THE WINTER LONG open thread!: seanan

THE WINTER LONG open thread!

To celebrate the release of The Winter Long, here. Have an open thread to discuss the book. Judging by the comments I'm seeing, some of you have had time, and I'd really, really rather book discussion (sometimes including spoilers) didn't crop up on other posts.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

Seriously. If anyone comments here at all, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. So please don't read and then yell at me because you encountered spoilers. You were warned. (I will not reply to every comment; I call partial comment amnesty. But I may well join some of the discussion, or answer questions or whatnot.) I will be DELETING all comments containing spoilers which have been left on other posts. No one gets to spoil people here without a label.

You can also start a discussion at my website forums, with less need to be concerned that I will see everything you say! In case you wanted, you know, discussion free of authorial influence, since I always wind up getting involved in these things.

Have fun, and try not to bleed on the carpet.

...go 1 level up... Expand

LoveLeelanau

September 4 2014, 02:53:35 UTC 2 years ago Edited: September 4 2014, 03:02:46 UTC

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My theory, although it squicks me out, is that Eira is both Amandine's mother and her sister. My reasoning is as follows:

1. Both Eira and Amandine have magic that smells like roses.
2. Seanan has made it clear throughout the books that the aroma of one's magic is directly related to one's genetics.
3. Titania's magic is the one that smells of flowers, but it's been stated several times (correct me if I'm wrong) that Titania is NOT Amandine's mother.
4. The only other rose-scented Fae big gun is Acacia, and Amandine is far less likely to be half-Blodynbryd than half-Daoine Sidhe. Either way, Oberon is a creep.
5. Toby has an "Aha!" moment near the end of the book about the similarity in the scent of Amandine and Eira.
6. If you do a search for "Toby Daye Trivia" you'll find a 2011 question-and-answer by Seanan that has detailed info about the Three, Firstborn, and procreation. I tried to link it, but LJ tagged my post as spam when I did, so you'll have to look it up.

I wouldn't put it past Eira to have gone all Electra on Oberon, but it's a gross thought. It would be a good reason for Amandine's mother to be kept secret, though, and might shed more light on why Eira wants Toby dead (and possibly August out of the way). Who knows, it might even play a role in why Oberon, Maeve and Titania disappeared in the first place. Sheer speculation on my part, but the rose thing is a huge clue.

herefox

September 5 2014, 17:39:47 UTC 2 years ago

Something interesting in that link about the first born: It claims every time a firstborn has children with a new lover it starts a new race. Which would mean that Toby and August might not both be Dochas Sidhe. Although maybe that doesn't count when it's a changeling born of a mortal and a firstborn.

Which could make Toby one of the few examples of having exactly the same skill set as her firstborn.

seanan_mcguire

September 7 2014, 07:56:41 UTC 2 years ago

Yes, but the Cait Sidhe came from three separate Firstborn. You can have a First who has multiple lovers, but children who are so similar that when they reproduce, they essentially are just varying degrees of the same type of fae. The Tuatha are a good example of this. Children of Amorica tend to have stronger teleportation, children of Elton have better illusions. They're still both considered Tuatha, even though obviously, they can't have had the same non-Firstborn parent.

Most of the time this will be the case, in fact, unless the second parent is another Firstborn, as with Acacia hooking up with Blind Michael after creating the Dryads.

angelamaria

September 7 2014, 12:31:49 UTC 2 years ago

Ooh thank you for clearing that up. I'd been wondering myself!

September 7 2014, 16:31:30 UTC 2 years ago

I was hoping you'd chime in with a little info! That makes a lot more sense and now that you've said that I remember a couple of mentions in one of the books about how the different bloodlines changed the powers of the person.

So in theory August could be running around raising people from the dead like a priest in a console rpg but bad at changing the balance of someone's blood and Toby the reverse (for an extreme example

This would also mean that despite August having a Daoine Sidhe (I always have to look these up, I can't imagine how long it took you to spell things correctly all the time!) as a father she'd still be a full Dochas Sidhe instead of mixed blood since she's born directly of her first with no other first as the father, if I'm understanding things correctly.

vixyish

September 8 2014, 18:21:34 UTC 2 years ago

I always have to look these up, I can't imagine how long it took you to spell things correctly all the time!

I'm guessing that her being a folklore major in college helped with that. :D

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THE WINTER LONG open thread!

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