This is a very confusing series! I read the newest translation of Book 1, then started an older translation of Book 2 and went “wait, this doesn’t seem like it makes sense”, went back to another translation of Book 1 and found a whoooooooooooooole other part of the book! So I am calling this post “First Half” and trying to cover all my bases.
Ready for the gutsiest thing Book 1 does? At least in the first half and I think it continues through the second. We never actually see the two princes who are at the center of the story. We see their enemies, their allies, and hear about things they’ve done. But we don’t actually seem them “onstage” as it were.
What makes this particularly interesting is that everyone else in the book gets to meet basically everyone else in person. At first I was rolling my eyes a bit at the coincidences, but then I realized this is actually historically accurate. There were just fewer people in Olden Times. And there were big spaces with no people, and then a bunch of people clustered together who were all related and knew each other and stuff. Our hero comes to spend the night at his childhood friend’s house and stumbles into a Big Important Secret Meeting. But on the other hand, as a warrior, he would have known most of the other sons of big important people. And there were few enough Big Important People living in Big Important Places that odds are SOMETHING would be happening that night. It’s weird that he was there on this one important night, but everything else isn’t that unlikely.
The whole structure of the book is just excellent. We watch this one random dude wander about thinking “my country is awesome! My royal family is awesome! Wait, the situation is more complicated. Or is it? Not sure! Gonna keep thinking!” The book doesn’t spoonfeed us answers, we hear about how the Chiefs/Kings object to sending grain overseas to the army instead of the army taking from the local population, and it’s a valid objection. But on the other hand, it is up to us to understand the reasons that the army may have asked for grain from home.
The gender stuff is also FASCINATING!!! Part of the argument for why there should be a coupe is that the king gives too much power to the women around him. And again, it is left up to us to decide if that is a legitimate argument. We see this conversation, and then we actually see the Princess they discussed, and she is smart and confident and in charge and seems like a better leader than anyone else we’ve seen so far. Again, it is up to us the reader, and our hero, to decide if it is a legitimate argument or not.
Plus there are great one liners about swords and shields and bravery, and it keeps you guessing about what’s gonna happen next and who is on what side and all kinds of good things. I just really really liked it! Even if I accidentally only read half of it.
