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Disclosure: The links above are affiliate links. If you make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I use these commissions to pay for overhead such as hosting and editing costs. Thank you for supporting my show!
Below is a copy of my script/notes for the episode, not a verbatim transcription:
PERSONAL UPDATE
120 pages into hand-written edits of Declaimer’s Flight (SB3)
Couple of negative reviews last week tempered by a couple nice reviews of The Acktus Trials and the podcast. Bad reviews get me down more than good ones bring me up, but I’m pretty good at not letting it bother me too much. If you’d like to help me out, you can leave a review of The Acktus Trials wherever you buy your books, link in the show notes: https://books2read.com/theacktustrials , or rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts.
ANAYLIS CH. 8
So the chapter opens and Torchsire Library is making final preparations for Deliritous to leave for the Trials. Baz is kind of just standing off to the side, trying to be inconspicuous. We see Deliritous’s father give him a new cloak, though Baz surmises he only gave it to his son so he’d look good for the opening ceremonies. Sort of sad, as Deliritous seems rather taken by the gift.
Baz also notes some of the dangers they might face out in the wilds: wyrms and Citiless, and also “Fire Breathers.” We can guess what those are, right? More evidence of why Readers generally spend so much time preparing for the Trials. Meanwhile, Baz once again reminds us how unprepared he is: I wouldn’t know the difference between a mushroom and poison ivy.
Leanna
It seems whatever hard feelings there were between Baz and Leanna when they departed last chapter have now been forgotten. She sought him out to bid him farewell, and we see just how comfortable Baz is with her, admitting that he’s nervous. “You’re flaming right I’m nervous.” And we also see Leanna is concerned for Baz–she even asks Rox to look out for him, using some convincing reasoning to do so (Rox: My oath is to Deliritous; Leanna: But he’ll be safer with a Speaker available for spells, yes?). Rox actually complements her, saying she turns words just like an Enigman.
Rox
And speaking of Rox, this is probably the most we’ve seen him talk so far. First, a point that I failed to mention last week. Notice that, even after apparently having accepted Deliritous’s argument back in Chapter 2 that Yeltax was a threat, Rox did not kill him even though Deliritous told him to. So Rox takes his oath seriously, but it seems he perhaps has a bit of mercy in him too?
Rox also hardly seems like a monster in this chapter. He offers to hunt when Baz admits he doesn’t know the first thing about finding food in the wild. He gives Leanna that complement we just mentioned, and he laughs while doing it. And he puts up with Baz.
“Your footsteps will scare even the deafest animal away, Rox.” and “Shut up, Rox.”
Rox seems to just brush off Baz’s sarcasm. And what does he say about Baz and Leanna at the end? “There is Truth between the two of you.” And he smiles when he says it (or, at least, the edges of his eyes crinkle–can’t see through the mask). Perhaps Rox sees some of what we’ve already noticed between Baz and Leanna.
Gift
So toward the end of the chapter, Leanna gives Baz a gift–a new cloak, and a nice one at that. It even has a hood, which Baz is particularly pleased with. Remember how he complained back in chapter three how Speakers aren’t permitted to wear hats?
“It has a hood!” he exclaimed. “Oh that’s great. My ears are always so flaming freezing. And my scalp. Couldn’t they let me have a little hair? And…”
Interestingly, Leanna also tells Baz she needs to give Deliritous a break–he’s under a lot of pressure from his father, she realizes. Leanna seems to get that Deliritous is a blind spot for Baz. He can only feel one way about the Torchsire heir. Trust is certainly a theme throughout the story, particularly learning to trust someone who broke your trust previously.
“Come on, Leanna,” Baz said. “You’re talking like Deliritous is actually a person. With feelings. We all know that’s not the case.”
They part with each of them kind of wondering if they should hug the other or something, and Baz notes he feels a bit disappointed when she leaves without hugging him.
CONCLUSION
Homework: Next week we’ll read Chapter 9, which is the opening ceremony for the Trials. We get some more details on the other competitors, and then a bit of a history lesson about Oration’s history. Some of the connections we’ve been making with the prologue come into greater focus here. See if you can pick up on some of them.
Listener Question: D. T., how much time per week do you spend working on your writing?
Quest: Who is your favorite fantasy author? 1 XP
Quote:
“Wherever you go, you take yourself with you.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book
Until next time, this has been D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club.
The Acktus Trials, an epic fantasy novel, available now: https://dtkane.com/books/the-acktus-trials/
Map of Oration: https://dtkane.com/resources/map-of-oration/
Characters in this Chapter: Baztian (Baz): Our main character Leanna: Torchsire Library’s Librarian Gar: Old Retiree
For those interested in the history of written language I brought up in this episode, check out the following Wikipedia articles: Linear B Syllabary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B. “Linear B consists of around 87 syllabic signs and over 100 ideographic signs. These ideograms or “signifying” signs symbolize objects or commodities. They have no phonetic value and are never used as word signs in writing a sentence.” Phoenician Alphabet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_alphabet#Spread_and_adaptations. “The alphabet’s attractive innovation was its phonetic nature, in which one sound was represented by one symbol, which meant only a few dozen symbols to learn. The other scripts of the time, cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs, employed many complex characters and required long professional training to achieve proficiency; which had restricted literacy to a small elite.”
What I’m reading this week: Vlad Taltos, The Book of Jhereg, By Steven Brust (Audio: https://amzn.to/3sTCZCz eBook: https://amzn.to/3sv3q10) Silence of the Lambs, By Thomas Harris (Audio: https://amzn.to/3gIhdM4 eBook: https://amzn.to/3szeomi) (Narrated by Frank Muller, 1951-2008 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Muller)
Disclosure: The links above are affiliate links. If you make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I use these commissions to pay for overhead such as hosting and editing costs. Thank you for supporting my show!
Below are my notes/script for the episode, not a verbatim transcription.
PERSONAL UPDATE
February 17, 2022 as I record this.
Nearly done with edits for Book 3 and Book 2, Declaimer’s Discovery cover is almost ready! Release date April 15 for Book 2.
Started training for a half marathon in May
Still reading same books as last week
Names on screen during analysis
Submit quest answers. There’s still time!
ANAYLIS CH. 7
Leanna’s workshop
Baz feels better just seeing her.
Power of the Conservators–no new Books can be made because Speakers can’t write. Conservators hold power because they’re the next best thing to writing new Books, and they also have the secret to elemental ink.
Leanna shows concern for Baz, which he appreciates. Obviously he doesn’t get that too often. But there’s clear conflict between them too. As Baz says, she’s “nestled into her place in society like everyone else.” When Baz suggests trying to get out of the Trials, she criticizes him for shirking his duty.
We learn Leanna’s mother was a Speaker, which apparently isn’t uncommon. We haven’t seen how Speakers are discovered, but Baz notes that children are tested at a young age: those who prove to be Bound become Speakers, those who aren’t go to the Conservatory.
Once again, we see a statue of a Book Dragon, this time a smaller one than the one at the Conservatory. Leanna says its good luck and notes that the creatures were able to Read. Remember, we saw the Book Dragon back in the prologue talk, so this maybe isn’t as incredible as it might sound at first. Leanna also notes the legend that Book Dragons had their names tattooed on their foreheads and that’s how you made friends with them, but Reading their name aloud. Interesting, as that seems to imply that Book Dragons weren’t friends with everyone, just people who could Read.
Baz adds in that he’s heard stories that Book Dragons could Read and Speak. Of course, Leanna doesn’t like that, as it’s basically implying the Conservatory’s good luck charm was a Cuss. Baz departs with some tension between the two of them, obviously they’re not seeing eye-to-eye on some matters.
As Baz goes to visit the Retirees, Leanna notes that people are taking notice of how often he does so. Baz says that ought to concern him but it doesn’t. He’s not going to stop visiting them no matter what anyone says. Why is he so set on visiting them?
