episode 6

Selena and Marissa discuss their initial impressions of Dorian and Kale. At first, they were suspicious of them, thinking they would be evil because they are related to the king. However, during their journey back to Riftworld, Selena and Marissa found them to be nice and were surprised by Dorian's thoughts about Selena. They discuss how Dorian seems to find Selena attractive. Overall, their impressions of Dorian and Kale have become more positive. Alrighty, well, let's put a bookmark in it so I can welcome you to the Fiction Corner. This week we just kicked off with the official Theronoglass book, so the true first book in this series after reading the prequel. I am your host, Brenna, and here with me is my co-host, Marissa. How's it going? Excited to read the next book. I know. It sucks. We were literally just talking about this, but we enjoy doing the podcast because we, you know, get to discuss the book and everything, but then we can't read ahead because we're forgetting things, and it's just a very bittersweet journey. Yeah, I just want to know what happens. Let me read. Exactly. Well, alrighty, so we will get back to kind of our normal rhythm, so we'll do a quote, our little debate topic, and then jump into it. So the quote that I have for this week is by Mark Twain, the author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Again, I keep picking authors that you've probably read forcefully in, like, middle school and high school. So you're welcome. Get to relive those happy memories, but I did find a fun fact about him. His real name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens. I did not know this, but now if you're ever on Jeopardy or, you know, at the pub crawl that they're doing trivia, you're welcome. Now you know. Yeah, now you know. So the quote is, a person who does not read has no advantage over a person who cannot read. I really like this because I thought that was definitely a very interesting way to look at it, that if you're choosing not to read, you literally are on the same playing field as someone who is unable to. So I just thought it was a neat way to look at it. But all right, debate topic. Marissa, would you ever read the ending of a book first, like the last page or the last chapter? Ooh, I don't think so. I will say sometimes I am tempted, but I, you know, I'll, like, go back and, like, look at, like, how many pages in the book that I have and, like, try and, like, block out the words. I'm like, okay, I want to know how many pages this book is, but I can't read the last line because I feel like that's always really important. But yeah, no, I don't think I would ever read the ending. I'm, like, even, like, cautious about, like, looking up synopsis of books because I'm worried about seeing spoilers or seeing too much. So oftentimes I feel like I'm going in completely blind to these books. I feel like I gravitate towards books that have a lot of hype, like, you know, Instagram and stuff like that. That's kind of what I've been doing, of, like, people that, like, hype up these books or recommend them, and I'll just, like, go pick them up. I have no idea what they're about, though, just that clearly a lot of people like them. And then I read them, but I have no idea what they're, like, what they're even about. I don't even read, you know, the synopsis of them typically because I'm too worried about, like, spoiling something for them. Yeah. No. I completely agree. I definitely have, like, wandering eyes. So I do the same thing that I'll look at, like, the last page number so I know, like, my end goal, but I'll, like, hover up. The words? The words, yes. Yeah. I even do it at the end of chapters, like, I'll take my bookmark and, like, cover up the end because I know my eyes will, like, start skipping ahead. I'm, like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Obviously I have self-control issues, so there's that. I do. I do. All righty. Well, Marissa, do you want to kick it off and give us the background for the first 17 chapters? Yeah. So this book, The Throat of Glass, it opens a year later after the ending of the prequel, so The Assassin's Blade. This is with Selina. She's enslaved in the salt mines. So we learn briefly of her time there. It's supposed to be one of the harshest slave camps, and most people that enter don't live longer than a month. Selina is then paid a visit in the encampment by Dorian, who's the Prince of Ardalen. He attempts to strike a deal with her to participate in a competition to become the personal assassin of the king. In exchange for winning this title, Selina will work for the king for four years and then earn her freedom. So because of this, Selina does accept this bargain and returns to Rifthold with Dorian and his secondhand man, Kael. And then throughout this section, we meet some other competitors and some of their side characters. We see Selina getting back into shape, readjusting to life outside of the salt mines. And so, yeah, that is the gist. Perfect. So my first big question, did you pronounce Kael's name as Kael? No. I think I pronounced it- I still pronounce it- Kael or something. Yeah. Like- Like, even Kohl was, like, closer in my mind. Kohl, yeah. Kohl or Kael. I don't know how I was