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stravvymilk · 10 months ago

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I was reading a review recently for "Crownbreaker" by Sebastien de Castell, and I feel the unstoppable urge to analyze it a little.

Now I am not a frequent Goodreads user. I use it to keep track of my books and reading progress, but I don't read nor write reviews. The intention of this post isn't to shield Spellslinger from negative criticism. As a fan I have a few critiques myself, but those aren't what I'd like to focus on at the moment. I simply want to chat a little about one particular critique mentioned in one specific review.

(A review I skimmed once over a week ago, and have since been unable to find again, and consequently will not be able to quote from directly. Sorry!)

But the claim I want to address is, essentially, the poster's disappointment over the fact that we are entering Book 6, the conclusion of the series, and Kellen still only has one trick.

(That trick being the single breath spell that Kellen learned back in Book 1.)

The review goes on to say that it's unrealistic that Kellen is able to defeat opponents who possess comparatively more magic than he does, and implies that, at this point in the story, Kellen should be a far more powerful protagonist.

Now please hear me out for a second, even though I know the argument of "it's supposed to be like that, you just don't get it >:c" is an annoying one, and I definitely don't want to come off that way.

This is just me thinking aloud and voicing my understanding of Kellen as a character.

Personally, I just feel that it's a very important part of Kellen's identity that he only has one spell, and has thus been canonically classified as the weakest mage in Jan'Tep history.

Because I'm a loser, I did read through the Acknowledgements at the end of the book. And I remember that de Castell said that the base idea behind Kellen as a character is that he isn't the chosen one. He's weak. He's whiny. He's forever envious of his little sister's power, the fact that she's the apple of their father's eye, the fact that she's destined to be the most powerful mage in the history of the Jan'Tep people, and if such a "chosen one" exists, it's her.

Kellen's internal conflict revolves around his desire to be a mage, while simultaneously rejecting magic and the way Jan'Tep society has structured itself socially, economically and militaristically around it. Kellen grew up in a world that thrives off of magic that he doesn't have access to.

But okay, let's ignore all that for a second here and get back to the review's original complaint: that Kellen only has one trick.

And I use the word "trick" very deliberately here, because that's the word that the reviewer used, and is essentially what I'm going to build my argument from. Not "spell", not "power", but trick. Which is a very interesting word. A fitting word, granted, because Kellen is, in essence, a trickster figure.

But also, a word that is crippling to it's argument, because it renders the entire statement untrue.

From the first chapter of the first book, Kellen has always had a pocket full of tricks. His introduction as a character is done through a sparring match with one of his classmates, during which Kellen admits that his opponent is far more powerful than he is. So, his plan is to use trickery to divert Tennat's attention, toy with his expectations, and turn his own spells against him.

Kellen's development as a person lies in his shift to relying more on his wits than magic he doesn't have and was raised to be dependent on. Therein lies the key to his self acceptance.

But more technically, Kellen's development as a fighter is learning to make up for his lack of brute strength by using slipperier tactics: slight of hand, bluffs, quick perception, diversions, feints.

Tricks.

Kellen has spent the first fifteen (almost sixteen) years of his life learning about Jan'Tep magic. Including where it falls short. Mages are apparently so tunnel-visioned when it comes to magic that they don't think to anticipate alternate fighting tactics. As a result, Kellen is constantly underestimated due to having only one spell in his arsenal, and uses that to his advantage.

To that end, his status as the weakest mage in history is, in itself, a trick. After all, doesn't every good trickster know how to direct someone's eye in order to fool them?

The argument that Kellen only has "one trick" almost makes me think that this Goodreads review could've been written by Ke'heops or Shalla, or any of the other Jan'Tep mages we've come to know. It carries a very similar sentiment that the book's corrupt magical characters have built their entire society on.

A society who thinks any race, civilization, or person without magic is biologically and fundamentally inferior. The very people that the books specifically go out of their way to say are in the WRONG.

Ferius Parfax once said that a novice card player plays their own hand. A skilled card player plays their opponent's. And an expert plays the space in between.

That is the space in which Kellen operates. The blind spots in Jan'Tep philosophy. The shadow of his powerful family. The direction his opponent isn't looking.

Yes. Kellen has only one spell. And he probably won't ever be capable of casting any more.

But Kellen, like his wily Argosi mentor, will always have one more trick.

#spellslinger #crownbreaker #kellen argos #review #character analysis

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stravvymilk · 10 months ago

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Nearly every time I've rewatched Infinity Train Book 3 since I first saw it in February, I saw more parallels and narrative echos, and infodumping my friends about them isn't enough anymore

I figured I should do a post about this one because I don't think I've seen a post about that specific thing yet, and I love this show's writing, and. idk. I just need to praise it I guess

So, the most obvious part first:

Grace became everything she hated about her parents

When Grace mentions her mother in the Debutante Ball Car, it's made pretty clear she's trying to distance herself from her mother as much as possible, and at this point, we realise retrospectively that Grace's room in the Mall Car in episode one was full of sports clothes - it seems she tries to avoid things reminding her of her life before the train. And of her mother. And yet-

She tries to control everyone and everything around her, and makes people do what she doesn't want to do

And she decides what's cool and what isn't

She makes people kneel in her presence, like her mother towers over her in her mind's eye

Obviously she constantly lies to get what she wants, and her dad does that in her tape

When her younger self looks up, she looks right through adult Grace, and it's actually her parents she's looking at! Her younger self is metaphorically seeing her parents where her adult self is standing!! I still can't get over this shot

Also I feel the need to mention her mother has the same voice actor as her in her tape and even if it might be to cut corners in the budget, that feels significant (and to be fair, sometimes you can cut corners while making meaningful choices at the same time)

Now you might think I'd have nothing to say about Simon on that matter, since we don't see any flashback of his life before the Train, and we know next to nothing about his parents. But I think it's very telling that the only actual backstory we get for him is his backstory with The Cat.

Because-

Simon became everything he hated about The Cat

Ok I never see anyone mentioning this, but hear me out

First, we have no idea if Simon knew The Cat was routinely invading people's privacy through their memory tapes, but he sure has no issue doing the exact same thing

But that doesn't stop there. He also collects things obsessively

And makes kids collect things for him as well, by the way

He thinks he's above others, but he immediately switches to victim mode when it comes back to bite him

HE. ABANDONS. A CHILD. WHO WAS UNDER HIS CARE!!

And. Uh. They both dig their heels instead of trying to change, too

Don't get me wrong, on some level I would have liked to know what Simon's parents were like too. I would have liked that a lot. But there's a good chance it wouldn't change anything, because everything we need to know about his background to understand why he's Like That™ is already in the show

But yeah, Grace and Simon both pretend they found freedom on the Train, and both distance themselves from parental figures who are at the source of their trauma, claiming they're different and better than them - and yet they are both subconsciously repeating patterns that caused at least part of their problems and/or trauma in the first place

And since they decided that making numbers go up was good, as long as they stick to that idea, they are bound to never escape from that self-perpetuating loop of harm and trauma

And I love it

And I hate it

#infinity train

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