Gar
So Baz heads out into the sub-basement to visit the Retirees. It’s not really lit and Baz has to fumble around until he finds a torch. And pretty soon we learn why it’s not lit, yeah? All the Retirees are blind. Remember, we learned a few chapters back that the Retirees are “retired speakers,” so when Speakers outlive their usefulness, they’re blinded and sent down here into the dark. Why? Well, that’s not entirely clear yet, other than Baz again noted before that the Libraries use them for breeding purposes to create new Speakers. But is there more to it than that?
Interesting note that Torchsire has more Retirees than the other Libraries. Duke Octavinal goes through Speakers “at an alarming rate” according to Baz. More questions. Is this just because Octavinal is particularly cruel? But remember, some Speakers are blinded but still utilized, so why not just blind them and continue to use them? Like Baz says, Speakers can be expensive, and Torchsire doesn’t have money to waste. So Octavinal must have some other reason for locking away so many of his Speakers down in the sub-basement beyond just fear of them learning to Read. Baz seems naïve to this, as he noted earlier that they’re just sent down here when they’ve outlived their usefulness.
Gar is the first Speaker we meet. Bit of an old codger, it seems. He’s been down there so long he knew the Duke before Octavinal. And Baz seems familiar with him. Did you notice he actually called him “Baz”? The only other person we’ve seen actually call Baz by that nickname was his brother. Not even Leanna calls him that. And he can also tell almost immediately that Baz is feeling down.
Baz asks Gar if he knows where “he” is and Gar tells him he (whoever that is) is leading “another of those fool songs of is.” But who is he talking about?
Tax!
And so we get to the big reveal. Remember last week I told you there’d be a surprise in this chapter, and hear it is. Yeltax is still alive! Suddenly we see why Baz spends so much time with the Retirees–his brother is one of them.
Now, did this come as a shock to you? I definitely sort of led you to believe Tax was dead. But if you go back and read carefully, I never actually say that. I noted Tax’s screams a few times, and Baz talks about what Deliritous “did to his brother,” but never said killed. Also, back in Ch. 4, there was a bit of foreshadowing. Baz notes how that Helfax Erstwhile had a crippled brother and then chided himself for thinking of that. Now we see why Baz was uncomfortable about thinking about another’s crippled brother. So, let me know what you thought of this–satisfying surprise now that you know it, or you feeling a little cheated? I hope not, but I’m always looking to improve so I’m happy to hear some (gentle) criticism as well.
Singing and the Meaning of Words
So it seems Tax has become the leader of the Retirees. He’s the only one with a chair, and he apparently leads them in singing frequently, as Gar noted. It’s a bit of a haunting, surreal scene, right? All these men and women in dirty white robes, blind with strips of cloth covering their empty sockets, singing a sad song. “Slow and precise.” It causes Baz to sway along almost involuntarily and he sort of gets lost in the music, almost in a trance until it ends. “Like a cooling breeze across Baz’s shaved scalp.”
The song ends and Tax is still the older brother, right? Saying he was worried that Baz hadn’t come to visit him in a few days. “I started growing hair on my chest years ago,” Baz tells him. Stop worrying!
But why the singing? Baz asks his brother. Tax initially says it’s just to pass the time, but Baz pushes. “There’s power in Words,” Tax tells him. Maybe we get into a bit of philosophy here, and also a bit more description of what Speaking a spell actually entails. Now, obviously I haven’t pulled a Tolkien here and written my own languages. I let you imagine the three languages of the Trinity through my descriptions of what the Words sound like instead. And we learn from Tax’s questioning of Baz that the Words of the Trinity don’t necessarily have black-and-white definitions like ordinary words. He tells us:
“The Words permit you to express and teach and feel. You don’t always have to completely understand them for them to have purpose.”
I really like this. I mean, first, this is applicable to the real word. That’s why language and reading are so important. They express feeling, let us teach, pass knowledge to others. And that’s one reason this world is so cruel, because that benefit is denied to so many. This is sort of a meta-level idea behind the whole book.
Second, Tax’s songs are in the languages of the Trinity, and it seems all the Retirees are learning all three languages, since they sing all Tax’s songs. So does that mean Tax is trying to teach them? Baz points out there is no power in the Songs’ Words because the Retirees don’t have any Books. But what if they did get their hands on some? I don’t know. They still wouldn’t be able to see them to know what spells they held. But hmmm. Just think on that. Tax sort of confuses Baz into letting the question drop, but it seems obvious that Tax is leading the songs for more than just a pass time.
Finally, another interesting point here, very subtle, but if the Words of the Trinity don’t have distinct meanings, that would seem to mean those languages are harder to learn than ordinary speech. You can’t just directly translate. Perhaps another explanation here for why it’s more exclusive, but we’ll have to see if that plays out later.
Tattoos
Tax also distracts Baz away from asking him about the songs by showing him that he’s tattooed himself. And not just any tattoo, but Words of the Trinity. Baz is aghast! I mean, Tax is now walking around with evidence that he can Read and Write. Remember how Leanna reacted when imagining someone who could do that? Tax’s response shows us the rebel in him still hasn’t died. He was rebellious back in Chapter 1, telling Baz they needed to stand up to the Readers and that’s why he was teaching Baz to Read.
And regarding the tattoo, Tax says, “I can still stand up to them in this small way.” And this plays back into perhaps why he’s teaching the songs to the Retirees. Is he getting them ready for an opportunity in the future when they might be able to Speak spells? Or have someone else Speak spells to them?
But we also see that it hasn’t been all good for Tax. His tone is a mixture of “determination and anger and loneliness all wrapped into one,” and despite having the other Retirees, Tax feels alone. “It feels as if they have me, but that I have no one.”
Baz’s Guilt
Baz definitely feels guilty about his brother, and his show of loneliness only brings those feelings to the surface for him. He blames himself, noting it was his loss of focus that led to Tax’s blinding–referencing Baz forgetting to turn the page back in chapter 2, which resulted in the spell failing and ultimately the woman tripping over the flagstone and revealing the Book Tax had stolen. Baz tries to reassure his brother: “I know how strong you still are.” Good little brother, but obviously he’s still upset all these years later.
And interesting, Tax apparently doesn’t hold a grudge against Deliritous. He’s a product of his environment, Tax tells Baz. So, “Baz did enough hating for the both of them.” More of an explanation for his childish attitude around Deliritous in the prior chapter.
The Declaimer’s Transcendence
So they get around to talking about the Citiless who was captured. Tax seems interested in the fact that the Citiless could Read, and he’s also (to Baz’s surprise) familiar with the words the Citiless was shouting right before he charged Deliritous. Remember I said a few weeks ago we’d see that maybe he wasn’t mad? Well here we go. Apparently there’s an old story about a writing called the “Declaimer’s Transcendence.”
The Enigma survived the Burning and wrote a Book of predictions, and the Declaimer’s Transcendence was one of those predictions. But the Book was destroyed save for a few scraps a young girl saved from it.
Baz says it’s just a bedtime story, but Tax says “Dad always told me it was true.”
Second Burning
There’s a quick reference to the Second Burning here. That’s apparently when the Declaimer’s Transcendence was destroyed. Remember we saw this referenced earlier when Baz noted there was a short time after the original Burning when Illits were permitted to read. Apparently that ended with the Second Burning, when any writings not in possession of Oration’s ruling Libraries were burned. And did you catch who led that Second Burning? Acktus Torchsire. So there’s an explanation for the name of the Acktus Trials, and also interesting that the namesake of Torchsire Library led the Second Burning. You’d think that would make Torchsire a notable Library. Why have they fallen?
Tax’s Reaction to the Trials
So talk of the Citiless inevitably leads to talk of how Delida was injured and Baz is now going on the Trials. Baz is hoping Tax has an idea about how Baz can get out of the Trials. But Tax is thinking the exact opposite. What an opportunity! “Get out of it? Baz, that is wonderful. It’s our chance.” We see more of that rebel in him, and maybe more evidence for why he’s teaching the songs to the Retirees. Bring back a book and Read it to me, he tells Baz.
