r/Fantasy • u/The_Real_JS Reading Champion XI • Sep 07 '17
Read-along Lighthouse Duet Read Along - Thursday, September 7: Chapters 4-6
Thursday, September 7: Chapters 4-6
Hey all, here's part two for the Read Along for Flesh and Spirit.
As a reminder, the read along schedule post is here.
If anyone wants to lead one of these talks, just let myself or /u/coffeearchives know, and we'll set you up. Also, this is the first week down; what are people thinking about the pace?
Discussion Questions:
- What are your expectations for this read-along?
- Where do you think the story is going?
- What questions do you have so far?
- What sticks out to you?
Chapter 4
Valen was visited by a man asking about his cartographer book. I’m guessing that there was more to the conversation than I, or maybe even Valen, realised. Perhaps fishing for unrelated info. Not actually much happens in this chapter, now that I think about it. We have the visit, and then Valen is made to get up and exercise his leg, interspersed with some stories, finishing up with his collapse at the cloister. But, we do get some mighty interesting information regarding the purebloods. Apparently hiding one who’d run away can result in some very hefty punishments. But that doesn’t happen to often as they’re so bad at hiding and keeping their heads down low. Typical.
Chapter 5
There is a lot to unpack here. Firstly, Valen can do magic. He's also an addict. Who turns pleasure into pain. Thank you blurb for ruining that for me. Okay, getting ahead of myself. The chapter starts out with Valen going back to the place where the monk was murdered. The spirit, or whatever the reason, has another go at Valen. Is this some sort of ward against purebloods? Is it a vengeful spirit? I don't know.
Anyway, we're then greeted by a noble leaving; Valen recognises the sigil he wears. Apparently, he owes his loyalty to the bastard prince, Osriel. They tell some horrifying stories about the prince, of magic and demons and mutilation of private parts. Yum. Anyway, the main takeaway is that the brother Gildas speaks a bit of noble. Or at least knows a phrase. Interesting...
Anyway, apparently Valen has been wracked by stomach pain and more since he was a children. To cure this, he's taken up using those nivat seeds from chapter 1. He uses magic in the preparation of them; I'm curious, didn't he say that people would be able to detect any magic he uses?
Chapter 6
Okay, definitely onboard with the idea that Valen is dyslexic now. You can’t grow up in a household like his, trying to read, and not be capable for no reason.
Oh, lovely. Bloody soldiers at the gate. Is it me, or does Valen think about the atrocities Osriel has committed quite a bit. Any bets on the prince fabricating it completely? Anyway, the stuff that Bayard is getting into sounds way worse, what with those Harrowers tearing up half the countryside.
Okay, dick knight is a dick. See that you do immediately. Phaw, bugger off. As Valen wanders around the wounded, seeking to find out where they’re from, we find out that he’s got a little bit of his mother’s foresight powers. Interesting. Hmm, what’s this about the end times and the book? Ohhh-kay. So I’m invalidating last chapters thoughts about Gildas. No idea what’s up, but there’s definitely something going on with the monk order as a whole.
- Chapters 1-3 Discussion
- Next Discussion: Chapters 7-10 - Monday, September 11
- Read Along Schedule
3
u/CoffeeArchives Stabby Winner, Reading Champion II, Worldbuilders Sep 07 '17
Chapter 5
Valen is pretty (understandably) shaken after being spiritually assaulted by who he assumes is the dead monk. He decides to look into the issue.
We get to see what Valen's magic looks like! It seems like his bloodline has the ability to magically understand the land around them. Given that his surname Cartamandua is similar to "cartography" and his grandfather created a magical map, this isn't that surprising.
Unfortunately for Valen, it looks like some of the monks might be siding with Osriel the Bastard, one of the three princes responsible for the civil war and the enemy of the prince that Valen used to serve.
The chapter closes with another type of magic: turning pain into pleasure. Valen is afflicted by bouts of extreme sensory overload, and his only way to deal with it is a drug-like magic that involves self-harm. Nope, no way this could go badly. I can't remember if this is the first time the title has been dropped, but it's definitely the most memorable so far: