the city “look nice” (putting trees in the pots in the Square of Dragons). For all of his changes, he’s still Sedric. I think Malta will help him with this in the future. I get the feeling that she will be in charge of the glasshouses/growing flowers & will probably end up with a huge wardrobe of Elderling clothes, like Sedric (she had a large wardrobe in Trehaug, after all). I can see Reyn helping Alise & Carson in exploring, recording and understanding the city (he was an expert on excavation/archaeology at Trehaug & Cassarick). I think Reyn & Malta will take on more of a leadership role, as they are some of the older ones there (along with Carson & Sedric) but they won’t be King & Queen, important decisions will be voted for through the Kelsingra Council.
A few thoughts/questions (sorry if they have already been discussed elsewhere):
Will the Elderlings start developing the Skill, now that the dragons are drinking Silver & presumably strengthening their Skill. We know that the Elderlings can share minds/Skill link with their dragons but so far not with each other. Will this change? Do they need to learn how to use the Skill to be able to master the Elderling magic/artefacts and to work with the Silver itself? This then begs the question, (which has already been asked on this thread) why do the Farseers & the people of the Six Duchies have the Skill? How are they related to the Elderlings & dragons?
How long do the changes go on for when humans are changing into Elderlings. None of the Elderlings at Kelsingra are fully changed yet. Do the changes carry on for the rest of their lives or only last for a few years? I think it is said that if their dragon dies, then the Elderling will die as well/not live as long as they would have done if the dragon had still been alive – which implies that the dragons are continuously controlling their changes for their whole lives. Would Selden be able to marry Chassim & live with her in Chalced? I’m doubtful….if Selden needs to stay near Tintaglia for his changes to be controlled. Also, if they had children, Tintaglia would need to control their changes…but would that be possible if Chassim remained human? These questions would also be an issue with Alum & Skelly, or any other Elderling and human (non-Elderling) pairing.
Leftrin said that his scaling was increasing due to being in close proximity to the dragons. Is this going to be a problem going forward? Will Tarman be able to control his changes? He won’t want to become an Elderling for the same reasons Skelly gives. I think Carson says to Sedric when he first starts scaling, that it is unusual for an adult to start scaling/changing. Those that have grown up/were born in the Rain Wilds, however, and already have some scaling/are Rain Wilds Touched, like Tillamon and the people she will bring back with her from Trehaug, are likely to change more when they are living at Kelsingra (unless they stay in the village across the river – but even then, surely they will have some contact with the dragons/Elderlings), so will they eventually need to be turned into Elderlings? It was said that in past times, humans who did not want to become Elderlings stayed at the village and worked the fields etc. but if they are already Rain Wild Touched, won’t he proximity hasten there changes? The dragons & Elderlings lives at the village for a while, so won’t this have an effect on the humans as well?
Was Amarinda murdered by her ex-lover? When Rapskul & Thymara are in the Silver well, & Rapskul mentions Tellator's love-rival, who also worked the well, Thymara says (I can't remember the exact words but it's something like...) "Beware the jealous man" and then says that she doesn't know where those words suddenly came from. My instant thought was that Amarinda had been murdered while in the well by her jealous/spurned ex-lover, who used the quake as a cover-up.
When Alise first goes into the map tower room, she realises that she might be able to access the locked rooms on the lower floors by going through the broken window and down the ladder to the lower windows. I was expecting her to do this at some point but she never did. Unless....when she came back dazed, after having spent hours using the memory stones, is this where she was?
And now for Fool’s Assassin!
) & there being a few too many Hest POVs in BoD & a few too many descriptions of Malta being pale & tired etc., I really loved these books! I could have read about the Elderlings & dragons & Kelsingra forever, and I really hope that we see some of them again in a future book, to find out how they are all getting on (even if it is just a cameo like with Althea & Brashen in RWC or Selden & Serilla in TM). Please, Robin, Please! The ending? I loved the ending. The dragons, like the Elderlings (apart from Rapskul-Tellator) & some of the humans, are creating their own rules and a new society, (based more on acceptance and equality), and choosing to live in the now rather than in the past. They can learn from memories and the past but they do not have to live in it or to follow the rules and traditions of their ancestors. ….I felt that Thymara's Amarinda storyline and Tintaglia's last chapter tied this idea together nicely.