Obviously Baz isn’t nearly as optimistic as his brother. He emphasizes that Books aren’t just lying around Tome. The place was picked over centuries ago, he says. And that makes sense, right? Books are so valuable that naturally the ruins have been picked clean of any easy to find volumes. More emphasis of how difficult the Trials will be. It’s dangerous to just get to Tome, then you have to search an abandoned city for Books after it’s already been scoured for hundreds of years for Books.
Also interesting, Baz suggests he hasn’t Read since Tax was blinded. He “eliminated anything that even suggested Reading from his life.” For all the guilt he feels over his brother, he doesn’t want to join him as a Retiree.
“If you never grasp an opportunity for want of a better one, you’ll never find one.” I like that as general life advice.
Tells Baz that he could at least try to escape, but Baz says he’d never leave Tax.
CONCLUSION
Alright, Chapter 7 and Part 2 are a wrap!
Homework: Next week we’ll read Chapter 8. Everyone getting ready to go to the Trials. Leanna wishes Baz farewell and gives him something. What do we think of that? And we see Baz briefly interact with Rox. How are you feeling about Rox after this chapter? Ch. 8 is a shorter chapter, so this won’t be as long as some of the previous episodes.
Listener Question:
Quest: I left out another potentially interesting connection between Tax’s tattoo and something from earlier in the Book. If you picked up on that, let me know. This is a trickier one. 3 XP!
Quote: “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” – Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land
Until next time, this has been D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club.
Disclosure: The links above are affiliate links. If you make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I use these commissions to pay for overhead such as hosting and editing costs. Thank you for supporting my show!
Characters in this Chapter:
Baztian (Baz): Our main character Deliritous Torchsire: Baz’s master, heir to Torchsire Library Rox: Deliritous’s Harbour (bodyguard) Duke Octavinal Torchsire: Deliritous’s father, head of Torchsire Library Salastair: Deliritous’s uncle Trivinal: Deliritous’s aunt
Below are my notes/script for the episode, not a verbatim transcription.
PERSONAL UPDATE
I’ve got my physical copy of the book, finally! I’m about halfway through with my handwritten edits to Part III and that’s going well. And I’m starting to stew over both the plot of Part IV, which I’ll be starting in a few weeks, and also potentially a short story set in Oration that I can give away to fans for free. If you have any ideas for that, let me know!
On a note unrelated to my writing, I’m planning a trip to Chicago in a few weeks and looking forward to that. My wife and I love traveling but obviously with the pandemic that hasn’t been easy lately.
Finally, I think I’m going to start occasionally sharing what I’m currently reading in my spare time, as that seems to relevant to a podcast that I call a book club.
Alright, let’s dive into our discussion of chapters 5 and 6.
Chapter 5
Thanks (or lack thereof)
We start off walking back to Torchsire from Xavier Library. We learn that Delida slapped Deliritous after his display of insensitivity at the end of chapter 4. And Baz knows that’s going to mean trouble for her. Deliritous, probably not surprisingly, isn’t particularly strict when it comes to discipline, but she struck him in front of all those other Readers. Even if Deliritous doesn’t discipline her, his father is going to.
Baz also broods over how Deliritous doesn’t thank him for saving his life. I like this quote from Baz:
Not even a simple, “Hey, thanks for saving my life, Baztian,” or even a lame wisecrack about how that knife had nearly given him a new ear piercing. Perhaps outright gratitude was more than Baz could expect, but a joke at least would have been an acknowledgement that, if Baz wasn’t a slave, he would have been deserving of thanks.
Baz has some self-awareness here, right? He realizes that perhaps Deliritous is constrained by their relative positions in society from outright thanking him. But couldn’t he show some form of gratitude? Even when Deliritous tells Baz to accompany him to the audience with his father the Duke, it’s only because Deliritous wants to “keep up appearances,” not acknowledge Baz in any way.
Indeed, Rox of all people, Deliritous’s supposedly monstrous protector, gave Rox a nod of appreciation Baz tells us. Now, does this mean Deliritous is really the monster of that pair, or does it mean that perhaps Rox isn’t quite the horror he’s been made out to be so far?
Speakers’ Duel
So they arrive back at Torchsire Library and the guard at the entrance tells Deliritous his father wants to see him immediately in the Receiving Room, so we head there. It’s an audience chamber, right? The Duke mounted on his perch above the rest of the room. We’ll get to him in a minute. But first, the duel!
I like creating little games with rules–I’ve done that a few times in my novels. Here we have two teams of three–Speaker, Reader, Harbour on each side. Pretty simple rules–goal is to touch the other team’s Speaker three times before they do it to you. And Speakers can’t physically touch the other team’s Reader. As Baz puts it, “A Speaker wasn’t permitted to lay hands on a Reader even in duels.”
Alright, now I’m not going to profess to be a master writer. But I’d like to think that at this point I at least know some basics, and I think this dueling scene is a great example of the adage “show don’t tell.” Actually, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t even in the original draft, but I realized it’d be useful for my Readers to see how the core trio of Reader-Speaker-Harbour works together, and I wanted to a way to get it in early enough in the novel that it was useful, so the idea for this duel came to me.
For me, I think the biggest take away from the duel is just how vulnerable the Reader is. He or she basically just has to stand in place, staring down at their Spoken Book. You really see why they need their Harbours. Back in my World of Warcraft days, the Readers would have been called the “squishy” of the party–they’ve got a boatload of power, but they’re going down quick if someone with a sword reaches them.
We also get our first look at a Creator in action here–that’s the type of Speaker Deliritous’s Aunt Trivinal is using. They seem to be focused on more defensive types of magic, right? Deliritous’s Uncle Alastair is launching lightning at Trivinal and she’s using the Creator to block it with what I call a “blinding aura,” but it’s really just a shield, right?
So they go back and forth for a while, but everything’s pretty much deadlocked. Trivinal counters her brother’s attacks, and the two Harbours are just dueling between them. So Trivinal decides to switch up tactics, and she exploits the weakness I just noted. Alastair’s staring at his Book and she drops her Book and charges him. Remember, all she has to do is touch him to score a point. Alastair tries to flip to a different spell to stop her, but Trivinal’s Creator causes a bright light to flash in his eyes and it’s too late. Trivinal hits him with her rapier (which is blunted I noted earlier, not a real sword) and the match is over.
One final interesting thing of note is that the spell Trivinal has her Speaker cast to blind Alastair? She lets the Speaker Speak it from memory, whispering it into the Speaker’s ear and letting her cast it later. Alastair is angry about this, calling it dangerous. Trivinal obviously is less concerned–
You’ve never permitted your Speaker to memorize a simple spell or two? Lighting a candle, soothing a headache? There’s no lasting harm she could cause with that bright light. And she knows my Harbour would have her head off in a moment if she even has a dream of doing me ill.
Couple interesting points here: (1) There’s some apparent disagreement here over what’s proper–Alastair against permitting his Speaker to memorize even the simplest of spells, whereas Trivinal isn’t nearly so strict apparently. So not all Readers view the restrictions on Speakers the same; and (2) Speakers don’t always need the spell Read to them immediately to cast it. We don’t get into it here, but eventually we’ll see, so long as the Speaker knows the Words and is nearby the Spoken Book, they can cast the spell.
You can see how this is both useful and dangerous for the Readers. Useful because they don’t have to pull out one of their giant Books every time they want something simple done. But dangerous because if a Speaker does memorize a spell, they could potentially cast it without having it Read to them first. This drives home the restriction Baz has referenced a couple times already and cites again in this chapter about Speakers not talking unless addressed.
Stop runes were well and good, but in a world where the Spoken Word is power, silence is slavery, and Speakers learned from an early age to hold their tongues or else lose them.
Duke Octavinal
Right, so the Duke dismisses his brother and sister, and none too politely, right? There doesn’t seem to me much love lost between the Duke and his siblings, right? But they also obviously respect his authority, as they make quick if sour exits.
