This week’s question were brought to us by Lisa from Over the Effing Rainbow and here they are:
Blood And Breath And Water: Patience tells Locke that the ritual to save him is serious business. She wasn’t kidding… What did you make of this scene, and do you think any of it might (perhaps literally) come back to haunt Locke?
Hmm, now you mentioned it, possibly. The end of the process sounded very scary, I admit. A bit exorcistic so I imagine there is something there that might come back to haunt Locke.
Orphan’s Moon: Back to the childhood of the Gentlemen Bastards, and here we get another ritual, this one in service to the Nameless Thirteenth. It looks as though it might be Locke vs. Sabetha, round two – but this time Locke seems to be a little slow on that uptake… Who do you think deserves to be given the final oath? Locke or Sabetha?
Honestly, Sabetha. She is the one who actually strives towards her goals. It’s just very unlucky that Locke is obviously more attuned to the minds of others and can somehow make them believe what he wants them to believe. Not that he doesn’t strive, he does, but only when he learns he might actually lose something.
Across The Amathel: This chapter takes a breather for quite a bit of Eldren history, while Locke starts recovering. What do you think of the history lesson, and Patience’s ominous speculation regarding the Eldren? Is this something you’d like to know more about?
Hell yeah! Since the beginning of the series! I don’t think we got enough information here to assuage my curiosity, I should add.
I still hope we’ll learn all there is to learn about Eldren (from the perspective of the world of Locke and Jean).
Striking Sparks: The gang’s off to Espara, after a bad summer and a pretty thorough dressing-down from Chains, and we finally get to the source of the book’s title – they’re bound for the stage! What are your thoughts on this latest ‘challenge’ and the reasons for it?
I think Chains wants to see if they can work as a team when he isn’t there to oversee and get them out of trouble. I’m sure they’ll get into trouble and out of it again, I just wonder how much of it will be caused by their teenage brains. 😉
The Five-Year Game: Starting Position: The election gets underway with a party (as you do) and before it’s even over, the Deep Roots party has problems – and not just thanks to Sabetha. What do you make of Nikoros and his unfortunate habit?
He’s a liability. What it might lead to, I have no idea. It might not come to anything. Then again, it might. I’m thinking they should be paying more attention to what Sabetha has planned because I’m sure she’ll have a lot planned.
Bastards Abroad: The gang arrives in Espara, and already they’ve got problems (nicely mirroring the Five Year Game!)… This aside, we’ve also seen some more of what seems to be eating at Sabetha. Do you sympathize with her, or is Locke right to be frustrated with her?
I sympathize with her. Then again, she is so very stubborn. Possibly why Locke is frustrated with her, she reminds him of himself. 😉 But I’m still more on her side in this, for a change…
Check what my fellow readers thought about the questions:
Tagged: Book review, Locke, read-along, Scott Lynch, The Republic of Thieves
All I am - a redhead 
OH MY GOD – you mentioned the EXORCIST. The film. I now want Locke’s head to spin around and for him to vomit on a Bondsmagi.
You make a good point about Locke not committing to anything unless he sees he will lose it but Sabetha comes across as way too ambitious and it does seem like Locke is more attuned to the role. I think Sabetha is the better thief but Locke has a certain something more…
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I did. 😀
I don’t think I’ll ever forget that movie (how I wish I never saw it). But each time there is a magical ritual with something being expelled, I cannot but think of Exorcist.
Locke does have a certain flair that makes him great. 🙂
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“I’m sure they’ll get into trouble and out of it again, I just wonder how much of it will be caused by their teenage brains.”
Oh, I am so looking forward to tons of trouble. And then I’ll spend another week analysing it all, lol.
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I know! They must be headed for some serious, well I’m not going to say deep s**t, but I think S. Lynch is rubbing off on me. 😉
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Bug turning up seems to have creeped us all out a bit – I think it’s because he was the newest member of the gang and still so young so if he’s in some form of purgatory now then what hope for the others! The Exorcist – well, Jean was vomiting during the poison removal but Lynch didn’t tell us it it was green or not. LOL
Yes, we definitely need more information about the Eldren – it’s on a need to know basis and WE NEED TO KNOW!
Lauren – can’t wait to see your analysis next week!
Lynn 😀
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Exactly!
But I don’t think Bug is in purgatory, I think someone else was playing around with Locke’s mind which is why I got the whole Exorcist idea.
It certainly makes good material for future scary parts. 😉
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Chains does need to make sure the obnoxious teenaged gentleman bastards can survive with out him, but yeah, they have stupid teenage brains! maybe he should follow them out to Espara, make sure they don’t do anything too stupid.
yeah, sometimes Sabetha is a jerk to Locke, but he’s so dimwitted. he’s got her up on a pedestal, he’s in love with an idea of who she is, not who she really is. She either needs to punch him, or hop into bed with him.
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Maybe she should do both? First punch him, and then hop into bed. 😉 Getting rid of her frustration in two ways…
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That is insightful what you say about Locke only striving when he learns he is about to lose something. Having recently reread the first two books for this reading event, I can totally see what you are getting at. It Book 1, he doesn’t get real until he loses his brothers. In Book 2, he and Jean have to lose pirate friends before Locke brings it and takes out the Archon.
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Thank you. That’s how he came across. I wonder if that’s because he’s still young or it’s simply a trait of his character and he’ll always be like that…
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Teenage brains — I can understand why Chains wants, and needs to send them away!
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He, he, he, I got frustrated reading about it, can’t imagine what hell it would have been to live it. 😉
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I’m more on Sabetha’s side at this point, too, and am hoping we learn more about the Eldren! About Locke only striving when he has something to lose, maybe the Bondsmagi understand that about him. Maybe that’s why they brought in Sabetha, on the assumption that stuff would happen between them that would make the Game more serious to him.
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Hmm, good thinking!
That makes sense. Although it would also make him try and bend the rules to get to Sabetha. But I guess they knew he would be bending any rules he can, knowing Locke. 😉
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