pronouncing it originally. I think it wasn't until you, like, texted me about it, the pronunciation, that I was like, oh. And then I started pronouncing it that way, obviously, afterwards. So, like, I can't even remember in my head how I was pronouncing it. I know. I just remember being very off because my little sister Lillian texted me and was just like, oh, what do you think of the character so far? Like, what do you think of Dorian and Kael? And I was, you know, giving her my thoughts. And she's like, you know you pronounce it Kael, right? And I was like, yeah, obviously. But, like, of course. How else would you possibly pronounce that? I know. I feel like a lot of times now I'm, like, going on Google and, like, Googling pronunciations and stuff. Yes, I listen to it. Yeah. From one guy who gives me teaching, like, lessons on how to say things. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. All right. Refocusing. Refocusing. So, like Marissa said, the big thing starting out is Serena has now been in the minds for a whole year, which most people do not even survive this type of slavery and torture for a month. And I think at one point she says, like, the king even didn't expect her to make it past three months. And he purposely told the guards to treat her extra special so she would get, like, more severe beatings, but then be kept alive and just be put more aggressively through all of these different things that the other slaves were. Yeah. Her initial punishment, she talked about, like, the initial being brought to the camp. She was, like, essentially tied up and whipped, like, in front of everyone. Yeah. Like, yeah, that was crazy. Yeah. And it left, like, she keeps mentioning, like, people looking at her back, and it's because she now has these deep scars from that initial day. And I do like that she, throughout the whole, you know, this first section, thinks back on her time there and about the slaves. And anytime she sees slaves, you know, she feels for them now more than she did before. So I'm curious how much that'll play into things later. But, all right. So kind of focusing on that first half is her time in the camps, Dorian coming and presenting this agreement for her that the king has decided he specifically wants one champion to kind of carry out his dirtiest of work, dirtiest of laundry. And it sounds like he's had this before and something has happened to them, or they've retired, or, you know, we're not sure. But he's holding a competition to find out who that is. And all his closest advisors are basically putting bets and gambles on their person or who they think is going to win. And so, really, that's all we know about Dorian to begin with, that he's choosing Selina as his champion. We later find out he was searching for her for multiple months, but then brings her back to the city. The other kind of small thing I would say that happened in the beginning is while they're in the woods, there is a, I think it's a fairy, maybe, that comes in and visits her tent specifically, which I thought was very interesting. But I don't know if it's because of where she's from or that these woods people heard her talking and kind of defending them. But I thought that was very interesting. And I think that might play in later, that she might have previously had some type of magic in herself or that that's one of her kind of secrets. Yeah, I thought that was interesting, too. I kind of liked that. Because, you know, I definitely like they talk about, like, there's no more magic in this world. There's no more fairies. But, like, obviously, there is, like, some evidence to suggest otherwise. And also seeing the stag at the end of the prequel, too, I think that hinted towards some, like, magic that's been left over that still exists in the world. So I think that's kind of fun. Yeah. No, I agree. And especially since it's, like, being presented to her specifically. I think it's going to play into things later, whether in this book or throughout the series. But so she's brought back with Dorian and with Kale. Dorian kind of dips out from here for a while. And she's left with Kale, who's meant to be her mentor through this. And he's the head of the whole guard, I believe, not just, like, of Dorian's or anything like that, that he oversees everybody. And he's very young as well. It sounds like a lot of these people are pretty darn young to have achieved such high goals and aspirations at this point. You know, it makes me feel bad, but that's okay. But what were your kind of first initial thoughts both on Dorian and Kale? So when they first came to, like, come grab her from this camp, like, I thought, like, they were going to be evil. Like, I was like, okay, so they're related to the king, like, who we already know is a terrible person. I was like, I don't like these two. I don't really trust them. But then, like, you know, during their little trip back to Riftworld, I was like, okay, that's kind of nice. And then we kind of hear a little bit of Dorian's thoughts, like how he thinks, like, Selene is pretty and, like, just, like, you know, like, stuff like that I wouldn't expect, like, if they were, like, really terrible people to, you know. And then, you know, once they get back, Dorian has