Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: awake
  • Music: Thomas wandering around the room, chirping.

A RED-ROSE CHAIN open thread!

To celebrate the release of A Red-Rose Chain, 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.
Tags: a red-rose chain, discussion post, toby daye
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  • 172 comments
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bree_ramsey314

September 4 2015, 21:57:59 UTC 1 year ago

It is rather ironic, but in fairness, I have to point out that there's a big difference here. Toby had no idea Walther was looking for an antidote to elf shot, so she honestly had no way of knowing he'd be interested in who created it. Sylvester, Amandine, the Luidaeg, they all[ knew that Toby would want to know she has a sister, that Simon is her step-father and the true nature of her fae side. Sylvester and the Luidaeg withheld the information, I believe, because they were genuinely concerned for her safety because they knew she wasn't ready to face whatever destiny Faerie has laid out for her, Amandine, I'm not so sure. Once I would have said the same about her, but after reading Never Shines The Sun, I just don't know. When she told the Luidaeg, "So be it," I was horrified. Maybe I'm being unfair to Amandine, because we still know very little about her, but she was willing to kill her child, essentially, and I can't imagine any reasoning that will ever make me like her now.

jenfullmoon

September 8 2015, 23:01:17 UTC 1 year ago

I admit that from what we've seen so far, Amandine isn't terribly sympathetic. I can only assume at this point that she became convinced that Faerie was gonna kill her children anyway so one of them might as well go quickly and be put out of her misery. Or something.

We may find out someday. *shrug*

bree_ramsey314

September 8 2015, 23:16:38 UTC 1 year ago

I think you've got it nailed. She conned herself into believing that she was saving Toby from Faerie, but like most self-deception it was a flawed conclusion. Even if the Luidaeg hadn't interfered, I seriously doubt Evening would have let her live, and Amandine had made Toby completely human. But, in that scenario, Toby would have been completely defenseless, and wouldn't have even had the knowledge to understand what was going on.

But I want to find some redeeming quality in Amy, because she's Toby's mother. I also think, to be fair, a good portion of the blame lies with Oberon. He is, apparently, Amandine's sole progenitor, and he saddled her children with some profound role in Faerie's future. Then he just left her on her own. That's not going to get him nominated for Parent of the Year, but then Seanan did say that child rearing wasn't his strength.

She has woven such a complex puzzle, and we don't have all the pieces yet. Waiting to learn more is a special kind of agony, but I try to content myself with the knowledge that when the answer comes, it'll be good.