Literally Leander discussion

Our book for November is Silver in the Bone by popular fantasy author Alexandra Bracken!

Bracken, who wrote popular series like The Darkest Minds, gives her take on the legend of King Arthur with her latest book. Silver in the Bone was published in April of this year and has an average rating of 3.9 stars from Goodreads users. The sequel for this book, The Mirror of Beasts, is expected to be published in 2024.

The discussion prompts for this book were written by a staff member, and may contain spoilers for the novel.

1. How would you describe Tamsin as a narrator? How does she change over the course of the novel, and what lead to her character growth?

2. Why do you think relic hunters like Tamsin are called “Hollowers”? Does the meaning of the word change from one character to the next? Would you have called them something different, and if so, what?

3. Think about what magic signifies to Tamsin, Cabell, and Emrys. How do their past experiences affect their feelings towards magic?

4. Discuss Nash’s character and describe what he means to both Tamsin and Cabell. In what ways are their views of Nash the same? How do they differ?

5. Are you familiar with the legend of King Arthur? What was your favorite “retelling” aspect in Silver in the Bone

6. Were you surprised by the ending events of the novel? Which revelation was the most shocking?

7. Will you be reading the sequel? What do you think is in the future for Tamsin and the others?

I really liked this book! I read it back in April (I was lucky enough to receive an ARC) so it's been a while since I read it and I don't remember the finer details of the novel, so I'm going to skip the questions and go full stream-of-conscious on this post.

First of all, I like Bracken as an author. I remember liking her debut dystopian books (circa 2012, when depraved teens like myself were all "fight the government, heck yeah" but were little dollops of non-confrontational muffins so we had to get our anarchy out vicariously through books.) I loved Lore, which came out a few years ago and was loosely based on Greek mythology.

The "loosely-based mythology/folklore" is a good look for Bracken, is all I'm saying. Please give me more.

I think, while being a bit of a folklore retelling, it's also an ode to fantasy adventures (a la The Hobbit, for example). Because this truly is a fantasy adventure--there is a quest, there is a heroine, and there's a lot of mishaps along the way.

I remember thinking that I really enjoyed Tamsin's character arc along the way. She starts off as hardened, and maybe even cruel, to anyone who is not Cabell. She opens up to the girls she meets in Camelot, and discovers that caring for other people isn't a weakness but a strength.

I'm looking forward to the sequel. I might have to read a SparkNotes version of this book before I get there, though.