this conversation with his dad. And clearly the two of them are complete opposites. Oh, yeah. Everything. The prince does not agree with his father's rule and the way he does things. And clearly he definitely likes Selene. Like, it seems like he, like, kind of forms a little friendship with her, even though she is his, like, his, like, little champion. And took for this, like, deal. But, like, he clearly does like her. So I thought that was kind of fun. And I do like Kayle a lot. Like, I feel like he and Selene, like, get along really well. It seems like Selene is very comfortable with him, like, almost immediately. Yeah. And so, I don't know. And she also mentions, too, like, that he doesn't really seem very threatened by her. Yeah, I love that. Which I think pisses her off, in a way. She's like, what the hell? Like, I'm, you know, I'm this badass, like. Yeah, and he's just like, eh, that's nice. Yeah, yeah. He does not care. But I kind of like that. So I thought that was a really fun thing that they did. And I, because, like, I felt like I was, like, really tired of, like, evil people. Like, in the first, you know, the prequel we just saw. Yeah, yeah. The bad people, she would run into them. And, like, it just, I was like, I need some good characters here. I know, you stopped liking everyone. Like, something's going to happen, I can't like you. Yeah, I know, I know. But I actually really do like the two of them. So I'm interested to see what happens. Especially when we found out, too, like, the younger brother is definitely more like the father. Like, that little snippet about him. Yeah. Like, he reminded me when I was reading it. I was like, oh, my gosh, this reminds me of, like, the Game of Thrones. Yeah, right. I was like, this is this kid. Like, just like, he's, like, what, 10 years old and he beat, like, a slave or something? Yeah. A servant. Made him pay off the family. Yeah. Like, go bring some poison. Yeah, yeah. So I'm glad it seems like Dorian's different than his family. So I do like that already. Yeah, I agree. No, I really like Kale so far. I think out of the two of them, he's my favorite. But I think it's just because we've gotten to know him a little bit better. They've had more interactions with him compared to Dorian. But I do like that, you know, later on we'll see him in his time with Court. But I like that he's, you know, sending books to Selena and, like, kind of feeding not just her physical interests of working out and being back in this space, but her intellectual interests. And I think at that point we could all really relate to Selena because at one point Kale is, like, why are you so tired this morning? She's, like, oh, I was just up reading. And we're, like, yep. That's right. Sounds about right. But, yeah, so I'm enjoying both of them a lot. But so that middle section is really kind of getting to know what the tournament is going to be about and who else is a part of this tournament. And it's people that are just kind of all over the place. There's discharged soldiers, which they make note of that, hey, for you to get discharged from the Army, especially under this king, you had to really, really do something terrible. There's other assassins, some that are super young, some that are around Selena's age. There's two murderers. One is specifically the Eye Eater. I forget what the other one did. I just remember the Eye Eater because it was so disgusting. I was like, okay. And then the kind of big, big other name that's in this tournament is Kane. And he is specifically from the mountain people. And they're just known for being brutal, that they would kill themselves and their families to not be taken and just all of this stuff. But he's, in my mind, just this huge, burly, kind of bear-like man who turns out to actually be pretty good at a lot of things, which I was surprised at. So I'm interested to see more of him and what's going to happen between the two of them. Yeah, they make it out that he's like good at like everything, it seems like. And I was like, oh, gosh, okay, that's a little threatening. Yeah. But I picture him, he's like seven foot tall and like eight feet wide. Yeah, exactly. You have strength and size on your side. You can't, you're not allowed to have the other things. And like, yeah, and be great at like literally everything. Yeah, I know. But the first kind of, I wouldn't even say it's their first challenge because it's not, but their first kind of elimination, quote unquote, is their run. And Kayle continues to remind her like, hey, you need to, one, we're not telling people who you are. You're going by Lady Lillian and you are a jewel thief, which she absolutely hates because we know Selena. We know she's very prideful. We are under no illusions there. And so she hates that she has to kind of suppress herself. And so in the running workout, she's like middle of the pack, which actually works out well for her because then she's horribly out of shape. Which I mean, surprise, surprise. She's been in a slave camp. But right after that, she starts running every morning. Kayle comes in her room and she's like doing freaking pull-ups off the rafters, you know, being crazy where I'm sitting there reading, eating popcorn. So, you know, we're