Anybody else thought that Sedric will become the Bird Keeper, the way that he was handling the messenger birds? I love that he has started making the city “look nice” (putting trees in the pots in the Square of Dragons). For all of his changes, he’s still Sedric. I think Malta will help him with this in the future. I get the feeling that she will be in charge of the glasshouses/growing flowers & will probably end up with a huge wardrobe of Elderling clothes, like Sedric (she had a large wardrobe in Trehaug, after all). I can see Reyn helping Alise & Carson in exploring, recording and understanding the city (he was an expert on excavation/archaeology at Trehaug & Cassarick). I think Reyn & Malta will take on more of a leadership role, as they are some of the older ones there (along with Carson & Sedric) but they won’t be King & Queen, important decisions will be voted for through the Kelsingra Council.
A few thoughts/questions (sorry if they have already been discussed elsewhere):
Will the Elderlings start developing the Skill, now that the dragons are drinking Silver & presumably strengthening their Skill. We know that the Elderlings can share minds/Skill link with their dragons but so far not with each other. Will this change? Do they need to learn how to use the Skill to be able to master the Elderling magic/artefacts and to work with the Silver itself? This then begs the question, (which has already been asked on this thread) why do the Farseers & the people of the Six Duchies have the Skill? How are they related to the Elderlings & dragons?
How long do the changes go on for when humans are changing into Elderlings. None of the Elderlings at Kelsingra are fully changed yet. Do the changes carry on for the rest of their lives or only last for a few years? I think it is said that if their dragon dies, then the Elderling will die as well/not live as long as they would have done if the dragon had still been alive – which implies that the dragons are continuously controlling their changes for their whole lives. Would Selden be able to marry Chassim & live with her in Chalced? I’m doubtful….if Selden needs to stay near Tintaglia for his changes to be controlled. Also, if they had children, Tintaglia would need to control their changes…but would that be possible if Chassim remained human? These questions would also be an issue with Alum & Skelly, or any other Elderling and human (non-Elderling) pairing.
Leftrin said that his scaling was increasing due to being in close proximity to the dragons. Is this going to be a problem going forward? Will Tarman be able to control his changes? He won’t want to become an Elderling for the same reasons Skelly gives. I think Carson says to Sedric when he first starts scaling, that it is unusual for an adult to start scaling/changing. Those that have grown up/were born in the Rain Wilds, however, and already have some scaling/are Rain Wilds Touched, like Tillamon and the people she will bring back with her from Trehaug, are likely to change more when they are living at Kelsingra (unless they stay in the village across the river – but even then, surely they will have some contact with the dragons/Elderlings), so will they eventually need to be turned into Elderlings? It was said that in past times, humans who did not want to become Elderlings stayed at the village and worked the fields etc. but if they are already Rain Wild Touched, won’t he proximity hasten there changes? The dragons & Elderlings lives at the village for a while, so won’t this have an effect on the humans as well?
Was Amarinda murdered by her ex-lover? When Rapskul & Thymara are in the Silver well, & Rapskul mentions Tellator's love-rival, who also worked the well, Thymara says (I can't remember the exact words but it's something like...) "Beware the jealous man" and then says that she doesn't know where those words suddenly came from. My instant thought was that Amarinda had been murdered while in the well by her jealous/spurned ex-lover, who used the quake as a cover-up.
When Alise first goes into the map tower room, she realises that she might be able to access the locked rooms on the lower floors by going through the broken window and down the ladder to the lower windows. I was expecting her to do this at some point but she never did. Unless....when she came back dazed, after having spent hours using the memory stones, is this where she was?
And now for Fool’s Assassin!
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