Imps of Goldstone Wood discussion

Feel free to expound on your favorite parts, characters, and places of this tale! And if there's something in this book you didn't understand, be sure to let us know!

Hey ... does anyone else think that a certain prince in a certain swamp might have been the banished crown prince of Beauclair? I mean, he speaks in cliches, wears blue and silver, and has money troubles ...
I don't know. Maybe it's just me.

IT IS NOT JUST YOU!

My mom and I read it and went, "Wait a second..." Somehow, I think Gervais got stuck as a bullfrog in ChuMana's swamp...how fitting. *snicker, snicker*

Hehe, that would be funny! : )

...But isn't Starflower set like sixteen-hundred years before Heartless? I'm pretty sure Beauclair might not have been a established kingdom at that time.

That's very true, Maggie. But Time is a very funny thing in the Wood Between. Gervais from the time of Heartless probably entered the Wood and got caught on some sort of Path (or a slyph storm) that dropped him back in the timeline of Starflower.

Yeah, that probably sounds really confusing. When you read Shadow Hand, (which has two totally different timelines interacting with each other) it will make more sense! :D

"In my day," she said, "I have swallowed more than a hundred heroes in a single breath. Armies of every nation, every world, have set upon me with arrows, with engines, with weapons beyond your imagination. ..."

That quote from Hri Sora, page 65, has me really intrigued--and confused. It's that part about engines that does it.
Engines? Huh? So, do the Folk of the Far World have technology? Or am I misreading this?
Anyone have any thoughts?

Well, I think she's talking about a more archaic form of engines. Looking at Tolkien movies and books, I think some of the works of the orc (even called machines) are more of what Anne Elisabeth had in mind. But who knows...this was back in the old days...in our old days there is evidence of shocking "technology."

Ah, now that makes sense. Why didn't I think about that?

To clarify: siege engines?

Ah-ha, yes, that's what they're called. :)

Thinking about King Iubdan and Queen Bebo...what animals do you suppose they turn into? Anne Elisabeth has said that families are based more on like animals than blood-relation, so Bebo would be a bird, yes? And I personally think Iubdan is rather bear-like...

Hmmmm...I'm not sure they are animal faeries. Not Bebo at least. She seems to be something different entirely. But if they are, yes, I would say those are good guesses.

Maybe, but what if Eanrin and what's-his-name the badger who were competing for Lady Gleamdren's hand actually were brothers as Anne Elisabeth seems to have hinted? A cat and a badger don't seem like blood kin.

I don't understand how all the animals and families fit into the picture. I could definitely see Bebo as a bird, though.

Maybe Anne Elisabeth will drop in and clear things up for us...or Mrs. Jill! ;)

Haha, wouldn't that be nice? *pointed look* ; )

Families in Rudiobus are not like mortal families. For one thing, they were all "born" so long ago, they don't remember childhood, they don't remember parents . . . there's even some indication that they might all be "Bebo's children." But this wouldn't be in the same sense that mortal mothers have children. You always have to keep in mind that Faeries are FAERIES . . . they aren't just "mortals who don't die." They're different. They're OTHER.

But Rudiobans assume a sort of "family connection" with other animals of their same kind. Doesn't mean they AREN'T actually related to other kinds of animals (thus the implication that Eanrin and Glomar could be brothers and simply not remember it). But Eanrin would assume he is "brother" to any other cat Rudiobans, and Glomar would assume he's "brother" to any other badger Rudiobans etc. And they are HIGHLY unlikely to romantically pursue Rudiobans of their same animal type. It simply wouldn't be done!

Because Gleamdren is Bebo's "cousin," Bebo probably does, as speculated, take some sort of bird form. Not a canary (Gleamdren isn't considered Bebo's "sister"), but some form of bird. We simply don't know what. Well, you don't anyway . . . ;)

Bebo, as queen, might also not be limited to just one shape.

How interesting! I really love examining the concepts of other versus long-lived mortal in the Tales of Goldstone Wood. So while Imraldera behaves in a way starkly different from Gleamdren, for example, Eanrin is stretched somewhere between because of his relationship with Imraldera... It makes me break out my highlighter and take notes. : )

Thanks, Anne Elisabeth! Echoing Allison, with all this new information I feel like going through the books to highlight and analyze.

Ooh, thank you, Anne Elisabeth!
Stuff like this is one of the reasons why I love Goldstone Wood; it's a bit like reality in that there's always something more I (and other fans) can learn about it.

Somehow I've totally missed this until right now!!! Thank you so much, Anne Elisabeth!

Ok, so I'm currently reading Starflower and I've only read Heartless, Veiled Rose, and Moonblood so far, but the part about Sun Eagle and how he got lost in the woods made me really sad, and then I remembered that part in Moonblood where Lionheart comes across his phantom and is given her name thingy to give back. This made me even sadder, and I'm just wondering for those of you who have read the future books, is Sun Eagle somehow-maybe because of the warped time in the Wood- still alive and finds his way to Imraldera? Because I seriously shipped them and I'm really sad right now... :/

Sun Eagle is in Shadow Hand, but that time span for him is BETWEEN Starflower and Moonblood....and it will likely make you even more sad. HOWEVER. *Maybe* we will see Sun Eagle again in another book. His story feels a little incomplete and Anne Elisabeth rarely does incomplete. ;)

I do like Sun Eagle. But I don't want him to get in the way of Eanrin. Eanrin is to awesome :)

OH no. Now I feel like I'll for sure cry in Shadow Hand. Oh dear. I like Sun Eagle :'(

My poor heart. I seriously fell in LOVE with Starflower and Sun Eagle!

I just read Shadow Hand so all this is kind of on my mind... *sobs*

@Zoe: We'll be here to give you virtual hugs when you read Shadow Hand. It's totally worth it. :)

I hope so, cus every time I think of Sun Eagle, I visibly sadden lol.

This is so funny! I love when Eanrin meets the Lumil Eliasul and gets born again so to speak. So beautiful! Don’t you love when characters get converted, when they have new lives? Anyway, look at this quote.

“Imraldera!” he cried, surging once more to the very heights of joy. For she appeared at the mouth of the tunnel, blinking and dazed, her face streaked with tears. When she saw the poet careening down the slope of the riverbank, however, she smiled. She opened her mouth but had no opportunity to speak, for he reached her in an instant and scooped her up in his arms. Pressing her close and swinging her about, he shouted: “You’ve won! You’ve won! You bested the Wolf Lord, you marvelous creature! I will never doubt you mortals again . . . well, not never. But I will think twice before doubting; I swear on my hand! Oh, you amazing girl!”

Without thinking, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. A hot flush rushed to his face, and he dropped her unceremoniously and quickly put his hands behind his back. “That is . . . I’m glad to see you whole.”

Imraldera placed a hand to her cheek, her smile a little lopsided but still present on her face. Then she reached up and gently touched the poet’s scarlet face.

“Eanrin,” she said, her voice rough and low, “I know your true name.”

“Well, of course you know my name, my girl. Everyone knows Bard Eanrin. I’ve told you, I’m the most famous . . . Hold on! Did you just . . . Imraldera, my dear, did you just speak?”