So the Duke. Let’s read out first description of him again:
In that chair sat Duke Octavinal Torchsire, third of his name. His red silk jacket likely would have gone a long way to paying for that tower his Library was lacking, and the calf-high cordovan boots would be worth at least a few bricks as well. His hands were folded in his lap, though even the dark leather gloves that covered them couldn’t entirely conceal their deformity.
Descriptions. Let’s take this week’s look behind the curtain! They’re important, but ugh, I find them terribly boring to write. The story grinds to a halt during descriptions. Sometimes when I’m writing a first draft I’ll literally just drop a note–“describe this later” and move on to the good parts. And, I think allowing my readers to use their imagination is important, so I try not to bog you all down with too much detail unless it’s ultra important. I want you to know the vital features of a place or a character, but you can fill in the rest. I don’t care if you picture Octavinal with bushy eyebrows or yellow teeth or manicured nails. Do what you will!
I can tell you, though, it’s no accident that my opening description of him focuses on clothing. We know his Library is poor, yet he’s dressed in fine clothing. Baz, in his characteristic way, points out that for the cost of his clothing he could probably afford to renovate the Library. So we get a picture of an arrogant man who perhaps doesn’t have his priorities straight.
We also see that he has deformed hands. Now if you recall back to Chapter 2, Deliritous let slip to that old woman with her chicks that his father had had an accident some time back and now we see what it was–his hands have been ruined. We don’t know by what, but Deliritous did imply that that’s what set the Library back for a time. Which is kind of interesting, right? I mean, sure, getting your hands wrecked can’t be pleasant, but it’s not as if the Duke is a manual laborer, so why did that have such a serious impact on the Library’s finances? It’s not really important to Book 1, but just tuck that away for when we move deeper into the series.
So the Duke already knows about what happened at the questioning of the Citiless when Deliritous arrives. Another tidbit buried here that you have to go down to another level for: The Duke has a great information network, right? I mean, we don’t know exactly how quickly Deliritous left Xavier Tower after he was nearly killed by that Citiless, but it couldn’t have been that long, and he went straight back to his Library. And yet, the Duke already has news of what happened. So he’s a resourceful man.
He’s also not a very pleasant man, right? I mean, he doesn’t even think to ask if Deliritous is alright. No, the first thing he does is berate his son for making the Library look bad, permitting his Speaker to have such a lapse in discipline as to strike him in public. An outrage! Apparently, it wasn’t a secret that Deliritous has been sleeping with Delida, as the Duke lays into him for being “too familiar” with his slaves.
And then the significant thing: He’s having Delida whipped for his insubordination. Two things here. First, he considers 20 lashes a “fatherly mercy,” lamenting how it’s going to make them look weak to the other Libraries for not meting out a harsher punishment.
But more important, Delida was supposed to accompany Deliritous on the Acktus Trials, but she’s not going to be able to go now!
Who will come with me on the Trials?
So once Deliritous learns Delida won’t be able to accompany him he asks his father if he might be able to borrow one of his Speakers. And there’s something I skipped over that we’ll discuss now. Two of Octavinal’s Speakers are present, and what’s significant about them? Well, they’ve both had their eyes ripped out. Remember that bad joke Deliritous made back in Chapter 2, about permitting Tax to keep his eyes? Well, we see now why it was such a bad joke. Apparently some Readers just remove their Speakers’ eyes to make sure they never learn to Read.
Octavinal isn’t interested in permitting Deliritous to borrow any of his Speakers, though, is he? Again, we see he’s more concerned about appearances than helping his son out:
I’ll need my other Speakers as well. It would be shameful to present myself for negotiations with those swindlers from Fortune with fewer than three. How could we possibly hope to win the Triumvirate Congress chairmanship away from Farston Leamina if such an embarrassment reached his ears? The man’s a prig, but also an opportunist. Appearances matter, Deliritous. Must I always remind you of that?
And he makes this offhand remark too that Baz takes the Duke to task for, though obviously not aloud. The Duke cites the “damage Hellar Xavier can exact with his Speakers” as another reason to not let Deliritous take one of his Speakers. Of course, as Baz points out, Deliritous is going to be competing against Hellar Xavier and will be “on the receiving end of Hellar’s damage,” yet the Duke is more concerned about keeping his property intact than helping his son.
So of course, this leads up to the big bombshell of the chapter. Who does this leave for Deliritous to take on the Trials with him? Baz, of course! I know, I know. This probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to many of you, particularly since the back-cover blurb says that Baz accompanies his master on the Trials. But here it is, we’re really propelled into the story now. Baz is going to be ripped from his ordinary life into an “adventure”–and I use that term loosely, because Baz obviously is not excited. In fact, he’s kind of horrified.
He’s unprepared, noting that most Reader-Speaker pairs spend months training for the Acktus Trials, whereas Deliritous does his best to never even use Baz. Indeed, Deliritous pretty much confirms Leanna’s earlier hypothesis as to why Deliritous doesn’t use Baz–he’s worried about Baz seeking revenge. “But, Father… He saw what I did to his brother. And he’s a Destroyer. What if he, well, you know?”
Octavinal obviously isn’t concerned about it, and we see more evidence of how out of tune he is with his son. He seems to think Deliritous has had plenty of time to train Baz–you’ve had that Destroyer for 10 years and I’ve been letting you handle the supplicants since you were twenty (so for 3 years). He seems oblivious to how little Deliritous uses Baz.
Or is he? I guess you could also interpret this as the Duke purposefully setting his son up to fail. Hmm, interesting. Baz did not back in Chapter 2 that Deliritous isn’t really heir by choice, he’s just the Duke’s only kid. Could the Duke actually secretly want Deliritous to fail? We see at the end of the chapter all this pressure the Duke puts on him–he has to bring back a Book from the Trials, we can’t have an heir who lost his Trials?” But again, is this sincere pressure, or is the Duke just trying to bury his son under expectations. Hmm. Either way, do we perhaps begin to feel the slightest bit of empathy for Deliritous here? Maybe. Shoot me an email–your feelings changing at all toward Deliritous after reading this chapter?
Yeltax
One final interesting thing of note in this chapter is that we see Octavinal wasn’t too pleased when Deliritous, as he puts it “ruin[ed] the best Speaker this Library has had since the Burning.” Now it doesn’t come right out and say it, but this is an obvious reference to Baz’s brother. And we actually see that maybe the Duke had a bit of a soft spot for Baz’s brother? The Duke is apparently against naming Speakers, as it creates “needless attachment.” But when Deliritous points out that his father named Yeltax, the Duke gets a bit touchy, right? “That was different.” Curious. We already knew Baz’s brother was a rare breed of Speaker, but was there more to it than that? We don’t know yet, but stay tuned!
Chapter 6
Uncle Salastair
So on to Chapter 6 and we’ve moved to the Speaking Room. Remember, this is where Chapters 1 and 2 took place, and Baz reminds us of that, noting he hates going in there because he always hears his brother’s cries of pain when he does.
Deliritous is practicing Reading a spell with his uncle as the chapter opens, the same uncle we saw in the previous chapter who lost the duel. It seems Deliritous has improved his Reading since the beginning of the novel where we saw he was just awful at it, his uncle even congratulates him on that. But maybe for the first time we see a bit of maturity out of Deliritous here. He isn’t particularly pleased with his Reading, even after his uncle’s complement. He admits he’s only been practicing Creation spells lately, since he was planning on brining Delida with him. Basically, he’s admitting he isn’t prepared for the Trials now that it’s Baz going.
How does Uncle Salastair respond to this? Not with comforting words of suggestions on how Deliritous might nonetheless succeed. No, he essentially tells Deliritous to go and hide. Stay away from the other Speakers, particularly Hellar Xavier, his uncles tells him. Calls Hellar perhaps the best Reader in Erstwhile.
Now, Baz is more than happy with that plan, right? Let’s just hide in the countryside for a couple months, avoid the danger entirely!
