SFF Readalongs led by Kitty G discussion

Discussion of Chapter 3 ONLY please, no spoilers for any other part of the book!

Felisin is quite an interesting character. At her heart she is a survivalist doing things others sorely disapprove of to make her and her friends lives more comfortable. A question has to be raised if the pain cause by her way of helping herself are better or worse than working the mines. I feel a lot of sympathy for Felisin, the girl feel betrayed by Tavore and now by the two men she has befriended and tried to help. She is still very much a girl forced into a woman's world and it will be interesting to see how she handles this change.

We are quickly finding that Coltaine is not an average imperial High Fist. He is very crafty and has connections deep in the world. The Wickan sense of humor is entertaining and I found myself chuckling when it cropped up the second time.

All does not seem well between Fiddler and Crokus. I do like that Erikson seems to be setting up that Crokus does in fact know more than Fiddler believes and he may try to prove such in the future. I hope Fiddler does not sell the shell, I very much want to see the power it holds.

I've been going through some chapter summaries, trying to recall when certain things happen at certain moments in the book. Its obviously not as thorough or intricate as the actual text itself, but it'll work after a fashion.

Felisin has had a hard go at things to put it mildly. In her mind she feels that she is doing what she must to keep Heboric and Baudin safe, even though this is something neither of them asked for. It leads to a certain tension between them. There is a moment when she recalls theories about the origins of Otataral. Is it natural or artificial in origin? I don't recall there being an absolute consensus there.

Coltaine is unabashed at what he expects the future to hold. He is preparing for the worst. He is a fist of no nonsense.

We see a bit of unscrupulousness (that a word?) in Kalam and Fiddler in that they're willing to use Apsalar as a backup to kill Laseen should Kalam fail. This obviously creates a bit of tension, but adds an interesting dynamic to what's happening.

The rabbit hole that is Mappo and Icarium just goes deeper. In traveling together, Mappo both seeks to help Icarium as best he can, but at the same time, hindering his progress as well. This is a role that causes great suffering for Mappo watching Icarium who he cares for struggle with the loss of his memory that Mappo believes he should never have back.

I think this may be the first mention of the Nameless Ones. They are not insignificant.

I laughed out loud at Iskaral's comment about the nun's books, that they should be read in bed, and that he has some special ones in his own library.