Wednesday, 24 July 2019

A Ruler And A Roost

Star Prince Charlie, 15, The Prince.

Dzenko, whom Charlie has helped to power, turns out to be a worse tyrant than the deposed Olaghi. No big surprise.

The fifth Feat seems impossible: to emerge alive from a tidally inundated Grotto. The fjord is a "roost," (p. 169) in the sense of a tidal race.

Outraged by Dzenko's tyranny, Charlie ends Chapter 15 by announcing that he will fulfill the Prophecy to claim his throne. Is this foolhardiness or a moment of realization - the realization being a way to survive the flooding of the Grotto?

Needless to say, I have no intention of finding out at this time of night. This late, I should switch off the computer and turn to other reading.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I think writers as careful as Anderson and Dickson would have preferred their readers to believe this was a "moment of realization" on Charlie's part.

And for plot purposes, Dzenko HAD to be a would be tyrant rather than a moderately ambitious politician.

Sean