But we’ve got a bit of a reversal here from the scene in the torture chamber back in Ch 4. Now it’s actually Deliritous who’s showing a bit of courage. Or, maybe not courage, but at least commitment to duty. He notes how the Library has been struggling for the past decade and really needs a good showing in the Trials. Honestly, I can’t remember if this has really been touched on in the novel yet, but it’s on the back cover and will be discussed soon. Since Speakers aren’t taught to Read, they also can’t write, so finding a new Spoken Book is a big deal. So competing in the Trials and bringing back a Book you can imagine would be a big deal.
Uncle Salastair, ever the encouraging relative, tells Deliritous he’s simply outclassed and would be better off playing it safe than dying out in the wilds. He departs without saying anything further. Ouch, yeah?
You know, up until now, Deliritous has given us zero reason to sympathize with him. But we saw how dad treated him in the previous chapter, and now his uncle too. Neither seem to have any particular faith in Deliritous’s skill, yet he’s being pressured to compete against apparently the greatest Reader in the city to bring his Library glory. And Deliritous also points out that everyone seems to be discounting Marla. Remember, she’s the one who was really enjoying watching the torture of the Citiless. She seems to frighten Deliritous as much as she did Baz. Let me know what you think. Anyone out there feeling for Deliritous just a bit now?
Maturity
So after Uncle Salastair leaves, Deliritous starts talking to Baz. Baz is not interested in having the conversation. He’s over there slouching against the wall, essentially distraught over having to accompany Deliritous on the Trials. And we learn another reason for Baz’s distress. I mean, we already know that the Trials are dangerous. You’re out in the wild, and Baz mentioned earlier that it’s not uncommon for competitors to die. But we also learn that, while Readers aren’t supposed to harm other Readers, there aren’t any rules against hurting another Reader’s Speaker. So it’s entirely possible Baz could be targeted by Xavier or Marla in order to but Deliritous at a disadvantage.
So it’s really looking pretty dire. Deliritous is unprepared, and even if he’s being treated unfairly, we saw by how he reacted when the Citiless attacked him that he probably isn’t going to be the betting favorite in this competition. But Deliritous really turns out to be the adult in this scene, right? He’s trying to keep his tone bright, calling Baz “old chap,” and trying to let Baz participate in selecting the Books they’re going to take with them.
Baz meanwhile, is really being almost petulant. He won’t glare at Deliritous directly, but he’s essentially scowling into space just over Deliritous’s shoulder. I guess Baz has good reason to be upset. I mean, he’s basically viewing this upcoming trip as a death sentence. But still, he’s acting a bit childish here, yeah? Deliritous even finally calls him out for it at the end of the chapter and threatens to have Rox teach Baz a lesson when he mouths off some more.
Now, did you catch something interesting there? Again, just like back in Chapter 2 when Deliritous initially ordered Rox to kill Tax, Rox reminds Deliritous his oath is only to protect Deliritous from harm. So there is some limit to Rox’s viscousness. You have to be harming Deliritous before he’ll come after you. That’s certainly going to be important to keep in mind as we go, and perhaps is also hinting that maybe, just maybe, Rox isn’t quite as terrible as Baz has made him out to be thus far.
Deliritous’s Regret
OK, just a few other quick items to touch on here. First, we get a bit of a touching soliloquy from Deliritous toward the end of the chapter. In response to Baz’s criticism over his failure to ever utilize Baz’s ability as a Speaker, he explains a bit why he doesn’t use him. I’m actually going to read that whole paragraph again, because even if nothing else has convinced you yet, I think this gives us a glimpse that Deliritous might not be all bad:
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Baztian. If anything, I trust too much. I don’t have any siblings myself, but I remember seeing my mother… Well, another thing we don’t need to speak of. But I know the relationship you had with poor old Yeltax, and you were here when I did, well, what I did. I did the best I could, you know, after Father gave you to me. Lots of Readers would have killed you, you know, rather than go through the trouble of worrying over whether you might fry them each time you were Read to. And I’m not certain I could entirely blame you for such a reaction. Don’t you see? It was really the best for both of us, old chum, right? You not tempted to turn spells on me, and we both get to keep pumping the old air in and out?”
Baz, of course, responds, that yes, “Very kind of a Reader not to murder a kid for being upset over watching what you did to his brother.”
This is tough, as they both have some valid points I think. Deliritous seems to have some genuine remorse over what he did to Tax. But Baz is of course right as well–Deliritous shouldn’t be congratulated for showing mercy to a little kid who had his brother taken from him. But that’s something I like to think I do a decent job of in my writing. I like to raise difficult questions and get you thinking. I certainly don’t think I have the answers to many of those questions, but thinking about them is just as important as knowing the right answer sometimes.
Elements
Lastly, just a quick note for now. We’ve seen this referenced already, but for the first time Baz really emphasizes that there are five types of magical elements: fire, earth, water, light, and shadow. Apparently each Book is based off of one of these elements and does different things. For instance, Deliritous notes he’s always considered light to be a better element for Creation than destruction. And shadow is apparently dangerous–Baz tells Deliritous to put away a book of shadow spells before he hurts himself, and Deliritous notes he’s seen Marla vaporize rats with a few words of a shadow spell. Nasty stuff.
The elements will become more important later on in the series, but for now they’re more just an interesting detail about the magic system.
CONCLUSION
So that’s it, two more chapters down!
Homework: So next week we’ll read Chapter 7. Baz goes down to the sub-basement where the Dukes “Retired” Speakers live. We’re going to see Leanna again and see some more interaction between the two of them. Then, we get a surprise. I’m interested to hear if you truly were surprised by it, and whether you think it was a fair one or that I was hiding the ball a bit. I don’t think so, but obviously I’m biased. And we see some interesting things about singing and tattoos. What do you think the significance of those two things are?
Listener Question: D. T.: How do you write so many books in a year?
Quest: What do you think the inciting incident of the novel is? I’m sort of torn between the Citiless attack or Octavinal’s announcement that Deliritous has to take Baz on the Trials. Or maybe you think it’s something else entirely. This is another quest that there’s no right answer to. Just send me your thoughts and you get the experience. 2 XP for this one! I’m curious to hear what you think out there.
Quote:
“When I was your age, television was called books.”
-William Goldman, The Princess Bride
Until next time, this has been D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club.
Baztian (Baz): Our main character Leanna: Baz’s Conservator friend; Torchsire’s Librarian Hellar Xavier: Heir to Xavier Library, one of the competitors in the Acktus Trials Marla Kolnar: Niece of the Duchess of Kolnar Library, one of the competitors in the Acktus Trials Deliritous: Baz’s master Rox: Deliritous’s Harbour (bodyguard) Vintas: Torturer (Vicar) from the Conservatory
The Three Scribes: Leamina Fortune Helfax Erstwhile Pront vi Lextor
Below are my notes/script for the episode, not a verbatim transcription.
PERSONAL UPDATE
Welcome back to D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club. Today is DATE as I record this, episode 4. For my person update, it’s an exciting one for me, as this is the first podcast I’ve recorded since The Acktus Trials officially released. Releases are a bit exhausting, getting everything just right and uploaded to all the right places, and I had it doubly hard this time around because I released the podcast at the same time. But I have another book officially out in the world now. I’m eagerly awaiting my copy to come in the mail. One of my friends actually send me a photo in a text today that they’d already received their copy. Jealous! No one should get to see the book before the author does. But I guess that’s the world of print-on-demand books that we live in.
A brief note about that, for those of you who don’t know. Authors don’t have to order boxes and boxes of physical books any more. Print on demand has cured that. Amazon and other places now print books one at a time. So if you were to go ahead and purchase one of my books in paperback, it doesn’t exist at the time you click Order. It’s printed once your order is placed, specially for you.
ANAYLIS CH. 4
OK, so Ch. 4 picks up right where 3 ended, with Baz and Leanna talking about this Citiless that’s been captured, and other things.
Citiless
We’ll go a bit out of order here. Let’s talk about this Citiless first even though Baz and Leanna diverge slightly at the start of the chapter.