basically the same person. But, you know, she still has some degree of athleticism that she didn't completely lose everything. We relate back a lot to her escape attempt from the mines, which I thought was really, really cool. Especially because I think it's during kind of this middle section where her and Kayle start to develop this friendship that she goes more into that escape attempt and that she knew she could technically escape, but that she started going after specific overseers because they had raped another woman there who had helped Selena at one point. And so instead of just going straight to escape, she specifically like sought them out, pickaxed them and then went on her way. So I was like, yeah, get a girl. I know, yeah, that was badass. Oh, my God. She doesn't know what the consequences were going to be for her, too. You know, that could very well easily ended in her death. Oh, yeah. Well, I think at one point she says, like, most people who try to escape make it like three feet before they're shot by these overseers who are like, all they do is target practice. And she made it to the gate. Yeah, the wall, which was like over 300 feet away or something. So I really liked that. But, you know, well, getting to know Cale, she's also getting to know Kathleen. I think that's how my pronouncer told me to say her name. What were your initial thoughts on her and the other champions? So Cain, her and Cain are the two big people there. Yeah. So obviously she is not a nice person. We don't like her. Obviously, Selena doesn't like her initially, too. Like, they just rub her the wrong way, unfortunately. And she reminds me of, what's that girl from the. Oh, Lysandra. Yeah. She reminds me of her a lot. I'm better than you. Yeah, I'm better than you. I like I'm prettier than you kind of attitude. And Selena's like, nope, don't like you. But I definitely like her relationship with the princess. Oh, my gosh. Nehemiah. Nehemiah. Oh, gosh. What I would call them. We're probably both wrong, so. Princess. Let's call her princess. Yeah, the princess. So I like their relationship. Clearly, like, they get along a lot better. And the princess does not like Catlin either. So that's kind of fun. Yeah, no, I agree. I don't like Catlin. Obviously, like, her interactions or her first interaction of watching her out on the balcony and how she treats other people. And then, you know, kind of that, like I said, social climbing interaction that they get where she's talking to Dory and she's like, you know, eyebrows, eyebrows, eyelashes, I'm wonderful. You want me? And he's like, no, I'm good. So, you know, I think she might actually come into play in a bigger way later on, especially because she's got ties to the Duke Parrington. We really only get small snippets of him. But I don't trust him, don't like him. He's got Kane on his side. He's engaged or, you know, going after this girl. And I'm just like, oh, something's up there. What are your thoughts on Kane? I definitely think it's going to be, like, Kane is going to be probably who she has to beat in the end is kind of my, obviously, my thought process. I'm sure it's kind of, that's kind of what it's making it out to be. I think, I don't know if he, like, really, like, it seems like he is watching her a little bit. There were, like, some mentions of that. Like, not super specific, but, like, it makes me worry that he maybe knows her or maybe knows who she is, too. Like, I, like, get that sense, like, there's, like, something that he knows that he's not saying. Like, I do worry about him and, like, playing dirty as well because he just seems like that type of person. But I also worry, too, about Knox, that other champion that she made. I agree, too, that they're, like, not, they're friends, but not friends. But, yeah, I don't trust him. I know, because he came up to her very friendly and, like, clearly is paying a lot of attention to her. And she teaches him how to throw, what was it, like, a dart or something? A dagger. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. And he says, like, he thinks that she's going to be the one to beat. And I'm, like, oh, no. I was, like, he seems a little too friendly. He knows, like, her abilities a little bit more because, like, he's actually paying attention and watching her a little bit more. Why is he watching her? Like, I don't like that. Yeah, and other people, like, he, they mentioned a couple times, like, Knox outside of, like, Kane and a few other people, they were, like, he is someone to be careful of. So we, he seems friendly. So, yeah, I agree that he's got something else going on. