osprey_archer | First Test

I've been rereading Protector of the Small, a.k.a. my very favorite Tortall series because Neal and Lerant (oh Lerant, my angst hedgehog!) and most of all, KEL.

Kel blew my tiny mind when I was first read the book. I was elevenish, and Kel embodied what was, for me, an appealingly foreign set of values: obedience, respect for elders (including Neal, as her sponsor), and - most appealing of all! - warrior stoicism. Kel has absolute control over which emotions she reveals, and I found that enthralling. I mean, really. Sign me up!

One thing that struck me on the way through is Jon's comment that some of the pages died the year before in the Immortals War. This is just a throwaway comment, not something the text engages with at all, but it suggests all kinds of stories. Who died? How do the older pages deal with their friends' untimely demise? Do they have a pact not to talk about it in front of the younger pages - some peculiar outgrowth of warrior stoicism?

Maybe this contributes to Joren and company's evil. Maybe they saw one of their buddies get eaten by a spidren, and being nasty is a way of dealing with their trauma.