Right off the bat, we learn that the “Table,” which is the government of Erstwhile, made up of one Duke or Duchess from each of the nine Libraries, has a standing order to kill any of these Citiless on sight. Apparently the Citiless, as Baz puts it, have “crazy stories about living Scribes and a return to the old ways.” Leanna clarifies that this means they advocate for a return to days where men could Read, Speak, and write new Spoken Books. This obviously disturbs Leanna, and shows why the Table has such a harsh standing order against them–they pretty much stand for the opposite of the Readers, right? The Readers don’t want anyone to be able to both Speak and Read. We saw what happened to poor Yeltax.
Leanna’s vehemence against someone who can both Speak and Read unsettles Baz a bit right? He has to tell himself she wasn’t “intentionally trying to make him uncomfortable.” Baz doesn’t elaborate, but come on guys–what do you think Baz is referring to here? He is one of those individuals Leanna finds so disturbing, yeah? He can Read and Speak, we saw that in the prologue. Oh man, here’s ground ripe for tension. Leanna and Baz seem to be something at least resembling friends if not more, but Leanna is a Conservator who hates Cusses even more than the rest of society. Keep an eye out for this to cause issues in the future.
Then Leanna drops the real bombshell here–this Citiless they’ve caught knows how to Read, and apparently he’s Bound, meaning he was born able to draw power from Spoken Books, which means he’s a dreaded Cuss. That’s why they didn’t execute him on the spot, they need to figure out where he learned to Read so they can make sure more like him don’t start appearing. So Baz is about to see what happens if anyone ever discovers his secret.
And we learn that Baz has been summoned because each of the Libraries has to have a representative present for the questioning of the Citiless.
This dashes Baz’s excitement. Just another “criminal being put to the question.” He’s so cavalier about it, apparently this happens all the time in Erstwhile. Yet more evidence this isn’t a great place to be living. And maybe a bit of that good soul he’s hiding beneath all his sarcasm shows through, too? He shares what he thinks of torture, and he’s not too high on it–either the mere threat of it gets the victim to talk, or they don’t talk until they’ve been broken, and then there’s no way to tell if it’s the truth they’ve giving you or just whatever you want to hear.
Baz is also depressed because he realizes he’s only being summoned because Deliritous wants to look good in public. “Delirious would burn page before he made a public appearance with only one Speaker,” Baz tells us. There’s another fun turn of phrase involving books–he’d burn pages, as in, he would rather do something deemed abhorrent in this society than be seen without a retinue in public. Again, if any of you out there think of an fun, book-based curses, email them to me and I’ll share on a future episode.
Helfax Erstwhile, Leamina Fortune, and the Romance Road
Alright, so before we get to the part of the chapter at Xavier Tower, let’s go over this back-and-forth Baz and Leanna have right at the beginning of the chapter. They’re a pair, right? What little we know about Leanna so far, she seems driven and optimistic, whereas Baz is sarcastic and abrasive. Leanna also seems to befuddle Baz. Let’s see, what does he say at the end of their exchange? Paraphrasing: Whenever he made a point that was clearly the right one, she wouldn’t concede…. And somehow he ended up feeling like he hadn’t won the debate at all.
Next we have a link to prologue, Leanna mentions Leamina Fortune and Helfax Erstwhile. They were the two who Pront vi Lextor told the book dragon had fallen fighting whatever the threat was at the Great Library. Apparently, they were the founders of two of the major cities in Oration, and also, per Leanna, “two of the most important people to have ever lived” because they “sav[ed] all of Oration at the Burning.”
Ah, there’s another connection. Maybe subtle, but not too hidden if you pay attention. This is pretty good evidence that, whatever it was that happened in the prologue, it was this Burning event we saw referenced last week. OK, so two of the most important people in Oration’s history “fell”–in Pront vi Lextor’s words–during the Burning to save Oration. And Pront obviously had some connection with them, so more evidence that he was quite important as well.
Well, how important were they? Ah, well Baz tells us, right? Well, at least for Helfax he tells us, and we can imply it for Pront and Leamina. Helfax Erstwhile was “one of the three great Scribes,” Baz says. By jove! Weren’t the Conservators praying to the Scribes last week? And Baz says again, in reference to Leanna: “Conservators were fervent in their worship of the Scribes.” And we already know the Scribes are the ones who created the Spoken Books.
OK, so lots of puzzle pieces about this world’s lore fall into place. There were three Scribes, Helfax was one, and likely Leamina and Pront were the other two. So they’re all treated like Gods, at least by the Conservators. And they were all at the Burning, yet unable to avert the calamity, and at least two of them–Leamina and Helfax–suffered some terrible fate there, and we don’t know what happened to Pront. So this drives home just how bad the Burning must have been. The three Scribes, who are apparently thought of as gods and created the Books that hold magic, were unable to stop the Burning.
We also get this quick story about the “Romance Road,” which is apparently also called the Great Road, which connects the cities of Erstwhile and Fortune. Leanna tells us Helfax built it just so he could visit Mina Fortune at her City on the Ocean Vast.
Of course, Baz’s sardonic attitude shows through here again. “It’s a child’s fairytale,” he says. The real reason Helfax built the road was “the same reason anyone does anything. Money.” Baz doesn’t seem to have much faith in anyone, does he?
He also references that the Great Road connected not only Fortune and Erstwhile, but also Erstwhile and Tome. Ah, interesting. Pront vi Lextor was Librarian of Tome–that was one of his titles–and at the end of the prologue, remember he descends to Under Tome to deal with his enemies. But apparently Tome is no more–Baz says the Great Road connected Erstwhile to it “when Tome was still a city.” But what happened to it? At this point it seems a pretty good bet the prologue occurred at some point in the distant past, when this disaster called the Burning devastated Tome to the point that it’s no longer considered a city today.
One other tidbit, Leanna chides Baz for asserting traveling through unpaved wilderness is no fun because Baz has apparently never been outside Erstwhile’s walls. Store that away for now–Baz has never left this city he’s in.
Xavier Tower
So they arrive at Xavier Tower, which is being guarded by Conservator guards called Enforcers, who are apparently massive brutes, since Baz notes they could stand up to a Harbour like Rox, who remember is Deliritous’s massive bodyguard. The Enforcers are there because there is a representative of the Conservatory there to perform the questioning of the Citiless. I don’t dwell on it any further here, but essentially Conservators have their own bodyguards in these Enforcers, just like the Readers have their Harbours.
So they head downstairs to where the questioning is happening. One of my favorite quotes from Baz in the book here:
Questionings always seemed to be done in basements. It wouldn’t be seemly to do them above ground, what with the risk of the screams carrying to the ears of ordinary citizens. Nothing to see here, my good people!
The poor Citiless seems to have already been tortured for quite some time when Baz arrives, his hands are chained to the ceiling so that he’s just sort of hanging there stretched out, semi-conscious. He’s shirtless, chest displaying marks of “the truth-finding process” as Baz puts it. Baz seems a bit desensitized to the whole process, noting he’s seen questionings like this before. “The Citiless seemed to be doing a poor job of answering in Baz’s estimation, judging by his semi-conscious state.” More evidence that you don’t want to get on the bad side of the ruling class in Erstwhile.
And just note that it’s members of the Conservatory who are doing the torturing, Xavier’s Librarian, so Leanna’s equivalent at Xavier Library, and a man referred to as a “Vicar,” which is some Conservator rank we haven’t been introduced to yet, but he’s obviously in charge of the questioning. Sort of like an Inquisitor from Medieval times. Think, for instance, that torturer in Braveheart at the end of the film. Ugh, that guy’s the worst. I’ll toss a photo of him up on the screen and drop a link in the show notes.
Other Readers
Listener Question: Diane: “D. T., I’m still just a bit unclear on the difference between Readers and Speakers. Could you explain?”
Speaker: They are born “Bound” to the Spoken Books, able to draw power form them (i.e., cast magic). But Speakers are enslaved and never taught to Read.
