Read-Along: Full Fathom Five, Part 3

It’s time for week three of Full Fathom Five!  This week’s questions are from Heather of the Bastard Title, and they cover chapters 33-50.  Beware of spoilers up through chapter 50 in the questions below!  This was a wild week, because I read this on an transcontinental flight, and because I’m probably still a little jet-lagged.  Also, now we know quite a lot more about the secrets of Kavekana!  I did not guess this reveal, but I thought it was a pretty cool one.   

1. Kai and Izza finally meet face-to-face. What do you think about their confrontation? Did it go as you expected, or did they surprise you?

In general, I wouldn’t have expected Izza to threaten Kai’s life.  I’m really impressed with the way Kai responded to that situation, actually. Given how Kai and Izza met, I wouldn’t have expected them to end up as allies.  That was a surprise, but a happy one!  On a side note, I really loved the description of the underwater chapel (mirroring the pool, I think), and learning more about the mythology of the Kavekana street kids.

2. Poor Margot. Do you trust that Claude just did a stupid thing and didn't believe Kai when he needed to, or do you think he has a bigger role in the conspiracy? And who is behind the mysterious murdering Penitent?

Claude ‘didn’t tell anyone’, yeah, right.  I think he screwed up royally by Kai, but I don’t think he’s actually involved in the conspiracy.  Of course, I didn’t suspect Jace either, so I don’t have a good track record on character judgment for this book! Jace seems to have contacts in the city guard, so it could be anyone.  I hope at least one person Kai trusts is not corrupt.

3. Kai and Teo's conversation about evolution and creation myths, science vs. belief, was really striking. Which side of the philosophical argument would you lean towards?

I’m with Kai on that one.  Her perspective matches more closely with my own.

4. So we know now that all of the idols and Izza's gods are different facets of a single goddess. How do you think this development might affect the different characters, and Kavekana society as a whole?

Well, Smiling Jack (a.k.a. Jace) doesn’t want it to affect Kavekana at all.  The appeal of idols was that they weren’t gods, so this being revealed would destroy his company.  It seems like the goddess is representing herself serially though—through only one idol at a time, until it is caught by Jace.  If they let it live next time, then I suppose it would become the new deity of Kavekana.  Izza might not leave if she was the priest of a god that wasn’t going to die.  Kai might be able to adapt her career to a more religious route.  I suppose Kavekana would stop being the idol vault, and become another deific kingdom.

5. Why do you think Teo threw her bracelet into the pool?

My automatic reaction is to see how deep it was, like a kid dropping a rock in a well.  I don’t think Teo is that frivolous, though.  I still think she has some ulterior motive, and I suspect that bracelet may be carrying it out in some way.  Freeing the imprisoned god? Killing them?  It seems weird for her to try to free them, given how she feels about gods.  Either way, I think that bracelet was the culmination of a plan.  I’m going to feel silly if she really did just want to see how long it took to hit the bottom…

6. Uh, oh, Jace. All signs are starting to point to Jace being the architect of this conspiracy. Signs can be wrong, of course. But where do you think we'll go from his surprise appearance? If he did know about the goddess in the pool all along, why do you think he would have covered it up?

As I said above, it would destroy his business.  No one would want to invest in his idols, once they learn that all of the idols are part of a greater god-web.  He’s been at this for a long time, so his business probably means a lot to him.  I never suspected Jace, mostly because Kai never did, but all the pieces fit for him to be the villain.

Bonus (silly) question: what possible reason could a skeleton Craftsman have for poolside tanning?

If he still has sensation, maybe it’s because lying in the sun feels so good!  I don’t actually tan myself (I’m satisfied with being pale), but on the rare occasions I gave it a shot, the feeling of heat radiating through my skin was just lovely.

Other stuff:

--I got the impression in this section that Margot was terminally ill, and that’s why he was chasing his poetic dreams on Kavekana.  That could also explain his courage in the face of probable death.

--I’m actually really surprised Seril hasn’t played a role yet.  There’s got to be more to why Cat is here.

--It will also be interesting to see how Ms. Kevarian ties in to everything.  She really doesn't seem to be Kai's enemy, so I'm wondering if she'll end up saving Mara from Jace (perhaps Jace vanished her?)