Spill the Tea, Fam!
***Spoilers ahead for Liveship Traders through chapter 32 of Ship of Destiny. Mentions of Farseer Trilogy***
Well, folks. It’s happening. Our storylines and characters are colliding. I have been predicting a convergence in Divvytown, but it looks like this showdown may be destined to occur out on the high seas. (When half the main characters are boats, I probably should have seen that coming). Which is a good reminder to never leave port without your hair and makeup done. You never know when you’ll bump into multiple family members plus your crush while sailing open water.
An especially fun aspect of this Liveship Traders journey is having the awareness of all that’s going on around the Cursed Shores while the characters remain in the dark about events beyond their own little corners. Anticipating their reactions to the batshit happenings unfolding elsewhere in the story is almost as fun as the batshit happenings themselves. Which is why I loved the scene of the Vestrit-family slumber party (complete with Satrap Cosgo playing the role of the friend who is over it and just wants to go to sleep), where Wintrow, Althea, and Malta catch each other up on their increasingly wild tales. Do you think Althea felt a little one-upped when her most shocking revelation was shagging the captain, while Wintrow had turned tattooed slave and back, and Malta is now a part-dragon Satrap whisperer? Tough to compete with these two.
(Jek during Wintrow/Malta story time)
Tintaglia drops Reyn (in the most literal sense) off and peaces out. Tintaglia is the type to clock out at 5 p.m. and not one second later; don’t email her off-hours, she is not responding. I respect that about her. And thank Sa she has taken over serpent navigation duties. The way these serpents can’t catch a break leaves no doubt who’s writing the novel they’re in. I just hope the Rain Wild River dredgers are getting a move on!
So now we’ve got Althea, Wintrow, Etta, Malta, Reyn, and Satrap Cosgo all aboard Vivacia with a rapidly unraveling Kennit. We know Brashen and Paragon (don’t worry, more on Paragon shortly!) are nearby. The next chapter is called Ship of Destiny and I cannot fucking wait. I keep wondering- is Vivacia our ship of destiny? I suppose it could as easily be Paragon. Maybe both? Are we all the ship of destiny?
Other reflections:
In perhaps my favorite literary moment of all time, we have Paragon’s new face reveal. And *drumroll* we’re led to believe it’s the likeness of the “unintentional Rizz Lord” himself, Fitz!! I cannot begin to express how much this delighted me. This is what I live for. Amber is putting the finishing touches on a net earring with a gem and I’m thinking, “Oh, that’s cute, a little Easter egg connection to Farseer.” Then, as more of the facial features are described, it’s clearly Fitz. I mean, you get carte blanche to carve any face you want, the choice is obvious. Brashen innocently asks Amber if she’s going to fix his nose and Amber and Mother look at him like he’s insane. You can’t improve perfection, Brashen.
What nickname are we going with for this: ShipFitz? ShipChivalry? FitzShipalry? I think I could write a thousand more words on this alone. All I know is sweet Vivacia better watch out once FitzShip rolls up. Kennit who?
I enjoyed the “negotiation for the Satrap” scene. Malta rolls in ready to barter, but learns pretty quickly it’s tough to dictate terms when you’ve got no leverage. But hey, what’s giving up totalitarian power and tons of dough when there’s a slim chance to recover Kyle, King of the Duds?
Nice, meta-Amber moment:
“Look around you, Brashen. You skirt the center of the vortex, so close you do not see how wondrous are the circumstances surrounding us. We are being swept toward a climax in time.”
Uh oh! I am heading into the final stretch feeling excited and hopeful. Surely, nothing could go wrong.
Until then, I’ve got a call to make about booking a pleasure cruise on the Bae of the Seas.
wizardwordship 