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't trust him. I don't trust Kane. I don't. Pretty much I don't trust anyone is the moral of the story. Yeah, I don't like anyone. All right. So then it goes into kind of the ending of the, this first section or first third that we read that the champions are now starting to die, that the Eye Eater has now died mysteriously, and one of the discharged soldiers makes a run for it. So I'm curious, you know, did he know something more about why this one guy was killed? Or like Selena said, he just wanted that taste of freedom, that he didn't want to be playing this game and so tried to flee. Yeah, I was confused on that because I was like, I don't know if that was just an excuse. It almost seems like an excuse, like the Eye Eater needs the freedom. Because I'm like, I mean, with the first challenge, it was an archery challenge. Like, I don't think they were going to fight each other. Yes, I thought it was going to be something way bigger. Yeah. So like, when they came up with the archery challenge, I was like, okay, guys, seems like kind of nice, right? Like, you should continue this, keep going with this. Like, so like, does he know something? Like, did he know why the other guy got murdered? Like, obviously a super gruesome death is kind of what they said. Like, this guy was like, torn apart. Yeah. Yeah. And they're also investigating it, which just seems kind of weird, too, because it's like, also, like, their whole, like, this whole world is just made up of death. Yeah. Like, why are you investigating some random person you don't care about? Yeah. Like, you kind of want him dead. Right. But it's still super suspicious. Like, who would go after this guy? Right. Yeah. So a lot of questions at the end here, but. And I think they also mentioned, like, some of the, like, royal dogs were killed, too. It was like a very offhanded thing, but I was like, hmm, I feel like that might come back. And then the other kind of offhanded thing that they mentioned, or that Kale says at one point, the king is leaving, and we don't really know why. But Kale also mentions he does not know why. He doesn't know where they're going. He's not been told anything. The king is not taking people who he recommended, and he's supposed to, like, you know, he's the head of their guard. So for him to be completely disregarded is very, very abnormal. So I'm curious, what is the king up to? That, you know, I think Dorian mentions, like, oh, he's going off to, like, conquer more places. But there's something more that the king's doing. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously we don't trust him from the start. So, yeah. Nothing that he does can be good. Yeah. So I'm sure it'll come back to, like, some sort of weird plot that he's, like, conducting. I don't know. Or maybe he's behind the desk and, like, these, like, these little competitions are just, like, a, like, placeholder for something bigger. I don't know. Yeah. He's just bored and was like that. Yeah. Killing people off or seeing whatever killed the eye eater is, like, they have to, like, go through to, like, become his candidate. Oh, okay. I don't know. I don't know. No, that's a good theory. Like, that they're challenging each other to then challenge whatever this other thing is. Yeah. I don't know. So we'll see. I'm curious. And also just a random question I had at the end, too. Yeah. Like, where's Erevin? Yes. Yes, I did. Like, does he know Selina is back in Rifthold? And will he know? And is he somehow part of this? I don't know. So I'm also curious about him, too. No, I completely agree. Because, honestly, if we hadn't read the prequel first and she, like, she barely mentions him. But it's just, like, once or twice. So you're really just, like, well, who is this guy? But from reading the prequel, we know, like, they had this really weird, deep relationship. So where is he? Seriously. Yeah. Because I feel like he would find out or want to know that she was kind of back and not in flame when he, because that was his whole plot was, like, basically to put her there in the first place. And he watched her leave and said, bye-bye. So I'm curious if he's going to find out and if he's going to be part of this in some way as well. No, I agree. Which actually reminds me, I forgot to write this one down. When her and Kayle are kind of walking the gardens, she's talking about the clock tower and then a symbol on the ground. Any guesses on that? Or do you think it's just kind of, like, a passing thing? I thought she was going to start looking for more. So, yeah. So I thought that part was very strange, too. I read it, like, two or three times because I was like, wow, they are really focusing on this weird thing. So I was like, it's definitely got to be important at some point. So it's got to be some sort of foreshadowing thing. Like, it's going to come back later. But I have no idea. Yeah. That's how I felt, especially because Kayle was like, oh, it's nothing. I was like, it is something. It's definitely something now. We're paying way too much attention to this weird thing on the ground. Oh, my gosh. I know. I have so many questions. I'm so excited to keep reading. Yes, I agree. Well, with that being said, the next section, like I said, I'm splitting this book up into just thirds, which works out perfectly. So for this next one, we are reading through chapter 35, which is, like, right at, like, 270 pages. So it's, like, perfectly one more third. Hopefully it does not leave us on an aggressive cliffhanger, because if you've ever read any of the other Sarah J. Moss stuff, you know that the last, like, 20% is where everything just hits the fan. So if you read ahead, I get it. We will try not to, but we might. So with all of that being said, thank you for joining us again. Thank you for joining us again, and go read my little bookworms.