Reader: They can Read, but are not Bound to the Spoken Books, which means even though they can Read the Books’ words, they don’t produce magic. They have to Read the Words to a Speaker, who then repeats them and casts the magic.
So Leanna leaves Baz to join the other Conservators in the room, and Baz is left to survey who else is present. There are representatives from each of the nine Libraries, though none of the leaders, Dukes and Duchesses–apparently this isn’t deemed important enough for them. Which is interesting, right? I mean, Leanna seemed horrified over the idea of this Citiless being able to Read, but apparently the city’s government is less concerned. Perhaps some tension here between the Conservators and rulers of the city? Are the Conservators more concerned about maintaining this acute separation of power between Speakers and Readers than the Readers themselves? Or maybe the Readers just view the Conservators as a bit overzealous.
We also learned in passing earlier that the city’s government, the Table of Ennea is made up of representatives from each of the nine Libraries. But what about the Conservatory? They seem to have plenty of significance to this society, but they’re not on the governing body? Hmmm. Also, a quick naming note, I got Ennea from Enneagon, which is a nine-sided shape (en-ee-uh-gon). Google is often my friend when it comes to names.
Right, so the room’s crowded with Readers and their retinues. The first time we’ve gotten a good look at other Readers besides Deliritous in the prologue, so let’s talk about them for a minute.
Each Reader has his or her entourage. We see it’s a bit of a “keeping up with the Joneses” type situation–Readers never got out in public without their Speakers and Harbours. Being without one’s Speakers is sort of like going out in public in a cheap suit in this society. I mean, technically you’re not out of place, but everyone’s judging you behind your back.
We also see, just like Deliritous in Chapter 2, all the Readers wear hats. Another status symbol it seems. Baz tells us: “That was another game they seemed to play, attempting to out-hat one another. Each one seemed wider brimmed than the next, adorned with colored feathers of ridiculous length.” So we’re quickly getting the picture here–the Readers are wealthy and image-obsessed. Sort of your typical nobles, right?
They also have “mobile lecterns” to hold their Spoken Books for them. Think of these kind of like a mini desk on a harness so they can read from a book without holding it. Sort of ridiculous looking when you imagine it, but remember how important Books are in this society, and they’re large, so this is sort of a natural outflowing of that.
Hellar Xavier and his Influencer
Next we meet a couple of specific Readers, and I think it’s safe for you all to assume at this point that they’re both important, since we learn they’re Deliritous’s competitors in the upcoming Acktus Trials. First we have Hellar Xavier. The heir to Xavier Library, the wealthiest of Erstwhile’s Libraries. That’s emphasized by the fact that he’s got five Speakers with him. Remember, Baz said that’s a bit of a social misstep–it’s like flaunting your wealth too openly. So a bit of arrogance going on here for sure it seems.
And if anyone thought that Baz’s disdain for Readers stopped at Deliritous, he quickly debases us of that assumption when he describes Hellar. “Hellar had short dark hair, pale eyes that reminded Baz of a dying fish, and a smile upon which Baz hoped he was never on the receiving end.”
We also get our first look at another type of Speaker–an Influencer. Hellar’s actively engaged in Reading a spell to his Influencer when Baz enters, and we learn Influencers are essentially capable of low-level mind control. Now, it’s got limits, right? You can’t just pull someone’s strings like a puppet and make them do exactly what you want. Baz clarifies:
True mind control was nearly impossible on all but the weakest of men, and generally a man that weak would be dead before you could control him. But the spells of an Influencer could push all but the strongest of wills in the Speaker’s desired direction.
So Influence seems an apt name for them, right? They can push your thoughts in the direction desired by the Reader who is wielding the Influencer’s power. Sort of a frightening thought. Think of a society where this type of power exists. You must need to be constantly on alert, wondering if the person you’re talking to might have an Influencer hidden somewhere influencing the turn of the conversation. I don’t think we get into it here, but you’ll learn later on that Influencers are viewed as an important tool in trade, using them to get yourself a better deal. And here they’re trying to influence this poor Citiless into giving them answers about where he learned to Read.
Another interesting tidbit here is that it’s a Reader from one of the Libraries doing the Reading, even though it’s the Conservatory doing the questioning. If there was any doubt about the implications of this, Baz clears them up by explicitly telling us this is a point of contention between the Libraries and the Conservatory. Remember, Conservators can Read, but Baz tells us they have no Speakers of their own. The ability to cast magic from the Spoken Books is pretty much the entire basis for the Readers’ power in this society, so obviously they want to keep a monopoly on it.
Marla
The only other Reader Baz can identify is one from Kolnar Library, which he describes as a “middling Library” approximately the same size as Torchsire. And she’s not a pleasant one, right? She’s enjoying watching this torture, lips twitching into a grin, almost petting the dagger she has at her belt as she watches. Baz obviously didn’t care for Hellar, but Marla seems to legitimately frighten him–he doesn’t even want to look at her.
Also, just a quick look into the writer’s mind here, I’m pretty sure I lifted her name from Fight Club. When I was imagining a name for her, I was trying to think of a name that one might say with a healthy dose of contempt, and I kept coming back to Edward Norton in Fight Club. Marla. “If I did have a tumor, I’d name it Marla.”
Deliritous
Baz finally makes eye-contact with Deliritous and it seems not much has changed in the Torchsire heir. We get the sense he’s still a bit of a brat, still hasn’t quite grasped how to act in accord with his station. “Deliritous motioned for him to come over, the frustrated urgency in the gesture not quite befitting one who was destined to take over a Library of Erstwhile.” And obviously Baz has little respect for him, noting that the glares of the other Readers’ Harbours supplied far more motivation for him to hurry over to Deliritous that did Deliritous’s angry stare.
And once again things only seem to get worse when Deliritous opens his mouth. Indeed, Baz actually seems to have more sense that he does. This is an official function, a man is being tortured just a few steps away. Baz made a point of remaining silent so as not to annoy the Conservators performing the interrogation. Deliritous, though, has no such restraint. He begins berating Baz for being late, basically whining over how it was embarrassing to have only one Speaker with him.
That one Speaker who was already with Deliritous is named Delida. And another strike against Deliritous here, as he’s apparently sleeping with her, Baz noting that she’s frequently absent from her quarters at night, which happen to be right next to his. There doesn’t seem to be any love lost between her and Baz, either. She gives him an annoyed glare when he looks her way, and Baz makes a point to say how he doesn’t exactly find her attractive.
And Deliritous just keeps going on and on, right? Baz grows increasingly uncomfortable with all the attention he’s drawing to them, but Deliritous seems oblivious to the disruption he’s causing. And we also see that same reticence to use Baz that Leanna noted earlier. Even though there had been a Speaking that morning, Deliritous seems to believe Baz was better used as an errand boy. Which is ridiculous, right? Baz makes clear that the Library has “ordinary” servants, presumably that means ones who don’t have the ability to draw power from the Spoken Books. This is sort of like someone who runs an auto repair shop constantly sending his best repairman out for groceries, rather than having him work on cars. So maybe there’s some truth to Leanna’s theory after all, that Deliritous is afraid to use Baz for fear of Baz taking revenge on him.
But there’s also a bit of an interesting dynamic here, right? Despite Deliritous berating Baz, the two of them are sort of bickering like an old married couple, right? I know we haven’t seen much interaction between Readers and Speakers yet, but we will soon, and this certainly isn’t common. Remember Baz noted back in Chapter 2 that merely opening your mouth out of turn as a Speaker is a sure way to an early death. But that doesn’t seem to be the case between him and Deliritous.
The Vicar
Finally, Baz and Deliritous’s conversation draws the attention of the Vicar, who is the Conservator leading the questioning of the Citiless. Vicars are members of the Conservatory who specialize in studying the “mysteries of the Scribes,” as Baz puts it. So they’re sort of the zealots of the already religious Conservatory it seems. And apparently they also play the unofficial role of being torturers. Sort of like the Hand of the Light in Wheel of Time, or if you’re not familiar with Wheel of Time, inquisitors from the Spanish Inquisition. Using religion as a cover for their cruel methods.
