/r/Fantasy Discussion Group discussion

Discussion 2: No need for spoiler tags as this discussion is for people that have read the book in its entirety.

Okay, I have a thing to point out. In the very early stages of the book; essentially the boot camp for Vaelin. He returns after his Test of the Run. He is questioned by a cold and seemingly darkened Caenis late at night.

My question is this: Is Caenis the man who stood up at the very end with Vaelin sending his challenge out?

Reasons for this: There is a passage that states that a lot of lives would have been saved if Vaelin had heard whether or not Caenis had been laughing at the end of that chapter.

It sort of confused me a bit. Sure, Caenis seems the most knowledgeable about the Dark and what it holds... but they don't really dive too deep into that significant plot point.

Caenis! I'm so conflicted over Caenis. On the one hand, I can't wait to find out what his deal is; on the other hand, though, I kind of wish we hadn't had that *dramatic foreshadowing* so early on in the book, given how little payoff there was. Obviously, the payoff will come later, but given just how heavy-handed that passage was, I was kind of expecting to see something come of it in this volume. Of course, I could be missing something...am I?

"He never knew if it was a laugh or a sigh that came from Caenis then. Many years later he would think how much pain he would have saved himself and so many others if only he had heard it clearly, if he had known one way or the other. At the time he took it for a sigh and the words that followed a simple statement of obvious fact, “Oh, I think they’ll be mysteries aplenty in our future.”

At this point, I was pretty sure Caenis was going to betray them all... But he doesn't seem to ever do so. But from then, I sort of watched him closely and paid very special attention in how his character was.

I expected something to happen when they were hunting One Eye. But all that Ryan gave was that Caenis knew the fire was an illusion. .-. So Yeah. Hopefully the next book or the third one will depict a point to that passage above.

edit: Ryan just stated that it would or might appear in Books 2 or 3. << So move along... then...

I stayed up way too late and finished the book in the wee hours of the morning. That, in itself, is enough to add Anthony Ryan's name to the growing number of "favorite" authors I've discovered since joining goodreads.

It was a great read with an ending that did its job of finishing the book's story arc while opening the door to the next. The unfinished secondary stories will bring me back for the 2nd book.

I also wanted to know about Caenis in this book - my take on his part in the bigger story is that he is one of those gifted with site/prophecy. Whether it was a laugh or a sigh in response to Vaelin telling him to talk to Master Sollis indicated if Caenis had believed the lie. A laugh would indicate he knew Vaelin was lying to him - probably prompting Vaelin to tell the whole truth to his closest friend. Had Vaelin taken Caenis into his confidence and had they compared notes and worked together...how much sooner would they have stopped being pawns in a game Vaelin didn't even know he was playing?

...at least that is how I read it.

Wow ... loved this book. I just finished it, may have more thoughts to add later. But as for Caenis, I don't mind that we don't have more info on him yet, gives me something to look forward to/speculate about in upcoming books. I have to admit, I have a theory for him, but will put it in spoilers, just incase someone doesn't want to see it :) (view spoiler)[my theory with Caenis was that he is linked to the wolves, that that is how he knew that Vaelin was not truthful about the test. Caenis was always close enough, but not there when the wolf appeared for it to at least not rule out the possibility (also, his name bears a resemblance to Canine ... maybe I am grasping at straws here, but its what I kept thinking). (hide spoiler)]

I really liked the ending of this one too, the glimpse of everyone at the very end, and being left with the feeling that this book was just the first couple of moves in a much bigger game.

I like that theory Lisa! I had not thought of Caenis linked to the wolf but, because we really know so little about the various possible gifts in the 7th order, it is entirely possible for either shapeshifting or animal possession to be one...

Finally finished this one. My interest did increase once the training part was done. In fact, my favorite part of the book was Part 3, I think because I liked Vaelin's conflict over whether or not to follow the king's orders and kill the aristocrat guy, juxtaposed with the action of the campaign. But then after that section, I felt Vaelin kind of fell back into the "I just do what I'm told" mentality, which lessened my interest in him again. I've had a real hard time pinning down why this book never quite made it beyond "it was a decent read" for me, but in the end I think it comes down to that I never quite connected with Vaelin (either present or past version). I was the most interested in him when he dared to think a little bit for himself and go against where either the king or the blood song pointed him. Though it particularly bugged me that he never considers in any serious way whether or not the blood song is a GOOD thing to listen to, or something being used by another force to manipulate his actions.

My favorite character was actually the princess. I'm a sucker for clever characters of dubious morality, so she was right up my alley. If I hear there's more of her in the sequel, I'll read it.

I would be shocked if we didn't see more of her. I really felt like this book is setup from a much grander story, and seems she would have to take part in the way she has been set up/portrayed so far. And yes, she is a great character! Love ones like that as well.

Where are people at on this book? This thread has gone a bit quiet!

I finished it early in the month and don't really have much to add. Except one question that's kind of bugging me. Are we supposed to know the guy on the boat with the scars at the end? I mean the other two in that section are the Princess and Sherin (I think) so it almost feels like I should be able to name the third person and I'm missing something.

Justin wrote: "I finished it early in the month and don't really have much to add. Except one question that's kind of bugging me. Are we supposed to know the guy on the boat with the scars at the end? I mean the ..."

I'm pretty sure it's Frentis.

That was my impression. Did he answer this in the Q&A somewhere?

That was my assumption as well. I don't remember seeing it mentioned in the Q&A.

Hi guys,
I think I covered this in my reddit Q&A, or maybe somewere else. I'm fast losing track. Anyway, the man with the scars on the ship is Frentis, his role in the next book consists of jfdjasdfa, sorry, having trouble with my keyboard, here we are: ...sfjajfdljfafkl, Hope that's clear.

I KNEW his role would be jfdjasdfa.

And you people doubted me.

Sorry Joel, it's actually sfjajfdljfafkl! So close though, so so close.

I don't know why I even bother trying to guess at these things.

The scars should have clued me in but the rest of it made no sense to me. Also I don't remember Frentis being mentioned much in the last sections of the book.

I guess I'll just have to buy the next book and find out. Which doesn't seem very fair when the guy with the answers is three comments above me holding them hostage.

Discussion really fell off towards the end, but I wanna thank everyone for participating. I really encourage everyone to pick up The Thousand Names and follow along and discuss for the month of September.

Hmm. Caenis can be good with the bow (he isn't mentioned in the bowing part). The first assassin dies with an arrow in his major vein.
Caenis certainly knows something of the dark. Sollis associates wolves with the dark. The other two assassins die thanks to a wolf.
Also, as Lisa pointed out....Caenis...Canine. Not too far, is it?

I know I'm about a year late, but I read this recently and wanted to chime in saying it was a good book, and I'm liking the second book in the series even more. Can't wait to finish it.

Nice Andrew - glad you are enjoying it so much.

Thanks Michael, I can't wait for the 3rd one to come out.