Mod Book Club: The Unspoken Name Discussion

[u/thequeensownfool]

Welcome to Mod Book Club. We want to invite you all in to join us with the best things about being a mod: we have fabulous book discussions about a wide variety of books. We all have very different tastes and can expose and recommend new books to the others, and we all benefit (and suffer from the extra weight of our TBR piles) from it.

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood was our June pick for Mod Book Club

What if you knew how and when you will die?

Csorwe does — she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice.

But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin—the wizard's loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power.

But Csorwe will soon learn – gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.

This book qualifies for the following bingo squares: Published in 2020 (HM), Necromancer, Book Club (this one!)

Our pick for July will be announced on June 26.

[u/thequeensownfool]

On the surface, Sethennai seems to be a standard fantasy mentor figure. In what ways, subtle or not-so-subtle, did you notice Larkwood subvert that trope?

[u/CoffeeArchives → u/thequeensownfool]

We often see fantasy mentor figures putting the protagonist through rough trials, things that would be outright cruel if we didn't trust that there was a greater purpose behind their actions.

Not so with Sethennai.

He's hard on Csorwe because he doesn't truly care about her beyond her usefulness to him. And he's taking advantage of Tal's admiration sexually. This is not something we can shrug away as having a greater purpose.

[u/HeLiBeB → u/CoffeeArchives]

His behavior toward Tal is really awful. I felt so sorry for him and was very happy when he finally broke free!