The Vicar here is named Vintas, and he certainly strikes an unsettling note. Sleeves rolled up, blood splattered across his white robe. We definitely get the sense he’s not someone you want to get called out by in front of your peers. We see Deliritous wilt under this scrutiny, his voice cracking when he apologizes to the Vicar for interrupting the questioning. And the Vicar capitalizes on his embarrassment, asking if he can borrow Rox to try and get additional information from the Citiless he’s questioning.
Such a request is apparently a faux pas. Baz notes it’s like asking someone to help you move a big piece of furniture. No one ever wants to agree to help, but you kind of look like a jerk if you decline. Same deal here—Harbours are the Readers’ bodyguards, they’re not supposed to leave their side. At the same time, though, everyone in this room is supposedly on the same side, so Deliritous would almost be insulting everyone else in the room if he insists on keeping Rox at his side. You certainly get a feeling here that Baz might not be the only one who doesn’t really respect Deliritous. We don’t see the Vicar asking any of the other Readers if he can use their Harbours.
Home of the Scribes
So Rox goes over to help the Vicar, yanking on the Citiless’s chain until he forces the man’s head off his chest. When the Vicar asks where he learned to Read, the Citiless responds “The home of the Scribes,” which Deliritous tells Baz means Tome.
Interesting, and potentially another connection back to the Prologue. Remember, that took place at Tome in the middle of some great disaster. And Baz seems to believe the Citiless has clearly gone mad from the torture at this point, since Tome had been “razed over three hundred years ago, now little more than a big pile of rubble.” There’s no way the Citiless could have learned to Read there. Again, not coming right out and saying it, but if we piece together what we’ve heard about Tome and the Burning, this seems to be more evidence that the Prologue was depicting a scene from the Burning, which ultimately destroyed the city of Tome. And yet, this Citiless is claiming to have learned to Read at Tome? You can see why neither Baz nor anyone else present believes the man’s answer. Indeed, the Vicar confirms most of this a few paragraphs later, expressly saying no one has lived in Tome since the Burning.
But despite not getting his answer, the Vicar seems almost pleased, right? Obviously this guy’s a bit sick, getting excited at exacting more pain on the man. And apparently he’s grown tired of his ordinary torture tools, instead asking if any of the assembled Readers has a dagger he can borrow. Marla is only too happy to oblige him, right? She almost seems to be competing with him over who is taking greater enjoyment at the torture of this poor Citiless. She isn’t even hiding her smile now when she gives the knife to the Vicar. Man, she is not someone we want to see again. Which, of course, means we’re going to see more of her.
Baz’s Decision
And we all know what happens next. Rox yanks on the chain again, but this time it snaps. If you were paying close attention, you’ll have noted that I took care to mention when Baz first entered that it was an “old, rusty chain,” so I very subtly setup this could happen. Rox goes flying backward since he wasn’t expecting the chain to snap, temporarily taking him out of action. The Vicar also drops his knife and while everyone else in the room is frozen in surprise, the Citiless sees his chance, attacking the nearest person in the room, which happens to be Deliritous.
The Citiless still has the chains around his wrists and swings them. Delritious dodges them, and instead his other Speaker, Delida, is struck in the throat and thrown backward. Then the Citiless grabs the knife the Vicar dropped and charges Deliritous. Turns out on top of everything else, Deliritous is a bit of a coward, right? Despite having taken fencing lessons as Baz points out, Deliritous does little more to defend himself than cower away from his attacker and scream.
Here’s Baz’s dream come true, right? Deliritous is about to eat it. But we learn that Baz perhaps wasn’t as in earnest as he’d have had us believe when he’d spoken earlier to Leanna about Deliritous dying.
Baz quickly takes stock of the situation. Rox is still getting off the floor, and no one else is moving to help Deliritous. While everyone in the room is supposedly on the same side, Baz sees it for what it really is—they’re all competitors and if one of their competitors is killed? Well, no one’s going to be upset about that. And that just doesn’t sit right with Baz. He’s actually a bit annoyed at himself, right? Let’s go to the text:
Baz ought to have felt satisfaction at that, Deliritous falling victim to the same societal mores that had victimized Baz’s brother. But instead, Baz found a hollow emptiness in his gut.”
He helped the lady with her chicks, he tried to help that Illit with that door, and now he’s going to save Deliritous, however much he might dislike him. Baz has got a conscience, even if he won’t admit it to himself.
He sticks out a foot, tripping the Citiless, and preventing him from stabbing Deliritous. That’s all the time Rox needed to recover. The Citiless tries to push himself up to get at Deliritous again, but now we see for the first time just how vicious Rox can be. As Baz puts it, he punches the Citiless in the face with his razor, basically slicing the top half of his head off. But it’s not a clean slice, more like an explosion, showering gore everywhere. He mauls this guy.
Now, just for an instant, we think we see a bit of humanity coming out of Deliritous. He jumps up and runs to his fallen Speaker, Delida who got hit by the chain. He’s concerned for her, right? “Oh, Delida! Speak to me!”
She responds and her voice is all messed up—she just got hit in the throat by a chain, after all. But we quickly see that Deliritous wasn’t concerned about her at all, but rather himself. She was supposed to go on the Trials with him, but if she can’t Speak, she’s useless to him, right? “Oh, your voice! What will I do for the Trials if you can’t Speak?”
The chapter ends with that creepy Reader, Marla, laughing. Remember, she’s set to be one of Deliritous’s competitors on the upcoming Trials, and she just reinforces what Baz observed a few paragraphs back—she doesn’t care about her fellow Readers. She’s glad to see a fellow competitor put at a disadvantage.
The Declaimer’s Transcendence
OK, that’s the end of the chapter, just one final thing to note. Store away what the Citiless said before he charged Deliritous. “The Declaimer’s Transcendence!” he cried out like a madman. “He’ll speak the words to set us free!” There was no time at all to consider this in the moment, other than Baz quickly wondering what that means, same as I assume all you out there listening are. Well, everyone seems to just think the Citiless was a raving madman, but we’ll soon learn that likely wasn’t the case. The Declaimer’s Transcendence. Keep that in mind in the weeks to come.
CONCLUSION
Homework: OK, that’s Chapter 4. Next week we’ll read and discuss chapters 5 and 6. We return to Torchsire Library and find some Readers fighting each other and learn some more interesting details about the dynamic between Reader, Speaker, and Harbour. Then we meet the Duke for the first time, Deliritous’s father. What do you think of him? What does Baz think of him? Maybe for the first time, too, we start having just a bit of a reason to feel sorry for Deliritous, despite everything he’s shown to the contrary so far.
Then we get to what’s probably the inciting incident of our story. Delida has been injured and won’t be able to accompany Deliritous on the Acktus Trials, so what does that mean? I bet a lot of you see what’s coming, but no worries if you don’t, you will after Chapter 5.
Chapter 6 is relatively short, but we see an interesting interaction between Deliritous and his Uncle that sheds some light on the challenges Deliritous faces at the Trials. Then Baz and Deliritous have their first true interaction with one another that we’ve seen. It doesn’t go terribly well. We learn another interesting tidbit about the magic system, though, so look out for that.
And remember! If you don’t do your homework, it’s OK. You all get A+’s just for tuning in. I’ll read for you and answer all these questions and more next week.
Quest: For this week’s quest, I’d like you to send me your favorite excerpt from Chapter 4. I think Baz in particularly has some pretty entertaining one liners in this chapter, and I wasn’t able to touch on all of them in our discussion. But it doesn’t have to be something Baz said. Just anything your found interesting or profound or though-provoking. 1 exp for everyone who emails their answer to me, dtkane@dtkane.com. And keep sending your answers for quests week 1-3. I’ll accept answers until the beginning of March 2022!
Quote: “Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!” ― J.R.R. Tolkien
Until next time, this has been D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club.
